Crisp Fall Air

Many more gifts.

3 gifts you gave today:
~Frugality.
~Thankfulness.
~Friendliness.

3 gifts loved:
~Time spend (by my mother-in-law) teaching me how to make beet borscht.
~My husband working so hard though this busy season to provide for us.
~The youth that God has given me to work with and serve.

3 gifts read:
~"Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'” Luke 10:20
~ "I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs." Luke 11:8

~“Behold, God is my salvation;
    I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2 

3 gifts of persistence:
~God's unending grace.
~God's mercies, new every morning.
~God's love for me, always pursuing. 

3 gift's of enthusiam:
~Excitement as we look forward to attending the national Desiring God conference along with seeing Andrew Peterson in concert.
~Anticipation of my baby shower and getting to celebrate our little miracle with so many.
~Looking forward to actually meeting this little one and learning what she will be like.

A gift of challenge: 
God challenging me to change and to move out of my comfort zone.

A gift of conflict: 
God using one to show ME MY flaws and teaching me I don't have to give in to my feelings regardless of pregnancy hormones.

A gift of change:
Trusting Him and His Sanctifying work to make me more like Him.

3 gifts water:
~Watching fall rain drops gently land on the lake.
~Hot water for the many cups of tea I've had this week.
~Having plenty of water to wash laundry and bedding with.

A gift of Rhythm:
New Andrew Peterson Album.

A gift of Rhyme:
The new LeCrae album (just a little different from each other ;) )

A gift of Reason:
Such a rest and trust in the Lord when we cannot see our future because He is our loving Father who does all things for His glory and our good.

3 gifts in weakness:
 ~Truth from the Gospel to lead.
~Friends who lift up tired arms.
~Family who wrap around us.

3 gifts in jars:
~New fall candles.
~Cold medicine to help us both heal.
~Honey from a friend's wedding for my tea.

A gift of life:
The changing of the seasons.

A gift of growth:
God's growing my husband and I in trust of Him.

A gift of decline:
Nights of less sleep, getting me ready for our new wee one.


 

Learning what I already know

This past month has been an adventure of sorts for the two of us.
Andrew has not been able to eat solid food since before Christmas. We're still not completely sure what the issue is. The muscles seem to be getting better so hopefully soon we can see what kind of work the teeth need to solve the real problem. It's not a bone issue though, so that's good.
His intense daily pain. Finding food I can puree for him to eat. Trying to make sure he's getting enough of what he needs each day. Feeling completely helpless.
Currently he is in withdrawal from the pain meds. So he is both in pain as well as dealing with feeling horrible.
And day after day he reminds me "This is the best thing for us. If it were not we would not be going through it."
Finding joy in God period has finally found it's way into my heart through this.
Again dealing with something that is out of my control. Having to completely trust God. All of a sudden something clicked.
Last fall the youth went through the study "the blazing center" which was basically a study through John Pipers Desiring God. I was introduced to the fact that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." hmmm. Sounds good. I tried to wrap my brain around it. I did a bit.
Our pastor continually talks about this. I hear it all the time. Nothing else can take His place. My joy cannot come from circumstances. I've heard parts of it my whole life. Other parts were new.
For many years this has been one of my favorite verses:
^" Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them." Psalm 139: 16
I thought I knew what it meant, but did not fully grasp it.
But this time, something came together for me.
I could choose to be miserable because our attempts to start a family were on hold.
I could go around complaining that our life is just horrible because once again we are dealing with a very out of the ordinary illness that may never be explained.
Or I could realize that God is wiser than I.
That my life is never in my control, and this was just a magnified picture of this.
I could choose joy. His joy. I could truly, really realize that God is who He is by His very nature and have that bring me His joy, His peace, confidence.
And I did.
It's a constant battle, but it's also an amazing feeling. From Him.
And in the car a couple of weeks ago I told Andrew that God was teaching me things I already knew. My head knew them. My heart didn't quite grasp them. It wasn't my reality.
I've now thanked Him for this season. For things that seem to my humanness painful, horrible even. And He has turned pain to joy. He can do that!
His grace is Huge.
Choose joy in Him!

God's Grace takes many forms

The other day I was really frustrated. There had been more than one thing go "wrong" that day, and I was pretty grumpy.
I had to be reminded of what was truly important:

It's amazing to see God's grace continued in our lives and in our marriage. He's just been doing a lot in us lately. It's amazing to think that our love can continue to grow more and more with time.

I was thinking earlier about how much better we are doing, but how our circumstances have not changed. God is in the process of doing something He knows is better: He is changing us.

We have an abundance of apples this year, and I was wanting to try something else with them besides crisp -as much as we love it. Mum suggested a recipe she had for an apple cake.
It's in a notebook that The Husband's grandma had put together.

It looks really yummy, I can't wait to try it :).