Eucharisteo

I attend one of the local Christian church's Bible study here in town and we just finished reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  I know that God had the women of that church choose this book specifically for me and what I was going through in my life.  Life had thrown Paul and I a curve ball and I felt like I was struggling with my head barely above water and I needed a helping hand desperately.

Paul has been furloughed since April of this year.  During that time he was able to find a job as a handyman as well as help with a lot of responsibilities at church.  Between him working his odd jobs and me being able to get my old data entry job back, we were able to pay the bills and we had food on the table.  For the most part I felt peace about everything that was going on.  God has always been faithful in the past and I knew He would help us through this time.  Every month, after paying the bills and buying a week's worth of groceries, I would feel my chest tighten and tears stinging my eyes ..... every month I would have to pray again that God would give me peace about our situation and remind myself that He is always faithful.

When I went to the ladies' Bible study I had no idea what this book was about, but it didn't take long for me to realize my life was about to change for the better.  We read the book through the week, then every Tuesday we would watch a video from the author that would be incredibly deep, and after watching the videos we would have group discussions and talk about even deeper issues going on in our lives.  It was uncomfortable sometimes, for me, and I'm sure all the other women, because we don't like to talk about the things we are dealing with.  I know for me, I hate talking about my weaknesses and struggles.

Eucharisteo.  Grace.  Joy.  Thanksgiving.

She taught us about the Greek word eucharisteo -- this is the word that can change everything: eucharisteo—it comes right out of the Gospel of Luke: “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them … ” (Luke 22:19 NIV). In the original language, “he gave thanks” reads “eucharisteo.”

The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning “grace.” Jesus took the bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks. Eucharisteo, thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for grace, charis. But it also holds its derivative, the Greek word chara, meaning “joy.” Charis. Grace. Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Chara. Joy.

Deep chara joy is found only at the table of the euCHARisteo; the table of thanksgiving. The holy grail of joy, God set it in the very center of Christianity. The Eucharist is the central symbol of Christianity. Glynn, doesn’t the continual repetition of beginning our week at the table of the Eucharist clearly place the whole of our lives into the context of thanksgiving?

One of Christ’s very last directives He offers to His disciples is to take the bread, the wine, and to remember. Do this in remembrance of Me. Remember and give thanks.

This is the crux of Christianity: to remember and give thanks, eucharisteo.

Once she introduced eucharisteo in the book, I have done my best to have grace, to be thankful, and to have joy every single day.  Sometimes it isn't easy when the kids are spilling cups, bouncing off the walls, or not taking their naps so I can get some work done, but I don't let it discourage me.  I am not perfect, but each day I strive to be better than I am today and hopefully I will be where I want to be!

God ..... is always good and we are always loved ..... even when what He gives may appear ugly.  Ann Voskamp

I could write so much more about this wonderful book, but I think you should just read it on your own and see what you think!  I will close with this story about my husband and I that happened just a couple weeks ago .....

On our way home from visiting family we experienced a life lesson.  We drove through a major town and I suggested to my husband that he should get gas.  He had intentions of doing so, but he figured there would be one more station up ahead every time he passed an exit leading into the town.  90+ miles later, we got off on the appropriate exit leading us to the next major town that is 30 miles away, and we only have 15 miles of gas left in our tank.  We have ran out of gas more than once in our nearly 8 years of marriage so that fear is always in the back of my mind (that is also why I nicely suggested getting gas 90 miles ago, but oh well!) so realizing we would be stranded in the middle of nowhere with four small children and no cell phone service was hitting home fast.

Even though I felt the anxiety creeping in to my heart I did my best to remain calm.  My natural instincts would be to start a fight, but I knew God was giving us a life lesson and I really didn't want to blow it.

We found a little town on the side of the road that we pulled into hoping to find a gas station ..... they had a school, a fire station, a post office, and no gas station.  At this point we only had 10 miles left so we pulled back onto the highway hoping to find a station soon.  Paul and I watched the miles go down from 10, to 9, to 8, to 7 ..... I suggested to Paul that we needed to pray together that God help us, and he made sure to let me know he had already started a long time ago! :-)  I started praying too -- whether in my head or out loud I can't remember -- but I prayed and asked God to divinely help us.  I told Him I had faith that He would help us whether we found a gas station or not.  I had peace as Paul and I continued to watch the gas gauge go down to 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 .....

We drove on 0 miles for a little while, and we saw a bend in the road.  I told Paul with confidence that there was a gas station around the corner and that God was with us.  I didn't know for sure since I had never been in this area before, but I strongly believe God told me.  We went around the hill, and there was a tiny little gas station just waiting for us.

