I can’t sleep…

Its too dark to read my book, but its too light to go back to sleep, so I decided to check my emails and online things. Google plus come up with a blog post by Rachel Riddler, she has a new bible study happening, its for the whole month and she posts weekly. She linked to this article…  In Gods image. But in particular was this by Naomi…

The reason why it got my attention was a few simple lines…

IN HIS IMAGE
We – both women and men – were created in the image of God. This phrase is so important, that it’s repeated: in his own image, in the image of God.

This has had such an impact on me this week. Personally, I have a very loud mental voice telling me that my tummy is too big, that I need to lose a stone, that my hair is a mess… I spend far too much time listening to that voice, and not to the truth of this verse: my body is made in the image of God.

As God created our bodies (in His image), he knows our bodies. He knows the complexities of hormones, of gynaecology, of ‘women’s health.’ He knows that we listen to that nagging voice. He knows how we talk to ourselves about our bodies. Let’s not forget that those bodies are made in His image. We have a responsibility and a privilege to care for our bodies. We definitely shouldn’t be shaming ourselves over them.

And this got my attention why? well, I’ve just spent another almost full week, being sick, and I spent that week wallowing in self pity. Come Thursday night I was almost begging my Husband to take me to hospital, all of my home self help remedies had failed me, I had a raging temperature, I was basically “Over it!” So my husband came home from work, he calmed me, he brought me drinks, panadol, wet face cloths, he made me Vegemite sandwiches, he babied me until the Panadol kicked in, despite me telling him for the umpteenth time “If I was a horse you’d shoot me and put me out of this misery” so selfish I am! And I know I am NOT the only woman who does hear that niggling little voice of self doubt, mine is loud and clear and sounds just like the women who birthed me.

October 11th I turn 50! I have been excited for 50 ever since I turned 21, that seemed to be my milestone, Up until August I was excited, then I got that really bad Flu, its been going around our whole state, people are dying! And in August I had maybe 6 days where I felt “normal” so I was hoping September was going to be better, it is after all Spring! But nope! Then I got this tummy bug thing! In August when I got the flu bug, I started to hear doubts sneak in. “is this a preview of what 50 looks like? Me being fat and un well and horrible?” Suddenly I started to feel. “old” and previously thats never how I felt about 50!

Then the dizzy spells started and so I decided to go to the Dr and I spoke to her and poured out my hopes and my woes and said “I want to start my 50’s off in my best health, what can I do?” I picked the right woman for the job and she started doing all those “Womens tests” you girls know what Im talking about the ones we keep putting off, the Pap Smears and Breast exams and mole checks etc, I had been putting mine off since 2011! She even did my height and weight and then my BMI to which she said “You could stand to loose a few kilos” Oh I knew that! I didnt want to hear that! But then she added “I can help you with that too!” And so I left that day with an order for a whole range of blood testing she wants done and a much better attitude.

so reading this line…
As God created our bodies (in His image), he knows our bodies. He knows the complexities of hormones, of gynaecology, of ‘women’s health.’ He knows that we listen to that nagging voice. He knows how we talk to ourselves about our bodies. Let’s not forget that those bodies are made in His image. We have a responsibility and a privilege to care for our bodies. We definitely shouldn’t be shaming ourselves over them.

It reminded me I dont talk to myself nicely, I wouldnt talk to anyone else the way I do to myself. And I do have a responsibility to look after this body that God has provided me with. A morning prayer and a blog post! Go and read Rachel’s post its really good.

I almost forgot to write a blog…

Its been a busy day!

6:50am- Studying the Book of James, today we did verses 2:14-17 and then we colour code and S.O.A.K it.. So that takes a while.

Then I read half a chapter of my book, checked my online things like my emails and Facebook etc.

8:00am time to get up and get the Star Son off to School, by the time he leaves I’ve usually started a load of laundry, made the bed and done the dishes. So by 8:45am the house is clean, the Galah Charlie has been fed and entertained.

Each morning I start a fresh journal page and put a check list of jobs or things I want to achieve. It looks like this…

• Bible Study- James 2:14-17 
• Art-
• Crochet-
• Book-

Then as I have done the thing I make a note and tick it off..

Art– Yesterday I did a Bible page from Rebekah R Jones series called “Heaven is Calling” I am really loving the way Rebekah breaks down each lesson and shows us how she did her page and also breaks down the scripture so that we understand it more, LOVE that! 

And today I finished the page I began preparing yesterday, we had to do two layers of base coat and allow to dry then go over it with water colour which absolutely soaks the page.. While still wet we had to lay some cling film on top and smoosh it all around and then leave it to dry. I will confess that I was nervous about that process because let’s be honest I am yet to find a bible that has thick pages, so I waited with baited breath to see how it would turn out.

