Monday, October 31, 2011

Today

I'm sitting in my office trying to concentrate on my work. This is not that easy at the moment as a small child is "helping" me. Not that I have any problem with that, he is adorable and I love him heaps. But it certainly makes the work environment interesting and I wonder how all those Mums who work from home manage it. At the moment my office is covered in yellow sticky notes, sultanas and various other "items of Interest" that catch an inquisutive almost two year old's eye. I am reminded that some-one recently said that a two year old is a scientist, they want to learn and to experiment. This is certainly true. There have been various experiments this morning, some more successful than others, and my desk makes a great hidey-hole to "disappear" into.

Still, its fascinating to see how many things a child can find to play with, and to grow and develop their imagination. I know that children learn so much in the first few years of their life. Who am I to interefere with that learning. My job is to love and encourage, guide, and direct and help this gorgeous boy grow into who he is meant to be, and I know that sooner or later his Mum will turn up, and "normalcy" will return to the office. My life will have been enriched and I will have hopefully enriched his.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Pressing On

Pressing ahead and focussing on the future, forgetting the past is the basis of Philippian's three. Sometimes the past is not easy to forget, but I love the apostle Paul's determination to press forward, forgetting what has been, whether good or bad, and pressing towards the goal of becoming like Jesus. Paul's past had many good things and also many bad things in it, yet he focussed on what lay ahead and not on what had been.

We cannot change the past. We can learn from it and we can grow from the experiences, but we cannot go back and change it. We can however choose to do things differently in the future. How we do this is important though. We can make the past experience into something positive for our future or we can allow the past to stop us from progressing by staying stuck in it. The choice is ours.

That is why Paul in Philippian's 3 says that he is not focussing on the past. It is gone. But what he is focussing on, what he is looking forward to, is the future. If we too are focussing on the future, we are focussing on what God has planned for us, and we can press on and forwards to become more Christlike. We do not have to be stuck in the past. We do not have to live in past glories or failures never moving forward. No, we can learn from these experiences but they should never define us.

I do not want to be defined by the past. I want to be defined by pressing forward, following after God's direction and desires for my life and pressing on to the goal of becoming Christlike. God is in the transformation process and he can take what we offer and use it for his glory. this is what I want. I don't always get it right. It is a life long process, but as I press forwards, and keep my focus in the right place I can confidently trust that what God started he will finish. My part is to keep my attitudes and my focus in the right place and keep in step with what God is doing.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Living above life's circumstances.

Sometimes life does not go the way I expect it to. People say and do things that are totally outside my control. So what can I or anyone else do in this circumstance?

1.Look to God.He is the only one who has any kind of real answer. I can cast my cares on him because he cares for me.When I look to God I get a different perspective and am better able to trust that God is at work even when I can't see it. His way is always better than mine and his purpose for me and my family is always good.

2. Do what I can do. Some things I can't change, but i can change my attitude and my behaviour. I can work on keeping my owm thoughts and feelings in perspective and in line with God's word. I can think of all the things that are good and right and lovely and then I can get on with what God is asking me to do.

3. Wait Patiently. God's ways are different to ours and his timing is different. he asks us to wait patiently and I need to learn to wait patiently knowing that God will bring about his plan and his purpose in his own time.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Life!!

Sometimes life doesn't happen the way we expect it too, but one thing I have learnt over time is to try and keep things in perspective. When things seem difficult i try to remember that in actual fact i have it alot better than most people and that what happens to me in the scheme of world disasters is actually small in fact minuscule small.  Being cut off from home for a few hours, finding water in the house, etc is all small (nuisance yes, catastrophe no!!). I still have a roof over my head, my family and my friends. I have a God in heaven who loves me and a purpose on this earth to fulfill. So when it seems that it is "too much" I can lift my eyes, see God and gain perspective and realise that actually, all is well, and I can see my world and ask, what can i do to make a difference and then get out there and do it!.