Pages

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

The Priceless Gift of Forgiveness

Pleeease forgive me for always having a messy desk!
Everyone has been so nice, saying it is busy, creative,
but let's face it- it is all out, no holds barred, MESSY!
And today is no different!

I always have such a small space to work!
Do you see the empty nebules of Flixotide above my journal?
Most people would throw that away, but not me!
I'm planning to make vases out of it!

On my journal this morning is a quote from Romans 2:4:
"Do you hold His priceless kindness, 
forbearance and patience in low esteem,
unaware that the kindness of God
would lead you to repentance?"

If you are anything like me, 
you don't like asking for forgiveness,
whether from a human being or from God!
There's a lot of junk in our life
(and I'm not just talking about nebules!)
that need flushing out, cleaning up,
and relegating to the dust bin,
but do we do it?


St. Augustine is the patron saint of brewers
because for many years he lived his life 
wantonly enjoying himself with parties
and worldly pursuits.

As the story goes (from Catholic.org),
he heard about two men who had
suddenly been converted and 
he felt terribly ashamed of himself.
"What are we doing?" he cried to his friend.
"Unlearned people are taking Heaven by force, 
while we, with all our knowledge, are so cowardly
that we keep rolling around in the mud of our sins!"

Full of bitter sorrow, Augustine flung himself
out into the garden and cried out to God,
"How long more, O Lord? Why does not this hour 
put an end to my sins?"
Just then he heard a child singing,
"Take up and read!"
Thinking God intended him to hear those words,
he picked up the book of the 
Letters of Saint Paul, and read the first passage
his gaze fell on. It was just what Augustine needed,
for in it, St. Paul says to put away all impurity 
and to live in imitation of Jesus.
From then on, Augustine lived a new life! 

How amazing that God gives us this priceless gift!
We can just go to Him,
ask forgiveness and we too are new creations! 
We can begin anew! 

Joining the lovely Julia for a 
peek at desks and projects!

Linking up with
Encouraging Words Wednesday



Life: unmasked button



Grab My Button

31 comments:

  1. Never mind the messy table, if it produces something great and wonderful! ;-) One of my favorite saints is St. Augustine too. He reminds me that each of us always have a chance to change and be forgiven. Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I loveeeeeee your crafty space! And your journal page is AMAZING!! Thanks sooooooooooooo much for visiting my blog! I appreciate it! :):):):):):):):):):):)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Forgiveness.....what an amazing gift, indeed. I think it almost seems to good to be true...and yet it is. Praise God, it is!

    Beautiful post-
    ~Stacy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Forgiveness in our crazy world is such an amazing concept. Lovely post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A lovely post Patsy. Am looking forward to seeing the vase you are going to make.
    Thanks for sharing with us this week. Hugs, Neet #8

    ReplyDelete
  6. More beautiful work I see, you are very talented, have a lovely week.
    Rum

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hello Patsy!
    Thank you for your kind words and visiting my blog. Love the spirit that is going on here on yours!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous1:21 PM

    Lovely painting, and while I have no idea what Flixotide is I'll be interested to see what becomes of the leftovers. Happy woyww!

    Mary Anne

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your pictures and journal are amazing as always. Love your desk this week so full of energy!! Have a happy woyww
    (Lyn)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Forgiveness, is a beautiful word and meaning. Love the journal pages and you may think your desk is messy but for us woywwers its lots and lots of stuff to gawp at lol. Kezzy x

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ok, I will agree..your desk is a mess...lol So is mine. I will admit that I love it!

    Thanks for the peek and sharing xoxo Marjo #40 or so..

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am so grateful for the clean slate that His forgiveness offers! Blessings :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. yes its a mess, but a creative space is never neat! I bet you know where everything is though! I do in my mess and people are always amazed when I can put my hand into a pile and pull out the right thing!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi there. Just a quick peek around the door this week as time is definitely not on my side! I did want to visit though. Thank you for your lovely post. I can always find blessings here. Forgiveness from the Father to us and forgiveness to those who wrong us (only possible from the Grace of God working in us) Bless you and yours

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ah Patsy - perhaps you should forgive yourself as well - your space is small and your inspiration is boundless!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous5:51 PM

    Hi Patsy - wow, what a great story. I, too am grateful for God's grace to clean my slate and His daily grace because of I'm far from perfect. Great post. And thank you Patsy, for linking with me this morning, I truly appreciate the support and encouragement.
    God bless
    Tracy

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Patsy:

    Great story. This morning, as I prepare to leave in a while for jury duty, I've had forgiveness on my mind and I think that even though I was guilty of sin, Christ forgave me...such a wonderful, priceless gift.

    Blessings,
    Joan

    ReplyDelete
  18. I so enjoy visiting your site... It has so much to look at and so many different thing for me to see!

    ReplyDelete
  19. A messy desk is fabulous as its shows something creative is going on - at the same time a tidy desk is great too because it opens up the door to whole a lot of creativeness that is about to happen! I love both of them - love all your artwork too.

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a lovely journal page this week. I also enjoyed the story about St. Augustine.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi Patsy!! So nice to 'meet'you:} I love this especially more of the story of Augustine and that he opened up the Word and it was exactly what he needed...Our God is always, always pursuing us:}

    {p.s. are you a missionary? if so, me too! preparing to move to Eastern Europe! writing about 31 Days to His Heart @ Fan the Flame...hop over if you get a chance;}

    ReplyDelete
  22. A lovely post today Patsy :o)

    ReplyDelete
  23. You should see my sewing room and work table! Great post. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  24. What FANTASTIC artwork!! I LOVE the story of Augustine...a man redeemed indeed...perhaps it's that we see so much of ourselves in him...
    LOVED this visit today!!
    peace,
    lori

    ReplyDelete
  25. Beautiful post, thanks for sharing!
    Hey, Pixie Dust Paperie is having a giveaway, please come join in the fun!
    http://www.pixiedustpaperie.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  26. I can so relate with the mess! I wrote a blog on that once that I used to honor my mom on her 80th birthday:

    http://alymama.blogspot.com/2008/05/blame-it-on-my-mom.html

    I say, giving in to the clutter is giving in to creation!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Another perfect post Patsy - you always set me thinking! x Jo

    ReplyDelete
  28. I really love your art -- and need to forgive myself for a lot of silly things that I worry about way too much!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Great art with a strong message and rich colors! Love that you find a way to create even if you don't have a large studio!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks for posting and linking to Just Journals.. love your stuff!

    ReplyDelete

I am so glad you dropped by! You are a blessing!
:^) Patsy