Cling wrap over wet water colour, a few nervous moments…

This is the final result. This was lesson 5 in Rebekah R Jones series “Heaven is Calling” we discussed how an Angel came to Gabriel and spoke to him, but he doubted that it was a message from God because “Why would God talk to me?” Well, now OUR God as I am getting to know him, and knowing how much he loves us, my question for Gabriel is “Why NOT me?” 

Anyways.. As you can see the cling wrap came off nicely and I am totally in love with how this background turned out, in fact, so much so I will definately be using that technique again. In Rebekah’s instructional video, she used a rubber stamp with white ink to make the word “Healed” I didnt have either of those so I hand wrote it and used a white posca pen, not the best choice, Im not happy with the “whitenes” I really prefer Rebekah’s brilliant white, but hey, we work with what we have and so overall I love this page! Yesterday I also started prepping todays page, again, another two coats of sealer were required. 

Today’s “Heaven is calling” lesson was anout Mary and Martha. When they met Jesus, Mary dropped at his feet and listened intently to all he had to speak of, but Martha, poor, Martha was side tracked preparing the feast and looking after everyone and so she asked Jesus “Lord, dont you see what Mary is doing? Leaving all the work for me to do? Are you not going to tell her to come help me?” (side note… I can hear MY voice coming out Martha’s mouth!) Jesus gently rebuked Martha and told her that Mary was doing the right thing and that she was having doing a good thing and he would NOT rebuke her and that Martha should “Choose the good portion” hmmm, something to think about next time I am wanting to moan about having to do all the work. Here’s what my version looked like…

So my Bible art is well and truely back on track and I am loving it and realising I have been missing my small bite sized chunks of art!

I am also working on a FREE art journaling class with Allyson Bright, she also has us in a FB group, so we can add our work there and ask for feedback if we want it. So here are some of those pages… Today was lesson number 5- the prompt was to do a page about an animal we love, we we have plenty to chose from but I found this lovely photo of my poodle Ambrosia so I did a page on her.

Yesterday- I did day 3- “What is your Name?” Now since no one uses my name much, I chose to honor the other names I am called. Mum, Marley, Mumsy, Mumma from my children. Grandma and Me Maa from my Grand babies, amd my husband AKA “The Bloke” calls me “His Sheila” so this page represents all that. 

Also yesterday, because the boys were at late football training and I had some spare time I did another page, this was for day 4- a list of “Things that make me happy” .. I love lace, pearls, glitter, chocolate, coke a cola, roses, my Bible study lots of things! 

Next on the list is crochet, I am currently crocheting a blanket for my soon to be born Grand daughter, and I chose to do it in chunky wool so it’ll be nice and warm and quick to make. I am doing corner to corner again, since my daughter loved the last blanket I made for my niece’s baby due in November. 

Then we have reading.. Well I have to schedule that in as well or else it doesnt get done, so I am currently reading yet, another Di Morrissey book, this one is called “The winter sea” I love that most of her books are set all in Australia or at least partly Australia and partly another country. So I got a chapter and a half of that read.

So that brings me up to fate. i thought I would share my arty stuff only occasionally so you dont all get bored.

My Faith is His Joy or Que Sera Sera!

I will keep on expecting you to help me. Psalm 71:14 Today’s Food for Thought: This simple phrase, these few words: I will keep on expecting you to help me. They hold great power. The power o…

Source: My Faith is His Joy

If you have time to follow the above link to read the whole post PLEASE DO!!!

Yes! again, I am sharing a post from Cooking up Faith. I feel that we seem to be on the same Journey or wavelength and I find myself saying “Yes! me too” to her posts, today is no different and let me explain why…

Faith… Hebrews 11:1 says, It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.

Even before I started my journey with the Lord I knew that “Someone was watching out for me” how else could you explain the things I’ve done in my life? I used to think that is was My Dad watching out for me… he died when I was 24 and 3/4’s before things started to go wrong. So when I winged my way through tricky situations and make decisions that were good but I didn’t know where they came from I would think “Thanks Dad for helping me” and now I look back and realize it was my “Dad” helping me but it was my “Heavenly Father” and not my earthly one.. makes total sense now.

In the above Post Cooking up Faith mentions “My husband is in a line of business that holds many possible projects at any given time, yet not all always pan out. We never know which ones for sure will come through.”

