The Man In The Moon

While I was outside tonight in the backyard with the puppies, I looked up to the horizon and there was a beautiful orange haze along the edge of the sky. The sun had gone to bed, but it was still leaving its mark behind; out of sight, but not out of mind you could say!

I love sunsets, sunrises, clouds, birds, the ocean, sand and the sky. Whilst I believe that God is all around us, omnipresent, and not up in the sky or heaven as some would call it, there is a calm that the sky brings, in the evening light with its twinkling stars and it makes me ever more aware of my Heavenly Father and He is afterall, the creator of the sky.

So my eyes wandered upward just a wee bit and there he was...."The man in the moon." About an eighth of him was visible to me tonight and hey, not a bad shot with the iPhone. Alas, I really do need to invest in the tripod to get some good night shots.

No, I do not think of 'the man in the moon' as God; in fact, I do not even know where the expression originated from. I remember the saying from my childhood days and it immediately came to mind tonight when I saw the moon. Pretty cool how the angle of the earth rotating around the sun is what gives the moon its glow in the evening sky; whether it be an eight, a quarter, half or even full moon. I have never really studied the moon and stars alot, but I do believe that the next time we see a full moon will be Easter weekend.

Not sure why Easter is scheduled around the full moons, but it is pretty cool that whilst we over here in the Southern Hemisphere do not see the same stars (the Big and Little Dippers are not visible to me during the day and similar the Southern Cross is not visible during the day in the Northern Hemisphere), we see the same full moon.

The Big Dipper

The Southern Cross

The Southern Cross on the Australian Flag

I have said it before and I will say it again and keep saying it - How cool is God that He created all of this - How majestic is He! In light of my challenge to myself this past weekend, in which I am going to get more in touch with my creative side and write at least one blog article a week, I thought hey, this is a good opportunity to start.

Resilience

The last couple of weeks have been a bit hard and I find myself in a bit of a slump, wondering where my resilience has gone.

I appreciate what Joyce Meyer says, that my problem is probably not really my problem, but my attitude towards my problem.  So, what is my problem?  I usually find some satisfaction from my job, but lately, it has been hard for different reasons.  

What would I like to develop - what is my dream career?  My singing, my writing or my photography or perhaps a bit of everything?

I can relate with the comment I posted on my facebook wall recently that Susan Boyle wrote in her prologue of her book the night of her audition on XFactor, "I could hear a few titters in the audience. I was aware that I was being laughed at, but I’ve been ridiculed a lot in my life so I’ve learned how to be resilient. Instead of being hurt and saying, right, I’m coming off, I thought I’d show them what I could do." because I struggled as a little kid with being teased and made fun of.  I never fit the mould.  But then, what is the mould?

So, to protect myself, I created a vacuum where I stayed and built up walls around me so that others could not get in and hurt me.  But that was not a healthy existence either.

I am so thankful for my faith in God because I know that He sustains me in the midst of tough times.  And really, I am not going through 'tough times' per se, just a rough patch I guess and I know that this, too, shall pass; besides, there are so many others that have it a lot tougher.

I know that some of what I have been feeling is related to homesickness.  Yeah, sometimes it comes in small waves and I can usually get through it without any major drama, but with a friend from work having lost her Dad recently rather suddenly, it reminds me how much I love and miss my family.  It is a hard pill to swallow sometimes because I know that I made my bed here in Australia which I love because Peter is the man God chose for me, I have no doubt of that.  In fact, just this morning, I was reminded of something a friend told me, "Guys see you and they head for the hills because you are a bit needy." lol  Yeah, I guess I am, but we all are in some ways.  And God knew that Peter was up for the challenge!

We are all broken pots as Joyce Meyer reminds us in her teachings; but it is when our pots are broken, that the light from within can shine through the cracks.  If the pot was solid, nothing would shine through.

I also read something this week that reminded me that feeling a bit down sometimes is not a bad thing; it allows us sometimes to put things into perspective, but yeah, I fall into that trap where I feel I am not supposed to have a bad day because I let people down and I do not measure up to others.  Oh dear, there I go again.  I do not need to measure up to anyone else, but be the unique individual God created me to be.  I am so thankful for my friends and family and husband that love all of me - the good, the bad and the ugly.

Resilience....hhhmmm....  I believe that I am more resilient than I give myself credit for; afterall, I shifted my whole life almost 10 years ago to pretty much start a new life for myself with a new husband and a new step-daughter.  I forget that sometimes and just need to remind myself that it is okay to have a rough patch every once in a while.  I desire to be that up beat, perky person that always has something incredibly positive and motivational to post on facebook, but alas, I am human...lol

I often wished growing up that I had been born in the "Little House On The Prairie" days because life would have been so much simpler I think.  Ah, but it would not have been without its challenges either.  God knew the generation that He would bring into the world and for that I am thankful.  A perfect example is my ability to type out my thoughts down on the page as quickly as my typing will allow me - at a speed of approximately 64 words per minute - faster than my pen will go, that's for sure and much neater - my penmanship is shocking!  God Bless You Papa, but I really reckon that I should have been a lefty!

Life is an interesting journey and I am thankful for all the turns in the roads that mine has taken and flights through the sky.  I am thankful for the present because each day is a gift and we should endeavour to live it to its fullest.  Only God knows when our number will be up.

Music is an awesome tool that God uses to encourage us and I love how songs that I have sung and heard through the years still reasonates with me.  In fact, Salvation Army Music was and remains my foundation and I was reminded of the Man Mark II Musical which was premiered at the Second International Youth Congress, Macomb, Illinois, USA, Sunday, 21 July 1985 and the song "The New Humanity" often plays in my mind, reminding me that I am God's representative and as the lyrics remind me, I want to show others God's love and mercy.  I need to give myself some, too; particularly when I am going through the rough patch.

