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Thankful Thursday ~ Believing

And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
(Mark 9:23-24 ESV – emphasis mine)

Lately there has been true peace deep down in my heart. You know why? Because I just believe. I don’t question the things God is doing in my life, and I am thankful for that.

For years I have been spinning my wheels about my photography. I wanted to ‘find’ my style that people would enjoy seeing and actually booking sessions with me. You see, I have been trying to hard. From the beginning God had giving me a gift that I didn’t see until late last year when I took photographs of my best friends grandchildren.

You see, little Aubri was a little wild during the session. My friend said that she was afraid that I did not get any good pictures from her granddaughter. However, over the years I have learned one thing: be very patient with little ones. This pictures is one of my personal favorites from little Aubri:

Kristine_17

God has giving me my style of capturing moments that will reflect the personality of my clients and their children. I just had to see it.

Lord of heaven and earth. Thank you for the incredible gift You have given me. May I always glorify You in all the things I capture. You have made us all unique and wonderful. When I start doubting Your gift help me with my unbelief. In the precious name of Jesus. Amen

What are you thankful for this week? Please do share with us by leaving a link to your Thankful Thursday post below.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: God has given us all gifts – use them to glorify Him.

Love & peace,
Iris

Thankful Thursday Participants

1. Janis@Heart Filled Moments
2. Three Lifesavers For Busy Moms & MOVIE TICKETS GIVEAWAY!
3. Gluttony
4. Daily Journey		 5. LaughingLady
6. bp
7. Lorig
8. We Need Your Sparkler		 9. Natasha
10. The danger of excessive introspection

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Thankful Thursday ~ His Strength

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
(Philippians 4:13 ESV)

Philippians 4:13 is my life verse; I hold on to it on a daily bases. I know that all of us have times where nothing seems to go right. Life gives you lemons…But I know that God is with me every step of the way.

I often wonder how I was able to go through life without God by my side. Yes, there were years in my life where I thought I didn’t need God. But the truth is that I was not okay without Him.

I was hoping that life would slow down a little once our son finished school; had his one life. I guess, life really never slows down and there are always small and big battles to be fought. Thank God, He is fighting with and for me.

Philippians 4_13There are some current situations in my life that I am unable to control (my husband’s and sister’s sickness). I am hanging on to my life verse these days. The artwork on the photograph is on my desk at work. It is right in front of me so that I can see it all day long. I am thankful that He gives me His strength.

What are you thankful for this week? Please do share with us by leaving the link to your Thankful Thursday post below.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: Without Him and His strength the battles of every day life are harder than with Him.

Love and peace,
Iris

Thankful Thursday Participants

1. Kate @ Teaching What Is Good
2. Edwards Granddaughter
3. Reality Marriage
4. Adultery, Grace and Braveheart
5. bp
6. It Feels Like Chaos
7. jhunnelle @ choosing life
8. Aisling Beatha
9. Style N Season: Sunshine N Flower Maker
10. Slenderella Jenn		 11. My #1 Reason to Pray
12. Don’t Forget The In Between Times – Robert J. Gerryts
13. Melanie @ M&M
14. Laurie @ Women Taking a Stand
15. Deidra M @ The Middle
16. Grieving a son
17. Of Old Mirrors and New Doors
18. Ms. Kathleen
19. lorig
20. Falling Off My Big Girl Shoes		 21. Because Christ is Risen!
22. Remission and ‘Love & Laughter…”
23. Lisa Marie
24. Charlene @ A Divine Walk
25. Denise
26. Daily Journey
27. Gen@Simply Cornish
28. The Fontenot Four
29. Schotzy@Wings of Eagles
30. Style N Season: A Thankful N Praying Heart

Learn more about Thankful Thursday here.

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Thankful Thursdays ~ Prayer

“Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”
~ Psalm 5:1-3 (ESV)

The other day as I was working through my 40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the quote stuck in my head:

“Prayer offered in early morning is decisive for the day”

You see, most of my prayers I write in my journal at night before going to bed. I offer a couple quick prayers in the morning; but they are rushed and not written out. The last couple of days I have headed David’s advice from the Psalms, and Bonhoeffer’s thoughts on prayer.

