Feed the birds, tuppence a bag...

Today I was feeding the very hungry birds in my backyard singing one of my favorite Mary Poppin's songs, "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag". One of the things I miss most about working from home is getting up early, escaping to my office in the sunroom and watching the commotion in my backyard as the birds went from one feeder to the next. My absolute favorite birds to watch are hummingbirds and I'm already looking forward to spring when they come back. Currently their nectar is completely frozen and has been for the last 3 days! Another highlight of my day was officially completing my socks which are currently on my feet and keeping them pretty toasty! It was so great to be at the store today with all the wonderful ladies that spend time there! They are so great and very inspiring in all the projects they work on. Below is a shirt that my mom (who mainly crochets) was wearing this summer which I thought was pretty cute!

Almost done my socks!

I'm almost finished my first pair of socks and it seemed like a great reason to blog~

I have been working on them forever, and ever, and ever. I don't remember exactly when I started them but I'm fairly confident it was sometime last March...maybe February. I obvsiouly haven't been consistent with them but am thrilled to get them done (once I figure out how to do the kitchner stitch or a friend that sew them for me...any takers??)! The other highlight of my week was hanging up a shelf successfully! I can put in hardwood floors, install oven coils, put in counter tops but when I comes to hanging up shelves or curtain rods, I sometimes have the hardest time! I wanted to put a shelf in my room because I have "special" stuff that I needed a place for. The basket I got from Laura, the wool for my birthday, the spoon in the button jar from Beth, (it says "He who promised is faithful") the buttons from Gwenna, the bird holder from my mom and the other stuff is from random places. I know it's only a shelf but I had a hard time going to bed last night because I was looking at it and was so excited to have it up there! Here are a few pics:

Reflecting back on what was, what is and what is to come...

This morning I spent several hours alone with the Lord reflecting on this past season, my current situation and what He plans for the future.

There were several verses that I read and wrote down which were so encouraging to me. A few of them were:

"When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on Him, He will lift you up and give you honor". James 4:10

"Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength". Isaiah 30:15

"But the Lord still waits for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for him to help them". Isaiah 30:18

The main message of these verses is that we need to depend on Him and wait for Him to demonstrate once again His wonderful faithfulness, power and direction.

I had no idea at the beginning of August that the season of three random jobs would continue into the New Year. I didn't know that the day after my parents confirmed they were coming to visit, my father would instead have major heart complications, followed by an emergency quaduple bypass and then be diognosed with cancer which would all greatly effect his althritis.

In this season, relationships changed, lonliness crept in and exhaustion would often take over. There were several times that I would cry either on my way to work, or way home...or both ways. Yet, there have been some absolutely beautiful things within this season.

To highlight on those beautiful things, the number one greatest part was God's constant presence. Lonliness has been an on/off struggle of mine since I moved to Texas 8 years ago but in those lonliest times, God has been so faithful to remind me of his constant presence. He has held me like a beloved several times and encouraged me through His Word. I have often crawled into His lap like a child in the lap of her father and felt His loving arms surround me. In the anticipation of waiting to hear about the severity of my own father's surgery and later cancer diognosis, His gentle whisper of love and reassurance brought peace. Like Mary, I ran to His feet and wept on several occassions and every time He would remind me that His thoughts and ways are higher then mine.

In many ways, I believe this season has been a test of my own character, dependence on Him, finding my identity in Him, feeling His love through the support and encouragement of friends as well as a day by day decision to trust Him. There are definitely days I feel like I am failing the test when I look at my bank account or get more bad news about my dad but I understand that God is patient, loving, kind and in His desire for us to be like His son, He will continue to provide opportunities for our faith to be tested.

Another of the most beautiful parts of this season has been the motherly love of several women I know through BSF. They have consistently prayed for me, checked in to see how I was doing, asked about my father, sent notes of love and encouragement, celebrated the victories and allowed me to cry through the struggles. One of them in particular has loved me consistently and with a depth I have only felt from my own parents. She has watched me cry, celebrate, struggle, push through and try day by day to depend on God. I'm in tears now thinking about how dear she has become to me and how honored I have felt these past few months to know her. She has shown me what it truly means to love Christ and love others not only by words but by demonstrating it. Words cannot describe how thankful I am and how deeply I cherish her in my life. Thank you dear friend.

At one point I wasn't sure I wanted to write a newsletter of this past year but in the end I realized that in failing to do so, I would be missing an opportunity to boast about all the good God has done this year and the many ways He has blessed me. I have been through challenging seasons in the past and reflecting back on them now they have been the most character shaping, lesson learning and depending daily on God times of my life. I wouldn't have wish those seasons away and even now, I'm trying to embrace the wilderness I still find myself in. I don't really know what my next few months will look like but I do know for sure that God will be with me every step of the way reminding me to trust Him and read His Word to see His many promises.

To end, a friend sent me this story below to encourage me and I found it quite timely:

Survivor:

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.

Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements and to store his few possessions.

One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames; the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happenend; everything was lost.

He was stunned with grief and anger. "God, how could you do this to me?" he cried.

Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him.

"How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers.

"We saw your smoke signal" they replied.

It is easy to get discouraged when things are going bad. But we shouldn't lost heart because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering.

