Blue day

Source

 

 

 

 

Faithfulness

Source

 

¹faith·ful

adj \ˈfāth-fəl\

Definition of FAITHFUL

 

 

2

: steadfast in affection or allegiance : loyal

3

: firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty : conscientious

4

: given with strong assurance : binding <a faithful promise>

5

: true to the facts, to a standard, or to an original <a faithful copy>

— faith·ful·ly adverb

— faith·ful·ness noun

 

 

A faithful Heavenly Father and God is what I (and we as a family) have experienced this week.  I am taking the time to dwell and meditate on these verses (especially the highlighted words) in relation to my week so far:

 

 Psalm 37

³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass. 

 

 

 

There are two stories from this week that I want to share with you ... First, on Sunday morning I was talking to my DH about the kids clothes, the fact that B needed some more long-sleeve tops, and G needed some long pants.  Later that day, I received message via Facebook from an accquanitance that she had a bag of clothes for my boys, would I like them.  Yes Please!! This wonderful lady blessed our family with what I would call a HUGE bag of clothes that arrived Tuesday lunchtime.  And ... you guessed it, inside, JUST what my boys needed - long-sleeve tops and long pants along with two wonderfully warm winter coats.  

 

The next story isn't so nice (well, from a human persepctive I guess) but after being shortlisted we missed the cut for another job.  

 

However ... what this week has taught me is that if God is so amazingly faithful in the little things, right down to knowing what is in my kids cupboards and supplying that need - how much more does He know the hidden or spoken desires of our heart ... and He will bring it to pass.  Maybe not in our timing - maybe not in our way - BUT He will  bring it to pass.  My personal faith was strengthened through the practical gift given to our family this week.  I am going to bring to recollection, remind myself, remember and FEED on the faithfulness of God.  He does indeed supply all our needs. 

 

Source

 

Green Grass and Waiting

 

This week has been long.  It has felt longer than usual I think because we're in a waiting pattern ... apply for job, WAIT to find out whether we progress to get any further.  I'm in a waiting pattern with another 9 weeks or so before we see bubba.  The kids are in a pattern of 'at the new house' you can have XYZ that is currently packed away. 

As I wait, I find my gaze wandering off the path, into others lives - someone passed on a link which gave me some thoughts on the wandering gaze.   From reading this, I started to wonder if stating our thoughts and feelings may give the wrong impression, or whether stating them is wrong, whether my head was in the right space.  I appreciated the person who sent it to me - don't get me wrong - and I know it was sent with lots of love - but I'm still pondering the whole grass in greener on the other side thing. 

Does the fact someone elses situation could be or is worse mean that we have to minimize what we personally are going through?  There is a deep thought for a Sunday afternoon.

To be honest, my first reaction to that question is no - we don't need to minimize our thoughts and feelings.  I think it can temper our reactions to things, knowing others have it different/tougher - but at the same time giving credence to the situation you are in helps you deal with it.  I can easily list for you all the things I am blest with - and that list will be majorly longer than my 'I'm struggling to cope with' list.  But - in honesty, the struggling to cope is where I am at right now.  I'm not in a place where I can jump up and down and sing about the sun coming out tomorrow.  My head and heart go between knowing, trusting, faithfulness, wavering.  Sometimes I feel like a fake Christian - if I was a real one, wouldn't I be bouncing up and down in joyfulness about trials building up my faith?

BUT you know what?  My faith means I'm strong enough to admit when I am down.  My faith means that while it is hard, I know who will raise me up.  My faith in God the Father and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ means I am given some strength to read and grasp hold of verses such as these:

Isaiah 40:31

³¹ But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

 I want to affirm to you that it is OK to struggle with waiting, don't minimize it to yourself or others just because you feel you shouldn't be moaning.  Waiting is hard work ... but the promise is there also ... we SHALL run and SHALL walk, the weariness or waiting WILL be over.  The LORD will renew our strength when we wait on Him.  




It means I can read and sing with David Psalm 103.    I know whom I have believed in.   The waiting game isn't easy - whether we're adults waiting for a job, a mama waiting for a baby, a woman waiting for two pink lines on a pregnancy test, a single waiting for Mr or Mrs Right, a child waiting for toys out of a box, a baby waiting for a bottle.  Any waiting is hard - and today I want to acknowledge that and everyone who is waiting and wanting.  

source

And while we wait - I'm also giving thanks for those people, spaces and places who hold us up practically and in prayer ... sometimes all someone needs is a good vent and someone to listen - if you're one of those people or spaces or places in my life - THANKYOU - you don't know how helpful you've been.

Crafty stuff

Not very exciting, but it had to be done after 4 years ... time for new hand/face wipey cloths and also new cleaning cloths.  With them costing up to $10 for 10 face flannels (about the size we wanted) and not finding any that were thick enough, I chopped up a couple of older flannette sheets, doubled them and voila ... cloths to use that are the size DH wanted (he likes bigger ones).  Still have the cleaning cloths (pattern old sheet so we know what is what) to sew up tonight, but we have 24 new hand cloths.

One pile of green flannel cloths for wiping wee hands and faces - nice and soft.

Ready to sew up tonight, cloths for cleaning bench/table etc ... found it faster going if they are pre-chopped, and four bobbins wound with the right color (one bobbin does 3 cloths)

Ramblings

This morning is the first in at least a couple of weeks that Mr. 3 hasn't woken at 4.30 ... of course I am wide awake still, but it was nice to have a lie in as opposed to getting up and down to shush him and sort him out.  Hoping that the Papa intervention of the last few days is working!!

Not much happening really ... I have decided that I must finish all my knitting projects that are on needles before starting any new things, so that is one NB jersey needing sleeves, one jersey for C needing a collar and maybe sleeves (might cheat and leave it short sleeve since it will be a spring jersey anyway) and one cardi for the miss needing long sleeves.  Sensing a pattern about not doing sleeves here :-)  After that I will hopefully still have time to do a pair of NB longies and matching top for this wee one. 

Only another 9 weeks or so before we hopefully get to meet him or her.  Time seems to be marching on quickly - almost too quickly.  Mr. 3 starts preschool next term, and the term after that our big boy will be 5.  I wonder where the years have gone ... zooming really.

Job front ... still applying and waiting in faith.

Happy news ... a friend had a wee girl - so super excited.  We have managed to find some names for this wee one that we both think are wonderful for both genders. 

Crafty/sewing stuff ... someone has donated me some blue cord, so excited about turning that into something.  Have a couple of small projects to get done as part of a baby shower gift - looking forward to sewing them up.

Not much else ... my head isn't really sorting things into much of a process this morning.  So ... I will head off towards the kitchen and make the lunches, since today is town day!!

In His hands

We didn't get into church last week, so we did Sunday school at home.  This is now displayed on our wall.  A very timely reminder for me each time I glance at it.