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| Friday, September 16, 2005 | |
Just another reminder that In the Spirit of Grace is moving! If you are subscribed to the RSS feed, please make sure to update your feed information. The new RSS feed is at:
http://inthespiritofgrace.com/?feed=rss2
At the main site (http://www.inthespiritofgrace.com), you will also find easy to use quick link buttons so that you can subscribe via MyMSN, MyYahoo, Bloglines, & newsgator! Scroll down a little bit, and look on the right hand side of the page.
Finally, if you aren't quite sure about using a feed reader, but, would rather have *email* notifications of when the site is updated, that is available on the new site as well! Simply scroll down, and you will find an subscribe via email form underneath the calendar on the right hand side of the new site!
I am very excited about the new system, and know that you will be too! Make sure to stop by and check it out:
http://www.InTheSpiritofGrace.com
All new posts will be at our new location, so make sure to update your feed and bookmarks, today, so that you don't miss a beat!
Dei gratia,
Dee
| Monday, September 12, 2005 | |
In the Spirit of Grace is moving! This decision was reached after quite a bit of prayer, and was a result of several things.
I am so excited about this move, I can't wait to get settled! I am currently moving old posts over to our "new home", and plan to have that completed within the next week.
Our new home comes with beautiful "decoration" - providing you a gift to your senses (no more stark white!) while you read your favorite posts, along with easier archive access.
Please update your feeds & bookmarks! The new URL for In the Spirit of Grace is:
http://www.InTheSpiritOfGrace.com
For now, we are simply posting the old posts from here along with their original publishing date, however, in the future, we will be going through and actually "time stamping" the old posts to their appropriate dates.
Unfortunately, the comments will not be moving with us! If you have a favorite post that you would like to comment on, please visit our new site, and add your thoughts!
See you there!
Dei gratia,
Dee
| Friday, September 02, 2005 | |
 "I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible."
~Jeremiah 15:21 (NKJV)
This morning, as I watch the fifth day of devastation and utter chaos in the hurricane torn south, my heart aches. The Spirit has blessed me with a compassion that seems to have no end. But, even in this, as I pray for the people in the south who are suffering. As I urge you to donate to a reputable relief organization, Jeremiah rings in my mind.
God will redeem these suffering people from the grip of the most terrible. Please allow the Spirit to work through you for God's purpose.
"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them:
if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
or ministry, let us use it in our ministering;
he who teaches, in teaching;
he who exhorts, in exhortation;
he who gives, with liberality;
he who leads, with diligence;
he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."
~Romans 12:6-8 (NKJV)
Do whatever you can do to ease the suffering. Don't turn a blind eye. Don't get involved in the blame game of who is responsible for why things aren't going according to what you think they should go. Don't waste your time. Don't waste your energy. Don't let the evil one distract you from the important work that uses your precious gifts.
For your convenience, here is a short list of charities that need your help for these souls in the south:
UMCOR - While this is a denominationally related charity, it is my first choice for giving because 100% of the donations are given to disaster relief efforts.
Salvation Army
American Red Cross
Operation Blessing International
Dei gratia,
Dee
| Wednesday, August 31, 2005 | |
This morning, the Louisiana governor, Kathleen Blanco, called for a Day of Prayer in the state of Louisiana. To quote governor Blanco,
"As we
face the devastation wrought by Katrina, as we search for those in
need, as we comfort those in pain and as we begin the long task of
rebuilding, we turn to God for strength, hope and comfort.
I have
declared August 31, 2005, a Day of Prayer in the State of Louisiana. I
am asking that all of Louisiana take some time Wednesday to pray. Pray
for the victims and the rescuers. Please pray that God give us all the
physical and spiritual strength to work through this crisis and
rebuild.
Please pray for patience for those anxiously waiting
to hear from family members or to get word about their homes. Pray for
the safety of our hard-working rescuers and those they are bringing to
safety.
I know, by praying together on Wednesday, that we can
pull together and draw strength we need; strength, that only God can
give us.
In my prayers, I will also thank
God for the strong and resilient people of this state and how they are
working to meet this challenge."
Whether you are in Louisiana or not, I would like to see you join in this day of prayer for every single person who was affected by Hurricane Katrina and continues to be affected by the hurricane itself and its massive after effects.
Dei gratia,
Dee
We've made it! The blogathon is officially over...and we made it through the 24 hours! Do you remember yesterday morning when I said that it would be a miracle if I made it the entire 24 hours since I was operating on no sleep?
Guess what.
You just witnessed a miracle.
Only through the grace of God did I make it this far....and I am so very thankful....praising His name!!
I didn't ever get a "third wind", however, Heifer International is such a worthy cause - I'm happy that the Lord carried me through the last 12 hours.
And, I want to thank you, my readers, for reading and sticking with me.
Finally, sending a special thank you to all the sponsors participating in Blogathon 2005, and the sponsors of In the Spirit of Grace in particular. Thank you so much for giving!
Remember, you can still sponsor In the Spirit of Grace's campaign for Heifer International through/to August 9th! If you've enjoyed any of the posts - and hopefully the majority of them, I would really appreciate you becoming a sponsor - even if it's just $1.00! Simply click on the link on the right side of this page that says "In the Spirit of Grace/Heifer International" under the Blogathon banner.
As an aside, my regular writing/posting will resume tomorrow, Monday, August 8 for In the Spirit of Grace.
Dei gratia,
Dee
Te just went out....Fia is stirring, and the house is beginning to show signs of life (well, not the house...but, you know what I mean!). My brain is sleeping, but, the rest of me is still here....counting down the minutes.
30 minutes left!
Stay tuned...because you are about to witness a miracle!
Dei gratia,
Dee
There is still time to sponsor our campaign for Heifer International. On the right hand side of this page, simply click on the "In the Spirit of Grace / Heifer International" link below the blogathon banner. Sponsors may donate through August 9th.
Do you remember that violent, vicious storm that came up one night, while Christ and the disciples were out on the ship? As the disciples freaked out and ran around fretting....Christ slept.
I'd bet they were thinking - why won't He get up and SAVE us?? Look, He's sleeping like a baby!!
But, I say, He was just showing us the way. Sometimes, life with become a violent, vicious storm that suddenly comes up and threatens to swallow us, sweeping us out to sea.
What we must do, when that storm comes, is sleep. Alright, I'm not advocating going back to bed and pulling the covers up over your head when things are rough. In this sense, our sleep is rest. When that storm comes, we must rest on the Lord....knowing that He will take care of us - and fully trusting that He only wants the best for us. He always acts for good and not evil.
Then and only then will we be able to fully rest in the Lord during the violent, vicious storms of life crash into us. Then and only then will we be given the peace to sleep through every storm.
See you in 30.
Dei gratia,
Dee
There is still time to sponsor our campaign for Heifer International. On the right hand side of this page, simply click on the "In the Spirit of Grace / Heifer International" link below the blogathon banner. Sponsors may donate through August 9th.
Having some problems putting a sentence - or even a string of words together at this point. So, in an effort to keep momentum right up to the end, I am giving the floor to our brother and "famed" writer....Saint Paul with a blessing from 1 Thessalonians.
"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calles you is faithful, who also will do it."~1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NKJV)
See you in 30....hopefully, I will get a "third wind" and be able to actually put a few intelligent words together by then.
Dei gratia,
Dee
There is still time to sponsor our campaign for Heifer International. On the right hand side of this page, simply click on the "In the Spirit of Grace / Heifer International" link below the blogathon banner. Sponsors may donate through August 9th.
There is this pretty hymn that we sing every so often at church that goes something like:
Morning has broken, like a sweet morning....dah da da da dah, dah da da dah.
Ok, I can't remember all the words. But, as I hear the morning sounds outside, and morning breaks, that hymn comes to my mind, and I quietly hum that hymn.
After the long dark night of blogging every half hour for Heifer International, we are almost to the goal! Morning has broken, and we have persevered through the long dark night.
See you in 30!
Dei gratia,
Dee
There is still time to sponsor our campaign for Heifer International. On the right hand side of this page, simply click on the "In the Spirit of Grace / Heifer International" link below the blogathon banner. Sponsors may donate through August 9th.
"And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it. But Solomon took thirteen years to build his own house; so he finish all his house."
~1 Kings 6:37-7:1
Solomon had his moments. He was a man after God's heart - but, he had his moments when he turned away and did things he knew was wrong.
But, one demonstration of his commitment and reverence for God was when he built the temple. Solomon had a great deal of wealth at his fingertips. He was "heavy" with the precious metal plated items and large, custom cut stone when building.
He probably could have hired enough workers to have his house finished without it interfering with the completion of the temple.
Yet, he didn't.
He made sure that the temple was completely done - perfectly - just as the plans laid out. And, then....and ONLY then, did he go about finishing the building of his own house.
Sometimes in our need-it-now society, we forget who should be given due before us. We just want what we want and we want it now. Or we need what we need...and that is our highest priority.
Yet, Solomon, a man of means, was able to understand that the Lord's house must be completely before his own house. He must serve God before he served himself.
At least in this example, his priorities were in order. What a great example to keep in the fore of our minds when making decisions now and in the future.
Dei gratia,
Dee
"When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible."
~anonymous
I would like to add to this. When you are in line with God's will, working towards His purpose here, committed to Him. He will give you the pleasure, and deep well of passion so that you may continue your good work.
Dei gratia,
Dee
I'm continually shocked and amazed at how much of a hidden fortune I must have when I check my email each day. I didn't know one person could have so many bank accounts at so many different banks. And, I didn't even know that I had them. I must be wealthy and not even know it.
Truth be told, it's just more spam mail - trying to see if they can get someone to fall for their tricks, give important account information, and unwittingly provide the thieves with all the information they need to know to commit fraud.
I don't open the emails. I just click the delete key, and go on with my day. but, I really don't understand how someone can participate in that sort of activity without any apparent guilt or achknowledgement that what they are doing is wrong.
Deep down, I believe they know it's wrong - maybe it's not so deep down. But, I suspect, they justify it to themselves this way or that, and thereby alleviate any guilt they may feel for stealing and defrauding innocent, unsuspecting people.
