"More Words Wednesday"

As you know, I always have something to say, so "Wordless Wednesday" just doesn't work here in my life. So, today I am trying a new kind of post called "More Words Wednesday."

Before I tell you all about my amazing "packing abilities," I want to share with you something that God revealed to me.
Yesterday, I showed you a picture of some pink roses that Shannon gave me. Sigh



What I didn't tell you yesterday(because my post was already so long) was where he got these roses. Shannon works in a building that is located beside a flower shop. A lady that he works with noticed that some people working at the flower shop were throwing away a lot of flowers. So, she went to the "flower dumpster" and got a bunch of them for herself, and she asked Shannon if he would like to get some to take home for me, and (of course) he said, "Yes!" Sigh

The people at the flower shop did not care how many flowers they took either, because they were just glad to be getting rid of them.

Anyway, when he brought them home, I was obviously surprised (and secretly thrilled) that he had so many. There were about two dozen to be exact. He proceeded to tell me the story of how he got them. I was so shocked that anyone would just throw these flowers away. I asked Shannon "what" was wrong with them, and he said the florist said that these roses (and the other flowers) simply had too many "flaws." They could not sell "imperfect" flowers, because no one would want them......

Shannon and I unwrapped them from the plastic they were in, cut the stems, and then placed them in a vase of water. We couldn't save all of them, but for the most part, as you can see.......



they are simply lovely. And they have the most beautiful fragrance too. As we were arranging them in the vase, the whole kitchen was filled with the aroma of roses. Sigh

So, Tuesday morning my boys and I were all admiring the roses. They had opened up quite a bit from the night before and looked even more beautiful than when Shannon first brought them home (to me). Sigh

Matthew looked at me and said, "I can't believe somebody would throw such beautiful flowers in the trash."

I, of course, agreed.

Then I thought about God.

And I thought about all of my flaws.

And I was immediately so thankful that God sees past my imperfections and flaws and loves me anyway.

When others look at me and see only the mistakes I have made, He sees growth, progress, and endless possibilities.

When others look at me and see me as unworthy of His blessings, He looks at me and sees His precious daughter.

When others look at me and see only imperfections and flaws, He sees beauty.

When others in the world see me and despise me, He sees someone that He loves.

As I was thinking about these flowers and the comparison to my own relationship with God, I was led to a verse found in the book of 1 Peter.

1 Peter 2:4
"As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--"

The Bible says we, as believers in Christ, are chosen by Him and precious to Him; He will never "get rid of" us because of our flaws and imperfections. To Him we are precious. Period.

So now, these roses that my sweet husband brought home to me, mean even more than if he had paid "full price" for them.

I love the ways that God reveals Himself to us in this life.....We just need to stop sometimes to listen to Him and to smell the roses........



2 Corinthians 2:15
"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing."

Thank you for letting me share that with you today.

Now on to my packing nonsense.:)

As I told you Monday, I was wondering how I was going to get all of this junk these necessities to fit into my luggage.



Well, I would love to tell you that Mary Poppins dropped in to help......



But that would obviously not be true. But I did find something to help me cram fit all of my junk necessities into my luggage.

And that something is called "Space Bags."

They are awesome!

I love them.

Without the help of these "Space Bags," this would not have been possible.



Everything fit and I didn't even have to sit on the bags hardly any to get them to zip shut.

God is good to me indeed.:)

Now we all just need to pray about one more thing......

Even though everything fit inside my luggage, I still have an area of concern. The large bag that I am carrying definitely might weigh a lot a little more than the allowable fifty pound limit for "checked" luggage.

Necessities are a lot heavier than you would think.

I'm just saying is all.

P.S. Kenny, if you're reading this, do you notice something hanging on the wall in the picture with my luggage? ;)