Life of Eucharisteo

On this last day of 2011 I’ve found myself challenged by Tsh Oxeneider 's 20 Questions. What a wonderful way to reflect on God’s work in my life throughout this past year. These questions were really tough for me. Age has not been kind to my memory, so these questions really knocked out the cobwebs and made me dig deep in the vault that is my mind. I really stirred up some dust in there. 20 Questions for a New Year’s Eve Reflection 1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year? Our summer was one of the best, if not THE best summers that we have ever experienced. We took lots of short trips and spent tons of time at the beach with my in-laws, and spent lots of time with great friends that we love dearly. We truly enjoyed every minute of the Summer of 2011. 2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened? Without a doubt it was when Jeremy (sweet hubby) had to go back out of town for work. It was a HUGE adjustment after having him hom...

Please keep in mind that I only started tweeting the last part of 2011. The list of favs will be longer in 2012. And the winners are....(no real prizes will be awarded...sorry) KatelynMagnolia   Katelyn Stephens I can't make someone fall madly in love with Jesus, I only make the introduction. Ephesians 3:14-19   LysaTerKeurst When the rhythm of my soul is survival instead of revival, I will come unglued.   RichStearns Sometimes you have to give a man a fish to eat for a day. But eventually you have to solve why he was hungry to begin with.   EWomen   Extraordinary Women "The donkey didn't say 'Look how great I am that they are showering me with Hosannas'. He knew who it was for!"   angela_thomas   Angela Thomas Pharr Kids need their mom to pray in secret with the door open.   thegypsymama   Lisa-Jo At the end of all things we will bring only what we have given away with us.   LysaTerKeurst When a Jesus girl rises up to give unexpe...

I’ve been thinking a lot about Mary and Joseph this Christmas Season. Wondering what they must have felt in those days and months leading up to Christ’s birth. As a mother I’m usually drawn more to Mary’s story. I can feel how uncomfortable she was riding atop that donkey. Pain with each bump as she tried to cushion the blows to the Baby King. However, this year I’ve tried to see things from Joseph’s perspective. I’ve tried to step into his shoes and walk the lonely path to which he was called. A lonely path indeed. How many men do you know who would have, stepped up to the plate so to speak, the way that Joseph did. What a responsibility! Not only was he taking on the responsibility of a child he did not concieve….he was taking on the responsibility of caring for God’s Own Son. The Messiah! A friend blessed me this month by introducing me to Jason Crabb’s Christmas CD. My favorite track tells the story through Joseph’s eyes. I hope it blesses your heart as much as...

MOOOMMMMM!?!? Are we there yet? Anyone who has ever been on a trip with kids has heard this statement resounding from the backseat  pests passengers. It always makes for such a joyful trip….NOT! Yet, I feel like it’s the question that the Lord has heard me whining asking from His proverbial backseat. “ARE WE THERE YET LORD?” “HOW MUCH LONGER LORD?” “I’M TIRED LORD!” “REALLY LORD, REALLY!?!” I sound like one big fat, manna eating, meat wanting, cloud following, COMPLAINING Israelite. You see, my family and I have been on our own sort of journey through the wilderness. In April of 2010 God moved our cloud. We moved out of our home to do much needed renovations. Our family of five, moved from our 3 bedroom home of 12 years, into our 31 foot, fifth wheel, travel trailer. During the renovations, our house, which was on the market at the time, sold. We closed the sale in June of 2010 and God moved our cloud again. He moved it out to our dream property. The pro...

Today's post is a conglomeration of jumbled up thoughts that need to get out of my brain, and Five Minute Friday. So here I go. I guess Lisa-Jo must have been reading my mind this week because TIRED is exactly what I've been. And when I say TIRED, I mean the crying kind of tired. I can sooo relate to Lisa-Jo as she was sitting in her warm car and the tears came. I've been there....this week even. Throughout my week of "tired", God has been whispering to me. "Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 . He sent my rest last night. We had no where to be, no homework, and we had supper at home! Then this morning He put a cherry on top and gifted me with refreshing and renewal of my spirit. I'll give you a sneak peak into my morning. 6 am...I wake to a phone call. A call for my oldest from a friend who needed a ride to school. This of course gets her up and at em' right away. Middle and you...

