Being Ordinary

Hi...my name is Grace and I am just an ordinary, simple girl.   I used to have to big dreams of doing big things to change this world for God.... but here I am, many years later... tired, broken and just plain ordinary.   

I spend my life documenting extraordinary moments in other peoples lives....weddings, births, engagements, family portraits... moments that I have to honestly admit that I have not had and most likely will never have in life.  

My life has never about me or any moments in my life.   No big jobs, no big degrees, no big adventures...just an ordinary -most tlmes below ordinary- life.   How can God possibly use simple me and my ordinary life??

I guess the same way he used Joseph, and Paul, and most of the others in the Bible who didn't come with grandeur.... they all started with simple ordinary lives... and some of them never made it to any palaces or comfortable homes... Jesus included.  

So maybe the secret of life isn't in living extraordinary lives... maybe the secret is in the little, ordinary lives like mine... maybe God can still use my broken, ordinary life... to show others...

            that God loves ordinary....

                   God uses ordinary.......

    

        to show the world that God is.....

   

                     totally extraordinary.

Broken Pieces

Today has been a tough day for me.  I deal with depression.... and it's been a month since I lost my beloved cat, and today I'm feeling lost.   So what do we do as christians when we are feeling lost??  We're not supposed to ever feel lost, right???   These are the tough things that they just don't want to talk about at church.  Loss and depression are just topics that everyone likes to stay away from.  It's hard to stay away from them from you're living them.  

I made a commitment many years ago to follow Christ.  Because I know it pays to follow Christ.  The problem here on earth is that we are plagued with these things called "feelings"... they can be good..and they can be bad...but they can also be misleading.... letting our feelings guide us often takes us places we really didn't want to go..... Satan often uses feelings to send us on a path that leads away from God....

Commitment means that I follow Christ....no matter what.  Period.  Doesn't matter how I feel, how the weather is, how my life is... I choose to follow him even when it doesn't feel good...even when I'm not feeling loved...even when I'm feeling alone.... 

As long as we are on this earth we will have "feelings".... someday, in heaven, we will see things so much more clearly..... there won't be a need for feelings of sadness or depression.... it will be joy and worshipping... I will eagerly await that day...but for now I am just walking in faith today that God is in control... that tomorrow is a new day... 

 

  and that he is always faithful.... and his Word.... is always true....

          No matter how I feel.

Grace Changes Everything

This year I have been working on the concept of Grace .... accepting God's grace in my own life, even though I am not worthy... and most importantly, showing grace to those arround me.  It's easy to recieve grace - not so easy to be aware to give it.

We live in a world where we are taught to make jugdements from the time we are born - good/bad, hot/cold, nice/mean, pretty/ugly...we grow up atomatically making judgements we sometimes are not even aware of... Jesus NEVER judged.... he met the women at the well... he let her know that he knew of her current circumstances and background, but he didn't codemn her..he offered her the living water that would change her life.. 

Often, I am so busy judging that I don't spend much time offering my Jesus and his living water to people... I am working on skipping the judging part and moving along to the sharing part... Jesus spent very little time on people's current cirumstances...he knew that once they chose to follow him that they would no longer be the same...they would be changed by grace.

I want to change the world with grace.   Why??  Because grace changes everything.  There is power in grace... and I want to share that with the world around me... jugde less - share grace more...

Are you with me?   Let's judge less (and yes, even church is a judgemental zone) and share grace more....   

God alone is worthy to judge....it's not really in our job description to do that..so let him take care of that...just see people for who God created them to be.. and share his grace with them...

        and take a step back...

                 and watch and see.....

                        what our God can do....

Because Grace changes everything. 

Under Construction

Alll summer long we have had workers here clearing the woods adjacent to our home... unfortunately the years (and vines) have taken their toll on many trees, and it's time to take some down and make room for the new saplings of the forest to grow.    I look out now on what used to be nice woods...and what I see is piles of tree branches, empty space and rocks.  In construction, things always have to get worse and messy before they get better.   

I think that is the way it works in our lives.  The longer we go without maintaining things, the bigger the project for God when he has to clean us up again.  It takes longer to clear the vines and rocks from our lives... at first it seems like it's looking worse....

     but them comes time for God to finish the job....

Eventually the brush will be cleared away, the rocks will be buried and the vines will be taken down... what looks like a mess will end up being something quite beautiful.... 

Keep in the Word... keep maintaining your hearts....but know that there is nothing too difficult for God to clean up and restore.... 

