Christmas has come and gone. We are now on the final day of 2016. Christmas week was extra busy as we had our usual visiting with family, but we also hosted another family, so that added a little more activity to the week. Plus, our daughter turned 13. We had a special celebration/ceremony for her which added even more to the week! Yet, God was faithful.
At one point, I was in the grocery store (I'm in there a lot!) and I was feeling a certain amount of financial pressure mounting. I knew I shouldn't have felt that way. We'd just been so taken care of by that miracle of the contract and the extra food given to me by my friend, but Satan knows where my weak points are and, funnily enough, I'm often attacked the most when I'm in the grocery store. It is there that I hear the words, "You can't afford this. You don't have enough money for that. Are you sure that you will be able to buy all this? You are probably not going to have enough money. You should really feel a little more anxious." All those thoughts were swirling in my mind. When I start to hear those thoughts, I usually start praying right there in the store, as I walk the aisles. I'll pray for wisdom. I'll pray that God will help me not to be anxious and instead, help me to make wise choices. Yet, Satan, is relentless. God heard my prayers right there in the store and sent an angel just at that moment.
A lady I know, but not that well, walked past me. She didn't see me or recognize me because she was focused on her own shopping. It occurred to me to not say anything, but I always do, even if it is to someone I hardly know. So sure enough, I said, "Hi!" She immediately recognized me and we stopped to chat. My cart was overflowing and Christmas was only a day or two away. I was clearly shopping for either a lot of people or a really big meal! She asked what I was doing for Christmas. I explained how we'd be at my in-laws one day, my parents' another. I wasn't going to say anything about hosting the other family. I'm not trying to be a hero. I didn't want it to be seen that way, yet, that was what we were doing on Christmas day, so I thought, I'll tell her! I simply explained we were having a family that was going through a hard time and left it at that. Off she went, off I went.
A few minutes later, she found me in a different aisle. I thought maybe we were just shopping for the same things. But no, she came up to me and stuffed $20 into my hand saying, "Use this for the other family you are having over. I know it isn't much, but I hope it helps a little." What??!! Was she reading my mind, seeing all those thoughts? Or did God just give her a small prompting that said, "This woman needs tangible encouragement to show her I am taking care of her! She seems to need a lot of reminders....all the time...so go to her...now!" The kind woman immediately saw tears in my eyes as I couldn't believe what was happening. I had already had two awesome miracles that week. Am I so weak that God had to send another one? Yup. I am. That just goes to show how well God knows me!
Did $20 help my huge bill that day? Not really, but that wasn't the point. She could have given me $1 and I would have felt the same sense of encouragement. It was God's way of saying, "When will you trust me? I'm trying to show you I will provide. I will take care of you. I can send someone to you in the grocery store. Someone you don't even know hardly at all! Don't you get it yet?!"
I came home and told the kids the story of the grocery angel. They must think I'm making this up.
The next day, I meant to pick up apples from our neighbour who owns an orchard. But it was Christmas Eve. They were probably closed. I wasn't even sure if they still had apples in their warehouse. The thought went in my head and then out. Didn't have time to act on it. A short while later, my son walked in the room and said, "Some guy just dropped off a bunch of apples. Said he lives down the street, 'Merry Christmas'?" What?! Again?! This neighbour has never been to our house, has never dropped off apples in the whole time we've lived here. I didn't even know if he knew where we lived or who we were. What prompted him to do that?! I didn't get a chance to see him or thank him. An apple angel. I seem to be surrounded by them. I have used those apples all week for snacks for her kids, snacks for mine. They won't run out. I'm like the widow and her apples.
On Christmas afternoon, my friend and her kids arrived. She walked in and said, "Some lady handed me 50 bucks at a restaurant we stopped at for coffee!" A restaurant angel. This angel had seen my friend and her 4 boys and was touched because she had had boys, too. Something was prompted in her to give, maybe because my friend was out at a restaurant on Christmas morning, not at home opening gifts somewhere? Who knows, only God could prompt that. She had also just been denied gas money by her husband on that same day and can you imagine what the amount was he was supposed to give her? Yes, $50. God was clearly showing her He would provide EXACTLY what she needed through the actions of a complete stranger.
I told her what had happened to me that week, too. We had to stop and say to one another, "God is clearly trying to take care of us! Why are we so worried?"
On this last day of the year, I read many psalms. The psalmist asks over and over, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God." (Psalm 42:11)
That has to be the theme of this past year and the message for the 2017. I have to remember that even though there are times when I will feel cast down and times when I will feel turmoil, I must remember how He was my salvation this past year, over and over. He will be my salvation in 2017 as well. I need only hope.
Saturday 31 December 2016
Friday 23 December 2016
Christmas Miracles
We were listening to the radio yesterday on the way to my niece's birthday party. My kids wanted to listen to music, I wanted to listen to a sermon. I won. I'm the driver. Music could come later (which, of course, it did...) The man talking was speaking about Christmas miracles, particularly the ones in the Christmas story. His voice is a little on the annoying side, so my kids kept asking me to switch it! I agreed with them, yes, his voice is a little annoying, but, I told them, I want so badly to listen to this topic. Miracles have happened to us. We seem to need them regularly! They conceded again.
The man spoke first about the miracles from some classic Christmas stories, like, It's a Wonderful Life, with Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy Stewart's character, George Bailey, is looking for a miracle as he's fallen on hard times. He prays, "Father in Heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there....can you show me the way...I'm at the end of my rope....show me the way!" What a powerful scene, especially for Hollywood. You can feel Bailey's pain, his sincere and desperate desire to hear from God, begging Him to be real...please be real. Watch the clip here...it's just a minute or so long.
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54TQIE-DLmU
We've been there before. Seems we are there a lot. And this week was no exception. Were we at the end of our rope? Not the way we've been before, but in a way. There were just so many needs and money was coming in, today actually, but it wasn't going to come in fast enough. One small thing that particularly bothered me was that I wasn't going to be able to get all the things I needed for my daughter's birthday breakfast tradition of crepes. Who cares, I thought? That is such a minor thing in the big picture. Her birthday was yesterday, on Thursday. I was starting to wonder what was going to happen on Monday and Tuesday. I also was aware of some significant bills that needed to be paid, not to mention the fact our lower, bigger oven had died, leaving us with a small upper oven (thank goodness we had that still!) to cook small items like cookies or casseroles. It wasn't going to fit a turkey and I had 17 people hoping for turkey on Sunday! So many thing swirling around in my mind. Where do you go at a time like that? The psalms....always so good.
So there we were reading anyway, so I gathered the kids, even though we were on Christmas holidays, and I read Psalm 34.
A few of my favourite verses from that psalm were verse 4, "I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears." I had to keep repeating that verse to myself. I would actually say during the day, "I'm not afraid. He's delivered me from all my fears", just in case I had forgotten! "Those who look to Him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed." (vs. 5) We love paying our bills! We love having a good reputation, especially with those we actually see face to face. Our new dentist is like my new bff, along with his receptionist. They really love our family because, a) we're there ALL the time. b) We bring them a lot of business. c) For some reason, even the little ones don't fuss about needles, drills, or ANYTHING! The hygienist will go on and on about how happy she is to work on our kids. That's great! But, as much as they love us, they also love to be paid....we owed them a big chunk of money and I really wanted them to get paid. I didn't want to be ashamed about that. They weren't upset with us. They knew we were going to pay them. I just didn't want more time to go by. I started praying that verse, "May our faces never be ashamed."
Then, the best verse ever....verse 6..."This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them." We sat there as a family and prayed those words back to God, "Hear us cry to you. Save us from all of our troubles."
"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Oh fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger, BUT, those who seek the Lord LACK NO GOOD THING." Hmmmmm....what counts as no good thing? We talked about it, did we need a new oven? Was that a necessity? Not really. We were making it work. What about food? Well, food is good! Did we have to have crepes? No, we could eat toast and eggs. No problem. What about a turkey? We didn't even have the extra money for a turkey. No big deal. We had a ham in the freezer that we could make work. What about snow tires for the car? Well, that seemed like a thing we should have, but pricey. What about paying our bills? Definitely a priority. Heat for the house? Our oil tank was running on fumes. It costs a lot of money to get that thing filled and we were at rock bottom in the tank. So we decided, God will determine whether or not it is something we "lack" and if it is a "good thing".
We were feeling so encouraged, at least I was! The next verse was perfect, "Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." I explained to them, "It's great if you learn to cook, clean, organize a home, run a car, get smart, but the thing I most want you to learn is the fear of the Lord." It was true. So again, we stopped, we prayed every word from that psalm as it all applied to our family so much, especially that day. It was Tuesday. Then, the first miracle happened....
Miracle one - RM called me Tuesday at some point in the day and said, "Hey! I got the small contract I had bid on...!" "What?! That's great!" I said, always thrilled when he gets work!
Miracle two, then happened. "You'll never believe this....they're paying in advance!" "What?!" I exclaimed again! That rarely, if not, never, happens. This contract was also a shot in the dark. It wasn't something RM thought he would get as he had bid high on it and doubted he would be awarded the contract. But he was! High bidder and all!
This is the thing, the amount he was going to be paid would cover the entire dentist bill, a tank of fuel, a new oven, and all the groceries, not just for my daughter's birthday, but also for Christmas. The question was would the money come in time...! Well, I'm happy to say, it came into the account on "Birthday Eve", miracle 3. Off we went, picked out a new oven, some groceries, and made plans to pay for all the other things we needed to pay the next day....whew!
But, it doesn't end there. I got a text last night, just as I was heading to bed, "You home? Can I stop by?" "Sure, I'm heading to bed early....when?" "Ten minutes." "Ok!" Sure enough, my friend popped in with a box of food. What was that all about? She knew we were hosting my friend and her 6 kids for Christmas (the one in the middle of the divorce) and she decided she would bring us Christmas dinner....enough food for all of us. I explained how God had already taken care of us in such an amazing way that week and we were in a much better place, but she said, "You'll need it." And, I supposed it was true as this other family was going to be with us not just on Christmas, but throughout that next week as well. The thing about food is you always need it! Especially with 17 people, 9 of them being boys/men and loving food! Isn't that just the Lord though? Giving me what I need....and then some?????
That was when it really struck me. We had been looking for our "Star" earlier on that week, on the Monday I'd written about that. I just thought that had to do with church. But then I realized God was giving me a Star to follow even by having those groceries to delivered. He was showing me, "Having this family at your place, in your lives, is what you are supposed to be doing." Receiving the groceries made me realize I'm not the only one serving this family. I am not doing this alone. This has become a Christian community effort. Even as I left my sister's yesterday, she passed me gifts for their kids. Amazing. God was using other believers as my Star. He showed me, "I will supply all you need." Because sometimes it occurs to us, "I don't think we can do this much longer....it is costing us a fortune in food!" But God has provided continually. My mom has dropped off food. My friend often comes with food people have given her, or food gift cards. None of these kids are hungry or lacking any "good thing"!
We can honestly say, we've "tasted and seen that the Lord is good". We are amazed at the Christmas miracles we're a part of. We can be like the psalmist and say, "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles." Praise God.
.
The man spoke first about the miracles from some classic Christmas stories, like, It's a Wonderful Life, with Jimmy Stewart. Jimmy Stewart's character, George Bailey, is looking for a miracle as he's fallen on hard times. He prays, "Father in Heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there....can you show me the way...I'm at the end of my rope....show me the way!" What a powerful scene, especially for Hollywood. You can feel Bailey's pain, his sincere and desperate desire to hear from God, begging Him to be real...please be real. Watch the clip here...it's just a minute or so long.
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54TQIE-DLmU
We've been there before. Seems we are there a lot. And this week was no exception. Were we at the end of our rope? Not the way we've been before, but in a way. There were just so many needs and money was coming in, today actually, but it wasn't going to come in fast enough. One small thing that particularly bothered me was that I wasn't going to be able to get all the things I needed for my daughter's birthday breakfast tradition of crepes. Who cares, I thought? That is such a minor thing in the big picture. Her birthday was yesterday, on Thursday. I was starting to wonder what was going to happen on Monday and Tuesday. I also was aware of some significant bills that needed to be paid, not to mention the fact our lower, bigger oven had died, leaving us with a small upper oven (thank goodness we had that still!) to cook small items like cookies or casseroles. It wasn't going to fit a turkey and I had 17 people hoping for turkey on Sunday! So many thing swirling around in my mind. Where do you go at a time like that? The psalms....always so good.
So there we were reading anyway, so I gathered the kids, even though we were on Christmas holidays, and I read Psalm 34.
A few of my favourite verses from that psalm were verse 4, "I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears." I had to keep repeating that verse to myself. I would actually say during the day, "I'm not afraid. He's delivered me from all my fears", just in case I had forgotten! "Those who look to Him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed." (vs. 5) We love paying our bills! We love having a good reputation, especially with those we actually see face to face. Our new dentist is like my new bff, along with his receptionist. They really love our family because, a) we're there ALL the time. b) We bring them a lot of business. c) For some reason, even the little ones don't fuss about needles, drills, or ANYTHING! The hygienist will go on and on about how happy she is to work on our kids. That's great! But, as much as they love us, they also love to be paid....we owed them a big chunk of money and I really wanted them to get paid. I didn't want to be ashamed about that. They weren't upset with us. They knew we were going to pay them. I just didn't want more time to go by. I started praying that verse, "May our faces never be ashamed."
Then, the best verse ever....verse 6..."This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them." We sat there as a family and prayed those words back to God, "Hear us cry to you. Save us from all of our troubles."
"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Oh fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger, BUT, those who seek the Lord LACK NO GOOD THING." Hmmmmm....what counts as no good thing? We talked about it, did we need a new oven? Was that a necessity? Not really. We were making it work. What about food? Well, food is good! Did we have to have crepes? No, we could eat toast and eggs. No problem. What about a turkey? We didn't even have the extra money for a turkey. No big deal. We had a ham in the freezer that we could make work. What about snow tires for the car? Well, that seemed like a thing we should have, but pricey. What about paying our bills? Definitely a priority. Heat for the house? Our oil tank was running on fumes. It costs a lot of money to get that thing filled and we were at rock bottom in the tank. So we decided, God will determine whether or not it is something we "lack" and if it is a "good thing".
We were feeling so encouraged, at least I was! The next verse was perfect, "Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." I explained to them, "It's great if you learn to cook, clean, organize a home, run a car, get smart, but the thing I most want you to learn is the fear of the Lord." It was true. So again, we stopped, we prayed every word from that psalm as it all applied to our family so much, especially that day. It was Tuesday. Then, the first miracle happened....
