1,000 GIFTS, #595 to #614

This Multitude Monday finds me at peace and I can say with confidence this counting has much to do with my restful countenance.  Twenty Twelve is passing quickly to me, how about you?

595.  My Wednesday night Bible study class completed our study of the book of James. We were a weepy mess that last night...what a gift that study was to us. I love this fourteenth verse from the fourth chapter (this is the Amplified version).  Read it and ponder the brevity of our lives. Rest in the assurance that our Blessed Controller has everything well in control.

Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen tomorrow.

What is the nature of your life? You are [really] but a wisp of vapor

(a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while

and then disappears [into thin air].

 

596. I wrote my last post from the Metro Worship Conference. It was a gift from God to be there and I am thankful for our church that supports that time away for my husband. Texas was wonderful - great weather and great hospitality from the host pastors there.  These next round of counted blessings were truly that to me, unexpected gifts.

 

597. The days were long and full as we went from "daylight to dark" every day - but there was time for fun too, like when I got up close to this TX Longhorn. When he turned to walk through the gate, he tipped his head to get his horns through. It tickled me. We all need to "adapt."

598. I loved seeing these young people who put on a "private rodeo" for us. They were so gracious and lined the fence and wished us all well. So refreshing.

599. Hymns have been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. I have memories of my parental grandmother singing hymns and playing the piano. We were blessed to hear Keith & Kristyn Getty in concert. "The Power of the Cross," and "In Christ Alone" are two of my all-time favorites. The Gettys are modern hymn writers - what a grace gift.

600. One of the sweetest gifts of all for me was meeting the sweet Mrs. Sheri Bell. Her husband is the Worship Pastor at the amazing Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. He was our gracious host all week. Sheri and I just "hit it off," and had so much in common (besides being married to music men). We both love gardening. Because of that...

 

601. We loved our time together at the Dallas Arboretum walking and enjoying the beautiful gardens. She planned so many wonderful things for us that week.

 

602. And a highlight for my soul was the JOY of hearing Sheila Walsh as she spoke to us worship pastors' wives. She is so genuine and so kind. Her message really stirred me up and I'm thankful for the stirring and the tender mercies of Jesus. 

603. Our last night at the Metro Conference was a "NIGHT OF WORSHIP." Have you ever seen such a choir? They sang and then Pastor Jack Graham called all the worship pastors and wives down to the front of the church and prayed over us - it was one of the sweetest times ever. His Grace was thick in that place.

 

604. So blessed to attend the wedding of the son of long-time friends at our home church when we returned home.  Thankful for Christian & Olivia as they start their lives together in Christ. Hope and grace for the next generation.

605. Gardening joys as Spring continues...green beans, tomatoes, butter peas, cucumbers, green peppers, zucchini and yellow squash!

606. Jasmine blooming over my swing is especially sweet...

607. The first hydrangea - what an awesome Creator to bless us with such beauty...

608. A Blueberry bounty and my grandchildren LOVE them. It is so fun to go out to the garden with them and pick fresh blueberries. A simple JOY, but that is what I love. I picked a quart just tonight...



609. Jackson's JOY at every tractor, especially his Pop's...

610. I am so thankful for my pastor and his family. They began their ministry with us on the first day of this year and I can truthfully say that God graced our church when He brought them into our lives. I made these little ladybug shirts for his girls this past weekend. His wife has a blog that blesses me so much! Visit Stephanie at her blog here.

611. Dinner out last week with the "Rincon Retreat" girls. Just sweet fellowship - no agendas other than celebrating the bond of women's ministry.

612. Farm and country living is grand - critters everywhere.  The "farm cat" brought us a surprise day before yesterday...her kittens. There are four of them and they are wild as can be, but oh so cute...they are hiding behind my hydrangea bushes. I need a cat whisperer. I know where the term "hissy fit" comes from now...we will NOT keep them!

613. Thankful for the gift to celebrate my Dad's birthday yesterday. My sister Jo had us all over for Sunday dinner, it was so good. I'm thankful for my Dad. He is a wonderful father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. A proud Career Marine, Vietnam War Veteran and my dad.