My Husband is the same, but recently his company decided that they would be asking people to take “Volunteer redundancy” packages. My husband has been at this company for 20 plus years and so he wanted to find out “what his worth was” so he asked the HR lady to tell him the figure. She explained that in order for her to give him that information he had to sign a form “expressing interest in taking the package” he argued he DIDN’T want to take the package he just wanted to find out the figure. It went back and forth and in the end he reluctantly signed the form.

A week went by and she came back with a figure. It wasn’t what we were expecting. Another issues being that as he has just turned 60 he is not eligible for the “Aged Pension” until 65 yrs. So we would have to both go looking for jobs to be able to get a part payment. Anyways…. LONG Story cut short… I got a bit worried.

I have been a stay at home Mum for 25 yrs. I went back to work briefly when Daughter number 2 was small but hearing her screams following me down the street on the way to work made me realize it wasn’t worth the money. So I became a stay at home Mum and have been since. I did offer when Master 14 started Secondary School to go and get a job, but the Bloke pointed out that we are OK, we own what we have, we don’t owe anyone money and we have a nice life. I have never been a clothes horse, or shoe freak or handbag collector so we don’t have huge bills. He wanted me to stay home and be a Stay at home Mum, but now suddenly that might all change.

So I did the only thing I know to do, I went to my Heavenly Father and explained the situation to him and said “If you want me to have a job please help me find one I am qualified for” that’s the problem! 25yrs of raising children and now Grand children doesn’t pay in much except endless love, but what skills do I have to offer? All the “jobs” I have done over the years have all been Volunteer. So even though I was a Secretary and a Treasurer for a Rock n Roll club, I didn’t get paid, I also didn’t get paid for the articles I wrote for the magazine, and I didn’t get paid for the weekly radio program we ran. All those skills are un paid, can I use them in a “real” job? So I went to God and I prayed and I am praying still, if I NEED to go get a job and let me be clear I am WILLING to do that to make the Bloke’s life easier. Please Lord, help me find something that I can do and that I will be capable at.

It’s that faith, that lead me to a Facebook page that helps locals find jobs, and within a week I found three jobs part time that my Husband would be suitable for.

It’s that faith, that tells me it’s Ok it will work out, don’t get worried, and keep HIM calm too. My Husband is a NON Believer but that’s OK I pray for him each day, on his behalf, and so though he doesn’t know it God’s got this under control.

So far my Husband’s Redundancy request has not been accepted, and we both think that if it’s going to happen it’s going to happen and though he FEELS a bit stressed about the whole thing, I feel calm and secure in the knowing that whatever happens God’s got this covered.

As “Cooking up faith” says “Did you know that we give God joy when we expect Him to take care of us?”

Because It’s that faith, that makes me confident that though our daily lives might change a better version of our lives will come from it. So we might need to tighten our belts and maybe take a few less plane trips, (My Husband will LOVE that, he hates to fly!)  use some more “plain label” shopping goods, cook more meals in bulk and freeze for another day, I’ve been through that before, I can do that again!

I can’t see the future, it’s all in God’s timing, but I KNOW that he loves us and wants us to be the best “US” we can be.

So “Que Sera Sera” whatever will be will be!

Art is back on…

And boy have I missed it.

So this morning I was forced to be up early, we are selling our car Heidi and the new potential buyer wanted to collect the car and take her to his mechanic, at 7:45AM!! Ok, so confession time, I am never UP that earlier, much less dressed ready for the day, except today I was.

In fact, I was so super organised I even had my morning bible study completed. Did I tell you about that? So this week with Good Morning Girls we begin the book of James. You can find out more details Here. Just reading the intro into the study I found out that James was the half brother of Jesus, go figure. Sometimes I feel so dumb about my lack of knowlege of the Bible, but then a friend told me she finds it refreshing, that I don’t have to “unlearn” stuff I might have been previously taught. Anyways so today was day 2 of the Book of James, we read the prescribed verses and then we colour code them and then we use the S.O.A.K method  (you can find out about S.O.A.K  method on the above link I shared) 

By the time we did the usual morning routine, breakfast, supervise dressing and making sure lunch and home work are in school bag, brushing SweetPea’s hair and waving and kissing Goodbye, I had also done a load of washing and hung one load out to dry, and washed the dishes and made the bed before 9:00am! Super organised.  

So I had choices… Waste time on the internet, do some crochet, I have 4 projects going at once and I HATE THAT!! Or do some art. So I chose art. 

First I started a new 30 day challenge for art journaling. For 30 days we are sent an email with prompts to use, suggested materials or themes etc, and also Allyson (You can meet Allyson Here) shows us what she’s created as an example. 

