Guess who's back?

Ok, so I'm well aware that this was a much longer break from blogging than I ever intended.

There are things happening in my non-blog life that have drawn me away from the screen for a while and I'm ok with that. Life is to be lived, and not merely observed, so if a break is needed, so be it.

Me and My Great Aunt - she's doing awesome for early 90's!

Recently I have talked to a number of people in real life who actually read this blog (hello out there!) and they have noticed my absence. Which is nice of them really. So I thought maybe it was a good time to reward their persistent loyalty with an update of sorts.

I wrote out my Personal Mission Statement at the beginning of the year and once a month or so I look over it. I am still working on every aspect of the goals I set, at varying pace, but I am pleased that I have been able to help others more with meals and practical help than I have in past years. I think this is due to a number of organisational steps I will explore in a later post.

Quiet time with God: I am still using this system to work through scripture, prayer and reflection on God's grace. It's a good system and it does work well, when I stick to it. My goal this year was not to get frustrated when I missed days (or weeks) of quiet time, but to just get back into it the next day. I have been keeping a record using stickers in a diary, of when I have quiet times. January was definitely the best month. But I am starting to get back on track now.

Food: I am still trying to work out how to balance my *love* of food with my need to eat well and treat my PCOS body kindly. Sadly I have put on even more weight this year, mainly due to inactivity and anxiety. But some recent health scares in my extended family have made me reevaluate my priorities, and I am trying harder to get back on track with food.

Decluttering: I undertook some big declutter missions since my last post on the subject. Our bathroom, laundry and kitchen are all flowing well and I don't have piles of stuff with no place to put it. My wardrobe has had one of its twice-yearly clean outs, and I hosted a clothes swap with some friends to help repurpose some items of clothing - it was actually a lot of fun! I can put all my clothes away in seconds and I now really only have the clothes I actually wear regularly and really need. I have to thank The Minimalist Mom and Small Notebook for their inspiration here, as I am naturally a bit of a hoarder!

One thing I have abandoned is my 366 days photo project. I found that I constantly forgot to take a camera with me most days and remembering to take a photo was another thing all together. I'm proud that I managed to blog a month of photos. Maybe I'll do a December round and we can see how the year started and ended...

Awesome and I are walking well together. Well, we call God our 'bungee cord' in that he holds us together when we try to pull away in frustration! We have been praying together most nights, which is not quite a bible study together, but its a start for us! We have been trying to make an effort to have regular date nights, but as we are out a lot, some times its easier to stay home and just be around each other.

Overall, even though things have been a little nuts this year - and its not the year of stillness I was craving, it is still a year of being intentional in many ways, and I'm thanking God for that!

My Personal Mission Statement

The structure of the statement is based on this post by Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking, and from the material provided in Women of the Word, Fisherman Bible Study Guides "Becoming a Woman of Purpose", by Ruth Haley Barton. Thanks to these ladies for their wisdom.




My Mission Statement


1. To be a person of grace, committed to pursuing Jesus in every task, thought and word.
2. To be a wife of noble character, who serves her husband faithfully and well to affirm his leadership a partner with him in serving the Lord and others.
3. To manage a hospitable, peaceful home, and offer love and refreshment to the people who God brings in to our lives.
4. To live intentionally for God's Kingdom. To have clear, well-seasoned speech and prayer for others, to be influential in grace.
5. To be a worker of moral responsibility, set apart, a noticeable difference in my work and leadership.

My Goals and Disciplines

Relationship with God
Goal: Taking time each day to read God's Word, being faithful and consistent in prayer.
Discipline: Ensuring time every morning to read God's Word and to pray. Going to bed at a reasonable time each night to ensure this. Going to church and small group weekly.

Marriage
Goal: Time to talk and reflect on how our marriage is going. Reflect on my conduct as a wife and supporter and grow in knowledge of how best to serve Awesome.
Discipline: One-on-one time to talk with Awesome every day. Date nights together twice a month. Read 4 books each year on being a Godly wife.

Work
Goal: Gracious service of my staff and clients, going the extra mile, to be set apart in word and deed.
Discipline: Not engage in gossip, pray for work each work day, going the extra mile for each person, not swearing - letting my conversation be seasoned with salt.

