Covered by His Grace

 This can be such a touchy subject because of everyone's different opinions on the matter, but it has been weighing heavy on my heart lately so I wanted to talk about it a little. Hard times in life have a funny way of bringing things to light that you normally wouldn't think much about.

Here is my question for you...

How many times have you said or heard someone else say "Oh yeah, and they claim to be a Christian" (insert eye roll and huge sigh)?

I am very guilty of this or to some degree of this.  I cannot count on all my fingers(& toes) how many times I have heard someone speak these words.  Where do we get off making such a statement?  Who do we think we are?  A Christian is not someone who claims to be perfect, but a person who is screaming "I am a sinner and I need God's unending love!"  A Christian is someone who honors the Lord and admits they need God's grace to save them from their sins.  A Christian is someone who sends their worries up to God and prays for peace in their journeys through hard times.

We as Christians tend to give ourselves a bad rap of pointing fingers at people for their sins and making them feel unworthy.  There is usually no issue calling out someone else of their sins, but we have a huge issue having our sins called out.  This of course does not go for all Christians, but Non-Christians seem to put all Christians in the same category.  Instead of reaching out to those who have yet to learn the beauty of a relationship with God, they are being ridiculed for all their wrong-doings and torn down because of their sin. As Christians we should be showing them how awesome our Savior is and how great it feels to be saved by His Grace and not counting how many mistakes they are making and not keeping a running count of their sins.  All this is going to accomplish is to push them further and further away from creating a relationship with Him.  I know that I personally do not want to be part of someone's decision to not know God the way I do.

Who are we to judge another sinner? While some sins are thought to be "worse" than others...a sin is a sin. Period.  We are all sinners living in this crazy world.  If only we could worry about our own sins more than everyone else's.  I have found myself looking back at people I met years ago, maybe in high school or before, who were lost and frankly not great people, but they completely turned their lives around and built a relationship with God.  I have caught myself thinking "Pshhh--Please, I know the real you".  <--That is the most absurd thought.  God loves us all unconditionally and accepts us entirely, even our rocky past and terrible sins. If God can accept me for who I am and for what I have done, then why for a second would I question that he wouldn't for someone else?

I know I am a sinner, but I also know that I am covered by God's grace.  This is not an easy out for me to sin and think it is fine because all my sins are forgiven anyways.  It is the reason why I should hold myself to a higher standard and try to be better than I was yesterday. 

I am going to hold myself accountable when I think or say something judgmental.  It is a hard thing to do because naturally we like to have all sorts of opinions of everyone else.  It will not be easy.  I will make mistakes and I will fail, but I know that if I can make a little difference in the lives around me it will be worth it. Just some food for thought and a look into what has been on my mind lately.

Update on life:

We have added a new member to our family this past week!  Meet our new little doodle, Charlie.  We love him so much already and so does his big brother and sister.  In fact, he is Teddy's real little brother. They have the same mama! We are so excited to have another pup to love.

& on the fertility front of things:

We just finished another failed cycle.  We had my monthly blood work done and again my progesterone was above average at 28.7.  My estrogen was again very low at 78. In fact it was even lower this cycle than last. Dr. Parker has decided to continue all of my other medications as usual, but we will be adding Estradiol(pill form of estrogen) and Mucinex at the beginning of my cycle. Hopefully these little things will make a huge difference.  We can only hope!  I have an appointment with Dr. Parker on Monday the 20th of this month to go over what we have learned thus far and I am very excited to see what He thinks! I will be sure to give an update if any new information comes to light.

Until next time...