…I hope you don't mind. 🙂
I think the title says it all:
If you've ever been tempted to try your hand at jewelry making, perhaps now is the time! I will certainly be leaving a comment for this giveaway!!! 🙂
Author: ObtainingMercy
An Excaliber Giveaway
I have been drooling over one of these for the past year:
Now, I have the chance to win one, and so do you!
Go here: Keeper of the Home for your opportunity.
A Momentous Occasion
Sunday morning, the most magnificent thing happened:
I sat next to Doug in church.
Hmmm…doesn't look too exciting when I just type it out like that, does it?
Let me tell you, though, it was truly momentous.
I'll give you the rundown of the past 7 years:
- Doug pastored a church for 3 years. He was always up at the pulpit, while I sat in the back or to the side, trying to keep Isaac occupied and quiet.
- For the next year, we attended a church that met in a classroom. No pews there – only odd little swivel seats that were attached to the tables.
- For most of the next year, Isaac was too ill to go to church. Doug cared for him daily at home, while I worked full time. So I felt that on Sundays, Doug should get to go to church.
- For the first year we lived here, we took turns going to church. We were never there at the same time.
- For the last year, Isaac periodically makes it to church. If he does, Doug sits with him in junior church, or in another part of the building in case he is having a noisy day. If he doesn't make it to church, Doug generally stays home with him so I can be involved in the music ministry.
During these years, we attended one wedding that my husband wasn't officiating and we sat next to each other in the pew.
Other than that, this was the first regular church service that we have been able to sit side by side in church in nearly 7 years!
See? I told you it was magnificent.
My sweet cousin, Joy, who works in Isaac's junior church, had worked out a volunteer to sit with Isaac during their service. That freed up Doug on Sunday morning, just as the choir was coming down to take their seats during the last hymn, to meet me in the back of the auditorium, and sit with me during the preaching.
It was wonderful!!!
I will be honest and tell you that I did feel a little separation anxiety with both of us being away from Isaac. For the most part, he is with one of us 24/7 all the time. We make that choice on purpose. God did give him to us to parent, and he is unable to speak for or defend himself. So we take our responsibility very seriously.
However, we feel completely confident that he will be well cared while he is under the watchful eye of the sweet lady who has volunteered to minister to us by sitting with Isaac. We are really grateful that the Lord has seen fit to work this out for us.
Now, I just want to admonish you – don't YOU ever take for granted sitting next to your spouse during a church service. 🙂
Blessings to you,
Alesha
The Lord Thinketh Upon Me
Hey.
I'm just here to say we're doing ok. :~)
Isaac had a few rough days at the end of last week – due to the antibiotics that he was on for his sinus infection. His tummy did not take too kindly to them – again; and we had a few days of tummy aches, lack of sleep, increased seizures and general grumpiness.
At one point, on Friday, I just climbed up into the bed with him, because I had run out of ideas to try to make him happy. He kept screaming and crying real tears. You KNOW the real tears almost never happen with Isaac. It was breaking my heart, but I couldn't discern if he was just "pitching a fit", was overtired or was in pain.
I texted Doug to come home. I was really at my wits' end.
Turns out he was in pain. His tummy was hurting.
After aggressive measures were taken, and things were…shall we say…"cleared out"? he felt much better, and then slept for a few hours. Poor baby.
(And, please, before you pass judgment on my allowing this scenario to occur…we had taken several preventative measures to avoid this particular side effect of the antibiotics – including increased water and juices, herbal laxative, daily probiotics, etc…but they weren't enough, apparently.) 😦
The antibiotic is finished, but we will have to continue to monitor the situation for several more days. I think I must pray for wisdom more than anybody else I know. I just feel so clueless about this boy of mine on some days. :o/
I am still grieving over losing Gail. Doug and I both found ourselves very grumpy toward each other on Saturday – just being impatient and unkind with our words. I went to my room, just to give myself a "timeout" really. In my inbox was an email from a friend who was just checking up on me, and telling me she was praying for me.
Suddenly, I realized mine and Doug's attitudes were not really directed at each other, but just a side effect of our grieving about Gail. When our busy week was over and we had a few minutes to allow our brains to rest, our thoughts turned to her, and the sadness just sort of took over. It's natural, I'm sure; but I hadn't stopped to analyze it. I just knew everything was bugging me, and since Doug was the only person I was interacting with, he caught the brunt of those emotions.
To be sure, we made things right with each other within the hour. We have been committed for many years to not harboring hurt feelings and grudges against each. We try to practice the following verses from Ephesians 4:
[26] Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your
wrath:[27] Neither give place to the devil.
That practice certainly came in handy on Saturday. It was good to have the peace restored in our home, and to be able to vocalize a little bit that our hearts were feeling.
