encouragement Archives - Truly Rich and Blessed

Word-filled Wednesdays: Humility and the Mercy of God

February 20, 2013 by Tina 2 Comments

Today’s Word-filled Wednesdays post is all about humility.

If you’re new to this blog, or see my posts on and , you may think I’ve “got it all together” — by being able to manage working at home three days a week, being at the office two days (minimum) a week, homeschooling, blogging, writing for other publications, etc.

BUT if you’ve been reading this blog for some time now, you’ll know that I have my not-so-great moments. I’ve confessed many times in public that I am not a perfect parent and certainly no saint.

The past few days, I have come face to face again with the dark, painful reality of my sinfulness and weakness. Instead of being more loving and patient, kind and forgiving, I have been more harsh, more impatient, more unkind, more “nagging-ish.” My children and husband can attest to this.

It deeply saddens me whenever I hear our kids, especially our six-year-old, say things like: “You’re always angry…” “You don’t love us… because you’re always angry…” “I miss Papa… I wish he was here, because you always get mad at us…” (Can you see a terrible pattern here? *sighs*)

So today, I come before God (and you, dear friends) again… humbled and broken… acknowledging that I need His mercy. Today’s Responsorial Psalm is also my own personal prayer:

I don’t know what you’re going through right now, but I hope that the psalm and my own “confession” will let you know that you are not alone. You may feel that you are “dirt,” super sinful, hopeless, beyond any salvation, unworthy, too broken to be healed…

Well, let me tell you now. You are not.

God loves you and me with an everlasting love. When we humble ourselves, turn from our “wicked ways,” seek His face, He will hear our pleas. He will heed our prayers.

None of us is beyond God’s mercy.

None of us is beyond God’s love.

None of us is beyond God’s grace.

I pray that as Lent goes on, we can truly focus on being humble and how much we need God and His love and mercy. More than that though, let’s focus on the victory that He has already won for us on the cross.

P.S. Do you have something you’re struggling with this Lent? Do you need prayers? Feel free to leave a comment below, and I’ll include you in our daily intentions. 🙂 God bless you!

Word-filled Wednesdays {A New Series}

February 13, 2013 by Tina 4 Comments

I used to do Wordless Wednesdays over here on the blog, but not on a weekly basis. This year though, in line with my “One Word” for the year, and my goal to make this blog a “place of inspiration” for you all, I’ve decided to “tweak” the Wordless Wednesdays concept and replace it with “Word-filled Wednesdays” instead.

This new series, which I hope and pray I can do every week, will feature different words (could be just one or a whole bunch of them 😉 ) that I hope will encourage, inspire and empower you to keep on moving forward until the week ends.

We all have probably felt drained and tired by the middle of our week at one time or another, so Wednesdays would be a good day to “recharge” — to gather our strength and boost our spirits, so that we can continue until the week ends. It is my desire to bless you through this series, and I really hope this small act will be a “mirror” of God’s love for you. 🙂

So, let’s start our Word-filled Wednesdays this week with these words, which are so appropriate for what we’re commemorating today in the Church (Ash Wednesday):

Source: usccb.com

Today, let us draw near to God. He promises to draw near to us if we do so.

Let us cleanse our hands and offer all that we do to Him, seeking His blessing as we work and play and create and build and touch and feel.

Let us purify our hearts, and not be “of two minds;” instead, let us be single-minded for the Lord. Let’s offer our hearts and minds to Him — believing that He will bless us as we allow Him to use us (yes, us, no matter how broken, sinful, “bad” we think ourselves to be).

Today, let us say, “Lord, I don’t know how to draw near to You… but can You please draw near to me anyway?”

Believe me, friends, He will. He is already near. 🙂

Feel His embrace today. And live blessed! 🙂

Thankful Thursdays: Just When You Want to Give Up

October 17, 2012 by Tina Leave a Comment

I realize I haven’t been made a “gratitude” Thankful Thursdays post in ages! There are actually SO many things to blog about… but I always feel like there’s so little time! *sighs* So, if you’ve contacted me before about blogging about this or that, or I haven’t even replied to you, please forgive me.