My so-called mess of construction now will be something beautiful upon completion... 

     and still here long after I am gone from this earth for others to enjoy... 

Trusting God

I must admit that I am one to sometimes throw out the phrase "trust God - he will provide"... I came face to face with that this weekend.  We traveled to NY to see our stepdaughter and granddaughter... our granddaughter turned one and we were there for her party....

With multiple issues going on for our stepdaughter, we took her vehicle in to the shop to get brakes and tires that she so desperately needed...and were an obvious safety factor with a one year old... I was NOT expecting the bill to be as high as it was....

I looked at my husband and proclaimed "God will provide"...but I have to admit, I was still a little nervous that now I didn't have much left to pay bills with until the next payday... after thinking about it and realizing that by worrying I was not really trusting in God to provide....

I bowed my head and confessed to the Lord that by still worrying, I wasn't really trusting him to provide...that I would put this all his hands and trust him .. he has never let me down in the past, and I should know better than to lack faith in that matter...

When my husband went back to work yesterday, he found that he has been being shorted money from his paycheck since he started this new job in June... the check that he will be getting will more than cover what we had to spend for brakes and tires.....  

    

                      NEVER doubt what God can do!!!

And  I'm still trusting as I write this - my husband just got called at work from his other daughter that lives us.. she has been driving his old truck and it seems the brakes have gone..lol... but I will keep trusting that the Lord will provide... someone having one car for three people for a couple of weeks will have to work... and this time I say that with true faith and confidence in what God can do.

Impressions

So..... today I've discovered that someone blocked me

       from seeing their Facebook page....

I know what you're thinking...

       why do I even care???

And that is what bothers me....

       why do I care?

Why am I trying to think about past things I've posted...

       could that person have been offended??

I ask my husband that question... my step daughter...

       what did I do??

So why do we care so much about what other peope think??

I wish I could be one of those people who

       really and truely do not care...

But I am not... 

    I am one of the sensitive people

        who just wants to be liked and accepted by all...

I guess it's our human design that drives our love of acceptance...

        and our fear of not being accepted...

I guess that It's time in my life to start letting go...

     to just accept life as it comes... 

   learn to appreciate those who want me in their lives...

      and accept those who choose not to...

I have to remember that is itsn't acceptance here on this earth that matters...

    it's acceptance from a great and loving God...

       and he doesn't block anyone from his love or Word...

everyone is always welcome.aa

God Makes the Impossible Possible

I am always amazed at how Big my God is...

      things that we think are impossible...

         are easy for him to do.

My husband had a time (about 6-7 years) where he didn't see his girls...

  after many prayers from many people...

     his older daughter contacted him online...

   now that she was on her own and not living with her mother

      she wanted her father back in her life.

About six months later,  the older daughter felt that it was getting too

    dangerous for her sister to be with the mom

      so we drove up to get her, had to get through the court system

         for custody...and she's been her with us...

  Doing great in school... having opportunities for her future...

      all because God works in impossible situations.

The older daughter has been here visiting with our little 10 month old grandchild...

    she's found her faith a few years ago and is still new 

        at this God thing...

Her husband joined her here this weekend...

   Not  only did HE go to church with us, but his grandmother, aunt and another relative came 

     to come to the beach and visit...

       and they joined us too!!!

God can move where we cannot.    Sometimes we have to pray....

     step back.....    and let him MOVE.....

     

Think your friend/husband/relative/child will never come to God????  Pray on it.

God deals with the things we think are impossible...

I''ve seen marriages healed...relationships restored, jobs found, sickness healed, cars provided for ministry... lives and hearts being changed...

        all because God moves

           where we cannot ....

He was...

       He is...

             He will always be....

God.  

This  photo is the first Fathers Day that my husband has had BOTH his daughters with him...never give up ... God  can do the impossible.

Judgment

One of my things to work on this year is

                judging others.....

It's something we are taught to do from the time

       we are born.... so much that 

    it just becomes something we subconciously.  

We are automatically taught to judge what is right..and what is wrong..

     what is pretty...and what is ugly...

       what is worthy...and what is worthless... 

as we get older, we just automatically make these judments.

But what if are wrong???  I have found that things often look

     very different underneath the surface of what we see.

We all put our "masks" on, so people very rarely see

      who  we really are.  

So I am trying to "unlearn" immediate judging... and am trying

      to learn "immediate" love for people.

That's what Jesus did.... he loved them without judging them.

