Thursday

Friday

A little baking, some quick sewing and another Christmas over.  Over the past three days we have enjoyed lazy days and good food with family and friends. 

A new year around the corner.  I am not second guessing what this coming year will hold.  A verse that has been my go-to verse for the past few weeks:

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3: 11

So for me this means stop trying to work everything out in my head.  Just trust Him and see where He takes me.

Sunday

Tis the season for joy, angels and shepherds!  At school and at church.  :)

 

 

Faithful

Oh to be faithful in the little things.  In the simple things.



Last night I went to bed discouraged after feeling I did not respond to a situation as a parent should.  Instead I felt I reacted like the child.

A book by Fenelon sits beside my bed and I opened it randomly.   Here is a portion of what I read last night:

Try, without forcing yourself, to turn to God and to touch him as often as you can.  Even when you want to touch the Lord and you are distracted, it is important to keep bringing yourself before Him. Do not wait for a perfectly quiet time when you can lock yourself in your room and be alone.  You know how hard it is to find such a time.  The very moment you feel drawn to God is the moment to turn toward Him.  Simply lean toward Him with a heart full of love and trust... Do your work steadily and reliably.  Be patient with yourself. 

Funny that a seventeenth century French theologin (with some modern day translation) can speak sense into my often crowded mind.

Tuesday

My favourite female Christian artist is Sara Groves. I have posted a couple of her songs before here, here and elsewhere.  At the moment I'm playing the following two songs a lot.  When I first heard the lyrics to Finite I identified with the song immediately!



And When The Saints is a glorious declaration of people of faith - both past and present.  She does some great advocacy work for issues that have for a long time challenged me...

Wednesday

Random things today -

The other day I said my kids were starting to express their faith a little...

Yesterday Nicholas had a friend over from school and he stayed for dinner.  part way through the meal Nicolas got his bible and gave it to me, asking me to read a story for his friend, as he "doesn't believe in God".  So I figured David and Goliath would be a nice boy kills giant story that would appeal to a 7 year old.  The Jesus Storybook Bible tells it really well for that reason...
When I finished Nicholas said "now do you believe in God?"  "No" was the reply.  But he liked the story!  Nicholas then asked me if we could ask the kids mum if she believed in God when she came to collect her son...  I love his faith.

I am LOVING this Sarah McLachlan/Cyndi Lauper duet.  Sarah McLachlan has long been my favourite female artist.  I have great memories of my first year at uni - studying my dream field of anthropology, archaeology and museum curatorship.  I'd listen to her all the time.

Later she came to Canberra on tour and Dave and I went with another friend.  I was heavily pregnant with Nicholas and I am sure he was dancing.  He rolled and kicked inside me like never before.  Cyndi Lauper?  Well, with a 25 year school reunion coming up revisiting some of my 80's music is a prerequisite!  Girls Just Wanna Have Fun anyone? :)



And while we are onto the '80's these are brilliant!  I can see a kitsch little corner of our hallway with these framed on it...

Breakfast Club, Princess Bride and Labyrinth... there is also Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Pretty in Pink! 







Not to mention various Star Wars and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ones Nicholas would like...  enough of that though.  I have to get on top of other UFOs before I start anymore.

Friday

 

The Lord has been using my kids to speak to me lately without them even really knowing it.  Last week I went with Audrey to the National Museum of Australia.  As we walked through the exhibitions Audrey saw something and ran ahead.  It was the word 'Eternity' displayed in a light shining onto the floor.  She stood under the light and immediately folded her hands beneath her chin, closed her eyes and began to pray.  The guide who was near me said "well, that is appropriate!"

 

I looked at Audrey and then looked above her, wondering if she had had some kind of Joan of Arc experience!

 

But really, it meant something more to me.  The story of Mr Eternity can be read here.

Nicholas and I walk to school together on Thursday and Friday.  Lately he has been asking quite a few questions that require a more considered response, and require me to search my heart...

Wednesday

brief thoughts

 

Audrey came home from school sick today.  I'll keep her home tomorrow and while she sleeps I hope to make this for her.

And some new blog love around here of late.  I could seriously get lost in these:
A Little Red Ribbon
Che and Fidel
The Sleepy Time Gal
Charlaanne
hugo & elsa
Frog, Goose and Bear

Sinners

Saw this artist play last night and bought his cd. Just my style of music.



And one of his original songs - Sinners. It was the first song he sang and brought tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat.

Revelations

These days I feel like I am on a roller coaster.  Flying at speed in one direction and then being thrown sideways in another direction.  I have high aspirations of how I am going to go through the day.  Attentive, thoughtful and decisive.  To think before I speak, before I act. 

