mother and son

Mary not only found out that her son, her child, was the Saviour of the world, but also her own personal Saviour. Imagine knowing that with the history they would have shared together. We only know of Jesus in the last years of his life, when he was born, one incident as a young boy visiting his Father's house. But she knew him all his life. Saw him grow and change. And he wasn't her only child. She had others she needed to look after.

I wonder what she was like? Like any and every loving mother ever born i guess - doing the best she could.

If she had known the enormity of the responsibility the LORD had put in her hands she may have been more afraid of that angel, may have run away into the dessert like Moses. But instead she trusted that the LORD who bestowed this child on her would take care of them in their every day lives. How do we know this? Because she didn't shirk her responsibilities, didn't abandon him.

At 30 something she was still a part of Jesus' life. If she had known she would have been a nervous wreck. She found out like everyone else. I really hope he appeared to her before he ascended. Even if just to say i love you one last time.

christmas

it's the day we celebrate the LORD's birthday soon. So in my attempts to build some family traditions for my little ones, I am decorating my house on 1 dec, putting up the tree. I have decided to go with a real tree in a pot and try my very best not to kill it so we can have the same tree every christmas :)

I have even started buying gifts. Downloaded a heap of christmas carols from iTunes so I can play them every morning like my Dad use to when i was growing up. Listening to 'Mary Did You Know?' How amazingly true this song is.

When our saviour was born to such a young Mum, did she know how amazing he would be? I doubt she would have fully comprehended this. Even as the events unfolded at his birth and she stored all this away...nothing would have prepared her for his ministry, death, resurrection.

She dropped into the background like every good mum should as children grow and take on the world. There is no mention of her after Jesus' death. But I would hope she was one of the many he appeared to in person. Imagine that scene??? Wow! Did she think back to when she held him as a baby? The funny baby noises he made, the giggles, the tears she wiped when he hurt himself, when she put him to sleep at night and prayed over him?? Her little boy stood before her as Saviour of the world. The tears of joy she must have cried at the sight of him.

I love Christmas time. I love buying gifts so this is a great time for me. (one of my love languages!). Christmas is at our place this year- that happens on Christmas Eve for us. I have lots of plans to keep the kids entertained till midnight. Setting up an outside area for them, kind of like a club house just for them...i hope the grown up kids wont invade.

This year having a couple of drinks - cocktails because one of my cousins is away for New Years so doing a combined thing. Lots happening. Myles' family is coming from NZ. Their first Chrsitmas without their Mum. I remember my 1st Christmas without my Dad. Very sad. So hopefully being surrounded my lots of kids, and laughing grown ups, music and yummy food...might cheer them up a little.

protection

The poor abused baby still haunts my thoughts. Someone will say something and i am reminded of him. I am still for a moment and I think of him. It makes me pause and pray for all children like him still going through the same pain. Prayers to stop whoever is abusing them, for the authorities to find them, for those who know them to turn them in, so these children can be rescued. Prayers for the LORD to act in their lives to save them right now. Pray for one of the LORD's amazing rescue plans. For the LORD to send his angels to do all he can to help them.

It always amazes me that humans can love so much and yet have such a huge capacity to do evil. In knowing good we also know evil. Yet love conquers all because that is who our God is. Through love he heals the most broken of hearts, sets captives free, makes beauty out of ashes, forgives the most horrendous of deeds. His love is unconditional.

My children are asleep. I am thankful for the LORD's protection over us. I never take it for granted. When he answers my prayers I know all glory and praise belongs to him.

one day

where to begin.
just read about a horrific death of a child
17mths old beaten and abused
his whole life spent suffering at the hands of those who were suppose to love him.

how can this happen?
why did no one save this child?
how could my LORD let this happen?

why this child and not mine?
why not me? why save me and not this child?
i can't stop the tears.
i don't read these things because i know there is such evil in the world.

where were my LORD's angels when this child was hurting?
only 17 mths old, a few months younger than caleb.
how can we explain the great master plan when the minute details include this??
how can i praise a God who lets a little baby boy live such a torturous life??

if you're reading this and you are not a christian than you have just experienced a day in the life of a christian in this world. who sees what you see, feels what you feel, and doesn't understand how this can happen. But I still believe.

