Its Getting Closer

It always seems such a long wait when you are keen for something to happen, and then suddenly it's upon you and time seems to rush by! 
Of course we know that time doesn't go faster or slower, just our perception of it. 

I am thankful and yet amazed that the God we serve is not constrained by time, His timing is perfect and His perception is different than ours.

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:8-9)

 I watched men in black 3 recently and there is a character in it who stands on the timeline and can see lots of possible futures, quite a cool concept (yes I do like a bit of sci fi :-0) but it made me think of God, except that God KNOWS what the future holds and what we are going to do and choose and somehow He gets His will done and His plans are accomplished throughout history.

I have been studying Isaiah this year with CBS, and the main thing that comes through is God's Sovereignty. All the while, people think they are making the plans and in charge but yet somehow it is the Lord's will that is accomplished 

Israel's enemies rose up against them, thinking that it was them doing it all and yet it was God's hand in it, He delivered them up to their enemies because of their rebellious ways.

God revealed His plans for the nations - in Isaiah 10, we read about Assyria 

Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger,
    in whose hand is the club of my wrath!
⁶ I send him against a godless nation,
    I dispatch him against a people who anger me,
to seize loot and snatch plunder,
    and to trample them down like mud in the streets.
⁷ But this is not what he intends,
    this is not what he has in mind;
his purpose is to destroy,
    to put an end to many nations.

And then in Isaiah 14

²⁵ I will crush the Assyrian in my land;
    on my mountains I will trample him down.
His yoke will be taken from my people,
    and his burden removed from their shoulders.”

Let me share some of the commentary from my CBS homework - 

God's plan still lies in the future. Currently, Assyria threatens to invade Judah and the surrounding nations. God will use the Assyrians as His instrument to chastise Judah's godlessness. Then, He predicts "I will crush the Assyrian in My land" (14:25) 
PROPHECY FULFILLED: The prophet Jeremiah, who lived about 100 years after Isaiah, saw the Assyrian Empire completely crushed by Babylon in 612 BC God told Jeremiah, "I will punish the king of Babylon and is land as I punished the king of Assyria" (Jeremiah 50:18) The fulfillment of one prophecy provided the basis for Jeremiah's belief in the ultimate fulfillment of another. 

There are numerous more examples in Isaiah of God's prophecies being declared and then being fulfilled - it really is worth studying! 

I have just been so encouraged by studying some of the history of Israel and seeing God's hand so clearly on it all - but I imagine for the people living through it, it wasn't so clear I can see them wondering where God was in it all and what on earth He was doing.  And I think it is the same for us today, in our own lives it is not until "after the event" that we can look back and see that God was in it and had His way all through.

Whatever you may be going through or pondering, however you feel about what is happening in the world, let me encourage you with this verse from Isaiah 

²⁴ The Lord Almighty has sworn,

“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,
    and as I have purposed, so it will happen.

(Isaiah 14:24) 

Moving Again!!!

We are moving again!! You may remember that just 11 months ago we moved to this house, read about that here 

This is an amazing story about listening to God and trusting Him that I want to share.

Just before Christmas last year, some friends of ours let us know that the house they rented out was becoming available and they would love for us to rent it. I was so excited, went to view it and fell in love. I felt strongly though that I should submit to my husband and that the final decision should be his, as it was 3 hours away from where we currently live and we were not sure how we would be able to support ourselves financially.

Neither of us had any peace about saying yes to moving, though my heart said yes, my spirit said wait! 

I struggled to keep my peace though, as in the back of my mind I was remembering the 6 years we were stuck in a house that leaked, praying desperately for a new house and wondering why it was taking so long! I also knew that our current house was a temporary move and the landlady had suggested we stay for a year, so I was worried that should we turn our friends house down we would have nowhere else to go!!

God took this opportunity to show me just how amazing He is and how it is safe to trust Him, and what matters is following Him above all else.

My Dad told us about a house nearby which may be suitable, it had 3 bedrooms upstairs and a room downstairs we could use as a bedroom, I went to look at it dubiously, thinking I wasn't really keen on a downstairs bedroom, but when I saw it I fell in love!! 3 good sized bedrooms upstairs and 1 downstairs, and our son decided that he would love a bedroom downstairs. 

A separate living room and dining room and one of the best bits (I think) a separate laundry room!

The move is in a few weeks - will be interesting with a broken finger but I am trusting God that He will provide and help - if I go quiet you will know why!! 

WE'RE MOVING!!!!

Its so amazing when God answers prayer isn't it?

We have been praying for a new house for a number of years, our current one has leaked since we lived in it (6 years) and has got worse, also had mice and just wasn't big enough. We prayed and have had a number of obstacles, it's been a time of learning and leaning on God's grace. A time to learn contentment that doesn't depend on circumstances and a time to hold on to the fact that God would provide for us. 

I am so grateful that there are such wonderful christians out there who are willing to listen to God and to live out their faith in a practical way.