But, I think this justification (not the good kind) is one that is pretty common for us as humans. We may break this commandment or that - and we simply shrug it off, justifying it to ourselves.
This is where grace comes in. We need to resist that urge to get into the flesh and justify our wrong doing. We need to humble ourselves enough to accept that we must ask forgiveness when we do wrong...and try not to do wrong again. We need to get out of our flesh, and invite the Spirit to dwell within us, cheerfully accepting His correction.
And, when we get those SPAM emails, asking us for our account information, wouldn't it be wonderful it we could just say a little prayer for the fraudster, that they correct their ways and get right with God as we delete their email from our system?
Dei gratia,
Dee
There is still time to sponsor In the Spirit of Grace's campaign for Heifer International! Simply click on the link that says "In the Spirit of Grace / Heifer international" over on the right hand side of this page, under the blogathon banner! Sponsors can pledge until August 9.
There are so many people in the world who are desperately lonely. I mean, beyond "lonely"...or maybe more than lonely.
You've seen these people, I'm sure...maybe you are one of them (I know that I used to be). You try to satisfy this gaping hole deep inside you with money, success, fame, importance, family, etc....but, it doesn't seem to ever be filled. The more you have, the more you seem to need - it's like a black hole.
This sort of lonely desperation oft times is first recognized by others when the person suffering is so frustrated by the lack of meaning in their life - the inability to fill the black hole - that they make the fateful decision to steal their own life, and are found dead....desperately seeking answers and fulfillment.
The awesome news is, those important questions that all of us seek answers to:
What am I doing here?
What is the point of life?
Where am I heading?
are all available to us through Christ Jesus. Check this out:
"I am the way and the truth and the life." ~ John 14:6
In other words, if you are dissatisifed with materialism, turn to Him - He is the way. If you are look for a value system, turn to Him - he is the truth. If you are searching for what you are doing here, what the point of life is - what your purpose is - He is the life.
Dei gratia,
Dee
You know, when I first heard about Blogathon 2005, I thought - well, that sounds simple....just post every half hour for 24 hours? no problem! Not to mention that I thought it would give me a day where I had to stay near the computer, and I would get *so much* done!
Wrong!
I want to send HUGE kudos out to all the bloggers who have done this before and are doing it this year! Now that I have experienced it, I definitely understand that it's not a snap.
And, to all the bloggers who, like Kim & I, are doing this for the first time - and are still up posting now - kudos to you too!
I will admit, about 8 last night, I was ready to throw in the towel. Being mom to 3 kids all day, getting orders ready this morning, and running a business PLUS participating in the Blogathon (and running on no sleep) was, well, almost more than what I could handle. I really think if bedtime for my youngest would have been even a half hour later, I would have been done.
But, something happened once she went to bed, and it was quiet in the house. I felt ready to persevere...to keep moving forward, to keep working on raising money for Heifer International!
Then, I attempted the power nap. I thought, when I woke up, that I was a goner for sure. Yet, here I am....posting again. Now that there is less than 5 hours left, I'm hunkered down to see this to the end!
I would love to know how many bloggers are still active at this time of night. Jenny do you happen to have that info??
OH, and I'm so happy to announce...Blogathon has surpassed the goal of raising over $50,000 for charity in this 24 hour period! I haven't checked recently, but, the last time I was at the blogathon site, it was over $54,000 - that is so awesome! Let's keep it up! I don't feel like I've done as much as I could have, but, I am happy to have kept going - even in the face of utter exhaustion and frustration at the "easy" task of posting every half hour not being so easy.
Dei gratia,
Dee
There is still time to sponsor In the Spirit of Grace's campaign for Heifer International! Simply click on the link that says "In the Spirit of Grace / Heifer international" over on the right hand side of this page, under the blogathon banner! Sponsors can pledge until August 9.
I really thought it was going to be too short....but, I did manage to get the papasan over here, at my desk, and positioned so that I could still reach the keyboard & mouse and still see what I was typing.
I'll tell you what, I may trade in my regular desk chair for this - it's sooooo comfy! Not that I could really get any work done sitting in this, but, it's really much better for Blogathon purposes!!
I'm thinking about putting a CD in. Honestly, there simply isn't much on TV right now - and certainly nothing that is interesting enough for me to want to stay awake!
Just finished my 4 Starbucks cold mocha in a bottle. LOL Don't want to give them a plug or anything, but, I bought a 4 pack yesterday (I usually don't have any extra caffeine...but, suspected it would be necessary to keep myself up all night!). They were yummy, but, I probably won't buy them again until next year!
I noticed, while surfing the web ring, that there were several people (no, I didn't count how many!) that were numbering their posts. That is cool. I've wondered, off and on, how many posts I've done since this started this morning...but, every time I start counting, I get distracted. It is a little weird trying to figure out if people are still "with us" or not with all the different time zones involved.
And, I have to tell you, as I wrap up this post. Te (my border collie) is going to be kicked out of my room soon. She's all curled up on the bed, snuggled into the covers, and she is making me T-I-R-E-D. of course, she's had a really hard day - I mean, she had to learn about a doggie door and *everything*!
C ya in 30!
Dei gratia,
Dee
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