Ask

I am thankful:

~ for healing. Thank you so much for all the calls, texts, messages, and most of all the prayers. My hand has healed incredibly quickly and is doing far better than I ever could have expected. I’m hoping to be back to painting this week.

~ for leftover steak for the perfect steak tacos.

~ for sweet finds on my camera roll like this…

~ for a new favorite. Colton has been trying to introduce us to the authentic Mexican cuisine from Rubys. He finally treated us for lunch this weekend and it was easily an instant favorite. Absolutely divine.

~ for the best kitchen helpers.

~ for 200 letters: edited, re-edited, printed, folded, stuffed, and stamped. It’s been quite a task, but I’m excited to mail out an update to friends who have supported Gold Network of East Texas. We have awesome things on our hearts for 2022. Can’t wait to share more.

~ for the teeniest, tiniest baby ladybug we have ever seen.

~ for cool rain and warm sunshine. I love them both.

~for the blessing of being able to get the groceries we need. This week it took three hours and four stores, but we got it done. Couldn’t do it without my best little helper.

~ for the first day cold enough to wear a sweater!

~ for my own personal baking challenge! I have the honor of baking cupcakes for a precious couple, and I tried out my recipes so they could come and have a cake tasting. I enjoyed creating some different flavors, and am now armed and ready for the task of baking and decorating 200 more!

~ for good news and answered prayer for two dear sisters each walking through their own hard hard battles.

~for a fresh breath of hope. Sometimes we pray so hard and so long that we wonder if God will ever hear or if things will ever change. I found myself face to face with my own unbelief…that I have started doubting God. And He washed over me afresh that He is always working. Breakthrough is coming. He hasn’t forgotten.

This week I’ve been thinking about what it means to ASK. I woke up Monday morning and my YouVersion Scripture of the day was Matthew 7:7, ““Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Do we ask? I mean, REALLY ASK for what really matters? We bless our food and say our bedtime prayers and ask God to bless us when we need something. We lift up our friends when they are going through hard times, and we pray for peace in the midst of trouble. So maybe we do “ask”…but do we DARE to ASK BIG? Do we ask that the cancer be gone? Do we ask for radical change? Do we ask that the blind would see again and that the prodigal would run back home? Somebody told me this week, “Ask for what you want.” DARE WE actually do that? Isn’t that greedy? Foolish? Naive? Presumptuous?

The thing is, we have a good and perfect Father who already knows what we need, what’s TRULY BEST for us. And because He’s a perfect Dad, we can ask Him ANYTHING without fear, knowing He will give us HIS BEST. That doesn’t mean we’ll always get what we want, or even what we ask for. But we will get HIS BEST. So why not ASK? For in the faith, in the confidence, in the boldness that comes from asking, He continues to guide and refine our hearts, shaping our minds and desires to become more like His. We literally have NOTHING TO LOSE.

What’s your big ask? Do you dare?

Thanks for giving thanks with me.

“The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the spirits. Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established.” (Proverbs 16:1-3)

“Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”(Romans 8:32)

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!” (Psalms 84:11-12)