Redemption and dinner over candlelight

Last week our pastor continued with his series on the book of Revelations and one of the things he shared that has stuck with me all week is redemption.  I'm in a season in my life where some family members who have always been incredibly close to me have caused a lot of pain, tears, anger, and in some situations even resentment.  During my prayer time over the last few months God has laid it on my heart to continue to pray for them and my relationship with both of them. And as our pastor talked about redemption God just spoke to my heart ten fold.  In addition to this verse in Revelations, And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation Revelations 5:9 I also looked up a few more:

• In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace Ephesians 1:7
• Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 1 Peter 1:18-19
• By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 1 John 3:16

As I listened on Sunday and have prayed and read throughout the week I am humbled and so eternally grateful for the sacrifice Jesus made for my life and even more grateful that He doesn't love like I often do.  For me it is often so easy for to either explode or stuff depending on the situation and put my walls up so high that I push people away.  I have continued to pray that God would help me speak in love and love those who has hurt me and pray for them and approach them with love and kindness.

Tonight I came home and was dreading making dinner...my energy is gone...zero..nada..zilch...but I wanted to stick to my menu and not order out so I made breakfast for dinner, which we all love! The best part though was that our light over our table burnt out and we didn't have replacement bulbs...so we improvised and brought a dimmer table lamp and ate by "candlelight" with the boys and it was precious. They loved it and thought it was cool and I enjoyed it just because it was random and their reaction was so cute.  It made a really long day better and brought to the forefront all of the many blessings that sit around my table.  We are so blessed and often those words don't even begin to express how my heart really feels.