Everyday Blessings

I'm going to be brutally honest. Some days I struggle to truly treasure my family. Yuck. That sounds even more horrible when I see it written. I've been challenged a lot this last year with my patience level and short-temperedness with my family. It's true, isn't it? That those closest to us tend to get the worst of us. I think that's true because it's a generally "safe" relationship. We are family. Nothing can change that. But instead of our worst, they should be getting our best.
My everyday mission field is my home. It is my job to raise up my beloved children and prepare them for life. I hope that they will grow up to know and love Christ with every fiber of their beings too. But if I'm not giving them my best, how can I expect that to happen? I know that I can't do it alone either. I know that because I fail every time I try to go it alone. So how??? How do I accomplish this seemingly insurmountable task? I've only been able to find one answer. Grace. Cling to grace by clinging to the cross. When I take a step back, in the heat of the moment, and cry out to God to step in- he does. I just need to ask. I love the reminder from
Matthew 7:7-8

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."

It may be a subtle whisper, or a reminder of a verse, or a reminder to count backwards from ten. Whatever way it comes, the point is that it does come. We just need to ask. What an amazing God we serve, that he desires to help us even in our ugliest moments! Thank you God, for your grace! Here are my everyday blessings: