Grace Living in Grace

  Yes, it is a weird title. I honestly could not come up with a better one because my train of thought is not pretty and consistent enough in this post to deserve a better title. Oh well! Read on. Sometimes, the things I do by second-nature are some nasty habits and I do not even realize it!  For example, the first thing I do in the morning- scratch that- The SECOND thing I do in the morning, as I make a cup of coffee first: I check all my phone notifications, scroll through Instagram and Facebook and sneak in a few random videos on my feed. Am I the only one who does this? I seriously doubt it. I also imagine you have heard about this habit before, how this might actually be a bad habit. Perhaps you have heard that this starts the day unproductively, or it causes you to stress out immediately (work notifications, tension over a text conversation, etc.). I think those points can be true. However, in my case, I find myself getting jealous of what I see on my feed! Why does ever...

   (Enjoy my quick blurb of thought/appreciation post.) ;-)         Inconsistent.       This is the random word I was thinking of this morning in how it relates to life. Life is indeed pretty darn inconsistent! There are plenty of rather sucky inconsistencies that have occurred recently. I go from working at one place and loving it to finding it not-so-great anymore and taking up a different side gig instead. My first two courses in college made me feel optimistic and achieved to the next two courses frying my brain and making me question my life decisions each morning. There are fun plans for the weekend that get soiled by SOMEONE having to do a last-minute dive Saturday morning... just to find out that the dive might be canceled, to find out there is another dive Sunday, to then find out THAT dive is canceled. Yeah, I am especially annoyed with Alex's inconsistent work schedule. But that is the transcending theme, isn't it? INCONS...

Dear gym rats, If someone were to ask you,  "Why do you like working out so much?",   how would you respond? Think about it. Respond in your head.  To those who do not enjoy working out in any way, shape, or form, why do you think some others work out so much? Go on, answer in your head. Or out loud. That might be a little weird, but whatever floats your boat. I am just going to guess that in your train of thought, the word, "confidence", came up, or perhaps a branched-out version of it such as "self-confidence", "self-esteem", something like that. Was I right? I know, for me, that word, confidence, came to my mind! Now, what if I were to tell you that, as a child of God, confidence is really not all it is cracked up to be.  What if I said that confidence really should not be part of that "why" statement at all? When I am talking about confidence right now, I am referring to SELF-confidence. Keep that in mind. Perhaps you are scoffing...

"I didn't have time to get that done today!" Have you ever said this before? This is my go-to excuse when important things on my "To-Do List" get ignored and pushed off to the next day... to the next day... and to the day after that. In a sense, it is true, I ran out of time to get that one thing done today, but it is not because I was busy doing other important tasks. It was not because other things I was doing were of higher priority- unless you consider Netflix and Instagram scrolling a high priority. I wince even just typing that. I am 100% guilty of procrastination, and that  is why I never get things done.  I have come up with every excuse and rationalization in the book to justify my laziness too, such as, "I deserve to treat myself to a break", "I do not have much going on today, so another episode won't hurt", "I am not even motivated to do my schoolwork; if I start now, my work will be bad quality".  Yeah, I ...

My reflection on this morning... Plopped in my small, cushy living room chair, with a hot cup of coffee that I over-creamed and a Bible on my lap, I am studying the passage of 1 John 4:10-21; my eyes brush across the words of verse 16, "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." At this time, my train of thought is brought to halt when I hear the obnoxious squeaking of Blue's ball. I glance over to see Alex laying on the couch, squeaking away while Blue is going nuts trying to attain the ball from Alex... "Alex! Would you be quiet ?!" I snap, my eyes glowering, "I am trying to read my Bible !" Without a word, Alex takes my attitude, quite accustomed to it. He resumes playing with Blue just a little quieter.  However, I am struck- dumbfounded at what I just did. I read the verse once again, but this time it felt as if Scripture was thrown...

Friends are awesome. My friend is awesome. I am sure we can all relate to the times when you have frustrations or questions wandering in your head, and having a friend to talk to about those troubles is much needed. But how precious it is to have a friend to rely on that gives sound advice- not based on bias, jealousy, strife, pride, or even just ignorance, but instead, pure wisdom coming from a heart that is faithful to God. That is my friend, Gabbie. She does not just listen to my problems (which is still a treasure to have in friendships- to share each other's burdens!), but she gives her two cents of advice that is always backed by scripture, even when it is not easy to hear. I think that we both have grown so much together due to our constant and complete honesty, and the genuine effort to sharpen each other in the faith. "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." -Proverbs 27:17 This past week, I was struggling with something. I felt it wa...

Do you ever have those mornings when you wake up and have a rushing flood of “things to do” pouring over your head that result in an instant headache? That was me this morning. Crap! I left the dirty dishes out last night. Oof, I never got to doing that laundry and now Alex has no clothes for work. Where did I leave my jacket? At the gym? Oh man, I still need to call maintenance about that stupid toilet... The car still needs her oil changed... My aloe plant looks like it’s suffering from neglect, even though we just bought it a few days ago.... What time am I supposed to go to work again? I NEED GROCERIES! And with all these stressful thoughts and questions, I got out of bed and noticed the cherry-on-top: our super soft, fluffy blue pillow was nothing but a soggy trace of fabric with its stuffing spewed all over the bedroom floor, thanks to our dog, Blue, who was NOT sleeping in his crate last night (I am such a softy, and keep thinking if I leave Blue out, he will eventu...

Is it just me, or does it seem like trying to start healthy habits come with annoying or negative consequences? Just a few examples... I was told that reading at night before bed helps with getting to sleep faster. I tried this last night, but there was a very limited selection of books in the house, so I asked Alex what book I should read. "Oh! Read that series I had from high school, under the TV." This book is called The 5th Wave . If you have heard of it, it is a book about aliens coming to earth... or something. I have only read the first few chapters so I am not quite sure myself! This seems like a good idea, right? I should be able to get some sleep from this, right? Well, it DID technically work, I was out like a light after I finished reading. HOWEVER, I had a pretty horrible dream last night about some crazy person killing someone I knew and loved! This just happened to be after reading a book that related a similar event where the narrator kills some ...

"So what do YOU do?" THIS. This question.  I receive this question on a regular basis. One of the most annoying questions for me to answer at this stage in my life. Why? 1. This question is typically asked right after a lengthy conversation about Alex's career, which essentially means, "Wow! Looks like Alex has such an exciting career! Now, while he is basically being Aquaman in submarine city up in Connecticut, what is his wife doing?" So yes, the question is usually asked in CONTRAST to what Alex is currently engaged in; therefore, if HE is diving, Grace should be engaged in something driven and exciting as well. This leads to my second point... 2. This question comes with the assumption that there should be something MORE to what I am doing right now other than being married. Therefore, when I answer, "Oh, I am still trying to learn the ropes for being a wife right now...", you better believe I get looks. It is almost as if the word "...