Happy Homemaker Monday 5/13/24

Happy May!   It has been a very busy month so far and looks like it will continue that way.  Our oldest girl came home from college.  It's been great to have her home.  God has provided a summer job for her, in the field she's studying! She started her new job today, so I'm praying it's a great fit. Last week was filled with school activities, our church's AWANA closing program, appointments and prepping for a couples weekend away. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!  I came home to a clean house, thanks to all the kids working together;  and fresh flowers from our oldest girl.  

Let's jump right into this week's Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.  

The Weather:

Another sunny warm day here.  It's supposed to be in the 70s today but then cloudy and back in the 50's for the rest of the week.  Almost the same forecast as a few weeks ago.

Outside my Window:

It's sunny and very green in our yard. 

 

Right Now I am:

Blogging and drinking my coffee while I wait for laundry to finish.    

Thinking and Pondering: 

Thankful for ways that I've seen God's provision in the last couple weeks.  Continuing to pray about some decisions. 

  
 Health Goal Accountability:

I worked out a couple times but not as much as I should have.

Podcasts I'm listening to this week:

None this week.

On my T.V this week:

Probably will just watch some YouTube as new episodes come out.  .

On the Dinner Plate:

Some sort of salad with spinach and chicken.  

 

On the Menu this week: 

 

Israeli Couscous Salad

Lentil Soup  

 

What I'm Reading:

Bible

Wizard of the Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin (fantasy book, new-to-me author so we'll see how I like it)

Be Confident: Live by Faith Not by Sight by Warren Weirsbe

On my To-Do list today:

Workout

Laundry (working on this)

Blog ✔

Make phone call(waiting for call back on this)

PTO Meeting ✔

Pick up kiddos from various places this afternoon

 

Plans for this week:

Catch up on laundry

PTO Meeting today & Event later this week

Continue spring cleaning the house & yard

Clean out fridge

Lunch with sister & cousins

What I'm Creating:

I finished the cardigan.  It's probably my favorite wearable I've made so far.  The yarn is soft and it fits great. 

 

From the Camera:

While we were away this weekend we went to see the show Hadestown. It's based on the story of Hades & Persephone from Greek mythology.  It was a good show but not one I'd see again.  One cool thing was that the main instrument was a trombone.  Our girl plays the trombone so it was fun to show her videos we found on YouTube of the opening number.

Highlight from Last week:

The highlights from last week were our girl coming home.  Seeing God provide in incredible ways for her.  The AWANA closing program.  Having a night away.

 

Bible Verse/Devotional Quote:

 

I've mentioned before that my word for this year is Faithful.  Last week I wrote a blog post about being Faithful in the Waiting.

On My Prayer List:

Family & Friends who are ill.

Kids away at college and kiddos here this school year.

Wisdom in parenting.

Direction, time & diligence for a project.

Peace & the willingness to let go of things that are not mine to carry.

Wisdom for how to deal with difficult things and to trust God with all!

Faithful in the Waiting

Waiting is hard!  Sometimes we wait with excitement for a vacation or other fun event; at other times we wait with heartache and pain, wondering when God will answer our prayers.  Even when we see God answer some of our prayers, we can still wonder why other prayers are not answered.  

Over the years I have seen God work miraculously in my life and the lives of others.  I have seen immediate answer to my prayers. I have also had prayers that were answered after years of praying, and then there are the prayers that I am still praying; decades after I first began.  Still waiting for God's answer.  So how do we wait well?  Wait faithfully?

I've had four reminders saved in my phone for awhile.  Reminders of how to wait faithfully.  I'm currently reading through Warren Weirsbe's book BE Confident; which is a study in Hebrews. Yesterday, in my reading there were four other great reminders of how to be faithful while waiting. My prayer is that these reminders will encourage you to keep praying, obeying and faithfully following God while waiting. 

Remember... 

1) God's perspective is not ours. (Isaiah 55:8-9) - I want to share a quick illustration that I've used with my kids.  It's not perfect but has helped them (and me) think of this more concretely.  Picture someone holding a toothpick in their hands.  Now imagine that is God and the toothpick represents all of time.  Our lives are a small dot on that toothpick.  We cannot move our dot, we cannot see the rest of the toothpick, we can't even see all of the dot at once; but God can!  He is outside of time (i.e. not on the toothpick) and can see the entire thing.  He can also touch that toothpick at any point.  Our view is so limited; God's is unlimited! 

2) Our One Task: Faithfully Follow Christ. (Psalm 62:5-6) - We can get so caught up in trying to figure things out, change things, control things.  But our one task, is to be faithful in our relationship with Jesus.  Two things that have really helped me narrow my focus this year are to remember "I don't know, but God does and I choose to trust Him." and also to pray "God, what do you want me to do today?" I can't control when things will happen but I can choose to trust God and to obey His plans for me today.

3) Look for God in the Waiting (Psalm 27:13-14) - We are so blessed!  Yet, focusing on what we don't have yet or what God hasn't done yet; that distraction and attitude can steal our joy.  God is faithful!  Look at all He has done and is doing.  Look for the ways He is showing up in your life.  From the beauty of creation, the gift of a new day, prayers that He has answered or even ways that He's challenging you. 

4) Consider Waiting as Preparation (Psalm 25:4-5) - Going back to number 1; God's perspective is not ours.  The way in which He answers our prayers may look very different from what we expect.  See this time of waiting as God preparing you to be ready for His way of answering your prayers. Often I've found that the answer is a change in my heart, not necessarily the change in circumstance that I was asking for.  Just this year God has given me a new perspective about something I have been praying about for many, many years.  I don't know when or even if He will answer this prayer but I'm thankful for the change in perspective He has given me.  

Abraham in the waiting:

(Points taken from the book BE Confident by Warren Weirsbe)

 

1) He Obeyed when... He did not know where he was going

2) He Obeyed when... He did not know  how God's will would be accomplished. 

3) He Obeyed when... He did not know when God would fulfill his promises.

4) He Obeyed when... He did not know why God was so working. 

Keep praying!  God is our merciful and faithful High Priest.  He is our Loving Father.  He is all-mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing.  As Peter says in John 6:68 "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,"  Where else would we go?  There is still so much for us to learn and we are blessed to have full access to the One who has all knowledge and wisdom. He wants us to come to Him; even if it is over and over again.  We need only to look at Jesus praying in the garden.  He went back three times praying the same words.  Bring it all to God!

One final quote I want to share from Warren Weirsbe:

"True faith is able to wait for the fulfillment of God's purposes in God's time."