Tuesday 31 July 2012

What you can learn from a gastro flu...

 
Image courtesy of www.morguefile.com
Recently I had an “involuntary time of fasting”…in other words I had a nasty bout of gastro flu. I ate almost nothing for 4 days and depleted of strength and lacking any motivation to cook, I opened the fridge...and for a while I just stared at the lavish display of foods. My husband must have felt sorry for me for there was an array of ready-made soups and lovely desserts. But I just stood there, looking at all the delicatessen available and I knew that I couldn’t take any of it in yet. My tummy was still too raw, yet my body so very weak. In that very brief moment I suddenly asked myself: “Is this what God is offering to me?” I stood there and pondered if this was the kind of lavish life that the bible promises to all that follow Jesus, available, satisfying and nourishing – a generous buffet of spiritual joys. Why haven’t I been feasting on it? Have I been suffering from a serious bout of spiritual flu? And where did I get infected? When I asked God these questions in my quiet time, the answers started coming…He spoke to me about moments of irritability and anger that I should and could have controlled, TV shows I should not have watched, gossiping sessions I should not have partaken in and many thoughts and opinions that needed to be renewed. Like a virus, rebellion, self-pity and fear had crept in through a weakened immune system (devoid of enough quiet time with the Lord) and it caused havoc in my soul. I almost noticed too late, I was too busy taking care of too many other things and now depression had crept in and I found myself murmuring and complaining about so many things. Know the feeling? I think us moms are prone to catch a virus now and then. We tend to take care of everybody else and deplete ourselves in the process. Fortunately with the spiritual flu, the recipe for recovery is in the bible. It says that in order to be cleansed from our unrighteousness, we only have to confess our sins. So if you ask God to forgive you, for all the known and unknown sins in your life, it’s kind of like getting a mega dose of spiritual Vitamin C, it’s bound to beat the bug inside of you and any symptoms like guilt and shame will be driven away! Spend a couple of minutes today, confessing whatever sins you can think of and let God’s grace and forgiveness work like a probiotic in your mind! I will certainly do so myself, knowing that God is getting me ready to feast on ALL that He has to offer! 

I wish you a happy and healthy day!

Saturday 28 July 2012

But if you are limping...know that fruit HAPPENS!

I don’t know about you, but I struggle big time. As a mother. My mother struggled big time and I definitely suffer from the “puppy syndrome” (read my blog entry below from 10July). She made so many mistakes and I have been copying them all. But no more. They are not my weaknesses, they are hers. And if I don’t have to copy them, then you don’t have to either. As moms we are always trying to produce, produce a clean home, produce a happy home, produce a child with adequate manners, produce a social circle everyone else will envy us for and most of the time we feel like we failed. But why do we fail? Because we try to produce the fruit of motherhood. But fruit happens. A tree doesn’t strain to produce fruit on its branches. Fruit happens to grow when the branch is connected to the stem and getting enough nourishment and sunlight. And so it is with us. We cannot produce the fruits of motherhood, no matter how much we try. It just happens if you stay connected to the Vine. The bible says that Jesus is the Vine, so all you have to do is stay connected…have your quiet time today…and pretty soon you will have fruit in abundance to share with all those around you. It’s simple, but it is so true! Give it a try. I am wishing you a very fruitful day!!! 


Tuesday 10 July 2012

Do not limp just because your mother does!

I recently read a story about a dog that was pregnant and due to have her puppies in about a week. She was out in the yard one afternoon and got in the way of the lawn mower and sadly her two hind legs got cut off. She was rushed to the vet who offered to either sew her up or put her to sleep because of the severity of the injury. Apparently the puppies were fine and could be delivered if she was given a chance to do so. Her owner decided to keep her alive. So the vet sewed her up and over the next week the dog learned to walk. She didn’t seem to worry about he missing hind legs, she just walked by taking two steps in the front and then flipping up her backside, taking two steps again and flipping her backside up again. A week later she gave birth to 6 little puppies who were all in perfect health. She nursed them…then weaned them…and when they learned to walk, they all walked just like her.

