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
Thank you so much for a wonderful post :) I enjoyed reading it. Tara.
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