Remember, next time your little hut is burning to the ground, it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.

- Author unknown.

This picture was the sunrise on my way to school one morning. So beautiful!

Hello long lost friend!

So, I'm not an avid blogger by any stretch of the imagination. When I think about blogging, I somehow remember all the other million-and-one things that I need to do that take priority over updating the blogging world. Facebook serves me well in those situations because, one phrase at a time, I can update my friends. It'd be a lie to say I haven't had anything to blog about given that in the last month alone, I've had 3 roommates move out and 4 new ones move in, my father had quadruple bypass surgery, I've started a new part time job of waitressing at the Villa Montez, decided to get my teacher's certification and starting substitute teaching twice a week. Aside from those things, I'm teaching Level 1 in BSF and still leading the large group at church for Sunday School. I'm also now on the Board of Directors for Bridge the Nations and as well as serving as their accountant. I still have time to exercise, shower, eat and spend time with Jesus daily so I'm doing good! I did get sick the first week and was a little emotional this past weekend deciding if working so much was worth it but in the end, I know it's the responsible thing to do!

I did buy my ticket to go home to Canada for a few days at the beginning of November for my mom's 60th birthday! I'm looking forward to seeing my dad after his surgery as well as Keira's little face. She'll likely be walking by then which is insane since she was only 6 months old the last time I saw her. She is really one the cutest kids I know!

Well, not too much else to say and even as I write this, I'm continuing to think about all I need to do! Farewell blogging world. Until next time!

"Lay down his life"

For the past few days, I have been praying for someone I have never met who belongs to a family I known for about 8 years. The "Arnolds" were a famous family when I came to Teen Mania as an intern and Michelle has one of the best blogs I have ever read. A few days ago, Chad (who used to work at TM) and his brother went into surgery because Chad was in need of a kidney translat and his brother decided to him him 60% of his kidney. Ryan was healthy and the surgery was successful for Chad's condition. Ryan had a tougher time after the surgery which is more common for the giver of an organ transplant. A few nights after the surgery, Ryan "blue coded" in the night and the next day they confirmed there was no brain activity. He went to be with Jesus yesterday.

John 15:13 says "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends". I have cried several times when I was thinking about this situation and praying for this family. Ryan showed the greatest example of love I have ever heard of besides Christ himself. The family wants Ryan's story to be told and for him to be remembered for the life he lived. He loved the Lord and left behind his wife and three small children. Please continue to pray for the family and Ryan's family. May his children grow up knowing that their father was a true hero and did something only a few imagine.

From the West side to the East side!

This past week I was in Seattle for a one day meeting and then went up to Vancouver for the weekend to see Lynn and Ian. What a beautiful place!!! It's a good thing my job wasn't asking me to move to Seattle because I'd probably highly consider it! Although they say it rains 9 months of the year up there, I only saw blue skies the entire time. I think what I love most about it was the water next to the mountains. You know the old question "would you rather live by water or by the mountains?". Well, in this case, you get to live by both! Another thing I absolutely loved was that all the seashells on the beach were purple! Isn't that amazing! God knew I'd be up there walking the beach and that if I could choose, I'd have the shells all purple, so He made them purple just for me! Here's a pic of them...

Needless to say, Lynn and I spent quite a long time picking up sea shells and putting them into the bag I had brought. It was absolutely splendid!

This next week, I'm heading to Florida to the head office to help finish up a project I'm working on. Once this project is submitted to the governement on August 15th, I will no longer be working with LKT and ATMS. Since they needed me to re-locate and I didn't feel peace about doing that, I'm now on the hunt for a new job. I've applied at a place that I really think I'd enjoy so now I'm just playing the 'waiting for them to call me back' game. If I don't hear from them by the end of this week, I'll give them a call!

Well see! The best thing is to know that I'm in God's Hands and He's got this situation under control!

Not even a sparrow...

While I was away at home in Canada, a sparrow came and built a nest in one of my hanging pots. Since my roommates didn't water the plants the entire month while I was gone, the sparrow went unnoticed. It wasn't until I went to see if I could revive the plant with water that I noticed the baby sparrow inside. I was so excited to know that although my plant had almost died, it was still being used to protect the little baby. A few days ago I went out to see how the baby was doing and much to my saddness, it had passed away. I didn't touch it or get very close to it so I don't think I was reason for it's death but I was still sad to know that the little sparrow didn't make it. I have always been very sensative to animals so in my saddness I told my roommates but they didn't really share my sediments for the unborn bird. I was wondering if it was silly for me to be sad about a wild sparrow but I was reminded yet again that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God noticing. This was the inspiration for my rug, which I design and have had so much fun making! Here's a picture of it...

This past Saturday I was at Rose Path working on this rug when I got a call from my boss saying that unless I moved to Florida, I was going to lose my job. I had a week to make the decision about whether I would accept the position they were offering me, but since I love living here in East Texas, I decided to decline the offer. I told a few people about my situation so they could pray for me and it's the best way to explain the peace I have right now. I know that God is leading me and I'm excited about a new chapter in my life. I didn't cry or get overwhelmed and I know it's because He's had me reflecting on His Word from Matthew 6:19-34. He knows my every step and just as He's aware of the sparrow who passed away in my flower pot, He's even more aware of me and my life.