Artwork

I found some of the most beautiful Chinese watercolors yesterday! I have no idea who the artist is, as I can't read Chinese...yet. :-) But these paintings blew me away! I'll have to post some more later.

Enjoy!

Thoughts...

Do you ever wonder what God's up to? Why He seems so silent sometimes? I get the feeling that it's kind of the calm before the storm, that He's getting ready to do something big! But it's so hard to wait for. Waiting, watching, wondering...

That's where trust comes in. I know He's faithful, I know He's trustworthy, I know know He'll do what is best for me and what will most glorify His Name, I know He knows infinitely more than I do and will do so much more than I could ever ask or think of. My mind knows. My heart, on the other hand...

I've seen my Saviour do great things. I've watched Him care for me, preserve my life, provide for my every need, even many of my unnecessary wants. And yet, I find myself doubting that He'll do what I so hope for. I know that saving me in the first place was more than He ever needed to do for me. I don't deserve it, I never have, I never will. If that were all that He ever did for me, it would be way more than enough.

I know His calling on my life, but it seems so impossible. I know my God is the God of the impossible. Humanly speaking, the things he has guided my heart towards could never actually happen. I know He can do it, but it's not happening. I don't see Him doing anything.

And that brings me back around to trust. If He has given me a mission, He will fulfill it in His own time. And I'll just have to learn some patience! :-) Just because I can't see Him working doesn't mean He isn't.

My heart whispers doubts...."What if you were wrong? What if He really didn't say that? What if you made it up because it's something you want? What if it's yet another in a long line of hopes and dreams that never came true? What about all those people who are just waiting to say 'I told you so'? It's not possible...God won't do it, He doesn't have to and He won't..."

But I have to keep coming back to what I know. What the Scripture says about my God. He works all things together for good, and in the end, if I knew what He knows, I would choose His way over mine. My task is to obey. Just obey what He asks of me one step at a time, and His perfect will will be done. His Name will be glorified and vindicated. That's what matters. And He is the one who knows best how His Name is to be glorified, I just have to get out of the way and let Him do it.

Broken Hearts

This poor boy's time has run out...he looks so sad and lonely... :-(

When Kyle turns 14, he will no longer be eligible for adoption. I pray the Lord will protect him, make His presence known him and let him know he's not alone.

The treatment of these children breaks my heart. I can't imagine how it must feel to be neglected, unwanted, unloved, belonging to no one, bearing pain and a broken heart all alone...with no one to teach them the Truth. That they ARE loved, they ARE wanted, that they're NEVER alone, they have a Father.

Why don't we do something? What are we waiting for? I wonder how many orphans would be left in the world if every Christian took in just ONE of these lonely children?

Are we not called of the Lord to take care of the orphan? Are we obeying? Are we waiting for just the perfect time...some day...down the road...

Are we listening to His whisper, His command to love the fatherless? Or are we too busy, too comfortable, too focused on what we want, too....whatever?

I think we need to seriously consider and prayerfully pursue what the Lord may be calling us to do, consider that He may be trying to get our attention, grab our hearts, inspire us not to hoard the love He gives us, but give it away to someone who needs it. Someone who needs Him and is just waiting to be shown the way.

Mullings...

When is a baby not a baby? No, this isn't a joke with a snappy, one-line answer. It's a real question that's being debated in our world today. With Christmas just a day or two away, I've been thinking on the answer to this question in relation to the celebration of Jesus' birth.

It recently struck me that we tend to focus all on His birth. And while that's an amazing, incomprehensibly wonderful thing, I wonder that we forget where it all started. You see, Jesus didn't leave His throne in Heaven the night He was born. Now before you say 'But...', let me finish. :-) He didn't come to earth the night He was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger, He came when He was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit.

He didn't just suddenly become a human being when He left the safety of His mother's womb, He was a human baby nine months before that wasn't He? Or wait, was He just a blob of tissue?

"You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.....My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them."

Psalm 139: 13,15-16

So when is a baby not a baby?

At week #1?

Or week 3 perhaps?

How about week 5?

Or week 7?

Week 8?

When exactly does this become a human baby? When does the soul enter the body and make it uniquely human?

On day 22, the heart begins to beat, pumping it's own blood, often a different type from the mother's.

By the end of week 3, the spinal column and nervous system are forming, as are the liver, kidneys and intestines.

By week 5, the eyes, hands, and legs are forming.

By week 8, all the organs are in place, bones begin to replace cartilage, fingerprints begin to form, and the baby can hear...

Week 12, the vocal cords are complete, as are the nerves and spinal cord.

Week 15, adult taste buds are in place.

Week 17, the baby begins to dream...

At week 20, the baby recognizes his mother's voice. Week 20 is also the earliest stage at which partial birth abortions are performed.

Month 5 and 6, the baby practices breathing. Oil and sweat glands are now fully functional.

Month 7 through 9, the baby's eyeteeth are now present, he can open and close his eyes, can use four of the five senses (hearing, taste, touch & vision), knows the difference between waking and sleeping, can relate to the moods of his mother, and his heart begins pumping 300 gallons of blood per day.

This is incredible to me!

And Jesus went through each of these stages of growth, just like each of us did. He left ultimate power and authority for ultimate vulnerability and helplessness. For us.

So at what age does a person not deserve a chance to live? Which of these little ones is it okay to 'dispose of'?

This one?

This one?

Maybe this one?

What about this one?

Let me leave you with this verse.

"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Matthew 1:20-21

Any sins and all sins will be forgiven if we only ask Him, ask the One who came to earth as an embryo and grew into a man in order to extend grace and mercy to us.

May you know His unbounded love for you this Christmas and every day for the rest of your life.

Project Completed!

So, do you remember this sweater from my earlier post ('Coming Soon')?

Well, here is what happened to it! :-)

Mitts! :-D

Just a couple of simple seams and this is what you get!


I'm really happy with how they turned out!


I love, love, love the flowers!

And while these pictures were being taken, this is what Prairie was doing. :-)

You can find my Etsy listing for these mitts here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/89148966/misty-roses-hand-mitts.