A New Week With New Beginnings

This morning is Jack's first day at Prep at Yarra Glen State School.  To say he was excited would be an extreme understatement.  I am praying that God gives the teacher strength to get through today. He looked super cute in his uniform, complete with matching beanie.

Don had his first exam this morning and passed!  Hallelujah, he studied so hard all weekend.  I am so proud of him.
Now it is just Sam and I at home, and it is incredibly quiet.  I am looking forward to having this special time with just he and I, something that we haven't shared unless he has been sick in hospital.  The more I know God, the more I am convinced that He knows best ALL of the time.  I am a slow learner it seems, that I argue with his requests.  He knows all of our hearts better than we know ourselves.  Today I feel content, knowing that he holds all of our futures in his hands.

Breaking News

1.  Jack is starting school on Monday!
We have successfully acquired special consideration for Jack to complete Prep Year at Yarra Glen Primary School.  This is very rarely granted, so we know it is a gift from God, and an answer to many of your prayers.  Thank you God!  Jack is so excited.  We have bought uniforms today and he is looking forward to telling all of the kids about the upcoming Fun Day at ACMA on September 10th.

2. Don is featured as one of the news students in the ACMA Newsletter.
Check out his mug on p 3.  Click here to view the newsletter.

3. Don has completed his first NVFR in a very long time today.
In case you are wondering a NVFR, is a planned navigation in which Visual Flight Rules are followed.  It was about a 4 1/2hr circuit around the Melbourne control zone.

4. I am finding new strength in God.
 He is increasing my faith, as we continue with Him day by day. 

Hold On for the New Day

 My prayer from an honest heart: 

 O God, listen to my cry!
 Hear my prayer!
 From the ends of the earth,
 I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed.
 Lead me to the towering rock of safety,
 for you are my safe refuge,
 a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.
 Let me live forever in your sanctuary,
 safe beneath the shelter of your wings!

 For you have heard my vows, O God.

You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name. (Psalm 61:1-5)

God answers:

I hear your cries.  Do not be afraid at being overwhelmed.  I love that you run to me, that your strength is found in me.  I am a strong tower of hope and rest.  You will find rest and shelter in me eternally, both now and to come.  Continue to lift your eyes and your voice to me, and all of the other things happening around you will fall away, and become like the sand beneath your feet.  Delight in me, in this place, and be prepared for a glorious new day.  I hold you all in my palm, there is none that can touch you here. As you lay down more of yourself, you become more beautiful with each passing day. I love you daughter. 

SOS-Get Me Away from Myself

Today I have have been my own worst enemy.  I am tired, frazzled from being indoors too often with two small boys, and trying to organise a new home, when what we own doesn't quite  fit.  We still have no answers to whether Jack can continue Prep, or whether Don's medical to fly is approved.  A washing line is useless, unless it is indoors in Melbourne, and the copious amounts of mud outdoors mean the boys use many pairs of pants in one day.  We are adjusting to having one car, so we either wake in the morning and drop Don to ACMA or we stay at home for the day.  We still have no money coming in, as Centrelink takes along time to process anything, this side of next year.  Which is fine because we are living on the money we received from our home, all of which has to in the end, pay for Don's study.  The boys are watching way too much TV, because their Mum (me), needs serious mental health time.............

Last night I went to women's bible study looking to meet God there, to be uplifted, and I came home feeling worse than when I left.  AHHHHHHH!

