All tagged patience

I cannot do this anymore

Last week I wrote about how much I feel paralyzed by the inability to do big things or things I feel I should.  Yesterday I was not feeling great, Mark was sick in bed and I was preaching in the morning.  I find it hard doing ministry when Mark is not around as the boys still needed walking through social situations (one of our children still struggles with having so many people around in our house and interacting in socially appropriate ways around them - a lot of fun in community living!). In the afternoon it was the first birthday party of our friends' child.  I was there at little David’s birth, so it was a significant birthday for me to be at and to celebrate and I wanted to be there.  But by the time 5 o’clock came round, the party had started and I was asleep and wiped out! I wanted to attend the party but I also knew that I needed to make the children some food first or else they would just fill up on party food and that would not be helpful for anyone.  Believe me...

Seasons of Creativity

How is your new year going? Does it feel like a new season? It is Summer right now in Peru and we are abiding as a community - spending lots of time resting, spending time together socially, sorting through things and preparing for the new school year which starts in March here.  Having spent time resting over Christmas I feel excited and expectant about what God is going to do this year.  Right now I am in a season of preparation and deepening roots...

When writing a blog is too complicated...

They say that it takes a while to discover your writing voice.  A while to recognize your particular style.  

 

Since December I have not written on the blog.  I have too much and nothing to say at the same time.  I hate the matter-of-fact, trying-to-put-everything-into-neat-little-boxes-to-explain-God-and-the-world style of my writing.  God Himself and my life are so many layers of unknown to me right now that the very idea of trying to simplify and reduce Him or my life into pithy little summaries seems horrifying to me.  Life is just too raw for sewn-up corners and neatly organized bookcases of thought. 

 

But perhaps, in the hating of my style and voice, I have finally been able to see it...

The Sun Will Rise Again

Poetry is written to be read aloud - for the words to flow off the tongue and for rhythms to mix together to add meaning.  When I wrote this poem, I wanted to share it, but I also wanted it to be experienced, not scanned over quickly - then it would mean nothing.  

So I thought about how I could bring the words to life and came up with this short reading (around two minutes) set to some visuals...

Sowing in Tears, Reaping in Joy

When you are in the middle of the tears, you have no idea that as they drip on the ground they are watering new seeds. 

 

As you struggle with the sledgehammer of bad news to the mind, a descending fog and a wondering if God is bigger than the overwhelming Tsunami coming over you, you have no idea that He is already carrying you on His shoulder out of the storm, but it is a long way before the damage is out of sight... 

It is worth it

I was totally exhausted but I still had another meeting.  I had been rushing around since 6am and now it was 9.15pm.  All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, my body was giving way, but I knew I needed to go and see my friend.  This kind of exhaustion I knew was not just physical but also emotional and spiritual. I arrived at her house (which is just across the street from my house,) and flopped down on her sofa.  She could see my exhaustion and came and surrounded me in a hug and began to intercede for me.  I had been through an intense spiritual battle that week and she knew it.  She began to pray, speak out life and promises over me and my spirit.  She and I cried together and brought the intense issues of the day to God...

Kitchen Diaries Part 5: Still Going...

Yep, we are now fully into week 11 of our kitchen redesign. This week is the first week we have been able to use the kitchen, even though we still have no cupboards or drawers! Our brand new oven is currently being fixed and is due back next week, as are the cupboards, but with all the unfulfilled hopes we're not expecting too much! ...

On the days I am an elastic band.

Last night, a good friend and I sat and chatted in her new apartment until just past my bedtime. 

The last week has been incredibly busy.  A close friend and teammate has just had her first child and I accompanied her husband and her during the labour, birth and post birth which lasted 3 days.  When I wasn’t with them at various clinics, I was trying to keep my children from writing too many letters or complaining too loudly in protest at my absence! (Yes, the first day I came home, I was faced with a paper stuck to the door reading ‘why do you love them more than us?’!) Sleep was not had and other responsibilities remained, even if homeschool did go out of the window for a few days (the boys got the holidays they'd been asking for!) ...

In this together

I am a better person when I slow down. 

 

For some reason, (probably because I am a wannabe-don’t wannabe perfectionist), I constantly try and improve my life and create perfect scenarios.  Some of this is positive.  It is good to take time out to evaluate different areas of my life, relationships, my home, our ministry, our marriage, our parenting and see where things are not working out so well and make a plan for change.  But why do I suddenly think that with that plan in place, suddenly everything will be perfect? ...