Miracle one - RM called me Tuesday at some point in the day and said, "Hey! I got the small contract I had bid on...!" "What?! That's great!" I said, always thrilled when he gets work!
Miracle two, then happened. "You'll never believe this....they're paying in advance!" "What?!" I exclaimed again! That rarely, if not, never, happens. This contract was also a shot in the dark. It wasn't something RM thought he would get as he had bid high on it and doubted he would be awarded the contract. But he was! High bidder and all!
This is the thing, the amount he was going to be paid would cover the entire dentist bill, a tank of fuel, a new oven, and all the groceries, not just for my daughter's birthday, but also for Christmas. The question was would the money come in time...! Well, I'm happy to say, it came into the account on "Birthday Eve", miracle 3. Off we went, picked out a new oven, some groceries, and made plans to pay for all the other things we needed to pay the next day....whew!
But, it doesn't end there. I got a text last night, just as I was heading to bed, "You home? Can I stop by?" "Sure, I'm heading to bed early....when?" "Ten minutes." "Ok!" Sure enough, my friend popped in with a box of food. What was that all about? She knew we were hosting my friend and her 6 kids for Christmas (the one in the middle of the divorce) and she decided she would bring us Christmas dinner....enough food for all of us. I explained how God had already taken care of us in such an amazing way that week and we were in a much better place, but she said, "You'll need it." And, I supposed it was true as this other family was going to be with us not just on Christmas, but throughout that next week as well. The thing about food is you always need it! Especially with 17 people, 9 of them being boys/men and loving food! Isn't that just the Lord though? Giving me what I need....and then some?????
That was when it really struck me. We had been looking for our "Star" earlier on that week, on the Monday I'd written about that. I just thought that had to do with church. But then I realized God was giving me a Star to follow even by having those groceries to delivered. He was showing me, "Having this family at your place, in your lives, is what you are supposed to be doing." Receiving the groceries made me realize I'm not the only one serving this family. I am not doing this alone. This has become a Christian community effort. Even as I left my sister's yesterday, she passed me gifts for their kids. Amazing. God was using other believers as my Star. He showed me, "I will supply all you need." Because sometimes it occurs to us, "I don't think we can do this much longer....it is costing us a fortune in food!" But God has provided continually. My mom has dropped off food. My friend often comes with food people have given her, or food gift cards. None of these kids are hungry or lacking any "good thing"!
We can honestly say, we've "tasted and seen that the Lord is good". We are amazed at the Christmas miracles we're a part of. We can be like the psalmist and say, "This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles." Praise God.
.
Tuesday 20 December 2016
Fair Wages! Fair Hours!
Yesterday was funny. We were going to have the pastor and his family over for dinner as a gesture to them in their final month here, but in order to do so, it meant a complete overhaul on the house! The weekend had left us with piles of dishes and laundry because of the lack of water. Now that the water was back on, we had to go to town on the seemingly endless amount of washing ahead of us.....
Everyone had had fair warning and they knew that a good part of their day would be prepping for our guests. Christmas holidays were on for the little kids so I wasn't so worried about school. The only thing was, the rest of the house had also somehow gotten neglected in our busyness. Toys had been dumped everywhere it seemed. And, in our house, once one bin of toys gets dumped, what's another bin? Someone will clean it up, won't they?! Uh no.
So the list of things to do seemed endless. Around noon, we were making good progress, but there was still lots to do. Lucky for them, I'm a nice mom, and I let them stop and have lunch! But, after our very short lunch break, I called them all back and said, "C'mon guys! There's more to do! I can't do this on my own! Please help me!"
At first I got the classic, "I'm still eating lunch!" or "Awwww.....!" But the the one comment that had me on the floor laughing was when my 18 year old started walking around the house saying, "Fair wages! Fair hours! Fair wages! Fair hours!" She was on strike! If I hadn't called in the taser gun, she would have made picket signs and started a revolution! (Ok, Ok, I didn't use the taser....this time....) Fortunately, her little rebellion didn't last long, but I'm pretty sure she considered moving out that day. We did finally get the house more or less put back together, but I'm telling you, ten people can make a lot of mess....
A couple of weeks ago, I went into the storage room and pulled out a whole bunch of antique window frames. That was when I started hanging them up in our family room. I loved how it looked. I knew there were more, so I went back again on the weekend and decided I would hang the others. Every single wall or blank space in my house now has something from the barn on it. I even started hanging wine crates, barrel staves,...you name it, it's on our walls. I still am amazed how it's all slowly coming together without a single dollar spent. Talk about unlimited decor budget - zero! It's made me so happy and has covered up our unfinished, trimless walls that were once so bare. It has taken our eyes off the exposed nails and has instead drawn our eyes to things of beauty, which really would have just been thrown away if I hadn't grabbed them! This may be a small thing, but once again, I thank God for how He knew I wanted to make my home cozy and quaint. All moms are like little mommy birds, longing for a nest that they want to be in, especially stay-at-home moms who are surrounded by the same views day after day. They want their nest to be comfortable, but also pleasant to look at. I think God has placed that in us, to appreciate things of beauty. Yet our renovations are on pause right now because of RM's very busy work schedule, so I may not have finished walls for some time. These small touches I've been able to add to our home have made such a difference and will certainly help me in my levels of patience as I wait for RM to get to finishing things off. Will I have to take it all down only to hang it all up again later? Yes, but who cares? Does God really care about a mom in a farmhouse that wants to decorate? I think He does. I actually think this was a really unique way that He showed His personal love for me and helped me to stay happy, positive and content. It also showed my kids that with a little creativity and thinking out of the box you can make your home a home.
Everyone had had fair warning and they knew that a good part of their day would be prepping for our guests. Christmas holidays were on for the little kids so I wasn't so worried about school. The only thing was, the rest of the house had also somehow gotten neglected in our busyness. Toys had been dumped everywhere it seemed. And, in our house, once one bin of toys gets dumped, what's another bin? Someone will clean it up, won't they?! Uh no.
So the list of things to do seemed endless. Around noon, we were making good progress, but there was still lots to do. Lucky for them, I'm a nice mom, and I let them stop and have lunch! But, after our very short lunch break, I called them all back and said, "C'mon guys! There's more to do! I can't do this on my own! Please help me!"
At first I got the classic, "I'm still eating lunch!" or "Awwww.....!" But the the one comment that had me on the floor laughing was when my 18 year old started walking around the house saying, "Fair wages! Fair hours! Fair wages! Fair hours!" She was on strike! If I hadn't called in the taser gun, she would have made picket signs and started a revolution! (Ok, Ok, I didn't use the taser....this time....) Fortunately, her little rebellion didn't last long, but I'm pretty sure she considered moving out that day. We did finally get the house more or less put back together, but I'm telling you, ten people can make a lot of mess....
A couple of weeks ago, I went into the storage room and pulled out a whole bunch of antique window frames. That was when I started hanging them up in our family room. I loved how it looked. I knew there were more, so I went back again on the weekend and decided I would hang the others. Every single wall or blank space in my house now has something from the barn on it. I even started hanging wine crates, barrel staves,...you name it, it's on our walls. I still am amazed how it's all slowly coming together without a single dollar spent. Talk about unlimited decor budget - zero! It's made me so happy and has covered up our unfinished, trimless walls that were once so bare. It has taken our eyes off the exposed nails and has instead drawn our eyes to things of beauty, which really would have just been thrown away if I hadn't grabbed them! This may be a small thing, but once again, I thank God for how He knew I wanted to make my home cozy and quaint. All moms are like little mommy birds, longing for a nest that they want to be in, especially stay-at-home moms who are surrounded by the same views day after day. They want their nest to be comfortable, but also pleasant to look at. I think God has placed that in us, to appreciate things of beauty. Yet our renovations are on pause right now because of RM's very busy work schedule, so I may not have finished walls for some time. These small touches I've been able to add to our home have made such a difference and will certainly help me in my levels of patience as I wait for RM to get to finishing things off. Will I have to take it all down only to hang it all up again later? Yes, but who cares? Does God really care about a mom in a farmhouse that wants to decorate? I think He does. I actually think this was a really unique way that He showed His personal love for me and helped me to stay happy, positive and content. It also showed my kids that with a little creativity and thinking out of the box you can make your home a home.
Monday 19 December 2016
Seeking like the Magi
I definitely scored farmer wife points yesterday....I hung out with RM in the barn where the source of our water is (we call it the pumphouse). I stood there holding a light as he worked late into the night finishing off the final little bit of work needed to keep our water from freezing. My feet nearly froze, but it was worth it as this morning we have water! So many wrongs needed to be righted in that little room, but now it should all work fine. I'm grateful! We are slowly rebuilding the ruins, one little section at a time. Will anyone ever appreciate all the work that has gone into it? Don't know, but it all has to be done....especially if we wanted water!
I'm continually amazed that RM knows all that he knows. I asked him last night, "How do you know how to do this?!" There he was looking at 60 year old electrical boxes, switches, wires, etc. and somehow he knew what to do. He said, "Honestly? I don't know!" It made one of our boys say, "I want to be able to know what you know." Maybe that is why we are going through all these farm renos....just so they'll be capable men one day, too.
Yesterday, was our now former pastor's last sermon. He did a great job of walking us through Matt. 2:1-12. He pointed out all the different characters in the story, including the Magi, Herrod, the Jews, and also the chief priests and scribes. Each one had a different reaction to hearing about Jesus.
The Magi were curious and searching. They sought Jesus out, followed the star, studied the sky, probably knew all the prophecies, and ultimately found Him and worshiped. This was an interesting part of the story that I hadn't noticed before. It doesn't say anywhere that the star had dimmed, but there must be a reason that when they arrived in Jerusalem they had to ask around for where Jesus might be? That was where Herrod entered into the story. He heard about Jesus and was immediately threatened. The Jewish people, it said, were "troubled".
Later on, after Herrod talked to the wise men, he sent them on their way and told them, "...bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." This is where "behold, the star that they had seen when it rose, went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with with great joy." It almost seems like the star had brought them to Jerusalem and then either stopped or dimmed or changed in some way because in this verse it seems to start up again! The verse says it came to "rest over the place where the child was". The verse after says "And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother", so it must have literally stopped right over a certain house! If the star had done that right away they wouldn't have had to stop and ask.......curious, isn't it?
I find this fascinating because it never occurred to me before that the star might have stopped or dimmed, but I supposed it is possible, just so that the prophecies could be fulfilled. As a result of stopping to ask where the child was, Herrod ended up killing all the baby boys under two. That could have only happened if the wise men had stopped and asked about Jesus and this, too, was prophesied.
The pastor compared the light of the star to the light of the fire that led the Israelites in the wilderness. Technically, the fire would go out after God had led them to the exact place He wanted them to go, but did that mean God had left them? No. He was always there. His presence was just not visible to the eye. Perhaps it was like that with the wise men. Perhaps the star dimmed or stopped, but did that mean God left the wise men and was no longer guiding? No, His presence was always there.
So many things to conclude that I immediately took to heart....First, God can use supernatural means to guide us, how I pray for that! Secondly, sometimes His light will dim and it will appear He's not there, that His presence has gone, but in fact, He never left. It's a temporary, supernatural, God-planned, sovereign "pause". Thirdly, we just need to keep being like the Magi, constantly seeking Him, asking about Him, learning about Him, His will, His Scriptures. At some point, the star lit up again and led them to exactly where He was. I have to believe He will do the same for me. He will lead us to exactly where He wants us, in His timing. This must have been such a relief to the Magi as they weren't just happy when they saw the star again, but "they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy." They were super-dee-duper happy!
I'm excited to think that God can do that for me. I can rejoice exceedingly, with great joy, in anticipation of His guidance.
I'm continually amazed that RM knows all that he knows. I asked him last night, "How do you know how to do this?!" There he was looking at 60 year old electrical boxes, switches, wires, etc. and somehow he knew what to do. He said, "Honestly? I don't know!" It made one of our boys say, "I want to be able to know what you know." Maybe that is why we are going through all these farm renos....just so they'll be capable men one day, too.
Yesterday, was our now former pastor's last sermon. He did a great job of walking us through Matt. 2:1-12. He pointed out all the different characters in the story, including the Magi, Herrod, the Jews, and also the chief priests and scribes. Each one had a different reaction to hearing about Jesus.
The Magi were curious and searching. They sought Jesus out, followed the star, studied the sky, probably knew all the prophecies, and ultimately found Him and worshiped. This was an interesting part of the story that I hadn't noticed before. It doesn't say anywhere that the star had dimmed, but there must be a reason that when they arrived in Jerusalem they had to ask around for where Jesus might be? That was where Herrod entered into the story. He heard about Jesus and was immediately threatened. The Jewish people, it said, were "troubled".
Later on, after Herrod talked to the wise men, he sent them on their way and told them, "...bring me word, that I too may come and worship him." This is where "behold, the star that they had seen when it rose, went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with with great joy." It almost seems like the star had brought them to Jerusalem and then either stopped or dimmed or changed in some way because in this verse it seems to start up again! The verse says it came to "rest over the place where the child was". The verse after says "And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother", so it must have literally stopped right over a certain house! If the star had done that right away they wouldn't have had to stop and ask.......curious, isn't it?
I find this fascinating because it never occurred to me before that the star might have stopped or dimmed, but I supposed it is possible, just so that the prophecies could be fulfilled. As a result of stopping to ask where the child was, Herrod ended up killing all the baby boys under two. That could have only happened if the wise men had stopped and asked about Jesus and this, too, was prophesied.
The pastor compared the light of the star to the light of the fire that led the Israelites in the wilderness. Technically, the fire would go out after God had led them to the exact place He wanted them to go, but did that mean God had left them? No. He was always there. His presence was just not visible to the eye. Perhaps it was like that with the wise men. Perhaps the star dimmed or stopped, but did that mean God left the wise men and was no longer guiding? No, His presence was always there.
So many things to conclude that I immediately took to heart....First, God can use supernatural means to guide us, how I pray for that! Secondly, sometimes His light will dim and it will appear He's not there, that His presence has gone, but in fact, He never left. It's a temporary, supernatural, God-planned, sovereign "pause". Thirdly, we just need to keep being like the Magi, constantly seeking Him, asking about Him, learning about Him, His will, His Scriptures. At some point, the star lit up again and led them to exactly where He was. I have to believe He will do the same for me. He will lead us to exactly where He wants us, in His timing. This must have been such a relief to the Magi as they weren't just happy when they saw the star again, but "they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy." They were super-dee-duper happy!
