Last week I was breathing easy. Even on Wednesday with a writing deadline and meal for 12 AND my family to fix, I didn’t stress but said, “God you knew I had all of this to do so I’m looking for your grace.” And with that, I got my family fed by 7 p.m., the crew of 12 by 8 p.m. (1/2 hour late, but it turns out they needed the extra time) and I finished my piece before midnight, at 10:30 p.m. to be exact. I kept stopping to take a self stress test, wondering why my insides didn’t match the chaos outside. This day was a manifestation of a painfully stressful journey that I had completed.
I had “lived with bated breath, sat rapt at attention, clinging to the last inhale, waiting for what’s to be. Anticipation has been my oxygen, it’s unreliable tank shooting spurts of air, giving me just enough to just be. This is a stilted life, never fully being and never fully feeling life….” If you haven’t already, I invite you to join me at the (in)courage blog to read the rest of my story of new found freedom of breathing easy.
I thank God for such a wonderful change in me and pray you lean on Jesus for whatever wonderful change you need to happen in you.
Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith
My One Thousand Gifts List
#161-170
A delicious meal
A quiet house
Clarity from God
Flynn buying me a watch
Justus’ cry
Sister Shirley buying me so many journals
Justus is a happy baby
Justus being a fun-loving baby
Nate giving me apple suga
Another day of structured learning for Nate
I praise God for the opportunity to spread His message to a wider audience on (in)courage: home for the hearts of women.
My One Thousand Gifts List
#151-160
Spending early time with God
Being able to skin the chicken before Justus called out to me
Giving the boys a bath
Taking a shower
Cooking most of dinner before noon
Spending three hours interacting with and teaching Nate before he watched TV
Tabitha for being selfless and supporting me so
A completed Black History Month report
Getting to watch a movie
A restful evening
I’m a smells and sights girl. I absolutely love scents and beautiful looking things. If it weren’t for the bees (and the fact that I don’t have the time) I could sit in a garden and sniff and spot out flowers all day. Nature’s beauty is the best and I find it a lot in my historical Detroit neighborhood. But like with many challenged urban areas, there are rugged enclaves in refined neighborhoods. One sunny day I wanted to take the boys to the park, but didn’t feel like driving to a nicer one. My neighborhood park is in the rugged area. I knew the children needed to run around more than just in the backyard so I decided to make the trek up the street. Since I hadn’t been in a few years, I thought the park had changed, some improvements had been made. It was the same, maybe worse. The swings were still broken, the grass was too high, the playground equipment was burned, trash was everywhere, and I frowned at it all. All I could see was danger and doom. My sons saw delight.
They sat and swung
And climbed, and crawled and ran in the field, on the jimmy-rigged swing, around the melted stairs, and through streams of glass. And I looked at the blissful children and wanted to claim their bliss, to be ignorant to the blight and see the stronger light of beauty. Their minds were on fun and they looked and saw it and didn’t let the obstacles stop them. I looked back at the grass then saw a meadow of daisies and observed the children and saw some maneuvering kids, making fun with little, close to nothing. I see they have the key. They focused on the expectation, not the presentation and were able to see beyond what they faced.
“The Lord hath sent me…to give them beauty for ashes” (Isaiah 61:1, 3).
Jesus says He came to give us beauty for ashes, but sometimes we miss the beauty that is yet among the ashes. We miss the present good clamoring for the coming great (1 Timothy 6:8). This happens to many of us and we need an encouraging word to remind us that even though in our sight there might be a lot of trash, a lot of negativity, hurt and pain, there is beauty all around us, even if it’s just the beauty of knowing someone in your circle cares. We need to be encouraged. Encouragement is a powerful thing.
In addition to smelling and seeing beautiful things, I love giving and receiving well-written cards, particularly those that have a Christian message. Among my favorite are DaySpring cards. I keep boxes of them tucked away to pull out and share at someone’s critical point of need. Most of us know someone who is having a hard time seeing beauty among ashes. Why not send them some encouragement with a DaySpring card? I have the Hope and Encouragement Premium Card Pack of 10 cards, some perfectly specific for certain situations and others general enough to cover any situation without being shallow. They are well-written and pretty, too.
Perhaps my favorite five of DaySpring's Hope and Encouragement Premium Card Pack
These are my personal favorite, but I had a hard time selecting which ones I wanted. Encouragement is the June focus on the (in)courage inspired deals page, where you will find these DaySpring cards and other featured products to strengthen you and those you know are going through.* Check them out and let me know what you think.
*DaySpring gave me the Hope and Encouragement Premium Card Pack for free to review and all opinions expressed are my own.