Church and Community
Goal: To build intentional relationships with others, to be friendly and welcoming to others, to be faithful in prayer.
Disciplines: Seek out new comers. Take time to nurture relationships with others. To take prayer requests and offers seriously, write them down and follow through.

Physical Health and Well-being
Goal: To be well rested and physically able, to maintain a healthy weight and get adequate exercise.
Disciplines: Go to bed at a reasonable time, eat healthy and nourishing foods, exercise daily (15min+).


Home and Recreation
Goal: Well organised household, food and meals available to nourish our family, help others or feed visitors.
Disciplines: Menu plan where possible, manage finances to ensure extra giving is possible, have ingredients on hand to make food when needed.

Personal Development
Goal: Extend on my knowledge of God's love and the practicalities of being a Christian.
Disciplines: Read at least 10 Christian personal development books this year on a range of topics (eg. hospitality, prayer, being a Godly wife. Read at least 10 books on God's Word this year.


These are not a list of things I already do to show you what an awesome Christian I am and make you feel somehow inadequate if you don't tick all the boxes. This is a list of the things that I actually struggle with the most. Daily. This is what, in God's grace, I want to do about these things this year. And I will need to check in regularly to ensure that I have made these things a priority. Four years ago I wouldn't have thought it possible to do all these things at the same time, but God is slowly changing my heart to show me that it is possible when I intentionally rely on Him and make efforts towards change.

The Year of Intentional

On a lot of the blogs I read regularly, I have noticed women picking a word for the year. Some pick something like saying 'yes' or 'no', a word like 'grace', or 'love'.  These are all good words when they motivate us to live more under God's authority.

I wan't really keen on the idea of picking a word for the year. I had instead started to work on a personal mission statement. The idea was born out of some posts I had read on similar topics and from the Bible study guide I have been doing this week "Becoming a Woman of Purpose" by Ruth Haley Barton (Highly recommended for its Biblical basis, no silly comprehension questions and emphasis on developing a personal mission statement that is based on doing the hard work to determine where your heart is at with God, before you write down your goals).

As I was writing out the purpose, goals and disciplines that I want to focus on in each area of my life, I realised one word was sticking in my head.

Intentional. 

I want to be more intentional. Too often I'm swayed by the thing in front of me, the thing in the next room, the plan for another day, and I don't fulfill the things I need to do, or act the way I should act right now. I want to live each day purposefully, not just see what happens by accident. Days and years are wasted that way (ongoing weight loss battles anyone?). I want to take deliberate steps in my days, to ensure that the things that really matter are the things that are occupying my thoughts.

Rather than a definition of the word, I looked up the synonyms and antonyms for the word intentional.

Synonyms:	advised, aforethought, calculated, considered,designed, designful, done on purpose, intended, meant, meditated, planned, prearranged,premeditated, proposed, purposed, studied,unforced,  voluntary, willful, willing, witting
Antonyms:	accidental, unintentional, unplanned

 Those are all good words. Excellent words. I highlighted ones that particularly stood out to me. The antonyms stood out to me too - they perfectly describe so many of my 'bad days'. 

2012 will be a year of living intentionally. Of meaning to do things, planning to do things, and actually doing them. Of having purpose to my days instead of wasted time. Of wanting and being willing to do the hard stuff in life. 

I'll post my personal mission statement tomorrow (once Awesome has had a chance to read it over and vet it for grammatical and theological flaws!!). 

Do you have a word for 2012? 

What Works For Me Wednesday

My Bible Study Table...

Here's what works for me (so far):

