March #jammed: Grace Revealed.

Day 77: Enduring friendship.

“So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (MSG)

When my friend was raising her girl alone, I marveled at how she kept from crumbling. We shared family-style dinners with our girls when my husband worked late and my Jimmy dropped off cold medicine when her babe slept and she was stuck sick. Those first days of friendship were God intended. I knew she needed me back then, but over time, I would see how much I needed her, too.

Today’s verse speaks of encouraging one another, and my friend does that. She will tell each friend they are beautiful and why, notice when too much time has gone by between conversations, and have a very loud opinion about anyone attempting to harm us.

I hope every woman reading this is blessed with a pack of friends like those God has placed around me. They listen to me cry and fiercely take my side. We share laughs and pick each other’s kids up for or from school. Whole families have become friends, and my favorite are the Sundays we sit in church together. We pray together. We pray for each other. And that makes all the difference.

“Let’s be brave together, girls. Let’s love and be loved. From near. From far. From wherever we are. Because we’re always better together.” Holley Gerth, The Gift of Friendship

God created us for friendship. We’re not meant to walk this earth alone. In fact, we were promised it would be painful, hard, and thwart with difficult days. We have an enemy that is on our you-know-what 24/7. Jesus died in our defense. He was a good friend, building up others and healing even more. Let’s be that for each other. Or, just for one person.

Friends are living proof that God watches out for us, defends us, and loves us for who we are …right this second.

Father, Praise You for friends! Thank You, especially, for the friendships we would not have chosen ourselves, but that fill our hearts to the brim with love. Forgive us for taking our friends for granted, and bless us to remember them daily in our prayers and acts of kindness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Friend-ing

Megs

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February #jammed: Dunked in Grace 

Day 59: The grace to pray.

“your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Matthew 6:8b

I popped a mint out the wrapper as I typed away, hoping it would settle my stomach down. Suddenly the text became harder to focus on and the quesy feeling began to overtake my concentrations on the main idea.

“Time to go bed, Lo,” I walked into the other room to start the day’s end routine …and then walked right upstairs to my room and shut the door.

“Mom?” Her little feet followed up the stairs and turned the knob to my bathroom door. I didn’t want her to see me bent over and extracting what remained of Taco Tuesday, but there she stood …so I pulled myself together to reassure her sweet worried stance.

“I’ll be OK, sweetheart …it’s OK,” I said calmly, which is a testament to my love for my kids. I’m the most dramatic in the world when it comes to throwing up.

My little one must have an iron stomach, because she stood there unscathed by the scene in concern for her mommy …who, seems pretty invincible to her most of the time.

“Oh, mommy!!!!” my older one came home from dance and flew up the stairs. Immediately, tears began to bud in her eyes and her little lip began to quiver.

It’s amazing what twelve hours of a flu bug will do to one’s prayer life. In an effort to calm my older daughter’s heart, I invited her in to say good-night to me before she drifted off.

“Brianne, will you pray for me, honey?” I asked her. “Like I do for you when you are sick …do you remember how?”

And that sweet little girl laid her hands on her momma and prayed:

“Dear God, Mommy is a very important person in my life. Please make her get better quick. Amen.”

Sometimes, what’s only a temporary lapse can scare our minds over the edge. Life is fragile, and we don’t know when we’ll be sick and when we’ll be well. Through it all, prayer is the most powerful thing we can do.

Father, Praise You for the gift of prayer that Jesus died on the cross to give us. Thank you that despite sin in the world and in our lives we are able to come to You in times of heartache and trouble for comfort and healing. We confess that we don’t come to you enough in praise when things are well, and pray that You bless our hearts to be ever-aware of Your loving presence …just a prayer away. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Praying,

Megs

Get the #jammed Daily Devo sent straight to your inbox each morning, by subscribing to Sunny&80.