oi, you!

'God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.'  C.S. Lewis

Is there anything God is trying to tell you? I know there are things God is trying to teach me. Things that were I still at home feeling quite comfortable with myself I wouldn't be learning. Reliance for one, humility for another.

I wonder how much of our struggle is in our refusal to completely, comprehensively, wholly and unconditionally, heart, body and soul, submit to God?

pic via weheartit

...ten thousand beside!

I think it's fair to say when you move away from home, homesickness can side swipe you at any time. When you move to the other side of the world, with a new husband, a new job and a home town where people do not understand the question 'how are you going?', homesickness can smack you in the face with surprising force. Couple this with a cowardly and deceitful devil trying to undermine you from any angle and 3 friends experiencing deaths of loved ones and you get a somewhat tumultuous few days. Praise the Lord that through hard times even then, He is wanting to reach out, teach and protect us.

While at Aunt Jessie's funeral today (not my Aunt, but it seems to be her full name!) we sung this hymn. I love the last verse, 'Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!'.

My plan for tomorrow? Count just 5 of my blessings, and thank God for them.

Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
  Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
    "Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

 words - Thomas Chisholm

pic via weheartit

love that will not let me go...

'O love that will not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in Thee;

I give Thee back the life I owe,

that in Thine ocean depths its flow

may richer, fuller be.'

image via weheartit

what would change?

My Mum sent me a gratitude journal which I received yesterday! Apart from the sheer joy that is involved in receiving a parcel (I loooove getting parcels), there was also curiosity and unveiled delight in cracking open and peeking inside this new diary. The smell of a new book, the sound and feel as the spine cracks for the first time and endless (well, 124 to be exact) blank pages to be filled with whatever comes to mind!

So this is my new plan (I have many plans, lets hope this one pans out). I will be grateful. Truly grateful. For the small things done for me and the huge, bigger-than-I-can-comprehend things done for me. I wonder if we we were truly grateful for what God has done (and is always doing) for us, if our relationship towards God would change? More humility? Certainly. More fear and awe for the God of creation? Most definitely. More love for and a longing to know God? Without a doubt.

'Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.'
George Herbert

image via kikki-k

the value of faith...

What do you say Faith is? Is it being loyal to someone? Is it an emotion seen usually in relationships like marriage? Is it confidence? Is it a belief in a God we have never seen? Philip Yancey says this is his book Disappointment With God when creating an overview of the Old Testament, namely Genesis;

'A gambler would say God stacked the odds against himself. A cynic would say God taunted the creatures he was supposed to love. The Bible simply uses the cryptic phrase 'by faith' to describe what they went through. Somehow, that faith was what God valued, and it soon became clear that faith was the best way for humans to express a love for God.'
Disappointment With God by Philip Yancey, pg 71

One of the many questions asked by the majority of us (maybe it's just me, but I feel better if I include us all) is 'why does God not show Himself like he used to?'. Is it because of this?

'The response of the Israelites to such direct intervention offers an important insight into the inherent limits of all power. Power can do everything but the most important thing: it can not control love.'
Disappointment With God by Philip Yancey, pg 75

God can not force us to love Him. Our faith is our love, it is our response to God, it is our very relationship.

The idea of faith has been on my mind all day today, and I can't help but wonder if I have faith. Faith that shows God I love Him. The kind of faith that says I can do anything through Christ alone. That says He is my rock and my salvation, my strong tower and fortress. That says He loves me and will never leave me. That says He will forgive me, protect me and fulfill the desires of my heart. I know I have faith on the good days, but on the bad days?

'...Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.' Matthew 17:20

How I long to have the kind of faith that God is longing for me to have. Praise God that He has the grace to help me.

pic found via hanncastro

rest...

'God's greatness flows around our incompleteness; Round our restlessness, His rest.'

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

be strong, and take heart...

'The Lord is my light and my salvation—
   whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
   of whom shall I be afraid?

 When the wicked advance against me
   to devour  me,
it is my enemies and my foes
   who will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
   my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
   even then I will be confident.

 One thing I ask from the LORD,
   this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
   all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
   and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
   he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
   and set me high upon a rock.

 Then my head will be exalted
   above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
   I will sing and make music to the LORD.

 Hear my voice when I call, LORD;
   be merciful to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
   Your face, LORD, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me,
   do not turn your servant away in anger;
   you have been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
   God my Savior.
Though my father and mother forsake me,
   the LORD will receive me.
Teach me your way, LORD;
   lead me in a straight path
   because of my oppressors. 

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
   for false witnesses rise up against me,
   spouting malicious accusations.

 I remain confident of this:
   I will see the goodness of the LORD
   in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD;
   be strong and take heart
   and wait for the LORD.'

psalm 27

One of my favourites x

pass it on...

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
    “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

    “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

   “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

   “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

   “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Matthew 25:31-46

I am so excited today! You know when something happens that is only explainable by the goodness of God? That happened today! I'll share next week, it's all still hush hush for now, but my wordy, is it exciting! What I can share however, is about people's generosity.

I have always been a holder-on-er (technical jargon at it's best). I have always found it difficult to let go. And yet this verse that we heard spoken about this morning in church seems to say exactly that: give. Let go, stop holding on to what isn't actually yours anyway. We are in the midst of being so generously taken care of (oh how I WISH I could share!) that it is impossible to not see God's goodness! And how are we seeing God's goodness? Through His people. His people that are looking out for other people.

I am all too aware that with this huge gift comes the responsibility of 'passing it on', knowing that what God blesses us with He can easily take away. But more than anything it is a challenge to me...how am I feeding the hungry? How am I clothing the naked? How am I hydrating the thirsty, helping the sick and visiting those in prison? I fear I fail miserably at this. But surely all that must inspire me is this, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

dancing (and the fear it brings)...

It's something that I have a grand epiphany about every now and then. One of the those moments, when you realise you've been under the influence of something which should have no place in your life: fear. I love this quote...

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." - Franklin D Roosevelt

Which in my mind leads directly to this verse...

'The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.' John 10:10

I should know this! I should understand this! And yet sometimes it takes something really obvious, like a cake forming the text 'God is good' while it bakes in the oven, for it to sink in that God is good (that has never happened to me before, but a good example, no?). I should be aware that all the good things in my life, the joy and excitement and love, these were not created by God to be clutched onto with the fearful prospect of losing them. Fear is something the devil uses to steal our joy, to kill our excitment and to destroy our love.

The question that comes after my epiphany (cue golden halo light and some delightfully angelic singing) will then be, do I trust God? Fear stops us from achieving, and from chasing after the things God wants us to. I'm afraid of failure, I'm afraid that I'm so far from home, I'm afraid I have huge expectations to live up to for this amazing adventure I'm on. But if I'm realistic, all these fears are based on people and their opinions. What if I was not concerned with failure in this world, but success in God's eyes? I wonder what would be different? I wonder what would be the same?

I wonder what we could achieve if we weren't afraid?

image via cnibird

tasty treats...

If you are feeling disheartened, or chilly, or creative, or frustrated, or bored, or sad, or happy, or lonely, or very far from home, may I suggest you do some baking? Today I crafted with my very own hands (am I proud? Yes indeedy...) some of the tastiest chocolate cupcakes I have ever made! I seem to have made about 1700 of them, so we may be munching on them a while. I also made chocolate caramel slice for the first time ever (complete with much nervous oven peering and temperature checking), mainly because it reminds me of home. Of my Nanna and Pop coming over for a visit, always with freshly baked goods that would immediately be inspected and gleefully munched upon pronto! I must say, 'tis not yet at the standard of Nanna's just yet, but is rather tasty all the same.

One of life's great simple pleasures, is baking. Come with me, I plan to find more...

image via Martha Stewart

an excellent read...

'I am not letting men off the hook. God knows, we have a lot more repenting to do. I am saying that you won't begin to understand the long and sustained assault on femininity, on women, until you see it as part of something much larger. The most wicked force the world has ever known. The Enemy bears a special hatred for Eve. If you believe he has any role in the history of this world, you cannot help but see it.

The Evil One had a hand in all that has happened to you. If he didn't arrange for the assault directly-and certainly human sin has a large enough role to play-then he made sure he drove the message of the wounds home into your heart. He is the one who has dogged your heels with shame and self-doubt and accusation. He is the one who offers the false comforters to you in order to deepen your bondage. He is the one who has done these things in order to prevent your restoration. For that is what he fears. He fears who you are; what you are; what you might become. He fears your beauty and your life-giving heart.