614. My last gift to count on this Multitude Monday is so dear to my heart that I can barely contain my excitement. I began this blog "Gran Jan's JOY" almost four years ago while awaiting the joy of becoming Gran Jan.  We found out last week that grandbaby #4 is...

A GIRL!

Praise God From WHOM All Blessings Flow

Praise Him All Creatures Here Below

Praise Him Above Ye Heavenly Host

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen



1,000 GIFTS, #579 to #594

Another Multitude Monday, and I am having a "memory lane" moment right this very moment. I began this journey of counting His grace gifts to 1,000 last year while attending a conference for worship pastors with my husband. My very first list is right here and here I am again...attending the Metro Worship Pastor's Conference right now in Texas. GRACE.

579. I'm sitting in the lobby of the conference hotel and I love the sounds I'm hearing right now...the booming voices of the worship pastors all around me shouting greetings to one another as they are arriving..."hello brother," "how are you,"  "how is your family,"  "good to see you."  I love the family of God and I wish you could be in the meetings when these guys sing...a foretaste of glory divine. (Music people are wonderfully loud...in my observation.)

580. Just this morning my husband was in the conference hotel lobby talking to Ryan Dahl, the founder of Praise Charts Publishing. Gary shared an email with Ryan that our son Jeremy had written him (Gary) recently about the blessing of being raised up singing hymns...which led to Ryan writing a blog post on the spot - it was one of those God-ordained moments that has already set the tone (pun intended) for this week. You can read the email and the blog post by clicking here.

581. The great joy to worship yesterday morning at Prestonwood Baptist Church.  What a church! They celebrated 797 people saved on Easter Sunday last week. WRAP YOUR HEART AROUND THAT! The preaching by Dr. Graham was great (a message on leadership), the worship was amazing, and the people were so friendly. We sat with our dear friends Jack and Sharon Price (Prism Music). When you never get to sit in church with your husband, it means so much to just sit WITH him in a worship service.

582. It was a blessing to celebrate our Lord's Resurrection on Easter Sunday - and the GREATER JOY is that we are able to celebrate His Victory over death, hell, and the grave every single day. Hallelujah what a Savior. These are my three grands in their Easter finery...Zeke in his "theer thucker thuit" and Madie and Jackson.  Gran Jan's JOY!

 

 

583. This is my family...the "Real Maloys."  My parents, me, my sisters Joan and Jo. I love these people with all my heart. We were all together Easter weekend (Jo's birthday).

584. I often write and share about the joy and blessing of being a country dweller, but I'm very serious when I say it is a gift of God's Grace to come home to the quiet of the country. Yes, we drive a bit further, but the solitude is worth the travel time...it's peaceful here with front porch time;



585. Peaceful with garden time (which happens to be therapy to me - honestly it does);

586. Genesis 1:29

 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb

that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth,

and every tree whose fruit yields seed;

to you it shall be for food.

587. Chicken yard time...I love all their various clucking "sounds" and funny ways.

588. And I love their contribution to our family breakfast time...who knew a dozen eggs would fit in my husband's John Deere cap? :)  I forgot to get the basket from my mom.

589. I'm working on a baby quilt for a long, long, awaited baby. God is good and Heather and Bubba are going to be wonderful parents to their baby girl...due to arrive in June. I'm thankful for my new found love of quilting and the gift of grace in their lives too.

590. There is a willow tree on the banks of our pond that Zeke and I like to sit under and have picnics when he comes to the farm. I am calling it the Picnic Willow and I love to spend time with my grandchildren.

591. My friend Lanie made a quilt to raise funds for cancer research. She herself is an ovarian cancer survivor.  God is so good - she brought this quilt to our James Bible study last week and we were talking about the power of prayer and healing from James 5.

592. This past Friday at work was wear purple for "Military Child Appreciation Day," and these are some of my wonderful coworkers - my work family. We live and work in a military town and are blessed and thankful for our armed forces and their contributions to our daily lives. This is a great bunch of purple-wearing folks!

593. This is my Dad and his great-granddaughter, my granddaughter Miss Madie. My dad had 8 sisters (he is lone survivor in his family of origin, which included 11 children, 8 girls and 3 boys), and he is the father of four girls (I am the eldest), so it didn't take too much for this sweet little girl to win his heart. 

