BEST BOOK REVIEW!

Is a book worthy of a great review? How does one remember?

Usually my faves are filled with jottings on almost every page.

This book has no jottings---just lots of post-its!

Why? 

Because the pictures are as exquisite as the words are 

"spot-on".....and it was a gift from a dear friend who knows both my     heart and my needs. 

As it says in the book, "The gospel binds our hearts together to a lifeline of grace!" (p.123)

A book worthy of a GREAT review both visually and with incredible

word choices anchored in Scripture.

GRACE, GRACE, MORE GRACE!

Board game computations vary by significant letter usages. If I were in charge, all the letters in grace would be given higher position, in both Scrabble and Life.

God's grace is key in the believer's life.

Think abundant and unending!

Thinking on grace this "Thankful Thursday" has me humming ......

🎵🎵 "Grace, Grace, God's Grace"!🎵🎵

Grace, Grace, God's Grace (marvelous grace, infinite grace) 

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within

Grace, Grace, God's Grace (marvelous grace, infinite grace)

Grace that is greater than all our sin........

AMEN to God's grace! I am thankful to be a recipient!

MORE BELL RINGING!

MIND AWAKENING---LOUDER than an alarm clock!

* "Bell Ringer" turns 95 tomorrow....November 4, 2025

Thoughts from others still reverberate in my mind!

My own personal bell ringers.

Allow your mouth to be a "NO WHINE" zone. (K-Love Radio, 2010)

Don't tell God you have a Big Problem, tell your Problem you have a Big God. (ESV Bible, Marginalia)

Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil... it has no point. (Dotsy Details, 9/27/2023)

G OD

R EACHING

A CROSS

C IRCUMSTANCES

E NABLING            (Nancy Binkley's SS teacher)

REVIVAL is God's arrival! (FEC Monday's Prayer for Revival Warriors) 

C oncentrate 

O n

G od   A "look unto" cog/phrase in life! (DAL. ESV Bible marginalia, p. 780)

C onfess

O nly

G od      One's most important cog in life! (DAL. ESV Bible marginalia, p. 780)  

Look to me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:22, NKJV)

Keep ringing those bells for me, God's people!

FLANNEL FRIDAY!

So grateful for today's crisp mountain air! According to the weatherman, it has something to do with the altitude. I don't even know what the altitude is here but I certainly feel the chill in the air.

How much easier it was to head out for our walk at Deep Creek knowing flannel would be my fabric of choice until I returned home!

The walk had another plus. It's the first time I had felt like a true resident of North Carolina. We met one of our "ridge" residents on the walk. We not only knew who they were along with their names and their kids' names but conversation ensued on the trail. His brother from Florida was visiting and he was able to share much info about my hubby with him as he introduced us. As athletic conversations followed, I chatted with both his wife and their perky 3 year old. We knew both the kids' grandmothers as well. 

More than just knowing folks "in passing" for both of us. 

A blessing of friendship on Flannel Friday!

I must not have heard the meteorologist say we would be able to discard the flannel in the afternoon but that's where I was headed---

COMPLETE COLOR!

Color has been taking on a new perspective for me lately. I am celebrating the hues springtime has begun offering. For too long, I have been fearful of colors invading my dreams/hallucinations from colorful starbursts to blobs of black and white switching when I would open or close my eyes. Eyes open....see black. Eyes closed see white......until I could fall asleep.

I prefer appreciating colors afresh. Yesterday, my son-in-law blessed us with bright red strawberries from Darnell Farms. Not just YUM.....but beautiful from inside to the outside. These sweet ones are red all the way through! (Proof in the Pic)

We would eat them as quickly as we capped them. 

Check them out--no white in Nate's crop. 

Red on the inside as well as the out. Sweetness and color through and through.

More pix would have shown brilliant red on top of our ice cream and this morning's bowl full of granola. God's grace pouring out from red resources picked in a field of strawberries. 

"He made everything beautiful in its time." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

ACCESS BY GRACE

Grace, Grace --God's Grace!

God's grace costs us nothing! It cost our Savior everything!

A glorious gift of His life on our behalf. 

Unearned and undeserved. Wrapped in His blood.

A gift with access, not only to the righteousness of Jesus, but "access to the unlimited power of the Holy Spirit" as well. (Stacy Tyson, The Best Times, March 2025, p.8)

Other descriptors for God's grace gift are free, through faith, favor, lavished, poured out, precious, redemptive, riches, 

Grace, Grace--Glorious Grace with access in abundance!

EMBRACE GRACE!

EMBRACE

GRACE

IN THIS 

PLACE

TODAY!

FRIDAY FODDER!

God's grace is always present!