As God's picked representatives of the new humanity,

Purified and beloved of Him,

As God's picked representatives of the new humanity,

Purified and beloved of Him.

Be merciful in action, Be kindly in heart,

Be humble in mind

And above everything else

Be loving, be truly loving.

As God's picked representatives of the new humanity,

Purified and be lived of Him.

My Faith Journey Part 2

Wow.....four weeks ago today I was almost waking up in recovery after having had surgery.  So, God did not provide a supernatural miracle; for whatever reasons, it was His will that I have the surgery and go through a little bit of inconvenience and some pain, but I know this - I trust Him.


Now, this is an interesting concept, trusting God because there is an element of unknown in this trusting thing.  This requires faith which comes through a relationship with God. It is through my knowing God as my Heavenly Father or Abba Daddy as I like to refer to Him, that I learn more and more about His character and hence, I can put my life in His hands.  No, not always easy because we are still human and struggle with the flesh daily, but by reading His word and letting the truths of His promises get into my heart, I can battle the thoughts of my mind and live by faith.


A good verse that I just thought of is ¹Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1, King James Version) 


I never went to bible school so I am not a expert, but my testimony is based on personal experience.  When I call out to, talk to and pray to God, I know that He hears me.  This is exactly what happened that very first night in the hospital as I was recovering from the operation which ended up being a bigger deal than I originally expected.


Despite the good drugs they were giving me and my pain was under control, I did not sleep well. So I made good use of the time by calling Canada and talked with my parents seeings how while I should have been sleeping, they were in the middle of their day!


After my phone call, I thought to myself, "I know, I'll listen to some music."  So, I plugged my earphones into my phone and had a look through my library of music and found a couple of 'unnamed' songs and my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to check it out.


My God, my Heavenly Father, my Abba Daddy had heard my prayers before surgery and even the ones following after and this was His personal answer:



I do not know what or who you believe in, but I wanted to share my testimony with you, in the hopes that it may encourage you in whatever chapter of your life you may be in - whether it be a challenging or difficult time, a stretching or uncertain time or even if you are in a good place at the moment.


My life has had good times, not so good times and yep, even bad times and I am so thankful that I have never had to go through any of those times alone.

I Know God Is Watching Over Me

I am thankful today that I can rest knowing that despite a poor night's sleep last night, that God is watching over me.

Lord, help us to trust You 100% with the little things and the big things each and every day.

And thanks to Joyce Meyer for always bringing a timely word for the right season - Help us not to be led by our feelings!

Have a good day everyone!

Should Melodies Be Changed?

Hhhmmm......an interesting question?  I have often thot when hearing bands of the 90's and now the 21st Century try to remake a classic song that you should have left it alone - that it the way the writer meant for it to be.

At church this morning, one of my all time favourite worship songs "I Love You Lord" by Laurie Klein was altered and even thot very subtly, personally, it didn't work for me.

So, I've since gone on YouTube and found some beautiful videos/slide shows for some beautiful arrangements of the song.  I'll share them with you a bit later on - you might enjoy them, too.

The writer Laurie Klein wrote that song in 1974 during a very depressed time - below is a link if you'd like to read the whole article, but a couple of highlights I thought were interesting:

• "It was a very hopeless time, a very depressed time," she summarizes. "I felt the poverty of my own life keenly at that point, both emotionally and physically."
• "That morning I was so empty," she says, recalling her time with the Lord. "I knew I didn't have anything to offer Him. I asked if He would like to hear me sing . . if He would just give me something He would be in the mood to hear."
• Now 47 years old, Laurie Klein is more driven by a thirst for intimacy with God than ever. 
• "We must be prepared to meet Him no matter who we're talking to or what we're doing, whether we're worshiping in church or worshiping with all the tasks that make up our day."

Personally, I really appreciate the atmosphere which fosters an intimacy with God and Holy Spirit.  If I can imagine only on a very small scale Laurie's feelings on that Autumn morning that God gave her this song, she was broken, dry and needing God desperately in a very quiet and solemn way - to fill her up totally in a way that we know only God can do.......sweetly, beautifully, gently, peacefully...........quietly drawing us by His Holy Spirit into His presence which in the end results in a sweet, sweet sound in His ears!  Hence, why I really appreciated finding these videos and singing along with the music and adding the harmony line that I often sang back in the day.   I hope you enjoy them, too.

First, here is the link to the whole story: 

http://www.ccli.com/worshipresources/SongStories.cfm?itemID=7

And now, a couple of YouTube Links where you can enjoy the song, too:





And another good one that I really enjoyed is an arrangement from the WOW Worship 1999 CD Series - CD1 

Number 11, sung by Kristina Hamilton.

I love all the pictures of candles and the comment on the youtube video says it beautifully:

"If you want to spend 3 minutes in candlelight and relaxation, please listen to this beautiful song, enjoy the pictures and feel the stress leave you! Let God fill you up with His peace - you wont regret!"  And then an interesting comment made by a listener on youtube was very appropriate "I love the video it is very good at breaking down the walls and being in His presence."

Yes, I believe it is important that we have quiet worshipful moments as an individual, but how much more powerful when we have beautiful, quiet, spirit-filled times of corporate worship as demonstrated so awesomely in this video as Michael W Smith leads a massive filled auditorium in the song "Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty".  Love the violin!  Enjoy!