everyday grace

friends.

it has been a long and busy couple weeks at our house

we hosted family and friends for 2 weeks straight

which was fun, of course, but also draining

(can i get an amen from all my fellow introverts?)

then, less than 24 hours after seeing our family off

i had to bring my house back into order

AND get everything that wasn't a large piece of furniture off the carpet

now, before you go thinking i like to create strange tasks for myself, 

i should mention that our landlord is selling our house

which means carpet cleaners (hence the pick up frenzy)

then photographers the next day 

(aka more pick up frenzy / stuffing half of our things into boxes and closets)

and now showings for the next 3 days

(try keeping a house showing ready with two toddlers in tow...i dare you)

and amidst all the busy,

there are moments of anxiety, if i'm being honest

about whether the next owner will want to keep us on as renters

or if we'll be out of a house in the next couple of months...

but the Lord has been faithful to remind me that anxiety is not from Him

and He used these verses to encourage me:

"4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
(Philippians 4:4-8)

i assure you, as a person who is no stranger to anxiety, i know these verses well

and yet, reading them in context as i read my way through Philippians, 

i was even more encouraged by them

for the first time, i noticed that the verses immediately following these 

talk about God's provision in Paul's life

and that subtle reminder was just what my heart needed that morning

then the next morning, as i faced my mountain of tasks

i decided i'd put some music on to help motivate me

so i searched one of my favorite worship artists and let youtube go to autoplay

and song after song, lyric after lyric

i realized that what my soul needed was to be reminded of Truth

how easily we loose sight of it when our world gets a little rocky

so i sang along and basked in the many evidences of grace in my life

feeling incredibly refreshed along the way

and yet again, this morning, as i read my devotional, 

these words leapt off the page at me:

"There is no misery that Jesus cannot turn into ministry, 

no brokenness He cannot transform into beauty"

our current situation is nowhere near misery or brokenness, 

let's be clear about that

i just loved that picture of restoration and the encouragement it brings

there's so much perseverance and standing firm involved in running this race we call life

it's such a blessing to be reminded of Jesus' work in our lives, especially when the going gets tough

there's evidence of grace everywhere - you just gotta look for it!

(lyrics from "Loyal" by Lauren Daigle)