I am feeling much better after taking the antibiotic for the bronchitis, but I'm a little concerned that I may still have a sinus infection on board. I have been using my neti pot, and I hope it will clear up any residual infection. I am also dealing again with some other physical issues that I have had trouble with from time to time – not to the same extent as before, but just enough to have me feeling very run down and dragging a bit.
I do appreciate your praying for me when the Lord lays me on your heart. I feel like we have been a very "needy" bunch at our house lately! But then I remember that is ok. The Psalmist worded it quite well for me:
Psalm 40:17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon
me: thou art
my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
I look forward – with great anticipation! – to sharing with you when we are all feeling better and back to normal. 🙂
God bless you as you begin this new week,
Alesha
No More Night…No More Pain
Gail met Jesus today.
I'd guess she'd say she was having a really GREAT day.
The rest of us…not so much.
One day soon, we will experience it with her:
Please pray for Mike, her mom, dad, sister and brother.
Thank you,
Alesha
Hope When Our Hearts Fail
There are times when our emotions threaten to overwhelm us, when we feel we just can't take any more bad news, when we don't have the strength to try for another day.
The Psalmist expressed it this way:
Psalm 40:11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from
me, O LORD: let
thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.12
For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have
taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than
the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.
So often, however, we insist on suffering through these times without the comfort of our God. We harden our hearts to His Word.
We use the methods of the world to comfort ourselves during these times:
- alcohol to numb the pain
- music to drown the crying
- tobacco to soothe the hurt
- food to block the agony
- pornography to forget the reality
- work to avoid the misery
- adrenaline thrills to escape the bitter ache
- activity to ignore the despair
We need to turn our back on these evasions, and turn our face toward the only One who can bring us through the heartbreak with victory.
God is not afraid of your emotions. After all, as Creator, He is the one who blessed you with this gift of "feeling".
Believe me, He has heard every blasphemous accusation before. He is no stranger to the depths to which our emotions can take us.
We need to incline our hearts to Him, and allow Him to heal our failing hearts.
We need to agree with the Psalmist at the beginning of Psalm 40, when he proclaimed:
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and
heard my cry.2 He brought me up also out of an horrible
pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established
my goings.
We need to trust Him to be our salvation, even in the midst of our fear and despair.
13
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.14
Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to
destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me
evil.15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame
that say unto me, Aha, aha.16 Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say
continually, The LORD be magnified.
May we remember who we are, and never forget the great God that He is:
17 But I am poor and
needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer;
make no tarrying, O my God.
My Help. My Deliverer. My Heart-Mender. My Hope.
The Privilege of Prayer
I think there must be days that I overlook some of God's mightiest
acts, simply because I am too busy managing my own affairs. I often
forget to look for God's hand at work.
There are, however, some days that I see his incredible works in
bold, vibrant, tangible ways…as I did yesterday:
After enduring a month of surgeries, anesthesia, medications, ER
visits, doctor's appointments, extreme pain and illness, our co-pastor's
wife, Mrs. C, was able to
attend our church services!
It was wonderful to see her, and hug her, and have her in our midst
again, but the joy I felt was more than that.
It was the tangible awareness that the great God of Heaven, Creator
of the universe, had heard – and answered – our prayers on her behalf.
It was an answer to prayer – a miracle – talking and walking around!
How exciting it was to be reminded that God uses us, somehow, to
accomplish His will.
We cannot all be pastors or teachers. Some of us can't get out to
visit the sick. We might not be great musicians. It may be difficult
for us to greet strangers. We may feel our greatest talent is that of
warming up our spot on the pew!
There is one thing, however, that we ALL can do, and that is to
PRAY!
Consider the following scenario:
Your pastor rises from his seat next Sunday, stands behind the
pulpit and announces YOUR name. He tells of a grave diagnosis or a
family crisis or a great need that has developed in your life. You hear
a gasp of shock followed by a murmur of sympathy as it sweeps the
congregation.
How would you want the audience to respond? Would you want them to
walk out of the sanctuary at the end of service, and forget about you
until service time next Sunday? Or would you want them to faithfully
call out your name to the Heavenly Father until the crisis was passed?
I know that I would want my church family to remember to pray for me
in my time of need.
We can all be faithful to pray for those who need a touch from God.
Even when we are overwhelmed with our own pain, we can pray for
others.
Sometimes, it is BECAUSE of our own suffering that we are made
more acutely aware of the distress of those around us.
Ask the Lord to lay someone on your heart this week. We cannot carry
everyone's burden, but we can be faithful to pray for one, especially
if the Lord burdens our heart with that need.
I know that your faith will grow as you see God work in the lives of
those for whom you are praying. It will encourage your own heart, and
build confidence in your God.
It will move your heart to praise and adoration as you see Him show
Himself mighty in your midst.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer
and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:6-7
Obtaining Mercy 