I have "seen" it recently. 

Even in the doldrums this past week, the Lord has provided "pick-me-ups."

A perk of pansies and a kind thank-you......

......Plus, "Ss of God's Grace" reminders from Pastor Scotty Smith.

• Saving Grace--united me with Christ.
• Sustaining Grace--supplies my needs.
• Sufficient Grace--for my sluggish slump.
• Sane-ing Grace--to renew my mind and keep it sane again & again.
• Sweetening Grace--in abundance.

From His fulness we have all received grace upon grace. (John 1:16) 

HAPPY NEW YEAR.....almost!

Hoping I make it to 2024--- if I do, I'll probably start with this...

My One Word:Hope

Hope in God is sure Hope! A sure hope! (New Morning Mercies, August 1)

One who is glorious in grace and abounding in love.

Already considering my G.I.G. for 2024!

Grow

In

Grace

Make my GIG visible for your glory!!!

That's my GIG; what's yours?

IDIOSYNCRASY!

Idiosyncrasy could easily be a Word Of Week on any Wednesday for me. 

Wednesday PM is a note-taking time for H2H Bible Study. 

Peculiar. Unique. Maybe tending a little toward weird.

I write. When I write I vary colored pens with varying point sizes.

Pencils are necessary, especially for note-taking. NOT mechanical.

#2 lead. Ticonderoga comes to mind.

It's not so much the brand as the sharpness of the pencil. At least I don't have a Montblanc compulsion.

But God.....allows me my uniqueness. A note in my travel Bible reminded me. 

"Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil....it has no point."

Life is worth nothing without testifying to the good news of God's grace. (Acts 20:24) 

That my friends is my idiosyncrasy!

You can write it in pencil as long as the point is sharp!

SOVEREIGNTY!

How did you start your day today?

If you started with a cuppa self-sovereign-TEA, I hope you spit it out!

Paul David Tripp's New Morning Mercies ON Wednesday (3/22) reminded me that too often our behavior can replicate that of our toddlers. Me first. Mine. 

We can be our own worst enemy. We need to be rescued from ourselves!

More of Thee ........less of me!

We need to appropriate more of God's grace.

• Grace gives us hope.
• Grace decimates our delusions of self-sufficiency.
• Grace works on our behalf.
• Grace helps us submit to the true Sovereign God of all grace. (1 Peter 5:10)

Grace rescues us from us.(Tripp, New Morning Mercies, 3/22)

AGOG....AGAIN!

Agog--is defined as very curious or eager to hear or see something---or maybe for others to see something in you!

This coming week I desire to see A Grip Of Grace in my life, not just day-by-day but moment-by-moment.

I want others to see God's grace in my life so clearly that it grips them---they too become joyful expectant for such a grip in their lives.

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

(2 Corinthians 9:8)

God is able in all things at all times to bless us! 

We all need to stand AGOG as we "glimpse" &  "grip" this grace-filled" truth!

SUSTAINING GRACE FOR ALL OUR YEARS!

Too often my weariness and complaining spirit of aging maladies becomes an audacity or impudence of sorts to those who age well. Cast your cares on God and He'll sustain you.(Psalm 55:22)

Some folks make 95 look great! 

Bobbie Scholik does just that! Check out that smile & she had not even been out of the hospital for 24 hours! Of course, it helps to have son, Chris and daughter-in-law, Jamie, who are great caregivers. I was a drop -in visitor and I was the one who left with the biggest blessing!

I was reminded of the comfort God's word brings as I pushed the down button on the elevator.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (Isaiah 40:29)

More specifically....."Even to your old age and gray hairs.....I am He who will sustain you. " (Isaiah 46:4)

O Lord, may I have "ears to hear" of your sustaining grace as I age.

LANGUAGE OF GRACE!

Is the language of grace a foreign language to you? 

Regardless of the translation, it is a much needed language of life for a Christian.

Grace-based. Grace-laced. Full of Grace.

Sing with me now.

Grace, Grace, God's Grace. Grace that is greater than all our sins 

Speak grace. How? Christ's example---That answer is found in God's word..

*THOTS: three types of grace: prevenient grace, which is God's active presence in people's lives before they even sense the divine at work in their lives; justifying grace, through which all sins are forgiven by God; and sanctifying grace, which allows people to grow in their ability to live like Jesus.

His Grace Is Sufficient for Every Need! 

• 2 Corinthians 12:9. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” ...
• 1 Corinthians 15:10. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. ...
• 1 Peter 4:10. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.
• 1 Peter 5:10. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself r2 Timothyestore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

His Grace Is Sufficient for Every Need! 

"Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.? (2 Timothy 1:2b)

*THOTS--Trusting Him On This Subject

GRACE & MERCY!

Grace and mercy. Two road signs I choose to follow! How about you?

God's grace through Jesus is greater than all our sins! His mercies are new every morning! I know because I prayed thru the characteristics of God this morning as I exercised.

Anyway you say it, with whichever term you use, mercy and grace are both attributes of love. God's love! 

I want to stay on their paths, especially when those street signs are so obviously needed in my life.

For my "Wednesday Wordsmiths"............

Recently, I read that mercy and grace are 2 sides of the same coin!

Mercy withholds (intentional or unintentional) deserved punishment; grace endows unmerited favor. Greek word for mercy is eleos (pity and compassion); the Greek word for grace is charis (favor)

Mercy is compassionate love to the weak, and grace is generous love to the

unworthy. Humans are weak and unworthy - we all need God's mercy and grace. Mercy takes us to the path of forgiveness while grace leads us to reconcilliation.

(https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-terms/what-is-the-difference-between-grace-and-mercy.html)

LANGUAGE FLUENCY

We all have a language strength. Some are bilingual. Others have a long repertoire of spoken languages. Many linguists understand a foreign language even if they can't speak it. Some speak their language with signing. I speak southern English with a hint of Kentucky drawl.

Teenagers speak a language of their own, at least my grands do. A language laced with words I don't even understand! 

Whatever our language, it should be grace-laced....full of forgiveness, filled with the true grace of God, overflowing with encouragement.

Even on the rocky roads of life, speak grace.

Speak grace in your actions because fluency in the language of grace comes with practice.*

*Click here to see how I began 2022 "grappling with grace." 

I must be a slow learner!

GOD'S GRACE

Grace notes continue......

God's grace saves.....stays......and transforms. (Buddy Liles, Allen Bible Church 1/23/22)

Grace is God's mercy with blessings. (Jen Pierce, Heart to Heart 1/26/22)

May my life reflect grace-driven living. (OB HOG prayer card #6)

Pithy with a punch to help us remember God's Grace.....and share it with others. (1 Peter 4:10)

.....Author Unknown--Source, Brother Buddy

GRAPPLING WITH GRACE

Do you grapple with grace? Not the refinement of movement grace but the acceptance of unmerited goodwill grace. God given grace. Grace one doesn't have to work for or earn but......accept. Susan D. my discipler/mentor saw in me a works-centered struggle, like in no other of her acquaintances. Why do I work so hard for approval from others or God's approval? From God, it's a free gift. 

Sarah Young's words describe Jesus' garment of grace as a robe of His righteousness with which He covers us from head to toe.  (Jesus Listens, January 24, p. 25) The robe's color is blood red. The ultimate free gift of salvation for those who accept it.

Is that kind of grace in your vocabulary? What is your native tongue? More importantly what is your spiritual language?

GRACE

Be fluent in the language of grace. In today's culture grace is somewhat of a foreign language. Grace is the antithesis of our self-centered expressions.....whether communicating through words, gestures or actions. Allow others to see and hear your language of grace! (2 Corinthians 8:7)

BRACE FOR GRACE as you wait expectantly to see God's hand at work in those hard places life sends.

EMBRACE GRACE.....at every place.

Draw near with confidence at His THRONE OF GRACE! (Hebrews 4:16)

GET GRACE TO EXTEND GRACE!

GRAB GRACE.....don't let it pass you by because of guilt. 

PROPEL GRACE to others. (Jim Fleming, 1/23/22)

EXCEL IN GRACE & GRAPPLE NO MORE!

generosi-TEA

It's December.

Christmas is just around the corner.....a great time of year to sip a cuppa generosity-TEA, sweetened with a heaping spoon of God's grace. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

Allen Bible Church 12/5/2021.

• All is God's, we just give back.
• Generosity is rooted in the grace of God.
• Generous people change the world.
• Generosity is about our Spirit, not our resources.
• God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

Thanks be to God for HIs inexpressible gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15)

FAITH AND GRACE

Faith and Grace go hand in hand. Sweet friend Amanda McElrath knew that. Her life showed it.

Her journal notes remind us all of how she lived her faith/grace combo life in fellowship with God's beloved. (Acts 2:46b-47)

Amanda is in heaven now so there's no permission needed to show this-somehow I don't think she'll mind.

Thanks from all of us in her H2H & other groups whose lives were better and much livelier from having walked the earth with her......in her season of faith and grace!

Back row--Amanda, her sister Charlotte, Wendy B., Debbie M., Anne J. 

Center--Dotsy 

Front Row--Debbie F.,  Claudia S. Jeanie D. Crickett K