594. This is the first of my daylilies to begin to show signs of blooming. I can't wait and love to "come to the garden alone..." like the old hymn says. 

Speaking of "showing signs of blooming and growth," I am asking the Good LORD to be with all of us at the Metro Worship Conference and I need to log off and take care of some things...I am praying for all that God has in store for me, that I will BE a blessing to others and that God will speak to my heart in the deepest places...I am so thankful for His grace.

Jan

1,000 GIFTS, #562 to #578

It is with great JOY I begin this Monday journey of counting to 1,000 as it is Spring Break here and I'm off work this week. Holy Week and time at home, His grace multiplied.

562. This beautiful pecan grove is part of an old home place. I love the way the trees arch toward each other across the road. Around these parts we always say that spring has officially arrived when the pecan trees leaf out...a bit early this year.

563. I love time in the garden and I was there most of the day today getting ready to plant tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, green beans, and squash later this week.  I pulled up the remains of my winter garden and got one last batch of collard greens.  There's something about the hard work and solitude there that brings me peace of heart.

564. My sweet North Georgia friend, Leah of The Point Ministries shared some of her beautiful miniature hosta plants and mailed them to me. I love that girl, she is a gift of grace to my life. She has a heart for God and she loves and teaches His Word.

565. I received my love for gardening from my maternal grandmother.  She loved to share cuttings from her garden. Not only did I receive some plants this week, I mailed a dozen daylilies from my garden to my friend Beth Moore in TX. She got them planted on Saturday - I know she will enjoy them. Made my heart happy to share them with her.

566. I love the night sky and especially loved this showing of the moon, Venus, and Jupiter last week. (The moon is in the center, Venus is in the middle and if you look really hard you can see Jupiter at the bottom of the picture, just above the tree line.)  What a wonderful Creator God.

 

567.  I had the wonderful honor to sing our country's "National Anthem" at the retirement ceremony of an Air Force Lt. Colonel last week. I had a blast - the McElwain family is precious and they honored Christ in every way. What a delight that was - I love living in a military town - as the daughter of a Career Marine I feel right at home.

568. Two Saturdays ago, me, my mom and my dear friend Lanie spent the entire day participating in a "quilt shop hop" across Georgia. (We were celebrating my mom's birthday too.) We made it to six of the 10 shops and had an absolutely delightful day together. I bought a pattern for this Twister Quilt:

569. Friday night pizza at our favorite family pizza place. Fun times when we can all be together.

570. Gran Jan has a new car tag...I love it. Being a grandmother has blessed me in so many ways.  I'm advertising the JOY.

571. Look at this little sweetie helping his daddy wash his truck. Grandchildren are God's grace for raising your own children. Grandparenting is absolutely wonderful and I'm getting so excited about #4 on the way this fall.

572. A rainy Saturday at home and candelight - two of my favorite things.

573. I potted new ferns on my front porch during that cool morning rain this past Saturday. These are the Kimberly Queen variety - very hearty and heat tolerant.

574.  Fresh green beans smell so good when they are cooking.  And here in the South we cook them a long time and then a little longer.

575. I sat outside with my James Bible study homework one evening last week and enjoyed a nice fire in the fire pit. It was so peaceful. This study has really touched my heart and stirred me up. That's a good thing. 

576. This past Sunday evening our pastor served the first Lord's Supper since he became our pastor on January 1. He brought a great message - he is a great Bible expositor and has the heart of a pastor too. We are so thankful for his ministry - God has brought such love and peace to our midst. He is doing a work as we are growing and new families are joining each week.

577. Ladies Night Out last Thursday with some special friends as we attended an event sponsored by Covenant Care Ministries, a Christian adoption agency. I have several friends who have adopted children through their ministry. God is so good.

As Easter approaches this weekend I am ever mindful that without Christ's death on the cross there would be no hope of Heaven. He paid my sin debt with the shedding of His blood. I received His gift of grace almost 27 years ago and I have never been the same.

SO thankful that...

578.

HALLELUJAH WHAT A SAVIOR!