1,000 GIFTS, #615 to #638

Multitudes on Mondays (and knowing that His Grace abounds every other day too). Just keep counting...just keep counting...just keep counting...

615. Mercy - His Mercy. Mercy that triumphs...still relishing the Bible study on James

616. Granddaughters...turning two. TWO years of Madie - of JOY. A Gift from His Hand.

617.  Grandsons...turning two. TWO years of Jackson - of JOY. A Gift from His Hand.

618. Praying and believing God for a special word and then when my Pastor gets up to preach and reminds us that "the Power is in the Word," and then being blessed as God delivers that special word to my heart.

619. Anticipation...

620. Delight...



621. My oldest son and his children, (my two oldest grandchildren) came and stayed with us for a week while my daughter-in-law was out of the country visting her sister who is a missionary. He shared at church that Sunday that "you always need your mom."  It was Mother's Day and I was blessed by that.

622. Getting to hear my son preach the Word. I can't adequately convey what that does to my heart. It stirs me up and I'm thankful for the grace that abounds in our lives.

623. Especially thankful for my mom and my two sisters who are also moms...

624. Picking blueberries and eating them right then...

625. The Super Moon this month.

Psalm 8:3-4, Amplified Bible

3  When I view and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which You have ordained and established,

4  What is man that You are mindful of him,
and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?

626. Dusk, my favorite time of day. This evening was especially nice with a cool breeze and these two to enjoy the pond with us...

627. The Garden...for me, it is always the garden, and only because of the Master Gardener who makes it grow, and that He knows my name...

628. Sod...yes, sod for my garden. It was a gift to me and I am very grateful to my hard-working husband who has built my dream garden for me.

629.  Dirt roads in the country...

630. Praying for a little girl not yet born as I sit to work on a baby quilt for her. She is a long-awaited, much prayed for baby girl...due next month...always in His time.

631. Seeing my Dad get much joy from restoring a farm tractor, and much more importantly, seeing him grow in his faith. Zeke had to try out the tractor too.

632. Thankful for a husband who knows how much I love to see the birds come to my feeders.  He took this picture of a goldfinch through our kitchen window and sent it to me...JOY

633. It's fence painting time at the farm. The wood has now cured enough to receive the paint...it is a process - just like everything, it takes time (Ecclesiastes 3). Thankful to our son Jonathan for his help.

634. Last day of preschool - seeing my son Jeremy with his son Zeke...stirred memories of my boys and their JOY at the last day of school...

635. Eight years of marriage celebrated by my oldest son and his bride, Carrie. Thankful for their commitment to each other and to their family and their ministry. 

636. When the weatherman says "scattered showers," I always hope that the scattered showers water my flowers...so thankful for the random rain and a quiet evening at home.



637. These old-fashioned reseeding petunias had their beginnings in my maternal grandmother's garden. I am grateful for a gardening Granny who passed her love on to me.

638. On this Memorial Day Monday I am very grateful for a day set aside to honor our fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives. I was raised in a military family with a Dad who served 3 tours in Vietnam. We live in a military town and are blessed to see and worship and fellowship with living heroes.  With all the problems that abound, I'd still rather live here in America than anyplace else I know. This picture was taken just this morning here at our farm. Those are my father's flags. He is a living hero too.  

Blessings,

Gran Jan

Consider the Lilies

I love gardening very much, I always have. Although it can be hard work, it is very relaxing to me. My earliest garden memory is planting some corn when I was a very little girl, about 4 years old. I remember how proud I was and how I tended it and how it grew tall over my head. I've always found solace and peace in the garden. There are many garden themes all throughout the Bible - and of course we know that God is the Master Gardener.   

Genesis 2:8

And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east...

Can you just imagine God planting a garden? I absolutely love to think about that. May and June are my favorite months in my flower garden because of the daylilies. This song has been running through my mind the past few days...

  Consider The Lilies

(Joel Hemphill)

Consider the lilies, they don’t toil nor spin

And there’s not a king with more splendor than them.

Consider the sparrows, they don’t plant nor sow,

But they’re fed by the Master who watches them grow.

We have a Heavenly Father above

With eyes full of mercy

And a heart full of love.

He really cares when

Your head is bowed low.

Consider the lilies and then you will know.

May I introduce you to this friend of mine,

Who hangs out the stars and tells the sun when to shine.

He kisses the flowers each morning with dew,

But He’s not too busy to care about you.

No matter what you are going through or dealing with - Our Father is not too busy to care about you. The Master Gardener who creates such beauty knows every detail of your life and every desire of your heart. Just talk to Him - He knows and He cares.

 

Consider the Lilies...

Jan

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