Day one was “Whats that scent?” Immediately I remembered that Pine Trees are one of my favourite scents. It brought back beautiful memories of when I was a little girl, my parents had a holiday place that Dad largely built himself, and I would wander through the nearby Pine plantations and listen to the birds and the creak and groan of the pine trees and the pine needles under my feet and the beautiful piney scents,everytime I smell pine trees I am taken back to that place. But my other favourite scent is White Sage. I did a course with a lady who became closer to me than a sister and she taught me to smudge with burning white sage and sweet grass in an abelone shell and waving it around the rooms and over myself, I love that smell. So how to choose which smell to do art about? I couldn’t so I chose both, I called it “Then and Now” then of course is Pine trees and Now is the smoking sage in the abelone shell. 

So while the Pine Trees were drying, I started on the Abelone shell with the smoking sage. Once the paint had dried I went back and did some journalling about what I’d painted.

While they were both drying I moved onto Lesson four in “Heaven In Calling” a series of Bible art lessons I am taking. Rebekah Jones to teaching this one and you can find out more about Rebekah and her course Here!

Today we did a reading from the Book of Judges and how Gabriel spoke with an Angel and was unbelieving that God would be speaking to HIM. I enjoyed learning about Gabriel, I haven’t read about him yet.

Lesson two in the “30 days Determined to Shine” challenge, the prompt was to “write a letter to our younger self” and give them some healing advice. I knew my letter wouldn’t be very nice so I had to think of a way to hide it from prying eyes. 

So I folded the letter up really tiny and stuck it underneath this die cut flower. I figured that the flower would look pretty and hide the hate filled letter. I used pink on the background page to promote love and I used some penpalling letters for the back ground page.

Final page looked like this.. Letter hidden behind the pretty flower and a statement that won’t let me forget what its all about.

So today was full of art, and housework and we went to the shops and my very pregnant daughter 39 weeks today! Came over with my Grandson so we had cuddles and played ball and he helped me sweep the back deck.

For dinner tonight, I taught second daughter how to cook Meatloaf, its one of the few meals that the whole family enjoys. She did an excellent job it was so yummy! And finally before bed, I got a few rows of cochet done, working on Grand daughter Janetzki’s blanket, in case she should arrive early! 

Plus three days in a row of blogging and two days in a row of journaling, I feel like the old me is on her way back!! 

Spiritual Sunday

 

On Monday.. Go figure… I could have done it yesterday but I really wanted to share my Bullet Point Journal with you and also to whine about the demise of my A5 binder folder.. I wont keep going on about it except to say, I’ve been out today again looking and I still cant find anything similar! Moving right along….

So last week I told you about the latest Bible studies I’ve been doing, refresher Here  and in there I said that if I wasnt careful I’d burn out. Well I didnt burn out but I did get an email from “Cooking up Faith” that she was burning out and would not be continuing the “Love in 2016” the one year study of 1  Corinthians. That was disappointing but kind of also gave me a little bit of breathing space..

So this is whats new this week.

Good Morning Girls– We studied the Book of Job chapters 6 – 10. Job has been through a hard time when God allowed Satan to tempt Job but was ordered not to Kill Job. I was happy that Job never once accused the Lord of allowing these bad things to happen, but then Job started complaining and whining, you know “woe is me, I wish I’d never been born” ( Ugh that sounds like me before I started this journey!)  quite frankly I want to smack Job and tell him to stop being a sooky lah lah, and be patient and see what God has in store, I read some of the later chapters for another study, so I know its all good.

God Chickes Awakend– it’s a daily devotional and so we are working through the Book of Genesis, last week we got up to Genesis 30- part of this was when Rebekah tricked Jacob (who was her favourite)  to get Isaac’s blessing over his twin brother Esau, who was the elder. This caused a big rift and  Jacob left the family. We also learnt how he went and found his cousin Laban and fell instantly in love with Rachel, he worked 7 yrs for Laban so he could marry Rachel who as the youngest daughter should not have been married first, so Laban made him marry the older daughter Leah whom he didnt love, and he had to work Another 7 yrs to get Rachel who he did love. BUT God saw that he loved Rachel more than Leah so he made Rachel barren and Leah had all the children, all sons… I’ve been enojoying following this family!

The next Bible study I am doing is called “Journey in the word” and its a private group on Facebook and each week day, so Monday to Friday we are given a scripture to read and to S.O.A.P and the a daily question, last week we studied about praying. So we read verses

• Acts2:41-47
• Hebrews 4:15-16
• Jeremiah 10:6-7
• Psalm 145:1-7
• Romans 15:30 & Colossians 1:9

Our weekly verse for memorising was Hebrews 4:16

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time if need”  We are also required to post in the group daily with our thoughts and comments and talk with other members, I have to confess I’m struggling with that because I’m naturally not as advanced as other women in the group, but I will say I am learning alot, and that was the point of joining.

This week I posted off three of my exams to Emmuas College as part of my Biblical studies, so I’m offically on the way! It’s been a busy week and I’ve really enjoyed it all.

 

 

Bible study or more than one…

Oops I did it again… I slipped and fell into another bible study… I need to slow down or risk over doing it…

Over at Good Morning Girls we are currently doing the Book of Job. Last week I was doing The Book of Acts and The Book of Job at the same time, but thankfully today I finished The Book of Acts and so I am just doing Job. Today is Job 6 and here is the question for today..

“Job earnestly wants to know what he has done wrong and the lesson he needs to pull from this” Name a time in your life when you struggled to find what God was trying to show you?

Oh boy, there have been a few times in my life, where I have wondered “What did I do to deserve this?” That was before I started studying the Lords words and even back then I kind of thought there was a God but he wouldnt know me because I didn’t know anything about him, how wrong I was back then.. He KNEW me from when he grew me in my Mothers womb, my life is written in his book.. But back then I just wondered “What did I do to deserve this?” Now I look back and I can SEE what GOD wanted me to learn from those hard times and those painful places. Therapy and journaling have helped but now I know God’s got a plan for me and everything is a learning curve I am like “Ohh that makes sense” even when back then it hurt and didnt make sense.

 

 

Then I signed up for a bible study on Love, we all need that right?! So that is over at Cooking up faith. We are spending the year doing a study on 1 Corinthians.. Here’s a teaser from the website…

* Thank you for joining us in our Love in 2016 series. We are studying 1 scripture (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) throughout 1 year, to make 1 very big difference in our lives. Come back every Monday for a new post in our LOVE series.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

So for the first week of this study, we studied

Jeremiah 14:22

“Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves bring down the showers? No it is you Lord, our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this”

Then we use the S.O.A.P method and we do a study on the Scripture.

Without sharing my whole study, I took this Gem from the scripture, “That there is only one God, he is the beginning and the end, he made everything in the world and so therefore we should not question him.”

The next Scripture we had to S.O.A.P was Isaiah 8:17

“I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his fac from the descendants of Jacob and Imwill put my trust in him”

“Isaiah trusted the Lord even when it seemed like he had turned his back on Jacobs people… Dont give up on the Lord he does things in his timing.”

The third S.O.A.P for week one was Michah 7:7

“But for me I will watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior, my God will hear me”

if you read the whole chapter Michah is talking about how people turn on each other, Im sure we have all experienced that, it says “Sons against Fathers, daughters against Mothers, wives against husbands” but the Lord never turns away from us, which is why we should put pur faith in the Lord not in the “world” ( or people)

I am looking forward to week two of this study.

Then I got invited to take part in a study group on Facebook, I had asked last year and missed out on that study group, so the Lady remembered me this time and invited me. This one is through a webpage called Love God Greatly

Each day we are given a Scripture to read and again using the S.O.A.P method. Today was day one and we had to read Acts 41-47 and do S.O.A.P on Acts 2:42 which reads: “They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” We were asked the question “How is prayer important to the Christian community?”

I believe prayer is important because its like our own private hotline to the Lord, so we can share our lives with him, in good things we thank and praise him, in worrying times we give him those worries and he eases the burdens. I personally often chat away to God through out the day, when the weather is nice or when something nice happens un expectedly I thank him for it all.

The verse for us to memorise this week is

” Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receieve mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 4:16

So thats been my Bible studies for this week. I am also working through a study guide called “Plant my feet on higher ground”  by Victor M Matthews. This is unit #4 of 144 for my Diploma of Bilical studies.

2016 Brings…..

So everyone is choosing their word for 2016…

I did that in 2014, and I did that in 2015… and I really don’t think it made much of a difference, I wonder if I am not doing it right?!

So this year I didn’t choose a word I continued on with last years word which is “Deeper” because I am still wanting to go “Deeper” with the Lord.

Since I decided to study the Bible in July 2014, I’ve read it every day I can honestly say I have not missed a day.. but I’m reading it so what?!

So I signed up for a Bible Study with Good Morning Girls It’s free and it’s online which at the time was good for me, because if I didn’t like it I wasn’t wasting money or time attending somewhere… I have to confess, I’m slightly addicted to my GMG daily study.  The new one for this year started today it’s “The book of Job“.. and I’m excited to get that started. While we were away on the Big Lap the group were studying “The Book of Acts” and I was really sick so I was late starting it and then I was too far behind, so I didn’t do it.. I am doing it now in the break to catch up with the group. I love that we read the Chapter usually one a day, and then we use the Soak method to journal about what we have read…

The SOAK Bible Study Method

S – The S stands for Scripture

O – The O stands for Observation

A – The A stands for Application

K – The K stands for Kneeling in Prayer

And then we use our colour chart to “colour” our bibles.

