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!

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.

Mary had a little lamb,
His fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went,
The Lamb was sure to go.
He followed her to school each day,
‘Twasn’t even in the rule.
He made the children laugh and play,
To see a Lamb at school.
And then the rules all changed one day,
Illegal it became,
To bring the Lamb of God to school,
Or even speak His name.
Everyday got worse and worse,
And days turned into years.
Instead of hearing children laugh,
We heard gunshots and tears.
What must we do to stop the crime,
That’s in our schools today?
Let’s let the Lamb come back to school,
And teach our kids to pray.

Housework ~ did I say housework? Now, I truly did hear sighs and groans from some of you! Washing your mouth out with chocolate sounds like a wonderful excuse to indulge one’s chocolate addiction without feeling guilty, now doesn’t it?

These last few weeks have been incredibly difficult for us, but not just because of the pain aspect – it is more the frustration of knowing what needs to be done, but not being able to do it. Housework  (there’s that word again!), especially mopping and vacuuming make Thursdays a very long day, with my husband struggling through the vacuuming and my son mopping all of the floors and verandahs – then having to do his school work, as well. He is currently studying toward his year 12 certificate, so school work is not a walk in the park, either.

People from our church have asked whether they could help with the housework, but the sheer distance makes that unfeasible, as it is about 80 kilometres from church to our home! I really wouldn’t expect anybody to travel that sort of distance to do our mopping and vacuuming. However, we have taken them up on their offer to help with meals when my husband goes into hospital, for they will be very full days! In the meantime, we have been struggling along, and knowing that God would work things out.

When I visited the physio, he asked if we would benefit from home help, as I had spoken to him about the difficulties that we were facing on a week to week basis, and he said that he would approach the appropriate authorities in the local health service. We had our interview this morning, and they have said that we definitely qualify for a cleaner to come in to vacuum and mop the floors in the main living areas. With homeschooling, the main living areas include pretty much all of our home, except for my son’s sunroom and the guest bedroom. Praise God, for He truly does work all things out for our good!

While I am here, I would really like to thank everybody who have taken the time out of their busy lives to pray for us ~ your prayers are very much appreciated, and God will truly bless you for honouring Him.

…my friends!

Father, I thank You that You have blessed me with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.

Through skillful and godly wisdom is my house (my life, my home, my family) built, and by understanding it is established on a sound and good foundation. And by knowledge shall the chambers (of its every area) be filled with all precious and pleasant riches – great priceless treasure. The house of the uncompromisingly righteous shall stand. Prosperity and welfare are in my house in the name of Jesus.

My house is securely built. It is founded on a rock – revelation knowledge of Your Word, Father, Jesus is my Cornerstone. Jesus is Lord of my household. Jesus is our Lord – spirit, soul and body.

Whatever may be our task, we work at it heartily as something done for You, Lord, and not for men. We love each other with the God kind of love, and we dwell in peace. My home is deposited into Your charge, entrusted to Your protection and care.

Father, as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord in Jesus’ name. Hallelujah!

Scripture References

Ephesians 1:3

Proverbs 24: 3,4 AMP

Proverbs 15:6

Proverbs 12:7 AMP

Psalm 112:3

Luke 6:48

Acts 4:11

Acts 16:31

Philippians 2: 10,11

Colossians 3:23

Colossians 3: 14,15

Acts 20:32

Joshua 24:15

I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. Psalm 86: 12

for:~

• Answered prayer for my husband – his spots are healing, and his pain relief seems to be working this time. Praise You, heavenly Father that You have heard the prayers of Your people and that you have been swift to respond. Your Word says that You will never leave us nor forsake us, and God never lies.

• Our children, who have been a tower of strength through the difficult times – milking, feeding animals, doing dishes, cooking, ironing and generally helping whenever help is needed, but especially for the hugs and words of encouragement and affirmation that mean more than anyone could ever know.

• Friends – blogging friends , internet friends and real-life friends who are true prayer warriors, picking up the challenge and being prepared to pray for my husband – from the bottom of my ♥, I thank you all.

• A good hospital and doctors in our local area – this is so important at times like this.

• Our church – praise God that our church building will be going ahead – thank you Lord, once again, for answered prayer.

