There's something about Mary....

Guy's, I have this thing for Mary. As in Mary of the bible - Jesus's mother.
Just thought I should clear that up. :)
I don't know about you, but something that makes the Christmas story so magical for me, is Mary, Jesus's mother. We don't get told much about her in the bible, and some may argue that therefore she really isn't the important (really, some people argue that.) But I just can't believe it - true, there isn't a book of the bible dedicated to her. But she was Jesus's mother. She was chosen to give birth to and raise the Saviour of the Earth, Messiah, God's one and only son.
Not important? Please.
The reason I'm so interested in her is because I've always thought that if I would want to be like any person in the bible (apart from Jesus) it would be her. There must have been some reason that God chose her to bear his son - there must have been! Her life held one of the greatest purposes of all time - to be the mother of God's own son. She must have been somebody pretty special.
So I have to confess. Sometimes I like to think that I'm a little bit like Mary.
Sometimes I like to think that if I had been living thousands of years ago, I would have seen the angel to.
Because I like to imagaine that I'm the kind of girl God would have chosen for a purpose like her's.

I used to look at Mary like this:
Mary was a soft, gentle, subbmissive, rule obeying girl who was not outspoken or rude and always did what she was told. Timid. Shy. Not very strong really. But my view of her has kind of changed recently.
Because I think Mary had spunk. I'll bet she was soft, genlte, and probably a bit of a dreamer. But I also think that Mary loved God - really loved God, and knew him on a level that many of the Pharasee's and rule obeying people of that time probably didn't. And because of her relationship with God, she was strong. Her authority was God, and she answered to him. I love this:
"You are strong. Or do you think Mary was weak? No, God choose that blessed virgin because she leaked the Holy Spirit from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. This is what you should seek."
Thats what my heart seeks. To be a little bit like Mary, to leak the Holy spirit from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.
Because, there just must have been something about Mary :)

Love Gracie

Just watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yJnLqLWdSU

Click on this hyperlink and just watch. It doesn't go for long.

This is real love.
This is beautiful.
This is the truth. :)

Love Gracie

This little light of mine.......

I've had a couple of thoughts rolling about in my mind of what to write about, so I've decided to pinpoint this one. We'll see how it goes. :)



Light. Lightbulbs, lanterns, candles, fire, pretty little twinkle lights - they all have a purpose. Well, you don't have to be a genuis to figure out what that purpose is. Lights light up things.

Yay! Thats about it today. Gosh, aren't I clever?

Ok, but really. We all know what light does. It brings attention to something that is important. A path or object - maybe even a person.
If you've ever sat in church, been to a bible study, talked to a christian, or even just read the book of Matthew, you'll know that the bible also refers to light. And that it doesn't just refer to light, but it relates us to light.
"Shine bright for God."
"Be a beacon of light in this world."
"This little light of mine! I'm gonna let it shine. Ohhhhhh...."
Basically, if you've ever spent any time around the majority of Jesus lovers, you will have been told to "let your light shine for Jesus." Bring attention to something that is important. Well people, Jesus is important.
But here's the thing. If you read Matthew 5:14 its says, "You are the light of the world."
Not, "Try a bit harder and you might be."
Not, "You really need to shine brighter. You're just not lightish enough."
No, he says you are the light of the world. As in already, as in no trying to shine needed. Matthew 5:14 goes on to say, "...like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden." 
I don't know about you, but I've been told to let my light shine. To shine for Jesus. But the thing is, I'm already shining. And even if I wanted to run into a dark corner and hide, I would still be shining. Because my light cannot be hidden, no matter how much I try to hide it, or how neglectful I am of trying to shine it.
Because, if you havn't already caught on, its not a matter of trying, its just a matter of simply shining.
There are so many references to this in the bible, all worded a little differently.
"You are the light of the world."
"A city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden."
"You are the salt of the earth." We don't need to be because we already are.

Imagine a newly engaged couple. Often people will look at the bride to be and say, "She's just shining today!" No, its not because she's wearing her natural glow foundation powder. Its because she's in love. The love and joy that she feels in her heart is bubbling over until it shows on the outside.
So if you are convinced that you can still shine that little bit brighter, maybe its not a matter of trying, but of falling in love. With the one who filled you with light in the first place.

There you go. That's me shedding a little light on that subject.

Corny. I know.

Have a wonderful light-filled week!

Love Gracie

Valentines Day!

I had to write a post today. I just had to. Because today is Valentines Day! The day of love, flowers, chocolates, little stuffed bears, maybe a few engagement rings :) The day when even the coldest and most calculated of hearts spend a little bit of cash to show someone just how much they care. Its special - overcommercialiesd maybe, but special.

Probably because this year I've decide to live valentines day up. I'm not celebrating the day of love for 24 hours - no, I'm going to celebrate it for a whole year.

Really, Valentine's day comes and goes pretty quickly for most people. You buy someone a rose maybe, recieve a corny card, and then wake up to next morning back to the same old ruitine. But what if people spent the whole year showing each other how much they love them? What if they didn't just put effort into one day a year, but every day a year?

So thats my mission this year. To make everyday Valentines day. True, some may be a little dodgy (loving people who just won't co-operate can be hard) but it'll be worth it. Because Valentines day doesn't just make the reciever happy - the giver feels pretty good too.