He came to the woman at the well.. and he loved her.  He let her know

    that he knew what was under her "mask"... but it was his love she

        saw....not his judgement.

He saw who she really was...and still loved her anyway.  

I want to do this in my life.  To love more...and judge less.  

We have all been judged.... and if we are honest with ourselves...

       it  hurts a lot.

People judge me who do not really know me... they just know the "mask" of 

     what I want them to see.

And very few people even care about what is underneath the mask...

        because that can get messy and require real love...

             and people don't really want to get that involved in your life.

But Jesus does.

He sees you.... the "real" you.... not just the mask you wear...

     he wants to love you.... 

         he wants to turn your world upside down...

               and inside out.

Because he is bigger than our problems... he is bigger than our mistakes...

           and I thank him for being a God who loves.

Mosaics

 A lost job....

     a husband who has left you....

         a difficult child...

     a  co-worker who just irritates you...

      a car that needs repairs you cannot afford....

       a friend who betrayed you....

    

  So many situations like this.. and so many more...

     we  have all had our lives shattered 

        into pieces...

  We see the pieces laying on the floor...

      and all we can do is cry....

        because we will never be the same again....

     how will we put the pieces back together again??

  We take a moment and get down on our knees..

      we cry out to our God...

        we tell him that we are broken and beyond repair...

         we need his grace...

           we need his love.

We need him to just shelter us from life.

He picks us up... he brushes us off...

      he picks up the broken pieces and says

     "Nothing is impossible for me"

   

Will things ever be the same again?  No... not the same...

   but those broken pieces that we thought were useless and ugly,,

   God has taken those and created something new...

      something beautiful from the rubble...

          often something better than what we started with...

What was once plain and beautiful... is now 

     a beautiful mosaic...

        all the broken pieces...

          reworked to be something new and beautiful.

God is bigger than our broken pieces.

Children need our Prayers

My phone rang... I saw my friends name, so I answered..."Hello Natale, how is everything?".  

   Natale said "I have something that I need to talk to you about.  Do you remember me telling you how Julia (her 12 year old daughter) was cutting herself a while back??  We had talked about it and it stopped for quite a while.  I've discovered she has been cutting again, this time in a place that we couldn't readily see.  The doctor said this is common for this age, and we are getting her counseling, but since you are coming to watch the kids this weekend I wanted you to know."

 Wow... what a phone call.  I have watched Julia since she was a baby.  Every week on my day I  would go the house and watch her.  I know that this is something that she will work out with the counseling.. but still makes me so sad that she looks in the mirror and sees what is "ugly" in her and not what is beautiful.

I have promised to step up and spend more time with Julia..so she will know that she has support in her life as she enters these trying teen years.  I see Satan trying to steal her smiles and her joy...but I will be praying..... and others will be praying... and I know that God will not let Satan have this one.  Our children are targets.  I saw this with my own son.  He took a rough road through his teenage years.. he often tells me that he doesn't know how he is still alive today.  I tell him -  it's because you  have a mother who prays for you... a lot.  And I will praying for Julia as well.. Satan is attacking our children and we need to take a stand.  We need to pray against this by praying for our children.  It works.  How do I know???

A few years ago after the "To Save a Life" came out, our pastor did a series on to save a family.  We started a group for parents.. each week we would meet and discuss points from the movie.. and each week we would pray for our children.... and each week we would report amazing anwers to prayer.  One week I reported that I hadn't heard from my son in a while and didn't know how he was doing.. at the end of the meeting my phone rang... and it was my son.  When parents pray...God moves.  He will be there when we cannot be.  

If you have children...pray for them... regularly.  If you don't have your own children, pray for relatives or a friend's child.  God is bigger than this world.... God is bigger than Satan.  Let's show this world what our big God can do... and that we not let Satan corrupt our children with the things of the world.

He hears us when we pray.... and he answers.   If you're not sure.... 

        then put him to the test.... and wait to see how he will listen and answer....

Worth the Cost

Here I am again, on a car lot, looking at cars.   I know some people get excited about looking for cars -   but not me.  My husband and I disagree on what constitutes a "new" car.  I, being the practical one would prefer a good pre-owned vehicle.  My husband does not think a car is worthy unless it is brand new with a warranty.   Since my husband is the one that works, he got the brand new car.  I have been a little hostile at the new car.  Mind you it's a nice car.. pretty with some wonderful ammenities... but it also came with a price that doesn't really make me feel very good.   

