Grace: A Gift for Easter & Every Day

Grace blows me away.

I can’t fathom the fullness of it. I can’t manufacture grace for my own failings, but there’s sufficient grace for whatever depths to which I’ve fallen.

Jon Acuff posted this on Twitter today, “The only thing I’ve found bigger than the depth of my own sin is the cross Christ died on for it.”

And as Tracee Persiko said so well in her Good Friday blog post, “I am feeling the weight of grace today. I am feeling the weight that grace extended to me by God was unmerited, undeserved, and unearn-able.”

I love that we can all struggle to comprehend grace together. I doubt we’ll ever fully grasp it on this side of heaven.

Listen to this new song by Jimmy Needham. Catch the surrender in the lyrics, admitting weakness and giving up completely to grace.

If I ever needed grace, it’s now. You are strong when I am weak somehow.
I am weak enough to see I need you to cover me. If I ever needed grace, it’s now.

Lastly, a song that pierced me through when sung at our Good Friday gathering at Karis Church, God Be Merciful To Me. You can listen to part of the song at Indelible Grace (it’s the third song in the list, but they’re all good).

Let these lyrics soak into your soul this Easter:

God, be merciful to me; On Thy grace I rest my plea
Plenteous in compassion Thou, Blot out my transgressions now;
Wash me, make me pure within; Cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin.

My transgressions I confess; Grief and guilt my soul oppress.
I have sinned against Thy grace, And provoked Thee to Thy face.
I confess Thy judgement just; Speechless, I Thy mercy trust.

I am evil, born in sin; Thou desirest truth within.
Thou alone my Savior art, Teach Thy wisdom to my heart;
Make me pure, Thy grace bestow, Wash me whiter than the snow.

Broken, humbled to the dust, By Thy wrath and judgement just,
Let my contrite heart rejoice, And in gladness hear Thy voice;
From my sins O hide Thy face, Blot them out in boundless grace.

Gracious God, my heart renew, Make my spirit right and true.
Cast me not away from Thee, Let Thy Spirit dwell in me;
Thy salvation’s joy impart, Steadfast make my willing heart.

Sinners then shall learn from me, And return, O God, to Thee
Savior all my guilt remove, And my tongue shall sing Thy love
Touch my silent lips, O Lord, And my mouth shall praise accord.

1 Comment
by claygirlsings on April 7, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Easter, God, Grace
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by claygirlsings on April 7, 2012

http://claygirlsings.wordpress.com/2012/04/07/grace-gift-easter/

My Bully Story

I had a personal bully for the bulk of my grade school experience.  A small private school and last names starting with the same letter put us in close proximity of one another often. I was overweight, bashful, and wearing near coke bottle glasses (worn since 2nd grade) and hand-me-down clothes, all of which may have contributed to making me an easy target.

Which comes first – the bullying or the low self-esteem?

There were some pretty low moments for me and I hated strongly disliked the social aspect of much of my grade school experience until I transferred schools in 11th grade. In retrospect, I’m grateful to have had a circle of friends who truly liked me and, while bullied, it never included physical abuse like hitting or getting knocked down. In fact, the one time my bully’s friend wanted to fight me for flirting with her boyfriend (I had no idea HOW to flirt back then, so that was somewhat laughable), my bully was the one pulling her off me and convincing her not to throw a punch. So as miserable as I was, it could have been a whole lot worse. Only once, in 8th grade, do I remember mentioning the temptation of suicide Read the full post »

1 Comment
by claygirlsings on March 6, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in #Bullymovie, Bully, God, Grace
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by claygirlsings on March 6, 2012

http://claygirlsings.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/my-bully-story/

The danger of wearing a mask

It can be dangerous to wear a mask.

wearing a mardi gras mask

Tonight: a fun event with a colorful mask, but I wasn’t quite myself. A little too loud, a bit too enthusiastic – not really a problem since I’m rather reserved most of the time and after all it was a party. Hiding behind the mask, I felt the freedom to be more outgoing and vivacious. But as the night wore on there was an alteration. The mask felt more normal, a part of me – truly, it was starting to stick to my skin, but the smile below the mask began to feel false, too.

The danger to be not quite true, not quite me was strong. Read the full post »

1 Comment
by claygirlsings on March 1, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Confession, God, Grace, Surrender
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by claygirlsings on March 1, 2012

http://claygirlsings.wordpress.com/2012/03/01/danger-wearing-mask/

An expected, yet surprising proposal

Did you read yesterday’s post? It was the first half of a big Valentine’s Day date that Tom and I had 14 years ago. When you last left us, we were in the car headed to Manassas, VA, just outside of Washington, D.C. and I was fairly sure Tom would propose at some point in the evening.

What part of this sentence is not realistic:  Let’s drive up to D.C. on Valentine’s Day and just randomly pick a restaurant and expect to get a table without having to wait and with no reservations? Have you ever tried to go out for dinner, especially in a big city, on Valentine’s Day? Restaurants are packed that night, and even more so when Feb. 14 falls on a Saturday! It was at this point that I apparently took leave of my senses. Blinded by love, perhaps. I cannot explain it.

