Trust and Blessings

I have been neglecting this blog for the past few months.   I guess in a way I needed to take a break of some sort.  

Yesterday I felt I needed to reconnect with it.

Why?

To simply share my thoughts on trust.

TRUST.

I am learning to trust the Lord more and more lately with many aspects of my life.

My mom for example.   Not an easy relationship for various reasons that I won’t explain here.   But all I need to say is that no matter what I love her.    She’s my mom after all.  

My family.  Well I can’t go into details here but the last few months has been a whirlwind of emotions/events.   It’s not finished yet.   Slowly we see a light in the tunnel and it feels good.   For a while we had no clue what God was doing but I think we start to see a plan.

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD.”

This Scripture is following me a lot lately.

My upcoming trip. For the first time in my life, I will board a plane alone to attend a training week with one of the most wonderful healing ministry that I know – Living Waters.  I’m a bit anxious about it though I know the Bible tells me not to be anxious about anything…   It’s a first… hopefully not the last time I have the opportunity of travelling alone by plane.

On a bright note – I recently received a confirmation that I could review a Brother sewing machine.   It has been years – not to mentioned decades – since I touched one.   I’m excited about it and find a tons of fun projects to do with sewing and quilting.   My maternal grand-mother made a ton of quilts when I was younger.   I would love to follow in her footsteps.

Also – don’t tell my kids but next week on our anniversary, we will attend a show at Medieval Times in Toronto.  They don’t know about it.  The boys think that only Jasmine and I will be going since they went alone with dad about two years ago.   I was able to get FREE entry for everyone in the family in exchange of a blog post.    To top it off, we are attending one that also includes a presentation in history.   I look forward to this.

This week, I was looking at a faucet located behind our trailer (you see we have come with my husband as he works on a contract near Whitchurch-Stouffville).    And the faucet was dripping…   and it got me thinking about the blessings God give us.   You see sometimes it feels like waves upon waves of blessings showering over our heads.  Other times it is dripping like the faucet.  Still God is with us at all times – no matter what.   And He provides in ways we don’t expect too!

Here’s the pics I took…

How blessed are you lately?   Do you feel like it is scarce and dripping or do you feel overwhelmed by God’s goodness?   Either way always remember God is always there even when you don’t sense Him.

Trust me.   I know.  I experienced it.   Life goes through seasons – spring, summer, autumn and winter.    We have ups and downs.   We feel great or totally discouraged.   But He provides in various ways.  We just need to take the time to see it.   The best way to do so is to spend time in your Bible.   It’s amazing how Scriptures can speak to you when you least expect it.

Have you cracked your Bible open today?  What did God shared with you?

Being Flexible

I am on a journey.  A journey to discover more of what God wants from me, what He planned in my life, and how He will speak through me on a daily basis.

Walking with Him is like taking a stroll on a beach and listening to the waves coming to crash on the sand.   

Earlier this year, I had decided to read through the Bible chronologically as well as going through the a devotional book titled Quiet Time Bible Guide.   I also had planned to do this with my French Bible.   But within a week or two, stress engulfed me and I was on hedge with homeschooling.   I knew I had too much on my shoulders and I needed to make changes.

Changes can be good.    I was disappointed not to read through my French Bible this year but honestly it was wise to realize early in the year that my objective was too much for me to go through.

I prayed about it.   I have numerous devotionals in the house but I wanted to take one that God will use to speak to me in various ways.   When I looked at my bookshelves in my office, I saw one devotional book that grabbed my eyes immediately – One Hundred and One Devotions for Homeschool Moms by Jackie Wellwood.

I had purchased this little jewel a couple of years ago – had started it but with life being crazy and getting lots of reviews, somehow I didn’t pursue the reading of it.

From the first devotion, it spoke to me.   Made me ponder on how I am.   A main scripture is also at the top of the devotion.   I could read it directly from the book but I take my French Bible and discover the Scriptures in my mother tongue.    Somehow, I get ah-ah moments when I do this.   It’s as though I obtain a new understanding of the Scriptures.   It might be silly but that how I feel when I read them in French.

