Conversations Sprinkled With Grace

 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,so that you may know how to answer everyone.  Colossians 4:5-7 (NIV)

I am so excited to be writing this today!  I have been soaking this in prayer for a long time.  Recently, I have felt an urgency to sit down and actually write!  

I love conversations that have depth, that are transparent, that include a little humor.  My goal for this blog is to have at least a two way conversation about things that matter to me and to you.  Things that matter to me are first and foremost God, and His Kingdom.  The field that God has released me  into is particularly women of God.  I want to share what God is doing in my life, and hear what He is doing in yours.  I want to hear about what you have been reading, and what it speaks to your spirit, and I want to share what I am reading and what it is speaking to me.  I want to talk about what is happening in the world from a Christian worldview.  I want this blog to encourage you, build your faith, give you hope and see yourself in the larger picture.

Let me tell you a little about myself.  I am "older".  I have been married a long time (but not as long as some of you)! I have four children, all grown up now, and 1 beautiful daughter in law.  I have two furry friends.  I teach adults literacy skills at all levels and I train tutors.  I work in a local grocery store two days a week.  I am  passionate about intercessory prayer.  My life abounds!  Because of that, this will not be a daily blog, but perhaps two days per week.

I am not perfect in any of the roles I fill, but I have a God who forgives me, and gives me new grace every minute of every day.  I am only different from you in that God gave me this passion to encourage and this venue to use.

Today, I want to share a prayer I found in a little prayer book, it reflects my heart and was written by Jack Watts, an American author:

Father,

 Allow me to serve others with a joyful heart;

Never keeping score;

Always giving;

Never expecting to receive.

Allow me to give of myself,

To give of my talents and my good,

To give of my time and energy,

To give of my heart and of my soul.  

Help me to understand the needs of others,

Never criticizing,

Never demeaning,

Never scolding

Never condemning.

You have been so gracious to me,

Always loving,

Always forgiving,

Always restoring;

Never gloating over my defeats

Even when I have been so wrong.

Father, keep a condemning spirit

Far from my heart and further from my lips,

Allow me serve others a s You serve,

with gentleness, compassion and tenderness,

Never diminishing the worth of another,

Choosing to extend mercy to the brokenhearted, 

Like you have repeatedly shown it to me.

Amen