1. My Bible. I love the ESV translation, but I also keep an NIV and The Message nearby for comparison. 
2. A Pen. I am one of those people who can.not. write in my Bible so I always keep notes in (see 4.)
3. The current study I'm working on: Cultivating Contentment by Luci Swindoll 
4. My big note book lives at the study table. I use a 5 subject-notebook with a system similar to the one Courtney at Women Living Well shared. (check out her site today for a great Bible reading e-resource for free!). I am using it to record my answers to my study each day. I think better when I write. That's just how I roll :p 
5. The Power of  Praying Wife by Stormie Omartin. I've written about this book before. I think God has really used this book as the inspiration for prayer that He has answered over the last two years, changing my heart towards my husband and the way i pray for others. I heart this book. (Don't worry - not more than I heart the Bible :p). I pray through one of the prayers in this book for Awesome each day). 
6. The Daily Reading Bible: Volume One - I am reading this concurrently with some others in my church and finding it a great resource. It deserves to be studied on its own really. Maybe it will become my number 3 when I finish that one... right now I'm just reading through to keep up with the others. 
7. My gratitude journal. Just a simple notebook where I just number the next line as I go and pour out some gratitude. God is so good. There is never a day where there is nothing to be grateful for, even though its hard to find things some times. 
8. It's hard to see, but this tiny pocket calendar has room for some sticky dots I bought at the $2 shop to be tucked in the cover. I pop a dot on each day I complete my quiet time. It helps me stay on track. I'm a dangling carrot kinda gal sometimes... 
9. I pull my diary out of my handbag after my quiet time, and sync my wall calendar, online calendar and diary before the day begins (yes, I need all three!)
10. (not shown) I have started carrying a notebook in my handbag... its important. More on that one tomorrow ;) 

I had all this stuff at home. Including the pretty box for the pens and stickers. But before the pretty box was a plain cardboard one. That's ok too. You don't need to spend a fortune to get started. Just use what you have and what works!

It works for me. What works for you?

31 Days of Love- Day 2Loving Your Husband: The Reformed Feminist Way

Oh... This one is a pearler! (yes, I just used pearler in a sentence!).
You might want to read this post and this post from the Time-Warp Wife to understand my post fully.
There is a joke email/post that pops up from time to time. The Good Wife's Guide.  It's all about the 1950's housewife's pre-husband coming home routine. It's tongue in cheek. Its funny. It makes the girl-school raised, girl-power, you-can-do-anything-he-can-do feminist within me stand up and cheer.

No way am I putting on my best dress and make up every evening. I mean, hey, I worked all day too you know. And if you think I'm going to massage his feet - you've got another thing coming!

So reading today's challenge got me thinking about the 'balance of power' in our house. See, when we first got married, I wanted to be treated the exact way I was treating my husband. If I did something nice for him, like buying handsoap or folding some clothes, then I wanted him to do something nice for me.... like cook me a romantic 3 course dinner with candlelight and buy me flowers and a new bracelet.

I'm not actually kidding. Some of our worst fights early on were about me wanting some extravagant, lasting gestures of love for very little payoff (in his mind). "Darling, I made you a sandwich three days ago - I can't believe that you forgot to take out the garbage again and you left the toilet seat up a week ago - UNFORGIVABLE!"

The Time-Warp Wife's post does not appeal to Gen Y. We do not like the idea that as women, there can be something other than complete equalness to a marriage. We are taught that as women, our ideas and values have the same value and worth as men. I firmly believe that. In fact, I believe that this is biblical. So does the Time-Warp Wife. So what's the difference?

The Time-Warp Wife sees doing these things for her husband as an expression of her love for him, and as a practice of the biblical model of headship. See, even though in 21st cntuary Australia, I'm pulling in the big bucks, I bought the house, I've got the degree, God says that my husband is in charge. Yep. You read it. Even more than that, the Bible tells us that my husband is under God's authority. And when he is under God's authority, and I am under both God's authority and my husbands' - I have the larger burden to carry.

Ok, I know I'm going to get flamed here. There are plenty of books (including the Bible) that explain this entire concept better than I can. I'm just going to share my expereince.

When I gave up fighting against my husband (and boy did we fight!), and thought carefully and deliberately about meeting his needs before my own, something unexpected happened. My husband lifted me up, and started putting my needs before his. Suddenly we are both caring for each other and each having our needs met. What's more, we are actually enjoying each other's company.

This was not instant. It took months and it happened slowly. There were a lot of 'discussions', tears and prayers. I didn't even see the change happen myself - it happened so slowly. One day I was at a party with some friends and was talking to a bunch of girls about Awesome, and realised that the story I was telling was a nice one - not a payout. I'm sad to say it actually shocked me and I stopped mid-sentence. One of my firneds could see exactly what I was thinking and actually said, "Something has changed between the two of you. You can actually see it. Its great."    That blew me away. That others could see how much we were struggling to that point. That they could also see that we were changing.  Praise God, this is answered prayer!

