A rare nap with the girls = a handcrafted moment

So, yesterday was a day of sickness in our house. Finley just got over having a quick virus and I caught it and was down for the day, it slowed me down and I actually got to take a good rest/nap with both the little gals. This never happens, first of all, I am not a big napper and secondly, Ella has not taken naps for a year or so and suddenly since the heat here is so exhausting, I have found her daily lying on the marble floor trying to cool off and then dozing into a good afternoon nap. Well, as they were fast asleep on each side of me, I just rested in the moment and gave praise to God for these little beauties!!! Words cannot express how much I love these sisters (as well as every one of our children!!) 

God blessed me gently during this time and reminded me of a sweet verse I love to pray over my girls,

Psalm 144:12 says, 

"May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace."


As a mommy to 3 girls, I seek God and ask that in His grace, I would build them up and lay a foundation for them of love, prayer, grace and humility. Each day I pray that I would be a polisher of their lives, that they would be "finely graved and beautifully polished, adorned with grace and good works, particularly with modesty, meekness, and humility."

Since living in India, we have bought several intricately carved pieces of furniture for our home. I imagine the time and thought that goes into the process of completing such a piece of art. A skilled craftsman uses his hands to create with such detail a beautiful decoration that adorns a room and catches the eye of those who are in the room. These earthly creations remind me that we have a Master Carver, One that intricately carves our lives if we offer them to HIM and He thoughtfully beautifies us in order that He may be glorified!

I really love this verse!!! And as beautiful as Lilly, Ella and Finley appear on the outside, it is my desire that as they grow and are carved by the Maker's hands, their words, actions and lives would shine Christ and that He is the true beauty that would be magnified each and everyday. 


It is a BLESSING to see Lilly in relationship with her Savior. God is at work in her and to see with my own eyes this verse lived out, it just makes me WORSHIP! Thank you, Father, for carving and beautifying from within!!!

Bahuut Grace.

Bahuut (in Hindi it means "lots of") Grace-

 Each day that I awake, each moment that is captivated, I see God's grace abounding. It is an undeserving grace, I fall short day after day and I am reminded that we are living in this momentary affliction, and that God has a surpassing power that belongs to HIM alone. Grace is a surpassing power that He can only give.

 I have been camping out in 2 Corinthians this week just thinking on Chapter 4 and it is good. Thinking about how we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (vs 11) That is grace. This is moment by moment... and praise the Lord it is moment by moment. I need Him in the good, the bad, the scary, the fun, the exciting, the crazy, and the calm moments. I have been reminded that we serve a FAITHFUL God, and as His grace extends to more and more people, it increases thanksgiving to the glory of God.

 It takes time to think about grace. I really am amazed at how God's grace extends to me personally, then to my marriage, my children, our family unit, our extended family, my friends, to the people that are in and out of my home daily, the villages and homes that we are in, the national believers, our churches, our countries, this world and how the Grace-giver's righteous right hand is assigning all of it. As His child, I am being inwardly renewed day by day, "for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things, that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal") Vs 17-18. I need to hear these words daily. I need to hear them so I don't lose heart, as a child of God, a wife, mother, friend, language learner, a person in this world (this crazy world I live in) and as a daughter of the King.

 The days I am living can seem so real, so non-transient, I wake up to my husband (whom I adore), praying for me, then one by one, 1,2,3,4,5 sweet children crawling in my bed to snuggle and get their first morning hugs and kisses and we pray personally for each one, asking the Lord to extend His grace, His hand for our day, then as we get to breakfast, the rush of the day begins.

 And then I forget. I forget that this is just a momentary affliction, that I am being prepared for eternity, and so I think about the things that are seen, the things that are transient, and I can lose heart, because my focus is on those things. And then He renews me again and again so that His life may be manifested in my flesh. What an incredible God, whose grace is pure and good and immeasurable. And as His grace extends thru all the moments of the day, all I can do is praise and thank Him for His love.

 This really is a life lived in and by grace. I think it's good to just ponder them...

 Grace:

 Saved by grace through faith.
Growing in an everlasting relationship with my Savior.
Forgiven for all my sins.
Being transformed into a new creation.
Worshipping the ONE TRUE GOD.
Set free.
Rescued.
Loved.
Beautified.
Sustained daily.
Raised in a loving, Christian home.
Married to my husband who leads our home as a servant of God.
Mommy to 5 beautiful children who love each other.
Living in India.
Seeing God at work in people's lives.
Blessed by having my dear friend homeschool our children.
Having a beautiful pool in India to swim at when we so choose.
Having an amazing house helper, cook and Auntie come each day to help me.
Skype.
Parents and Grandparents who love God and their grandchildren.
Peaches and watermelon in India.
Air conditioning in the desert.
Sunsets.
Rainbows.
Hugs.
Kisses.
Words.
A 5 month old baby.
Music.
My sweet sister friends.
Adoption.
Love.
Rain.
A little 3 year old girl who loves to sing and dance.

And the list goes on......

As I choose to acknowledge the graces, it generates thankfulness.