In the past couple of weeks everything I have been reading and listening to has had a common theme.  To slow down and to be attentive to the important things for now.  This doesn't mean that the pace of my life will necessarily slow down - just by nature of the fact that I live in the 21st century... but in the past 24 hours so much has fallen into place.  (I think God must have become tired of waiting for me to work it out - he had to spell it out to me!)

Yesterday I read this in the morning from Fenelon: 

"You do not see with the eyes of eternity.  God knows everything.  Nothing happens without His consent.  You are upset by small losses, but do not see eternal gains!  Don't dwell on your suffering.  Your oversensitivity makes your trials worse.  Abandon yourself to God."  (The Seeking Heart' by Fenelon pg 26)

Then while I was on the bus to work and reading A Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp quoted C S Lewis:
"You would be very ashamed if you knew what the experiences you call setbacks, upheavals, pointless disturbances, and tedious annoyances really are.  You would realise that your complaints about them are nothing more nor less than blasphemies - though that never occurs to you.  Nothing happens to you except by the will of God, and yet [God's] beloved children curse it because they do not know it for what it is."

I don't think Jesus could have spoken any clearer to me unless he was sitting next to me on the couch looking into my face saying "Listen to what I am saying!"  I am SO grateful for His direction. 

* the photos have nothing to do with this post, just moments I have captured of Audrey this week...

a message for me

Yesterdays devotional reading from My Utmost For His Highest was a great reminder of what life is really all about.  And it made me smile!  Was this one just for me??  Can you guess which part? :)

. . . do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on —Matthew 6:25


Jesus summed up commonsense carefulness in the life of a disciple as unbelief. If we have received the Spirit of God, He will squeeze right through our lives, as if to ask, “Now where do I come into this relationship, this vacation you have planned, or these new books you want to read?” And He always presses the point until we learn to make Him our first consideration. Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion.


“. . . do not worry about your life . . . .” Don’t take the pressure of your provision upon yourself. It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us. Have you ever noticed what Jesus said would choke the Word He puts in us? Is it the devil? No— “the cares of this world” (MatthewMatthew 13:22). It is always our little worries. We say, “I will not trust when I cannot see”— and that is where unbelief begins. The only cure for unbelief is obedience to the Spirit.

The greatest word of Jesus to His disciples is abandon.

What You Will Get

David has left for work and the kids are still asleep.  I love the mornings when I can start slowly.  I am reading a daily devotion from Oswald Chambers 'My Utmost for His Highest'.  He writes:

The reason people are tired of life is because God has not given them anything, they have not been given their life "as a prize".  The way to get out of that state is to abandon to God. When you do get through to total surrender to Him, you will be the most surprised and delighted person on earth; God will have you absolutely, without any limitations, and has given you your life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience or a refusal to be simple enough.

I love those last words.  They speak to mt desire for the now.  When you want to simplify your life for the purposes of keeping lifes main things your priority: faith, family and love.  But it is when you want to simplify that you realise how complicated you have made your life!

I have also finally started this book.  I am re posting this clip as it is beautiful and it is how I want to walk every day.

Intentional Rhythms of Life

I have mentioned a book called 'Flourish- discover the daily joy of abundant, vibrant living'.  I am not reading it as quickly as I'd like, but I love it.  The author talks about practical ways to cultivate positive emotions which lead to spiritual growth and stronger relationships.One activity in the book mentioned the benefits of listing Intentional Rhythms of Life under various headings.  These were mine:

* Pray - connect with and love God
~ Bible reading
~ My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (devotional reading)
~ Mere Christianity  by C.S Lewis (spiritual and inspirational reading)

* Self-Care
~ Get enough sleep!!
~ relax; time with family, read, sew, listen to uplifting music

* Love and Relationships
~ Time alone with David
~ Fully focused time with Nicholas and Audrey
~ Cultivate friendships and family connections
~ Practie altruism (goodness, kindness and compassion)

* Work
~ Contribute in meaningful ways

* Rest - renewal.  Restoration. Enjoyment
~ Practice simplicuty in life
~ Slow down
~ Honor the Sabbath

It reads like a lot.  It reads like something impossible.  But just listing those things which I want to be evident in my own life makes me feel like I have a plan for implementing intentional rhythms in my life.  I love just saying it!

No doubt I will have more to say along the way - this book is filled with gems.  More resources can be found here.

right now...

* I am loving Anna Maria Horner's blog.  Everything is so colouful and bright.  She seems to have so much fun.  I plan to make this dress - I can't think in which fabric though... most likely cream, black or grey...  the main "colours" I seem to wear.

* I am excited about what this book is going to teach me. 

I was sold from the moment I read "You were designed for more than just struggling to survive.  Discover how to have more love, joy, gratitude, peace and hope - and less disconnection, stress and worry.  learn to become a flourisher - the person God created you to be."   The authors website can be found here.
Probably the single message that has had the most indelible effect on my life was from James Kilgore Snr - 'The Person God Intended You to Be'.  I first heard it in the mid 1990's and I pray this sentence over my children at night - that that is what they become.  There is nothing nobler than being who God created us to be.

