Brotherly love

I have an almost 3 year old son and an almost 9 month old son. My youngest has an enormous zeal for life, he already stands up by himself and loves to "walk" while you hold his hands. It makes me smile just to see his adventurous spirit, but my oldest wasn't quit ready for his brother to start crawling and browsing around. It makes for some interesting situations as my eldest screams "he is touching my toys" and my youngest contently sits with a toy to big to really play with. Many times a day... let me make that many MANY times a day my eldest has a time-out as we try to work through the "sharing stage" safely. I persist he must share...he persists aswell...in not wanting to share that is. Brotherly love can be a real stretch that is clear! This also applies to my (and your) brotherly or sisterly love with our fellow humans. We can be all "mature" in the Lord...or at least think we are mature when we meet up with a "baby" in Christ or an unbeliever and that maturity can fly out the window in no time. We have a hard time with having patience with them, we don't really want to share and we don't want them to touch our stuff. Boy, no "philadelphia" here. Brotherly love in it's truest form can really be a difficult experience at times. To take upon yourself the honorable role as big brother or sister isn't an easy one, but it is very rewarding though! As you will persevere with patience and love, allowing them to come closer to you as they learn how to stand on their own with Jesus Christ, you see a transformation take place. Giving them the oppertunity to "touch your stuff" like; revelation you received from the Lord, wisdom imparted from above, knowledge of the Word, experiences you had with the Holy Spirit, you become a precious part in the raising of a son or daughter of God. Let's embrace discipleship, not as a burden, but as a joy! Let's be the right example, let's examine our own lives to see how much we have to give in purity, truth, love, peace, patience, faith, blessing and so on. Let's share God's goodness with the people around us, let's be a true family, the family of God! And let's look around in our lives and ask ourselves; "who could I be a big brother or sister to"?

Activate & Activate

The last days my family and our life had priority over blogging, but tonight I am able to sit and write a bit. I recently read this; "the Holy Spirit is not the do-er...but the helper". I really was struck by the simple truth found in these few words and how we often have expected the wrong things from the Holy Spirit.

How many times are we in need of help and do we ask God to come to our aid? And He does, He hears our cry and answers us. Jesus said to us that He would send the Helper, the Holy Spirit and He has been with us ever since. He is always nearby; He is one part of the Trinity amongst. us. We might ask help and then actually just wait around for the great endresult to come...the problem is that the Holy Spirit was never send to be the do-er, but to be a Helper. The Bible tells us not to just be a hearer of the Word but also to be a do-er. We are expected to be in motion ourselves, with help from the Holy Spirit to guide us in all things. He will give aid, instruction, direction and guidance, but He will walk along side of us, cheering us on as we walk in victory over our circumstances ourselves. If you are in need of some supernatural help, realize that that will be exactly what you will receive...HELP. Help to get you through things, help to keep on going, help to achieve the impossible, but that's what it will always will be...help. YOU can do all things through Christ who strengthens you and to experience victory (with help of the HS) will build you up and strengthen you in your faith. He will never leave you nor forsake you, that is a promise. He will always be with us even till the end of this age. What a blessing to know we have a Father in heaven who believes in us, who sees our potential, who knows what we are capable of and Who readily gives some support of we need it. Yes, ask the Holy Spirit to encourage you in your daily walk, to impart wisdom when it comes to making the right choices, to fill you with joy and peace in difficult times and to guide us unto the straight and narrow road. But be a do-er and let the Holy Spirit be your Helper.

May I introduce to you my pet Peeve(s)

The last time I checked my label it read; "made in heaven". Yes I am...born from above, reconnected with a Perfect God, washed and cleansed by the Word and inhabited by the Holy Spirit...I am blessed, graced with His Mercy and...I am also imperfect...with pet peeves. Who doesn't have pet peeves I would think, most people have at least one...or two..or even three. I sure do...let me bear my soul to you about my pet peeves;

1. dirty toilets - Numero uno on my list for sure!! I absolutely get grossed out by a dirty toilet...imagine being somewhere and you have a great time, everything looks nice, the food is fantastic and then you take a nessecary trip to miss "John"...and here we go...pieces of toilet paper strewn over the floor...dirty toiletbowl and/or seat, soggy towels, smudges on the mirrors and I am officially "peeved". I just can't stand it and in my own home even though it's not perfect, I sure am pretty picky about how my toilet looks and how clean it is.

2. The quality of food and the preparation of it. Ever since I worked in a butcher shop and a restaraunt kitchen I am (according to my mom) ruined when it comes to food. Ask Joyce my best friend or ask my husband, but I am very careful about the preparation of food, picky about the quality and get turned off easily (sorry). It has been the subject of jokes, reactions like raised eyebrowns and frowns, snorts and laughs. But I will tell you that no one ever got sick of my cooking, nor did I buy overprized or under quality food either :)

3. When words are spelled wrong...I don't know why but I may only glance at a sentence, a billboard, a text...but if something is spelled wrong it stands out like a sore thumb to me and most of the time I spot it right away...here are some "interesting" ones I have seen over the years;

stawberrie...instead of strawberry
busness...instead of business (it was on a "we are going out of business" sign in a window???)
flowr instead of flowers
bake goods instead of baked goods

and so on and so on...it is just sad to see that people just don't know how to spell words anymore and yes sometimes I am one of them aswell, how shocking hahaha!

