There's been more than a few days between my last post and this one...and no real reason.

Here's a few observations from my past month:

* disappointments happen.....

* there are always opportunities to help others.....

* self-sacrifice is so very hard....

* there's more joy & frustration to be had in a day of playing with a toddler than I ever thought possible...

* Central Qld summers are so very sticky....

* the internet can be such a time waster....

* plans change....

* farewells are not always sad....

* self-absorbtion doesn't really help anyone....

* parents are lovely.....

* op shopping is fun....

* pork crackling is so yummy....

* Christmas carols lighten my spirit....

* teenagers are capable of so much good stuff.....

* waiting can be tiring.....

* living with hope is essential....

Nothing groundbreaking here...but just a few thoughts that may resonate with you. I have learnt to trust God more in the past month and know that His plans are to teach me and help me to become more like Jesus....even through the everydayness of life.

So I am grateful for it all.

Celebrate Faith

Over the past couple of weeks you may have heard me rant and rave about it being too early for Christmas. I mean come on! Decorations in the shops in October??? People dressing up their gardens and houses in early November?? Christmas carols on the radio already? As much as I love Christmas I was thinking it was all coming that bit too early this year.

Then I stopped muttering and started thinking. Hmmmm....why not start celebrating early? In fact, why not have that Christmas joy and anticipation all year??

And as a Christian, shouldn't that really be my default demeanour and MO every month of the year....not just in December?

I have read 1 and 2 Peter lately and have once again been reminded of how much I have to celebrate, thanks to God's great love and grace. 1 Peter 1 reminds us that our faith is 'of greater worth than gold.' (v 7) Considering how much gold (and plastic) will be burned this Christmas season it is astounding to think about our faith being worth more than that. It is priceless....invaluable. It is an extravagant gift from God, bought at an unimaginable price.....the gift of Jesus (God with us) to live here on earth, die for our salvation and be resurrected, showing us that death and sin have been defeated....and guaranteeing us LIFE! Now that is something to celebrate!

Two more little thoughts from that same chapter.....
'Salvation of your souls' is the goal of our faith (v 9). Again...celebrate-worthy! Without faith we cannot please God and we cannot be saved. And salvation can only be ours because Jesus came....lived....died...rose again. So as we head into this year's festive season, let's get excited about more than gift giving and receiving, time with family and holidays. Let's ask God to help us connect our faith with this celebration of His goodness to us in a deeper way. And let the joy and peace of this season refresh our faith.

Finally, v 21 reminds us that faith and hope are inseparable. HOPE...I so love that word and what it means. It is a "confident expectation." Hope is a firm assurance that God is who He says He is and will do all He has promised to do. And His promises are for our blessing......eternal life, the presence of His Spirit, a faithful friend in Jesus, love, provision, protection, salvation and so many more precious gifts (to be enjoyed year round!) As we get ever-closer to December 25th, let's live with both a growing, deepening faith and an unshakeable, exciting hope that we have been given the greatest gift of all- time...Jesus!


So today, November 29th might not be the traditional Christmas Day. But as I play my carols CD and dust off the tree and decorations and continue to on-line shop for Christmas presents, I am determined to consider this special season and the first Christmas in a new way and let it refresh my faith, build my hope and fuel my thanks to God.

God is.....

I Peter 1:21 says -
...and so your faith and hope are in God.
Yes...that's right, they are. But who is this God??
Type that 2 word phrase "God is" into a blueletterbible search and it occurs in 161 verses.
Here's just some of them.... to paint you a picture of this amazing God..... who is my hope:

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfil? God is near us whenever we pray to him God is a merciful God God is God; he is the faithfulGod, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, For God is the King of all the earth Surely God is my help God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever For the Lord God is a sun and shield God is full of compassion. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. God is with you. God is a righteous judge God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries God is truthful God is faithful God is the builder of everything. God is a consuming fire God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. God is love

Threes

What do they say about threes?
That God always speaks in them?? Nope...I think the only reason we hear things 3 times from God is because we are either hard of hearing or slow learners. How wonderful that He's a God who speaks loudly...when He needs to....and is extremely patient.


Well life had been going along so well. I thought I had the routines and functions of a Mum down pat. That was until mid-week last week when disaster hit. Sparing you the gory details, I will simply say, breastfeeding is not as nice as it used to be.
Meanwhile, the emotions started going haywire thanks to the pain and subsequent sleeplessness and I found myself upset, questioning and doubting and poor old J found himself with a whinging, sooky wife.

Then God spoke.....3 times in 3 days. And as per usual, He was creative in how He spoke....it was of course, in 3 different ways. And yet the 3 different messages, all interlink. How like Him to take the random, lose ends of thoughts and ideas and tie them up nicely so they make sense.

1. As I was driving in the car I had the Christian radio station on (Go Rhema!) and an oldie but a goodie came on. The lyrics are: "I love You, all of my hope is in You....Jesus Christ take my life, take all of me..." WHAM! I heard God. He was saying, "Get your focus right my girl. Look at me, love me, trust me and you'll know hope. And hope is what you need right now....the hope for healing and a better day tomorrow. Give your life, including your pain and doubt to Jesus. Give Him your emotions, your attitudes, your thoughts and let Him give His to you. Instead of doubt, know belief. Instead of despair, hope. Instead of unrest, peace." I sang along with that song with great gusto, making it my prayer...albeit a very loud and off key prayer!

2. My friend L has had her own struggles in recent times and she has been such a great encouragement to me. Through them, she has grown closer to God and in sharing some of that experience, she has been a challenge and a blessing. So one of the ways God has spoken to her was through Joyce Meyer's book 'Power Thoughts.' (L shared something of that book in last Friday's blog) I now have that book in my possession and as I read chapter one on my attitude...God spoke. The 5 rules Joyce presents about our thinking and more specifically our attitude, reminded me that in the midst of what's going wrong, I need to: maintain the right attitude when the going gets rough; realise the rough times won't last forever; stay in touch with God and try to keep things in perspective. (You can read Chapter 1 for yourself at Joyce's website.) All things I needed to hear and take the time to process and apply to how I was feeling and responding right then....and in the days since.

3. Sunday's sermon came from the story of the Israelites crossing into the Promised Land. The theme?....'Trust God.' Considering all that the Israelites had seen and experienced in the past 40 plus years, you'd have thought trusting God would be easy. Afterall, they'd been led by fire and cloud, rescued out of slavery, provided with food in most unusual ways, saved from charging Egyptians and the rest. But I guess I'm a lot like them really. I have seen and experienced God doing great things and also working in small, quiet ways. Firsthand, I know Him to be good and faithful. So I need to TRUST Him in all my days, but especially the ones that are difficult.

So 3 words....HOPE, ATTITUDE, TRUST. May they be a reminder to you and me both that God IS alive...He IS good (all the time)...He IS faithful.....He DOES love us.....He IS working things for our good. Hey! That's 5 things! Yep, that's God...He exceeds all our expectations. I'm so glad!