Everything Done With Love

Where has the time gone?  When I saw the date of my last post I could not believe a month has flown by.  I have been busy and not so busy, working on some quilt gifts, devoting myself to prayer, and honestly, wasting a lot of time too.

During the Thanksgiving break my dear husband let me choose a quilt shop to visit.  We had a very nice drive through the country in our Mini Cooper and arrived in Waxahachie, Texas by the afternoon.  I fell in love with this town, it's shops and most especially, the gingerbread houses it is known for.

This one is for sale and what a bargain at only 600,000 dollars!

Another example:

I did not take this one, but they have a candlelight tour of homes every year and this is an example.  It is on my bucket list now.

This morning I was finishing up 1 Corinthians when I read this:  "Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.  Let all that you do be done with love." (1 Cor. 16:13-14, NKJV)  I have done a lot of watching lately.  Watching some who are standing fast, being strong, being brave.  A family who learned their young son had a brain tumor.  A family who learned the dad had a virus in his brain and was given no hope.  A young couple whose newborn daughter is in the hospital struggling for breath from a heart condition. My list could go on and on.  I have been watching as these families shared how they trust God in all circumstances.  I have been watching as God has answered the prayers of His people in miraculous ways.  A tumor successfully removed and looking to be benign.  A little boy who is improving everyday as he fights to regain the use of his whole body after brain surgery.  A dad whose viral counts is almost down to zero and the doctor is now optimistic.  A couple who is still watching and waiting to see how the Lord rescues their precious little baby.  I read another selection this morning. 2 Corinthians 1:9-11, "Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many."  I could not help thinking of these families and all who have labored with them in prayer.  We have all been granted such a great gift.

But that line, "Let all you do be done in love" is cutting to my heart.  Here I am looking around me at the mess my guys seem to leave behind each day.  As I put the food back where it goes.  As I hang coats back up in the closet.  As I pick up the dirty socks left lying around- it is not love that is running through my heart.  I am in need of an attitude adjustment.  What a great gift I have been given, a warm house, cupboards bursting with food, a family to share my life with, a body that is able to pick up and put away without even having to think about how to get my fingers to grasp or my feet to walk.  I sit here convicted about my attitude and determined to make an effort to let ALL that I do be done with love.