2015 Top Nine

I was reflecting on 2015 a few nights ago when it *finally* occurred to me that the year was ending.
What automatically comes to my mind is how tough this year was.
We came through some painful illnesses, our son spent a good part of the year in a bad mood, my husband had few days off until he finally quit nine months into the year, and we outgrew our apartment to the point of discomfort.

Despite the difficulties, God never abandoned us and, as always, He showed Himself strong for us in our weakness.
God is good no matter what.

So here, in no particular order, are my top nine from 2015 as listed above:

The best birthday present: a new church-
In October 2014 we left the church we had been attending for over three years in search of a church closer to home. It was a disheartening search but finally, the last week of January (a week before my birthday) God lead us to visit the last King James only baptist church in our area.

Seeing our son make friends-
B didn't really have friends before we started attending our new church and its been a very big blessing to see him learn from others, be part of a group, and have lots of fun.

New friends, old friends, all good friends-
It's lovely to have friends who watch your back and pray for you from a distance. I don't think we'll ever understand the difference the intercession of others makes in our lives.

I was there for my nephew's birth-
Being present for my sister's son's birth is a memory I'll always cherish.

The freedom, joy and peace gained from leaving social media-
The longer I've been away from social media, the more I've learned about myself, and the easier it is for me to get along with others. I'm grateful I left.

The joy, growth, and love I share with my husband-
Marriage gets sweeter with age, by God's grace we'll continue to grow closer to Him and to each other.

God gave  me  us grace and strength to face each day-
We needed a lot of grace and a lot of strength this year and He made sure we had more than enough.

God met our needs each day and showered us with His tender mercies-
We never needed anything and His hand was always evident in everything we did.

Being able to teach all the children at church-
I taught the youngest children for a portion of the year and then moved to the older ones. I have loved getting to know them all and work with them on the Christmas Play. They've taught me a lot about life, God, and myself.

2015 was a year for growth. I've come out of it having learned a lot about myself. I only hope I can use my knowledge of myself to bear godly fruit. All in all, I'm glad to keep moving forward, and by God's grace I will.

2016 is already exciting- we're currently moving into a four bedroom house on an 18 600 sqf lot.
I cut my long hair and now its so short I can barely twist it into a bun. Lord willing we'll go to Mexico in November for my father-in-law's 70th birthday. My husband is no longer a chef and has started his own business- that will certainly make things interesting.
I'd me over the moon- literally- if Jesus came back and caught us all up to heaven.
Until then I'll keep trying to serve Him and enjoy His blessings the best I know how.

In Everything Give Thanks- part 2

A few weeks ago I posted a long list of thank yous to God.
It was Canadian Thanksgiving and I wanted to post something for it. At first I thought I'd post about all the things I love that I am grateful for (that's the fashionable thing to do on Thanksgiving). However, I began to consider this blog and the whole reason it exists: bringing glory to God. Thus, In Everything Give Thanks- Part 1 was written and I just poured out everything I could think of.
That was not the first time I've just thanked God for His blessings. A few years ago I was listening to a preacher talk about being grateful and just pouring out praises, gratitude, and glory to God. Since then many of my prayers are just prayers of thanks and all my prayers start out with thanks. Occasionally when I can't sleep I just start thanking God for things.
It's not a routine, habit, or something on my checklist. I'm actually grateful so I show my gratitude.
If you don't praise God on a regular basis, you should start, it changes your life.

While I understand that positive words make a difference and positive thinking makes a difference I am not a big promoter of either.

I like to be practical and if a situation is bad, I'm not going to lie to myself and others just to be positive.

I am, however, grateful and gratitude is a practical persons positive outlook.

I never really thought about gratitude until one of my favourite online preachers said this: 'nothing shows you are weak more than ingratitude'.

That hit me so hard I have never been the same since.

As it started to work on me I realized for myself that being grateful takes strength.

It is easy to say thank you and show your appreciation on Thanksgiving but to look at situations that seem hopeless and find something to be grateful for is something else. I did talk about that in my blog post Grateful.

God blessed me with a good home, two christian parents, all my five senses, the ability to be independent, I was born in a free country, and I'm not constantly living in fear for my life.
Just as easily I could have been born to a broken home, with God hating parents, lacking the ability to see or hear or speak, and too many issues for me to live independently.
We can't control the situations we are born into. I was born into a good one and I can't take that for granted. There are people out there who would do anything for the stability God has given me, it's wasted on me if I don't appreciate it.

If they are ever taken away I do not want to regret not praising God for them.

I know what I have and I know what I deserve.

In everything give thanks: for this is the

will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

If you are wondering what God's will is for you life, start giving thanks

And let the peace of God rule in your

hearts, to the which also ye are called in

one body; and be ye thankful.

