Overflowing with gratitude...

I am preparing a message to preach in our churches in a couple of weeks. My topic is Contending for Marriage, Home and Family. As I am preparing, I realize that I will be speaking to people that are hurting...people who are divorced, parents who have a child in trouble, families who have things going on within the four walls of their home that shouldn't be happening. How do I communicate my heart without causing them to feel like even more of a failure than they already do? My answer, by letting them know only God's grace kept us from where they are.

I have been married to the same man for 33 years. We have three daughters who love and serve God wholeheartedly. Our two married daughters have husbands who love and serve God. Our grandchildren are being raised by parents who love them and who are doing their best to teach them God's ways. And I am overwhelmingly, overflowing with gratitude towards God, because He, not we, held it all together. We made so many stupid mistakes, both in our marriage, and in raising our kids. However, we kept going to God for help, for forgiveness, for wisdom, and every time we failed, He helped us get back up and keep going. We also, learned to say, "I'm sorry, I was wrong, will you forgive me?" to God, to each other, and also to our kids. And we prayed...prayed for God's grace to cover our mistakes, prayed that somehow in our bumbling attempts to parent that God's love and goodness would be communicated to our kids, prayed for grace and help to love one another through the ups and downs of marriage, prayed, prayed, prayed....

We don't deserve the blessings God has given us. We have been lavished with grace. I am overflowing with gratitude.