2009

Author: Tracie

Jan 1

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Seems I have a bit of catching up to do.  First…Happy New Year!  We ended our year at a worship service.  Rick started the tradition about 3 years ago.  It’s fantastic!  I prepare myself throughout the day by reflecting on the past year, my accomplishments, my failures.  I think about what I could do differently or if I should.  I spend a bit of time praying and by the time of the service I trust in God to direct me.  And He never fails to show me the paths He has layed for me.

It has been my prayer for several years that God would help me to love others deeply.  I’ve discovered there are many steps to experience in attaining that height and depth of love.

The first year I knew I had to rid myself of some anger that had been festering for a couple years.  I wasn’t successful in that year.  It would get worse before I was able to finally release it.  It has only been in this past year that I was able to do that.  Now that it is behind me, I can go forward.

The second year I realized I needed to learn to listen to others, to discover the beauty of that person and that their faults weren’t that much different from my own. That a persons actions usually came from some personal turmoil not unlike my own.  It was amazing to go through that year with that thought and purpose. It opened my eyes to see people in a different light.

This year, with the greatest desire of my heart being to love others deeply, I beleive I can move forward with confidence, with a greater understanding of man and with faith that God is the One that will help me.  I know I must take the time to listen, to hear, to act.  And patience!  When you ask God to help you with something, you better know He is going to do it right.  It isn’t an overnight thing with God, but a lifetime of experience and trust.

Enough of that!  To update you on my arm, the bruising is gone, although there remains a hint of a shadow.  Interesting.  I had my 6 week check up this week.  All is well.  I will say that the elbow is extremely tender still and is the source of some pain.  The doctor assures me the nerve is now waking up and so it is normal.  I am scheduled to have my other arm done on February 3.  UUGGHH!

As I am sitting outside in the beautiful 68 degree weather, my battery is running low.  Again, Happy New Year.  Oh, a good friend of mine pegged this saying today…”All will be fine in 2009!”

God Bless

Tracie

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The Cross We Bare

Author: Tracie

Dec 14

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We complain about the cross we bare but don’t realize
it is preparing us for the dip in the road that God can see and we can’t.

Whatever your cross, whatever your pain,
there will always be sunshine, after the rain….
Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall;
But God’s always ready, to answer your call….
He knows every heartache, sees every tear,
a word from His lips, can calm every fear…
Your sorrows may linger, throughout the night,
But suddenly vanish, dawn’s early light…
The Savior is waiting, somewhere above,
to give you His grace, and send you His love…

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

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Blessings and Hope

Author: Tracie

Nov 30

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I hope all had a great Thanksgiving holiday!  The Davisduo enjoyed time with family and friends, delicious food and made memories.  We certainly are a very blessed people!  I think of my most cherished blessings each time I can hold a grandchild, look into their eyes, whisper in their ear.  What is it about grandchildren?  I don’t get to see my Kens(no.3) very often but there is something about the connection, the bond of grandmotherly love, that makes time irrelevant.  The moment I see her/she see’s me I feel the love in her heart, see it in her eyes.  She is so very beautiful.  It is no different with each one of the other girls.  Rhilyn is the sweetest little toot!  She has this wonderful head of curls and scrunches her nose when she smiles.  She is just learning to talk.  Soon we will have grandchild number 5!  We are all hoping for a boy.  Ahh yes!  So many blessings!

Speaking of blessings, today was my first Sunday back since my surgery.  We had our Church Christmas dinner with Santa Claus.  For us Methodists, today is the beginning of Advent.  It is the season of the church year that we prepare our hearts and minds for Christ’s coming.  It is a time of waiting, listening, of stilling ourselves in preparation for the greatest of all events.  Each Sunday the sermon, the whole service, is set around that.  We have an advent wreath which consists of 5 candles.  Each week a candle is lit by chosen families of the congregation.  Families use that particular Sunday to make sure their entire family is in attendance and dressed up for the scripture reading and the lighting.  The candles represent Hope, Peace, Joy, Love and then on the Christmas eve service, the Christ candle is lit.  It is our tradition that the pastors family lights the first candle, the light of hope.

So now, the season of hope has begun.  As I sit here pondering that thought, I am reminded of a dead man’s family in what must be utter grief and confusion.  That a man was trampled to his death by people caught up in a moment of despicable and inhumane acts of greed speaks volumns to the degrading condition of the human race.

Every day, turn on the news, open the paper, crime is rampid.  Violence of every kind is reported.  Tragedy in people’s lives is a common occurrence whether from accident, disease, crime, greed, hate, selfishness, neglect.  These are the events, the attitudes that rob us of so much of life’s beauty.  From the bliss of the garden to the shame of deceit we have always been dependent upon the grace of our Lord and Savior.  It is only He who can rescue us from those moments of hell on earth.  It is only He who can give us hope.  He is the provider of our many blessings; He is the provider of our hope in a world of chaos.  It is He who provides the very one thing we can hold on to.  Do you know this to be true in your life?


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Remembering to be Thankful

Author: Tracie

Nov 24

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Since my last post the bruise got worse, and now it is better.  I’m still typing with one hand, still have my arm wrapped to where it isn’t bendable; but no need for pain medicine now.  Tomorrow I get this big bandage off!  It has crossed my mind that I may wish to have it put back on!  Oh well, progress is being made.

It is the Monday before Thanksgiving and Kristin has convinced me why it is necessary to begin decorating for Christmas before we’ve even had Thanksgiving.  Normally I would not allow it, but this year our schedules don’t allow another time; so the decorating has begun!

It’s all about remembering and being thankful for the memories.  I fear that in being rushed and impatient with the natural progression of time, we will forget to remember, we will allow impatience to rob us of life’s gifts.  Many will say the ability just to remember is a gift.  I like to close my eyes and try to remember back as far as I can.  There is usually something in my childhood years I can recall. No matter how faint it may be, I know the incident to be a gift.  Even in, and possibly most of all, the times I required parental correction, we’re some of the greatest gifts given because they are some of the most useful in my life’s time.  It is no different in the times since when life was most difficult.  Those are the times that either make you or break you.  When one can allow them to become gifts of strength, of faith, of wisdom and character, then one has unwrapped the gift to benefit from it’s greatest rewards.

Yesterday was our 17th anniversary.  Together we thought about our lives and the paths they had taken.  We agree we have led simple, yet extraordinary lives.  Extraordinary in the abundance of love given, the opportunities given with the greatest one being that of knowing Christ.  It is the greatest gift a parent can pass on to their child.  It is because of the knowledge of Christ’s love that we have been able to use the difficult times of marriage and use them in a positive manner.

Rick and I have been given the gift of an awesome relationship, the gift of children, grandchildren and I could go on and on.  But the greatest of all these is love.

Please take time to remember and be thankful this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

God Bless,

Tracie

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Hope

Author: Tracie

Nov 1

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I remember well the time when I had no hope.  It was a time of great misery for me.  A time when the trials of pain consumed my every thought.  Pain had become the controlling presence of my life.  But it was at that time of my deepest despair that God reached out to me.  With His mighty arm He pulled me into His grip of grace, enveloping me with a love that only He can provide.  He breathed into my very soul the light of hope.  It was then that I began my search for an answer as to why I should have any hope at all.  It was in His word that I found my answers.  Through His divine leading, by the power of His Holy Spirit, I found this verse…

“So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

The truth and power of this one verse gave me the hope I had been lacking.  It was His strength that lifted me and led me on to discover that my hope lied not in self, but in the promises of a new life. 

As I grew in my understanding of the Biblical story, I began to realize that from the very beginning of creation God has constantly been in action to instill and fulfill hope for mankind.  He does that now through the various journeys we travel in our lives.  Journeys that grow faith, events that keep hope alive.

Christ’s journey involved much sacrifice, temptation, some disappointment and much pain.  But His faith was unbreakable for His faith bore the Spirit of God.  His hope was that found not only in His eternal life but in the newness of His people.  He came so that we might all die to self and rise again in a new life.  A life filled with hope, peace, joy and love.

Hope, very simply put, is in Jesus Christ.  And that hope is alive today and available to all for the asking. 

If you don’t yet know Jesus Christ to be your Savior, your hope for new life, pray this prayer now asking Him to fill your soul with His Spirit.

Abba Father, I praise your very name, for it is Holy.  I praise you Father, for You are my Creator, my Savior, my Lord.  I love you.

Father, I am a sinner.  I have sinned in many ways and on many occasions.  I repent of these sins and ask that You would make me aware of every sin in my life.  Help me to overcome them, Father.

Father, I believe that you are the Creator of all, I believe in Jesus Christ as my Savior and in the power of Your Holy Spirit.  I believe that Jesus walked on this earth, that he was crucified for the forgiveness of my sins, that he died, was buried and then rose and now reigns with you.

I want to live for You Father.  Bless me now with your great love and grant me this request to live my life in glory for You.

I pray this prayer in Jesus Christ most Holy name,

Amen.

If you have prayed this prayer with all sincerity, you must now take the next step.  Seek out His will for your life.  Seek out others who can help you to grow in faith, to grow in love for Christ.  There is so much more to learn, so much more beauty to discover in your new life.  You must turn to His Word.

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

Proverbs 2:1-5

God Bless,
Tracie

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