Trusting Him in the Gifts of Red, White & Blue

3 GIFTS Red, White & Blue

"It's been 10 years today" has been heard going round the family conversation today.

 I pause and reflect...

10 years since we came to this 'sun-burnt land'. 10 yrs since we began to reside under the red, white & blue flag of Australia.
Before that,  the red, white & blue star-spangled banner. And before that was the red, white & blue of our birth, New Zealand. What a journey...

A journey from a young girl aspiring to be a missionary in a foreign land, and then being privileged to spend a year in Japan. Hearing God ask her to go back, and in fear saying "No" to the One who called & equipped. She had yet to learn to trust. "I don't want to go alone. Don't want to end up like all the other single girls out there." Yet to learn that He was her supply.

Now married with five precious lives in tow, her heart feels such guilt for the "No" that haunts her. She feels no release from her burden. "I'll go anywhere, Lord, just not back to the USA or Australia." childhood memories of both still etched firmly.
Her darling seeks His supplier, and feels the freedom to go.

They prepare to go to England and at the last minute a change... a call to come and help in the US. Visas through in record time. His door opened to lessons.  She trudges through the lessons...not the most willing student. Hard to be willing when fears are ruling.

Getting the children's breakfast, her darling calls from work and tells her to turn the TV on... Sept. 11 unfolds. She watches as a mourning nation rallies together... patriotism, support. She finds beauty and is finally pleased to be here.

He smiles as the very thing that caused her lesson precipitates the next lesson...changing countries again...to Australia. He leads her gently but firmly. She tries to find the beauty in the sun-burntness. It takes time. He moves her again to a remote Aboriginal community. Beauty is found in the painted bodies pounding in the dust...in the easy laugh and the ready smile.

Moving again...each time realising that every place reflects part of His glory...every people group have beauty...every person has good. Lessons on heaven being her real home...lessons on letting go of fear and trusting His supply.


10 years ...
I smile quietly and realise that red, white & blue have been good gifts.

I wonder what colour heaven is?

 ~~~~~

"1000 GIFTS"...

#125  Quiet

#126  A clean kitchen

#127  Conversation with a friend

#128  Home-made pizza from budding-chef sons

#129  Evening walk with my darling

#130  Freedom to speak my thoughts

#131  Red, white & blue homes

3 GIFTS: SMALL, BIG, JUST RIGHT

A dear friend is struggling with depression...a struggle I know all too well! She's worried with all the advice she is receiving. Some of it leaves her feeling more depressed, hopeless, more aware than ever of the big black hole she is in. Some of it makes her insides flare up... "I'm not like that!" "If I'm not like that then what am I like... weird?" lost and confused...like she's groping in the dark for the light switch.

I remember well the day I was told I was clinically depressed and needed to get help IMMEDIATELY. It felt like playing monopoly..."Do not pass 'go', do not collect $200, go straight to jail!" There was nothing nice in it, and I did not know where to turn for help. Yet, help was the very thing I knew that I did need. I did not feel I could turn to the church we were then attending... was afraid to go and get help from outside the church (what kind of new-age 'stuff' would they try to make me swallow)... didn't have any money to be able to pay them, anyway. I turned to the best source of all. I got step #1 right and He's led the journey from there just one step at a time.

It would be a book given to us, a TV documentary, a sermon at church. A conversation with someone who had no idea of what gift they were giving me, or a series of seemingly inconsequential events that triggered something for me. It was the patience of Job displayed in my darling as he tried desperately to understand the tangled mess of beliefs inside my head, then help me see things from a different perspective. Sometimes he succeeded... other times he failed miserably, or rather, I failed to get it. But he loved me anyway, and God helped me get it some other way.

God knows exactly the right tools to use...not too small, not too big, but just right for this moment on your journey. He's the master gardener. If you plant yourself in Him, ask Him to feed and water you. Let Him be your guide. After all, He knows you even better than you do! With that kind of knowledge, you are bound to flourish!

~~~~~

"1000 Gifts"...

#88 Being woken in the morning for a great photo opportunity
#89 Friends online
#90 A cloudy day
#91 Shade under the tamarillo tree as I weed
#92 Peace
#93 A son voluntarily taking out the trash

A GIFT UNEXPECTED, UNWANTED, UNLIKELY

I had gone to sleep last night with my list organised of today's activities, only to be awoken early this morning by a child needing an immediate ride to work for an unexpected early start. Before getting out the door I noticed my engagement ring had broken...very unwanted! A conversation with fore mentioned child revealed I had the day all to myself with no husband or children...after 22 years of homeschooling this qualifies as highly unlikely!

with grateful thanks to Loma Photography ©

My tendency of old would have been to be generally annoyed at having my plans messed up, to have felt despondent over the breaking of my engagement ring - sentimental and stretching of already stretched purse strings, etc. - to have wished for a day by myself when I could choose what to do with it, rather than the things I had already committed to.
But He has been teaching me that "...all things work together for good to those who love God..." Romans 8:28 


So, I choose to trust...

with grateful thanks to Loma Photography ©

I trust that every gift is good, and "...every good gift and every perfect gift is from above." James 1:17, "...that my Father knows what I have need of"  Luke 12:29-31.

If I trust Him, I may not sulk because it wasn't the gift I wanted. I must not be annoyed, or despondent, or unthankful. In saying 'Yes' to His gifts, I am saying 'Yes' to a treasure hunt.  There's a sense of satisfaction in putting all your effort into finding the gift, and a thrill that makes it extra special when you 'get it'.

with grateful thanks to Loma Photography ©

I 'got' today's gifts
...unexpected afforded me quality time with working child when she was fresh rather than tired at day's end.
...unwanted allows His provision to shine brighter
...unlikely quiet has been good for my soul. He promised me that.

                                                         Oh, how He loves you & me!