I said all this to my LORD and King in my kitchen. He knows how upset i am. Unlike me, he saw every day of that child's life, felt every minute of his pain. And did not act. But when that child died, I know he took him in his arms and surrounded him with such love that all that pain disappeared. Now he has an eternity of love, of sitting at our Father's feet, growing in his house, never again to feel anything remotely like his short life here.

And one day. One day. Satan will pay for what he did to that child.

I still can't stop my tears. But I know the LORD is the answer. Only he can stop this world from becoming completely evil. Maybe not today, or the day that little baby took his last breath. But one day. One day.

award

I received this award from my friend Faith. I love it. Mostly because it says blogging friends forever. I have to say my greatest award from Faith is just being connected to her. She is not only my friend but also my safeguard and guide to this blogging world. I trust the links to other blogs on her page are safe to surf. But also I know they're going to be fun and relevant to my life.

I love God connections!

sunset

this evening found myself sitting on the floor in my lounge with my daughter in my arms looking out my windows. The sun was setting because the sky was that eerie orange, red and dark clouds. I couldn't see the sun. The trees in my backyard looked so amazing...highlighted by the sunset.

I sat there feeling very blessed to be holding this precious little girl, mine from the LORD, in my home with this beautiful sunset which was also mine from the LORD. As if i was his little girl and he was holding me. Showing me this sunset. As if I didn't feel blessed enough. Blessed. Blessed.

Sometimes it's the simplest of things that make me feel so grateful. I smiled at my daughter and she made all the right baby noises as if she was pleased for me. Happy to be lying in her mother's lap.

God is good.

american election

i never thought i would see in my lifetime an african american president. It's so amazing. But it seems a lot of christians aren't happy with his stand on alot of things like abortion. Yet my husband said he's a christian. It made me wonder what we as christians consider fundamental beliefs...because we are all different and we belong to different denominations. I've heard many a pastor say things like ' at least we're not baptists' or 'we're not as strange as pentacostals' - all jokingly of course:)

But there must be some values, some base/foundation beliefs which we all must have in common. The 1st one that comes to mind of course is that each of us believes and has accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. We accept that he was God in human form who suffered and died to pay the price for our sins. And he was resurrected so that all who believed in him would have eternal life. He left us the Holy Spirit who lives in each of us to be our Counsellor. We believe in an omnipotent God who is our Creator.

We may differ in who the trinity is in character and each of their roles in our lives. And we may differ in how we practice these beliefs.

But what else makes us the same? Are we expected to have the same views on abortion, homosexuality, who should be in charge of our country, marriage, children, sex?? Or does the LORD give us free will to decide these things for ourselves, based on our own personal experiences in these areas, our own knowledge on these areas?

Because if he made us this way with our own personal life experiences which help form our knowledge base, then we are all going to have different things that we believe strongly and different areas that we pour our lives into. And what i believed as a 21 yr old is not the same as what i believe now as a 40 yr old. Each of us is a work in progress with some areas that we are more set free in then others.

For me personally, the God I believe in, expects me to make judgement calls for myself alone, and now for my children, until they are old enough to do the same. I can only answer for myself when I stand before the LORD. I can't force anyone to believe what i believe because i haven't walked in their shoes. I don't know what makes them who they are.

So yes, I believe for myself abortion is wrong, but for someone who has been through sexual abuse or rape. How can I answer for them? Only God can work that out with them. For me there is no blanket answer to these bigger issues. By this i mean I can't just throw a blanket over these areas and say this one answer covers it all.

I hope I don't offend anyone by this. But sometimes it feels like we as christians have 'pet' sins that we like to stand up against or judge others on. Meanwhile in our lives the sins we should be worrying about don't get enough attention.

I pray the president of the united states not only answers to the people of america but also to the God who created him.