Dear God, Grant Me Grace

My Pastor is somewhat known, I believe, as a "grace preacher". I'm not a beginner when it comes to hearing what grace truly means and how much we truly need it in our lives.

But when my cousin preached it a couple weekends ago, something stuck with me this time. Maybe because God knew that it was what I needed to hear at that moment.

It's not easy to have give into something that goes against what you feel is      
       right. 
It's not easy to be constantly taken the wrong way.
It's not easy to swallow one's pride, lower one's head and take criticism for 
       something you believe in.
It's not easy missing someone so much it feels as if you start crying/screaming,
       that you will never stop. Ever.
It's not east to believe you had yourself somewhat figured out, and somewhat
       proud of who you have become, only to realize that, with a few careless 
       words, you're no longer that person. Maybe you never really were.
It's not easy knowing where you'd like to be is far from where you are.

We always hear it said, "No one promised that this would be an easy life." This is true beyond belief. But it is also true that where there is a soul in need, there is grace to see one through. Grace just isn't something one sings about on Sunday. It isn't a pretty word just to lift one's spirits. Its a necessity. Without God's grace, I am no one. I can do nothing. If I didn't have God's grace, I'd literally be curled into a ball, screaming silently. No, probably not silently. I've done that. No, it wouldn't be a pretty scene. If I didn't know how to "access His grace" as my pastor says, I'd have done something quite insane by now.

Grace is God's divine influence and it's reflection in my life. Grace is God living through me. Grace is what enables me to wake each day and keep going. 

One of my favorite scriptures has always been Hebrews 4.16

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.

 

As I've said before, there are times when I don't even have the strength to be any kind of bold. :) I can only crawl into the arms of God and whisper for Him to hold me and let grace cover me. 

The amazing thing is...He never turns me away. No many how many times I've done this, He accepts me every time. Never a stern, "Be a Big Girl and handle this one yourself." Nope. 

This is one reason I could never think to turn away from Him. Why would I? HOW could I? How in the world would one survive without the Grace of God?

Maybe I'm Not So Good At Blogging Anymore...

Since I'm not in front of a computer for 9+ hours a day anymore, I can't keep up with blogging! And I'm not one of those people who live, eat, sleep and bathe with their cell attached to their palm. 

We take a break from our regularly scheduled program to allow for...

A Moment of Venting

 Seriously! What is up with that?! Am I the only one left who cannot stand that?! I mean, it KILLS me when I'm speaking to someone who is staring at their cell, tapping out a text, or surfing the net. Many times, I've wanted to say something snarky like....

"Let me know when you're through there and we can resume our conversation."

Or..."Maybe I should let you go. You're obviously in the middle of something very important."

Or, my personal favorite..."What am I, CHOPPED LIVER?! Am I not as important as whatever is on that there technical device?!"

Sorry to all those that participate in this particular behavior, this was not aimed at you. I promise. 

Obligatory smiley face > :)

Resuming my normal, nice person blog. (Well, I try to be nice, anyways.)

 Let me just say that Jesus loves the people who cannot be parted from their cell phones. He really does.He died for ya'll too. Grace and mercy are made free at the foot of the cross. 

Please contact Joel Pace, Pastor, at 214.391.0017 to ask more about this wondrous Lord and Savior. 

(See, I told you I could be nice.)

Okay so, I've been learning some pretty heavy stuff lately. About myself, life and what not to do with myself in life.

One thing NOT to do is mix drain cleaners. If you try one and it doesn't work, wait a day or so (and make sure to run the water to flush the pipes) before you try the second one. Or else you will have a clogged drain with standing water and no one can take a shower and then you may be late for church where your pastor may or may not call you out for being late then you have to sit through the remainder of the service, embarrassed because 1) You got called out by the pastor in front of the faithful Friday night saints and 2) You stink.