I'm excited to think that God can do that for me. I can rejoice exceedingly, with great joy, in anticipation of His guidance.
Friday 16 December 2016
Treasures in the Darkness (and the cold...)
Wow! It is COLD!!! We are always so taken aback by winter, as if it is a new phenomenon every year. I continue to be so grateful to those who went before us, the poor pioneers who had no heat, no warm homes. I really don't know how they survived!
I can't believe how my kids will go outside even in this windy weather. They'll bundle up and take out the sleds and whip down the little hill we have outside. But I'm even grateful for that. That little hill is the perfect size! Not too steep to kill you, but enough of a slope to go fast on an icy trail. My six year old loves it!
Ok still in Isaiah, but not in chapter 45. It just seems to be about Jesus entering into this world simply to do the impossible. The chapter begins with God choosing to use Cyrus, a pagan king, to be His instrument to free the Jews from their captivity. This is an amazing passage because Cyrus isn't even alive when it was written! It is a prophetic passage written 150 years before Cyrus is even born...
"Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed...
And though this is a prophetic passage, I take so much comfort from it as well. There are so many phrases that jump out at me, such as, "whose right hand I have grasped". God reaches out and grabs hold of us, even if we don't want Him, too! God then tells Isaiah what Cyrus will do, "subdue nations before him" and he'll "loose the belts of kings". He'll also "open doors before him". This is a list of thing that are not easy to do! Yet the way it is written it just sounds so matter-of-fact. I take heart in regularly bringing my list of impossible things for God to do and I know none of those things are impossible for God. He freed the Jews from their captivity. Can't He free us as well?
Isaiah continues, "I will go before you and level the exalted places." (45:2) Cyrus didn't know that God was going before him, but I know. He goes before all of us. And the picture I get in my mind of leveling exalted places is that God takes down the barriers in front of us. The next few verses says this, too,
"I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasure of darkness and the hoards in secret places" (45:3)
This has to be my favourite verse of the week. I've been saying the key phrases to the kids and RM all the time, "treasures in the darkness", "breaking doors of bronze", "cutting bars of iron".....Yes, it was to Cyrus, speaking of how God was going to use him, but does this not speak of what God can do in anyone's life? And, once again, the picture are of the impossible. Doors of bronze? Bars of iron? Treasures in the darkness? But that is exactly what God can do and, just like in Isaiah, God can use even a pagan king, or a secular job, or a difficult situation, or the most obscure unlikely "whatever", to break our own doors of bronze and bars of iron.
We are constantly seeing treasure in the darkness. In our time of being stretched these few years, we've only seen God's blessing, His many treasures. So often that is how it is...through the darkness we see the light even brighter.
So yes, it was a passage for Cyrus, but it spoke to me as well.
Now my boys are off to the barn where they will turn on a heater to warm up our frozen pipes, but this should be the last of that. The final insulation should fix all wrongs this weekend. The treasure in the darkness in this situation? Perhaps that my boys will learn how to fix broken things, they will learn to do hard things, they will be kind to their own families and learn to take care of their own places one day.....one day....right now they aren't loving it and the cold too much!
I can't believe how my kids will go outside even in this windy weather. They'll bundle up and take out the sleds and whip down the little hill we have outside. But I'm even grateful for that. That little hill is the perfect size! Not too steep to kill you, but enough of a slope to go fast on an icy trail. My six year old loves it!
Ok still in Isaiah, but not in chapter 45. It just seems to be about Jesus entering into this world simply to do the impossible. The chapter begins with God choosing to use Cyrus, a pagan king, to be His instrument to free the Jews from their captivity. This is an amazing passage because Cyrus isn't even alive when it was written! It is a prophetic passage written 150 years before Cyrus is even born...
"Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed...
And though this is a prophetic passage, I take so much comfort from it as well. There are so many phrases that jump out at me, such as, "whose right hand I have grasped". God reaches out and grabs hold of us, even if we don't want Him, too! God then tells Isaiah what Cyrus will do, "subdue nations before him" and he'll "loose the belts of kings". He'll also "open doors before him". This is a list of thing that are not easy to do! Yet the way it is written it just sounds so matter-of-fact. I take heart in regularly bringing my list of impossible things for God to do and I know none of those things are impossible for God. He freed the Jews from their captivity. Can't He free us as well?
Isaiah continues, "I will go before you and level the exalted places." (45:2) Cyrus didn't know that God was going before him, but I know. He goes before all of us. And the picture I get in my mind of leveling exalted places is that God takes down the barriers in front of us. The next few verses says this, too,
"I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasure of darkness and the hoards in secret places" (45:3)
This has to be my favourite verse of the week. I've been saying the key phrases to the kids and RM all the time, "treasures in the darkness", "breaking doors of bronze", "cutting bars of iron".....Yes, it was to Cyrus, speaking of how God was going to use him, but does this not speak of what God can do in anyone's life? And, once again, the picture are of the impossible. Doors of bronze? Bars of iron? Treasures in the darkness? But that is exactly what God can do and, just like in Isaiah, God can use even a pagan king, or a secular job, or a difficult situation, or the most obscure unlikely "whatever", to break our own doors of bronze and bars of iron.
We are constantly seeing treasure in the darkness. In our time of being stretched these few years, we've only seen God's blessing, His many treasures. So often that is how it is...through the darkness we see the light even brighter.
So yes, it was a passage for Cyrus, but it spoke to me as well.
Now my boys are off to the barn where they will turn on a heater to warm up our frozen pipes, but this should be the last of that. The final insulation should fix all wrongs this weekend. The treasure in the darkness in this situation? Perhaps that my boys will learn how to fix broken things, they will learn to do hard things, they will be kind to their own families and learn to take care of their own places one day.....one day....right now they aren't loving it and the cold too much!
Wednesday 14 December 2016
Christmas in Isaiah
This winter, just like last year, one of my younger kids' favourite activities is being in the tub. Yesterday, as I pulled my 4 year old out of the tub, for what seems like the 100th time in the last few days, and dried him off, I noticed how adorable he is and told him, "You are SOOOOOOO cute!" Then, I added proudly, partly to him and partly to myself, "I make cute kids!"
He looked at me with a cocked head, "Mom, God created me, not you."
Harumph! He sure put me in my place!
But, what he said was true and all week I've seen that truth worked out. God is in control of my life, not me, if I were to ever dare take credit for the good things that happen or dare to blame Him when things aren't going as I would like.
I've been reading in Isaiah this week, partly because of the sermon I heard on Sunday and also because of a devotional passage I was directed to. What a great book to read at Christmas as it is full of the prophesies of Christ's coming. But what I love most is the constant theme of how the coming Redeemer will be a bond breaker, freeing the oppressed. That theme has been so encouraging as I know of another friend whose husband is struggling deeply emotional, mentally and even physically. This book is full of encouragement and hope for her. Or for my children, who wonder about their future, their education, will they marry....What about us, with our church situation, or future employment, or future financial freedom, or even a car....! Yet this book sits right there, as an amazing reminder to have hope.
Isaiah 9 has the classic passage we all know and read this time of year...
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace..." (Isaiah 9:6)
I have read that passage many times, seen it on many Christmas cards, but I have never seen it read at Christmas in its context. The chapter before, particularly verse 11-22, are strikingly opposite.
Chapter 8:11 begins with a warning, "For the Lord spoke thus to me with His strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people..."
And what is the "way of this people"? It goes on to say, "Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, Him you shall honour as holy. Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread."
So, the "way of the people" seems to be seeing everything as a conspiracy, being fearful and full of dread. I've written about that before and my new favourite phrase is, "no fear, no panic, no dread". That seems to be the pattern written again here. No fear, no dread and, a new phrase....stop seeing things as a conspiracy! Satan wants us to turn against each other in these church crises and to see everything as a conspiracy. What we need to do instead is to fear God and let Him be our dread. The "way of the people" is also another great reminder to not get caught up this time of year in the way the world celebrates December 25th. It is absolutely nuts out there! I'm so glad we pulled back a few years ago. I would never be sane if I kept doing things the way I had been.
"He will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense..." He is where we need to go to for our safe place. It may seem that He is hiding His face from us right now, but Isaiah says, wait for Him. "I will wait for the Lord who his hiding His face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in Him." (vs. 17) It isn't easy to wait for the Lord, especially when He appears to be hiding His face. It's easy to wait when we have "proof" He's working. Not so easy when there is darkness.
The world would tell me to "inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter". (vs 18) I certainly don't have anyone in my life who will direct me in that way, but we do need to be careful that we inquire of God first. Isaiah says it quite simply, "should not a people inquire of their God?" What a great question! I think it is good to talk with other good Christian people, but we must take all things first to God.
Again, a warning, "If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn." Dawn, the symbol of a new day, of light coming up out of the darkness. I love that word. If there were no dawn, then we remain in darkness. I want dawn!
If we do not inquire of the Lord and we seek our own methods of wisdom, not only will there not be dawn, it will be much worse than that, "They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their kind and their God, and turn their faces upwards. And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness." (vs. 21, 22)
Isn't this the description of so many around us? Greatly distressed and hungry, speaking contemptuously, enraged, full of gloom, in anguish, walking around in thick darkness. Such a great description of life without God. This doesn't just describe non-believers, but people who claim to be Christians, but who are not going to God for help, but to others who cannot get them out of their gloom. How many people in our day are getting their anguish masked by meds. That will give temporary relief, but not eternal relief.
This it the beautiful turning point, where, literally, a new chapter begins, "But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish."
Suddenly, it's Christmas in Isaiah!
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, in them has light shone." Wonderful light. And not just for those who were sad, but for those who were in "deep darkness". I picture a tunnel where it is such a long tunnel you can't even see the end. We read of such a tunnel. It was being built for the railroad. The men who built the railroad came to a mountain that they couldn't go around, but had to blast through. The men were in utter darkness for 4 years! It was too long to come and go, in or out, day after day, so they just stayed in darkness. Imagine the day they came out of the darkness into the light!
Then, the theme of of the yoke, the staff and the rod of the oppressor being broken...
"For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, and the rod of his oppressor, you have broken...." Maybe it is describe in those 3 different ways to represent all the different types of oppression we have in our lives. But Christ came to break whatever type of oppression or burden it is that we are carrying.
It is as this point we read that passage I wrote above, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given." Praise God for Christmas!
How grateful I am for these passages. Such fantastic reminders of the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus came to bring light, hope and to break the bonds that hold us captive.
He looked at me with a cocked head, "Mom, God created me, not you."
Harumph! He sure put me in my place!
But, what he said was true and all week I've seen that truth worked out. God is in control of my life, not me, if I were to ever dare take credit for the good things that happen or dare to blame Him when things aren't going as I would like.
I've been reading in Isaiah this week, partly because of the sermon I heard on Sunday and also because of a devotional passage I was directed to. What a great book to read at Christmas as it is full of the prophesies of Christ's coming. But what I love most is the constant theme of how the coming Redeemer will be a bond breaker, freeing the oppressed. That theme has been so encouraging as I know of another friend whose husband is struggling deeply emotional, mentally and even physically. This book is full of encouragement and hope for her. Or for my children, who wonder about their future, their education, will they marry....What about us, with our church situation, or future employment, or future financial freedom, or even a car....! Yet this book sits right there, as an amazing reminder to have hope.
Isaiah 9 has the classic passage we all know and read this time of year...
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace..." (Isaiah 9:6)
I have read that passage many times, seen it on many Christmas cards, but I have never seen it read at Christmas in its context. The chapter before, particularly verse 11-22, are strikingly opposite.
Chapter 8:11 begins with a warning, "For the Lord spoke thus to me with His strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people..."
And what is the "way of this people"? It goes on to say, "Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, Him you shall honour as holy. Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread."
So, the "way of the people" seems to be seeing everything as a conspiracy, being fearful and full of dread. I've written about that before and my new favourite phrase is, "no fear, no panic, no dread". That seems to be the pattern written again here. No fear, no dread and, a new phrase....stop seeing things as a conspiracy! Satan wants us to turn against each other in these church crises and to see everything as a conspiracy. What we need to do instead is to fear God and let Him be our dread. The "way of the people" is also another great reminder to not get caught up this time of year in the way the world celebrates December 25th. It is absolutely nuts out there! I'm so glad we pulled back a few years ago. I would never be sane if I kept doing things the way I had been.
"He will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense..." He is where we need to go to for our safe place. It may seem that He is hiding His face from us right now, but Isaiah says, wait for Him. "I will wait for the Lord who his hiding His face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in Him." (vs. 17) It isn't easy to wait for the Lord, especially when He appears to be hiding His face. It's easy to wait when we have "proof" He's working. Not so easy when there is darkness.
The world would tell me to "inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter". (vs 18) I certainly don't have anyone in my life who will direct me in that way, but we do need to be careful that we inquire of God first. Isaiah says it quite simply, "should not a people inquire of their God?" What a great question! I think it is good to talk with other good Christian people, but we must take all things first to God.
Again, a warning, "If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn." Dawn, the symbol of a new day, of light coming up out of the darkness. I love that word. If there were no dawn, then we remain in darkness. I want dawn!
If we do not inquire of the Lord and we seek our own methods of wisdom, not only will there not be dawn, it will be much worse than that, "They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their kind and their God, and turn their faces upwards. And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness." (vs. 21, 22)
Isn't this the description of so many around us? Greatly distressed and hungry, speaking contemptuously, enraged, full of gloom, in anguish, walking around in thick darkness. Such a great description of life without God. This doesn't just describe non-believers, but people who claim to be Christians, but who are not going to God for help, but to others who cannot get them out of their gloom. How many people in our day are getting their anguish masked by meds. That will give temporary relief, but not eternal relief.
This it the beautiful turning point, where, literally, a new chapter begins, "But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish."
Suddenly, it's Christmas in Isaiah!
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, in them has light shone." Wonderful light. And not just for those who were sad, but for those who were in "deep darkness". I picture a tunnel where it is such a long tunnel you can't even see the end. We read of such a tunnel. It was being built for the railroad. The men who built the railroad came to a mountain that they couldn't go around, but had to blast through. The men were in utter darkness for 4 years! It was too long to come and go, in or out, day after day, so they just stayed in darkness. Imagine the day they came out of the darkness into the light!
