As we stand on the beautiful threshold between a year completed and a new one dawning, our hearts are overflowing with gratitude for the incredible journey we have shared. Every lesson learned, every conversation cherished, and every breakthrough celebrated has been a precious stepping stone, guiding us to this sacred moment of reflection and joyful anticipation. 🙏
In these moments of transition, the Bible powerfully reminds us of the divine gift of vision. It is the spiritual compass that guides our souls, turns our faith into tangible action, and illuminates the path ahead.
We are a people of vision! We hold fast to the wisdom of Proverbs 29:18, which declares, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” This verse isn’t a warning for us, but a confirmation of who we are—a community alive with purpose and hope.
We are encouraged to be active participants in this process. The promise in Habakkuk 2:2-3 is our invitation: “Write the vision and make it plain… For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come…”
And woven through it all is the comforting assurance of Jeremiah 29:11—that the plans for us are not of harm, but of welfare, to give us a future and a hope.
As we celebrate the closing of this chapter, let’s turn our hearts forward with intentional, vibrant joy. It’s time to dream with God and clarify the beautiful calling He has placed on your life.
✨ Your Joy~nal Prompt for the New Year ✨
What is your God-given vision for 2026?
This isn’t about setting rigid goals or resolutions. This is about painting the vivid, faith-filled picture of the life you feel called to live. Allow yourself to dream in full color!
•What does this vision look like? See the details in your mind’s eye.
•How does it feel in your heart and soul? Step into the feeling of it already being true.
•What beautiful impact will it have on you and those around you?
Take some quiet time to write it down. Make it plain. Speak it out loud. Infuse it with joy, gratitude, and bold expectation. ✍️
Let’s step into 2026 not as just another turn of the calendar, but as a divine dance into the magnificent future God is preparing for each of us.
We would be honored to celebrate with you! Share your vision or one word for the coming year in the comments below. Let’s cheer each other on and cover one another in prayer! 🙌
Wishing you a peaceful and blessed close to this year, and a spectacular, vision-filled beginning to the next.
With Gratitude and Excitement, Lady Grace ( my new pen name for the year )
What would yours be ? ( pen name and /or word for the year or VISION ) Do share will you ?
Writers like to play with words and when we study languages we learn even more about the depth & meaning of words and it enriches our lives.
When we are full of thanks and count our blessings we can not help but be joy ~full.
GRAPE~FULL to me means to be Full of GRATITUDE & JOY!
And wine in the Bible represents JOY just like the Holy Spirit. Since I do not drink alcohol except on very rare occasions ~ I find it fascinating to see the similarity in and out of the Bible about “being under the influence” of good and not so good things!
The Holy Spirit fills us with JOY even in circumstances that would normally be dreary or sad, similar to alcohol but with no “hang over”.
This Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for the time I got to spend with my children & grandchildren recently since they are living long distances away from me and I AM thankful for the HOLY SPIRIT enabling me
to stay JOY~filled when I am missing them and the many that I loved that have departed from this earthly & physical existence. I now, for the past year live the town that my dad loved & died in 23 years ago and my mother also died 20 years ago after moving back to Germany. I also miss other relatives, including my first born son, whose mission on earth was completed in just one week!
I am amazed by the gift of comfort their deaths have gifted me with for others & myself thanks to the HOLY SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST & GOD THE FATHER !
Be COMFORTED by the BEST COMFORTER EVER ~ THE HOLY SPIRT !
JUST ASK GOD, OUR FATHER and BELIEVE THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN JUST WHAT WE NEED ~ JUST WHEN WE NEED IT….THEN WE ALL CAN BE ÜBER THANKFUL TOGETHER~ BRINGING THE KINGDOM COME ON EARTH as it IS IN HEAVEN!
A KINGDOM OF GRACE & TRUTH & PERPETUAL REST & THANKS~ LIVING & LOVING!
Leave a comment & I will pray for you if you like and/or also tell us what YOU ARE MOST THANKFUL FOR THIS YEAR?
Happy THANKSGIVING~ BLESSED THANKS LIVING DAILY!
If you do not have family close by or still living , consider helping out at a thanksgiving gathering in your town. Last year, I was so blessed to go to 5 different ones & welcome strangers as if they were Jesus…and Guess WHAT ….?….
Jesus said , ” …I was hungry and you fed me… I was thirsty & YOU GAVE ME WATER…
I recommend giving directly to the needy yourself and you will get to see lives be transformed. Spending time hearing the stories of the people that we pass in our daily lives & being prepared with a smile, a kind word and some food to share will bless you more than you would ever imagine.
THE WAY TO PREPARE FOR HEAVEN IS TO LIVE HEAVENLY NOW~
BE THANKFUL & GIVE AWAY WHAT YOU HAVE~ like JESUS TAUGHT US!
AND YOU TOO WILL BE FULL OF THANKS & JOY in favor with GOD & ALL!
IT’S LIKE STAYING HI without drugs or alcohol!!!
STAYING GRATEFUL & SHARING JESUS ABUNDANT LIFE John 10:10
IS THE MOST WONDERFUL LIFE ~ yes we will still have challenges but we have a PEACE & JOY THAT IS WORTH MORE THAN ANYTHING !!
Do the right thing, love ourselves & others and keep learning by staying humble ( having a teachable & listening heart).
When I look to Christ as my example , I see my constant need to be in touch with my Heavenly Father as Christ did. Christ had the habit of starting his day by going someplace where he could be alone to commune with his Father. Psalm 46:10 says
“BE STILL and know that I AM GOD!”