God took something that could have been ugly and taught us an amazing lesson -- though we didn't realize how amazing of a lesson till the next day.

The day after we were home from our trip Paul went back to work as a handyman.  A couple hours after he left he called to say that, after 6 months of being furloughed from the railroad, they were calling him back to work!

Sometimes we feel like we are running low on God's blessings.  We see the blessings meter running down to empty and, though we have no idea how God will do it, we know He never, ever, ever leaves us stranded on the side of the road.  He will always remain faithful.  He just wants to see how faithful you are to Him.

I am kind of surprised at how long of a post this is.  I read through it wondering if I should edit it to make it a little shorter, but honestly I feel like everything on here needs to stay.  So for the few who actually read this post to the end, I really hope it blesses you and you feel encouraged.  I don't know what you're going through in your life, but God does, and maybe He led you to this post for a reason! 

In the stressful times; seek God.

In the painful times; praise God.

In the terrible times; trust God.

And

At all times ..... At all times ..... At all times

Thank God.

Missing Daddy

Source: stickywords.net via Grace on Pinterest

So Paul left Sunday afternoon to start his training for his new position at his job.  What a horrible day!  As Paul backed out of the driveway and drove away I had to hold Zoe back because she wanted to run for him.  I tried to explain that he was going to "work" but she is too smart for that.  She cried for him for five hours.

Going to church was pretty rough only because I wasn't in the mood to be around people -- Zoe wasn't either.  The service was really good, though, and I appreciated the message.  Afterward we went to dinner at Pizza Hut.  Normally Zoe is crazy about that place, but on Sunday she just wasn't in the mood.  My dinner was spent taking care of two crying babies.

My sister-in-law spent the night with me on Sunday night.  Another friend dropped by too and we spent the evening walking the dog and watching comical movies.  I stayed up till around 1:30 because I wanted to be so exhausted that I didn't care if I went to bed alone.  Even being completely exhausted I had a hard time.  As soon as I laid down I felt myself have a panic attack.  I was so close to calling Paul and telling him to come home right now.  I was seriously freaking out -- tossing and turning, pacing, not able to breathe..  I finally snapped out of it and prayed to God:

God, I desperately need you right now!  Please cover my whole body in your divine peace and give me the courage I need to do this.  I cannot be like this for a week.  My kids need me right now.  PLEASE help me to gain control over my emotions!

Immediately I felt God's divine peace cover my body from head to toe.  I thanked Him so much I fell asleep with a prayer on my lips.

Monday was a lousy day.  I'm not even going to sugar coat it!  Zoe was still emotional -- "I want Daddy, Mom. I want Daddy."  When my mother-in-law came to pick up her daughter because they were leaving for a week long camping trip, Zoe had the worst meltdown.  She was seriously freaking out.  I felt so bad for my baby.  I held her and comforted her the best that I could.

We didn't get anything done that day.  The house still looks like a bomb blew up.. I hardly ate anything because I had no appetite at all.. I cried every few minutes..  It was a nightmare.

I was invited over to my brother and sister-in-law's house for dinner last night, and a part of me wanted to go, but I knew I was such a wreck I would not be a fun person to be around.  Plus, the way Zoe handled Paul and her Gram leaving, I didn't think she would do so well with going over to her cousin's house and not seeing her there (they went on the camping trip too).  I couldn't do that to Zoe.  And not to mention I was too nervous being out after dark.  Instead, I made Hamburger Helper and the kids and I ate dinner in front of the TV watching America's Funniest Home Videos.  Pathetic, aren't we?

I put the kids to bed and stayed up late to work.  I have a lot of work to do this week and because I didn't do anything the whole day, I knew I needed to do some before bed.  I stayed up till a little after midnight before I felt ok with going to bed.

I set up the pack-n-play in my bedroom for both the kids to sleep in there.  They have slept together multiple times and in the past they had done so well!  I wanted them with my in my room so that if anything happened -- a break-in, fire, etc. -- I would have my babies close by instead of them being on the opposite ends of the house.  Who would I go to first?

Anyways, they went to bed just fine.  After midnight I tiptoed in and crawled into bed and you know what?  No tears. =)  I knew I got one day down and I could do this.  Not even 20 minutes later both kids tossed and turned.  They were thirsty, they needed diaper changes, they were plumb restless!  I figured it wasn't going to work having them sleep in the same bed, so I brought Zoe in bed with me.  I figured I would give it a try and see how she would do.

Nope.