Then, the theme of of the yoke, the staff and the rod of the oppressor being broken...
"For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, and the rod of his oppressor, you have broken...." Maybe it is describe in those 3 different ways to represent all the different types of oppression we have in our lives. But Christ came to break whatever type of oppression or burden it is that we are carrying.
It is as this point we read that passage I wrote above, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given." Praise God for Christmas!
How grateful I am for these passages. Such fantastic reminders of the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus came to bring light, hope and to break the bonds that hold us captive.
Thursday 8 December 2016
Lessons from a Chicken Coop Door
Last night I was putting my six year old to bed and suddenly he jumped up on the desk beside the door, monkeyed his way to the door frame where a chin-up/pull-up bar is located and proceeded to do 5 full out chin ups. My jaw was on the floor. Have you ever tried to do even one chin up? I said, "Wow! You are going to be strong!" Correction. This is what he said to that, "No, Mom. I am strong." Yup. He is. I told my older 17 year old saw what I had just seen. He said, "He does those every night!" I had seen him do them before, but I didn't realize he was on a workout regime!!!! That's the power of observation....he watches my older boys do them all the time and he just figured, he's supposed to as well! I just wonder how many other 6 year old boys are on a Mr. Universe workout plan. My older boys will do push-ups with a toddler on their back just to make it harder. My 6 year old will put his 4 year old brother on his back! The ratio seems a little more challenging!!!! So, yes, either Mr. Universe or the Olympics we figure.....
I had another great free decorating day yesterday. If you had walked in to my house in the middle of the day and seen my hay covered "antiques" in my kitchen earlier on, you might have been a little skeptical.....even I was! I was determined though. I had been waiting and waiting for the drywall to be finished, mudded, painted, etc....in the family room, but with two full-time jobs, essentially, my poor husband is a little strapped for time! So I asked him, "Are you sure I can't put some things on the wall?!" He kept telling me not to as I would just have to take them all down again, but this week he caved. "Why not?" he said. "We can just take them down and put them back up later." Yeah!
So yesterday, off I went to the barn again. I had had an idea brewing in my mind for a while. I didn't know if it would work, but I wanted to give it a try. I grabbed a few old window frames, some even still had broken glass in them and I also picked up a "chicken coop" door, with rat hole bites in it and everything!
I brought them in where they stood all morning, dropping hay all over the place. After school, I took them into the family room, cleaned them up and proceeded to hang them on the walls. I loved how it turned out! Again, this is where a good blogger inserts a picture. I promise one day I will do that!
We hung Christmas lights along the perimeter of the whole room along the ceiling and it makes the room really cozy, I went back outside and grabbed more greenery from the big bushes and put it all over the place. My kids came in and kept commenting on how much they liked it. That always makes me happy. I think moms love making their homes a happy place for their kids. They want them to always come back once they leave the nest.
I looked around and once again realized I was slowly but surely achieving the look I wanted and I hadn't spent a dime. I love having the barn/store so close by! When I lived in the city, if I had tried to acquire the things I nailed on my wall yesterday, I would have never been able to purchase them all at once. It would have taken my shopping trips, picking one piece at a time....But there is more to the decorating than just a good deal.....
John MacArthur spoke yesterday about contentment, always wanting something else, never being content with what you have. RM and I have realized we "need a guy" to help us finish off the work that isn't done. But that "guy" is going to cost a lot of money to hire one day. I guess I just decided to work with what I had, stop waiting for "the guy" to show up. Contentment settled in, it always does, when I surrender my rights to having everything the way I want them when I want them. Then blessings seem to come, like having my eyes opened to ugly chicken coop doors and yucky broken windows. I've never been able to see that kind of beauty before, past the ugliness. But I think that is one of the blessings that comes with contentment.
I'm not the first person to come up with this idea. Ann Voskamp writes of this, too. She describes what the French call it, "d'un beau affreux" - the ugly beautiful. "That which is perceived as ugly transfigures into beautiful." She says, "The ugly can be beautiful." But she isn't talking about chicken coop doors with rat holes in them, though that is an awesome picture of it. She is speaking about the ugly in our lives. She goes on, "...the dark can give birth to life, suffering can deliver grace, bad can transfigure into good - the ugly can be beautiful."
When I first pulled that chicken coop door out of the barn, it had a big heavy board nailed to the bottom of it where the rats had been trying to get in. How do I know? Because we are battling rats right now. Probably the same ones this other farmer battled, just generations of them that have come since he left! They're everywhere. In and around the coop, my husband's shop, in his office walls. We catch up to 5 a day in traps!!!!! Gross!!!!! That poor farmer, years ago, probably nailed that board on in anger, so frustrated with his chickens and eggs getting eaten. I'm sure he never knew that one day, that very door would be cleaned up, taken off its hinges and hung on a wall in someone's house as decor!!! He never saw the beauty in the ugly. He just saw the rats.
I hang that door as a great reminder to me, to look for the beauty in the ugly, to look for the grace in the suffering, the light in the dark. I need to stop seeing the rats. Yes, it's a pretty antique now, but that took time to get that look achieved. My life is kind of like that door. I'm in the antiquing process! (literally!) Right now, there are aspects of my life I absolutely love, but there are a few that I'd like to change. Antiquing, becoming more beautiful, only comes with time. Hebrews 12:11 says it best, "Later on, however.........it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace." What produces that harvest? The discipline of the Lord. That is the way He "antiques" us. That's how He makes the ugly beautiful. And my favourite part of that phrase is "Later on". It only happens with time. Just like the door took years to achieve that old, worn-out look.
I had another great free decorating day yesterday. If you had walked in to my house in the middle of the day and seen my hay covered "antiques" in my kitchen earlier on, you might have been a little skeptical.....even I was! I was determined though. I had been waiting and waiting for the drywall to be finished, mudded, painted, etc....in the family room, but with two full-time jobs, essentially, my poor husband is a little strapped for time! So I asked him, "Are you sure I can't put some things on the wall?!" He kept telling me not to as I would just have to take them all down again, but this week he caved. "Why not?" he said. "We can just take them down and put them back up later." Yeah!
So yesterday, off I went to the barn again. I had had an idea brewing in my mind for a while. I didn't know if it would work, but I wanted to give it a try. I grabbed a few old window frames, some even still had broken glass in them and I also picked up a "chicken coop" door, with rat hole bites in it and everything!
I brought them in where they stood all morning, dropping hay all over the place. After school, I took them into the family room, cleaned them up and proceeded to hang them on the walls. I loved how it turned out! Again, this is where a good blogger inserts a picture. I promise one day I will do that!
We hung Christmas lights along the perimeter of the whole room along the ceiling and it makes the room really cozy, I went back outside and grabbed more greenery from the big bushes and put it all over the place. My kids came in and kept commenting on how much they liked it. That always makes me happy. I think moms love making their homes a happy place for their kids. They want them to always come back once they leave the nest.
I looked around and once again realized I was slowly but surely achieving the look I wanted and I hadn't spent a dime. I love having the barn/store so close by! When I lived in the city, if I had tried to acquire the things I nailed on my wall yesterday, I would have never been able to purchase them all at once. It would have taken my shopping trips, picking one piece at a time....But there is more to the decorating than just a good deal.....
John MacArthur spoke yesterday about contentment, always wanting something else, never being content with what you have. RM and I have realized we "need a guy" to help us finish off the work that isn't done. But that "guy" is going to cost a lot of money to hire one day. I guess I just decided to work with what I had, stop waiting for "the guy" to show up. Contentment settled in, it always does, when I surrender my rights to having everything the way I want them when I want them. Then blessings seem to come, like having my eyes opened to ugly chicken coop doors and yucky broken windows. I've never been able to see that kind of beauty before, past the ugliness. But I think that is one of the blessings that comes with contentment.
I'm not the first person to come up with this idea. Ann Voskamp writes of this, too. She describes what the French call it, "d'un beau affreux" - the ugly beautiful. "That which is perceived as ugly transfigures into beautiful." She says, "The ugly can be beautiful." But she isn't talking about chicken coop doors with rat holes in them, though that is an awesome picture of it. She is speaking about the ugly in our lives. She goes on, "...the dark can give birth to life, suffering can deliver grace, bad can transfigure into good - the ugly can be beautiful."
When I first pulled that chicken coop door out of the barn, it had a big heavy board nailed to the bottom of it where the rats had been trying to get in. How do I know? Because we are battling rats right now. Probably the same ones this other farmer battled, just generations of them that have come since he left! They're everywhere. In and around the coop, my husband's shop, in his office walls. We catch up to 5 a day in traps!!!!! Gross!!!!! That poor farmer, years ago, probably nailed that board on in anger, so frustrated with his chickens and eggs getting eaten. I'm sure he never knew that one day, that very door would be cleaned up, taken off its hinges and hung on a wall in someone's house as decor!!! He never saw the beauty in the ugly. He just saw the rats.
I hang that door as a great reminder to me, to look for the beauty in the ugly, to look for the grace in the suffering, the light in the dark. I need to stop seeing the rats. Yes, it's a pretty antique now, but that took time to get that look achieved. My life is kind of like that door. I'm in the antiquing process! (literally!) Right now, there are aspects of my life I absolutely love, but there are a few that I'd like to change. Antiquing, becoming more beautiful, only comes with time. Hebrews 12:11 says it best, "Later on, however.........it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace." What produces that harvest? The discipline of the Lord. That is the way He "antiques" us. That's how He makes the ugly beautiful. And my favourite part of that phrase is "Later on". It only happens with time. Just like the door took years to achieve that old, worn-out look.
Wednesday 7 December 2016
Define Church
It seems like I was writing this very thing only a few months ago, yet here I am writing this again.....our pastor resigned this week. The second pastor to resign in less than 6 months, the 3rd pastor we know in less than 2 years. In all 3 cases, the blame does not fall on the pastor. Each one felt they had to leave and for good reasons. At the current church, people we know are not happy, as they are aware of the reasons, and one by one, families, once again, are leaving.....for what?! Where will people go?! We find ourselves in absolute shock to be going through this for the second time.
It brings me back to my childhood, to a place of nostalgia, a place my children won't know...ever...because it just doesn't seem to exist anymore. I grew up in a church, a large church, on the west coast. As a child, if there were problems, I didn't notice. All I remember is that I loved going to church. We were there all morning! The children went to children's church before the service. I assume my parents went to some adult Sunday School. I don't even know! Then, afterwards we all went to the service together.
I remember singing. As a child just learning to play piano, I would follow along with the notes and chords written in the hymnal. I noticed my mom wasn't singing the melody and I think that was my first introduction to harmony. Nowadays there might be a hymnal in the pew, but no one uses them. The hymn books were so great. Not only was it how I learned harmony, but to see the written words week after week. I would peruse it during the sermon, too, noticing the writers, the dates they wrote them. That was where I learned all the great hymns, in this amazing big church where 1000 people sang loud and strong. I stood by my grandmother who lived with us for awhile. Again, as a child, I thought she had a funny singing voice, but now, I reflect and I wish I could hear it again. She sang like angel! What a privilege to have had that opportunity to worship with her! I just didn't know it then.
It was in that church that I learned about communion. I very specifically remember my mom leaning over and explaining what the elements signified and I took it for the first time. I understood and I watched her pray while the elements were passed month after month. It was a beautiful ceremony as I saw the men of the church take their role so seriously.
I also grew up there and went from a girl who fell asleep beside her mom during the sermon to a girl who wanted to fill in the blanks as the preacher talked. I realized I could make the most of that time in church and try to learn and week after week I did. I saw pastors come and go. I heard funny ones who always told good stories and some fire and brimstone pastors who would yell or cry or go waaay too long, but I learned to worship.
People were coming to Christ at that church. Unbelievers were walking in off the street. They were getting saved because of actual discipleship classes that were going on, taught by my parents, not because of seeker sensitive services. We had so many people in our home, new believers, that "smelled like smoke" as they were such recent converts. The gospel didn't have to get watered down to reach these people.
And the church grew. Really grew. And it wasn't artificial growth. There was depth in the growth. I saw that even as a child. Discipleship programs ran across all the ages, from the girls and boys programs to the youth and up into the adults. People were praying. Small groups in the community were meeting. Deep friendships were made that we still have today though we moved away 33 years ago!!!! My parents best friends are still there and are in regular contact with one another.
I was baptized there, by my Dad. My sister was married there.
What are my kids going to remember? It makes me so sad that their church experience has been one of constant change. As a result, church has become more of what we do during the week and less of what happens on Sunday as so much "church" has been going on in our home lately as we take care of this other family each week. I love that. Maybe it isn't fair to compare my childhood to my kids', but I still wish their experience had been more like mine. Oh, that the apostle Paul, as I often say, would just come down and tell us what to do. Deep down, I also take consolation in knowing that God is sovereign and really this must just be another sign of the end of the times. Satan is really working hard to take down churches, pastors, families. As Dad said this week, "he's in his death throes."
In the meantime, while we figure out what to do, we just keep doing "church" at home. Getting our kids in the Word, reading it together, praying, seeking God's will for our family and asking Him to show us - what is church?!
It brings me back to my childhood, to a place of nostalgia, a place my children won't know...ever...because it just doesn't seem to exist anymore. I grew up in a church, a large church, on the west coast. As a child, if there were problems, I didn't notice. All I remember is that I loved going to church. We were there all morning! The children went to children's church before the service. I assume my parents went to some adult Sunday School. I don't even know! Then, afterwards we all went to the service together.
I remember singing. As a child just learning to play piano, I would follow along with the notes and chords written in the hymnal. I noticed my mom wasn't singing the melody and I think that was my first introduction to harmony. Nowadays there might be a hymnal in the pew, but no one uses them. The hymn books were so great. Not only was it how I learned harmony, but to see the written words week after week. I would peruse it during the sermon, too, noticing the writers, the dates they wrote them. That was where I learned all the great hymns, in this amazing big church where 1000 people sang loud and strong. I stood by my grandmother who lived with us for awhile. Again, as a child, I thought she had a funny singing voice, but now, I reflect and I wish I could hear it again. She sang like angel! What a privilege to have had that opportunity to worship with her! I just didn't know it then.
It was in that church that I learned about communion. I very specifically remember my mom leaning over and explaining what the elements signified and I took it for the first time. I understood and I watched her pray while the elements were passed month after month. It was a beautiful ceremony as I saw the men of the church take their role so seriously.
