Tag Archives: God

Diaries of the Heart

GOD TOLD ME TO DO IT

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There were a couple of instances last week when I felt that God spoke to my heart. Instances when He told me to do something in particular.

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Now I must admit when I hear people say that “God told me to” do such and such I cringe, especially when it doesn’t seem to line up with the word of God.

How do people hear from God?? It doesn’t seem to me to be like Moses in the Old Testament where they met on Mt Sinai and spoke together.

It seems to me it comes more in the form of scripture which speaks to our heart or we get an idea or feeling about something.

Now I also cringe when I use that word “feeling”, I don’t believe we should use our feelings to decide anything.

A couple of weeks ago I had an incident at church with a certain lady. A lady who just doesn’t seem to like me and she had a go at one of our children.  Now I don’t know about you but you can have a go at me, but start on one or more of my children and my hackles rise, especially when he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

Now I let my emotions take over and although I didn’t really have a go at her my tone of voice showed signs of frustration.

At the time I thought I was justified, my child wasn’t in the wrong, how dare she. You must see where I am going with this I am sure.

I must admit also to harbouring feelings of frustration and annoyance and this stayed with me until one evening last week, when I was in the shower.  (I tend to have these thoughts in the shower, maybe it is because I am not focused on anything in particular).

The thought that I had was the following: I shouldn’t have spoken to that lady that way, (even if she was wrong). I should show her love even when she doesn’t like me and last but definitely not least I really felt the urge to apologise.

I believe this was God speaking to my heart and I remember saying to him, really I need to apologise???? and guess what, the answer was yes.

Now you can dodge doing what God wants you to do for a certain amount of time until you just need to do it. So instead of wasting time I decided that I would apologise and I really felt better about the whole thing immediately.  Unfortunately our younger two children were unwell and my husband asked me to stay home with them, so I didn’t make it to church. Instead I wrote her a nice card and apologised to her for my words, I didn’t justify myself by saying that my son did nothing wrong, I plain and simply apologised to her for my attitude.

My attitude is all I can work on, I am my own problem, she isn’t my problem, she is in God’s hands.

I also have to come to a place where I can forgive her even if she doesn’t apologise.  This I believe to be one of the hardest things, but so very necessary for my own spiritual health.

Dear Lord, please help me to love this lady, to help her, care for her and forgive her. Please help her to forgive me and let us come to a place where we can be friends. In Jesus name, Amen.

Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you

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Homeschooling Diary

GOD’S OWN CURRICULUM

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Now, I am not one of those mothers who can wander around outside and teach a science lesson without a book. I need books, I need help with ideas, but sometimes God just says here you go here is your lesson today.

After we had finished picking apples and stored them in our carport, our No 2 son found this amazing caterpillar.

Here it is, it was huge and a lovely bright green colour. It was pretty spectacular as caterpillars go. Our 7 year old son wanted to feed it to the fish but I encouraged him to find a container and give it some vine leaves to eat/sleep in and leave it be. Sometimes our son can love these things to death (literally).

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The next morning I went out to see if it was still alive, and it was. I did think it wasn’t far off dying as it was slow and sluggish. But guess what????

It was getting ready to make a cocoon and weave itself away for a while.

Below are pictures of it starting to weave the cocoon, you can still see the caterpillar inside.  It curled the vine leaves around itself too.DSC_1175

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This only took overnight to do, now it is about half the size and quite hard.DSC_1253I’m not sure how long it will take to hatch.  Some books say 2 weeks some say 2 months, but we wait with anticipation.

I was going to leave this until it hatched but I couldn’t wait to share with you another facet of God’s awesome creation.

What lessons has God given you from his creation???

Diaries of the Heart

GOD CHOSE ME AND YOU

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Ephesians 1:4-5 Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,

When I was about 3 weeks old I was adopted by my parents. My birth mother was very young (only 15) and had been placed into a home/hospital for unwed pregnant women.  She was unable to care for me and allowed me to be adopted.

My adopted parents were in their 40’s and were unable to have children. They had adopted my brother 2 years earlier and then got a phone call to come and pick me up.

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My brother and I were well cared for and loved by our parents. They loved us as if we were their own. I don’t remember the exact age I was when they told me but I guess I would have been under 10 years.

I wouldn’t say that I was chosen by my parents but I was chosen for my parents. Back 47 years ago a child was put with parents of the similar colouring. I was dark like my dad and my brother was fair like my mum. My brother and I don’t look alike but we have a mutual bond that comes from being brought up as brother and sister.

I thank God that I was given to my parents and that they adopted me.  Who knows where I could have ended up if God hadn’t had his hand on my life.

My birth mother was not a Christian and if I had stayed with her I would not have been brought up in a Christian home.  I most likely would not have met my husband when I was 18 and wouldn’t have the family I have now.

Wow, thank you, thank you Lord for holding my life in your hands and allowing me to be placed where you wanted me to be – what a blessing.

But guess what, He has chosen us all to be his children.  It doesn’t matter if you have been adopted or not, He has chosen us. His hands are on our lives and He wants the best for us.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

 

Diaries of the Heart

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

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I have spent years being not happy with the way I was, whether being too short or too wide or my hair being too frizzy, the list could go on.  I have wasted many hours of thought on these things that I cannot change about myself.

Then 29 years ago I met my husband and I suppose he has spent the last 29 years loving me for the way I am.

Sure it has taken us quite a few years to get where we are now, that is a proper relationship with Christ at the centre, but he has loved me all the way along.

