GRACE IN UNLIKELY PLACES

Have you experienced the grace of God? The grace of God is key to our salvation “for it is by grace you have been saved”, but grace comes in smaller and not so spiritual packages too. Do you recognize it?

On Fourth of July my three-year old son said he wanted to use the potty at Arby’s of all places, so I took him and nothing, but I did the over exaggerated “good job” and the happy potty dance to encourage him. When we got home he disappeared and called out for me, guess where he was? In the bathroom! He had successfully “gone” in the potty. We went out the next day and bought him Diego and Cars underwear to seal the deal. He has been successfully (most of the time) using the potty. It was that easy!

Today he was playing with his drawing board and told me he wrote his name, so I walked over to see his version of writing his name, this is what he did:

He wrote his name! I did not teach him to write his name A-N-N-A-I-S. I receive these as gifts of God’s grace.

I have a husband, three children, I homeschool and run a small business, so God extended His grace to me in these areas that usually require much training and teaching. You see my spirit is heavy these days for many reasons that I am sorting out with my Daddy and I do not have the energy to potty train or teach handwriting and God knows that! He makes provisions and He does that through His grace.

Below is a monologue that Israel Houghton does in his song I’m Still Standing (but by the Grace of God). How many times do we say, “by the grace of God”? It is habitual for some people, but we need to know that it really is true.

I’m still standing, but by the grace of God

I feel the need to explain something
This is not I’m still standing and I barely made it and I crawled into the building
Just pray for me brother and nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen kind of standing

When I was a kid I had one of those things that you could punch it and it’d go down and it would pop right back up because it was weighted on the bottom
That would preach wouldn’t it?
So, this kind of still standing is
He’s hit me with his best shot
Life has poured all it could on me
And I got to bounce back in my spirit

So, today I am still standing, my son uses the potty and writes his name…but by the GRACE of God because I'm weighted on the bottom. I am extremely thankful and I WILL bounce back in my spirit!

MISSION STATEMENT

OUT OF DEEP WATERS is my journey of becoming mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ and growing up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. Many posts are based on what the Lord is doing or has done in my life in an effort to:

EXHORT • ENCOURAGE • EDIFY

Psalm 18:16 says, “He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.” The Lord HAS drawn me Out of Deep Waters and this blog is an opportunity to share the process. It is my goal that every post will point back to Him and His faithfulness.

EXHORT

communicate to urge or persuade the recipients to take some action

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Revelation 12:11

ENCOURAGE

give hope or support to someone

who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 2 Corinthians 1:4

EDIFY

build up, establish, or strengthen someone

… the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, Isaiah 61:1

Click here to read the inspiration for the naming of this blog.

Mission Blog Tour hosted by Angela at Becoming Me, head over there to read hers and many others or join in.

THEN SINGS MY SOUL SATURDAYS

This song has been running through my head since I saw it performed as a dance complete with chains being broken (construction paper of course) and keys being thrown into the audience. Get your dancing shoes on. Here are some of the lyrics:

I... want you to know - You’re about to break loose
Jesus took the keys... and gave ‘em to you

Shake loose... everything that binds you up

Who told you that you can’t make it

When God says that you can shake it

Shake loose... everything that binds you up

Praise Him like its your last chance

Get up and do the David dance

I heard you were feeling down

That Satan had you bound

No you don’t have to stay

Yes, you can leave today

Just lika' in the bible days

When men began to pray

Those jail cells start to shaken

Those chains a start to breakin’

"Satan will never oppose us more than when he thinks we're onto our callings."~BETH MOORE

For more Then Sings My Soul Saturday, visit Amy at Signs, Miracles, and Wonders

WHAT IS YOUR MISSION?

Angela at Becoming Me is hosting a Blog Mission Tour July 13-18.

From Becoming Me . . .
What is the Purpose of the Blog Mission Tour?
I started this tour for several reasons.
1) As a way to encourage other bloggers
2) To meet other bloggers with similar purposes
3) To learn from other bloggers

Read all the details here.

Hope you will join in the fun and purpose!

9 on the 9th - FAVORITE LOVE SONGS

I could not resist the invitation from Angela at All That Naz to participate in her 9 on the 9th. It was fun - Enjoy!

Okay, reviewing for this post reminds me how truly enamored I was with the whole idea of love, love songs and anything romantic. I was the poster child for “hopeless romantic”. It is agonizing to remember the drama, oh, the drama! One of our local radio stations had “music for lovers” every night and I would record them and play them over and over. I am so glad I found the Love of my life and that He is more passionate about me than I could ever be about Him.

1. Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden – “I'll be your hope, I'll be your love, Be everything that you need.” My, my!

2. I Cross My Heart by George Straight – Now this was my surprise at our wedding. Todd sang this to me and it was beautiful. “You will always be the miracle That makes my life complete And as long as there’s still breath in me Ill make yours just as sweet” Ugh, I wish we had a VCR, so I could watch our wedding video.

3. You Were Meant for Me by Jewel – Jewel, Jewel, Jewel! What can I say I had a little problem with idolization…I was all about Jewel. She is an awesome songwriter and she seemed to sing what I felt inside, so much of the time.

4. Against All Odds by Phil Collins – Okay, the lyrics to this one sound just like a page out of my poetry journal. Pitiful!

5. Hold Me Now by the Thompson Twins – “Both of us searching for some perfect world we know we'll never find” Interesting, huh?

6. Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper – This one could always bring me to tears.

7. Whenever You Come Around by Vince Gill - I always wanted someone to love me like that.

8. I’ll Be by Edwin McCain – Great song. VERY dramatic!

9. Love Song by Third Day – The first song that helped me truly understand the love of Christ. I did have all those things that all these other songs talk about, I just did not know it. This one is worth posting all the lyrics:

Well I've heard it said, that a man would climb a mountain
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise
It has never been done.
Well, I never climbed the highest mountain
But I walked the hill of calvary

Chorus:
And just to be with you,
I would do anything
There's no price I would not pay, no.
And just to be with you, I would give everything
And I would give my life away, yeah.

And I've heard it said that a man would swim the oceans
Just to be with the one he loves.
But all of those dreams, are an empty emotion.
It can never be done.
Well, I never swam the deepest ocean
But I walked upon the raging sea.

Chorus

And I know that you don't understandthe fullness of My love
How I died upon the cross for your sin.
And I know that you don't realize how much that I give you
And I promise, well I would do it all again.

Join in the fun, post your 9 on the 9th, leave a comment and I will visit your blog.

CARDBOARD TESTIMONY

My cardboard testimony:

LIVED TO DIE (literally, thoughts of death consumed me)
DIED TO LIVE (died to self to live with Him eternally)

What is yours?

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; Revelation 12:11

SIDEWALK SISTERS

I thank God for the way He made you, distinct, special and unique. You were not made from a common mold. - Erwin W. Lutzer.

Labor Day weekend 2007 while serving on a retreat in Dahlonega something happened that would change my life forever. There were four us serving on the kitchen team who tried desperately to enter the chapel, so we could witness what God so faithfully does on those weekends and celebrate new found "freedom" with those attending. No matter what we did we could not get into that chapel - little did we know God had other plans for us. We finally resigned ourselves to “missing” it and sat down on the sidewalk. That is when it happened. We began to share with one another and pray for one another, it was an incredible time in the presence of God under a star filled sky on a cool sidewalk. We prayed earnestly and intentionally for all the needs presented by virtual strangers, but God did a knitting together that night that still bonds us today. We cried and then we laughed until we cried. We are all as different as night and day.

I do not know exactly what happened on that sidewalk, but I know my life is better for it. So, we call ourselves the sidewalk sisters. They refer to me as the “glue that holds us all together”, but if the truth be told each of them has held me together more than once over the last year.

God blessed us with an opportunity to be together yesterday for the whole day and well past midnight. We drove to Thomaston, Georgia for a tea party and worship service and it was a blast. It was part of a week long celebration at Pleasant Valley Church to celebrate, ironically, "FREEDOM". We even had an awesome prayer time at the Thomaston Dairy Queen.

Introducing the sidewalk sisters (below each picture is what makes each of them special as said by others in the group):

KEISHA

confident wisdom, fun, stylish, spunky, "don't mess with me", warrior, anointed discernment

KELLY pillar of peace, indescribable, fun, soul sister, vivacious, hilarious

LINDAstrong, pure, welcoming, encouraging, inquisitive, calm, faithful


SIDEWALK SISTERS

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun. - Charles R. Swindoll

We are not trying to be an exclusive group, but you really did just "have to be there!" - Sidewalk Sisters

GROUP PHOTO AT THE WOODALL HOUSE