Chels in Progress

I never thought of myself as an ungrateful person.  That's the thing about sinfulness though, it gives you a false sense of self. Jesus Calling , April 6th: "Before Satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, thankfulness was as natural as breathing ." Though I hadn't considered myself an ungrateful person, I knew darn well thankfulness wasn't as frequent, nor as imperative to me as breathing. Jesus Calling , continued: "When you focus on what you don't have or on situations that displease you, your mind also becomes darkened. You take for granted life, salvation, sunshine, flowers, and countless other gifts from Me. You look for what is wrong and refuse to enjoy life until that is "fixed". " Straight to the heart. Today's devo entry could not have come to me on a more perfect day.  You see, on Wednesdays I care for my mom.  I love her, but our days together are hard.  Sometimes physically.  Mostly though, emotionally.  When s...

Does this sound like a big feat?  Well, it is. Yesterday, my heart broke and I felt overwhelmed in grief for my mom.  She has been fighting MS for over 25 years, and watching it slowly take more from her is painful to watch.  Not only is she physically dwindling, but more so, her spirit is suffering.  I finally hit a wall, and I started bawling. So I sat with God and told Him how I felt.  I remembered that it was okay to dish it out.  He's big enough and strong enough to shoulder our grief, and more importantly, He cares about us.  So I laid it out there.  And then I slept on it. This morning, I wasn't sure what to think or feel.  I was all cried out, my eyes still puffy, and I just had to push through to get to work.  And then something happened.  I began to realize that I believed that God could intervene.  That God was truly there.  That He had me , as the Holy Spirit has been whispering into my ear all week. ...

breakfast with dear friends . time with my momma . my dad's sense of humor . [passing my kidney stone] the smell of coffee . pumpkins and wreaths . my roommates . football season. Angels baseball. my life group . homemade bean dip. worship nights . new friends . {giggles} healed hearts . nail polish. chilly nights. time to sleep in . time in prayer . day dreaming .

I am so grateful for dear family and sweet friends. My parents surprised me with The Sacred Search book, M&M's, and a sweet card. My big sis who has been holding me accountable for quiet times this week sent me a text saying: "Spend 10 minutes with your Great Love today." And you know what? I'm really glad to be single this year. I get to have dinners with my parents frequently, spend time with sisters easily, and truly enjoy the refining process, because the more dirt God scrapes off my ugly heart before I meet my husband, the better.

I struggle with my family.  It seems so ridiculous to say.  They love me more than anyone else in the world, they've been by my side through all my ups and downs, and I love them tons.  But they also drive me the most crazy.  I'll spare you the elaboration, especially because this post is supposed to focus on the things I'm most thankful for about them. Top Ten Things About My Family That I'm Thankful For : {1} That my mom can do many basic functional things, like eating, showering, writing, et cetera.  It sounds crazy.  And she'd probably hate that this is on a public blog, but it's one of the things I'm most thankful for.  Her MS has robbed her of so many things, and these basic abilities are such blessings, even though they too have also slowed down. {2} That my dad is a local small business owner.  Even though we struggle, the fact that he is his own boss has been a blessing.  He was always able to make it to my sports games, plays...