Jesus grew in favor with GOD & man and gave us an example of how to do that if we will study his life in the gospels ( Matthew 5:1-48 , Mark 3:34-35, Luke 1, John 1 ) and spend time in the mountain & by the sea & in the scripture as he did. Jesus loved all people but he knew he needed to get refreshed first thing in the day so he could keep refreshing & teaching others. His refreshment came from staying tuned in with his Heavenly Father praying & meditating on the Word of GOD . THAT IS THE SECRET.
Jesus was a radical Rabbi who knew the TORAH ( the first five books of the Bible) and all the Hebrew Texts including the powerful prophetic book of Isaiah (which was found completely in tact when the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered ) describing the Messiah ~ Yeshua ~ Jesus our Emmauel or “GOD WITH US” exactly, Isaiah 53:1-12 ,my mom’s favorite chapter of the Bible she read daily as did my daddy)
Sadly most people who claim to be Christians do not even know the teachings that Christ based His life on….and it was not what His teachers taught Him …it was what HIS FATHER in HEAVEN taught Him and the Holy Spirit who was his guide & teacher and told us that He would send us the Holy Spirit to help us. We have to be still …ask & listen with our heart!
TURN OFF YOUR CELL Phone, Computers, TV, radios….everything and just take time daily to listen …GOD WILL SPEAK TO YOU in that still small voice in your heart but you MUST SLOW DOWN…and BE STILL… psalm 46:10 especially first thing in the morning…
What we do first thing in the day sets the tone for the day…what you do….listen to…read…eat….you set the stage for PEACE, JOY & HEALTH…or….the opposite…
I CHOOSE JOY & PEACE! ….ABIDE ~ meaning stay connected.
A tree branch cut off of the fruit tree will not bear any more fruit and will die…!
THAT IS OUR STRENGTH!~ ABIDING IN CHRIST POWER OF LOVE & MERCY…justice & humiliy… ! Psalm 1 and John 15 ~ Micah 6:8 MEMORIZE AND MEDITATE ON THESE TRUTHS ~ IT WILL SET YOU FREE FROM FEAR AND PAIN AS YOU PRACTICE !
Practicing that presence of keeping our mind on things above ! Colossians 3
THE LOVE that GOD has continually for us ~ THE MERCY! A JUST GOD…who LOVES MERCY and walks with us if we will say YES!
I SAY YES by starting my day in prayer & praise for the first breath & the health secrets I have discovered by looking to GOD’S ways in HIS BOOK , the BIBLE and the people that GOD brings into my life daily but also the teachers that have inspired me ~ especially my dear Daddy . ( see my blog about Tribute to my dad)
EnJOY your day …take a deep breath~ ask for mercy & then walk humbly in it doing the next right thing ….that’s justice & mercy for all with JOY….by graceShare this:
After deep BREATHING… body, soul, AND spirit breathing, that is.
(see breathing blog please!)
Cellular HYDRATION/RE FRESH MENT is the NEXT VITAL KEY TO HEALTH.
water…water …water your cells!
and just like plants you need Sun SHINE TOO !
(see Sun post)
And once again I am talking about all 3 levels of hydrating & refreshing your cells…body, soul and spirit…
Let’s start with the body~ Which is 70% water and needs a LOT for all the organs to function properly …especially the brain!…go grab some quick…but make sure it’s is GOOD WATER!
WATER…the purest and plenty of it !
When arriving in a new location ( especially when traveling I often ask at Health Food stores for local springs or find the best water purification system in town since I have RARELY drank tap water for 35+ years after my goldfish died overnight when we moved to a town with floridated water)…Was I going to put THAT POISON in my pregnant body?
NO WAY!!!
SO, for years we used filtration systems …but on trips I discovered wonderful free & pure springs from talking to the locals in Washington , Oregon and California.
( THE ABSOLUTE BEST SO FAR was in Mt Shasta , California and now a company called Castle Rock even bottles it. ( glass bottles by the way are the safest way to store your water , especially in a hot car)
In Half Moon Bay, California there is a great “watering hole ” and connector of NEAT health conscious people called LIGHTHOUSE WATER ” the pure water store”. Tell them Grace sent you for your first free Gallon!…ahhhhh!
It is actually fun to get back to going to the ” well ” and drawing your own water~ !
BREATH the purist air you can…drink the purist water you can and think the purist thoughts! and then MOVE your body through fun exercise outside in the SUN as much as possible….and repeat!
( recommend reading : YOUR BODY’S MANY CRIES FOR WATER
and/ or Paul Bragg’s Water book and all HIS books are excellent especially if you can find his original books)
When I was in the diaper stage of raising & nurturing my wonderful children and especially when my 4 boys came along in a row after 4 girls, I loved the quote that I pasted on the bathroom mirror ( mostly to remind me! ha!)
R RESPONSE is R RESPONSIBILITY…..
we ARE able to choose our response in every given moment and situation…if we prepare !
you choose the attitude because we often can not choose our circumstances in life ….STORMS AND phone calls happen… WE RESPOND WITH OUR attitude and hopefully and prayerfully with PRACTICE it is a good one and the best one for the moment!!!
Preparation:
*Pray on awakening asking for Divine help !
Start your day with a grateful heart to GOD our Father in Heaven counting your blessings and singing praise to the CREATOR and the Spirit
*Meditate on a verse from your daily Bible reading… when we meditate all day on GOD’s TRUTH it changes our attitude to HIS…( one hour a week will NOT do much!)
replace stinkin’ THINKIN’ with a GRATITUDE ATTITUDE….!!!! pretty please!
now that’s cool dude!
*CHOOSE TO SMILE each morning ( what a natural face lift and mood changer for YOU and EVERYONE around you….!) YOU actually determine the weather forecast for those in your presence including yourself….yes lighten UP SMILE and LAUGH (for more see my laughter blog too)… ~ graceanne
here are more powerful truthsabout ATTITUDE written by one of my favorite preachers:
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church….a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitudes.”
