At nearly 6 months later

Some of you have asked where we are at in the Abigail journey.  And the only answer that I can give right now is "I"m not sure."   This is God's plan to bring our lives and Abigail's together, and only He knows so far when and how that will happen. 

So far He is working on small changes in our hearts, small projects around the house, and building our trust in His provision, plan, and perfect timing.  And I guess it is working, because even though we don't really know much more than we did back when the journey began nearly six months ago, I'm ok with that.

The other day my Bible reading included the very first part of Jeremiah, chapter 1:

⁴ The Lord gave me this message:

 ⁵ “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
      Before you were born I set you apart
      and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

 ⁶ “O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”

 ⁷ The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. ⁸ And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” ⁹ Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said,

   “Look, I have put my words in your mouth!
 ¹⁰ Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms.
   Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow.
   Others you must build up  and plant.”

  

Whether Abigail is already born or not, whether she will be from here or far away, God already knows.  And He is already laying the framework for our lives to intersect in a way that will bring glory to Him.  Like Jeremiah, my first response is to doubt and to give reasons why it's not us, but God's response is always that this is His plan.  And because it is His, my job is made simpler.  Cling to God and do what He asks, when He asks it.  Some days that means stripping down the old wall paper to paint a room.  Others it is being obedience to share His word.  And one day we'll receive more knowledge about how Abigail will be joining us, and what steps we need to take then.

In the next 5 minutes?  5 months?  5 years?    This is God's plan ~ we can't rule ANYTHING out, no matter how unlikely it may seem to us now. 

Battling temptation

God woke me up early this morning from a dream in which I was dealing with a very real temptation, one that I had in fact given in to in the dream.  But instead of beating myself up for it, in the dream I began to battle back against the situation so that it wouldn't happen again.  As I woke, the things that I had done stood out clearly.

• Enlist prayer from others.  In the dream I pulled a dear friend in and asked her to pray over me to combat the temptation.
• Use God's word as a barrier against temptation.  In the dream this was represented by using a physical Bible as barrier, but in Matthew 4 we read how Jesus used Scripture against the temptations posed by the devil.
• Discovered that saying "I shouldn't . . . " was really a way of giving in to the temptation.  A more definitive "I can't . . ." or "I won't .  . . " made a more decisive action.
• Cut off as much contact with the temptation as possible.
• Pray to see the situation (or person) through God's eyes, so that it is reframed from temptation to object of prayer.  In my dream, this was one of the things that changed the situation the most.
• Don't delay.  Once the temptation is apparent, act immediately to defuse it.

Consider the lillies

This is day lily season at our house, and thanks to the previous owners, we get a beautiful show of Luke 12:27.  Before living here I had no clue that they came in so many different colors.

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.   Luke 12:27

This story should wait for a Memorial Box Monday, but it's too good to hang on to until then.  And no, it's not really about lilies, but about God's provision and care for even the window dressings of our daily life.

It's been a busy couple weeks for projects around the house, and this week God showed up as master decorator.  A month or so ago we bought a new to us loveseat at an incredible bargain price.  While we loved the Southwestern design, it didn't match our living room paint job at all.  So when there was extra paint left from one of the scheduled projects, we jumped at the chance to redo the living room.

Painting began, we found a trim color that we liked, and then realized that we would need new curtains, too.  A quick trip to Walmart and we walked out empty handed after looking at several possibilities.  The color that worked best was out of stock, as were sheets in that color (another option), and the fabric we liked was out of our next to nonexistent decorating budget.

I began praying for curtains as we worked to finish the painting.  The ideal:  green to match the stripe in the loveseat, and $20 or less.  But if that wasn't available, I decided that we could find some inexpensive sheets and dye them the right color, then make up the curtains myself since the chances of finding a matching set for all three large windows second hand seemed slim.

Wednesday morning arrived.  Painting was finished, furniture was moved back in place.  It was time for curtains.  The night before as we went around the dinner table giving thanks, I'd thanked God for the curtains that He would be providing, having no idea yet what they would be.  A bit anxiously, we set off to hit the local thrift and consignment stores.  Our first stop was the Salvation Army store.  As the kids checked out the toys, I started through the racks.  Flat sheets . . . . yes, those might work, but there weren't enough matching.  A couple of ivory curtains . . . . no, not long enough.  

Coming around to the other side of the rack I spied a green color that looked right.  Long window scarves in darker and lighter green.  Yes, they matched!  But how many were there?  Three of each color.  A quick check of the way they were made revealed that I could unstitch the seams and get two panels out of each one, enough to have each window match.  Right color.  Right size.  Right number.   That just left the price.   Definitely right - $2.99 each.  Add in a spool of thread to match, and the total came in at just under $20!  The ideal curtains, straight from God.



I had plenty of time to thank God for the perfect colors as I ripped out seams.  Plenty of time to pray as I pressed the long lengths of fabric.  Plenty of time to marvel at God's providence and care for even little things like curtains as I sewed late, late into the night.  Plenty of time to wonder how my life would change if I truly began to trust Him to provide in all things and not worry when situations seem without solution to human eyes.

And now, every time I walk through my living room, I see a good and perfect gift from my heavenly Father, a beautiful reminder that I can truly trust in God's provision.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:17