I'm not going to go through all the things we did differently and the things I was challenged to change. There are other posts here that document that journey. I'm just going to encourage you, if you are struggling in your marriage, if you are a die-hard feminist who can't figure out why everything 'they' promised you is not working... then pray through Psalm 139:23-24:
Search me, O God, and know my heart! 

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting

Maybe it's not your husband who needs to start the change.

31 Days of Love Day 1 A Lover, not a Fighter

Last night at church, a visiting preacher reminded us of the need to reclaim our 'first love' with Christ. When you  have been a Christian for a long time, you can start to fall into the pattern of being all about the work of Christ - to the point of fighting for 'Christ' just to get your own way... The preacher used a really helpful example. In war-torn countries who live for decades,even centuries under tyrannical rule, there is often a pattern that occurs when freedom finally comes. Once the chains of tyranny are lifted, its as though people forget to switch off their 'fight mode' and instead begin to fight amongst themselves! Factions form and suddenly its all about who is in charge, who rules, who gets their way.

Ever been to a church committee meeting?

It can be hard to switch off the Fighter, and become the Lover that you once were. Sometimes we need a reminder of the love we once knew.

On Friday night, after visiting Awesome's family for dinner, we were driving along the main road he grew up on. I suddenly remembered that when we were dating, I would drop him home late at night, and would need to drive up to the next intersection and turn around before driving home. Often as I doubled back, there would be Awesome, just standing in the middle of the road (on the median strip of course!), on a 3-lane highway, waving goodbye. It seems kind of razy now, so I asked him why he used to do that.

"Because I loved you, and I knew you liked that."

Raining, freezing, 3am, whatever. Standing in the middle of the road. We need to reclaim our first love for Jesus, the do-anything, even if it doesn't make sense feeling we used to know. That's real love.

This month I am joining the Time-Warp Wife in a 31 Day Challenge - 31 Days of Love.

Today's Challenge (well, Friday's really, but I'm catching up!) was to read and reflect on 1 Corinthians 13. 

• What is God's definition of love?
  Unceasing, forgiving, selfless passion (passion being the very moving of your soul for the other's plight) for the other. The kind that puts the self behind the other.  
• What are the characteristics of love?
  Patience, kindness, comfort, confidence, contentedness, giving, agreeable, founded in truth.
• In what areas of "loving" do I stumble the most?
  Bearing with all things... being content and agreeable. Its easy for me to talk positively and be friendly (except when I'm tired!) and to later be grumbly and frustrated about the person I was just talking to.  I'm like this with God too. I pray nice, say nice, stay nice, but inside can be resentful and discontent with my situation, His provisions or the disparity between what I would like and what I have.  
• What are a few of the steps I can take toward change?
  Prayer for the inner heart to match the outer smile. For courage and conviction to see my own messiness and not pretend to have it all together. By reconnecting with the Word each day, get in touch with my first love for God, to go back and look up all those passages I first loved and memorised, to recall the excitement I once felt. 

Cathie Heard says: "We are never worthy enough for God." It's not about how we feel. We are as close as we can get to God this side of Heaven, because we are already in Jesus. 

Seeing the Big God in the Little Things.

Rethinking Disappointment

What is disappointment? 

Wikipeadia (which is by no means definitive!) defines disappointment as: the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations to manifest. Similar to regret, it differs in that the individual feeling regret focuses primarily on the personal choices that contributed to a poor outcome, while the individual feeling disappointment focuses on the outcome itself. It is a source of psychological stress.

Disappointment is the feeling we get when we focus on the outcome itself. 

I found this very enlightening. There is a sense here that when we are disappointed, we are suffering from a removed locus of control. The expectation we had of a particular result or outcome are not met. We have not reached our goal. 

When we have failed to put our trust in God, when we have trusted ourselves and 'the plan' over the "The Plan" of our Creator, we open ourselves up to disappointment. 

Is disappointment unhealthy? I don't think so. I think what is unhealthy is when we become so disappointed that something didn't happen a certain way and we begin to blame things outside ourself, and for many people, blame God. 

I entered a free competition some years ago. There was a 1 in X chance that I would win this competition, but I started to get excited about the prize. I began to think about what my life would be like if I won, what I would change, what I would become....  I didn't win (along with thousands of others!). 

I was disappointed. I had a lot of plans, logical, serious plans. And I was disappointed. 

But the disappointed stemmed from something that was never mine in the first place. 

These are instant times. We are used to getting what we want. Now. 

But one of the most important things we must realise as Christians is that God didn't promise us anything more than eternal life and a way to deal with the temptation we face in life. 

We didn't receive a promise for the last piece of cake, a birthday present or a much bigger house. 

Don't let your disappointment in the earthly get bigger than your focus on the eternal. 

²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:23 (New International Version, ©2011)

What to do with disappointment

When I was tiny, I danced.  My favourite part of class was the mime. At the end of every ballet class, we would mime actions and emotions. Yes, no, listening, happy and...

disappointment.

Disappointment is standing still, hands clenched limply, face crumbled, shoulders sunk.

It is arriving too late for the party.

It is missing out on the last piece of pie.

It is the diagnosis we did not want to hear.

It is the asking of someone else.

It is having our plans, the things we hope for, those we look forward to, fall dashed to the ground.

Disappointment is the thing I like least in life.

What do we do with disappointment in life? Do we shove it down, push back tears, steel ourselves and move on? Or do we cry it out, acknowledge the pain and work through it?

What do we do when our disappointment is with God?

I have so much to be thankful for. So do you. But Christians are no strangers to disappointment. How are we to deal with the disappointment we experience in life?

I want to work through this issue over a series of posts in the next few weeks. Reflecting on this topic reminded me of Phillip Yancey's book, Disappointment with God. I will be reading this at the same time and reflecting on what our response is to be to the disappointment of our expectations.

Will you join me?

Choose Your Choice

I drove home today from my dietician's appointment - 1 hour in the car in traffic right on my usual dinner time...


AND I DIDN'T STOP FOR CHOCOLATE! 


That, my friends, is a very big deal! 


Oh I thought about it. The entire. way. home.
But I made it impossible by staying in the 'wrong' lane on the road so that I couldn't pull off into the petrol station for a quick bite. I played little videos of my desperate self just running in for a chocolate bar in my head. When I was only at most, 45 minutes away from dinner on the table. It seemed a bit pathetic. I even contemplated stopping at the milk bar which is just outside my house ...  


Changing a habit is not about change. Its about choice.


You already know the right thing to do.  My 2 and a half hours including travel time to visit the dietician who weighed me, asked me how I was going and then chatted for a few minutes, before charging me $98.00 and asking for another appointment in 3 weeks (I'm done - I know exactly what I need to do, and I'm doing it - without her) - was a waste of time and money, when I already had all the tools I need to finish this!


Choices. Don't choose that lane, that servo, that chocolate. 


Choose to get up earlier, go for the run (its never as bad as you think it will be), pack the lunch and then actually eat what you have packed.  Make a choice. Make a good choice. 


And motivate yourself in a way that suits you. For me its boxing gloves. I really want my own pair of boxing gloves. So my hubby said 200 good choices earns a pair of boxing gloves. I made a chart on the computer. I found some star stickers (you could just draw stars too) and every time I make a good choice, I'm a step closer to my goal. Not buying the chocolate is a good choice. Going to the gym is a good choice. Eating well for the entire day (not just one meal) is a good choice. 


Choose your choices. Say that out loud - choose your choices. Don't just do something and think "Oh, I shouldn't have done that/" When you have a choice to make, choose your choice - don't let your choices just happen to you!


Paul write about discipline in Hebrews 12. Here is referring to the spiritual discipline of obeying God. God's desire for obedience is absolute, so this passage should inspire us in many ways, be it what we eat, what we focus our trust on, what we read, how we pray and how we live.. 

⁷ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? ⁸ If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. ⁹ Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! ¹⁰ They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

How are you exercising your will power today?

Starting again. For Good.

It's laziness.


It's fear.


I think it might actually be sinful...


Monday afternoon will be my 'follow up' appiontment with the dietitian. The very expernsive dietitian. The dietitian that my doctor said 'Is good, but charges way too much.' The dietitian that is supposed to be helping me loose weight, feel great, and make babies...


Its been two months. Its already cost me gulp... over $300 dollars for the first two visits.


And I've wasted it.


