The Hear It, Use It Weekly Round-Up...and a Note of Gratitude

As Christmas draws closer I am soaking in your warm words. Thank you for bringing me closer to God this week with your thoughts and beautiful posts.

Some picks for this week:

"If You Don't Want to Lack Everything" at Satisfied by Love -- I am grateful to Emily for reminding me during a difficult time for our family that it is still possible to rejoice in God. Perhaps because I am wandering a bit these days, these lines struck me in particular: "The Israelites are still wandering. Taken out of a familiar land to roam the wilderness and eat unfamiliar food.  And yet God says they are to "rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you..."

"Ask Away" at Once Upon a Truth -- When Brenda wrote about realizing that she doesn't often pray for herself, I realized that I neglect to do the same thing. Yet as she points out: "God delights in my asking." Truthfully I never really thought of it quite that way. {I love the artwork in Brenda's header, too -- so cute!}

"Gifts for the King" at Beholding Glory -- Laura reflects on the fact that our generation is the first that will have less than our parents, and I echoed a resounding Amen! as she prayed this: "Oh that we would be a generation that had less because we gave." Wouldn't the world be an incredibly different place if that were really so?

"When Life and Christmas Collide" at Redemptions Beauty -- Shelly writes so honestly about real-life Christmas, she made me want to both smile and weep as I read this post. In the end, I was left remembering and rejoicing in the God who saves us from our own great big mess!

"The God Given Good Life" at Walnut Acre -- I appreciate that Rose points out that many of us tend to focus on God's laws and rules, his hard teachings and forget about all the life-enriching good. As a glass-half-empty girl, this is Good News for me! I also love how concise Rose's post is -- she gets right to the point and drives it home.

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As a side note to today's Round-Up post, I'd also like to thank you for the flood of comments, emails, prayers and encouragement following my cryptic mention of "bad news" in Monday's post.

My father-in-law, Jon, was diagnosed with lung cancer this week, and although we are deeply saddened that the prognosis is not a positive one, we are also heartened by the outpouring of love and support we've received in the last few days.

I've mentioned here before that I originally launched this blog as a means to build a platform to support a book I hoped to publish. What I didn't know at the time was that this place, YOU, would become a real community and a lifeline for me, breathing the love and comfort of the Holy Spirit right into my heart just when I needed it most. I cannot begin to thank you enough for that. Please simply know that my family and I are deeply appreciative and grateful for your prayers, love, encouragement and support during this difficult time.

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Will you come back here tomorrow for a giveaway? I'm delighted to be able to offer one of my favorite reads this year!