Heart Reflections Live

Thursday, September 28, 2006

We're Back From Family Vacation


If anyone's noticed things being a little quiet around my blog lately, you're right! We've been away for a few days. We've had our first real family holiday in nearly 5 years.

When our eldest girl was 2 months old, we drove to Sydney & back, staying with relatives down there for a couple of weeks. We've realised we've been busy just living & loving & doing the more everyday things since then.

This time we drove to the town of Emerald, a mining town, in the Queensland Central Highlands. We were visiting some dear friends from Church, who moved up there a year ago with work. It was a lovely time of fellowship, & of course the children had fun playing together. My husband had also been invited to preach & that was a real treat for me, as it was the first time I got to hear him minister in person, instead of on tape or DVD, as he usually ministers overseas.

Emerald is a lovely town with friendly locals & well worth the 11 hour drive through some very dry Australian bush. It was the furtherest west I'd been in Queensland. The children handled the travelling quite well with the help of a magna-doodle, some golden books & a few stops at Mcdonalds to play.

On the way back we stopped over night in Bundaberg & caught up with my Aunt, Uncle, & 2 cousins, All of whom I hadn't seen for a long time.

It was a blessed trip & I feel Emerald & its people will remain in our hearts.It's wonderful meeting God's people wherever we go.
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 7:38 pm 2 comments

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Joy In The Journey


Anyone who is a Stay-at-Home-Mum (especially with toddlers), knows how busy things can get. Between preparing meals, cleaning house, taking little ones to the potty, washing, ironing, disciplining them, teaching & training them, along with all the unexpected messes & accidents that tend to happen at the most inconvenient of times, life can be hectic.

Now I know that no-one would say that they dislike mothering, or dislike their children, but how do you feel about the work that goes with it? No-one can deny that children create work! But is the work that goes with Motherhood a burden or a joy?

This is one area where I'd really been losing focus in past weeks."Work" became a burdensome duty to be rushed through, so I could read to my children, or do this or that,something more enjoyable.

God pulled me up last week while I was ironing...
Let's look at some Scriptures on work, labour, & toil...

Ecc 2:24 There is nothing better for a man,than that he should eat & drink, & that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

Ecc 5:12 The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

So firstly, work is good for us. God says so. It's amazing how affected we can become from our leisure-chasing culture.

Our attitude to work too is important...
Prov 31:27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, & eateth not the bread of idleness.

Col 3:23-24 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, & not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

1 Cor 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

This is where the Lord really convicted me. The most menial tasks we do about the house, can be done with a smile for we are serving the Lord Christ & doing it for the glory of God!

I was reminded of a book I read years ago,"The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence. He was a monk back in the days when everyone was Roman Catholic. He cultivated a deeply personal relationship with Christ, by making every chore an act of worship to God. And that's what we need to do...

The last item I ironed that day was a pretty dress of Zara's- and I enjoyed it! I enjoyed seeing each wrinkle disappear. I found the joy of the Lord while doing the job- not just in finishing it. If only I'd done the rest of the ironing with the same unburdened attitude!

We can become so obsessed with completing our tasks, we miss out on the joy we can have in performing them.

There is a joy to be found in the journey that's a taste of future glory to come. Let's not miss it!!
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 7:58 am 1 comments

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

I'm Back Baking Again!


After drifting into slackness in the baking department for a while, I'm back at it again!

Since we married nearly 6 years ago, we've rarely bought cakes & biscuits, unless they've bakery items reduced for quick sale. I'm not a fancy cook. I enjoy making cakes & biscuits/cookies for hubby & the girls. I'm finally getting better at pastries & can now make a Lemon Meringue Pie from scratch that actually looks like one! When we used to live up in the mountains, the scrub turkeys grew fat on my failures!

I'm now committing myself to making Monday mornings my bake time.To make up for lost time I baked twice this week- choc-chip cookies & an apple pie (over-cooked the apple, but they are improving & even my failures taste better than the store-bought stuff.)

It saves so much money to home bake & is so satisfying to make "something out of nothing"- or generic brand flour.

The 2 things I love most about baking is wearing an apron, like my grandmothers did, & the fact that my daughters know they can only get Mummy's Cookies AT HOME-the best place to be!
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 1:51 pm 1 comments

Monday, September 11, 2006

How May I Lay Hold on Christ?