Thank God for the mercy and grace mentioned above because NONE of that happened to me. Well, I did clog the drain but I happen to have a Handyman for a father and a Desperate for a Bath sister. They unclogged it. At 5pm. Enough time for the whole Menzies family to shower. Hallelujah. \O/ (< that's my Hallelujah Man)

I'm also learning that when you pray and ask Jesus to humble you and show you how to humble yourself, He answers pretty quickly. No lie! I mean, you always hear it preached and even know it for yourself that God works in mysterious ways. He may not answer when you want Him to but answers just in time! But nothing was mysterious about how He answered this prayer. Mercy. So yeah, now I have to pray for strength to be able to do what He told me to. Amen.

(Raising my hand to request for a Special Unspoken during prayer request time)

And I also learned that Jesus loves frivolous, little me! 

So for weeks now, I've been wanting a new purse. But every time I go into one of my stores, I don't see anything I like. I took it as a sign that Jesus didn't want me to shop for a bag, I had enough already. (Amazing how we get spiritual when we can't get what we want...Oh, I guess it's not God's will, we say. When we knew all along that we didn't need to buy whatever it is we wanted!) 

Yesterday, I stopped by my local Goodwill. (Having been told last week by a co-worker that she saw a ton of Fossil bags at her Goodwill, selling for $10-$25. When she went back the next day, they were all gone. Not God's will, obviously. ;) 

Lo and behold, I found two large bins of bags! They had slices in the leather (I guess Macy's donated them and didn't want anyone to re-sell them?) and I found a saddle bag for less than $15! The slice is on the bottom and no one can see it. :) I went straight to Home Depot (I am the daughter of a Handyman, hello somebody?) and bought leather glue for $3 and change. Ain't God good? Can I get an Amen?!

So the moral of this story can go two ways. 

1) God had mercy on me and let me find an awesome deal and now I have the purse that I've been wanting for a couple weeks. Yay! Or 2) God tested me (because buying a new purse was NOT in His will) and I failed. Booooo.

I like #1.

 And I like my purse! 

And before you go, a picture to make you smile...

 Alien Baby! 

AKA. Cousin Issac

 

Happy Weekend Ya'll! And Thanksgiving since I probably won't post anything before then. lol 

Youth Alive...another So Cal trip!

 Okay, my only request this trip was to hit up a Belizean restaurant and eat garnaches! But you know how you are not supposed to go grocery shopping when you're hungry because you tend to buy everything at once? That sort  of happened with me. :) I soooo could not decide on what to eat! So I had a multiple choice lunch. :)                

          
Coke in a glass bottle. The ONLY way to drink Coca-Cola.










Rice and beans and stewed chicken. Oh, the to-die-for fried plantain and a dollop of potato salad. After this meal, all I needed was a hammock and some nice sea breeze!

No hammock :( but I did find a bench on the Santa Monica pier to chill and let my gluttonous self rest after my humongous lunch. :)

Zuma beach. Where Jen, once again, found her happy place and I found a nap. After reading.

Some of my Cali peeps! Melissa, Christy, Carissa (lovely meeting you!), The Bouncer (Anali) and Me!

Anali and I. She was pretending she liked me.

The lovely Ms. Vivian and myself.

 Love this pic! I spy something(s) silly!

Jen's a Super Nerd. This was how we charged up our phones and her lap top, while waiting on our delayed flight.

Fun times!

A special thanks to Bro and Sis M for opening their home to Jen and I.  They have got to be some of the most precious people that I've ever met. No Lie. I mean, who would allow two chicks into their home, let them sleep on their beds, eat their food, let one break a chair and mess up their electricity and then...INVITE THEM BACK?! Saints, I tell ya. :)

Church was amazing. Bro. and Sis. Jones teamed up for the services, Sis. Jones directing the choir and Bro. Jones preaching. The Spirit moved strongly in both services. I don't think Bro. Jones was able to finish either sermon! When God's ready to move, who cares if we said the final amen?! My prayer is that someone's life was changed for the better last week.

G'bye! Tune in next time! 
Whenever that is.