I also grew up there and went from a girl who fell asleep beside her mom during the sermon to a girl who wanted to fill in the blanks as the preacher talked. I realized I could make the most of that time in church and try to learn and week after week I did. I saw pastors come and go. I heard funny ones who always told good stories and some fire and brimstone pastors who would yell or cry or go waaay too long, but I learned to worship.
People were coming to Christ at that church. Unbelievers were walking in off the street. They were getting saved because of actual discipleship classes that were going on, taught by my parents, not because of seeker sensitive services. We had so many people in our home, new believers, that "smelled like smoke" as they were such recent converts. The gospel didn't have to get watered down to reach these people.
And the church grew. Really grew. And it wasn't artificial growth. There was depth in the growth. I saw that even as a child. Discipleship programs ran across all the ages, from the girls and boys programs to the youth and up into the adults. People were praying. Small groups in the community were meeting. Deep friendships were made that we still have today though we moved away 33 years ago!!!! My parents best friends are still there and are in regular contact with one another.
I was baptized there, by my Dad. My sister was married there.
What are my kids going to remember? It makes me so sad that their church experience has been one of constant change. As a result, church has become more of what we do during the week and less of what happens on Sunday as so much "church" has been going on in our home lately as we take care of this other family each week. I love that. Maybe it isn't fair to compare my childhood to my kids', but I still wish their experience had been more like mine. Oh, that the apostle Paul, as I often say, would just come down and tell us what to do. Deep down, I also take consolation in knowing that God is sovereign and really this must just be another sign of the end of the times. Satan is really working hard to take down churches, pastors, families. As Dad said this week, "he's in his death throes."
In the meantime, while we figure out what to do, we just keep doing "church" at home. Getting our kids in the Word, reading it together, praying, seeking God's will for our family and asking Him to show us - what is church?!
Friday 2 December 2016
More on the Widow and Her Oil
We're nearing the end of a full week, but a rich one. Perhaps not in money, as we waited all week for a cheque that didn't come, but in friendship, mutual blessing and seeing God's hand every day.
As families, we tried to have some sort of family worship together, either in the morning or at night. We purchased a set of videos years ago put out by Crown Financial called God Provides. What an amazing study series if you're ever looking for encouragement and wondering if God will provide. Whenever we find ourselves in a situation like we have this week where the funds just aren't coming in as we hoped, we pull out one of those videos just to remind us, God does provide. It is always such a faith-building time of worship.
On Wednesday, when we were on day 3 of waiting by the mailbox, RM said, "I know what we're doing tonight for family worship.....get the widow and the oil video...." I immediately jumped up as I knew what he was thinking. It was perfect! It was the actual depiction of the story I wrote about a few weeks ago that described my friend as a widow selling her oil. I had told her about the story in the Bible and how I thought it related to her, but she hadn't seen the video....I couldn't wait for her to see it.
The videos are all about 15 minutes long and they are amazingly produced. They retell Bible stories in their historical settings and they are all very moving. The scene opens up with the widow's young boys sleeping on the floor with their mother praying and pleading on the floor beside them on her knees. Right from the beginning all of us adults were a mess. I had never watched it with an actual "widow" in the room with me before. She couldn't get through it. RM couldn't get through it. It was awful as we all blubbered away. As the scene continues, the men whom her husband owed money to break into her house to threaten her. They'll take her children, they say, unless she comes up with the money in three days (artistic license, I guess, as that isn't in the Bible). She sits there crying against the door. How my friend has done that these last few months. She then runs through the streets of Jerusalem looking for Elisha crying, crying, his name. Finally she finds him and begs him to tell her what to do. The famous line, "What do you have?" is asked. "I have nothing, except a jar of oil in the house." This is my friend's story. She has nothing, no education, hasn't worked a day in her life, no house, no resources....nothing. Perfect. Just what God needs. Nothing.
Elisha tells her what to do. She is to gather vessels, to borrow from her neighbours. I had never noticed that part of the story before. The role of the neighbours! Borrowing is never portrayed as good in the Bible, but in this case she is told to. My friend has been given many, many gifts, too many to count, in these last few months. She knows she could never repay all that people have done for her, but this is the neat part of the story. Her friends give her the vessels. God either prompts them or they are just naturally giving, but however it happens, they are a part of how God works! It is really a critcial part of the miracle. If the friends hadn't given her the vessels she would never have been able to fill them with oil to sell to pay her debts. I love it! I've always thought it was the miracle of the endless oil, but no, I think it is that God used others to help the widow. Does she have to pay them back? At the end of the story Elisha tells her, "Go and sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest." I suppose that implies that she should pay back those she can, but there were perhaps some who gave her vessels anonymously, who knows? She doesn't have to pay them back, just the ones she is aware of.
This gives me a new perspective on gifts as we, too, have been given many gifts over the years. I've always hated to receive monetary gifts as it is so humbling, but now I see God has used those gifts to help us very much and that those gifts can actually be part of the miracle. I do hope we can somehow repay those who have given to us either monetarily or by paying it forward to others. Maybe that is why I've enjoyed helping my friend and her family so much this week. It is a way to pay it forward for all that I've been given.
The other thing that jumps out at me is that the widow is told to "go and sell". She isn't supposed to just sit around waiting for oil to come to her. She has to go and work. That must have been frightening. It would have terrified me, especially if I'd never had to step out in faith like that. What if I'd never talked to a neighbour before? My friend is not a people-person. She would much rather be at home never talking to others. She likes her personal space. Now she is being called to be friendly to everyone and anyone she meets! It's killing her! In a good way! But God is faithful and if he is asking her to do this, then He'll give her the ability. She's never been so friendly in her whole life!
All this to say, by the end of that time of family worship, we tried to pray through the tears streaming down our faces. It was perfect timing as she was just about to have her "oils" class. Women would be showing up in just a few minutes. The oils are all she has right now. As the women came and purchased her oils, it allowed her to go the next level in her business which means she can make more money which means she will be less and less dependent on others. That was a significant benchmark as it takes most people in the business six months to make that level and she made it in 1 month. From the outside it appears like it's just a little home business, but it is so much more than that. It is what God has given her, for this moment in her life. At some point the oil may "stop flowing" as it did in the Bible story, but for now, it is taking off and she is thrilled.
As usual, I thank God for His Word, for including this story in Scripture, for allowing it to come to life in such a significant way, not just for her, but for me.
As families, we tried to have some sort of family worship together, either in the morning or at night. We purchased a set of videos years ago put out by Crown Financial called God Provides. What an amazing study series if you're ever looking for encouragement and wondering if God will provide. Whenever we find ourselves in a situation like we have this week where the funds just aren't coming in as we hoped, we pull out one of those videos just to remind us, God does provide. It is always such a faith-building time of worship.
On Wednesday, when we were on day 3 of waiting by the mailbox, RM said, "I know what we're doing tonight for family worship.....get the widow and the oil video...." I immediately jumped up as I knew what he was thinking. It was perfect! It was the actual depiction of the story I wrote about a few weeks ago that described my friend as a widow selling her oil. I had told her about the story in the Bible and how I thought it related to her, but she hadn't seen the video....I couldn't wait for her to see it.
The videos are all about 15 minutes long and they are amazingly produced. They retell Bible stories in their historical settings and they are all very moving. The scene opens up with the widow's young boys sleeping on the floor with their mother praying and pleading on the floor beside them on her knees. Right from the beginning all of us adults were a mess. I had never watched it with an actual "widow" in the room with me before. She couldn't get through it. RM couldn't get through it. It was awful as we all blubbered away. As the scene continues, the men whom her husband owed money to break into her house to threaten her. They'll take her children, they say, unless she comes up with the money in three days (artistic license, I guess, as that isn't in the Bible). She sits there crying against the door. How my friend has done that these last few months. She then runs through the streets of Jerusalem looking for Elisha crying, crying, his name. Finally she finds him and begs him to tell her what to do. The famous line, "What do you have?" is asked. "I have nothing, except a jar of oil in the house." This is my friend's story. She has nothing, no education, hasn't worked a day in her life, no house, no resources....nothing. Perfect. Just what God needs. Nothing.
Elisha tells her what to do. She is to gather vessels, to borrow from her neighbours. I had never noticed that part of the story before. The role of the neighbours! Borrowing is never portrayed as good in the Bible, but in this case she is told to. My friend has been given many, many gifts, too many to count, in these last few months. She knows she could never repay all that people have done for her, but this is the neat part of the story. Her friends give her the vessels. God either prompts them or they are just naturally giving, but however it happens, they are a part of how God works! It is really a critcial part of the miracle. If the friends hadn't given her the vessels she would never have been able to fill them with oil to sell to pay her debts. I love it! I've always thought it was the miracle of the endless oil, but no, I think it is that God used others to help the widow. Does she have to pay them back? At the end of the story Elisha tells her, "Go and sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest." I suppose that implies that she should pay back those she can, but there were perhaps some who gave her vessels anonymously, who knows? She doesn't have to pay them back, just the ones she is aware of.
This gives me a new perspective on gifts as we, too, have been given many gifts over the years. I've always hated to receive monetary gifts as it is so humbling, but now I see God has used those gifts to help us very much and that those gifts can actually be part of the miracle. I do hope we can somehow repay those who have given to us either monetarily or by paying it forward to others. Maybe that is why I've enjoyed helping my friend and her family so much this week. It is a way to pay it forward for all that I've been given.
The other thing that jumps out at me is that the widow is told to "go and sell". She isn't supposed to just sit around waiting for oil to come to her. She has to go and work. That must have been frightening. It would have terrified me, especially if I'd never had to step out in faith like that. What if I'd never talked to a neighbour before? My friend is not a people-person. She would much rather be at home never talking to others. She likes her personal space. Now she is being called to be friendly to everyone and anyone she meets! It's killing her! In a good way! But God is faithful and if he is asking her to do this, then He'll give her the ability. She's never been so friendly in her whole life!
All this to say, by the end of that time of family worship, we tried to pray through the tears streaming down our faces. It was perfect timing as she was just about to have her "oils" class. Women would be showing up in just a few minutes. The oils are all she has right now. As the women came and purchased her oils, it allowed her to go the next level in her business which means she can make more money which means she will be less and less dependent on others. That was a significant benchmark as it takes most people in the business six months to make that level and she made it in 1 month. From the outside it appears like it's just a little home business, but it is so much more than that. It is what God has given her, for this moment in her life. At some point the oil may "stop flowing" as it did in the Bible story, but for now, it is taking off and she is thrilled.
As usual, I thank God for His Word, for including this story in Scripture, for allowing it to come to life in such a significant way, not just for her, but for me.
Thursday 1 December 2016
Christmas Decorating....for free!
Are you allowed to pray about everything.....really everything???? People would laugh if they knew the things I pray about. They would truly think I don't have a grasp on theology and that God doesn't give two hoots about the things I bring before Him. Here's an example....
As Christmas comes around, I love to make the house all Christmas-y. But my decorations are getting a little old and dated. I can never get my head around buying more. I avoid the malls and the home decor stores as they just make me discontent. I throw out all the flyers that make me want to buy stuff.
I even like to decorate outside around the entry to our home. This past summer when I discovered some wine crates in our barn as well as some other antique ladders and things, I went to town on making a display. I was so thrilled as I hadn't any money except on the annuals. But they gave me such joy all summer long. I used to hate our concrete pad in front of our home, but I was able to turn it into something I loved looking at.
Well, once summer went, I turned to the garden to decorate for fall. I was able to use all sorts of pumpkins, gourds and corn stalks to decorate all around and that, too, made me so happy. The summer flowers were supplemented with a few fall mums and it all looked good.
As Christmas approached, I was thinking again of what I could do without spending any money. I looked at a few pinterest ideas and was inspired, but still didn't know what I could use without buying greenery or things to fill the urns and wine crates with.
Yesterday I was having the oil class that my friend was doing, so I was going to have at least 5-10 ladies here. That's always a good push to get the house decorated! As well, it was a nice day and I was able to work outside with my flip flops still on and no coat, so I knew I needed to take advantage of the good weather.
I was praying the whole time, "Lord, what can I do? Is there anything on our property I could use that I haven't thought of before? Inspire me!" With that, I went about searching for something I could use for greenery to put in all the summer urns, containers and crates. I went around the side of the house and suddenly I noticed, as if it were the first time I'd ever seen them, our overgrown bushes and shrubs. I have always disliked them as they are definitely overgrown and and really add no attractive curb appeal, but this time when I looked at them, I thought, "They're perfect! Why haven't I seen them before?!" I grabbed my pruners and I must have cut away what would have been hundreds of dollars in shrubberies. I walked back and forth from the shrubs to the containers many times. My fingers got so poked and full of juniper oil they still sting. But my little porch came to life! It was all worth it!
I stood back and admired it when it was all said and done and I was amazed. I thanked God for showing me something I could use that was right on my property again. I didn't have to spend a dime, literally. I didn't have to drive to a store with a carload of kids and fight angry crowds. I was able to spruce up old containers that have been sitting in barns unused for years. I was given a creativity that I have never had. I do believe it was a strange answer to prayer. It made me so happy!
The decor was noticed and complimented on which made me smile as I didn't hire anyone to do it and I didn't spend any money. Are there other bigger things in life to pray about? For sure, but this also shows me that God is in the little things, the details of life that matter to moms. It was His idea in the first place to make things beautiful, to create things that make us wonder in awe. I used His "store" to "buy" my things - nature! He makes containers and urns full of beauty all around us. His containers are just forests and gardens! So I'm grateful. My friend who is in the landscaping business came over last night and couldn't believe what I'd done with "nothing". She told me what each bunch of greenery would have cost. I loved hearing that!
The week is coming to a close....our busy house is still very busy, but we are making it work. We're actually getting school done and having a lot of fun at the same time. It has definitely shown that our house lacks a little in size when it comes to sleeping arrangements but no one seems to mind.
Now, dishes to wash.....in all of the extra dishwashing our dishwasher decided to stop....gave up the ghost. That's ok, too, though. It gives all the extra hands around here something to do!
As Christmas comes around, I love to make the house all Christmas-y. But my decorations are getting a little old and dated. I can never get my head around buying more. I avoid the malls and the home decor stores as they just make me discontent. I throw out all the flyers that make me want to buy stuff.
I even like to decorate outside around the entry to our home. This past summer when I discovered some wine crates in our barn as well as some other antique ladders and things, I went to town on making a display. I was so thrilled as I hadn't any money except on the annuals. But they gave me such joy all summer long. I used to hate our concrete pad in front of our home, but I was able to turn it into something I loved looking at.