Makes me think of what God did for us.  He paid a price.   For us.  One that we could never, ever

      affford to pay ourselves.

And though the price was steep... he knew that the final outcome...

     was well worth the price.

Our salvation was worth the price.    

    YOU were worth the price he paid.... I was worth the price.

He doesn't look back with any regrets....

     

I am so glad that the God of the universe....

     Lord of Heaven's Armies....

        is perfect in all things. 

I would have to say, that considering all my daily faults and mistakes...

     he probably overpaid somewhat for me...

Good thing he doesn't look at things the way we do.

He doesn't see us as losing our value once he's purchased us...

  we are worth the same today to him..

    that we were yesterday... and the same as the day we were born...

God... who created the universe... knows us... and he knows

    that the price that was paid....was priceless...

     but he sees us as his priceless creation

       and worth everything.

Thank you Father, that you see us... you know us... 

    the good.... the bad...the ugly...

         and not once do you look back with regret ....

But you look ahead to the future... 

    when your chldren have all joined you in heaven...

And we can lift our praise up to you...

       for all you have given to us.

Quiet Times

It seems since the New Year I have had someone home with me constantly...   

        husband using vacation days....

           kids home from school with snow days (many this year)..

For the first time in quite a while

   I'm home alone.

The tv is off.... and there is a still silence in the house.   

   Wow.

Silence is a gift .... it makes you think...

I wonder if this is why the world is so intent

     on having noise everywhere.

There is either loud music playing.. or tv's blasting..

    even the fast food places have tv's on in the eating area.

Noise makes us ignore the thoughts

     that God wants us to think over and ponder.

No wonder we are at an all time high for prescription drugs...

    we can't hear ourselves think anymore...

     and we certainly cannot hear God trying to speak to us.

Today I am embracing the silence.. getting some reading done...

    and trying to listen to what God is saying to me.

I encourage you to take a few minutes.. and turn off the phone..

    turn off the tv... take the headphones out of your ears...

          and just listen.

Listen to what your heart is telling you... to what God is telling you...

     and just time to soak it all in.

Sometime silence IS golden.

Little Things

The past week has been a busy whirlwind.  I spent last weekend photographing at a christian camp in New Hampshire.  Had a great time taking photos and connecting with the youth that were there.  Home on Sunday..photos to process, bills to pay and a stepdaughter having problems with her boyfriend.  Seems like I'm always juggling a variety of things on any given day.  

Above all there is the time to bring my needs before the Lord.

    Prayer is something I used to dislike...

     but I have to come to know

        just how powerful  

           prayer can be.

I have prayed my son through rebellion and drugs...

   I have prayed a friend through the loss of her 21 year old son...

    I have prayed for people battling cancer...

       and so much more...

Prayer is reliance on God...

   to know that when I cannot control or handle a situation

     God in his infinite power can.

After doing the bills this week, I realized how tight our budget would be until next paycheck.. my brother in laws band is playing Friday night and I wanted to go and take some photos..but it cost to get in.  I was really disappointed that I might have to cancel and take this off my schedule.  So I pray..."God..you knew that I wanted to go and support him and take photos.. you know there is no money in the budget for that this week.. thanks for all I did get paid and done"...

My brother in law messages me to see if we are coming... and guest what??  The show is FREE this week!  The other bands cancelled and the venue just wants to be open with a band, so I get to go and support him and take photos - yeah!!

Don't assume that anything is too small

      for God.

He hears our prayers, even when we half heartedly throw them out

     thinking that they are too trivial to be answered.

God isn't just God of the big stuff..... he's God of ALL the stuff!!

Even though my God is a BIG God, he's not too big to want to handle

      the small stuff in my life...

       and he wants to handle the stuff in your life...

Just give him a chance.. 

      and see...

          what he can do.

Nothing is too small for God.

Friendship

Today I'm thinking back over the years and realize that 

     many people have come and gone in my life.

I''ve suffered my share of brokeness over my lifetime, so I 

     tend to be a little cautious on who I let in..

        but we all have that desire to fit in wherever we are.

I'd like to think that I'm a good friend...

    I've had phone calls at 2:00am...

     I've mourned with people...

      I've cleaned people's houses...

       I've watched their children...

         I've been there.

Yet I find that often isn't enough.

   So what is enough??   Is there a "friendship" standard?

I envy people who have a true best friend... someone

     who knows them - good and bad -

       and is always there.