Colossians 3:15

The amount of peace you get from being thankful is immeasurable.

There are things I would like but my gratitude for the things I have outweigh my desires for anything else.

My pastor said this a few weeks ago:

"God is good all the time. He's not good because of what He does, He is good because that's His character".

It's true.

If you think when everything is going well that God is good but when they go down the toilet, through the sewer and into the deepest most disgusting place of the ocean that He's not good- you're wrong.

God is good no matter what happens.

He gave His Son for you. That is good no matter what way you look at it.

We love him, because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19

We wouldn't know God if He didn't show love to us first. Our love for God originates with Him. We have hope because of Him, we have eternal life because of Him, we can enjoy the good things of this life because of Him. If you can't be grateful for that, you won't be grateful for anything.

I hope this was a blessing and a help to you in some way!

In Everything Give Thanks

In everything give thanks -1 Thessalonians 5:18a

Thank you God that you are good
That your mercy endureth forever
Thank you for the Son who shed His blood
Thank you for the Spirit who will never leave us
Thank you for your Word which is forever settled in heaven
Thank you God for Jerusalem which you have chosen to put your name there
Thank you God for charity that beareth all things and is easy to be entreated
Thank you God that you are holy, that you are whole
Thank you God that you know the end from the beginning
Thank you God for giving the rain
Thank you God for the cold
Thank you God for the ordinances of the sun and moon
Thank you God for warmth
Thank you God that you are holy
For your abundant mercy, faithfulness, and grace
Thank you God for Jesus Christ
The Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world
Thank you, God for Christ's sacrifice
That He died for me so that I have
fellowship with you
Thank you God that you never sleep
That whenever I call upon you, you will hear
Thank you God that you are just and the righteous judge
Thank you God that thou seest me
Thank you God for making me whole
That I can see
That I can smell
That I can hear
That I can feel
That I can taste and see that you are good
That I can take pleasure in the work of your hands
Thank you that I can walk
That I can talk
That I can do
That I can think
That I can love
That I can cry
That I can smile
That I can laugh
That I can read
That I can learn
That I can write (sort of)
That I can teach, by your grace
That I can cook
That I can knit
That I love flowers
That I can work
That I can create
That I can run
That I can live
That I can hold my child and learn of him
That I can kiss my love and enjoy him
Thank you God that you are love
That you give family
That you gave me my mother and my father
That you gave me good siblings
That you gave me precious aunties
That you gave me kind uncles
That you gave me sweet cousins
Thank you God for church
That I get to labour for you
Thank you God for the joy we share
Thank you God for the fellowship we have
Thank you God for a good pastor
Thank you God for his wife
Thank you God for all the children
Thank you God for my Bible Class
Thank you God for my students
For their sweetness, helpfulness, thoughtfulness, consideration, energy and kindness
Thank you God that we can learn of you
Thank you God that you give us instruction
That out of your mouth cometh wisdom and understanding
Thank you God that you will guide me with thy counsel and afterwards lead me to glory
Thank you God for our home in heaven
Thank you God that Christ is coming to get us
Thank you God for everything
That you have given us what we do not deserve
That you are longsuffering
That you give and give and give
That you will never leave us or forsake us
That we have access to you by Jesus Christ
That the Spirit maketh intercession for us
That great is thy faithfulness
That your mercies are new every morning

Thank you God that I cannot thank you enough

That you have blessed me beyond measure

That I love you because you first loved me and gave yourself for me

Thank you God that for your tender mercies

For the little blessing everyday that outweigh the big blessings

Thank you God that I do not have the words to praise you and thank you for what you are and do

Thank you God that you never change that you are the same yesterday today and forever

Thank you God that you are God

That there in none else

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye

lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness: come

before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord he is God; is is he

that hath made us, and not we ourselves;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving.

and into his courts with praise; be thankful

unto him, and bless his name.

For the Lord is good; his mercy is

everlasting; and his truth endureth to all

generation.

Psalm 100

Grateful

Gratitude is becoming an endangered species. It is one of the things consumerism has done to the world. We have and are not grateful because we can buy it of our own hand and get more if needed.
There are two big things I want. One of things thing money can buy, the other one can only be given.
The thing money can buy is a house. A nice house, not too big, with a good size yard- for a garden and for my son, in a nice area so I can go for runs every morning or evening. This desire has been on my mind lately because we almost had the opportunity to move but it was taken away from us.
Today in my bible reading I came across this story:

1 Samuel 8

Starting in verse 4- Then all the elders of Israel gathered

themselves together, and came to Samuel

unto Ramah,

And said unto him, Behold, thou art old,

and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now

make us a king to judge us like all the

nations.