* Am working my way through this puzzle. 

I have mentioned before that I love this image of motherhood.  I want to frame it and hang it in the hallway between Nicholas and Audrey's bedrooms.  But do you know how difficult it is when a third of the puzzle is the colour of skin??

* starting to think about Audrey's THIRD birthday...

One LORD

We went to the naming service of a friends daughter yesterday.  They are Jewish.  It was beautiful to hear  the Shema prayer sung.  "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD Deuteronomy 6:4."
And awesome in the literal sense to know who the One is.

He is Risen

it didn't quite feel like Easter this year... we had a long long weekend. it was an enjoyable one, but a busy one. David's mum had her 60th birthday on Saturday night, which David and his cousin catered for. that meant David was out of the picture for Friday and Saturday. on Sunday there was an early lunch with relatives who had travelled some distance to be here, which meant we didn't attend a service on Easter Sunday. and another lunch was held yesterday to welcome a cousin from overseas, who is visiting briefly. Dave's uncle from the farm invited us to visit any time. i am hoping as soon as the semester is over we can get away for a long weekend. then we will return at shearing time, in September.

in the morning Nicholas asked to have an Easter egg hunt, with the chocolate they had received from friends and family. we now have a cupboard full of chocolate, as my kids love receiving eggs, and especially enjoy finding them, but don't seem interested in eating them!

tomorrow will be back to work - i can't imagine what has built up over the past few days, and with three staff currently overseas i dread what might be waiting for me!

details...

a couple of days ago i posted a little about how i have been feeling the past couple of weeks. i go through cycles of high and low like a lot of people. the lows are manageable, and usually bought on by our ridiculously hectic lifestyle and my aching for a simpler one. and probably by the ridiculously high expectations i have set myself of motherhood!

anyway, this morning i read this post, and that seems to be exactly where i am at -it seems now more than ever. i like this blog - often what Ann says resonates somewhere in my heart with my day to day life. "I remember it again: In the midst of the ugly, there's always a window through to the joy beauty." i need to look through the window. to remember that "our Creator God passionately wraps each moment different but He's actually the most predictable of gift givers. God gives only one kind of gift: All is for joy."

i got to do a bit of soul searching in the quiet hours of the evenings while David was away fishing. and after having such a lovely birthday, feeling utterly spoilt, David came home with my favourite bread from a cafe in Mogo. it is filled with fruit: figs, apricots... it is divine. AND he saw a patchwork shop in Moruya and bought me another metre of fabric. i am so impressed that he knows the name of the line of fabric i like! i am sure his fishing companion was less than impressed to be going into a fabric store but that's my husband, he takes note of details, and he remembers.

Nicholas seems quite content lying on the lounge watching ABC. i’m sure it won’t last for 5 weeks though! he just had an ice block, and his hands are cold, so he said “maybe we could have a cup of tea and that would warm them up!”

yes, Audrey is with Dave’s mum, so having one child gone and another confined to the lounge gives me time for a cup of tea and surfing the net!
a woman i work with went home and has lent Nicholas and i a bag full of wonderful children's books. i love books!

i plan to finish the stitching on the quilt i have been making today, and then will have to get the wadding and backing and i can start the hand quilting process!! today i will also dig the zucchini out of the garden. we only have days left to get the cabbage, broccoli and spinach in! a modest winter vegetable garden. so, as Nicholas says when we have come up with a plan, "let's get cracking!"

---------------

thanks to everyone for their prayers and well wishes for Nicholas - last night i went to bed a little sad that i am not going to hear his feet running down the hallway at 3am, climbing into my bed and wrapping his arms around my neck, saying "i love you mama!" in 5 weeks he may learn to sleep all night in his own bed... :(

a record -

-three posts in one day!
i have been reading a bit of this site today. i like anything Ann Voskamp writes. and i need the quiet, reflective encouragement she provides. her insight into scripture, lived daily inspires me. she writes beautifully. and her words can pierce. like this post.
* * * * * * * * * *
kids ate all their dinner tonight. they did not fight in the bath, and both drifted off to sleep without any convincing... did i mention that i love Thursdays?

meek?

i have been listening to a daily program about meekness.

today i read the following about being meek:

“Meekness is an attitude of humility toward God and gentleness toward people, springing from a recognition that God is in control.” 'Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary'

and:

“Meekness is a gracious, easiness of spirit. It accommodates the soul to every occurrence and so makes a man easy to himself and to all about him.” Matthew Henry 'The Quest for Meekness and Quietness of Spirit'

i thought how much i like this scripture: You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. I Peter 3:4

and then i received a telephone call, and i wasn't meek. i wonder if now i am reading about it, i'll be conscious every time i fall short of a meek spirit!