• Our home – warm, comfortable beds; food on the table, protection from the elements, fresh goat’s milk and a place where we can say that we truly feel close to God, as He brought us here.

• The ability to be able to homeschool - In Germany it is illegal to homeschool, and Sweden seeks to introduce a law stating that homeschooling will only be allowed under “exceptional circumstances”. Please pray that God will work with the authorities to block this law, and that Swedish homeschoolers will have the ability to be able to homeschool openly. I pray that God will open the eyes of the authorities to the benefits of homeschooling. Praise God that we, in Australia, have the freedom to be able to homeschool openly!

One of our Old English x Modern Bantams has very recently hatched six adorable bantam chickens. Here, the mother bantam is teaching her young charges to scratch for food.  This last year has been an extraordinary year, with most of our chooks going broody in February, and they almost never go broody at this time of year. Not only the bantams went broody, but the Rhode Island Reds, too, so this has meant a dramatic shortage of farm-fresh eggs, but they are starting to lay again, now.

~~~oooOOOooo~~~

For those of you who have been praying for us – thank you from the bottom of my ♥, my husband’s pain is much better controlled for now. I think that the best thing that could have happened for him was to be admitted to hospital, as they have now given him Kapanol capsules, which the doctor had previously prescribed, but they have now doubled the dosage, so his pain is much better controlled. In hospital they also gave him STRONG antihistamines, and the HUGE spots that he had are starting to subside.

There have been wonderful lessons learned during these times, too. My son has learned how to milk effectively and to feed the animals, and my daughter has learned how to make a delicious goat stew and helps with the ironing and anything else that needs doing inside our home.

Around our home, it is the weekend, and things are so much more relaxed – God is so good as He gives us times of refreshing and showers of blessing as we wait on Him, knowing that He works all things out for our good!

There are lots of differences between the Christian and economic security vs. the unsaved and economic security. The unsaved person will have a totally different view of money vs. the Christian, who trusts on God and asks for God’s guiding on any major economic decision; sometimes maybe even in the minor decisions, too. A Christian will have an eternal view, where as the unsaved person will be solely focusing on providing for his time on earth. Colossians 3:2 says “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” and that is the major difference in the views of Christians and the unsaved on the subject of economics. Christians will not lay “up for [themselves] treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But [they will] lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:” *

Christians will view economic security with a godly perspective. They will prayerfully lay up money for the future, but with an eternal perspective. They won’t just hoard money for the sake of it. They will seek God’s face in all matters of economic security. Christians will trust God for the means to survive in their later years, whether it is by them saving money or whether it is by the grace of God that they are living. Christians will not be devastated if some catastrophe happened and they were no longer economically secure. They will view it as God’s way of bringing them closer to Him. After all, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

The unsaved will view economic security from a worldly viewpoint that is influenced by Satan so as to keep as much money from doing good in this world. Satan will influence the unsaved to hoard their money. He loves to see people who are rolling in cash, and yet not giving it worthy causes. He hates to see good being done in this world, whether it is a Christian organization or not. Satan is the “father of lies”, so he likes to give people a false sense of economic security but encouraging them to lay up for themselves “treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt.” Economic security in the earthly sense really isn’t economic security. All that has to happen is for the stock market to crash, the bank to go bankrupt, or some other catastrophe and you are no longer economically secure.

As you can see, Christians will view economical security differently to unsaved people. They will view in light of the temporary, whereas Christians will view it in light of an eternity spent with God, where they will be “judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” (Revelation 20:12). True economic security is found only in trusting totally upon God.

*Slight changes made, but they don’t affect the meaning of the verse.

Bible Verses Used:

Isaiah 55:11

Trust in God for He will never leave you nor forsake you, and He promises that His Word will never return to Him void. When God is moving us to a different level, we’re supposed to move on. I know that God is with me 100%. When Jesus speaks to us, He expects us to learn from our mistakes and move on. God doesn’t consult our past when He prepares our future.

Once we’ve given our heart and life to Jesus, there’s so many things we can do in serving Him – we can serve, we can pray and we can share what God is doing in our lives. In our weakness, God can be our strength, but I hear you asking – What can I do? There’s plenty that I can do. If you’ve felt it’s not my calling, get up there anyway. We’re called to serve Him.

