Breakfast in Bed

Rio woke up to a beautiful sunrise at the Nambus' attic, the morning after a sumptuous dinner and a night of fun, laughter, and warm friendship with this family. I said to whisper her prayers before coming down for breakfast. She came back to me with a throw pillow in hand, pointing at the Christmas wreath printed over it.

"Mama, this is my devotion today" and she explained away.


The big bow represents the Father (ribbon), Son (bells), and the Holy Spirit (tassels).
The green leaves around are symbols for nature and the whole creation of God.
The apples represent the fruits in the Garden where Adam and Eve were. The ones on the right they were allowed to eat. This on the upper left corner was forbidden but they ate it anyway so they sinned.
The ribbon circling all around is God's love embracing us even though we are sinners.
The red berries are symbols for the blood of Christ who died for our sins.
The lemons mean we are "cleaned" by God from our sins. (This came as an afterthought, one day later.)
In and around the long ribbon are dots -- those within the ribbon are persons who now belong to Jesus, those outside are people who still do not know Him.
The pine cones mean "Kahit na mahirap o maliit ang katayuan mo o dinadanas mo sa buhay at maraming problema, dapat hindi mo paniwalaang ganoon din ang relasyong ninyo ng Diyos. Mas malaki Siya kaysa sa iyong kinatatayuan ngayon."
Blue background means heaven.

My smile is now brighter than the sunlight flooding the room. No doubt, this is the best Christmas breakfast I ever had.

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
Psalm 8:2

The Gift of Grace

Those who find me find life, and the Lord will be pleased with them. Proverbs 8:35

Grace is created by God and given to man....On the basis of this point alone, Christianity, is set apart from any other religion in the world....Every other approach to God is a bartering system; if I do this, God will do that. I'm either saved by works (what I do), emotions (what I experience), or knowledge (what I know).

By contrast, Christianity has no whiff of negotiation at all. Man is not the negotiator; indeed, man has no grounds from which to negotiate.

In the Grip of Grace
Max Lucado
(as quoted in "Grace for the Moment")