Liking up with Lisa-Jo today for another fabulous Five Minute Friday! Today's word is.......GROW. Here I go. My first thought when I saw grow was....Oh how I hope my waistline doesn't " grow" too much next week during Thanksgiving. Cause I'm about to dive all up in some turkey and dressing, cranberry salad, cheesy rice, green bean casserole and a pie of some sort. My pants feel a little tighter just thinking about it all. OK so now that I got that out of the way....let's get on to some real meat. Like ummm...the meat of His Word.     "For he will be like a tree planted by the water , That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes ; But its leaves will be green , And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit ."   Jeremiah 17:8 I love this description...being a tree planted by the water. Being a tree that grows deep roots. Being a tree that won't fear when the  ha...

I've missed a few days, but here I go...time to catch up. Thankful... 229. to be able to "meet" other bloggers. 230. for feedback. 231. for community 232. that she received the journal...in the mail, and in her heart. 233. that she's healing and growing in HIM. 234. for sweet text that say I was missed. 235. for friends that care. 236. that even though no one else understands our life, we do , and it's working for us, and we'll continue to make this way work until God shows us otherwise. 237. that God still speaks to me through His Word. 238. that I can learn from the wandering Isrealites' mistakes. 239. that God taught me to be patient, whether it's 2 days, 2 months, or 2 years. I will still praise Him. 240. that next week is Thanksgiving break! Woo Hoo! We get to sleep in for a whole week!!!! Tracey <><

Hi there! I'm Tracey. Wife to Jeremy. Mother of three. Thanks counter. Not so many years ago, God chose to redeem my mess and allowed me the privilege of walking though life with my best friend. We've been walking side by side figuring out this marriage thing for 21 years now. He also saw fit to arm me with the responsibility of raising three girls. Our dearest friends call them the KP's. They are each uniquely different and have been one of our greatest gifts. In a whirlwind of a day on April 8th, 2015 our family went from warp speed, over booked, average American family to a family living with cancer. After battling months of nonstop headaches and losing peripheral vision in her right eye, Kelsie (then 13) had to undergo surgery to remove an egg-sized Glioblastoma from her left occipital lobe. After recovering from surgery she went through 30 days of radiation and chemo, followed by a year long course of chemotherapy. Kelsie thrived during the time after treatment...

NOVEMBER… When most people think of November the first thing that comes to mind is Thanksgiving. And to most, Thanksgiving equals turkey, pilgrims, and parades. Sadly, few think of the “thanks” in Thanksgiving. Midway through 2011 I was given a new perspective on gratitude. EUCHARISTEO ! Nothing radical, or “band wagon”. It was basically, common sense, slap yourself on the forehead kind of perspective. You know the plan God had intended all along, the one that will always work….but the one we seem to have the hardest time catching on to. This word eucharisteo opened my eyes to what being thankful to God was really all about. It was being thankful in good times and bad. It meant being genuine…sincere…living life on purpose and not taking it for granted. All of this combined together to awaken me to the one thing that I am most thankful for….. My Salvation. This blessed Salvation….my greatest gift….the gift that was always there waiting for me….the gift that Satan didn’t w...

This blessed Salvation….my greatest gift….the gift that was always there waiting for me….the gift that Satan didn’t want me to find….the gift that my Sweet Savior, Jesus Christ, died for….the gift that I don’t know how I lived 27 years without. Read the rest of the story....follow me over to Beautiful Mommy Feet today where I have the honor of guest posting. It is a  privilege to share my story with the followers of Melissa's wonderful blog . Join us as we celebrate this  Thanksgiving of Praise . Tracey <><

