grace.

The morning routine I established over the summer included having breakfast and spending time with Jesus on our screened-in back porch. I found that being outside helps me to quiet my heart and my mind and start the day off just enjoying God's presence and his word. It helps to be away from the distractions of everything else I could be doing inside, away from my noisy family (whom I love!), and where I can enjoy the trees and the sky and the fresh air.

Needless to say, it's getting colder. Now I sit outside on our screened-in back porch with hot tea, a down comforter, and a space heater. I will not quickly surrender my spot!

Today during my showdown with the morning chill, God gave me these words: My grace is for today. 

Simple, but significant. 

I am finding that my faith in Jesus, though founded on a past commitment, is not solely informed by the past. It is alive and real in the present! It's not that every day is an easy, happy, walk in the park. But each day is swollen with the presence of my Lord, with his joy, with his goodness towards and love for me. This is a reality that was once a blurry, distant speck in my vision, but is now bursting with clarity and vibrance...and living in this reality changes everything.

And I asked myself about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much was mine to keep. 

--Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five