I found it hard to draw or colour in my bible.. life long learning about not scribbling in books.

But now I love to look at my Bible and see the coloured parts and read back over some of the things I’ve already done.

Then after I got good at doing my daily bible study and enjoying my morning ritual of waking up with God, I decided to reach out to the community and I found a real life group who meet fortnightly to study the Bible and so I joined that as well.

Then I found “ Emmaus” online study group, and they were offering a “Diploma in Biblical Studies” So I contacted them and they put me through to the Australian branch… Emmaus Queensland. They offer the same course, I have to do 144 units and every so often you get a certificate for an amount of units done, once you’ve done them all you get the Certificate for Diploma of Biblical Studies..

OK, So I know that it’s not a Diploma that I can use for very much, but it’s the principal of the thing. I want to get “Deeper with the Lord” and so by doing this Diploma course I am also learning more than I knew.. already, of course since I only started reading the bible in 2014 it’s ALL new to me.

So far I have finished three of my 144 units so I am under way, as well as I am onto my second 90 day devotional with Holly Wagner and God Chicks. The first one I did while we were away on the Big Lap, 1st December through till 29th December 2015. Each day we have a reading and in the back of the book she gives us a reading so that we can read through the Bible in a year… Currently I am started at the start, Genesis and Job, which ties in nicely with GMG’s study of Job. Love how it all comes together.

This way I spend a good 45 minutes each morning with my God Chicks, and my GMG’s study and each night I do some of my Diploma studies. I think I can honestly say “I’m going DEEPER with the Lord” in 2016!

So did you chose a “Word” for 2016? Did you pick some resolutions? let me know maybe we can buddy each other along to the finish line!

 

 

 

 

 

Proverbs 31 woman..

It’s my goal.. have I mentioned that before? maybe I just “thought” I had told you, I know I’ve told my husband and gazillion times.. she is my role model!

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

¹⁰ A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
    and her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor
    and extends her hands to the needy.
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
²² She makes coverings for her bed;
    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate,
    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Ever since I began this walk with the Lord 12 months ago, and have been reading passages of the bible I’ve wanted to be this woman. I first met her with Jolene Engle and her “Wives of the Bible series” I loved that series it was the first “Christian Class” I took, the first of many. We were introduced to the Proverbs 31 woman and so I had her highlighted in my Bible and I book marked that page and I read it often.. so when Courtney Joseph said we were studying the Books of the Proverbs yay! I’ve been loving it. And then she announced THIS!!!

So this week we have been investigating the Proverbs 31 woman.. and  when you read the above verses you wonder “How will I ever be that good?” well I know I did and then this morning I was reading Misty Leask‘s email and I realized I’m not the only one who feels “nervous” about being a “Proverbs 31 woman” she’s set a high standard for us to follow.

This first verse attracts me..

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.

Well D’uh, what woman wouldn’t want to be worth more than rubies to their husband? and then this line…

Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. 

Of course, I might be old-fashioned, but I want my husband to have full confidence in me.. and so I asked him.. after I read the whole lot out to him.. “Do you have confidence in me?” he said “Oh Sheila you know I do” and yeah he might have but until I did the study with Courtney, did I really understand what that meant? My husband is NOT a believer and so I’m sure he struggles with me asking his “Seemingly” stupid questions.. but I wanted the confirmation.. am I worth more than rubies to him? I want that so much!!

Courtney provided a copy of her Book “The Proverbs 31 woman- “One virtue at a time” which if you click on that “book” highlighted in Blue you too can have a copy! Thanks to Courtney.. and a reading schedule and then some questions for us to think about… boy did she get me thinking!!

Oh what a weight lifted off my shoulders… we don’t have to do ALL THAT in one day.. phew..because I’m pretty busy with a 20 month old terror as well as keeping up with the normal chores without having to spin my own thread and sew sashes for the family..and let’s not forget about the buying of a field and planting a vineyard.. seriously? I can’t keep plastic plants alive!! but still part of me says “One day when I grow up I’ll be the Proverbs 31 woman.” forget about the crown and the glass slippers I don’t want a prince I have one.. I want to be HER!!

Yesterday’s question was..

Ohh I so guilty of this..I pray on this every day, I want to use my words for good not bad and I want to be able to lift up my flock in encouragement and not use my words to hold them down or cause pain. I REALLY need to work on this one..