She wasn't going to sleep with me either.  I finally put her in her own bed, but I could still hear her toss and turn.. ask for drinks.. whine.. sing songs.. you name it!  She didn't fall asleep till around 5:30 this morning -- which means Mommy didn't get to fall asleep till around 5:30 this morning.

-_-

The kids "slept in" till around 9:30 this morning.  I was pretty bummed when they woke up because I was still so exhausted, but what can ya do?  I brought my babies to bed with me and we lounged around and watched Blues Clues in bed before breakfast.

So far the kids have had their oatmeal and I am still working on my morning coffee.  When I'm done with this post I plan on going through my chore chart and getting this house whipped back into shape.  I am so thankful that God is giving me the motivation I need.  I do not want another day like yesterday.  One cannot live like that for a whole week.

I have so much I want to get done today -- I want to do everything on my chore chart, I have a lot of work because I'm helping a coworker this week, I want to start Zoe on pre-preschool (I was supposed to start yesterday), Baylee needs her walks.. etc.  The rest of this week is going to fly by for me -- thank the good Lord!

If I get everything done that I want, I would like to take the kids to the park -- Zoe would love to go on the "woo" (slide) and I think Bubba would like to play with her too.  We shall see.

My Mom told me yesterday that I am going to realize just how much I can handle this week.  It is definitely a growing up lesson.  Obviously it has been hard the past couple days, but it's a lesson I needed to learn eventually.  I can do this!  One day at a time...

Happiness

The kids have been put to bed for the night.  Paul is playing with his new computer he just purchased for work.  And I, of course, am looking at pictures of my kids.

When I look at the pictures I have taken throughout the day I am so thankful that my kids are happy.

Apparently Paul and I are doing something right because there is pure joy in these faces.

I don't ever want to take a picture of one of my children and look back and realize they are not happy.  I want to ALWAYS make sure they are happy, secure, and safe.

I feel like I can't even go to the store anymore without feeling broken hearted watching the sad children walk by because their parents forget to show them the love they need.

I'm sure you all have seen the video on YouTube about the people with the signs that read FREE HUGS.  I cannot tell you how many times I've wanted to make my own sign and walk around.  Can you imagine what ONE HUG could do for a person's day?  I know it would change mine around completely.

What more can I do to bring happiness to this world?

Do I really need to make a FREE HUGS sign?

I want more people to feel the happiness and joy I feel on a daily basis.  It's not just because of my kids -- it's because I have Jesus.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

This is the start of something good

::The Start of Something Good::

(Yes, that is a song from High School Musical)

Paul will be graduating this May with two Bachelors under his belt.  If I could be completely honest, I wasn't too thrilled with Paul going to college after we got married.  I especially didn't like it when it meant him going to college in Havre, MT which meant me moving away from my family.

I wont deny that I moved here with bitterness in my heart and it took me a long while to get over my "issues" and openly admit that I knew God wanted us here for many, many reasons.  Though I miss my family dearly, I hope they admire Paul and I for being the workers we need to be for the Lord.

While Paul has been in college we had a family.  There were a few times Paul considered dropping out because we didn't know how we could afford a family on the income we were bringing in.  But there was NO WAY I was going to let him do that -- and deep down I knew he knew he needed to keep on working hard in school.  We knew our sacrifices would pay off one day.

Paul will be starting his last semester this Wednesday.  This will probably be his hardest semester so, if you think about him, please keep him in your prayers that God will help him in his classes.  I will be having a hard time myself this semester because I don't know how much I will see of him since he will literally be gone ALL DAY either at work or at school, but I know that May will come sooner then I think and then it will be all over..

Though our sacrifices haven't quite paid off yet, I know it's coming sooner rather than later.  God is so good to provide for our needs and I'm so thankful for everything He has done for Paul and I already in the nearly 4 years we've been married!

I feel like God has been speaking to my heart a lot lately.  After lots of prayer, planning, trying to back out, and more prayer, I have decided to host a ladies prayer group in my home every Friday at 6:00 pm.  I'm excited to see what God has in store for the women of Havre!

There will be so much more that happens in the year of 2012, I know it, but these are the two most exciting ones as of right now.

Happy New Year to everyone! Can't wait to hear about the blessings God bestows upon you and your families!

Words.

When I saw this picture it made my eyes well up.  I cannot tell you how many times I've simply said Jesus' name and that was all I could get out.  Instead of words I let my tears explain exactly how I feel.  There have been many, many times that I've just poured my heart out to God and not utter one word because I simply don't know what to say.

What is troubling your heart tonight?  What do you need Jesus to take care of in your life?  Do you need someone to pray for you?