Perhaps your calling is to clean the toilets. Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God. When you step out, just say, “Here am I, God – use me.” As situations change in your life, offer to help someone. Perhaps you’ve been asked to read aloud in church, and you’re terrified of being humiliated – just remember that God blesses your efforts. God will give you what you need, and He sees your ♥. When you feel peace in your ♥, go with it.

When you’re in any situation you can call on the name of Jesus, knowing that if He be for me, who can be against me? God is there for me; He will never leave me nor forsake me. Jesus didn’t die on the cross and endure all the pain and suffering so that we could backslide. We need to work together in unity – a strong body!

The Holy Spirit gives us an inner peace if what we are doing is right for us. We need to have faith and trust in God. If you trust the Holy Spirit 100% to guide you, you will find inner peace. Sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone, for we are answerable to Jesus. There are people who have been Christians all their lives, and yet, they don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord Jeus Christ, nor have they stepped out in faith.

If you want Christian input, you need to approach a good strong Christian, who is rooted and grounded in God’s Word. God is building us strong and firm. If our roots are not strong in the Word of God, we don’t have the Living Water. Pine trees have shallow roots;  they wave in the wind and if they don’t receive water, they die. That’s like us – we need to have our roots grounded deep in God’s Word, so that when the storms of life come, we will be strong, and we also need to receive the Water of Life (Jesus).

We all have pressures from family and friends, but it’s up to us how we deal with those pressures. It’s important what God wants! We are all a part of the same body, and we need to fulfil our part – God will bless you for it. If we are faithful in the small things, God will bless us in the bigger things, too.

There are many areas where God can use you. Don’t wait for ten burning bushes. God can and will use you if only you let Him. Make yourself available. God is calling us to be a Holy people, and He’s opening our Spiritual eyes and our Spiritual ears. God will call the people that He wants to use. There’s no better time to make a commitment to the Lord Jesus.

If you don’t know the Lord, Jesus Christ, I ask you to invite Him into your heart, and pray the following prayer:~

Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner and constantly fall short of your glory. I believe that You are the Son of God, and I give my life over to you and acknowledge you as my Saviour.

Then shout it from the rooftops that you are saved!

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1: 7

…our church, where we are loved, welcomed and valued for who we are and what we have to contribute. The person who shared his testimony today said, “Your attitude determines your altitude”, and this is so true. Our attitude affects more than just our family and friends – it affects everyone who comes into contact with us.

…my husband who is continuing to soldier on, doing what he can, when he can. I think that God is using this time to strengthen our love for one another and our faith in Him, and He carries us through the difficult times.

…our children, who have stepped up to take on extra chores while my husband’s knee is painful. I suspect that he needs a total knee replacement, and that will mean lots more work for everyone, especially in regard to milking the goats – could be very interesting.

…friends – IRL friends, blogging friends and internet friends who help us to grow to be more like Jesus, mirroring His love and friendship to all.

…His provision over us - we seem to have just enough money to pay the bills, put petrol into the car and put food onto the table; and I’m content with that, for with more, there comes temptation. God supplies all of our needs!

…cooler nights, so that we can sleep well. Today’s temperature is absolutely blissful; 27C and a cool southerly blowing. It appears that summer is almost over, and soon winter will be upon our doorstep. I am standing upon God’s promises, praying and believing that our Heavenly Father will provide the warmth needed for winter, for He says that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

…homeschooling and the freedoms that we have, here in Australia. In other parts of the world it is much more difficult to homeschool openly and legally. Please pray for the governing powers in Germany, that the laws will be softened, so that people can homeschool openly, legally and without fear of reprisals. In Sweden, young Dominic Johannson is still separated from the love of his parents – please pray for the swift reuniting of Dominic, Annie and Christer.

…resources from Our Daily Bread. Last night we watched the first story called A Marriage Reborn, on a DVD called Love’s Lasting Call – it is a DVD explaining how to have a good marriage. Good marriages don’t just happen – they are built upon God’s blueprint for marriage. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says that a cord of three strands is not easily broken, and the three strands are God, the husband and wife. I am really looking forward to the second part, which is A Promise Kept.