Your invitation to breathe…
Do you ever find yourself run off your feet: your mind busy and your body moving at a rapid pace but the rest of you hasn’t quite caught up?
I know I do. It’s so easy to overlook our hearts and souls when we’re constantly rushing. Because honestly, for me, no matter what else is going on, I can guarantee you that my mind is racing more than the rest of me ever does. Does this resonate with you, too?
It’s that exact sensation, that brings me to the concept of soul grace. Grace for the soul. We live in a busy world. From one thing to the next, it is just SO easy to march ever onwards without pressing pause. I have come to realise how important it is to stop. Even if just for a moment. And how refreshing that can be for the soul. To experience grace, and rest, right in the middle. Grace for your Soul is about leaning into grace, together, as we continue to find ways to choose thankfulness.
Our journey started with 30 Days of Thankfulness, and now? I’m here to point you toward grace. Grace for the moment. Grace for each moment. Grace for now. Grace in the middle. Grace through the ups and downs.
The grace to find ways to be thankful, in the first place.
The grace to choose thankfulness.
I’m thankful for the grace that defines my life: for the way in which I have been drawn to my Creator by the grace that He extends to me. I’m also thankful for the grace that we are given in each moment. Grace for the moment brings us laughter amid the tears, beauty in the thick of pain, and hope to cling to when we’re stuck in the middle. (And even when we’re not!)
You encounter soul graces every day. Moments that provide you with space to breathe, and wonder, in the centre of it all. Consider this an exercise, if you will, as I choose to take the time to focus on these moments in my own life, and share that journey with you. You’ll find daily doses of this over on our Facebook page, where I invite you to come and connect with our thriving community.
My prayer is that as I do, you will also experience a grace that is soul deep. That your load might, for a moment, be lightened. And that as a result, you might find it a little easier in your own journey, to choose thankfulness.
So once again, from my heart to yours… come and join with me in the meaderings of a muse in the middle of the mess. And as always, I would love to hear from you along the way.
Let’s find grace for our souls as we choose thankfulness, together.
Thankful for you!
Kristy x
Grace for your soul…
- sunset
The sun will always set, and it will always rise again. When it’s been *that* kind of week, and you’ve got no choice but to keep moving forward… but you decide to pull over on the side of the road for a moment, and soak in the sunset. Isn’t it […] - shadows
In life, there will always be shadows. But the way your face is turned, will determine what you notice most. Helen Keller lost both her hearing, and her sight, to meningitis before she turned two. Her life is a story of defying the odds. And yet, she says this! So […] - let go
When going back is impossible, but moving forward feels like it hinges on it. When you’re regretting something you said or kicking yourself for what you didn’t do. When you’re grieving times gone by and getting tangled in the worries of yesterday… Remember this: you can’t go back and change […] - looking at things
Sometimes a picture can be worth a million words ❤️ The concept of a different perspective is one that hits home for us all, isn’t it? We can spend our lives looking at what we don’t have or what we’re aiming for, and end up missing what is right in […] - seasons
Sorrow means you have loved much.Celebration means you love, still.Experiencing both is what it means,to be fully human and fully alive. It’s possible. It’s not easy, but it’s possible. Know someone who needs to hear this today? Let them know, too: it will be ok. Praying for you, dear friends. […] - happy
Knowing who said this makes the quote itself that much more meaningful, don’t you think?I find myself in awe of her attitude.And challenged by her example. Praying for you: may hope shine through for you today. And may your “happy” spill over onto to others. Or if that just seems […] - restoration
There’s a stream of glistening water waiting for you. Calling your name. Beckoning you to stop for a moment; to dip your hands and drink. To lay down the worry; the busy; the hurry. And to exchange it for rest. For stillness. For a moment of restoration in a lush […] - hope
As the new year sneaks in past the disappointments of the old, there’s a genuine sense of relief in the air.Have you felt it, too? Maybe, we’ve learned better how to value the little things in life,so the year to come will be one filled with moments worth celebrating. Maybe, […] - collide
Life is full of collisions, everywhere you look. Joy collides with the messiness of life. Hope collides with grief. Peace collides with tension and dissension. Relief collides with pain. Love collides with loss. Light collides with darkness. And this year: Christmas feels like it’s colliding with reality, all around the […] - sing!