Okay that were three of my pet peeves...I think they are the only three I have...or maybe the only ones I can think of right now hahahaha..anyway what I am trying to say is that I, the person with the pet peeve am imperfect...but so is the person that caused my pet peeve to arise. We are all imperfect! Just as I need to deal with my pet peeve in the best way I can, I need to have grace with the other person or help to improve the situation if I can. My pet peeves will not grow into an OCD or whatever you call it, my pet peeves are just part of my view of the world or how it should be and as long as it does not obstruct how I communicate/relate/associate with the world around me, I am okay. I would love for everyone to take their toilets serious, to keep them clean and germfree..to provide masses of toiletpaper and dry soft towels :) but that is my little bathroom utopia and most likely not to happen. all that the pet peeves should do is improve you or your life and transform you in an unforced example to others, they may follow your example...they may not, they may agree with your view or they may not.
I am happy with my pet peeves, just a sign that I am imperfect, live in an imperfect world and that I need my Perfect God to show me how to go unto perfection...I am glad to say; I am a work in progress on a road that is under contruction with some towering obstacle courses...but I have a map, the Bible, and a guide, the Holy Spirit and a companion and friend joining me and His name is Jesus. I am going to make it! You will too!!

The Pond

Have you ever seen a pond, a place where the water is not flowing or moving? If it rains the pond will steadily fill up and maybe even start to overflow. Everything looks greener and is refreshed. The fish will start to multiply and the pond will attract all kinds of animals and maybe even the occasional person. But as the rain stops and the days turn into weeks..the water level slowly drops. The foliage around the pond starts to become brown and the water starts to stink becoming murky as the bottom comes more and more in sight. When a full drought hits, the pond becomes dried up and empty, the mud turns into dust and all life in the pond dies...

There are many metaphores to refer to when it comes to being a believer and our life with God, I will just add one more. I believe we are also like a "pond", a place where water is desired, where we should want to be filled up and for the water to crest at our edges. As this "pond" we need water to revive everything in us and around us. To be refreshed when it rains and for life to thrive in us. Water in a pond doesn't move, it doesn't flow, it just is there giving life, quenching thirst for all the life in it and for the ones that come and drink from the water. We are always in desperate need of water, living water, God's life giving water. We should always be on the lookout not to become dry and for life in us to cease because of that. Our prayer should be daily, "Lord rain on me, send Your life giving water that it may refresh me and the people around me". That is such a cry of God's Heart, for us to be filled with His water of life, to be refreshed and to have this water to share with others that are thirsty and dry. It's my prayer for God to send His abundant rain to pour over your life and mine and to fill us up till we are filled to the max and overflowing.

The Art of not giving up

I am horrible at making cookies...don't ask me why. I can make a great pie, I can make cake...but I think I just about ruined every batch of cookies I ever tried to make, and I mean even the simple recipes...so most times I am thankful for the"just add water and an egg" mixes for cookies and smile and nod when people praise them...hahaha...now you know my little secret!! BUT I try to make cookies on a regular basis, I just want to be able to do it!! Maybe I will stumble upon a great chocolate chip recipe or maybe a sugar cookie recipe...I just love cookies even when they don't love me ;)

Ofcourse there are much bigger things in our life that challenge us! It can be a daily challenge that comes your way or a sporadic one, but they come to you to see what you are made of. Will you give up when that happens to often or will you push through?

Yes, not giving up is a great victory to have in your life! To stand strong in difficult circumstances because you lean on the Lord and not on yourself strengthens your character and deepens your faith! If you are faced with difficulties, don't give up!! You are never alone, the Lord is always with you! He will lead you through the valley and will help you walk up the mountain to reach it's top!

Be blessed in pressing on and to master the "art" of not giving up!

P is for Passion

Isn't it the greatest thing to witness, when talking with someone else, they all of a sudden go from a pleasant conversation partner to this person that starts waving their hands and just glows with excitement, all because of their passion for the subject. I find it fascinating! I love it when my husband touches on a subject in our conversation and just transforms into a passionate advocate of it. (pure) passion is such an important factor to experience a "fulfilled" life. To have passion or zeal for life itself is a must to have. Maybe this wave of passion comes forth when you play music, speak about your family, talk about the latest book you read, when you share an awesome recipe with friends or just because you had the world's best nap. The point is to HAVE passion, whether it starts with the "smaller" things in life is not important, what is important is that you HAVE passion in your life. Something that gets you excited, that stirs you deeply; a God given passion. Don't let life pass you by being grey so to say, let is be full of color!

Explore the things that spark your passion, maybe there is so much more to do with it! I have known people that were able to nurture their passions and were able to develop it and let it grow into their fulfilling business or ministry. That would be awesome, but for people like me who stand at the threshold of such things, with big dreams and even greater passions, I just take it all one step at a time. Maybe you have a passion for something, I declare that when it comes forth out of purity and wholeness it is worthy of your attention. Explore, deepen, investigate, dream, nurture, grow and develop your passion and see that it will not only bless you, but also will bless many others aswell!!