What I knew:  We arrived Read the full post »

4 Comments
by claygirlsings on February 14, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Family, Funny, Love
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by claygirlsings on February 14, 2012

http://claygirlsings.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/expected-surprising-proposal/

When a stranger on the phone is a good thing

“Tom’s going to be late, but you have a package outside your door.”

These words, heard over the phone in a strange male voice, were odd words. Odd because A) it was 8am, not normal package delivery times; and B) Tom is never late.

It was Saturday, Valentine’s Day, 1998. Tom and I had a full day planned: breakfast at a local restaurant, cavern exploring in the Shenandoah Valley, and ending with a dress-up dinner near Washington D.C. I’m a sufficient enough control freak that I liked Read the full post »

2 Comments
by claygirlsings on February 13, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Family, Funny, Love
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by claygirlsings on February 13, 2012

http://claygirlsings.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/stranger-phone-good-thing/

Embracing the Gifts

Rainy days in Mrs. Robert’s 4th grade meant the chance to play Heads Up Seven Up. My eyes tightly shut and head down on my desk, I’d wait and listen. If footsteps came close, I might be picked; I had to be ready and I did NOT want to make a mistake. Sometimes, though, in the quiet room, the darkness behind my eyes would make me sleepy and I would drift off.

I’m learning that I need to watch just as intently for Read the full post »

1 Comment
by claygirlsings on January 16, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in #1000Gifts, Family, God, Grace, photography
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by claygirlsings on January 16, 2012

http://claygirlsings.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/embracing-the-gifts/

Treasures in Cracked Pots

Well, what do ya know? Today is my one year blogiversary! Let’s celebrate with a long overdue post, shall we?

In 2007, I started my love affair with mud. Clay to be exact. That was the year I took my first pottery class. Talk about joy! I left every class singing. That’s where the name Claygirlsings comes from. Throwing clay, as it’s called, seemed to awaken something in me that was dormant. Unfortunately and primarily due to the cost, it’s been a couple years since I’ve created anything new, but that is about to change thanks to Groupon - I’ve got a discount for a class at our local studio!

My largest creation was the size of a vegetable serving dish. I was quite proud. This beautiful bowl took shape fairly easily and was aesthetically pleasing to the eye. As I finished trimming it, I was feeling like I had arrived as a potter. This was going to be gorgeous. It was nearly ready to set aside for firing, when suddenly – SNAP! Read the full post »

9 Comments
by claygirlsings on December 28, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Crafts, God
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by claygirlsings on December 28, 2011

http://claygirlsings.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/treasures-in-cracked-pots/

You can go your own way (or play fetch)

I spent my lunch hour Thursday walking through campus, praying and thinking. This weekend was Mizzou’s 100th Homecoming celebration, so there was a ton of activity everywhere I walked. Of course, all that activity distracted me from praying, so I finally decided to rest on a bench at Peace Park. Most of the trees are still green there and the sunlight filtered through them in a beautiful and relaxing way, sparkling on the water running through the creek.

Gorgeous fall day

My heart didn’t feel quite so tranquil, but I found the space that was needed Read the full post »

Leave a Comment
by claygirlsings on October 16, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in #1000Gifts, God, Worship
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by claygirlsings on October 16, 2011

http://claygirlsings.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/go-your-own-way-play-fetch/

Camp CUMCITO – On our way

As I type, Tom and I are en route to Camp CUMCITO for a week of fun, sweat and bugs. Camp CUMCITO (City Union Mission’s Camp In The Ozarks) has been operating for 70+ years, taking low income children out of Kansas City for a week of fun in the country. For this year I will be working as chapel assistant. My duties are varied, but consist mainly of helping the chapel teacher for the week in whatever capacity he/she may require. In past years, I’ve done motions for songs, led relay races, helped groups brainstorm word pictures, played an extra in a skit, ran the sound system, made a PowerPoint presentation, and even acted as time-keeper so we wouldn’t run over the session.

This is my sixth year to volunteer at CUMCITO since we moved to Missouri. Read the full post »

Leave a Comment
by claygirlsings on July 16, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in camp, God, Music
Tagged , , , ,

Posted by claygirlsings on July 16, 2011

http://claygirlsings.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/camp-cumcito-on-our-way/

God: a reverse “where’s waldo?”

Alece at Grit & Glory challenged us with a mid-year check up of our One Word 2011. Here’s my original post from January.

If you didn’t click the link, my word was simple, yet huge:  God. And wow, am I finding him everywhere. It’s like a reverse Where’s Waldo? page, sort of like this:

I’m finding God. Everywhere. Read the full post »

3 Comments
by claygirlsings on July 11, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in #OneWord2011, God

Posted by claygirlsings on July 11, 2011

http://claygirlsings.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/god-a-reverse-wheres-waldo/

« Older Posts
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 178 other followers