I didn't follow the diet plan. I ate whatever I wanted. And even though I've been working out a lot, I have lost... nothing.


Nothing. Not a scrap in two months.


Its not that I don't believe it will work. In the two weeks that I first followed the eating plan carefully, I dropped two kilos straight away.  (That's 4 1/2 pounds for our imperial friends). It works. I should actually be at my goal weight right now.


But I'm not. So what went wrong?


The Eating Plan Autopsy


1. No prayer. Nope, not one bit. I did this for myself, I thought nothing of committing this journey to God. "Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21  - I believe that when we don't include God in those plans, we have already failed.


2. No organisation. I did nothing to change the way our meals are organised. When I got busy in the morning, I didn't make lunch, so I would just buy... well... icecream mainly...


3. Hiding the plan and goal from others. In the past when loosing weight, I have told family and friends of my methods, and they have supported me by checking what food I can eat and serving good stuff when I eat with them. Less chance for cheating when others are watching...!


So. I start again. Not on Monday. Today. I have already wasted enough time and money. It's time to honour God with obedience.


What do you know you need to do and have all the tools to do, but hold back for fear and laziness? (Oh, please tell me someone else out there is like me!!). 

A Reminder For the Peace

Taking Peacetime in the Christmas Season

My Sister-In-Law and Cousin

Take some peace time today. 

Sit and watch God's creation and wonder at the love of three-is-one that sent the Son to die for us fallen ones. 

 ⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ~ Luke 2: 8-11

May God bring you a sense of peace in the busyness today. 

Catching Up on Life

Well we are nearing the end of the year and it has been too long between posts. Nov/Dec is always a tricky time for me work-wise, with many extra hours, as well as lots of training. Blogging became something difficult to focus on. 


Christmas Prep:  I am starting to move towards a Buy Nothing Christmas.  At the moment, my effort is token at best due to office Kris Kringles etc. But I am working on it. I will post about our Christmas gift giving this year later in the week, but food for thought - I would love to move towards this kind of Christmas...  
I am working through this free Jesse Tree devotional each day during advent. 


Fitness:  I have completed the 12 week program and have made a total loss of 4.5 kg from my heaviest weight. I still have a bit to go, and will be continuing to train 3-4 mornings a week.  I just need to go to bed earlier to compensate!!


Married Life:  Mr. Awesome and I are still enjoying the wonderful change that his current job affords us. We live just a two minute walk from his work and enjoy shorter hours, more time together and the financial benefit of only one car. We are looking forward to a little time off early in 2011 for our 2nd wedding anniversary. 


Church Life: Mr. Awesome and I have let a few other ministries go this year to focus on music ministry within our service. God has answered our prayers for more musicians and singers in the last few weeks and we are now able to step back a little in our time spent. Its a great thing! We are looking forward to what GOd plans for us next year. 

Thanksgiving Tuesday-January 2010 List

154. Flies!
155. Common ties of blood
156. Meaningful time together with family
157. Relaxing by the quiet river
158. The inspiration of a friend
159. Christian accountability
160. Challenging marriage message through film
161. Time by myself to unwind
162. Brothers spending time together
163. Technological marvels... mobiles!
164. Setting goals for 2010
165. Memorising the Word
166. Being strong in conviction
167. Friends who share the faith
168. The passion of fledgling faith
169. Well loved resources lent to friend
170. Loving, devoted family
171. Your Word changing my family
172. Writing old fashioned letters by hand
173. Love letters
174. 10 minute oven cookies
175. % off after Christmas sales
180. Husband's unwavering love
181. Getting to know church family
182. The challenge and joy of serving
183. Email reminders from thoughtful friends
184. Music ministry

Link Love...

I read a lot of blogs, and I am always loosing track of inspiring links to posts that motivate me.  So I am putting them all down in one place as a ready reckoner for me to come back to time and time again. Things I have been encouraged and challenged by lately...

Spiritual Discipline


Occasionally it all gets a bit much and I need to take some time to focus. From The Worn Out Woman I learnt about Retreat Days, and now every 5-6 months or so I use my RDO to take a little time to retreat and reflect.
Recently I also tripped over here and here and have been very encouraged - thank you ladies!