"But," saith one,"how may I lay hold on Christ?" May the blessed Spirit enable you to do it. Here it is: Trust Jesus Christ & you shall be saved. Conscious that you deserve His wrath, trembling because of His terrible Law, look to Jesus. There hangs a bleeding Saviour. Methinks these eyes can see Him bleeding there;God eternal, He by whom the Heaven of Heavens was made, & the earth & the fullness thereof, takes upon Himself the form of man & hangs upon the tree of the curse.

by C H Spurgeon

Can you call Him Saviour today?
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 1:52 pm 0 comments

Thursday, September 07, 2006

A Little Girl's Compassion


Like everyone the world over, we were shocked & saddened at the news of Steve Irwin's tragic death. Unlike everyone the world over, we live just up the road from Australia Zoo. Steve was our "famous neighbour" we had never met- we'd never even visited the zoo. We are'nt even among the many locals who have met Terri & the children shopping, or who grew up with Steve through high school, & yet we "feel " we know the Irwins, & our hearts go out to that little ordinary family, grieving up the road.

They are in our thoughts & fervent prayers. Our little 4 year old, Talitha has never met or seen Bindi Irwin. She's always been fascinated by the little girl who lived up the road with the wild animals, who helped her Daddy at the zoo. We helped her pray for the Irwin children the night of the tragedy. The following morning, she fished through her collection of Australian animal toys, came out with a little crocodile & said, "Daddy, may I take this for Bindi? Her Daddy's dead."And so like many others, Talitha left her gift of love & compassion at Australia Zoo. You may have seen a little soft toy crocodile shown on the news. I saw it shown several times & each time I saw my daughter's heart & compassion for another child who doesn't have a Daddy anymore...
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 10:30 am 1 comments

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Happy Fathers Day


It's Fathers Day today here in Australia-a wonderful opportunity to honour & pay tribute to the men in our lives, who have loved us, guided us, provided for us & blessed us in so many ways. I know my Dad still does. I recently posted a tribute to my wonderful Dad on this blog-"For My Dad"-It's in the archives if you'd like to read it.

Today, I'd especially like to pay tribute to my wonderful husband, Max, who is a terrific Dad to Talitha & Zara.

Darling, what would I do without you? You catch my slack as I sometimes get muddled in the details of life & somehow make everything work out fine. For your leadership as head of the home- I thank you. For the delight you bring to our children's eyes, when you come home with unexpected surprises. For the laughter you bring. For the tickle fights. For your unselfishness-the chi ldren always come first. For caring for the children & me & the house when I've been recovering post-partum. For your soothing voice we hear on the phone when you are away ministering overseas & for your covering of prayer, whether you are home or away. I just love watching you being Daddy, whether you are correcting them with a raise of the eyebrows or pushing them in the swing. I am honoured to be married to such a man & blessed to be the Mummy of our children.

God Bless you , Darling. Happy Father's Day!!! & Happy Birthday for tomorrow!I love you!
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 9:05 pm 0 comments

Saturday, September 02, 2006

The House at Pooh Corner


Inspired by some of the reading lists on www.triviumpursuit.com, I started reading aloud "The House at Pooh Corner" by A A Milne to Talitha & Zara earlier this year. We finished it today!! At first I wasn't sure how the girls (4 1/2 & 2 1/2) would go with it, as they had only been used to the Disney version, but they did fine. They would talk about what they'd been " reading", & even remember details from the previous chapter if we ended up taking a break from it for a couple of weeks or so. We'll start another chapter book soon-in between all the other books we are reading.

No more Disney books for us. The adventure continues...
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 3:01 pm 2 comments

More on Humility


I am currently reading "Humility" by Andrew Murray & am finding it a great blessing as well as very convicting.

Quote: How much of the spirit of the meek & lowly Lamb of God do we see around us, in those who are called by His name? Think about how all the lack of love, the indifference to the needs, feelings, & weaknesses of others, the sharp & hasty judgements & utterances so often excused by our cries of being upright & honest, the manifestations of temper & irritation, the bitterness & estrangement, have their root in pride. Pride seeks only itself.

Devlish pride creeps in almost everywhere. What would happen if believers were to become permanently guided by the humility of Jesus? Oh, for the humility of Jesus in myself & everyone around me! We must honestly fix our hearts on our own lack of the humility revealed in Christ's life. Only then will we begin to feel what Christ & His salvation truly are.

by Andrew Murray
posted by Father's Grace Ministries at 2:40 pm 0 comments