There are times when it’s important to slow down, breathe, find moments to rest where you are and allow your soul to be restored. And there are also moments when it’s sooooo good to sing! Whether you can hold a tune – or not – you can sing the song […] - restore
There’s been a blog post on my heart for you, for the past few days. And today the time is finally right to put it into words. I wonder if you can imagine my surprise when I saw just now that it’s exactly one month – to the day – […] - to swing
Cast your mind back to the last time you relaxed into the seat of a swing, hung on for dear life, and then kicked your legs in that deliberate rhythm until you felt yourself lift into the air. Forward, and back. Forward, and back. Can you feel the wind – […] - rainbows
Hope is soaked in rainbows. They bring delightful stories of leprechauns and gold, of chasing adventure and of bravehearted souls. And they carry the story of Noah and his family, whom God graced with seeing the very first rainbow. For him it was a promise of the joy that follows […] - memories
Recently, as we gathered with family, conversation took a natural turn toward recollections of childhood antics. Between stifled giggles and story upon story, I sat transfixed. Thoroughly absorbed in the memories unfolding. One thought would lead to another, which in turn would lead to another. Each family member would have […] - strength
Have you ever thought about the fact that sometimes it takes a tremendous amount of strength to rest? Sometimes it takes a lion’s strength to say ‘no’ to your never-ending to-do list. It takes strength to set time aside in an already-busy schedule. It takes strength to pare your calendar […] - rainy days
I quietly love rainy days. I love hearing the music of the rain pattering persistently on the roof, drumming to its own beat. I love seeing the shapes and colours of the clouds as they roll in, occasionally with the odd clear patch of skies between. I also love being […] - gracefully tired
Life just keeps on going, doesn’t it? This week it’s like a wave of tiredness has crashed into me and my family. You know, the kind of fatigue that is almost palpable and seems so heavy to carry. Exhaustion that so easily results in words grumpily spoken, heightened feelings erupting […] - mess
I’ve been putting it off for a few weeks now. Dealing with my garage, I mean. We are blessed to have an internal access garage here, and one side of it is meant to house our family car. I say meant to, because it’s probably been six months since our […] - your story
I love op shopping. It’s like a treasure trove: you never quite know what you’ll find, or what each store holds, unless you walk in and experience it for yourself. I’ve mentioned before that I love finding ways to add beauty to my home. It turns out that op shops […] - abundance
When I sit down to write, this is what I see. Well, this is really just a small snapshot of one angle of my view… but you get the idea. I love the vibrant golden-orange of our grapefruit tree (which, unfortunately, fruits right where you see it here… in line […] - be still
Do you know how to be still? I don’t just mean stopping, stationary, where you are. I mean a stillness that fills your heart, mind and soul as you assume a posture of rest. I mean a stillness that gives you the time to consider each of your five senses, […] - mistakes
Knitting is something that I learned when I was young, at a time in my life when I loved to make and create anything with my hands. I don’t recall the exact moment I learned this timeless skill, or even what my first project entailed, but I’m pretty sure that […] - consider
Eleven years ago, as a young mum-to-be, I spent the day with a friend to create some art. It was, in fact, my due date, but our little one was determined to stay put. As I pondered what to paint, I remembered a photo that hubby had taken in Fiji […] - waiting
To wait isn’t exactly something that comes second nature to us. At least, we’re conditioned to think so. We are far more likely to find a way to multitask and fill in the time, or complain about it, than we are to simply wait and be present in the space […] - smile
Today’s soul grace is brought to you by a song that our family has been singing all year. It was such a hit when we first heard it, and has been so poignant, that we even made a feature of the phrase “always choose joy” on a lightbox that graced […] - celebrate