Our landlord was being difficult and would not give us a reference, I was beginning to feel like we would never get out of the house but then God provided. Through my Dad and through fellow believers. We did not need a reference and are now in the process of packing and moving all our belongings into a new beautiful house - that doesn't leak and is bigger and will be so much more suitable for a family with 6 precious children.

We would appreciate your prayers as we move - its been 6 years since the last year and we have 4 more children than last time! And I will update with pics when possible

God bless

God's comfort

Today God has been speaking to me about His comfort - so often we feel like we are forgotten by God, our problems don't matter or are insignificant - which in light of the whole world probably are. But they matter to us, they affect us and God cares about us. He hasn't forgotten us He is working to bring things to fruition, and this sometimes takes time.
I was reading in Nancy Campbell's 100 days of blessing today and she talked about the Israelites in bondage. During the time they were suffering and maybe feeling forgotten and deserted God was preparing Moses, taking him into the desert for 40 years! It couldn't happen in an instant, it took time but He never forgot about their suffering!

Exodus 3:7-9
⁷ And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ⁸ So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. ⁹ Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.


Later, while reading God gave me this passage too

Psalm 31:7-8
I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness,
Because You have seen my affliction;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
8 And You have not given me over into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.

How encouraging to know that God sees our affliction, He sees it all and He is working it out, we can't always see it but we can trust that our God who is Sovereign is a loving God and is working all things out for the good of those who love Him!

God - the master weaver

Things have been tough this week - our hallway is soaking wet so that you don't so much "walk" but "squelch" into the kitchen! This is due to the big rainstorms we had on Monday - and the fact the wind was blowing the "wrong" way - it's the rendering which is the problem - our house is privately rented so it's up to the landlord to keep the building up to scratch. We really do need to move but in order to do that you need to find a bond and one months rent up front so you are looking at having £1000 to be able to move which we just haven't got at the moment.
So this week we have spent "camping out" at my parents - which isn't so bad as they only live down the road so we can easily go back and forth to put down new newspaper to soak up the water and get clothes etc. But I've struggled a lot with feelings etc and then yesterday I managed to get to have a little look at a shop (for stocking fillers ideas) with just the baby (bliss to shop minus any "walking" children) and as I was walking home, thinking and praying with no distractions, God revealed a little of Himself to me - He really did lift me up out of my circumstances and renewed my spirit.
I don't know about you but when I have these experiences it's hard to describe, I can't quite put my finger on it but I know that God reminded me that He sees the bigger picture - He is concerned with so much more than our here and now - He is concerned with eternity- with our character and He can see the end from the beginning!
Even when we are being attacked by the enemy, God is still able to use it to our benefit - to produce the character in us that He wants, or to enable us to help someone else in a similar situation in the future - we will be able to look back as Joseph did in Genesis 45 and say to the enemy - "You meant it for our harm but God meant it for good"
It's hard and I don't believe we can do it on our own so my prayer for anyone reading this who is struggling is that God will do for you as He did for me - and lift you above your circumstances, refresh your heart and renew your hope in Him.
This morning we also got some lovely post and found my purse - which has been missing for 3 weeks! Some people would call it coincidence but I call it God's love for me - showing me He cares and is capable of taking care of all things!

Unfinished.....

I think if I was to sum up my life this summer the apprpriate word would be - unfinished! I've made good starts on de cluttering, plannimg and scheduling but seem to run out of time to actually finish any of it!

Today my aim is to finish preparng for school which begins tomorrow! I have an idea of what I want to achieve and have planned what we do and when but it is actually reading the material and having it to hand that I have still got to do.

I'm not sure if I just take too much on or am just not self disciplined enough or its just the season of lfe with 5 young children but things are pretty difficult, my house has got out of control with the constant feeding of baby which hasn't got much better now she's teething and every night I get to hear mice in our ceiling - (we're trying to figure out the best way of dealing with this problem as regards mouse traps and children as we'd have to put the traps in the childrens bedroom as that is the floor they are under) but through it all I know God is with me and I know that these precious children are more important than a nice tidy house and I know that God is preparing a house for us and will enable us to move at the right time - I can see Him working in our life and I know I can trust Him even when everyone else lets me down!

We're also praying for a family vehicle as we are without reliable transport that we can all fit in but once again I know God can and will provide and He tells us in Matthew 6:25
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

We have the Above Rubies Family Retreat in October which I am organising, and we have to get to Scotland for it so I am trusting that God will provide!

Keeping Focused

How easy it is to lose our focus - when we're taking a photograph and it's out of focus it's obvious immediately but in life when we take our focus off Jesus it takes a while sometimes for us to realise.

I have to admit with my current situation I'm frequently taking my eyes off my Saviour and focusing on my circumstances - with a new baby who breastfeeds quite regularly, and a house that needs a serious declutter plus children with character issues and homeschooling challenges its too easy to forget the eternal and look at the temporary.

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4

I'm praying that that will be my verse to focus on in the coming weeks and will help me keep my focus in the right place!