Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Breaking Free......

I am currently in the midst of a fantastic bible study called Breaking Free by Beth Moore.........so many, many things have been revealed to me along the way but yesterday was the most amazing part so far.

We have been discussing the potter and the clay and how God has the right to rule and that God's rule is right. We just have to be obedient to that rule. Beth Moore then goes on to describe a picture........

Imagine going to heaven and standing by God as He lovingly shows you the calendar of His plan for your earthly life. It begins with the day you are born. Once you received Christ as Saviour, everyday that follows is outlined in red. You see footprints walking through each day of each week of your life. On many of the days, two sets of footprints appear. You inquire: "Father, are those my footprints on the calendar every day and is the second set of footprints when you joined me?"
He answers, "No, My precious Child. The consistent footprints on your calendar are Mine. The second set of footprints are when you joined Me."
"Where were You going, Father?"
"To the destiny I planned for you, hoping you'd follow."
"But, Father, where are my footprints all those times?"
He answers, "Sometimes you went back to look at old resentments and habits while I was still going forward, hoping you'd join Me. Sometimes, you departed from My path and chose your own calendar instead. Other times, your footprints can even be seen on another person's calendar because you thought you liked their plan better. At other times, you simply stopped because you would not let go of something you could not take to the next day."
"But Father, we ended up OK even if I didn't walk withYou everyday, didn't we?"
He holds you close and smiles, "Yes, Child, we ended up OK. But, you see, Ok was never what I had in mind for you."
"Father, what are those golden treasure boxes on certain days?"
"Blessings, My child, I had for you along the way. Those that are open are those you received. Those still closed were days you did not walk with Me."

How awesome is that.......it really stirred me up and has prompted me to try my hardest to be obedient and join God on my calendar every single moment of every day.

Blessings to you all.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Challenging times.....

Well the last 2-3 weeks have been a challenge. I got over my flu, but have since had an ear infection, an abscess in my ear, a burst ear drum and no hearing in that ear. The pain has been intense, not to mention the dizziness and nausea and I have found it hard enough to just get through the day let alone be able to study or spend time with God. But it has been a period when I have had to press into God more than usual, so you understand why I think it's been challenging........

The great news is that God has answered many prayers concerning my dear friend Helen - a buyer was found for her house, she found a house to buy straight away, the children loved it, her offer was accepted along with a long snagging list of things Helen wants the current owner to put right.........it can only be God at work. I have also been challenged by God about where I shall serve him in the future...........some of it's scary, some of it seems completely out of my reach, and some of it is what's been on my heart for a while but still out of my comfort zone, but the one thing I am sure about is that I know and trust God to lead me on the right path for me and my family.

I have been reading a book by Joyce Meyer called 'Do It Afraid'.........it is fantastic and really makes you look at things differently. One of the great things she has said is that it's not wrong to be afraid, but it is wrong to give in to the fear and run away from the path God has set out for us..........I've read it, agreed with it and now I have to put it into action.........I don't want to jump in and tell you all what I have been challenged about, as I know I have to spend a lot more time with God making sure I have heard right and I also have to share with my family and see how they feel about things too.

So I welcome the next few weeks and whatever they may bring...........however scary that may make me feel.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Wow.....

So much can happen in a few weeks.........firstly, this has been a sick household. I got flu, very suddenly while Helen was visiting us. The day I got struck down with it was Pancake Day and of course we were hosting a pancake party that night - so luckily Helen was here and spent the evening flipping pancakes with Ross. All I was good for was to stay curled up on the armchair under a blanket. Helen left the next morning and I went to bed, and couldn't emerge for 3 days. Just as I was starting to feel a bit better, ross and Charley went down with it - they were both off work and school for a few days, but we are all slowly recovering........and we need to, Ross and myself are cooking for newcomers at church on Sunday, so we have to cook a meal for 50 or so peeps, so glad it was last week we were sick and not this one!!!!!

The other exciting thing to happen is that our offer on a house we both fell in love with has been accepted. We both viewed this house, loved it and put in a very low offer (because that was all we could stretch to). We never thought it would be accepted as the house had only been on the market for a week, and our offer was so low that we thought they'd just laugh it off, but we prayed and asked God that if this was he the house he wanted us to be in, he would give it to us for the price we stated and not a penny more. I also prayed that if the house was to be ours, it would be taken off the market and no more viewings allowed on it so less chance of being gazumped. Well last friday the estate agent rang, said our offer was accepted and it had been removed from the market and no one else was going to see it. How clearly did God speak to us??? There is still a long way to go, surveys etc., but we really feel this is where God wants us to be and we remain faithful that God will bring it about to completion.

It looks to be an exciting season coming up for us, some things we wanted to do have already started and there are a whole host of other things we want to get started on, but all in God's timing, not ours.........