Just a Daisy in the Meadow

“Troubles have come again and again like waterfalls . . . Your waves are crashing all around me . . . The Lord will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me . . .” Psalm 42:7-8

Again and again I fall.  Words with my son end into a cascading argument . . . and keeps recurring . . . Why does this particular child and I keep finding ourselves in this troubling heartache . . .If only I were perfect and he was always in the wrong . . . not that I want him to be in the wrong, but why do I, who “has” the Lord’s enabling GRACE keep stumbling and tripping on the same rocks???

“We have this treasure from God . . . but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure.  This SHOWS that the power is from God and not from us . . . We have TROUBLES on every side, but we are not defeated.  We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living.  We are persecuted, but God does not leave us.  We are hurt sometimes, but not destroyed.  We carry the DEATH OF JESUS in our bodies so that the LIFE OF JESUS can also be seen in our bodies that die.”

Isaiah 59:1  “Surely the Lord’s power is enough to save you. He can hear you when you ask for help.”

Psalm 12:5-7  ” . . .  I will give  (Aimee) the help that  (she) wants (Oh, Lord, enable me).  The words of the Lord are PURE words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, PURIFIED SEVEN TIMES.  You shall keep (her), O Lord.  You shall PRESERVE her from this generation forever.”

I’m holding my breath . . . BUT MY NEWBORN IS A WEEK OLD AND NO COLIC YET!!!! If I remember right all my others had it by now . . . Anyway, THANK-YOU, GOD for these few days without it!!!! It’s like caring for a doll with no colic!!

HER LITTLE SHADOWS

I saw a young Mother with eyes full of laughter
And two little shadows come following after.
Whenever she moved They were always right there,
Holding unto her skirts Hanging unto her chair
Before her behind her An adhesive pair…

Don’t you ever get weary as day after day
Your two little tag along’s get in your way ?
She smiled as she shook her pretty young head
And I’ll always remember the words that she said
It’s good to have shadows that run when you run
That laugh when you’re happy and hum when you hum
For you only have shadows when your life’s filled with sun !!!

- Unknown – Borrowed from a friend

Lily Hope arrived safely on October 25, 2011.

So many welcoming arms . . .

Ahhh, these little ones bring so much joy and happiness to our hearts . . .

Living in some of the best years of our lives . . .

This morning God convicted me of my complaining . . . Turning my life over again to live for the will of God . . .

“Therefore, since Christ SUFFERED IN HIS BODY, arm YOURSELVES also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, BUT RATHER FOR THE WILL OF GOD. ” I Peter 4:1&

And again . . . I’ve been thinking and complaining in my heart and voicing some of my thoughts about all the pains we moms have to suffer and wondering why out loud and one of my children piped up, “Mom, you know, the curse” . . . But still I was questioning God, why does life have to be this hard . . . This morning God gave me these verses also and in case you might like to meditate on them too, here they are . . .

If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking t he very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with THE STRENGTH GOD PROVIDES, SO THAT IN ALL THINGS GOD MAY BE PRAISED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST . . . so then THOSE WHO SUFFER ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL (thinking of child birth here ) SHOULD COMMIT THEMSELVES TO THEIR FAITHFUL CREATOR AND CONTINUE TO DO GOOD.” . . .

and further down . . .

Cast all your anxiety on Him because HE CARES FOR YOU . . . And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, AFTER YOU HAVE SUFFERED A LITTLE WHILE, will HIMSELF RESTORE YOU AND MAKE YOU STRONG, FIRM AND STEADFAST. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. I Peter 5 :10&11

Two birthday people here, Japheth's yesterday and Violet's tomorrow . . . Love'm both to pieces . . . Thank-You, Father for joy upon joy!!!!

Oh, yes . . . I’m in need of contentment . . . this pregnancy stage gets lengthy and one becomes weary of the journey long before the journey’s end.  Some days I don’t mind it to much,other days like the last couple I came through that had a few health complications just make me think that “I don’t ever want to be pregnant again!” . . . but then it eases, and God sustains and when baby comes he\she is the dearest little thing and it is worth all the pain and sacrifice.

The thought came to me this afternoon that I am like a duck sittin’ on a  nest . . .  I long to get up and enjoy the freedom of not being “tied down” and “tired out”  by my pregnant body, but that’s not an option.  I’m in this state and I’m am trying to learn to be content in it . . . and at times it’s quite a hard lesson.

So yesterday even though the temp felt quite warm I pulled out the yarn . . . God gives us such beautiful gifts and one of them is the colors and textures and fun one can have with yarn.  I’m not sure what I’m gonna make, right now I’m untangling some dark green wool yarn I got for a bargain at the last rummage sale I stopped at.  Today I searched for a basket to hold my treasures close by my “nest” . . . I think that sitting on the nest and sitting on the couch are almost synonymous at least in my stage of the game.

Yeah . . . Somehow it’s just easier to post pictures rather than take some time to gather my thoughts together and get them to come out in something other than a busy jumble . . . Got the rest of the crew at the kitchen table playing a science game, or at least trying to figure out how to play it at this moment.  Japheth is at a meeting . . . He’s on the planning committee for a pregnancy center that’s in it’s very beginning stages of getting started.  Okay, think I’ll forget this post and go help the game get going . . . Sounds like some supervision is needed . . . So there ya go . . . all the words I have right now!

A bit of summer school and we’re happy . . .

Checking out a hairy fly leg!  Whoa!

Playing “store” in the basement . . .

Joy . . . He gives me joy . . .

Hmmm . . . look at all this little “manpower” sittin’ there wasting away . . .

Oh, happy baby . . . that isn’t so much a baby anymore .  . .

And the daisies praise the Lord . . .

and the girls giggle with delight . . .  DAISIES!!!

But, Mom, the skeeters are biting me!

This one is hard to pick, Mom!

I think I’d like to be  a little girl again and run blithely through the meadow . . . Okay, I’m enjoying my matronly stroll with the camera . . . (If only the mosquitoes would calm down a bit!) though I did have to get down in the grass and roll under the barbwire . . .

White, yellow and green . . .

A whole handful . . . May be enough for a few hours!

They grow up about as fast as the flowers wilt . . .

This is an older pic, but it just made me smile today . . .  Sometimes it’s good to step back and reminisce a bit . . . Here I am at the close of the day trying to wind down, wishing that my children would’ve been better trained at leaving the house in a better state of orderliness . . . Ah well, tomorrow I can try again.

Had the most fun in the flowerbeds this evening . . .  went outside all decked out with bug spray and long sleeves and shoes and socks to protect myself from the hordes of mosquitoes, but it really wasn’t as bad as I expected as long as I stayed busy.

On Thursday I had invited a gal over to enjoy the afternoon with me and after some tea and swing time in the front yard, we proceeded to tear into one of the flower beds that needs some major “maintaining”.  Basically, we started shoveling everything up and getting all the crab grass roots out that we could and setting the perennials aside for replanting later.  I wanted to start a bunch of baby hollyhocks in that bed so the other hardier, less preferred stuff had to go somewhere else and this evening after a day of rain, I dug up sod by one of my rosebushes and a few other flowers that were growing around the birdfeeder that is no longer there.   Just such a lovely feeling to enlarge my “borders” a bit, dig in the dirt and envision the beauty yet to come.