Well, once summer went, I turned to the garden to decorate for fall. I was able to use all sorts of pumpkins, gourds and corn stalks to decorate all around and that, too, made me so happy. The summer flowers were supplemented with a few fall mums and it all looked good.
As Christmas approached, I was thinking again of what I could do without spending any money. I looked at a few pinterest ideas and was inspired, but still didn't know what I could use without buying greenery or things to fill the urns and wine crates with.
Yesterday I was having the oil class that my friend was doing, so I was going to have at least 5-10 ladies here. That's always a good push to get the house decorated! As well, it was a nice day and I was able to work outside with my flip flops still on and no coat, so I knew I needed to take advantage of the good weather.
I was praying the whole time, "Lord, what can I do? Is there anything on our property I could use that I haven't thought of before? Inspire me!" With that, I went about searching for something I could use for greenery to put in all the summer urns, containers and crates. I went around the side of the house and suddenly I noticed, as if it were the first time I'd ever seen them, our overgrown bushes and shrubs. I have always disliked them as they are definitely overgrown and and really add no attractive curb appeal, but this time when I looked at them, I thought, "They're perfect! Why haven't I seen them before?!" I grabbed my pruners and I must have cut away what would have been hundreds of dollars in shrubberies. I walked back and forth from the shrubs to the containers many times. My fingers got so poked and full of juniper oil they still sting. But my little porch came to life! It was all worth it!
I stood back and admired it when it was all said and done and I was amazed. I thanked God for showing me something I could use that was right on my property again. I didn't have to spend a dime, literally. I didn't have to drive to a store with a carload of kids and fight angry crowds. I was able to spruce up old containers that have been sitting in barns unused for years. I was given a creativity that I have never had. I do believe it was a strange answer to prayer. It made me so happy!
The decor was noticed and complimented on which made me smile as I didn't hire anyone to do it and I didn't spend any money. Are there other bigger things in life to pray about? For sure, but this also shows me that God is in the little things, the details of life that matter to moms. It was His idea in the first place to make things beautiful, to create things that make us wonder in awe. I used His "store" to "buy" my things - nature! He makes containers and urns full of beauty all around us. His containers are just forests and gardens! So I'm grateful. My friend who is in the landscaping business came over last night and couldn't believe what I'd done with "nothing". She told me what each bunch of greenery would have cost. I loved hearing that!
The week is coming to a close....our busy house is still very busy, but we are making it work. We're actually getting school done and having a lot of fun at the same time. It has definitely shown that our house lacks a little in size when it comes to sleeping arrangements but no one seems to mind.
Now, dishes to wash.....in all of the extra dishwashing our dishwasher decided to stop....gave up the ghost. That's ok, too, though. It gives all the extra hands around here something to do!
Tuesday 29 November 2016
Racy Girl Talk, Houseguests and Christmas
This past Friday I had the privilege of hearing another popular speaker, Sheila Wray Gregoire. I certainly did not expect to hear what I heard that night. I went in with the understanding that it was going to be about "Girl Talk" as that was the name of her tour she was on, and that it was going to be about marriage and possibly even alude to the "S" word, but I had noooooo idea that that was, in fact, going to be the focus.....the whole night was pretty much about, uh.....sex.
Absolutely shocking. Why? Because no one talks about it. She dared to. She even dared to write several books on the topic, specifically for Christian women. I asked her how she ever got permission from her husband to write books like that, but she explained he was a doctor....it's a medical thing to him, so it didn't bother him in the least. It bothered her younger daughters at first, but now one of them is married and she said, "I'm just so grateful you wrote this book so that now we don't have to talk about it!" Ironically, now that same daughter works for her and they talk about it every single day.
It is clearly a sensitive issue for so many women and the fact that it appeared nearly sold out says a lot! What struck me wasn't all the laughter that was going on all night (we were killing ourselves laughing most of the time!). I was more aware of the pain in a lot of women through the questions they anonymously asked. Pornography was a big topic. No longer just for men anymore, but now for women through certain kinds of "literature", I use the term loosely....
Little House on the Prairie women would never have had a talk like this one, but clearly the time has come for women to be able to talk about it, hear about it and get issues out of the dark and into the light. I was very impressed with Sheila's boldness and sensitivity and how she handled such a potentially squeamish topic.
This week for us will be a full one, literally. I have 17 people under my roof. Fourteen of them are under 18. Nine of them are under 11. And, here's the big "wow"....nine of them are BOYS!!!!!!! Last night we decorated a tree with this visiting family and, big mistake, we used popcorn. It looks like we popped the popcorn in the family room with the lid off the machine! It's incredible, the mess. It will be a fun week for the kids. We'll see if the Mommies survive.
I was determined to keep some semblance of order and fortunately they all brought their schoolbooks, so at one point, they were all sitting around the table doing their school. It was amazing. When I used to teach I realized that was how many I had in my classroom at one point (because it was a small private school). So yes, it was a small private school here yesterday and will be all week.
Today 4 of them will actually go to "school" at a historical museum where they will act out what school was like 100 years ago in the "Strict but Nice" program they offer. My dad went to a one-room schoolhouse and that's just what this will be like. It's a program I've done with all the kids and they love it.
So we've given ourselves a bit of a challenge. We're going to see if we can make it a month without the extra car. It is a bit of an inconvenience, but the only time we really need the extra car is when we go somewhere as a family and that's only once in a while now. We haven't even needed it for church because I've been home watching my friend's kids. We'll see how that goes!
We're well into the Christmas season now. The house is decorated, though messy. There's no question about gifts anymore. We just know that we don't fall for the insanity anymore. Such a relief as it would put me in a tailspin every year. However......this year will be a little different. We're hosting my friend and her family on Christmas day and they do exchange gifts, so in the spirit of making it a fun day for them and not being grinches, we will do a gift exchange with her kids. We'll keep it simple, but each kid will open something that they get from the other family. It's getting us creative as we'll probably make things and if we do purchase something it'll be on the small scale.
So every year is a little different. I never know just how it will look, but I'm grateful that we are still very much trying to not lose the focus of the season which can get eaten up in the world's view of Christmas. That makes the decorating, cookies and music even more meaningful as I can really enjoy all of those fun elements without being caught up and distracted by the stress that usually accompanies all those things. Whew!
Absolutely shocking. Why? Because no one talks about it. She dared to. She even dared to write several books on the topic, specifically for Christian women. I asked her how she ever got permission from her husband to write books like that, but she explained he was a doctor....it's a medical thing to him, so it didn't bother him in the least. It bothered her younger daughters at first, but now one of them is married and she said, "I'm just so grateful you wrote this book so that now we don't have to talk about it!" Ironically, now that same daughter works for her and they talk about it every single day.
It is clearly a sensitive issue for so many women and the fact that it appeared nearly sold out says a lot! What struck me wasn't all the laughter that was going on all night (we were killing ourselves laughing most of the time!). I was more aware of the pain in a lot of women through the questions they anonymously asked. Pornography was a big topic. No longer just for men anymore, but now for women through certain kinds of "literature", I use the term loosely....
Little House on the Prairie women would never have had a talk like this one, but clearly the time has come for women to be able to talk about it, hear about it and get issues out of the dark and into the light. I was very impressed with Sheila's boldness and sensitivity and how she handled such a potentially squeamish topic.
This week for us will be a full one, literally. I have 17 people under my roof. Fourteen of them are under 18. Nine of them are under 11. And, here's the big "wow"....nine of them are BOYS!!!!!!! Last night we decorated a tree with this visiting family and, big mistake, we used popcorn. It looks like we popped the popcorn in the family room with the lid off the machine! It's incredible, the mess. It will be a fun week for the kids. We'll see if the Mommies survive.
I was determined to keep some semblance of order and fortunately they all brought their schoolbooks, so at one point, they were all sitting around the table doing their school. It was amazing. When I used to teach I realized that was how many I had in my classroom at one point (because it was a small private school). So yes, it was a small private school here yesterday and will be all week.
Today 4 of them will actually go to "school" at a historical museum where they will act out what school was like 100 years ago in the "Strict but Nice" program they offer. My dad went to a one-room schoolhouse and that's just what this will be like. It's a program I've done with all the kids and they love it.
So we've given ourselves a bit of a challenge. We're going to see if we can make it a month without the extra car. It is a bit of an inconvenience, but the only time we really need the extra car is when we go somewhere as a family and that's only once in a while now. We haven't even needed it for church because I've been home watching my friend's kids. We'll see how that goes!
We're well into the Christmas season now. The house is decorated, though messy. There's no question about gifts anymore. We just know that we don't fall for the insanity anymore. Such a relief as it would put me in a tailspin every year. However......this year will be a little different. We're hosting my friend and her family on Christmas day and they do exchange gifts, so in the spirit of making it a fun day for them and not being grinches, we will do a gift exchange with her kids. We'll keep it simple, but each kid will open something that they get from the other family. It's getting us creative as we'll probably make things and if we do purchase something it'll be on the small scale.
So every year is a little different. I never know just how it will look, but I'm grateful that we are still very much trying to not lose the focus of the season which can get eaten up in the world's view of Christmas. That makes the decorating, cookies and music even more meaningful as I can really enjoy all of those fun elements without being caught up and distracted by the stress that usually accompanies all those things. Whew!
Friday 25 November 2016
Horses, Chariots and Coconut Pie
Yesterday the kids and I were reading Psalm 20:7, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright." I asked them what was jumping out at them about that verse. They didn't see it at first. It was so obvious to me. "Chariots" and "horses"? We don't have too many of those running around the streets these days, so what could it mean to us? How about cars and trucks?! Yup.
What about the next verse, "they collapse and fall"? Same thing.....they break down and stop working. Suddenly the whole Psalm came to life in a whole new way. God knew what we were going through. Perhaps he was just checking to see what we were trusting in, Him or a car? The verse clearly says, "we trust in the name of the Lord our God", not a working car or truck.
If we weren't before, this has sure helped get that back on track as we are constantly having to manage our tricky life with just one vehicle for all of us. Verse 8 says, "...but we rise and stand upright". We can rise and stand upright despite the inconveniences and despite all the extra driving around because we know our happiness is not dependent on a vehicle, at least it better not be.
One awesome way of provision this weekend as we're going many separate ways, is that my parents made their second vehicle available to us....not forever, of course, but to help us get through the weekend. That is provision! To top it off, when they dropped it off yesterday mom blessed me with a lunch out that was at a local restaurant.....so delicious! What a treat!
We continue to look for another one, still praying for the right one to help us out, but in the meantime, we trust God and not our horses and chariots.
This weekend will take our kids' street preaching/handing out tracts to a whole new level. They're off to the Grey Cup (Canadian Football Championship) with a group that goes all over the U.S. and Canada sharing Christ before the game to those who will listen. They'll be around the wealthiest people in the country ('cuz who can afford those tickets otherwise??!) They'll be meeting people who absolutely depend on horses and chariots, as well as fame, celebrities, and any other idol you can think of. They'll be trying to show those people that only God is who we can trust in.
On a funnier note....it was our annual pie contest at the homeschool group last night. I was going to make a pie, but asked my kids if one of them wanted to - the clincher? A Starkbucks gift card was at stake! Suddenly all of them wanted to, but only one, my 15 year old boy, actually ended up taking the challenge. The trick was to make something that would stand out, something that you don't eat every day. The year I won I brought a grape pie....I had a funny feeling it would win because no one has eaten grape pie and lived.....you usually die of the amazing flavour!!! I had coconut on hand....about 10 kg!!! So I had been looking for ways to use it up. It would be perfect!
Well, I'm happy to say, my son came home with a second place gift card! Only to be beaten out by my good friend who made an even better flavour - peanut butter and chocolate! Rats! So fun...we all laughed when I got home. I had to hand him the prize as he had made the pie! Maybe I'll get a coffee out of it somehow......
What about the next verse, "they collapse and fall"? Same thing.....they break down and stop working. Suddenly the whole Psalm came to life in a whole new way. God knew what we were going through. Perhaps he was just checking to see what we were trusting in, Him or a car? The verse clearly says, "we trust in the name of the Lord our God", not a working car or truck.
If we weren't before, this has sure helped get that back on track as we are constantly having to manage our tricky life with just one vehicle for all of us. Verse 8 says, "...but we rise and stand upright". We can rise and stand upright despite the inconveniences and despite all the extra driving around because we know our happiness is not dependent on a vehicle, at least it better not be.
One awesome way of provision this weekend as we're going many separate ways, is that my parents made their second vehicle available to us....not forever, of course, but to help us get through the weekend. That is provision! To top it off, when they dropped it off yesterday mom blessed me with a lunch out that was at a local restaurant.....so delicious! What a treat!
We continue to look for another one, still praying for the right one to help us out, but in the meantime, we trust God and not our horses and chariots.
This weekend will take our kids' street preaching/handing out tracts to a whole new level. They're off to the Grey Cup (Canadian Football Championship) with a group that goes all over the U.S. and Canada sharing Christ before the game to those who will listen. They'll be around the wealthiest people in the country ('cuz who can afford those tickets otherwise??!) They'll be meeting people who absolutely depend on horses and chariots, as well as fame, celebrities, and any other idol you can think of. They'll be trying to show those people that only God is who we can trust in.
On a funnier note....it was our annual pie contest at the homeschool group last night. I was going to make a pie, but asked my kids if one of them wanted to - the clincher? A Starkbucks gift card was at stake! Suddenly all of them wanted to, but only one, my 15 year old boy, actually ended up taking the challenge. The trick was to make something that would stand out, something that you don't eat every day. The year I won I brought a grape pie....I had a funny feeling it would win because no one has eaten grape pie and lived.....you usually die of the amazing flavour!!! I had coconut on hand....about 10 kg!!! So I had been looking for ways to use it up. It would be perfect!
Well, I'm happy to say, my son came home with a second place gift card! Only to be beaten out by my good friend who made an even better flavour - peanut butter and chocolate! Rats! So fun...we all laughed when I got home. I had to hand him the prize as he had made the pie! Maybe I'll get a coffee out of it somehow......
Tuesday 22 November 2016
The Bible Written for Moms
Our church started up a mentoring program recently where an older woman is set up with a younger woman to intentionally meet and spend time together with the goal of Titus 2, "They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind an submissive to their won husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." I may not love being considered the older woman now, but who cares?! I love meeting with other women and actually feel so compelled to do it that it takes everything in me to not stop young moms in the grocery store and ask if they want to come over.