Marriage
Sometimes its really hard to trust that things are in someone else's control... especially in marriage. This post helps me think on this...
All of Ann's posts on marriage have spoken deeply to me and help me to focus on what's important. Each post is listed at the bottom of this one.
There are many things we are concentrating on to build our marriage and we have been trying to organise semi-regular date nights.

Nourishing Foods and Dealing with PCOS Naturally

Because Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is often linked to Insulin Resistance, food plays an important part in managing the issues involved. I am starting to make some very small inroads with looking at Nourishing Foods. These websites have helped me get my head around the basics:
http://www.keeperofthehome.org/
http://www.naturallyknockedup.com/
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/

In preparation to see a Naturopath about the symptoms of PCOS, I realised I needed a way to chart my cycles and be specific about what I was seeing and experiencing each day. I have read Taking Charge of Your Fertility and am now using their software to chart my cycles so see if there are any patterns. I think its worth the fee. I am also considering taking this e-course towards a more natural approach to life. I think this also helps when it comes to the real matter at the heart of it all...

Organisation?

Do I really need to be more organised? Maybe I'm making this too hard on myself...
I recently "made under" my closet in a similar sense to this, and I am loving the easiness of putting things where they belong each night! Only days before this post I did the same thing and asked Mr. Awesome to be my "eyes" - and it was soooo much easier to part with things when I had someone else saying "Ahhh.... no."

Living in an apartment - space is at a premium - so I am so thankful I'm not the only one who struggles a little to give stuff away I might need later - its good to know that there is no shortage of so many items....

What is it that is taking up your headspace today? Do you need to write out some link love to help you clear it?

Thanksgiving Tuesday - November/December 2009 List

91. Back pain
92. Chiropractors
93. Family-in-law
94. Natural healing and health
95. Time to pray
96. A husband who leads
97. Packed lunch
98. Bathroom scales
99. Intimacy
100. Two souls becoming one flesh
101. Drops of water on glass
102. Wedding ceremony
103. Sister bridesmaid's tears of joy
104. Hair curls
105. Exhausted husband snoring
106. Chipped nail polish
107. Wedding dances
108. Wedding speeches
109. Declarations of love
110. Early mornings
111. Season of advent
112. Surprise Bible study!
113. Quick freezer food
114. Fellowship with friends
115. Tired laughter
116. God's provision of food
117. Singing God's praises as a family
118. Challenging words from 1 John
119. An interesting drive time conversation
120. An inspired husband

By today's count I am at 334. Just 1/3 of my way to thanking God for 1000 gifts.

To Have and To Hold...

Today (even though I'm a couple of days late due to work committments) I am linking up for the Completing Him challenge Week 3.


Mr. Lord and I married on a very, very hot day in January 2009. Our wedding was in the morning and an hour from my parents home so we were up very early (3am). If anyone had told me how hot is was going to be, I think I would have panicked.. but thankfully no one did!


I'm sure this is going to sound wrong, but I just wanted that day over with!! 12 months of planning, preparing and waiting, and I just couldn't wait to have it all over and head off on our "surprise" honeymoon (I had asked Mr. L to keep it a secret from me, and he did!!) and then start our life together, on the same side of the bridge, in the same house (and yes, same bed!). 


By the time the hour drive was over, I was ready to go! Then all of a sudden it hit me - we were getting MARRIED!! Unbelievable! And it was starting to feel a little warm outside.... But there he was :) No silly grins at each other as I walked down that same aisle. Just knowing, trusting smiles. This is God's plan at work. 

To have and to hold,
from this day forward, 

for better or for worse, 

for richer, for poorer, 

in sickness and in health, 

to love and to cherish; 

from this day forward 

until death do us part

Gelato served for morning tea after the ceremony turned out to be a good idea. Sweet and cold and full of memories... warm summer afternoons in the park reading together, freezing cold nights where I begged for the sugary coldness "It'll force me to warm up inside" and him always laughing and always saying yes. Party with family and friends celebrating the day I said Yes. That quiet church moment when we each said "I do" before God.


They told me later it reached 47degrees Celsius (116 F) that afternoon during our reception! And by the time we reached our hotel, there was not a scrap of make-up left on my face - it had all melted away! But it didn't matter. We were MARRIED! For the rest of our lives. 


I still thank God for that every day. 


