WHATSOEVER.....

You know how we nag on and on and on until we get someone's attention and finally get our message through...I'm sure we've all done it. And you know, our Heavenly Father does it too, in the most amazing, loving and patient manner.
I have long and often thought of the words of Philippians 4 v 8 and oftentimes they spring to mind just when I need to 'lift' my thoughts a little higher....
Over the past while I seem to be meeting these words on a regular basis and I always know this is God bringing His word to my attention.
I've encountered them over and over again in your various writings in Living Whole - thankyou LW for being God's messenger to me.....
I have not gone a day without being confronted with them in the past 4-5 days....
I quoted them to a dear friend just today - encouraging her to keep her mind off the negative aspects creeping into her mind and directing her to those things she CAN focus her praise on .....
Another friend quoted them to me today when explaining how he sets his mind at the start of each day...
Jonathan has just now come home from 'New Horizon' (an annual NI summer seminar) with the theme this year 'ENJOYING GOD', and has been relating the teachings of Don Carson to me. Yes, you guessed it... 'Whatsoever things.....'
......THREE TIMES IN ONE DAY CERTAINLY GETS MY ATTENTION.......

O how I love the Lord and His patience with me...
How He encourages me in the best paths in life, even my thoughtlife...
How He steers me in the ways I can best enjoy Him....

Oh Lord, I thankyou for bringing me to Living Whole and for your faithful children here who minister your Word as sweet balm to our spirits. Keep my mind fixed on you Lord, that my thoughts may be ever occupied only with those things that are true and honest and just and pure and lovely and of good report and worthy of virtue and praise. Lord YOU alone are ALL these things, keep my mind fixed on YOU.

SLEEPING PILLS

I guess you all know what I'm talking about when I mention sleepless nights. A decent night's sleep is a rarity for me....in fact a decent night's sleep still includes waking about three times during the night. Jonathan goes to bed and sleeps the night through... every night! When he gets up in the morning he doesn't know where he'll find me or what I've been up to during the night....

This past weekend has been our annual public holiday weekend and we've been off work Monday and Tuesday so it has been a welcome break from the routines. We always take my parents out for the day on the first day of the holiday so yesterday we had a full day in Donegal - weather was fab and everyone was nicely relaxed after all the busyness of recent weeks. We got home and, since I hadn't managed an afternoon nap I was exhausted so got to bed 8.30, did some reading and reckon I was asleep by 9.30 - 10pm. I woke at 12.40, went to the bathroom and thought 'this is it!...I'll never get back to sleep!'

I lay and thought of all my wonderful new friends at Living Whole....
I pictured you all in my mind.....
Thought of all the things I now know about you.....
And I prayed for EACH one of you.....

And went to sleep :) GOD IS GOOD!

BURST FORTH FOR GOD

The wonders of nature have always fascinated and never cease to amaze me and speak to me of the MIND of our God behind creation. I know it is incredible to our puny minds to consider that God SPOKE the word and it was....He SPOKE this world into being. Awesome thought!

Just take time as you ponder nature and consider the Creator behind it all - the diversity of colors, textures, shapes, scents - surely our God is the Master Designer. Look closely into even just a small variety of flowers and see and feel the contrasting designs. I am also fascinated by what we call 'weeds' and 'wildflowers' - each design unique and with a beauty of their own.

Let me share with you something that has intrigued me over the past few years......

Are you familiar with the flowers IMPATIENS, commonly known as BUSY LIZZIE? I love them....they adorn hanging baskets, garden tubs, window boxes and borders and fill them with color all summer long. They come in a vast array of color - pinks, purples, corals, whites, reds, oranges. They are just a simple little flower though and it is in their masses that they are really striking.

What I find most intriguing is what happens when they 'go to seed'.....

The petals fall off, the little inner centre of the flower produces the seeds and swells and swells and swells...
I have been dead-heading these little beauties and I have actually jumped back in surprise when I accidentally touch one of these new seed pods. When it is touched it BURSTS open, the whole pod coiling back like a spring motion and the seeds scattering with such force. Such is God's design for spreading the seeds and ensuring the continued production of this little species.









Oh how often do I feel I have 'gone to seed'... past my best... no longer in full flower... no longer to be of use to God. And yet the mind of God is NOT fickle - He is a consistent God. In HIS hands we can be used of God even though we might feel our day of use is past.

In our chronic conditions we may feel there is little we can do for God - I think Busy Lizzie shows us that we are wrong in that. These little flowers may go to seed - God still designs their final duties - spreading their seed with such authority and precision. Let's not think we are past our usefulness - God still has a work for us to do - it may be very much behind the scenes like praying, encouraging, writing, maybe even just a phone call. Let's keep BUSY for HIM ..... spreading the seed of HIS love.

(The above pictures are from my own Busy Lizzies at the end of this summer - and I think there is even such beauty in the spent seed-pod)

I'm adding this footnote after talking with a dear friend and being impressed of the Lord to share this.....

How often do we feel 'the pressure'?....., we are pushed and pushed and pushed to the edge, we litterally cannot take any more. We know God is in our circumstances but 'WHAT IS HE DOING?' we ask. Perhaps we must go through times when the pressure is turned up, we endure agonies unending, with seemingly no good outcome. God knows JUST what He is doing with us - why He puts us through the struggles and pressures. Perhaps, just like the seed pod, just like the gold in the refiners fire, only at the end of these intense struggles of life do we come forth as pure gold.... or seed ready to be sown for HIS purposes. The journey is never a pleasant one but oh the joy of seeing what we have become in His hands.

REST OR RACE

I believe our two little dogs have been a wonderful gift from the Lord to us....we have no children and they have taken the place of children in our lives. Yes, I know they are dogs but they have been our dependents, our companions, our support through thick and thin. They're getting old now - 15 years old in fact, which is 105 in human years - WOW!


Meet Jojo - she is the 'lady' of the family. Jojo walks in such a regal manner I'll bet my bottom dollar she's got Windsor blood in her! And boy, does she know how to rule! Until the past year or so, when Jonathan wasn't around Jojo made sure I knew SHE was the boss....I tried every tip in the book to be dominant but absolutely nothing worked - in fact it was easier to go to work without breakfast most mornings than stay and fight with her! She's always been independant, preferring to go off on her own and sleep behind a chair somewhere - no cuddles wanted here!



Meet Jessie - she's the 'mother' of the family. Looks after everyone, frets if they fret and rejoices if they rejoice. Although sisters, Jessie has been the mother to Jojo, daily washing her eyes and ears. Jessie is the fun one, the one who would make you chase her round the garden if she had to come in, would do absolutely anything to please and would never even think of being disobedient. She's the one who needs the cuddles, the nursing, sleeping with you, lying in the crook of my arm, or even the back of my knee like that's just where she belongs and, although timid in nature herself and very easily frightened, she is the one who will step in to protect you.



Jojo is deaf now - still very much a little loner but looking for those hand signals now, watching your face for signs of what's happening next - eyes alert to every move.

I THINK (a poem)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I THINK - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I wake to the sweetest birdsong, as all creation greets the morn
And I think of the love of Jesus, how through Him I've been re-born.

I walk in the country laneway, the hedgerows are vibrant green
And I think of those early days, when my heart was new and clean.

I dip in the gentle waters of the stream with its healing flow
And I think of how He cleansed me on that night so long ago.

I gaze on majestic mountains, reaching up to Heavens high
And I think of my loving Saviour, how for me He chose to die.

I marvel at fiery sunsets, setting the sky aglow
And I think of the warmth in my heart since God's love I came to know.

I think of my wonderful Saviour, I think of His love for me,
I think how He came from Heaven, and from sin He's set me free.

ANOTHER NEW MONTH

We are now in November - a new month, new start, new promises to myself and fresh chances and opportunties from the Lord. Each month I suppose I make fresh promises to myself - I will be more disciplined, more consistent in my relationship with the Lord, with my friends, with my family. Each month I let myself down, more importantly I let the Lord down. And yet....HE IS FAITHFUL. He has brought me to another month, has allowed me another time to commit afresh. I'm praying this month will be different - that I will take on board the mistakes of the past, recall to mind the benefits I reap from walking with the Lord in a consistent manner, and go ALL OUT to live FOR Him and WITH Him. He is ever faithful, I can trust Him not to let me down......let me not fail Him.

MAGNETISM

I suffer from fibromyalgia and for the most part try to continue with normal life, including working until 3pm Monday to Friday. I have been able to achieve this mainly due to the wonderful help my husband has been to me. He has taken on many of my household chores and works uncomplainingly in the house.

Last month we returned from holiday and since then I have enjoyed the most wonderful spell of renewed energy. A few days before returning home from our trip I was finding I had more energy than usual, not having to lie down to rest in the afternoons. Following our return home I had the energy and enthusiasm to prepare a decent meal, bake bread and go for walks. This continued over the next weeks and I have to say my spirits were high.

Last Wednesday I attended our ladies bible study (a home group of 10 ladies)......
Q... If you would like, take a few minutes to come up with some creative language (poetic imagery or a word picture) that helps capture how you feel about drawing close to God. Put your words in the form of a prayer to God.

My answer.... 'Father draw me, as a magnet's invisible force, compel me to come to you. I know where my safety and surety is - I know where I find rest and peace - I want to abide in You Lord. What doth hinder me? Reveal it to me Father and show me how You would bring me to You. I want to abide in You Lord. Amen'

On Thursday and into Friday I felt it..... arms and legs numb and asleep, fatigue, nausea, irritable bowel, temperature extremes, headache, widespread pains, stiffness.....
Yes, God had answered my prayer. No, I didn't particularly like His answer. Yes, I do get the message.

It is IN this condition that God draws me to Himself....compels me to come to Him. My eyes are opened - I am looking for God - seeking His will - searching His purposes.

I have openly confessed in the past that this fibromyalgia brought me into a new, deeper and more meaningful relationship with my Savior. I do think these past weeks of relief from symptoms have served as a voice of confirmation of that from the Lord. In this misery of pain I am drawn to the Lord, I MUST come to Him, seek His company, His comfort and His reassurances that HE has HIS plans and HIS purposes - for my life and all that comes within it.

Yes, God did answer that prayer of mine - He has drawn me to Himself as with a magnet's compelling force.