Awhile ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the concept of “Birthday Eve.” It seemed like rather a delightful idea! For us, today it has meant making the last day of being “9” a specially-acknowledged day for our middle daughter. She also happens to be our budding chef, so […] - possibilities
I have a this little set of cards in a holder that I bought last year. In the shop they looked pretty, featured my favourite colours with a touch of shimmering gold, were a good price, and were called “YAY you!” That was all it took, I decided that they […] - feel it
These are not ordinary times, and we all know it. Our emotions especially. Even if we’re not experiencing emotions specific to the spread of coronavirus, or the lockdown, or changes they’ve brought on us, our emotional equilibrium has been affected. Which means that we feel everything else – the ‘normal’ […] - humour
Procrastination. Are any of you as good at it as I seem to be? My brain runs so far ahead of my body that I will often just sit there, thinking of everything I need to do while doing none of it, and wishing it was already done while whiling […] - beauty
I’m sure I’m not the only one who can so easily go about my day and forget to admire the beauty around me. There’s the choice to see beauty in the everyday (even the mundane), recognise beauty in the chaos and find beauty in simplicity. But today I’m talking about […] - to fly
Every single day of the past seven weeks, we’ve had visitors. At least one Kereru (or Wood Pigeon as they’re also called) has alighted on a branch out our window at about this time in the afternoon. We know this, because we’ve been home every single day of the past […] - be you
No matter where you find yourself, or what you’re in the middle of, always remember that you matter. You were created to be you. God doesn’t make mistakes! And, while you’re pondering that, perhaps you might appreciate a peek at a piece of wall art we have in our house […] - bubbles
I was cleaning out the very top of my pantry the other day – you know, one of those spaces that ends up with things shoved on top of other things (in this case, little broken toys, party favours, vases, candles, jars, stray lollies, the last behaviour incentive system for […] - create
When did you last create something, purely because you enjoy the process of creating? Today, at hubby’s direction, we spent some time looking into the purpose of dopamine. At how easy it is to get caught up in activities that provide a high dopamine hit for low effort, especially in […] - perspective
This time last year, to the hour, I broke my finger. Badly. It caught in the way of a heavy duty aluminium framed door, and oh the pain!! Literally and figuratively. I was genuinely shocked when the x-ray showed a fracture – but the agony I was in certainly reflected […] - defiant joy
For quite a long time now, I’ve pondered what joy really means. How do you experience the full gamut of human emotions, while still choosing joy? A loved one said to me recently, that to truly know joy, we also need to allow ourselves to feel the grief, and pain […] - a psalm
I ummed and ahhed about writing a blogpost today, because I’ll be honest with you, my emotions are all over the place. But even so, there is still beauty in the chaos. This morning, I found myself comforted by the reminder that no matter what floods might come (be they […] - notice
Our garden needs a lot of work. And I mean, a lot. We are surrounded by hedges reaching haphazardly towards the sky, nonchalantly nodding their leaves at the patchy grass below. Being on a hill, the landscaping of our yard is loosely terraced, somewhat overgrown, and boasts evidence of a […] - pause
Notice – are your muscles relaxed right now or tense? Is your breathing deep and relaxed, or are you taking short, shallow breaths? Are you able to read this leisurely, or do you feel you need to get through it quickly? Most of the day we simply plow through a […] - just breathe
As I ponder how grace has evidenced itself today, and how I might share that with you, I’m looking out my windows to see the sun streaming in. From our home on the side of a hill, I look towards the horizon: a seemingly endless stretching line of shadowed mountains […] - to remember
“At the going down of the sun and in the morning,We will remember them.“ Excerpt from ‘For the Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon Today I took time to remember. To pause and reflect on those who went before. On lives lost, on stories told, and on stories left untold. Words are […]
Already caught up? Browse the thankfulness posts that started it all here.