Anyway, this Thankful Thursday post is inspired by an online chat I had with a good friend and fellow homeschool mom blogger, Mariel of The Learning Basket (oh, please do check out her blog here for oodles of fun literature-inspired learning activities for your kid, and so much more!). We were chatting yesterday about a couple of things, one of which was the messages we’ve been getting from people because of our blogs.

Like I said in and on this blog post, I love blogging, but I haven’t been blogging as often as I’d like to. However, there are many, many times when I feel like stopping.

Photo by Stuart Miles from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Yes, you read that right. Sometimes, I just want to give up on blogging altogether. I want to stop having to deal with thoughts of how to make time for writing regular posts, of the “hassle” of updating and , of replying to emails and messages from businesses and PR agencies and readers (oh, please forgive me!).

I actually chatted with another friend and fellow mom blogger (and “mentor-of-sorts”), Martine of Dainty Mom, about this same topic just last week… I told her what I said above and she encouraged me to keep at it and to just do my best (thanks, Marts, for always being so supportive! So excited to see you and the other ladies at the WAHMderful Life Workshop on October 27!).

Then, there are messages and comments like these, that truly warm my heart, uplift my spirits and encourage me… They also humble me and remind me why I started this blog in the first place — because I want to reach out to other people, especially to other moms… and to share what is good. I hope that, by blogging, I am able to inspire others to live their best lives… to live out God’s mission for their lives… even as I am still striving (and sometimes, failing) to do the same…

(This was sent to me through my Contact Me page. I didn’t include the mom’s name in case she wants to remain anonymous. Thanks just the same, Mommy A.!)

(This was a comment left on one of my earlier blog posts, about the Blissful Babes Warehouse Sale.)

I know to some people/bloggers, messages such as those above may be very common and admittedly, there are more “famous,” more inspiring bloggers out there. But to li’l ol’ me… they mean a lot. In this case, they are quite encouraging and provide me the motivation to keep on writing/blogging.

Thank you, dear readers. Thank you to everyone who’s dropped by and visited this blog at one point or another. Thank you for your messages, emails, comments, Tweets, Facebook posts, and more!

This Thursday, I thank the Lord especially for each and every one of you. 🙂 May God bless you and yours abundantly! 🙂

Photo by Stuart Miles from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

50 Days of Amazing Grace: Day 41 – Uplifting Quotes for Hard Times

May 18, 2012 by Tina Leave a Comment

I’m sure most, if not all of us, have experienced difficult moments in our lives when we just wanted to give up. 🙂 For today’s 50 Days of Amazing Grace post, let’s take courage and find hope in these uplifting quotes compiled on Beliefnet.com. 🙂

Just click here to start reading the quotes.

Oh, and please feel free to share this with others, especially those whom you know are going through tough times right now. 🙂

And remember, there is no burden we cannot bear because He is with us every step of the way, even if we feel like we are all alone. (Note to self: Always keep that in mind, Tina! LOL!)

Source.

50 Days of Amazing Grace: Days 20 and 21 – Just a Mom and The Invisible Woman

April 28, 2012 by Tina Leave a Comment

I didn’t get to post an amazing grace-related thing yesterday (again! LOL!) because when I got home from the office, I was occupied with the kids and bonding and getting them ready for bed. I wasn’t feeling too well, too, especially since my right eye seems swollen (like little Therese’s). GOSH! I hope it’s not sore eyes! Waaahh! We need to get done with all our packing for the move to the new apartment by this weekend and a sore eyes epidemic is something we definitely don’t need right now! (OK, Tina, say this to yourself: All is well, all is well, all is well!)

Anyway, to make up for yesterday, here are links to two articles from iMOM.com that are PERFECT for encouraging the weary moms out there (raise your hand along with me if you’re one of them, LOL!).

If there are days when you doubt if what you’re doing as a mother is “enough” or when you feel like no one sees you because you’re “just” a stay-at-home mom, or if you feel like no one out there hears you and listens to you (including your own children!), get encouraged and be awed by God’s amazing grace working in your life. 🙂

Just click on the links to go to your doses of amazing grace:
Just a Mom
The Invisible Woman

And remember this: