Bible Verses Used

Colossians 3: 12~17

Matthew 7: 1~5

Luke 6: 27~38

Romans 2: 1

James 4: 11~12

Romans 14: 10

We need to put our roots down deep in God. There are surface roots, but if there’s no rain, the plant will wither and die. The first time a storm comes along, you are in deep yoghurt. Put your roots down deep. God looks at our ♥♥♥ ~ you can’t do without God’s love.

Let love guide your life; then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony. We are the church. There are many people who have their “church persona” and the “rest of their life persona”. We need to have the same persona throughout the whole week.

Jesus commandments are:~

• Love God.
• Love others.

You can’t be a God~lover and not love others. The human tendency is to stand on the sidelines and not to pitch. We are not to judge others, for with the measure with which we judge others is the measure with which we will be judged. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Who are you to judge your neighbour? When you criticise someone else, you are going where you are never meant to go. How many times have I sat in judgement? If a person’s drowning, they will push you under in order to save themselves. There is no excuse for pushing someone down in order to elevate yourself.

We are to pray for our enemies. Criticism is the major instrument that Satan uses to destroy the church. Peace, harmony and unity are what God wants within our church today. Unless your roots are down deep, it is easy to go Satan’s way. There is a narrow way or a broad way ~ the broad way is the easiest way.

Gossiping is passing on information when you are not a part of the problem or a part of the solution. People who will gossip to you will also gossip about you. People who gossip cannot be trusted with your confidences. The greatest wounds come from other sheep, not from the wolves. Gossip is not meant to be a part of our lives. When people gossip, they are destroying harmony and unity within the church. If they are gossiping, confront them with this. We each have talents and abilities, and the church needs each one of us. God blesses churches that are united. God is looking for a church that will build and strengthen believers.

People are looking for acceptance and love when they come to our church, a church where every person can be:~

• Accepted
• Loved
• Valued

Leaders and pastors are not perfect, but they need your support and prayers to build the church that God wants. We want God to be welcome to walk into our church, and we need to work together.

No matter what comes, we shall stand and we shall build the church that God wants.

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day,
he went out, and departed into a solitary place,
and there prayed. Mark 1:35

Jenna from Feminine Farmgirl has put up a challenge for April ~ that of  Self-Control ~ diligence in spending our quiet time with the Lord each morning. Sometimes it is so easy to forgo that quiet time with the King of Kings, especially if we are I am running late, and it is not something that I am proud of.

It is that time when the tone for the day is set, and I carry His message through the day with me. This last month there have been very few days when I have not spent quiet and productive time with our Heavenly Father, as I have needed to call on His strength, guidance and wisdom in all things pertaining to our home and family. Perhaps it is good that He puts us through the difficult and trying times, for it is in those times that we are drawn closer to Him.

This last week has been particularly trying for me, as I have had stitches in my foot, due to dropping a bowl of cat dry food and the bowl smashing. My foot required stitching, and then developed an infection in it, but my friend, Gwenda prayed, claiming God’s promises and His mighty healing power. Guess what ~ the infection is gone!

My husband has been a tower of strength, as he has supervised the children while I have spent my quiet time with God, and this time is just so special. It is truly quiet time with our children studying, and I gain so much more out of the time spent with God, when there are no interruptions. I praise God that I have a husband who helps me to keep my appointment with God each morning and helps to make it special, and I praise Jesus for restoring our fellowship with God, so that we can spend time with Him, hearing His voice, praising Him and spending time in prayer with Him.

Why do we spend time in prayer and meditation with God? Because Jesus set us an example, that’s why!

Malachi 3:3 says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.“

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.”
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.
The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire.
If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”
He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy – when I see my image in it.”
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1 Corinthians 13:12

On Mother’s Day, we arrived home from our picnic at Spring Gully, and I brought the cat’s water and dry food back from the hallway, when the unthinkable happened – I dropped the dry food bowl, and it shattered on the hearth, cutting my foot. I pressed down on the cut; the bleeding slowed, and my husband disinfected the cut and taped it up for me. I went to bed and didn’t think much more about it until morning. My daughter cleaned up the hearth and the lounge room. Our lounge room is 6 metres by 4 metres, and the Whiskettes covered over half of it. They went absolutely everywhere – under the chairs, under the coffee table and were in every conceivable place that you could think of, and probably then some.

The next morning (Monday morning), I went out to water the strawberries, and the first step that I took was absolute agony. You see, inside we don’t wear shoes, but when I placed the shoe against the cut, I nearly went through the roof, quite literally. I watered the strawberries and the parsley, then asked my husband to take a look at my foot. He untaped it, and I screamed from the pain – the cotton wool had stuck to the wound, and it was nearly 50mm x 8mm. When I screamed, Moonlight, my daughter’s cat (in theory) came running and jumped onto my daughter’s lap and then onto mine – he stood there staring at me, and I suppose he was wondering what was wrong. He settled down onto my lap, and since then, he hasn’t been too far from me.

My husband made an appointment with the doctor, and he placed four stitches in it. During the procedure, while the doctor was placing the anaesthetic into my foot, my foot jumped, and the doctor ended up with an anaesthetised eye. He stitched my foot up, and we left the doctor’s surgery, but I wouldn’t have realised how difficult it is to walk with stitches in your foot. This wasn’t the worst part – I have been house-bound for the last five days, as I couldn’t even get a shoe onto my foot. Imagine walking around the goat yard with no shoes – I can’t even bear to think about it!

During the first few days, I developed an infection in my foot, with the wound site being extremely red, sore and hot,  so I have been on antibiotics to help clear that up. On Tuesday night my husband lit the fire, and it smelled like there was something cooking, but he didn’t take any notice. By bed time, however, it was starting to smell pretty good, so he found the torch and started searching. Apparently when the dry food bowl shattered and the dry food went everywhere, some of it managed to find its way onto the top of the firebox through a 10mm gap where the fan blows the heat out. There were about 10 pieces there, and they were very well toasted, so much so that the cats couldn’t even chew them up!

A friend of mine phoned, and offered to pray for my foot, as the antibiotics weren’t really working – this was on the Tuesday night, and by Wednesday morning the infection had settled, and my foot was feeling very much better. I praise God for healing and I thank my friend, Gwenda, for praying for health and healing for my foot. Our God is a God of miracles, but all too often we think of Him as a last resort, when we should be thinking of Him first!

My foot is starting to settle down now, but by night time, I really do know that I have a left foot. I have the stitches out on Thursday, and I will breather such a sigh of relief. This last week has been rather a struggle, so I hope that you’ll forgive my lack of visiting.

There are those who would spurn the vocation of mothers,
And say that it’s inferior to the career of others,
I’ll have to admit that it’s not easy work,
It’s relentless and from it you cannot shirk.

It takes all your energy to be a mother and wife,
It requires daily commitment and a disciplined life,
It demands all your resources of patience and love,
Long-suffering and wisdom from God above.

It takes self-control and continual endurance,
It needs constant and faithful perseverance,
It is total sacrifice and forgetting your self,
You may sometimes think you are left on the shelf.

And what about time? It’s no longer yours,
It belongs to everyone else who comes in your doors.
Can you claim your own rights? No, they’re gone, too,
Like your right to sleep the whole night through!

It’s not so easy to crawl into bed with a book
Or go off and dream in some quiet little nook.
It seems like you’re totally losing your life
To be a good mother and a godly wife.

But oh, dear mother, please do not despair,
In God’s great vision you have a share,
You are fulfilling your destiny planned before Creation
Which is to nurture children and BUILD A NATION!

You are walking in the footsteps of Jesus your Lord
Who lived a life of sacrifice out-poured,
He didn’t cling to His rights with selfish futility,
He didn’t claim any privileges but walked in humility.

He gave up His own life to save millions of others,
This same principle is at work in the lives of mothers,
When you lose your own life you’ll find it again,
Glorious life – His life – even in toil and pain.

So lift up your head, embrace your calling so high,
You’re in God’s perfect will so you don’t have to sigh.
You may sometimes feel worthless – don’t listen to this lie,
For your influence will go higher than the clouds in the sky.

As you nurture and train your God-given seed,
As you sharpen these ‘arrows’ by word and by deed,
You shape the nation, you determine its course,
Your mothering is not wasted, but is a mighty force!

As your children leave home and go into the world
The stamp of your training will be unfurled,
Your influence will reach countries you’ve never been
And down the generations its extent will be seen.

Your work is so powerful, no wonder it’s tough,
But God is behind you, He’s the GOD WHO IS ENOUGH,
His strength and His wisdom are available to you,
He’ll stand behind His promises which are totally true.

He’ll always be with you right through to the end
As you follow His leading and deny the world’s trend,
Each morning you wake, your strength He’ll renew.
He’ll fill your home with His presence and His blessed peace, too.

Nancy Campbell

Image from here.

I’m taking a break from blogging for a little while to spend some more time with our children before they’re all grown. I hope that you’ll be here when I get back, and that you’ll understand, but at the moment, I feel that it’s more important that I spend the time having Teddy Bear Picnics, playing dolls’ house and board games with our children.

Tomorrow my daughter and I are having a Teddy Bear’s Picnic on the side lawn ~ we did debate on having it down in the paddock with the goats, but thought that they might be a little boisterous! After that, we’re having some more fun!

Praise God for families, but especially for children!

I’m Having:~
Dilmah Green tea in a pure white cup and saucer – my husband asked me if I would like a cup of tea, and when I said, yes, in a pretty cup, he took me literally. I love white, don’t you? It’s so crisp and clean looking. He also added a Wagon Wheel – I’m so glad that Tea Talk is only once a week, for I should be the size of a house if it were more often!

My Cup:~

I’m Feeling:~
A sense of relief knowing that we have received Home Help with the vacuuming and mopping each week. One week will be on a Wednesday and the following week will be on a Tuesday – the rest of the housework we can cope with, and it is a HUGE weight off my husband’s shoulders, too. Our heavenly Father knows what we have need of before we even ask.

On My Mind:~

• A very dear friend of ours had a skin cancer removed from his nose, and had to have a skin graft. He has had to give up smoking so that the skin graft will take, and I’m praying that the skin graft will take and that he’ll be able to kick the habit once and for all. He’s a delightful man, but there’s nothing of him. I really do feel that he would benefit from giving up smoking and being able to taste the food that he’s eating.
• Our new church building – praying that everything will move along without any problems, and that God will truly bless this step of faith on behalf of the church.
• My husband’s knee – the woodshed is now full, and we don’t have to worry about being cold this winter, praise God!
• These Bible verses are on my mind, as we are currently reading the Bible through chronologically in a year, and it is great that my daughter and I can keep one another on track with our Bible readings.

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up! Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10

I really enjoy Tea Talk each week, and love having you join me for a cuppa. Care to join, please visit Ruth at Celebrate Friendship to see the guidelines in her sidebar .

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say.

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply,

‘If I were any better, I would be twins!’

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, ‘I don’t get it!’

‘You can’t be a positive person all of the time.

I choose the positive side of life.

‘Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,’ I protested.

‘Yes, it is,’ he said.  ’Life is all about choices.

When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice.

You choose how you react to situations.  You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

The bottom line:  It’s your choice how you live your life.’

I reflected on what he said.  Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, ‘If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?’

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

‘The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,’ he replied. ‘Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices:

I could choose to live or…I could choose to die.  I chose to live.’

‘Weren’t you scared?  Did you lose consciousness?’  I asked.

He continued, ‘…the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine.  But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared.  In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’.  I knew I needed to take action.’

‘What did you do?’ I asked.

‘Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me, said John. ‘She asked if I was allergic to anything ‘Yes, I replied.’  The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply.  I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity”

Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live.

Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.’

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude….I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34.

After all, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

For about an hour to an hour and a half each day, my daughter has been working on her Peter Rabbit longstitch (with supervision, of course), but the best thing about this is that we have worked out how to longstitch together, and I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. My daughter has learned a new skill, and I think that you’ll have to agree, Peter Rabbit’s looking pretty impressive!

All that remains is to put his whiskers on, his mouth and work the background. The results with longstitch are very quick, and my daughter and I have enjoyed the “special” time spent together learning this new craft.

Oh, how we limit our God when we doubt ourselves and our abilities! Our God is an awesome God, and we can do all things through Him.