I have a quiet afternoon on my hands, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to catch up on some blogging. I have no idea what all I will end up sharing, but bear with me & keep reading!!
I started reading a new book this week...this book ~ One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I received this book as a gift several months back. Actually, in a care package from Katy of Sweet Grace Ministries, just days after Quin's passing. At the time, I put the book aside...knowing that my grieving heart could not handle the words written inside the cover. Plus, "it wasn't for me"...I had this 'thing' under control and decided that I would be fine...NO MATTER WHAT!!
Back to the book...I came across the book again this week while I was sorting through my book collection, and decided it was time. As I sat reading the front cover on the book, I quickly realized that now is the perfect time. Grief is a funny thing, it does crazy things to the heart and mind of a person, and wreaks havoc like we never imagined. And, in the midst of my grief journey, I began praying that God would allow me to live again...really LIVE again. I wanted to do more than just survive the loss of my two babies, I wanted to live. You know, with a purpose...which is where the title of this blog came from.
*Here is a section of the book, just to get you thinking:
"One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him - and he was a Samaritan" (Luke 17:15-16 NIV).
Yes, thankfulness, I know. Next verse.
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." (Luke 17:17-19 NIV)
Wait. I trace back. Hadn't Jesus already completely healed him? Exactly like the other nine who were cured who hadn't bothered to return and thank Him. So what does Jesus mean, "Your faith has made you well"? Had I underinterpreted this passage, missed some hidden mystery? I slow down and dig. I read Jesus' words in Young's Literal Translation, "And (Jesus) said to him, 'having risen, be going on, thy faith has saved thee.'" Saved thee? I dig deeper. It's sozo as being made "well" or "whole", but its literal meaning, I read it - "to save". Sozo means salvation. It means true wellness, complete wholeness. To live sozo is to live the full life. Jesus came that we might live life to the full; He came to give us sozo. And when did the leper receive sozo - the saving to the full, whole life? When he returned and gave thanks.
Our very saving is associated with our gratitude.
This section of the book really inspired a lot of thought, for me. Healing is different for each of us. We tend to think of physical, tangible, visible healing. But healing definitely goes beyond that to mental, emotional, spiritual, etc. The healing is right there in front of us. Free for the taking, so to speak. All we have to do is be thankful, show gratitude...and 'live sozo'.
Too often we focus on what we lack, rather than focus on what we have. We sit on a heap of blessings, yet we refuse to see them...blinded by our "illness", unable to accept life in full, which our Heavenly Father desires for us.
I started reading a new book this week...this book ~ One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I received this book as a gift several months back. Actually, in a care package from Katy of Sweet Grace Ministries, just days after Quin's passing. At the time, I put the book aside...knowing that my grieving heart could not handle the words written inside the cover. Plus, "it wasn't for me"...I had this 'thing' under control and decided that I would be fine...NO MATTER WHAT!!
Back to the book...I came across the book again this week while I was sorting through my book collection, and decided it was time. As I sat reading the front cover on the book, I quickly realized that now is the perfect time. Grief is a funny thing, it does crazy things to the heart and mind of a person, and wreaks havoc like we never imagined. And, in the midst of my grief journey, I began praying that God would allow me to live again...really LIVE again. I wanted to do more than just survive the loss of my two babies, I wanted to live. You know, with a purpose...which is where the title of this blog came from.
*Here is a section of the book, just to get you thinking:
"One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him - and he was a Samaritan" (Luke 17:15-16 NIV).
Yes, thankfulness, I know. Next verse.
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." (Luke 17:17-19 NIV)
Wait. I trace back. Hadn't Jesus already completely healed him? Exactly like the other nine who were cured who hadn't bothered to return and thank Him. So what does Jesus mean, "Your faith has made you well"? Had I underinterpreted this passage, missed some hidden mystery? I slow down and dig. I read Jesus' words in Young's Literal Translation, "And (Jesus) said to him, 'having risen, be going on, thy faith has saved thee.'" Saved thee? I dig deeper. It's sozo as being made "well" or "whole", but its literal meaning, I read it - "to save". Sozo means salvation. It means true wellness, complete wholeness. To live sozo is to live the full life. Jesus came that we might live life to the full; He came to give us sozo. And when did the leper receive sozo - the saving to the full, whole life? When he returned and gave thanks.
Our very saving is associated with our gratitude.
This section of the book really inspired a lot of thought, for me. Healing is different for each of us. We tend to think of physical, tangible, visible healing. But healing definitely goes beyond that to mental, emotional, spiritual, etc. The healing is right there in front of us. Free for the taking, so to speak. All we have to do is be thankful, show gratitude...and 'live sozo'.
Too often we focus on what we lack, rather than focus on what we have. We sit on a heap of blessings, yet we refuse to see them...blinded by our "illness", unable to accept life in full, which our Heavenly Father desires for us.