You really won't understand your life as a woman until you understand this:

You are passionately loved by the God of the universe.
You are passionately hated by his Enemy.

And so, dear heart, it is time for your restoration. For there is One greater than your Enemy, One who has sought you out from the beginning of time. He has come to heal your broken heart and restore your feminine soul.'

Captivating pg 89-90

I read this in my inbox this morning. If you have not read this book, I demand you do it now*! If I was a true Scottish lass, I'd say it was braw. But that would make no sense to a lot of us, so I shall instead translate. It's excellent!

*Obviously I can't demand you to. That would be like me demanding you agree that Special K and honey (and milk) is the most braw (translation above) afternoon tea snack you may ever have! Which it is, but that's neither here nor there.

an old favourite...

turn your eyes upon Jesus

look full in His wonderful face

and the things of earth, will grow strangely dim

in the light of His glory and grace

...'i must accomplish.'

I have no idea how to be the girl who's job doesn't actually make her who she is. None! Maybe my job was becoming too important. Maybe the fact that my job defined me was hurting God. Maybe I was working hard at becoming successful in the world when my God calls me to become humble in His word.

But how do we draw the line between pursuing our creative wants, ideas and passions, and pursuing God? Surely if the first diminishes the second, something's not quite right. And what does one do if, being the creative type, they can not find a 'career' that merges the two?

I don't want you to think of art as
a little frill or whipped cream on the cake of life.
It's more like steak and potatoes.

                                                     - Dallas Willard

Quite a while ago my then boyfriend (now husband) sensed (was told) my frustration at this somewhat ongoing debate in my mind and pointed me to the story of Bezalel and Oholiab in Exodus during the building of the Tabernacle.

'Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.'

Exodus 35:30-35

I know that I will never know God's big picture, His purpose or plans, but this verse teaches me a few things. Firstly, the talent I have is not an accident, or lucky. It has been given to me with a distinct purpose in mind. Secondly, it is a joy to both myself and God when this talent is used for His glory. And thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, there are 4 things that are equally as important and perhaps fundamental to creativity, . '...he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills..'

Sometimes? It strikes me as very obvious where I need prayer.

'you laugh, saying: I am you father. do you think I do not know what you need? i am older than time. with one blow i can destroy everything you see, but i treasure you more than a sparrow'

image via laurennicolalove

options...

What will you do with it? xx

image via dazeychic

currently reading...

...and it's truly excellent! I must say, there was some hesitation to picking this one up, with the feeling that immediate onlookers would suspect without a doubt that I was 'disappointed with God'. And not wanting the general public to have this misconception of me (very important is public opinion, yes indeedy), I brushed off the insecurity with my usual aplomb (ha!) and got my happy mitts on a copy!

The husband and I went to hear Philip Yancey speak in Perth a few weekends ago about 'Seasons of the Soul'. It was wonderful to hear him speak about the Summers we have, the Winters we have, and the other two inbetween. I have no doubt we have or will all experience these highs and lows. I also have no doubt that how we act in the midst of these situations, whether good or bad, long or short, determines what we will learn from it. Knowing this doesn't in any way make it easy though, and I find myself curious as to what the outcome of this life change will be. I don't know how to achieve it, or in any way how to start, but I do know that I want to look back and think 'this changed me for the better'. I want to learn to be (much) less selfish, to have a big picture attitude, and to have a security that lies first and foremost in God.

Cripes. I've set the standard high.

'You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is required. The stars neither require it nor demand it.' - Annie Dillard

do not worry about tomorrow...

And so here it is. My first post! Not a long one, but an important one (especially for me!). It's just a verse, a verse my husband would ram down my throat physically if he could (but wouldn't because he's too lovely), because he knows I have become quite the expert worrier. 

'Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.'

Philippians 4:4-9

And so, this week? Actually let's start smaller. Tomorrow? I shall not worry about money or my job. I shall not worry about when we'll get back to Australia to see everyone, or how much I miss home, or whether my babies (to come, settle down please) will have Australian or Scottish accents, or my old job or keeping up with emails. I shall not worry about being a good wife or a good cook or why my plants aren't flowering (why won't you flower?!), and how clean the house is and why I'm still tired. I'm going to try my best to give it to God. Good reason number one - the Bible says to. Good reason number two - check good reason number one.

I feel better already!

xx