And then today’s final question is…

For me it’s the floors.. the sweeping, the mopping and the vacuuming, I HATE them, but I KNOW they need to be done and sometimes I barter with family members and say things like… “you sweep,I’ll mop” or vise versa. But that’s not being a good Proverbs 31 Wife and so from now on I will “attempt” I can’t say “I will do it” because I’m already setting myself up for failure, so I will “Attempt” to sweep, mop and vacuum the floors with my mouth firmly shut and with a happy heart, knowing I am one step closer to being a “Proverbs 31 wife” but out of this whole proverb which is long.. there is one line that I wish for most of all…

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also

Courtney taught us that “Arise” is another word for “Grown up” because let’s face it.. it takes us becoming an adult before we appreciate the things our parents tried to teach us. but that one line to me is the true meaning of Motherhood… that you have done such a good job that your children think you are blessed.. I am working on becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman and when/if that day ever comes when my children call me “Blessed” i will know I have arrived..

Courtney is doing this “reading through the Bible in a year” it’s free.. you don’t have to sign up for anything and you can start anytime.. it’s amazing how much I am learning..

This is our next adventure.. if you want to join us there is also a Facebook page and you can go to Courtney’s site and sign up for the emails which will remind you where you’re at..http://womenlivingwell.org/

Wanna join us?

Three things coming soon…

Oh I am so excited!!

Good Morning Girls

We are currently working through the book of Proverbs and I am enjoying it a lot. But for many months I have had “Proverbs 31” bookmarked in my Bible and I would read it each day!

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character Proverbs 31

^10 [b]A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
    all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
    and her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor
    and extends her hands to the needy.
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
    for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
²² She makes coverings for her bed;
    she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate,
    where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
    but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done,
    and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

I just love everything about the Proverb 31 woman!

I mean really… who doesn’t want to be worth more than rubies? and have her children call her Blessed?

Charm is deceptive.. and beauty (if you have it) is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised!

I just LOVE this verse.. so I am so excited today when Courtney announced…

A one week, in-depth look at the Proverbs 31 Woman
Begins Monday, July 27th

Yay I cannot wait!! Then in August we are doing the book of Solomon. I don’t know anything about Solomon so I am excited for that too but not as excited as the Proverbs 31 Woman study!!

Wanna join us..it’s free no signing up, you can join in on FB if you are on FB or just go along to Courtney’s website.here to find out more. And if you blog along you can link up with Courtney and the group, I keep forgetting to do that!

E is for…..

More info here: http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/what-is-blogging-from-to-z.html

Today is brought to you by the Letter “E” ( I feel like the voice over on the Sesame Street TV show… blame the Grand-babies, we LOVE Sesame street!)

E… that could be considered one of the harder letters, but look at the date… its “Easter”

We’ve just gotten home from an amazing four-day weekend with family and my Bestest best friend and her family.. technically not “blood” family, I class her as more of a sister than anyone who shares my blood.

What’s that quote “Friends are the family you give yourself” I am so thankful to ME that I gave myself Deanne…. you’ll meet her later on it the Alphabet!!

So on Thursday my Cousin Lee (again, another one that classifies as a “sister” but with diluted blood,you’ll meet her at letter “L”) and her daughter and Star Son and I got into the car with Polly the dog and set off for our “Easter Escape at St Leonards” Lee was towing the camper trailer that my Bestie and her family were staying in because our Caravan ark doesn’t allow tents! weird I know!

And here we all are, although only half of Polly!

We got down there at about 2.00 pm and Lee’s partner (which sounds kind of clinical.. so I’m upgrading his to “Cousin-in-law” ) Craig arrived not long after so we three set up the Camper trailer and had it almost finished when Deanne and Steve and the boys 17 yr old B and 13 yr old J. Let the fun begin!!

That night marked the official opening season of “footy” (In Australian it’s AFL, and here’s a link to see what I’m on about: http://www.afl.com.au/ while you are there check out Richmond or Tigers… then in future posts you’ll know who I’m on about that’s the only team we all follow) So we sat around and watched TV and caught up on all the gossip, let the marathon crochet begin tomorrow!

“Good Friday”

Deanne was up early she didn’t sleep well and so we had an early start, Lee came over and did some art and Deanne and I started crocheting our “Hooded Scarf” Link… http://crochetncrafts.com/beginner-hooded-scarf/ needless to say mine was once again an utter failure… and I had to pull about 3/4’s of it out and re start it… I am not so good with the fancier stuff and I cannot read patterns but once I have the pattern in my head I’m totally fine!  Lunch was tuna sandwiches (it’s GOOD FRIDAY no meat!) for dinner that night we have prawn and scallops  skewers cooked on the BBQ with satay sauce and rice. Yummy!! and did more crochet… that was when Craig decided that tomorrow we should ALL get together and cook a huge meal (Last Supper??) and announced he was cooking Roast Lamb.. ok, anyone who has had Craig’s roast lamb never, ever, says no a second or subsequent times.. so we were in..

