Friday 18 July 2014

Blogging through the alphabet {Loving life and "looking" }

I must admit, my brain is in a little bit of a fog.  I have had such an exhausting few weeks, and it's so HOT!

I do NOT function well in the heat.

I'm Scottish.  Hot is about 21 with a breeze.

Today, it's about 30 (86F) and HOT.  A hot breeze. Blah.

I am VERY thankful not to be heavily pregnant right now.  THAT would be worse!

There are many things that I love about this week, though.  I love that my children are all better from the chickenpox.  I love that the marks that covered their faces and bodies are all fading.  It's quite incredible!

I love that God answers prayer.  At the start of the week I had mastitis trying to rear its ugly head.  I have had mastitis, requiring anti-biotics, with EVERY baby, at some point. This week, it seemed to be kicking in. I asked for prayer, as after the last few weeks I have had, I really could have done with not having that, too.  I was determined to get our last two weeks of school finished up, with no glitches.  It seemed that God had other plans, and I was willing to accept that MY plans would go awry.  However, I was not beyond believing that God could answer pray.  Pray, I did, as did many others.  Wonder of wonders, after going to bed one night feeling REALLY unwell, I woke up feeling SO much better the next morning! I still had some tenderness, but the flu-like symptoms that come with mastitis, had GONE! I carried on with the the massage, heat and anti-inflammatory meds that I had been doing, and it went away completely! I am so very thankful that God answered my prayer, and healing came. I am still hoping that this will be my first baby that I don't need anti-biotics to sort out mastitis!

I am loving that I am continuing to lose weight with Trim Healthy Mama.  It's a really wonderful eating plan, and if you have weight to lose I HIGHLY recommend trying it.  You still get treats, you don't have to count calories and obsess about "low fat". Lovely, wholesome, good food, and plenty of it! I particularly notice my shape changing. My skirts are getting too big for me, and I have lost nearly a stone in about 6 weeks.

I love that it's nearly summer break!  ONLY ONE MORE WEEK OF SCHOOL!!!! WE CAN DO IT! I really, truly, appreciate the summer break, and I am sure even MORE than the children do! It gives me a chance to recharge my batteries and get some sorting and planning done, for starting back in September.  I have a LONG, LONG LIST of jobs I want to do.  We'll see how THAT goes!  I have a few plans for keeping the children occupied over the summer, because I am NOT allowing a whole load of screen time.  I plan to share about that in the next week or so.

I have been looking forward,  in many regards, this week.  Looking forward to finishing school.  Looking forward to Holiday Bible Club, in just over a week.  Looking forward to friends staying that week.  Looking forward to teaching the missionary story, on the life of Corrie Ten Boom.  Looking forward to getting my house de-cluttered and more organised, over the summer.  Looking forward to the Holiday Bible Conference we go to, in August.  Looking forward to seeing family and friends in August.

It reminded me of a verse about "looking".

"let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 
 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; "
Hebrews 12:1-2


It's so very easy to look in the wrong direction.  Looking down - having negative thoughts about our circumstances. Feet to the ground, and feeling dismal.  Looking down at others - thinking ourselves to be higher than we should be. Looking around - comparing ourselves to other, and what, where, how and why they do things. Looking back - thinking more about failings and sins of the past, than we should. Looking in fear - wars, and rumours of wars, as conflict rages around the globe.

This verse reminded me, though, of where I need to fix my gaze.  This verse is comparing our life to a race. We need to put aside the things that would weigh us down, and slow us down.  We need to run patiently - it's a marathon, not a sprint. More than anything else, I need to keep my eyes firmly fixed upon the Lord.  It's so easy to be distracted by what is going on around us, and forget to firmly fix our gaze upon the Lord. If we looking to Him, we will keep going in the right direction.  We will keep our eyes off our trials and struggles, and instead be confident that we are heading the right direction. We will "keep on keeping on".

As I head into a season of change, rest, and fresh beginnings after our break, I will keep "Looking to Jesus", for all my strength, hope, comfort and direction.  Remembering, above all else, that my goal is heaven, and not the things of this earth.










I was featured on Ben and Me as one of their "Featured Bloggers", last weekend! Pop on over to see who has linked up this week.

Ben and Me

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