captivated by the crisp

This morning is the first morning that it has actually felt like Fall. There is a crispness to the morning air that is quite lovely... its a snuggle up with a large cup of tea and stay in all day sort of crispness.

God is a good God. All He gives is good gifts- always. I love that about my Jesus. I deserve death and He gives me nothing but mercy and His goodness. Some days His goodness doesn't look good to me... sometimes it feels painful and hard... sometimes His goodness feels like He is giving me a stone instead of bread. Oh Lord, let me not believe the lie that you give your children stones... open my eyes to see that the bread just looks/feels like a stone. Most days, His goodness feels good to me. When Jesus opens my eyes to see His glory around me... to see the good gifts (even the ones that don't feel like gifts) that he lavishes upon me... I don't just see the gifts anymore, I now see the giver- Jesus.

Crisp, fall morning air and crunchy fallen leaves are such gifts from God. The WHOLE earth is filled with His glory! Praise His name!

I wish there was a way to capture the crisp chill of the fall air so that I could share it with you. So, I guess the photo of crunchy fall leaves below will have to do for now :-)

love to all.

number grief as grace

endless gifts and life

Hey Friends,

Well, it looks like it has been a while since I have posted. I am so sorry for that! To be honest, I have been busy living life instead of just blogging about it :-)

Summer has been good, slow and full of sunshine. Our days have been spent working on our house, being out in the garden, reading, eating good food, spending time with good friends and new friends, and long evening walks. One of my best and most favorite summers ever!

Physically I have been feeling great! There are still those days that my ribs flare up with pain, but those are really very few. I have been off of my Valley Fever medication since July, and I just seem to keep getting better. I have an appointment with my pulmonary Doctor in October in which he will test my blood one more time to make sure that the Valley Fever hasn't come back since stopping the medication. I really think that God has healed me completely, and so I'm trusting Him for that. Thank you so much for your prayers, my friends. It has meant so much to me know that you all are praying. I will be forever grateful.

I've recently started reading a book from Ann Voskamp called, " One Thousand Gifts". Can I just say WOW!? Like any book, there are things I disagree with in it, but there are more so things that I agree with. Ann write poetically about learning how to live in the moment and how to be always watchful for God's gifts. In her own life she started practicing this 'sleuthing of God's gifts' by listing the gifts as she noticed them... her goal being to list 1000 of God's gifts to her. This book has been such a huge challenge to me (and I haven't even finished it yet!)  I started my own 1000 Gifts List the other day and it has been so good for my soul! So let me take this moment to challenge you to grab this book, read it and then make your own list of 1000 Gifts.

Lots of love,
jess