Sunday, January 3, 2010

Maria's New Year Resolution



New Year’s Resolution

I am so grateful that through all the changes we go through in this life—the disappointments, the ups and downs of this world, the good, the bad, and the ugly-- In the midst of the business of our days—when some days, all we need is a constant….

His love is unconditional.

His mercy is new each and every morning.

His grace is overflowing.

His peace is available always.

He offers forgiveness anytime we repent.

I am so very grateful for the constant of who Jesus is in my life.

Unfortunately, like most people, the holidays bring on many stressors.

Today, now that the hustle and bustle is over, I am so grateful that I can go to His Throne room, and He is still there.

Waiting for me.

Always.

Waiting for me to stop and be still.

Stop.

Slow down.

And just worship Him.

He is the constant in my life that I will be ever grateful for.

Even when I think He’s not listening, He is.

Even when there are days when I think He has forgotten about me, He hasn’t.

Even when circumstances in my life have allowed me to feel distant from Him, He’s still right next to me.

Whispering in my ear that things will be OK---pleading with me to lean on Him no matter what.

Teaching me that His grace is sufficient.

His love is overflowing.

And it is truly all I need.

Such peace there is knowing these simple, true facts of His word.

My New Year’s Resolution is to truly believe all He says and all that He is, and to be ever present in His presence.



Maria and her family reside in NE Ohio. She and her husband are the parents of two. Their daughter is a person with hemipelegic cerebral palsy.Because of her experiences, Maria provides parent-to-parent support for families involved in her local early intervention program. Her gift for writing has come directly from the Lord since her daughter’s diagnosis. She writes a monthly column entitled, “Special Parents, Special Kids” for the Mahoning Valley Parent magazine in Ohio; and has expanded into Parent magazines in parts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
She is also a contributing author at http://www.mommiesmagazine.com/.Maria's first published work is in Jan Ross and Jeanice McDade's Women of Passion's anthology, "Ordinary Women Serving an Extraordinary God". Both Kim and Maria have been selected to have their work tentatively included in Lori Wagner's upcoming book, Quilting Patches of Life, Volume 2.


1 comment:

The Narrow Gate Girls said...

I was intrigued by this comment so I did some research.

Thelema is a philosophy based on a man,Aleister Crowley.

Here is a Wiki summary on him, which of course I understand isn't the authority, but for information:
(pronounced /ˈkroʊli/) (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, writer, mountaineer, poet, playwright, yogi, and possible spy.[1] He was an influential member of occult organizations, including the Golden Dawn, the A∴A∴, and Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.),[2] and is known today for his magical writings, especially The Book of the Law, the central sacred text of Thelema. He gained notoriety during his lifetime, and was denounced in the popular press of the day as "The wickedest man in the world."[3][4][5][6]

Crowley was also a chess player in his youth, a painter, astrologer, hedonist, bisexual, recreational drug experimenter, and social critic.

To be fair, I also researched Christian views of Jesus on Wiki:

The core Christian belief is that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.[1] Theologian and bishop Lesslie Newbigin says "the whole of Christian teaching would fall to the ground if it were the case that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus were not events in real history but stories told to illustrate truths which are valid apart from these happenings."[2] Most Christians do believe that Jesus was fully Jewish man and fully God, God in human form—having all of our frailties and desires but never acting on them, only seeking to do the will of His father in heaven, never once seeking to make Himself happy in any way but willfully submitting to God as a man, never doing what He wanted to do but what He saw His Father in heaven doing. They hold that Jesus' first coming was the fulfillment of most messianic prophecies of the Old Testament and that the rest will be fulfilled on his second coming.

So this is a little deep for me but I can say this much---Crowley passed away in 1947. Jesus is more than prophet and teacher, He is resurrection. As in life.

My faith in Christ is because I know He lives. Man can't heal, resurrect, transform, deliver or give eternal life. Jesus is my was, is, and is to come.

He is perfection, not me, not man.

I'm so thankful for comments but as both a writer/reader of this blog, I had to respectfully disagree.

Blessings to all readers!
Julie