We were picking apples off trees on the side of the road the other day, and I stated that if I was a bit taller I could reach more. His statement to me was that I was his pocket rocket and he would get the high ones and I could get the low ones.

He loves me unconditionally, whether I am short, or too wide or my hair is going gray and is too frizzy, he thinks I am wonderful.

Sure there are some things I am sure he would change on me. I know he would like me to loose weight – not because he doesn’t desire me but because he is concerned for my health the same way I am for him.

His love for me is like God’s love for me, he loves me despite myself, my lumps and bumps and insecurities. He has stood beside me through 6 caesar operations, holding my hand, even dressing a wound I had from one operation for 12 weeks, he is pretty amazing.

What a blessed wife am I to have such a husband. May God help me to love him the same and to care for him the same and support him and stand beside him as he leads our family. God help me to love him unconditionally.

PS: I want you all to understand that we aren’t a perfect family. There are no perfect families, there are no perfect people. We are as real as the next. We argue and our children aren’t always obedient, but through it all there is the love of God and I think that is the key.

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Diaries of the Heart

HOW COULD YOU NOT BELIEVE

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If you have read my aquaponics update you would know that our yabbies have had babies.

Below is a photo of the eggs on the yabby.  It is quite amazing how this happens and I have never seen this before.  We have over 40 yabbies in our tanks helping to keep the tanks clean and providing us with the odd meal or two.

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Here is a photo of the babies hatched but still on the mother.  They look a bit like maggots but are exactly like a big yabby except smaller.

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I tried to get a photo of our baby yabbies but they were just too small.  Below is a picture of a bit bigger one, and this is exactly how the small ones look. The small ones are the size of two pin heads but look exactly like the one below.

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Now the point of this post isn’t to educate you on our yabbies – but if it does that’s okay.

This post is to remind us of the awesomeness of God’s creation. Even as a Christian, brought up in a Christian home and educated in God’s creation, I am still mystified and awe inspired by how God created things.

In Genesis it states that God said… and it was created.  He just spoke, just think about that, all he did was speak and it was created.

How can anyone think that this just happened,  or came out of a big bang or dragged itself out of a slime pit.

How can anyone NOT be a believer, just because of this.

Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible

PS: This is just the yabby I am talking about there are heaps more things just on our little farm that prove to me that God created everything.

 

This post is linked up at…

Word Filled Wednesday

Diaries of the Heart

HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILDREN DEAL WITH DISAPPOINTMENT

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Today was going to be our first sewing day for my daughter with her friend.  No 2 son was going to come along as well and play with his mates around the same age while we spent time with the girls sewing.

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Now things happen and it just so worked out that my friend was not well and had to go to the Doctors.

She was so disappointed and felt she was letting us down, but things happen and life doesn’t always go the way we want.

When I told our children, there were tears and downcast mouths and slumped shoulders and I am sure my friend had the same with her children. They are always so excited and happy to get together and they just get on so well.

Life is tough and disappointments come, but how can we help our children deal with this, accept it and move on.  I know that even I have issues when I am disappointed when things don’t go exactly to my plan.

It was easy today to say to the children, I have to go to the post office so whilst we are there we will go to the park for a play.  This helped somewhat to ease their disappointment, but I don’t believe I should have to find an alternative every time something changes.

I want our children to learn to deal with difficulties and disappointments without expecting us or others to give them something else.  I want them to understand that life is tough and the only one they can rely on is God.  He never lets them down or leaves them.

People will let us down (even if they can’t help it and don’t mean too) and even us as parents let our children down, none of us are perfect, but let us remember to always find comfort in the One who is perfect.

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Hebrews 13:5-6 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you”, so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.

 

 

Vegetable Planting Diary

THE VEGETABLES ARE GROWING

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Our vegetables are growing and it is so exciting to see them poking their heads out of the soil.  The weather is warming up and my husband has been busy trying to get some base moisture in the vegetable patch.

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The first lot of tomatoes that we planted.
These are the first tomatoes that we planted in late October.  They have done really well and are quite sturdy now.  They really benefited from the early warm days that we had.

The first lot of potatoes.
The first lot of potatoes.

The potatoes are coming up and are just about ready for their first weeding.  My husband is going to use a rotary hoe to go down in between them, quite shallow, to loosen off the weeds.

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IMG_0391[1]We’ve now planted another 240 tomatoes so that makes 300 (about) all up.  These tomatoes are planted in raised beds using the machine in the picture below.  We have had this seedling planter for years now and used it originally to plant broccoli which was sold overseas.

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Hopefully we will get enough tomatoes to bottle, eat fresh (yum) and sell.  Maybe we could pay for a holiday – who knows!!!

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My husband planted a heap of corn and that is what is green in the picture above.  It is coming up in the rows really well, it is great to eat fresh buttered corn straight from the paddock.

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A view across the patch, it does look a bit bare now but hopefully in a month I will be able to show you the same view with heaps of green growth.

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Our beautiful plum tree in the front yard, it is absolutely loaded.

IMG_0399[1]Well I hope that has given you a bit of an idea of what is happening on the vegetable side of things here at Darling Downs.

We are only 2 weeks off receiving our first lot of 100 Silver Perch fish for our aquaponic system, so Graeme is busily trying to get that organised now.  Unfortunately it is the busy season for his work with balers and headers and other machinery breaking down and needing him straight away, so he is going to try and take a day off to get into it and get it finished.

Well that’s our update for now, may your life be full of Gods goodness where ever you are.