But the thing displeased Samuel, when

they said, Give us a king to judge us. And

Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

And the LORD said unto Samuel, hearken

unto the voice of the people in all that they

 say unto thee: for they have not rejected

thee, but they have rejected me, that I

should not reign over them.

skipping to verse 9- Now therefore hearken unto

their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them,

and shew them the manner of the king that

shall reign over them.

And Samuel told all the words of the

LORD unto the people that asked of him a

king.

And he said, This will be the manner of

the king that shall reign over you: He will

take your sons, and appoint them for

himself, for his chariots, and to be his

horsemen; and some shall run before

his chariots.

ANd he will appoint him captains over

thousands, and captains over fifties; and

will set them to ear his ground, and to reap

his harvest, and to make his instruments of

war, and instruments of his chariots.

And he will take your daughters to be

confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be

bakers,

and he will take your fields, and your

vineyards, and your oliveyards, even

the best of them, and give them to his

servants.

And he will take the tenth of your seed,

and of your vineyards, and give to his

officers, and to his servants.

And he will take your menservants, and

your maidservants, and your goodliest

young men, and your asses, and put them 

to his work.

He will take the tenth of your sheep; and

ye shall be his servants.

And ye shall cry out in that day because

of your king which ye shall have chosen

you; and the LORD will not hear you in that

day.

This account struck me as I read it.

I wonder if this is like my husband and myself. We have a nice apartment- the ceilings are high, two bathrooms, a nice big kitchen, a big balcony that gets lots of sun, all for $1000 a month. The only thing is we live in a not so nice neighborhood and other tenants are really loud at night. Even so, we have a decent situation right now, by stretching our hands out to get a house by any (reasonable) means, are we rejecting God's will?

After everything Samuel tells the Israelites about the King that would be appointed, what do they say-

Nevertheless the people refused to obey

the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay;

but we will have a king over us;

That we also may be like all the nations;

and that our king may judge us, and go out

before us, and fight our battles.

And Samuel heard all the words of the

people, and he rehearsed them in the ears

of the LORD.

And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken

unto their voice, and make them a king.

And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go

ye everyman unto his city.

1 Samuel 19-22

To the children of Israel, having a king was worth everything he'd take from them.

I wonder if that is like us sometimes. We want something so terribly we'd do anything to get it, no matter how much trouble it causes us.

I look at our life in our little apartment: I have many comforts others don't and I still want more. The troubles I have with apartment living would be magnified in a house but I still feel I'd gladly take the troubles and the house if we could manage it.
I'm not willing to speculate 'what if' the children of Israel had continued on under God's style of governance. I do know, that the trouble they ran into under Saul would not have happened.
So for now I must be patient and grateful.
Grateful for my big kitchen, two washrooms, and my sweet little balcony garden. Grateful I don't have an entire house to clean, I don't have to worry about my son falling down the stairs, and I don't have to worry about making sure three different doors and all the windows are closed when we go out. I am grateful we only pay rent, not repairs, maintenance, and pest control. I am grateful it's easy for my son to make friends in the playground because there are lots of children in the complex we see often.
I'm not a 'think positively' kind of person but thinking practically has helped me with this.

The other thing I want is another baby. I'd love a little girl but I'll take what I can get.
It's something I've sought the Lord over, wept uncontrollably about, fasted and prayed about, done a whole bunch of things that 'help' with these matters but I have not carried a baby to term.
I can think about it calmly now because through all my prayers and studies God has reassured me concerning this matter.
I was out with my son and husband the other day and as I watched them I realized something: how blessed we are to have each other. Right now I can focus on my precious son. Michael and I can love on him like nothing else. We can enjoy him thoroughly because our attention is not divided from him.
This is a time to be grateful for. This is a time of (relative) calmness that we can enjoy.
When, and if, the Lord grants us another baby, our lives will change even more and the steadiness we know now will vanish in a second.
When, and if, the Lord grants us another baby, it will be in His own time when He knows it is right.

There is no wisdom nor understanding

nor counsel against the Lord.

Proverbs 21:30

We have no idea of the troubles God is keeping us from by not giving us the things we think we want/need. By allowing Him to take the reins and be in control, you are saving yourself from a lot of unnecessary problems. It is not always easy to let these things go but but God is so good. While He guides us and teaches us He gives us the tools to grow, and patience to learn.  While I can easily write about things now, it was a process to get me to the place where I could face them with equanimity. God will help you if you surrender to His will. You will be blessed all the more for it.

All the way my saviour leads me,

What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy,

Who through life has been my Guide?

Heav'nly peace, divinest comfort,

Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know, whate'er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well;

For I know, whate'er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well.

All the Way My Saviour Leads Me- Frances Crosby