For example, the very first devotional was about have a meek and quiet spirit.   Ah!   Reading the devotional I learned that meek signify to not easily be provoked or irritated.    Mmmmm!    This is definitively something I need to work on.   There are times when I will respond to circumstances.   I need to be patient, to take a deep breath and rely on God.  Plain and simple.   Simple?   Not all the time but feasible anyway.

At the end of the year, we discovered that one child is apparently strong will.   Somehow this child of mine knows how to push the buttons to get me easily provoked and irritated.    I am slowly learning on to stay calm and respond to the arrogance and the testing. 

Through the first couple of weeks of January, I have learned that flexibility is necessary for my well-being.    There was a battle in me about my first decision for a devotional this year and the realization that it won’t work out after all.    I am also learning that it works as well for dealing with a strong will child.   I need to identify the battles that are worth fighting for and be flexible for the rest.

If you are a homeschooler and would like God to speak to you on a more personal level concerning your homeschool, I suggest that you consider One Hundred and One Devotions for Homeschool Moms.  It is available at any bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Psalm 148

 

*To see what the Lord is teaching some other sisters in Christ check out the Walking with Jesus Meme over at Guiding Light Homeschool.

Have you looked around you lately? I mean really look at what is out there…

Recently I was reading Psalm 148 which is a praise Psalm for the God who created everything. And I realized that wherever we go, whatever we are doing, we can see God’s handprints around us.

Think about it a minute…

Love

Marriage

Babies and children

Sunsets and Sunrises

Ladybugs

Witnessing a turtle laying her eggs

Birds, fishes, animals and insects

Nature

Trees, plants and flowers

Wind, rain, snow, and any kind of weather

Mountains

Fruits and vegetables

Us – human beings

Anything and everything that surrounds us shows how God was creative and ready to do anything for us to discover Him. God has thought about every aspect of each created things; complexity, purpose, originality, colors, and the list could go on and on.

When a child discovers and explores the world, he sees everything with new eyes. So why as adults do we miss all this. Perhaps we don’t take the time to stop, observe and discover God with brand new eyes. Have you done so lately? When was the last time you saw a sunset or observe ants for that matter?

Go out today and look around you as if you have the eyes of a child. It could be in your backyard, on your street, in the park down the road, in the field, in the forest – anywhere. Go camping with your kids. Discover fishing. Enjoy taking a walk outside or biking or simply sitting down on the beach and watch the waves come in. Go visit tide pools, take the time to admire each animals you encounter whether in the park or at the zoo. Smells the roses (and other flowers too!). Go pick strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apples and any other kind of fruit or vegetable that you can go pick yourself. Smell the dirt. Dig your toes in the mud after a rain. Go dance in the rain. You will discover a God who loves you dearly and who wishes to spend time with you. Take the time to thank Him for all the created things in the world. And praise Him. Wholeheartedly.

This free picture collage generated with Smilebox

Technorati Tags: Walking With Jesus,Inspirational

Walking With Jesus

*To see what the Lord is teaching some other sisters in Christ check out the Walking with Jesus Meme over at Guiding Light Homeschool.

This week was though on me.   I’ve been dealings with mostly downs.   And it hit me bad about two days ago.   And then I remembered…

“ Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”  PROVERBS 3:5-6

Many Christians know this verse by heart.  

But it is always good to remind ourselves about the truth in it.

Trusting someone we don’t see is hard at times – especially when you don’t see what is in the future.  But God knows better than us.  He knows what is needed in our life and what is good for us.   So no matter what, we need to trust Him.

If I depend on my own understanding when I feel blue and depressed, then I might do something that will harm myself.   When you hit bottom and are teary eyes and can’t seem to see a positive side, it’s hard to think “happy” thoughts.

I’m fortunate to have an husband who is there for me.   And to be reminded – thanks for my daily readings – that God is always there no matter what is going on in my life.  

