"Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be justified in Your words and blameless in Your judgment....

Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and You teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise. For You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; You will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

​The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." Psalms 51:1-17

In Acts 13:22 David is called "...a man after my [God] heart, who will do all My will." In part, David was a man after God's heart because he not only wrote but understood Psalms 51:6-7. "Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being, and You teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Psalms 51:6-7 When I read David's song in Psalms 51 I am reminded that we serve a God of second chances. What a beautiful reminder!

The past, living there requires a tremendous cost. There's the "What ifs?" that plague our minds. The "wishing I'd done this and not that." Satan loves for us to go there. He likes it when we campout there, set up shop there, build a residence there. It's one of the simplest tools in his toolbox to distract us from the good in the present. If you find yourself living in the past, checkout B-17 and the Tremendous Cost of Living in the Past and remember, that's not where God wants us to live!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever." Psalm 136:1,26 

“The only way to live a truly remarkable life is not to get everyone to notice you, but to leave noticeable marks of His love everywhere you go.”

“I’ll take it. I’ll take His words like a daring covenant, not knowing yet what’s to come: there is no growth without change, no change without surrender, no surrender without wound—no abundance without breaking. Wounds are what break open the soul to plant the seeds of a deeper growth.” 

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.” 

“The hands of every clock never stop signing this: the best use of your hands is always love. The best way to say you love is always time. The best time to love is always now.” 

“How can it be? When we're naked and ashamed and alone in our brokenness, Christ envelops us with His intimate grace. When we're rejected and abandoned and feel beyond wanting, Jesus cups our face: "Come close, my Beloved." When we're dirty and tear-stained and despairing, Jesus Christ is attracted to us and proposes undying love: "All that you're carrying I take... and all that I am is yours." How do you ever get over that?” 

“Activity for God—is not the same as intimacy with God or identity in God. And it is your intimacy with Christ that gives you your identity. You can’t experience the power of Christ, the mission of Christ, being made new in Christ, until you know who you are in Christ.” 

“I had wanted someone to reach over to me at eighteen, sit in that church pew next to me, someone to touch my shoulder, to steady things and say: “Shame is a bully but grace is a shield. You are safe here.”

“How can I not pass you the cup of grace that I have drunk so deeply from? How can I refuse you the mercy that I have needed to stay alive? How can I weigh what you’ve done against me as heavier and what Jesus has done for me as far lighter?” —Ann Voskamp

If you're looking for a gift for that hard-to-buy-for girlfriend in your life, or for that mom, sister or aunt that has everything, let me recommend this book The Broken Way: A Daring Path into the Abundant Life by Ann Voskamp. Every woman should read this! If she's been hurt, it'll become part of her healing journey and if she hasn't, it will help her understand the brokenness in the women around her.

Here's just one more of our favorite Voskamp quotes. Brokenness, who hasn't experienced it at some point in their life? If you have, you understand. If you haven't, you will. I've been broken, and I've healed. In my healing I have drunk deeply from the cup of grace and mercy. So how can I not pass that cup of grace and mercy on? And how can I weigh my brokenness heavier and Jesus' brokenness for me as lighter. I cannot!  What a beautiful reality!

"Gratitude is a choice fueled by perspective." -Anonymous 

For more on gratitude, read this post from October 2018 Gratitude Flourishes When Grace is Celebrated.  "Grace and gratitude ought to be closely connected in the lives of those who have experienced God's amazing grace" -David Jeremiah When I celebrate the grace given to me by God, and I'm grateful for it, I find it more natural to give that same grace to those around me. ​​​Gratitude flourishes when grace is celebrated.