Breathing in Grace.

It's in the 20s outside, and I'm bundling up for a run before a day full of cooking begins. Tomorrow morning Courtney and I are catering a brunch for 150 women at Austin Christian Fellowship, and there are dishes to be prepped and cupcakes to be frosted and serving plans to be finalized. The run isn't just for exercise - it's to equip me for the Music City Half-Marathon in April and possibly (if I can figure out a way to make it work) for the San Diego Half-Marathon in June. The cooking isn't just for fun - it's to fund ongoing orphan care projects in Guatemala. When the running and cooking are completed, I'll continue work on a grant proposal for Red Page Ministries. I'll pack for a trip to Romania. And I'll finish my reading for Sunday night's small group Bible study.

Everything has purpose. Everything has meaning. Everything is busy. So very busy.


I'm thankful the Lord knows exactly what I need, exactly when I need it. Today, He reminds me to take a moment and simply breathe. I encourage you to read Sarah Markley's blog, and pray you'll find in it the same sweet, calming reminder to find Sabbath not in a day of the week or an experience in church, but in sweet moments of the here-and-now.

I'm taking a moment just to breathe in grace and thanks with a song and a prayer. And I think I'll slow down and enjoy the morning with a walk rather than a paced run.

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

from The Confessions of Saint Augustine

How about you? How might you breathe in a little grace today?