It seems like that my days are a little less hectic when I sit down with my prayer journal in the morning; I think it has to do with the mind-set once we had a prayer time in the morning. I hope that I can keep this up going forward.

My pastor gave us a visual aid the other day about prayer, quoting Martin Luther (my mind sometimes tends to start wandering while praying, don’t know why):

“Think of a dog who sits in front of a slap of meat; he stares at the meat without blinking. Put the same energy into you prayer life, as much as a dog stares at the meat in front of him.”

Honestly, this has helped me to stay focus when I don’t write into my journal 🙂 …

Prayer is powerful and I am thankful that we can approach the throne of God without hesitation. He hears our prayers and will answer them in His time.

What are you thankful for this week? Please do share with us by leaving your link to your Thankful Thursday blog below.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: a prayer offered in the morning will set your mind right with God.

Thankful Thursday Participants

1. Lynn -Spiritually Unequal Marriage
2. Joan @ Reflections
3. In life and in death
4. bp
5. Karen
6. LaughingLady
7. It Feels Like Chaos
8. Laurie @ Women Taking a Stand
9. debi @ Who Says 8 is Enough?
10. UpLIFTing Words
11. At Peace
12. Mel Cole @ Hearts Content, USA		 13. I Would Take Her Thorn
14. Grace
15. Pastor John
16. Stefanie
17. Carol
18. Dawn’s Daily Life
19. Life is a Battle
20. Jessica
21. Brooke @ Smart Strong = Sexy
22. Stacy
23. Marsha @ Heart Song
24. Bernice @ My Journey		 25. Judy
26. First Cavity @Long Wait for Isabella
27. Theresa @ Frugal Experiments
28. Sherry
29. Joshlin@Saving Moms Sanity
30. God is On His Throne–Hallelujah! Wendy Gunn@Faith’sFirmFoundation
31. Phil D. Malmstrom
32. Lisa Maria
33. Jenny Anne@Royal Little Lambs
34. Full Lace Wigs

Learn more about Thankful Thursday here.

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Welcome to “Grace Alone…”

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)

After almost 3 years being known as “Sting My Heart” around the blogsphere, I was convinced that it was time to change the name and the look of my personal blog. But “why?” some of you might ask. How can I disobey God? He put it on my heart to make this drastic change…

Let me be honest with you; I struggled over the past 6 months. I had a hard time adjusting to our son being all grown. I was doing well…so I thought. “Empty Nest” syndrome hit like a ton of bricks 6 months after Daniel moved out.

I felt empty…I had a hard time adjusting to being ‘just a wife’…Two weeks ago everything changed. A new outlook on things. Believe me, that did not come from me; it was a God ‘thing’. He softly spoke to my heart — “You are not ‘just a wife’. You are still a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend. And you are MINE!” I finally surrendered EVERYTHING.

After that morning I knew I had to rename my blog; give it a new ‘face’. I wasn’t sure about the name. Many names rattled in my head, but GRACE was always one word that stuck.

I emailed a couple of my blogging friends to see if they could help out renaming my blog. Darlene said something profound; it reminded me of the morning when my Lord spoke to my heart:

“I love “Grace Alone…” with the dot dot dot at the end because it says so much. It is a continuation of thoughts. Grace Alone carries you through, Grace Alone brightens your day, Grace Alone gives you strength…”

All I could say “Amen”. His grace saw me through the days of my ’empty nest’. His grace gave me strength. His grace brighten my days…His grace was/is sufficient for me in my weaknesses…

I want to thank my blogging friends Laurel, Lynn, Angie, Jamie and Darlene for their prayers and encouragement over the past 6 months — your prayers meant the world to me.

I hope that you, my dear sisters in Christ, will enjoy the new blog. I pray that He will give me words of encouragement to share with you.



PS: If you by chance have ‘Sting my Heart’ on your blogroll, could you please change the name to “Grace Alone…”? Thank you so much 🙂