Easter Saturday

The Shops are open again, so we headed out to do the shopping for “The Last Supper” the people over the road were doing vegetables, the people next door to Craig were doing desert, so we got to supply little things like onions, foil trays, cutlery and crockery and they put Deanne in charge of the washing up… now being a Good Bestie, that I aim to be,  I wasn’t about to let her suffer in agony, so I brought plastic plates and cutlery and table cloths and at the end of the night we rolled the whole lot up and threw it in the bin! YAY!! While we were out shopping for that stuff we had to do a detour to all the second-hand/ charity shops in the area.. we have certain things we look for in certain shops, and so I was ale to get some more wool in one shop, some books for my Grand babies in another shop and the final shop is where you usually hit payload!!

 

And today was no different, all these wonderful learning books yay!

So once we got the shopping and got back to camp it was after noon, Lee decided that we needed to walk along the beach, so I started collecting shells for my “Ocean Memory garden” I’m going to need a lot more!

The Dinner was “OMGosh to die for” we all sat around I think there ended up being 18 of us.Lots of laughter, lots of chatting and we blocked off the whole row, so no cars coming or going. Roast lamb, baked potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli, carrots, home-made gravy and plenty for seconds. Then for dessert there was Pavlova and cheese cake and the children had ice cream in waffle cones.. I didn’t have any dessert I was full after the main meal. Here is the photo Craig took of our “Last Supper”

 That night I wrote the blog about my “Dad” for letter D and started researching my family tree, so my mind was wide awake and I slept badly.

Easter Sunday

Deanne and I were both awake early so we decided to go for an early morning beach walk and wear off some energy. We ended up walking to Edwards point reserve and then all the way back to the Foreshore caravan park to see where The Bloke’s Sister Leigh and her partner Andrew were camping, so we had a quick chat with Leigh and headed home again. Breakfast tie, we had done almost 10,000 steps our daily goal in one walk! Today at 9.30am there was an Easter Egg hunt on for the Children at the front of the Caravan Park and so they all loved that and then it was time to do the raffle, we had brought 5 tickets for $8.00 and all money raised goes to the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal we always support that hospital we’ve used it many times. We won a few little prizes and headed back to camp.

Steve and the boys had packed all Deanne’s camp up and so we sat around chatting, had lunch and Amber and Scarlett arrived for the night, they caught two trains and a bus! Then about 4.00 pm Daughter Number one and her partner Brett and Squishy arrived they were taking over Deanne and Steve’s camp site because over the Easter period you have to book a minimum of four nights, but Deanne had to go home for work so they could not stay, so Jasmin and Brett had their last night. Deanne and Steve and the boys went home at about 5.00 pm and we are meeting them again on Saturday to go and look at a camper trailer with them, if they buy it that means I’ll get to go camping with my Bestie more often!!

We cooked hamburgers and has browns for dinner and cleaned up and had a fairly early night.. in bed by 11.00 pm rare for us at St Leonards!

Besties forever.. 27 years so far, Deanne and I.

Star Son, J and Rachael

J and his Mum Deanne.

all the kids lined up for the Easter egg hunt.

waiting for the whistle

The Last Supper.. our boys!

The Bloke and I at the Last Supper.

Daughter number one with her God Parents and the boys!!

 Easter Monday

 Today was the big pack up and heading home, normally I would stay there longer but now I am baby sitting Squishy I need to be home, it’s school holidays for another week. We left our “home away from home” at about 11.00 am and headed to see my Mother in-law (you’ll meet her tomorrow for F) we had the “pugaliscious” painting that I did for her all wrapped and ready to go and an Easter egg.

I think she loved her Pug!!

“Pugaliscious” on Tanny’s wall!

So it’s been a great Easter weekend, it’s my first since I started learning about the Lord, and so I’ve been soaking as much about the actual events as I could, therefore, each day had a meaning and we even acknowledged Jesus at 3.00 pm when it says “his spirit left his body” I am currently reading a book called “24 hours that changed the world” by Adam Hamilton, which is really helpful also, and finished the Lent Bible study I was working on for the last 40 days. This is the first year that it’s been more than a “long weekend full of chocolate and nothingness”

So how was your Easter? did you have a nice time?