No matter what happens for us, from here on in, we do it together.  And through the ups and downs over this past year and a bit, we just can't help to come back to this...


Husband and wife. 


"What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate"  Mark 10:9 ESV 



   

Thinking Back...

This is a repost of an earlier post I have written. I mostly reposted it to help me reflect on the stillness that I so enjoyed and that has helped me to improve my marriage, service, work and sense of balance this year... because the next few weeks are threatening to tip that balance back out the window with many, many work commitments. 

Praying that you also find some stillness in your balance this week. 

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

New-Found Stillness

I am learning during a very busy first year of marriage, that there is really no rush. No sense in being busy. It helps no one to be short tempered, stressed and worried. And I forget too many things when I am doing everything at once. Especially at work.

So, I am trying to go a little slower, wake a little earlier, pray, read, think, breathe.

If I'm eating, I'm eating. Walking, I'm walking. Talking on the telephone, without doing anything else. Trying to be less distracted.

And I've noticed its working. I am finishing things, returning phone calls, remembering details, passing them on. Not all the time, but more often.

I have made a quiet time box. I want to be intentional in the time I spend with God and not spend 20 minutes looking for what I need. An old shoe box now contains;
-My Bible
-A notebook for recording things I'm grateful for
-The Power of Praying Through The Bible by Stormie Omartin

-A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George

-A small photo album containing photographs of each of the family and friends I pray for each day of the week

-A prayer journal

-The Power of A Praying Wife by Stormie Omartin

-Pens, paper and bookmarks

-A Woman's Book of Prayers

The box is the perfect size and completely portable, depending on when and where I have my quiet time each day. I am aiming to move towards more consistent times each morning, but shift work makes it tricky.

I am amazed how much I can see God changing my heart already, and I think my countenance at work has improved too!

Looking forward to more times with God in the coming weeks and months.

What helps you with your quiet times?

Grandma's Table....

Secrets to a Lasting Marriage...

We sit at the table my grandfather has made from scratch, surrounded by the work of their hands. Fifty-something years and counting. Through the chemo, the cataracts, four babies born, one child gone to Heaven. Through the years of growing and pruning, creating, destroying and moving on, and here I am, a second-generation product of their love, finally sitting here, hearing my Grandmother's words of wisdom.  That Golden anniversary toast I gave at just 17, "praying that I might one day have a marriage as wonderful as yours."

And yet somehow I stuff it up, somehow I give her the wrong idea. We are different, my man and I, and we are young, learning... so unsure of how to make things better. And I'm expecting the Grandmotherly advice, the Lois and Eunice, the sincere faith of 2 Timothy 1:5....

Only, my grandmother does not know the One who saved her...

We are engaged, we long to be married, free of the difficulty of living apart, the tension and anxiety of waiting for one another. We wait, even though its hard, and tests us to the bone and by God's grace alone we somehow make it through the year of waiting... we live apart, on separate sides of the city and there is tension and misunderstanding and we struggle to blame and win and bait each other. It's not right, we need help. Help only He can give, and yet here I am, sitting at the table, hoping for some secret that will help us on the journey to our Golden Year and beyond.

"If you argue so much and are so different perhaps you shouldn't get married. Well, I don't know why you don't just live together first. In this day and age, it just makes more sense. "

And I'm floored. But I laugh - surely she is joking, and I flash forward, picturing one day talking to my grand-daughter, would I be proud of the child who did what the 'age' demanded?

It is no joke. And over the next few months I realise that she does not support our decision to wed.

And I am dreadfully sad.

Time passes and God touches the heart of my Grandmother. She learns about her Saviour.

She is still learning

So am I.

We marry and she asks me one more time to forgive her on our wedding day and I hug her and told her I already have.

But the secret to Holy Matrimony lies in being honest with our mate AND our God, and I perhaps have not been so truthful. She loves me and wanted only "the best" for me, and I, the one who knew God, nursed a grudge in my bruised heart and longed to have back that moment at the table to explain how wonderful this man I married truly is, how he has helped me listen for God, enabled me to get out of my own way and allow God to heal me. And I pray, that fifty something years on, she will finally have in her marriage what I am so blessed to have in our fledgling one - Christ at the center.

Linked for Ann's Walk with Him Wednesday