Thanking Him... 221. for waking me up on time this morning....I forgot to turn on my alarm last night. 222. for Vick's Vapo Rub. 223. for being able to breath out of my nose again. 224. that tomorrow is our Friday! 225. for giving me this opportunity to use this blog for His Glory. 226. for fresh greens and the neighbor that offers them. 227. for Kaylee, who cleaned up and put away last night before bed so that I wouldn't have to do it. It means so much when they do these little things without being asked. She couldn't have shown her love for me in any better way. Priceless. Tracey <><

Today I am dedicating this entire post to my dear, sweet, hardworking husband. Today I thank God for this man. This man that stepped into my path almost 14 years ago and walked it with me. The man that continued to walk beside me as God (little did we know) was directing the path. The path that led us both to Him. 212. for his love. 213. for his support. 214. for his faithfulness 215. for his laughter. 216. for his love for our girls. 217. for his willingness to provide for our family. 218. for his love for the Lord. 219. for his talents. 220. for his assurance. Now he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed." Genesis 5:29 Thankful, more than words can say, Tracey <><

 I feel like I've been hit by a truck today . Thankful... 201. that I have not actually been hit by a truck. :) 202. that I can get out of bed on my own. 203. that I was able to remove the peanuts from her nostrils (one in each nostril) and that I didn't have to make a trip to the ER. 204. that there was only ONE peanut in each nostril. 205. that Friday is a school holiday. 206. that my car is getting me to and from the places I need to go. 207. that KP #2 was okay about not going on the field trip. I'm so proud of that kid. 208. that I only have two baskets of clothes to put away today. 209. for the good turn out at the shower, and that she got lots of things she needed. 210. that at least my ears aren't stopped up. Tracey <><

1 Chronicles 16:34 MSG "Give thanks to God - he is good and his love never quits." Thanking my Heavenly Father for... 191. His unfailing love. 192. gut busting, belly laughs, filling the car...they missed each other so much...it's been far too long....absence really does make the heart grow fonder. 193. sleepovers. 194. best friends. 195. making lasting childhood memories. 196. The Hurricanes WIN!!! 197. Fall and Football. 198. new recipes. 199. the excitement and anticipation surrounding wedding plans. 200. the ability to drive myself where ever I need to go. Tracey <><

Pulled a post out of the archives for today...  It's a lesson that God taught me on choosing thanks...   113. that my house didn't get damaged by the storm. 114. that Kenny is in PA with Jeremy. It's always nice to see a familiar face when you're out of town. 115. that I've learned to how to find my joy when I loose it. I've learned to thank my way out of those dark places. 116. for my church...and the freedom to worship there without fear of persecution. 117. for my friend Sharon, and the fact that, without a second thought ,she was willing to run my daughter a snack to school because she forgot hers this morning. 118. for unexpected messages from old friends...the friends that you never get see or talk to, but when you do it's like you see each other everyday. 119. for things yet to come and the lessons I will learn. Whew.....I feel so much better now. I had to start out with thanks today. And now that I stop and think about it.....it...

Day 2 John 11:41-42 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that You have heard Me . 4 2 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 　 Jesus said “I know you always hear Me.” Wow….do we have this same confidence? Confidence that Our Heavenly Father always hears us? Jesus’ example in this passage says that we should. His example also tells us that we should be giving Thanks to God in everything (yes the bad time too) and we should be doing it publicly. What a thought…people could actually be led to believe in Jesus because of our obedience in Thanksgiving to God. I Thank my God today.... 184. The girls had winter clothes from last year that still fit this year. 185. I finally got the winter clothes pulled out of storage and organized in the closet. 186. Almond bark (my waistline...

Romans1:8 - "First I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world." My MacArthur commentary tells me that in almost every letter Paul wrote, he expressed his gratitude. If thankfulness was that important to Paul, then I think I should take note and learn from his words of gratitude. I take particular note that Paul thanked God "first". A few months ago I read Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts . It was life changing for me. The portrait she paints of thanks is astounding. Since finishing the book I've started my own journal of thanks. I'll be sharing some of those lists of thanks with you throughout the month of November as I participate in the 30 Days to Being Thankful Challenge . I thank my God for... 181. a quiet house after everyone has gone to bed. 182. the chance to hear about the Godly influence my girls are being to their friends and teachers at school. Thankful more than ...