Why did I felt depressed this week?   I don’t know.  Maybe not having enough time for myself, too tired, and realizing that finding a church family is taking longer than I would have liked.   So I cried out to my Father in heaven and asked him to direct us to a church where we can growth, have friends, support and love, where we can get involve and make a difference, where the kids will be comfortable and make friends too.   

I’ve read somewhere that when you are looking for a church, it can take up to a year to find something for your family.   I will not get discourage.  I will trust God that He will bring us to an amazing church. 

In the meantime, I will continue to read His Word, meditate on it, let God speak to me and homeschool my kids.   This is my calling for now.   And I plan to embrace it fully.

Oh! And I sense that God is guiding me to get to know him better by registering to a three-year program going on in a church in town.   I’m looking into it right now.   It is once a week from September through May and I would be among adults.   The only thing that is bugging me is that it is at the other end of the city which means lots of travelling.    So I am thinking about it, praying about it and considering it.   But if God is directing me on this path there must be a reason…. don’t you think?

PS I’m glad that my sisters in Christ participating to the Walking with Jesus like the button I created last week. 

Walking With Jesus

A fellow blogger participating to the TOS Homeschool Crew is having this interesting Meme going on titled Walking With Jesus.    And this year as part of my blogging experience, I want to write more by participating in some of these meme going on around the blogosphere.
The idea behind Walking With Jesus is quite simple.  You have to blog about a Scripture verse that has been with you throughout this week, or yesterday or today.  Quite simple and easy to do.
So for this week, while doing devotions a verse struck me.

“Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.  Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.”  Psalm 131:2

Some of you might wonder where I am going with this but what struck me was the notes attached to this particular verse.  The notes are taken from the Transformation Bible.
Here’s what I’ve read…

The simile of the weaned child is a beautiful picture of the meaning of humility and maturity.   Hebrew children were weaned at age three or four, and this experience marked the end of their infancy.  But most children do not want to be deprived of mother’s loving arms and satisfying breasts, and they feel rejected and unwanted.  But after the crisis of birth, each child must eventually be weaned and learn the first lesson in the school of life: Growing up involves painful losses that can lead to wonderful gains.

Then is went on for part b of the verse with

God’s goal for us is emotional and spiritual maturity (1 Cor 13:11; 14:20’ Eph 4:13-15), and God sometimes has to wean us away from good things in order to give us better things.   Abraham had to leave his family and city, send Ishmael away, separate from Lot, and put Isaac on the altar.  To accept God’s will in the losses, and gains of life is to experience that inner calm that is so necessary if we are to be mature people.

Then I asked God the following questions…

• is HEAT a painful lesson for me?
• Why don’t I want to let go?
• Do I need to let go and grieve?
• Then we will have wonderful gains…?

For those of you who are wondering what HEAT is (or was), well it was our church plant.   We tried to plant a different kind of church in the downtown area but with the lack of volunteers and regular attendants, the church didn’t took off.   At one point, we had to shut the doors (back in November 2009) due to the leadership team being too small.    Since then, I’ve  been struggling, trying to convince my husband to restart but to no success.

So after asking these questions – I sensed a YES in my soul.   I need to let go.  I need to grieve HEAT and let go.    Let our baby go.   Peace swept inside me.   I share with my husband and he feels at peace as well.  
Since this, another leader expressed the wish to take over with his wife.   Maybe it was meant to be.   They are more gifted to reach out to the rave community than us in many ways.    However, we have told them to have at least 20 regular people before re-starting the church services and that we would be willing to be mentors for them – things we didn’t have when we planted.    HEAT is planning an event in July with a DJ coming all the way from Pennsylvania.    And another event are in the drawing for September.   We will participate as much as we can – encourage the team to pursue and continue to reach out.  

Hubby says a rock has been lifted up from his shoulders.   Me I am still grieving.   But I am encourage that God will bless us in the process.  The seed has been planted.  HEAT is recognized for their cool decors and clean raves.   Let me tears grow the seed now.   

I’m heartbroken.   I pray that God will also bring us to a church family who will love us and uplift us.   A church where we can get involved in ways we cannot imagine right now.    Amen.

I've also took the liberty to create a button to go with this blog post.