Finally though, the best part of Valentines day is celebrating love. Rejoycing in love. Being once again reminded how much you are loved. And this year my Valentine loves me more than words can say. He loves me so much that it had to be shown through his actions. There's a sentece from the fathers love letter that I think pretty much somes it up:
"I gave up everything I loved, so that I might gain your love."
He dropped everything, gave up the most important and precious thing he had to show just how much he loved me.
Me.
He wasn't like, "Well, hey, I can kill a couple of million birds with this one stone." He died for me, and if I had been the only human being on the planet, he still would have died for me. Not because I was a sorry excuse for a human and needed fixing, but because he wanted to show me exactly how much he loved me. And that love, a love that doesn't stop at anything, is something that should be celebrated.

Happy Valentine's Day! And know that nobody could ever love you as much as God does.

Love Gracie

Confessions of a teenage.......procrastinator?

I think I'm ready to confess.

My name is Grace Harrison and I am a procrastinator.
Yes, I to struggle with a brain that never wants to do what its supposed to do when its supposed to do it. Sound familiar? Surely I'm not the only one out there :) Sometimes its just hard to focus on things that are "boring" (with a capital B. ie. income tax and algebra) when I just want to be doing something else. So do I get what I have to get done quickly and then move onto something more enjoyable?
Um, no. I procrastinate. I you tube things, and blog things, and basically do anything but add numbers and letters together. (Can I just say, numbers and letters? What were they thinking)

Just so you know, I'm not procrastinating right now. Unless you count holding off sleep procrastination.

But hey, I'm human. And although I could probably save my mum a lot of stress, I do eventually get everything done. Everything works together for the good of those who love him right? :)

So have a wonderful week, and get off my blog because there is probably something you should be doing instead. :) Happy procrastinating!

Rain, rain, go away........

Lately I've been thinking a lot about rain. (Hence the title of this post.) Probably because its been raining practically every day for the last two weeks here, and rain seems to be on the brain of everyone. :)
Sometimes I look out of my window, at all of the trees and flowers and the muddy grass and think,
"Boy, its gotta be cold out there." You can almost see the trees drooping their heads under the weight of the water trapped in their leaves, and all the little daisies shivering. I would be cold, wet, grumpy, and very uncomfortable if I had to spend two weeks out in the rain. But the thing is, rain brings nature life. Rain restores life into plants that are thirsty, dry, tired and even the ones that are so close to being gone. As miserable as it is, nature needs rain.

Now this got me thinking about tears. And God. Eventually I put the two together and realised God was trying to show me something. :) Just like rain brings restoration to nature, tears bring restoration to us. You know people who are hurting so much that they say they can't cry? Well, it makes sense. When you allow tears, you allow healing. So just like rain brings healing to thirsty plants, tears bring healing to thirsty spirits.
I've always wondered why God says in the bible that he collects all of our tears and holds them close. Like he somehow thinks that they're special. Its always seemed  bit insensitive to me - like, "Hey God, I'm crying here! As in I'm hurting! As in this is not good and you need to fix it instead of collecting my tears like they're helping!" But, alas, God was right. Again. Funny that. :)
You see, even though crying is miserable, and it hurts, and when your doing it all you want to do is stop, it brings life and healing to what is broken. Tears bring restoration - thats why God treasures everyone we cry. Tears help heal us from the inside out.
Just like nature needs rain, we need to cry. God knows that in the midst of the wet and cold, the healing begins.
Anyway. They were just a few thoughts of mine.
You know, I havn't put up on this blog something I probably should have put up a long time ago. My song!
I still can hardly believe it actually happened, but here I am with an actual recording under my belt. So here it is - Falling. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9K8_Mmimk4&feature=g-upl&context=G2323546AUAAAAAAAAAA

Love Gracie

God's favourite word

I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel as if God's favourite word is "wait." I see or imagine something, get excited about it and say, "Aright God, I'm ready. Lets do this!" only to hear God tell me to wait. Or I have a plan in my head of something that should happen by a certain point, and when I get to that point, instead of making it happen God says wait. Wait, wait, wait - I gues its a nice way of saying "have patience Grace!" But here is something I am slowly learning - Godly patience is very different than the patience we practive here on earth.
Godly patience means waiting for an uncertain amount of time, for an uncertain thing, travelling down an uncertain road. That's a lot of uncertainty. Something that I myself struggle with.
"Just give me a hint God. Just something to keep me going." I'm always asking him, but still I feel like I'm sitting in the dark waiting for something I don't even know is coming. Its frustrating to say the least. So I bring out the "why" card.
"Why can't I have it God? Why can't you move? Why are you saying wait? Are you saying no?" Waiting can be really hard. Waiting with all sorts of why's running through your head can be even harder. But God is a loving God and he doesn't leave you sitting in the dark without something to hold onto. A promise. Actually, plenty of promises.
"I will never leave you or forsake you."
"I will uphold you with my right hand." and a personal favourite:
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever hope, dream, or imagine according to his power that is at work within us.... Ephesians 3:20"
When you have a head full of dreams and plans, when the life that you have carefully designed in your head just isn't living out the way you wanted it to, this verse is the perfect promise. Because what ever you dream, hope, immagine or plan - God can and will do immeasurably more. He is going to take your plans and blow them out of proportion in his plans - which are way more exciting and fullfilling than yours could ever be!
Don't get frustrated when God says "No" or "Wait." Get excited - what he's really saying is , "I have something so much better!"

Just another fellow waiter,

Gracie