Gateways to Joy

Living gratitude is one of the things I find that I am most inconsistent with.   I start.  I stop.  My eyes or better yet my heart always seems to shift it's focus.  I've been touched by the weight that a life lived out in gratitude can lift, but I always seem to forget. So I will attempt again.  I will try today to remember that a life lived with consistent gratitude is a happy life.  It is a life that will keep me closes to God and it will be the most fulfilling for me. Friends from Ann's I ask that you bestow on my grace as I've stopped giving thanks for a while and have found that it has brought me a sense of emptiness. I'm looking to be filled and refueled again and I have come to experience that the only way that is possible is for me to give thanks for this moment because even if I don't see it, there are plenty of things to count as joy.  One being the grace to begin again. What I am thankful for: 1.  eyes of discernment 2.  God not leavin

Pause the music using the instrument provided on the side. Sit back with a warm drink, put your feet up and meditate.  Meditate on the words, on the picture, on Him friend. What a blessings are the gifts that God bestows on each of us! Thank you Ann Voskamp for sharing :-) If you can not see this video, please go here : xo, Angela blog subscription  | twitter | facebook

I know I'm behind!  There seems to always be something to do.  I'm slow, I know, but I'm striving to be steady :-) Y'all what I appreciate with Day One of this study, "James: Mercy Triumphs" is how Beth has focused on the human side of Jesus.  Letting us see Him as a brother, a Son, a neighbor, speaking of neighbors and the the neighborhood. For me this helps me accept James and his message even more because in this way, I see him as the brother of Jesus.  I see him living with Him.  Sharing tender brother moments. He knew Jesus as brother, and still accepted Him as his Lord. Many times it's hard for the people in our household to accept our message , regardless of the truth of that message because "they know us."  They see how we function. So Beth introducing the family setting like this first, sets the stage for me to accept James' message. That's it for now.  That's what I got from Day One. See you manana! xo, Angela

Y'all I am so EXCITED! I just received my free copy of Beth Moore's latest Bible study, James Mercy Triumphs, and I can't wait to dig in and share with you all what I am learning. I think for the next several weeks I am going to use this in my quiet time and share with you all what God is teaching me. Before I move on I want to share with you a quote that I saw in this study.  Actually it isn't a quote, I'm quoting Beth.  I am tempted to say that I "accidentally" saw this when I was moving the book because it just fell open to this particular page and I was about to close it, when "something" said, " Don't. Look down.  Read." These are the words I read: Have the courage to live under strain and pain to be part of a better story.  A larger story.  Don't wimp out. Wow.  That's scary.  I just told my friend that I didn't want to do a particular thing because I didn't want to go through the pain.  The pai