A few days later I received an email with some very cute pictures of a chimpanzee who was orphaned and adopted by the Zookeeper’s dog. The dog happened to have puppies at the same time as the chimpanzee joined the family home. What a beautiful sight of the puppies and the chimpanzee cuddling together when sleeping, but a somewhat sad sight to see the chimpanzee on the next picture on all fours, eating from a dog bowl…completely oblivious to the fact that he had hands to eat with!

I cringed, because I knew right away that I was looking at a picture of myself. Lying in bed next to my 7-year-old daughter and glancing at her innocent and beautiful little face, I realize, that for the past 40 years I have been limping…left foot, right foot…completely oblivious to the fact that my “handicaps” were not mine to bear but my mother’s and it is only now and with the help of Jesus and my heavenly Father’s love that I am beginning to understand that I have two healthy hind legs to walk or stand on and arms and hands to put around my children in a loving embrace!

What about you? Have you discovered your hind legs yet? Why don’t you share with me by leaving a comment?

May God give you a week full of little miracles! :)                                        


Image courtesy of www.morguefile.com

A mother's fresh start...

Burnout. Motherhood burnout. Have you ever experienced it? I sure did. Not even three years ago the warning signs came loud and clear. Anger, excessive anger and bitterness. And because of it I behaved quite badly. Not that I would have ever wanted to admit to it. Have you ever blamed your father or your mother for your miserable past or made your husband and your kids responsible for the problems in your stressful everyday life? I did all of that too. Burdened by guilt and shame, I felt like a worm most of my life, unwanted, insignificant and unappreciated. The pain of it all could at times be overwhelming so I tried to prove my worth in order to find favour and feel better about myself. As long as I stayed busy working and achieving many things, I felt good. But when motherhood came my way, boy was I forced into far too many quiet times for my liking! The first couple of years went by and I didn’t mind slowing down the pace a little bit, but as the years have gone by I figured that being at home with little children is kind of like driving a Ferrari...at walking speed for a thousand miles! Now always at home and attempting to be a good wife and mother, feelings of shame and worthlessness, all somehow linked to my childhood, returned in full force. Being a mother reminded me of what I tried to forget, that I was rejected by my father and neglected by my mother and still am. Then, at the height of my frustration, I walked through the dark valley of breast cancer and with the help of doctors and through many quiet times God gently healed me, completely. He is currently restoring my mind, piece by piece...making whole what was shattered in the past and restoring everything that is still broken inside. Having received and believed God’s promises I now slowly understand, that I am no longer a worm, unaware of the beauty inside of me, but about to be transformed into a BUTTERFLY! Throughout this process Jesus was and is my only hope, my example and my strength and on the pages of this blog I would like to make my little contribution, to share with you the incredible pictures God lays on my heart. Pictures that help me understand the difficult moments in life. Perhaps you need some comfort too or just some company for today? Perhaps in this somewhat unconventional way of me sharing some thoughts with you, we could meet Jesus together? Because one thing I know for sure…once you meet Him, everything changes. He gives us comfort and He keeps us company when everyone else fails to show up. So, keep on checking in with me and I will try my best to make you understand, that you are loved and in the Father’s kingdom ALL worms turn into butterflies!

This Scripture was written by David, a man and a warrior, and at the lowest point of my early years of motherhood, it became so very real to me: 

6 A hostile world! I call to God,
      I cry to God to help me.
   From his palace he hears my call;
      my cry brings me right into his presence—
      a private audience!

 16-19 But me he caught—reached all the way
      from sky to sea; he pulled me out
   of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
      the void in which I was drowning.
   They hit me when I was down,
      but God stuck by me.
   He stood me up on a wide-open field;
      I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!
 20-24 God made my life complete
      when I placed all the pieces before him.
   When I got my act together,
      he gave me a fresh start.
   Now I'm alert to God's ways;
      I don't take God for granted.
   Every day I review the ways he works;
      I try not to miss a trick.
   I feel put back together,
      and I'm watching my step.
   God rewrote the text of my life
      when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.


(Psalm 18:6,16-24 MSG)

And if he put me back together...then He will do the same for you
I wish you a week full of little miracles!