So yesterday was the first official visit with my new young mom friend. It was great. One of the things we talked about at the end was how I read the Bible. I did not tell her to pull out a Greek word dictionary, but instead I told her to read it as if God has written it just for her, a mom. I know that Jen Wilkin, an author who has recently written a book called Women of the Word would disagree with that, but allow me to explain. I gave her the example of the verse I read yesterday.
2 Cor 6:4, "...but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger...."
This young mom will probably not be persecuted (at least not in the same way the Corinthians were), but will she need to commend herself to great endurance? to afflictions and hardships? Yes! As a young mom, when your oldest is only 4 and you have a two year old and a baby on the way, all you do is deal with needing endurance! Afflictions, hardships and calamities are going on all day! Will she go through beatings? Sure, in a way! Her body is getting beat up by the baby inside her and in our house there are regular beatings between siblings! I'm constantly breaking up a fight. Inprisonments? Maybe not in the Corinthian way, but sometimes I wish I had a police officer in my home to help manage the kids. Riots? Oh yes. There are riots. My kids picket against the work, the food, the long hours....This mom probably has riots in her home, too. Labours? Literally. She'll go through labour in a few short months. She'll also labour in her home all day long. Sleepless nights? Of course! All moms have seasons, sometimes really long seasons of sleepless nights. Before the baby, after the baby, during toddlerhood......it seems like it will never end. Hunger? She may not go hungry, but she may experience seasons of financial stress where she's eating on an extremely tight budget. My other friend is getting her food from the food bank and did experience hunger this past summer for the first time in her life. So yes, even a mom can experience hunger.
Suddenly the Scripture has come to life! Paul really did write it for her. He may not have known she would exist, but God knew. And as she reads on she'll find that if she commends herself to God during this season of life, then she'll be just like the Corinithians, "as unknown and yet well known". What a great phrase for a mom who feels like what she is doing doesn't matter. She feels "unknown" and not important, yet she is so well known, so important...in the eyes of God. Though she will feel exhausted and "dying"...."behold, we live"! If we live as moms in the word of God, even though we feel we're at the end of our rope we still live because of the power of God in our lives. "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything." In the eyes of the world this mom is wasting her time, her life. She is sacrificing by living on one income which may make her appear poor. Yet the Bible reveals the amazing contradiction that she is in fact making many rich! Her kids! She may have fewer possessions than others, but she possesses everything - eternal life.
I know that Paul's intent was for a different audience. I know that he wrote it to those under persecution, but to to me, no one is under more persecution these days then the stay-at-home mom. She's a fool in the eyes of the world. So when I explained to read that passage in that way, it really comes to life for a mom who won't necessarily be in the middle of an actual prison, but may feel imprisoned in her own home surrounded by kids and cold weather. Reading it in that way may just help her feel God knows her situation exactly.
So yesterday was the first official visit with my new young mom friend. It was great. One of the things we talked about at the end was how I read the Bible. I did not tell her to pull out a Greek word dictionary, but instead I told her to read it as if God has written it just for her, a mom. I know that Jen Wilkin, an author who has recently written a book called Women of the Word would disagree with that, but allow me to explain. I gave her the example of the verse I read yesterday.
2 Cor 6:4, "...but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger...."
This young mom will probably not be persecuted (at least not in the same way the Corinthians were), but will she need to commend herself to great endurance? to afflictions and hardships? Yes! As a young mom, when your oldest is only 4 and you have a two year old and a baby on the way, all you do is deal with needing endurance! Afflictions, hardships and calamities are going on all day! Will she go through beatings? Sure, in a way! Her body is getting beat up by the baby inside her and in our house there are regular beatings between siblings! I'm constantly breaking up a fight. Inprisonments? Maybe not in the Corinthian way, but sometimes I wish I had a police officer in my home to help manage the kids. Riots? Oh yes. There are riots. My kids picket against the work, the food, the long hours....This mom probably has riots in her home, too. Labours? Literally. She'll go through labour in a few short months. She'll also labour in her home all day long. Sleepless nights? Of course! All moms have seasons, sometimes really long seasons of sleepless nights. Before the baby, after the baby, during toddlerhood......it seems like it will never end. Hunger? She may not go hungry, but she may experience seasons of financial stress where she's eating on an extremely tight budget. My other friend is getting her food from the food bank and did experience hunger this past summer for the first time in her life. So yes, even a mom can experience hunger.
Suddenly the Scripture has come to life! Paul really did write it for her. He may not have known she would exist, but God knew. And as she reads on she'll find that if she commends herself to God during this season of life, then she'll be just like the Corinithians, "as unknown and yet well known". What a great phrase for a mom who feels like what she is doing doesn't matter. She feels "unknown" and not important, yet she is so well known, so important...in the eyes of God. Though she will feel exhausted and "dying"...."behold, we live"! If we live as moms in the word of God, even though we feel we're at the end of our rope we still live because of the power of God in our lives. "Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything." In the eyes of the world this mom is wasting her time, her life. She is sacrificing by living on one income which may make her appear poor. Yet the Bible reveals the amazing contradiction that she is in fact making many rich! Her kids! She may have fewer possessions than others, but she possesses everything - eternal life.
I know that Paul's intent was for a different audience. I know that he wrote it to those under persecution, but to to me, no one is under more persecution these days then the stay-at-home mom. She's a fool in the eyes of the world. So when I explained to read that passage in that way, it really comes to life for a mom who won't necessarily be in the middle of an actual prison, but may feel imprisoned in her own home surrounded by kids and cold weather. Reading it in that way may just help her feel God knows her situation exactly.
Monday 21 November 2016
The Secret to Joy
Winter is here. It went from a balmy fall day that felt like summer to freezing temperatures overnight. This always reminds us of the cold house we have and that there is still so much work to do to get it less cabin-like and more house-like.
Sometimes we separate the little boys at bedtime and will start one of them in my bed and then transfer them when they are asleep to keep them from talking. Last night I moved my 6 year old in the dark from my bed to his bed and then I jumped under the covers because I was so cold. I didn't move again until morning. When I did wake up, I felt something on my back which seemed like cookie crumbs. I don't eat in bed, so I scrambled out of bed wondering what in the world!? I turned on the light only to discover I'd slept with a whole bunch of chocolate my son had hidden in my bed when he went to sleep. I had been so tired I hadn't even noticed it melting into my back all night! How disgusting! My morning began with a quick load of laundry.....I'll be sure to inspect him before I put him to bed from now on.....do other people have to frisk their kids????
We are also now down to one car again. No big deal except there are a lot of different people going a lot of different directions. It means I'm doing a lot of driving as now RM is out of the house 3 days a week, so if I need the car, I have to drive him. Truth is, I don't actually mind. It's a mini-date as we drive a half hour together each morning, kid-free (as I leave them all behind!). We talk, dream, vision, plan.....I enjoy that so much. Then, on the way home, I pray, listen to a sermon, catch up on adult news and come home to kids running around the house, sometimes doing what they're supposed to, oftentimes not.....
We've been looking for another miracle car and went yesterday to look at one, but the seller was clearly trying to sell a car that had been in an accident. My husband took a quick ride around the block and realized he'd have to walk away from what seemed like such a good deal. Was it a waste of a trip? Not really. RM said it was good for the boys to see (he took the older ones with him) that we should be willing to walk away sometimes in order to get the best deal. A good lesson against impulse shopping, I guess!
We had a visiting missionary at church on Sunday from Papua, Indonesia. He spoke about the contradiction we all seem to live - we all experience suffering and yet there is joy to be found in that. It doesn't make sense and yet it is true. Even with just having the one vehicle, I can see joy in the frustration by allowing me one-on-one time with my husband, interruption-free! It's literally a drive in the country every morning together.
As for the cold house, I just know you can't complain when there are so many around the world who don't have a home, so I can experience joy just by being grateful for a roof and walls.
Chocolate on my white bed sheets? I have a healthy kid with a great sense of mischievousness. Then I have to smile instead of scream!
What about real suffering? Like my friend who is in this terrible situation where life is just not going how she hoped. We talked last night and she was able to tell me all the amazing things that have come out of her dark time. I was amazed. I shared with her the verses that the pastor had given and she was able to nod in agreement, "Yes, that is my experience," she agreed.
2 Cor.6: 4-10:
"....but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger, ....as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything."
As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. What a great phrase. As having nothing, yet possessing everything. Wow.
Then 2 Cor. 8:2, "...for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." For the Corinthian church, though they suffered, they were still able to be full of joy and even extremely generous. Amazing! The missionary shared stories of great joy, but also stories of great affliction, yet as long as he kept his eyes on God and what God was doing in the big picture, he was able to maintain his joy. Hebrews 12:2 says, "looking to Jesus" we can endure whatever is our burden. Keeping our eyes always forward. Even though we will not and cannot understand what the purpose is at the time, that is the only way to keep the joy. That's the secret.
Sometimes we separate the little boys at bedtime and will start one of them in my bed and then transfer them when they are asleep to keep them from talking. Last night I moved my 6 year old in the dark from my bed to his bed and then I jumped under the covers because I was so cold. I didn't move again until morning. When I did wake up, I felt something on my back which seemed like cookie crumbs. I don't eat in bed, so I scrambled out of bed wondering what in the world!? I turned on the light only to discover I'd slept with a whole bunch of chocolate my son had hidden in my bed when he went to sleep. I had been so tired I hadn't even noticed it melting into my back all night! How disgusting! My morning began with a quick load of laundry.....I'll be sure to inspect him before I put him to bed from now on.....do other people have to frisk their kids????
We are also now down to one car again. No big deal except there are a lot of different people going a lot of different directions. It means I'm doing a lot of driving as now RM is out of the house 3 days a week, so if I need the car, I have to drive him. Truth is, I don't actually mind. It's a mini-date as we drive a half hour together each morning, kid-free (as I leave them all behind!). We talk, dream, vision, plan.....I enjoy that so much. Then, on the way home, I pray, listen to a sermon, catch up on adult news and come home to kids running around the house, sometimes doing what they're supposed to, oftentimes not.....
We've been looking for another miracle car and went yesterday to look at one, but the seller was clearly trying to sell a car that had been in an accident. My husband took a quick ride around the block and realized he'd have to walk away from what seemed like such a good deal. Was it a waste of a trip? Not really. RM said it was good for the boys to see (he took the older ones with him) that we should be willing to walk away sometimes in order to get the best deal. A good lesson against impulse shopping, I guess!
We had a visiting missionary at church on Sunday from Papua, Indonesia. He spoke about the contradiction we all seem to live - we all experience suffering and yet there is joy to be found in that. It doesn't make sense and yet it is true. Even with just having the one vehicle, I can see joy in the frustration by allowing me one-on-one time with my husband, interruption-free! It's literally a drive in the country every morning together.
As for the cold house, I just know you can't complain when there are so many around the world who don't have a home, so I can experience joy just by being grateful for a roof and walls.
Chocolate on my white bed sheets? I have a healthy kid with a great sense of mischievousness. Then I have to smile instead of scream!
What about real suffering? Like my friend who is in this terrible situation where life is just not going how she hoped. We talked last night and she was able to tell me all the amazing things that have come out of her dark time. I was amazed. I shared with her the verses that the pastor had given and she was able to nod in agreement, "Yes, that is my experience," she agreed.
2 Cor.6: 4-10:
"....but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger, ....as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything."
As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. What a great phrase. As having nothing, yet possessing everything. Wow.
Then 2 Cor. 8:2, "...for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." For the Corinthian church, though they suffered, they were still able to be full of joy and even extremely generous. Amazing! The missionary shared stories of great joy, but also stories of great affliction, yet as long as he kept his eyes on God and what God was doing in the big picture, he was able to maintain his joy. Hebrews 12:2 says, "looking to Jesus" we can endure whatever is our burden. Keeping our eyes always forward. Even though we will not and cannot understand what the purpose is at the time, that is the only way to keep the joy. That's the secret.
Thursday 17 November 2016
He Deals Bountifully With Us
In our family growing up you were never aloud to call someone a "loser". It was the cool term to call someone if you were a bully in public school and naturally we all picked it up and started using the term at home to our brothers and sisters. It didn't go over well. Mom and Dad felt it was very demeaning, so I remember Mom coming up with a new term/phrase if we were less than impressed with a sibling, "You are someone that doesn't make good choices!" It worked! We stopped calling each other bad names!
The reason I share that is because I was going to write this morning about what "loser" I am, but I decided I should say, "I am someone who doesn't make good choices!" Why am I calling myself that?! Because I set every single clock in the house back one hour except the one in my bedroom. Stop laughing. I knew this! I just forgot that I had not set it. So when I woke up and looked at the clock, even though it was way ahead of my time to get up, I got up anyway because I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. I also knew I had lots of laundry to do, stuff like that, so I thought I'd make the most of it.
I went downstairs, made coffee, excercised, read my Bible, wrote the blog (please note when I published it two days ago.....) and then suddenly I looked at the computer screen. 5 a.m. Impossible. It should have been well past 6 by this point. Nope. I'd been up since 4, not even knowing it. Actually awake since 3:15, but had laid in bed trying to sleep for a half hour. This was why I was going to call myself a loser, but I won't use the word loser because loser is a bad word. (That's what my kids do when I say, "Don't say stupid!" They'll say, "Ok, I won't say stupid. Stupid is a bad word. You won't hear me saying the word stupid. If I say stupid I'll get in trouble." How many times did they say the word stupid?!) Well, I made the most of it! I ended up having to lay down by 11 am for a few minutes as I was turning into a zombie, but I made it through the rest of the day! Early to bed. And I still haven't changed my clock.
A great story again in provision this week. We've been so grateful for the regular income that has started to come with the new job. I dare say I wish it were more as we have to finance the other entrepreneurial work my husband has, so even though there is money coming in, it is always spoken for way before it comes in. We won't see payment from the other job until spring! It is a fine line we are walking and sometimes we still see the accounting that has to be done and we raise our eyebrows in wonder....how will this work? Tuesday was one of those days.
We had automatic payments coming out and no automatic payments going in. Hmmmmm.....In the past my husband would have communicated that to me and I would have panicked. This week he didn't even tell me. Not because he wanted to hide it from me, but because he had already told the Lord the situation. He said later he had prayed, "Lord, you know these payments are coming out and you know there isn't anything coming in.....I trust you for a way to provide." He's learning that over the years all the fear he had was all wasted. He regrets all the times he didn't enjoy life as much as he could have because of fears he had with respect to trusting the Lord for provision. I didn't even know that about it him. He's only shared that recently with me.
