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Thankful Thursday ~ Help

In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. ~ Psalm 18:6 (ESV ~ emphasis mine)

This month we are meeting up at my friend Lynn’s place, Spiritually Unequal Marriage for Thankful Thursday’s. Head on over to link up, sharing your grateful heart.

Oh my — how often have I been speechless only uttering the words “help”! When my days go south, I stop what I am doing (and even if it is for just a second), praying for help. Even though it might not change the situation I am in, it keeps me calm. It also refocuses my mind so that I don’t get totally flustered. I am so thankful that He gives me help when I call on His name…

This week I had to work on a huge project to get completed. I wasn’t sure how to go about it (although I had instruction — they confused me though 😆 ). I asked one of my co-workers to show me how she works this particular part of the job. She was very helpful and I have the project almost finished. Sometimes we just need to ask for help — forgetting about pride.

So this week I am thankful for HELP!!!

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: Forget about pride and ask for help if you find yourself in an impossible situation.

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Living Fearlessly – God’s Faithfulness

First I like to thank you joining me in the journey of living fearlessly in 2010 (and beyond). Second I want to announce the winner of the books “Fearless” and “Fear Not Promise Book” written by Max Lucado. Drum-roll…the winner is: Kim (comment # 5 on the original post from 01.01.2010) – Congrats Kim — I will contact you to get your snail-mail address 🙂

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” ~ Romans 8:28 (ESV)

How can you tell a father who is facing lay-offs; a wife who’s husband left her for another woman; parents facing the death of a child, families loosing their home, chemotherapy …that everything is working out for the good? I often have a hard time comprehending what is happening. Do I question God because not everything is working out the way I think things should work out?

We all have our fears. I my personal opinion, fear in itself is not a sin, but how we handle it can send us in the wrong direction. Fear can consume us to the point that we are afraid of stepping out into life; or even worse…gambling, lying, stealing…But we don’t have to have fear consume us.

I think that we sometimes loose focus because of fear. We only see our current circumstance and don’t look at the bigger picture — the eternal picture. Take my past as an example. I feared coming to the US, leaving family and friends behind with an uncertain future (would I find work? what support would I have). Looking back though — leaving Germany was the best that could have happened to me. Removed from family and friends, God had my attention. He was waiting for me with arms wide open to put my trust in Him, not myself.

Over the next week, I would like you to look back at your past. What was the biggest step you have taken? What was your greatest fear about taken this particular step? Failure, insecurity, rejection? I would love to hear about your past fear(s) and how you have overcome it. What brought you through?

If you have a blog, please share your past with us (link below). If you don’t blog — journal and share part of your thoughts in the comment section. You can journal/blog at your own leisure; there is no deadline to answer the above questions.

Today I leave you with a quote by Max Lucado you may want to ponder:

“When fear shapes our live, safety becomes our god. When safety becomes our god, we worship the risk-free life. Can the safety-lover do anything great?…For God? For others?” ~ Source: Fearless

Living fearlessly — trusting Him with my future…

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Living Fearlessly in 2010

“Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
~ Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

2009 marked a year of reflection for me personally. It was a little quiet around this blog. I felt like that I didn’t belong in any of the ‘groups’ that formed around the Christian blogging community. What did I have to add? Who would read what I had to say? Yes, a lot of fear sat in; fear that my thoughts did not matter…

Oh, but there is so much to share. Yes, I am much older than most of the bloggers out there, but I can attest to His faithfulness. I can encourage lonely hearts, overwhelmed moms, discouraged married women. God has giving me a new purpose — living fearlessly!!!!

“Fear creates a form of spiritual amnesia. It dulls our miracle memory. It makes us forget what Jesus has done and how good God is” ~ Max Lucado (Fearless)

On January 11th I would like you to join me on a journey of fearless living. How will it work? I will post a couple of Scripture passages and a question or two. You can join in on this bi-weekly series by writing your thoughts on the question(s) on your personal blog and then link up here on Grace Alone. If you don’t blog, but would like to participate in the journey, journal your thoughts. This series is here to encourage you; to step out in faith without fear.

Since this new blogging series was inspired by Max Lucado’s book “Fearless“, I would like to give away a copy of the book along with a copy of the “Promise Book” (which is packed full of encouraging Scripture passages — thank you Lori for the gift). How can you win the books? Share with your friends about the fearless journey. Blog (you can pick up a button in my sidebar), twitter, or Facebook about this series. Each mentioning of this series will enter your name in the drawing (please leave separate comments)…

I am looking forward you joining me in this journey of fearless living…

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Thankful Thursday ~ Peace

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:7 (ESV ~ emphasis mine)

This week, my dear friend Laurie at Women Taking a Stand is hosting Thankful Thursday. Hop on over to read other Thankful posts and to leave your link.

Oh – peace. I love peace. This past week has been very peaceful for me. No alarm, no work, no hustle, no bustle. Just sweet peace that I enjoy so much. I had a lot of time to reflect on this past year. A lot happened at work and in my personal life…

I am not going to bore you with my work (actually I don’t want to remind myself of it – lol)…I used this past year to get back to reading. It was wonderful to reflect on soul issues — I was discontent earlier this year — I wanted things that were out of my reach. Not possessions mind you, but I so wanted to visit my family — it was just not possible to fulfill the dream in 2009 (I hope for it in 2010).

One thing God has taught me through His Word was to be at peace. Peace that surpasses all of our understanding how Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians. You see, I have a problem with rushing things, which usually does not work. When things don’t come to pass, I get frustrated; I like to give up. But if I lay everything down at His feet and let Him work in my heart, peace does settle in…So, this last day of 2009 I am thankful for peace that surpasses all human understanding.

What are you thankful for this week? Hop on over to Laurie’s blog to leave your link and to follow other thankful hearts through the links on her blog.

Thanks for stopping by today — may His peace work through your soul through and through…

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