I'm sure it's not always easy being my friend...but I don't often 

     like to bother people with my life issues. 

It has hurt me that people who I thought didn't have issues with me

    turn around and say mean things.

I have people who only seem to call me when they want or need

     something from me.

I wish I knew how to be a better friend.  To be there for others.. who in turn

      would be there for me.

I often wondered how Jesus felt.  All the people who said they would

      follow him.. but left

         when the going got tough.

The disciples, who though they meant well.. reallly didn't have any

             insight as to who they were really with

                  and what he really could do.

They often disappointed... the fell asleep while he was praying... 

            denied him when the say they wouldn't...

                doublted that he could feed 5,000 hungry people...

Maybe for some of us a real "friendship" just isn't meant to be..

    maybe I'm just here to serve... and

             ask for nothing in return.  

I will continue to long for what some have in these deep friendships...

       No matter what I'll just continue

           to seek what God has for me..... to just

               seek him...serve him.... 

and be there for whatever and however he can use me.

Upside Down

I spent the weekend at a camp in New Hampshire

     a weekend for youth groups...

the theme of the weekend was

      "Upside Down"

What a great theme!!  

   we should all have this as our theme...

  what could God do in this world

     if all of us who followed him

were willing to let God

      turn our lives upside down?

We say we want to be turned upside down..

    but we often say things we don't mean.

  it sounds good..but really...

     we like things the way that they already are.

If we actually turned our lives upside down

    we would have to get out of our comfort zones...

     and we don't really like that.

Unfortunately for us, God isn't interested in our 

      comfort zones....

  we cannot fully trust him in the comfort zone..

  full trust requires

    that we let him turn our world

       upside down.

When he told Peter to follow him -

       Peter's world was turned upside down.

When he asked Paul to follow him -

       Paul's world was turned upside down.

When he asks us to follow him -

         he wants to turn our world upside down.

So are you willing??  Are you ready??

   I am wanting to be willing to 

       let God

   turn my life upside down...

          let's get out of our comfort zone....

    get turned upside down for God...

        and see what happens...

I think that God needs to turn us christians

       Upside Down....

     in order for the rest of the world

         to be turned rightside up.

     

God is Moving!!!

This is the year that I am stepping out in faith....

     and trusting in God to do big things - 

      IMPOSSIBLE things...

Things that only a big God can do....

I'm amazed so far with how quickly God has moved and answered 

       requests that have made to him...

My stepdaughter had a baby in August.... they need money... she wants to stay home with

   the baby... she has been offered a job to nanny where she can work and

      also be with her daughter ..

     now this may not seem like much - but where she lives those kind of jobs

         do not come along every day!!!!

A friend  was struggling in her marriage and separated... this went up in prayer for God to 

     work in what seemed like an impossible situation...

      just got word the other day that they are back together and things

         are great!!

Another friend has suffered from digestive issues...this was sent up in prayer by numerous

      people....  she is now not having an issues at all!!!

I can't wait to see what else God is going to do this year...

     All it takes is faith...

       and I have faith....

     that my God is a big God...

     and that nothing....nothing on this earth

      is IMPOSSIBLE for him.

Are you with me??    Are you ready to step out in faith  and see what God can do??  

   Let's stop talking about our faith...let's show people 

        just how real it is... 

           and just how big our God is.

White as Snow

Today we had blizzard conditions here.. at the end of the day we had enough snow to make the number 5 all time slot for snow accumulations... whooo  hooo... 

  

It's amazing that we started with dead, dirty ground... and once the snow started covering everything, it just so clean and amazingly white... it was beautiful to be out in the midst of the falling snow...

This is what God's grace does for us... it falls on us like snow...

     covers the dirt...

        covers what is dead....

  

    and makes it white and beautiful so that he can look upon us.

Today I am grateful for that grace.

Lord, just cleanse me with your grace...let it fall on me like snow... 

      little by little covering the sin in my life...

        that isnt very pretty...

May I be amazing white and clean as the snow you've created.  

Wrong Reflections

"I'm so unhappy with myself"...
      "I wish I could look like I did before I had kids".....
    "I look old"...

Sound familiar??  These are just a few of the comments that you can find on Facebook...
   there are many more where these came from...

I used to think I was alone.. hating the "dreaded" mirror...
   looking in and never liking what was staring back at me...

I have figured out the problem - it's not us - it's the mirror!!!
   we keep using "worldly" mirrors to view ourselves in..
     and we will never like what we see in those...