So I've been on sort of a computer hiatus. Not by my own choosing. Hindsight has shown me that this hiatus was most likely chosen for me by the One who always knows best. Having said that....this post is likely to be all over the place. Try to keep up! ;) First...my detox from the computer. I had to refrain from using my laptop for almost seven days! Can't even believe I made it as I sit here and type this. You see, I've been online so much this month that I was dangerously close to exceeding the data limit on my MiFi. This tells me one thing....I've wasted way too much of my time. I can justify some of the time. Like my time spent managing our church's FB page, and my time spent on blog posts. But I can't justify the "time leeches" like Pinterest, FB updates and games, reading tons of Christian blogs (that I've used to replace my own devotion time), or checking my blog stats constantly (really got convicted about this by Dawn Camp and...

As women...wives....mothers....sometimes we think we have to make everything okay. We think we have to be strong when no one else can be. We place before ourselves an unrealistic set of standards and we judge, sometimes other women, but mostly ourselves, by them. Grace for the Good Girl Author, Emily P. Freeman , tells us to take off our masks. I tell you (more like I tell myself) stop trying to live up to what you think everyone else wants you to be. The ONLY thing that matters is what GOD, your Heavenly Father, wants you to be. Let's follow the example set by Jason Crabb in the words of this song. These are honest, true, heartfelt words that I think a lot of you (and I KNOW I) can identify with. Praise be to God. He is our Comforter. He hears our cries. Falling before Him, Tracey <><

For the past few days I’ve been reading and re-reading Proverbs 31:10-31 , the story of The Virtuous Wife. I want to learn from this woman. The woman that was pleasing in God’s sight. The woman whose story, God chose to tell. I learned in my study of these verses, that they are an acrostic poem. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, encouraging it’s memorization. We do not know who this woman was, but it is very clear what she was. 10Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. (Thank You Lord for these words of affirmation) 11The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain. 12She does him good and not evil. All the days of her life. (Reminder of what I vowed on my wedding day) 13She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands. (I’m working on the “willingly” part) 14She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar. (I will not complain about my 25 minute ...

I've been spending some time out in God's Creation. Walking around appreciating the wonder of His handiwork. Thought I'd share some of what I had the privilege to see. It's truly amazing what He has created!                                                                                                  Photography by Tracey Padgett I encourage you to take a stroll and enjoy the beauty that God has created just for you. Tracey <><

I kicked it into neutral on Friday. Hubby was coming home and I was going to do nothing but devote my time to soaking in every minute that he was home. We made it through the trip to the airport on Monday for the return flight. I've written before about airport reunions and how joyous they are...well...departures...not so much. I think I'll have to save that for another time...just don't have the energy for it today. Fast forward to Wednesday, and I'm still in neutral. This whole idea of neutral is for some reason, humorous to me. Maybe because I just took our four wheeler to the shop because it won't go into neutral. I digress... So I'm stuck in neutral....can't quite figure out how to get it in drive again. This departure has been really tough. Harder than usual. I think it's robbed me of my will to want to get out of neutral. I sorta feel like I just want to sit a while and watch life happen and not be involved. But the reality is...

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"Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, 'Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.'" Luke 9:57 Really? Are we really willing to follow Him wherever He goes? Luke 9:59 speaks of a man saying he's willing if Jesus will let him first go and bury his father.  His father, however, is not yet dead. This man is speaking in terms of getting his affairs in order. He's waiting for his father to pass in order to gain his inheritance. He was waiting to be financially sound before he set out on his journey with Jesus. Ouch...that stings. How often do we think twice about giving because we keep seeing the balance in our own checking account flashing in our head? And then there's then man in Luke 9:61. The one who says, "Lord, I will follow You, but ..." Who new that a little conjunction...three small letters....could carry so much weight. Oswald Chambers talks of this man that says, " but ". The man tha...