"IT'S NEVER TOO LATE"

Hi Everyone,

I feel almost embarrassed to be writing, it's been so long since I have!  (Please hold that thought)

However, since that last post we have enjoyed two huge things that are noteworthy...

1.  We found out that we have another grandchild on the way. 

2.  I fulfilled a long-term dream...(one that I felt was never going to happen) I travelled to England with Jeff.  I went there in 2001 with my parents, but promised myself I would not go back without him.
 
It was really great to show him places I knew and grew up in.  Homes, schools and favourite towns.  We also went to places I had never been before. I really enjoyed watching him discover and respond to the places, people and culture.  My favourite of Jeff's reactions was to the Bath Cricket Club.  He actually was envious of those young boys who get to train there and was amazed at the beauty of the cricket ground environment! 

I discovered that my totally Aussie husband could easily settle into British life! 

We  caught up with my cousins and had the best time with them.  Considering we have had virtually nothing to do with each other since 1974, (in apart from a couple of hours in 2001 with Teresa, the only contact we have had is 'virtual' through Facebook). It was amazing to feel so comfortable with each other!  It was one of the highlights of our holiday.

We also caught up with an old school friend of mine, Sarah, and her husband, Rob.  This had to be the other major highlight... nervous as we both were, Sarah and I relished our couple of hours, extended by the breakdown of our car!  (Thanks Sarah and Rob for staying with us :)

We were travelling with my parents, and mum got to enjoy something she had been waiting decades for, and thought may never happen... She visited her favourite school in Ayrshire and even got a guided tour!  The year she was there? 1953.  I loved the look on her face as we walked around the school.... Mum was 13 again!

Now to the "Never too late thought".

A few months ago while minding my own business, the following question rose up in my mind refusing to be ignored... "If God waited till Abraham and Sarah were too old to have children... then gave them Isaac and Job lost everything including adult children and still had time to receive double restoration, Can God do it again?".  Now before you get all credulous, I'm not talking about having any more children!  But there has been something in our lives that we have felt was beyond redeeming, and I knew the Lord was speaking into that situation. Faith was ignited in my heart, and I know that I know He will do it...

But faith has feet.

Since coming home I have restarted my studies towards a Diploma in Christian Ministry.  I have found some of the material intensely practical.  Two of the issues have been pro-activity and making relationships a priority.  Since watching those lectures we have been able to put some things in place that actually do 'proactively' set us up to fulfil that long-term dream, and what previously had felt out of reach, is now a work in progress! 

I have also re-connected with an old friend whom we had almost let slip.  The timing of the call could not have been better, and her contact details are now safely saved on my mobile.  I am looking forward to investing in that relationship in a far more proactive way than the annual Christmas card!

So what have you put in the 'too-late, too-hard basket'?  Let me point you to these amazing verses...

"Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’
 “Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! (Ezekiel 37:11-12 The Message)

Do you see that?  These bones were dead and buried.  Yet God promises to not just bring life to dead bones, but to bring them out from graves.  Once something is buried, it's a declaration that the thing is over.  There is no hope.  But God promises out of that no-hope situation to resurrect and bring back life!

Let me encourage you to pray, to give your dead situations to Him.  Hear what He has to say about it.  And when you hear His promise breathed into your heart - believe, and get proactive.  Make the decisions you need to make. Put words and actions to your belief and see Him at work. 

Whether it's a life long dream, a relationship, or some issues that need tidying up.... or even an overdue task (like a blog)... get to it!

With love,
until next time (and it will be soon)
Lynda :) 

PS.  Thanks to Jeff for asking me the other day how long it was since I wrote on my blog!  Your encouragement was priceless. It got me over the embarrassment of fronting up online after so long.

NEVER FORGET

Hi everyone,

     So good to get back on here again.  The last couple of weeks have been full, and I've had a win! 

It's something I knew, but had forgotten.  "DO IT AFRAID!"

     I had the huge privilege of speaking to the local Christian School at their weekly chapel.  I was given the subject matter - Joseph of Genesis.  I had the first part of his story when he almost lost his life, but ended up being sold as a slave by his hateful brothers.  That doesn't sound too hard does it?  The thing that had me afraid was speaking to a new group of people.... who ranged from the age of about four to forty.  I was going to speak to the entire school and I didn't know how I was going to engage such a wide age range.

     When I am facing something daunting I tend to go into denial mode and put off the preparation.  It's some illogical response that allows me to pretend it's not really going to happen!  A REALLY bad move that has let me down a couple of times.

    The best antidote to apathy is action and the best antidote to fear is to face up and engage the giant!

    As I did this I found my fear dissipating and love and compassion increasing. By the time I got to the school I was really looking forward to it. 

     I need to finish this little part to say that I had the best time ever and thoroughly enjoyed connecting with those young people.  It was no way near as hard as I thought as I just shifted my focus on to the important part of this task, which wasn't me, but them!

    Now my main thought... 