It's not the outside that matters... God doesn't judge us from
      how we look on the outside.. he judges us by
        what is on the inside...

Proverbs 11:20

The Lord detests those whose hearts are perverse, but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.

No where here does it say that God judges our outer appearance.. he 

    is more concerned about our hearts...

       and you can't see that in a mirror...

When we look in the mirror we are judging ourselves by the world..

      how we look.. and the sad thing about that is the world

          is based on false standards.

Models who are airbrushed and photoshopped.... most of what we 

    think we see isn't real... more lies of the devil...

It's time we started using the Word of God as our mirror... 

    to judge how our inner appearance is looking...

          and less on  how our outer appearance is looking... 

The mirrors of the world will never satisfy us.. I used to think I was fat

   even when I weighed 105 pounds.. we reach for goals that 

      will never make us happy... 

I have met some beautiful people who have very ugly hearts.. it 

     makes them totally ugly all around.. I have met some very

        plain people who have beautiful insides that make them

                attractive...

Don't be fooled by mirrors.. they don't reflect the truth...they just

     reflect the world... it's time for you...

           to get a new mirror.

God is Moving!!

To start out the New Year I put a challenge out on my Facebook page
    to my other christian friends...
I challenged us to let this be the year we step out in faith....
     to bring God the impossible and see him move..

It's been hard to get people to come along and get excited...
  we have already had one prayer request answered!!
I'm so excited that God seems to be saying that I am on the
     right page.. heading the right way...

It's winter time here in Rhode Island.. so my photography business is slow..
  I take this time to finish back up discs and clear photos from
    last year...
I look at the photos from the previous year and I am reminded
   of all that God can do in our lives.. and how each day is a gift..
I have had two people pass away that were in weddings I did last year...
   we never know what God has planned...

This is why we need to get excited now!!!!
   There may not be a tomorrow...
So many people are posting on Facebook about great deals at stores...
      photos of new cars... photos of their children...
 so why are we so quiet when it comes to our faith???

As christians, we should be excited everyday!!!  Our God is a BIG GOD!!!!
    A living God... nothing is impossible for him!!!

Yet... we complain to others.. on media sites.... and never seek God out in prayer for our "impossible" requests...

I want to step out in faith this year.. I want to live what I believe.. and I believe that God can do anything...anywhere... in anyone...
 
          I"m going to keep praying... and watching...
                   and see what happens...

God has only begun to move.... this world is in for some change.

Getting Excited

I want to get excited about God this year ..

  not just little excited...

    but a LOT excited.

New car excited...new shoes excited..new job excited...

How often do you come across an excited christian??  

   not too often... and what a shame..

God is not boring... he's not dead

  he is living and breathing and moving...

and we should be excited about that.

I want to be excited and I want others to get excited with me...

  I want people who don't know Jesus to see

    something exciting that maybe they are missing...

If Jesus is the most important thing in my life..then I should be excited about

    that and want to share that with others...

I do think I've been failing with the excitement part... 

   and I'm not sure why...

I've spent quite a bit of time last year being excited for others when they

    have had great  blessings... 

so I'm not sure why each day I just cannot be that 

    excited about my God...

I should be...

  I want to be....

      I will be ...

This is my mission.... 

   come  join me...

Let's get excited about God together....

New Year...Big God

Today is New Years day...
      a new, fresh year.

I'm excited this year to see what God is going to do in the world, and
     in people's lives -
       most of all in my life....

My goal is less of me and more of him.

I want to be more aware of others around me
    and more aware of how to help others..
I'm sure that I fail each day with opportunities
   that God has sent my way-
     just because I was too busy or blind to see them.

So this year I want to do more, love more and see more...
   God is a BIG God, so I know that if I let him
     move in me... I can help him move in others.

I started today... I went to Walmart to get some bird food..
   in the parking lot I saw that someone had
    place two shopping carts right in back of someones car...
I almost walked past and into the store - BUT
   this is the year I want to have my eyes open.

I wouldn't be too happy to come out of the store and find
      two carts to move from behind my car so I
         could get out...
So I moved the carts...

I know..not a big deal in this big world...
   but for someone who won't even know..
    maybe this made their day a little easier.

I went into to the store feeling a little bigger...
   a little more ready to love...
    a little more ready to give...
    and a little more ready to serve my God this year.

He's going to move Big through me.. and through you... and this world
    will slowly be changed.... because God doesn't
      stay still..he doesn't give up...
      and neither will I.