"Ok, breathe, stop and pray, and claim the promise 'Seek first the Kingdom of God and live righteously and He will give you everything you need'(Matthew 6:33) (and repeat)"

We have had quite a big month, it's going to take some time to adjust.  I want you to see that I am human, a wife, a mother, a somewhat frustrated author, and a woman living day by day with the same mundane struggles that we all face. If you can think of us when you pray in the next little while, you would be showing me more love than you can ever know.

xx Nicole

Something is Missing

Each one of us has a deep seated need to be happy.  It is not a want, but a need.  People wish us a 'Happy Birthday', 'Happy New Year', 'Happy Christmas', and 'Happy Easter'.  We smile at each other to 'cheer each other up', we tell jokes to make others laugh and we give gifts to see joy in the face of another.  Each of these gestures bring a small glimpse of joy, happiness and peace, and they are wonderful things to do for another. We seek joy in movies, music, relationships, sex, food, and dare I say it even work, our car, and our home.
The problem with seeking joy in this way, is that it lasts only a short time and then it is gone.  So we seek it out more and more to maintain our state of happiness, we work more,  we play more, we spend more, all in the hope of filling the gaping hole that is in each of us, a hole that is bottomless, and can only be filled by one thing.

God created us to be filled with himself.  He created us with a God shaped hole in our hearts, that can only be filled by him.  He is the only one equipped to meet our need to be happy.  When I speak of happiness, I don't mean a constantly laughing, hilarious kind of happy.  I mean a well known sense of completeness, joy in any circumstance and a peace that cannot be felt any other way.  His joy remains even in the darkest of places, in your day to day life, and in the mountain top experiences too.  The gaping hole left in each of us when we were separated from God in the Garden of Eden, must be filled by God, so that all of the other things we do in this life, the things we enjoy, do not consume us.  Otherwise we become addicted to to our hobbies, activities and experiences, as we try in our own strength to fill the bottomless pit of happiness. 

I liken this to when you go and do your grocery shopping.  I always make sure I eat something before I go grocery shopping, otherwise I buy what I don't need, and what I would like to eat at that moment.  I end up spending much more than I anticipated because I am hungry.  So it is with happiness...

If you live life without filling the God shaped hole in your heart, you will find the cost will be more than you can afford.

Open The Door!

God speaks to me in the most amazing ways.  I am always impressed with his eccentric and meaningful tactics.

While in the midst of the message in church yesterday, a loud and unmistakable voice came from the church foyer, heard well above the Pastor and his message.

"Open the door! 

"Open the dooor!

"Open the doooooor!"

No, it was not the Lord Almighty Himself, but our little boy Sam, who had escaped from Kids' Church and was wanting to be with his Daddy.   We let him in, and all was well, complete with many giggles from our friends in the church.

Although the voice did not boom from heaven, it resonated throughout the very core of my soul, from the very tips of my hair to the bottom of my feet.  God was speaking through my son, directly to me, giving me a message to share with whoever will listen.

HE IS CALLING US NOW, WITH EVER INCREASING URGENCY IN HIS VOICE.  THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO SIT AND LISTEN AND THEN IGNORE.  THIS IS THE TIME TO ACT.  LET HIM IN, SO THAT YOU TOO CAN BE WITH YOUR FATHER FOREVER. 

His voice is not commanding, but urgent, insistent, and full of love.  God will not command you to give your life to him.  He gave you free will, so you would make a choice to love him, and to be with him for life eternal.  Just as Adam and Eve had a choice all those years ago, we are all making a choice with our daily lives.  Do we choose to love God and walk his way, or do we turn our back's and pretend not to hear? 

This is not a warning.  I don't need to warn you.  We all know what happens when life here ceases to go on, our bodies die.  Are you willing to take the gamble with your eternal life, that that is where it ends?  This is a message, not just for those who do not yet know him, but those who sit in church week after week pretending to be Christians, the reality being that they never talk to God outside of the church building.  I am not being harsh and judgemental, but truthful.  We are called to be light, we can not be light if we do not spend time with the Light Himself. 

Too much is happening in the world each day for people not to think about their mortality in some fashion.  So much turmoil and perplexity, disease and natural disaster have this affect on our very human minds. And all the while Jesus is calling:

"Open the door! Let me is so I can show you what love is."

"Open the dooor! Let me in so I can give you life that doesn't end."

"Open the dooooor! Let me in so you can know what life is all about."

The doors to our hearts remain closed to God, until we choose to open them. 

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.(Rev 3:20)

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