     While we were in Church yesterday morning and during the singing my mind went back to the day when I first asked The Lord to come into my life.  As I thought about that day I realised that it was the most life changing moment in my entire life.  I have had lots of pivotal moments, but it all began with that day.  What struck me as I thought about it was the truth that it was an almost silent prayer offered in the backyard as I hung out the washing.  I was only 17.  No one was there, just me, the washing line and Jesus.  No crowds, no music, no preaching.  I didn't know I needed Him. I just knew I wanted Him.  I simply said, "Lord, I want You in my life". 

     At that precise moment I didn't know He came.  It was a few days later that the reality of His Presence and grace hit me.  My life has never been the same since.

    This is the point.  A young girl of 17 hanging out the washing by herself was heard by Almighty God.  The same God who created heaven and earth and maintains it by His power, heard the silent prayer of a teenager.  That reality blew me away yesterday morning in Church. And as I thought about it I felt the Lord say, "Never forget that I still hear your quiet prayers, the cry of your heart in all it's simplicity.  When life gets big and busy, and it seems the responsibilities are huge, I'm still interested in the private world of Lynda, and I hear ... NEVER FORGET THAT."

    To illustrate the point:  I have long since left home.  I'm all grown up ... grown up enough to be a grandmother.  But when I go home to visit Mum & Dad, I'm someone's daughter again.  I can take a look in the fridge, in the pantry.  I can relax. I have nothing to prove.  When I'm there my value isn't in my role or my job, ministry and responsibilities, it's in my relationship with them... their daughter.

    I want to pass that thought on to you as well. You may feel that your public world has swallowed up your private world, and you may have forgotten that He is still just, "Dad".  The whole huge significance of your life was birthed in that simple beginning, and it's still the basis of your life and service. 

    Maybe it's time you came home, kicked off your shoes and simply remembered that you are HIS child, and that He still has time to hear the simple cry of your heart - whatever that is.

   Until next time,
         Lynda

   

IS ANYONE LISTENING??...

Hi everyone,

     It has been SO LONG since I got on this blog... Since the last time I wrote Jeff and I enjoyed a short trip to Victoria to spend Christmas with his family.  It has been ten years since the last Christmas spent down there, so was long overdue.  We really had a good time, especially comforting in the light of Jeff's Mum's passing away in the middle of last year.

     It was also the first Christmas we have spent without our own children... A difficult thought made easier by the fact that we had the best fun at a family Christmas Day at Emma & Michael's the week before we left. 

     We have also had a little change in the fact that Jodie has moved back home with us.  It is working out really well, with a few adjustments from all of us.  ;) 

      The year has also got into it's rythm with plenty of work for both Jeff and I.  The relaxed pace of  the Christmas/summer break is well a distant memory!  Never mind, because in only 11 weeks Jeff and I are off on the trip of a lifetime to England.  I am so excited and cant wait to show him around my country of birth.  I will have to make sure I get on this blog to show some photos of that.

     Now I have a delightful thought from my journal... 

Genesis 30:17 "And God listed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a sixth son."

 





I love this!  To give a bit of background to Leah.  She was the plainer, older sister to beautiful Rachel, whom Jacob loved intensely. The Bible says of Leah and Rachel... "There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes, but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face." Genesis 29:17 NLT.  Not only that but everyone knew who Jacob loved, he had worked hard for seven long years to marry her. 

On the night of the wedding, after Jacob had his fill of wine, Laban, (the bride's father) snuck poor Leah into Jacobs tent, and in the morning Jacob was furious to find that he had the wrong woman as his wife! 

 

     Can you imagine the shame and rejection for this poor woman.  Jacob had to work another seven years for the privilege of marrying the woman he loved while Leah spent the rest of her life merely being tolerated. 

 

     From my journal.... "Leah was the unlovely, unloved one.  Yet God LISTENED to her.  We draw so much confidence and comfort from being "beautiful", "popular" etc... yet it is not how heaven measures.  God listens to those who others don't listen to.  We need to take heart in this and give Him something to listen to!

• Thanksgiving
• Praise
• Worship
• Requests
• Intercessions
• Questions
• The thoughts of our day
• The thoughts of our heart 

We should never let the fact that we feel unnoticed and un-celebrated on earth silence our prayers.  GOD IS LISTENING!"

 

     In Christ we have far more of a voice than we know.  How many prayers have been left unanswered, because they are unspoken?  How much difference can we make in the lives of others when we start to pray for them? 

 

    If you have given your life to Christ, if you know that He has washed your sin away, then know this... You are a child of God and your voice is heard in heaven.  Don't let the values of this world silence your voice, because in the Father's eyes, you're beautiful!

 

(I thought I would add this 'blast from the past' photo of me, age 15 in Capetown, on route to Australia ...  it will give those of you who know me a bit of a chuckle... I was feeling 'pretty lovely' there!)

 

Until next time, (hopefully not too long),

Much love,

Lynda