Waiting, Waiting and Still Waiting

Waiting is not an easy thing. We live in a culture where everything is packaged, marketed and sold with convenience as the priority. As I was praying this morning, my mind went to the parable that Jesus told in Scripture of the persistent friend. I think praying and waiting for an answer is one of the hardest "waits" out there. And what a consolation to know that my Heavenly Father doesn't grow weary of hearing the same petitions. Lately, I have felt like that persistent friend. Knocking...knocking...knocking...but, Oh, what joy, that my God wants me to keep asking. He is not the sort that hears the knocking over and over again and acts out impatiently. He is actually glorified and acts in anticipation over my requests. As I write this, my sweet little 3 1/2 year old stands outside our front door hitting the door bell over and over again. And what is my response? Usually, a sigh or grunt of some kind. The next time she gets her joy from this "nonsense", may it stir my heart to open the door in kindness.

Thank you Lord for your patience and perfect timing in answering my requests. Please help me to not give up and give me perseverence to continue the knocking.

P.S. Unbelievably, as I was finishing this post, the mail came. In the mail, my parents sent me a CD by John Waller called, While I'm waiting. In the card attached, they wrote, "Keep waiting, keep serving...." This is just incredible.... Here is the title song.

I love you Dad and Mom.

Daddy's Fishing Buddies

Normally while I bake bread, make homemade salsa and can tomato sauce, the girls are usually in the kitchen helping me, but today Daddy took them fishing. "Marie" just got her first fishing pole and wanted to try it out.(It happens to have Dora on it.) So the girls hopped in Daddy's truck and went for a fishing trip. Each of them caught about 10 blue gill and were able to bring a few of them home. "Little Joe" was privileged to help me in the kitchen and run to the fruit stand with me.

Notice the purse...she is still all girl!

"Inger" is definitely more tom-boy then her sister...the dirtier the better.

As Daddy put it, here is the six pack.

This is the salsa recipe I use.

Looking back 10 years on my boys

I may be a bit bias, but I think these are the cutest little boys (and big boy!) that ever have been.

My Music Man

My Dear "Little Joe",

You are an important part of my life, son. You are growing up in a whole new way in the last few weeks. I know this has not been entirely pleasant, but you have stepped up in a way that is great to see. You have taken your responsibilities seriously and have shown a new zeal for your role in this family. I look forward to seeing you grow and change and mature. Your love for music is something you have always held dear. It is awesome to see the talents God has given you being used to His glory. Joy exudes from you in all you do. Keep striving to know God better. Thank you for loving your sisters in the way you do. You are a wonderful protector.

This is "Little Joe" playing trumpet in the Spring Concert. He is part of a home school band.

I've Never Had a Green Thumb, But.....

I have never known a whole lot about plants and how to take care of them. But in the last couple of years I have tried a few things.

These are Japanese Plums. My husband brought home seeds from a few plums he found and ate at work. He told me to just "throw" them in some dirt and see what happens. Be careful, though; he didn't know the seeds are poisonious.

This is an avacado plant. Take an avacado seed; clean it thoroughly. Place 3 toothpicks in the seed near the rounded end. Place the seed on the top of a jar or glass and fill the it to the top with water. Keep it full of water, covering the seed. It has taken 3 weeks to a month to germinate. The seed will crack and roots will come out of the bottom. Soon enough the plant will grow from the top. Once it is about 3 inches tall, transplant to a pot with soil.

This is a pineapple plant. (DUH!!) After you have cut off the top of a pineapple, place it in the ground, with the leafy top showing. It has taken 3 years for our first pineapple....this is what you see.

A Child Like Faith

My oldest daughter has been a source of such quiet peace and joy in my life right now. I have never known a child who floats through life always thinking the best of situations, who enjoys the simple things in life as though someone has given her a million dollars, and who prays with such depth and clarity that only our Father above could have given her the insight into which she prays.

My dear "Inger", there are so many days you bring joy to our family in a way that words cannot express. You help me to remember our Abba Father is One who truly cares about us, even when I fail to feel His presence. I watch you as you swing each day on your favorite swing and see your beautiful face shining forth his presence. You are so special, by daughter, and I am so glad God has given you to us. I pray that as you grow older, your faith will not faulter and you will continue to have the peace that passes all understanding that so many of us adults lose as we go through life experiences. I love you, Sweetie.

Reflecting Jesus in our Lives...this is often painful!

I found this story on the blogsphere....

"I read a story of a woman who was involved in a small group and in the course of the small group, they were reading from... Malachi 3:3: "He will sit and judge like a refiner of silver, watching closely as the dross is burned away."

And in this small group, they ask the question, "What is dross? What does this mean? What does a silversmith actually do?"

So she said, "Okay, next week, before we meet, I will go out, see a silversmith and I will figure out exactly what a silversmith does."

So she went down, she met with a jeweller and he began to show her how he worked with silver.

He said, "You gotta put the silver right in the middle of the hottest part of the fire. The silver has to be so hot that it will melt and the dross in it can be brushed away; that's the crud and such that’s in the silver when you mine it."

And she watched as he was doing it. She said, "Do you have to stay there?"

And he said, "Oh yes, you have to keep staring at it, you have to keep watching it because if you don’t watch it, it could ruin the silver."

And then she said, "How do you know when the silver is ready?"

He said, "I know the silver is ready when I can see my reflection in it."

Lord, I want to reflect you so clearly that it is evident when the world looks at me, they see Jesus not me. More of you, less of me.

Valley of Vision

This song is helping me through an extremely hard valley right now.

I pray it encourages you as well.

Psalm 20

Thank you to my friend, who encouraged me with this!