About mid-day, I got a call from him. "There's a cheque waiting for us." I didn't really think anything of it because I didn't know the pickle we could have been in. He came home later and said, "A miracle happened today!" Then he explained why the cheque was so important. Nothing bounced in the account because of that unexpected money. We were owed that money....at some point this fall, but why did it come that day? Because we worship the same God that George Mueller did. As we reread his story, it is such an encouragement to see how much he relied on God and to see how God provided over and over at the last minute. We were so grateful! But I'm more grateful to learn that my husband is gaining victory over his fears, too. Both of us sleep well at night knowing our lives are in His hands.
I had another small but significant miracle that same day. We finally slaughtered our big bull. We have several hundred pounds of ground beef in our freezers. In just a matter of days my children are already officially tired of meatballs, burgers, spaghetti.....you name it, I've made it. What a spoiled culture we are! Anyway, when the beef first arrived, we told the older boys to put it in the freezers. We never checked to see if they had done it properly which we should have!
Yesterday I went down to get a different roast out of the freezer only to find the freezer partly open and the meat in the door cold, but completely thawed. Oh no! I was certain we had lost it all and nearly died with the thought of the waste. I smelled a terrible smell, but wait, was that rotten meat or just the kitty litter that hadn't been changed in a looooong time......I think it was the kitty litter!
I opened one of the packages of thawed meat...seemed ok. The meat had thawed, but fortunately had been kept cold the whole time. The freezer was still working, it just had been left open an inch. I quickly took all the meat out of the door of the freezer and unplugged it so I could thaw it enough to scrape off all the new frost that had built up. It was an all-day affair, waiting for it to thaw, scraping it all out, taking out all the meat, putting it all back in.....but it was good and another lesson learned - make sure the door is 100% closed! These little tests can be really frustrating and a reason to blow up, but we maintained composure. I turned it into an opportunity to get everyone downstairs and we did a full-out clean (well, an opportunity in my eyes, not the kids' eyes!). Now, everything is back in order, meat is saved, basement is tidy.....whew! What is the miracle? I haven't been going downstairs for meat in a looong time. We had enough in our upstairs freezer or in a different one downstairs that I hadn't checked on that freezer in ages. But that day, I thought, I feel like something else today besides ground beef. If I had waited even one more day, I wonder if we would have lost the whole freezer full of meat. I was so grateful!!!
Psalm 13 is one of my favourite psalms. Stuart Townend wrote a great song about it called "How Long?" So often this is what we cry out to the Lord....How long this or how long that? We want our circumstances to change. Here's verse 1 and 2:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
But what I love about this Psalm is the writer turns his "how longs?" to no longer questioning, but accepting of his situation and realizing God has a "steadfast love for him". He realizes he can even "sing to the Lord" because he has "dealt bountifully" with him.
The reason I share that is because I was going to write this morning about what "loser" I am, but I decided I should say, "I am someone who doesn't make good choices!" Why am I calling myself that?! Because I set every single clock in the house back one hour except the one in my bedroom. Stop laughing. I knew this! I just forgot that I had not set it. So when I woke up and looked at the clock, even though it was way ahead of my time to get up, I got up anyway because I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. I also knew I had lots of laundry to do, stuff like that, so I thought I'd make the most of it.
I went downstairs, made coffee, excercised, read my Bible, wrote the blog (please note when I published it two days ago.....) and then suddenly I looked at the computer screen. 5 a.m. Impossible. It should have been well past 6 by this point. Nope. I'd been up since 4, not even knowing it. Actually awake since 3:15, but had laid in bed trying to sleep for a half hour. This was why I was going to call myself a loser, but I won't use the word loser because loser is a bad word. (That's what my kids do when I say, "Don't say stupid!" They'll say, "Ok, I won't say stupid. Stupid is a bad word. You won't hear me saying the word stupid. If I say stupid I'll get in trouble." How many times did they say the word stupid?!) Well, I made the most of it! I ended up having to lay down by 11 am for a few minutes as I was turning into a zombie, but I made it through the rest of the day! Early to bed. And I still haven't changed my clock.
A great story again in provision this week. We've been so grateful for the regular income that has started to come with the new job. I dare say I wish it were more as we have to finance the other entrepreneurial work my husband has, so even though there is money coming in, it is always spoken for way before it comes in. We won't see payment from the other job until spring! It is a fine line we are walking and sometimes we still see the accounting that has to be done and we raise our eyebrows in wonder....how will this work? Tuesday was one of those days.
We had automatic payments coming out and no automatic payments going in. Hmmmmm.....In the past my husband would have communicated that to me and I would have panicked. This week he didn't even tell me. Not because he wanted to hide it from me, but because he had already told the Lord the situation. He said later he had prayed, "Lord, you know these payments are coming out and you know there isn't anything coming in.....I trust you for a way to provide." He's learning that over the years all the fear he had was all wasted. He regrets all the times he didn't enjoy life as much as he could have because of fears he had with respect to trusting the Lord for provision. I didn't even know that about it him. He's only shared that recently with me.
About mid-day, I got a call from him. "There's a cheque waiting for us." I didn't really think anything of it because I didn't know the pickle we could have been in. He came home later and said, "A miracle happened today!" Then he explained why the cheque was so important. Nothing bounced in the account because of that unexpected money. We were owed that money....at some point this fall, but why did it come that day? Because we worship the same God that George Mueller did. As we reread his story, it is such an encouragement to see how much he relied on God and to see how God provided over and over at the last minute. We were so grateful! But I'm more grateful to learn that my husband is gaining victory over his fears, too. Both of us sleep well at night knowing our lives are in His hands.
I had another small but significant miracle that same day. We finally slaughtered our big bull. We have several hundred pounds of ground beef in our freezers. In just a matter of days my children are already officially tired of meatballs, burgers, spaghetti.....you name it, I've made it. What a spoiled culture we are! Anyway, when the beef first arrived, we told the older boys to put it in the freezers. We never checked to see if they had done it properly which we should have!
Yesterday I went down to get a different roast out of the freezer only to find the freezer partly open and the meat in the door cold, but completely thawed. Oh no! I was certain we had lost it all and nearly died with the thought of the waste. I smelled a terrible smell, but wait, was that rotten meat or just the kitty litter that hadn't been changed in a looooong time......I think it was the kitty litter!
I opened one of the packages of thawed meat...seemed ok. The meat had thawed, but fortunately had been kept cold the whole time. The freezer was still working, it just had been left open an inch. I quickly took all the meat out of the door of the freezer and unplugged it so I could thaw it enough to scrape off all the new frost that had built up. It was an all-day affair, waiting for it to thaw, scraping it all out, taking out all the meat, putting it all back in.....but it was good and another lesson learned - make sure the door is 100% closed! These little tests can be really frustrating and a reason to blow up, but we maintained composure. I turned it into an opportunity to get everyone downstairs and we did a full-out clean (well, an opportunity in my eyes, not the kids' eyes!). Now, everything is back in order, meat is saved, basement is tidy.....whew! What is the miracle? I haven't been going downstairs for meat in a looong time. We had enough in our upstairs freezer or in a different one downstairs that I hadn't checked on that freezer in ages. But that day, I thought, I feel like something else today besides ground beef. If I had waited even one more day, I wonder if we would have lost the whole freezer full of meat. I was so grateful!!!
Psalm 13 is one of my favourite psalms. Stuart Townend wrote a great song about it called "How Long?" So often this is what we cry out to the Lord....How long this or how long that? We want our circumstances to change. Here's verse 1 and 2:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
But what I love about this Psalm is the writer turns his "how longs?" to no longer questioning, but accepting of his situation and realizing God has a "steadfast love for him". He realizes he can even "sing to the Lord" because he has "dealt bountifully" with him.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
This is the point of this post....instead of questioning "how long?", we daily choose to trust Him and we realize through these small examples that He isn't ignoring us, but He's actually dealing "bountifully" with us. Reading that psalm encourages me, too, that I can still be honest before Him as I do wonder, "How long?????" But it is also a slight rebuke to stop and reflect on His goodness and to turn, as the psalmist does, and remember all that He does on a daily basis.
Tuesday 15 November 2016
Another Powerful Example of Hospitality
This past weekend was a mini-getaway for me and 6 of our children. We were able to head up to my friend's cabin where she is now staying for the winter months as she continues to go through this tough time. We are down to one vehicle right now, so the kids and I were picked up by my friend and headed up in her van. My husband and other boys met us later on in the weekend. It was a nice break in the routine of school and gave her kids a different change of pace, too, as we tend to be a "party in a package"!!! It was soooo loud the whole time!!!!! With 13 kids, most of whom were boys under the age of 10, what would you expect????
While we were there, we tried to connect her to a family that lived nearby that we knew so that she would have a form of back-up if she needed help. It was also a Bible Quiz weekend and this family was also a quizzing family. They invited us over for dinner along with her family. What we hadn't realized at the time was this family was possibly not the best family to offer help as they, too, were desperately in need of help! The wife suffers from terrible arthritis and just recently the husband went through surgery for cancer. Yet, amazingly, we found ourselves, with 20 kids, at their house for dinner!
How did they pull it off? This is the power of family and once again, the testimony of hospitality. They have 5 children, the oldest is 20 and the youngest is 10. Their oldest child is a girl and I remembered her having plans for possibly a career in acting or something like that, but when I asked her about it on the weekend, she said, "No, it's on hold for now." This girl is their live-in help. Some people would probably feel sorry for her and rightfully so, but I looked at it quite the opposite. She is such a blessing to her family and we were blessed as a result, too. Though she was at the quiz meet all day, she prepared a simple, but delicious, meal beforehand for all of us after the quiz meet. The mom, who is barely able to walk and spends most of her time in bed, could only look on helplessly. You could tell she would have perhaps made something different or had it set up in more of a "mom" kind of way. It was kind of sweet as her husband had done some of the grocery shopping and had picked up what he thought would be a good side dish - pretzels. His wife said, "Uh, you didn't get any vegetables or salad?" "Why?" he said, "I got pretzels!" I laughed, only a Daddy would think pretzels were a good side dish!
But that, again, is the difference between hospitality and entertainment. It wasn't meant to be a big show about who can put on the most beautiful spread. It was a truly a night of Christian fellowship. My friend who is struggling so much didn't want to come. She isn't social. She doesn't like to meet new people. Neither do her kids and one of them begged her not to bring her. But we forced them to come out and because we did and they complied, they ended up making wonderful connections with this family - all through the power of hospitality. If this other family hadn't been willing to open their home and had waited until they were 100% well or until they had all the perfect side dishes, this opportunity to connect the two families could have been missed. My friend left their home that night so encouraged that she wasn't alone up there. She left feeling like someone else cares for her. Even though they are hurting themselves, this family reached out to her and were so kind. Her words? "I'm so glad I came." Doesn't that say it all?
It reminded me so much of the whole talk by Ann Voskamp again. In their brokenness, this family is being Christ's hands and feet to others. And, the irony is, my friend now wants to help them in her brokenness! She saw how the wife could barely walk and she saw how the oldest girl probably needs a friend. She left wanting to help them! How is that possible when she is hurting so badly? Because God is starting to use her broken heart to be sensitive to others. Because of her pain, she now is seeing others who are in pain which she admits she wasn't so sensitive to before this. It's kind of sad that it takes severe testing to make all of us learn these awful lessons, but she is grateful. It's opening her eyes and the eyes of her heart to others around her. Ann Voskamp would love this story.
While we were there, we tried to connect her to a family that lived nearby that we knew so that she would have a form of back-up if she needed help. It was also a Bible Quiz weekend and this family was also a quizzing family. They invited us over for dinner along with her family. What we hadn't realized at the time was this family was possibly not the best family to offer help as they, too, were desperately in need of help! The wife suffers from terrible arthritis and just recently the husband went through surgery for cancer. Yet, amazingly, we found ourselves, with 20 kids, at their house for dinner!
How did they pull it off? This is the power of family and once again, the testimony of hospitality. They have 5 children, the oldest is 20 and the youngest is 10. Their oldest child is a girl and I remembered her having plans for possibly a career in acting or something like that, but when I asked her about it on the weekend, she said, "No, it's on hold for now." This girl is their live-in help. Some people would probably feel sorry for her and rightfully so, but I looked at it quite the opposite. She is such a blessing to her family and we were blessed as a result, too. Though she was at the quiz meet all day, she prepared a simple, but delicious, meal beforehand for all of us after the quiz meet. The mom, who is barely able to walk and spends most of her time in bed, could only look on helplessly. You could tell she would have perhaps made something different or had it set up in more of a "mom" kind of way. It was kind of sweet as her husband had done some of the grocery shopping and had picked up what he thought would be a good side dish - pretzels. His wife said, "Uh, you didn't get any vegetables or salad?" "Why?" he said, "I got pretzels!" I laughed, only a Daddy would think pretzels were a good side dish!
But that, again, is the difference between hospitality and entertainment. It wasn't meant to be a big show about who can put on the most beautiful spread. It was a truly a night of Christian fellowship. My friend who is struggling so much didn't want to come. She isn't social. She doesn't like to meet new people. Neither do her kids and one of them begged her not to bring her. But we forced them to come out and because we did and they complied, they ended up making wonderful connections with this family - all through the power of hospitality. If this other family hadn't been willing to open their home and had waited until they were 100% well or until they had all the perfect side dishes, this opportunity to connect the two families could have been missed. My friend left their home that night so encouraged that she wasn't alone up there. She left feeling like someone else cares for her. Even though they are hurting themselves, this family reached out to her and were so kind. Her words? "I'm so glad I came." Doesn't that say it all?
It reminded me so much of the whole talk by Ann Voskamp again. In their brokenness, this family is being Christ's hands and feet to others. And, the irony is, my friend now wants to help them in her brokenness! She saw how the wife could barely walk and she saw how the oldest girl probably needs a friend. She left wanting to help them! How is that possible when she is hurting so badly? Because God is starting to use her broken heart to be sensitive to others. Because of her pain, she now is seeing others who are in pain which she admits she wasn't so sensitive to before this. It's kind of sad that it takes severe testing to make all of us learn these awful lessons, but she is grateful. It's opening her eyes and the eyes of her heart to others around her. Ann Voskamp would love this story.
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