"May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
May He send you help from the sanctuary,
And strengthen you out of Zion;
May He remember all your offerings,
And accept your burnt sacrifices.

May He grant you according to your heart's desire,
And fulfill all your purpose.
We will rejoice in your salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfull all your petitions.

Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.

Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
They have bowed down and fallen;
But we have risen and stand upright.

Save, Lord!
May the King answer us when we call."

Pleading Before the Throne of Mercy with Submission

"I cannot speak for you, but I may speak for myself. If there is anything I know, anything that I am quite assured of beyond all question, it is that praying breath is never spent in vain. My own conversion is the result of long, affectionate, and earnest prayer. Parents prayed for me, God heard their cries, and here I am preaching the gospel. Since then I have adventured upon some things that were far beyond my capacity, but I have never failed because I cast myself upon the Lord. I have not hesitated to challenge our church with large ideas of what we might do for God, and we have accomplished all that we purposed. I have sought God's help in all my manifold undertakings, and though I cannot tell here the story of my private life in God's work, yet if it were written, it would be standing proof that there is a God that answers prayer. He has heard my prayers -not now and then- so many times that it has grown into a habit with me to spread my case before God with the absolute certainty that whatsoever I ask of God He will give to me. It is not now a perhaps or a possibility. I know that my Lord answers me, and it would be folly to doubt it. I am sure of this, for I have reaped it.

Still remember that prayer is always to be offered in submission to God's will. When we say that God hears prayer, we do not mean that He always gives us literally what we ask for. We do mean, however, that He gives us what is best for us and if He does not give us the mercy we ask for in silver, he bestows it upon us in gold. If He does not take away the thorn in the flesh, yet he says, 'My grace is sufficient for thee' (2 Cor. 12:9). We never offer up prayer without inserting the clause, either in spirit or in words, 'Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou will' (Mt. 26:39). We can only pray without an 'if' when we are quite sure that our will must be God's will, because God's will is fully our will."

-Charles Spurgeon, The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life, pg. 53

Think on This!!!! or More Thoughts on Prayer

"So often it will happen that God not only helps His people through the miry places of the way but also brings them safely far on the journey. When Jesus Christ came walking upon the stormy sea and the disciples received Him into the ship, not only was the sea calm, but it is recorded: 'Immediately the ship was at the land whither they went' (John 6:21). That was a mercy over and above what they asked. I sometimes hear believers pray and make use of a quotation that is not in the Bible: 'He is able to do exceeding abundantly above what we can ask or even think.' I do not know what we can ask or what we can think. But it is said, 'Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think' (Eph. 3:20). When we are in great trial, let us say, 'Now I am in prison. Like Jeremiah, I will pray as he did, for I have God's command to do it; and I will look out as he did, expecting that He will show me reserved mercies that I know nothing of at present.' God will not merely bring His people through the battle, but He will bring them forth with banners waving, dividing the spoil with the mighty and claiming their portion with the strong. Expect great things of a God who gives such great promises as these."

by Charles Spurgeon, The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life

P.S. For those of you who are like me and automatically question the motive of a prayer like this, knowing we need to not presume on God, come back and see my next blog that will be about submitting to God's will in prayer.

Snakes Aren't My Favorite

Of all God's creatures, snakes and spiders are my least favorite. But God sent us a surprise this week. I walked out my door and saw this!

Prayer and the Sovereignty of God

This a difficult one to tackle and understand.

I am in the midst of reading a book by Charles Spurgeon: The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life. He presents the struggle in this way.

"Lest you be downcast by the thought of His sovereignty, I invite you to the text. It is a throne, and there is unquestionable sovereignty. But to every soul that knows how to pray, to every soul that comes to faith comes by Jesus, the true mercy seat, divine sovereignty wears no dark and terrible aspect but is full of love. If it is a throne of grace, I gather that the sovereignty of God to a believer is always exercised in pure grace. To you who come to God in prayer, the sovereignty always runs thus: 'I will have mercy on that sinner, thought he does not deserve it. Because I can do as I will with My own, I will bless him, I will make him My child, I will accept him. He shall be Mine in the day when I make up My jewels.' On the mercy seat, God never executed sovereignty other than in a away of grace. He reigns, but in this way: 'Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life.' (Rom. 5:21) On the throne of grace, sovereignty has placed itself under the bonds of love. God will do as HE wills, but on the mercy seat, He is under bods of His own making, for He has entered into covenant with Christ, and so into covenant with His children. Though God is and ever must be a sovereign, He never will break His covenant nor alter the word that has gone out of His mouth. He cannot be false to a covenant of His own making. When I come to God in Christ, to God on the mercy seat, I need not imagine that by any act of sovereignty God will set aside His covenant. That is impossible.

And sweetest thought of all, every covenant promise has been endorsed and sealed with blood , and far be it from the everlasting God to pour scorn upon the blood of His dear Son. The covenant is ratified with blood, the blood of His own dear Son. It is not possible that we can plead in vain with God when we plead the blood-sealed-covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the power of the blood of Jesus with God can never fail. It speaks when we are silent and it prevails when we are defeated. Better things than that of Abel does it ask for (Heb. 12:24), and its cry is heard. Let us come boldly, for we bear the promise in our hearts.

AMEN!

I pray that this encourages you. I strongly recommend this book to anyone desiring to better their prayer life; the whys and hows.

Praise Jesus for our compassionate Creator!

My 2 Favorite Princesses

Last Saturday, my girls and I attended the annual Ladies' Spring Luncheon at our church.

Have you ever seen such beautiful princesses?

My oldest, was asked the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Her answer- " I want to be a wife."

This puzzled the questioner, in which he responded, " I have never heard that answer before."

Keep striving for this, my daughter.