hey! Thought i better update you a little on my life here.
Today was pretty normal. I woke up at 6 and helped the girls get ready for school and then cleaned up a little. Then i had kindy with the very cute, gorgeous Josiah (picture of me and him to the left). I had so much playing play dough and tea parties and cars! We even had a special time of dancing and playing with the musical instruments (Josiah showed me just how loudly he could bang 2 cymbals together, he is a clever boy :P). It was pouring down rain today so we couldnt really do outside stuff but we still had fun! This afternoon i just chilled and packed a bit for tomorrow :)(Brooke, Scott and I are going to Chiang Mai, a nearby city, for 2 days to have a bit of a break! I am so excited!) Then this afternoon Brooke and I went and visited Scott and then did a bit of shopping :) When we got home Brooke dyed my hair for me.. it was meant to be blonde.. but it kind of turned grey in some areas (gotta love Thai hair dye! LOL!) So as i write to you i have grey hair! I was kind of upset at first but hey its only hair! That brings me to now where i am writing to you all, probably boring you all with my nonsense!
So let me get to the second part of the title of this blog- Gods' Surprises.. for those of you who dont know i have been finding this past month or so quite hard and tiring. At some points i just wanted to give up and go home.. i just wanted to be in the company of my family and friends. But it has been so great how God has been showing me His faithfulness, kindness and love! In the past week or so i have received quite a few emails or messages from people, friends and family and people who i dont know very well, saying that they are thinking of me and praying for me (they were Gods' Surprises). They have been such an encouragement to me and have really made me see the greatness and kindness of God! You have to know that i hate surprises but the surprise of knowing that people are praying for me.. and that God hasn't lost sight of me even when i feel like He has, is a surprise that i most certainly couldn't do without!
It reminds me of the sky the other night, (another one of Gods' surprises) it looked like it was about to rain so there were lots of dark clouds. As I looked out to the sky i saw this patch of blue, it was quite big to begin with but as time went past it became smaller and smaller. I guess in a way thats what i felt my hope was becoming like. I felt like all this stuff was building up, all these things were covering me, like the black cloud over the blue sky, but as i continued to watch it i noticed that the black cloud never completely covered the blue sky. There was always a bit shining through. No matter how much the black cloud grew the blue remained. This may sound funny but it made me think.. it made me think of how although i may feel so tired, so confused and so lost. If i have God with me, protecting me, watching over me, walking with me and carrying me it will never be too much to handle! There will always be that light.. that hope.. that peace.. that love! And let me tell you that was a nice surprise too!
Another surprise/reading that was a real encouragement to me was found in this book i am reading called reckless faith by Beth Guckenberger. It is all about stories of these people who Beth met while being a missionary in Mexico who showed her the meaning of reckless faith. This one particular story about a boy who had had a rough childhood caught my attention. It talked about how even though he had many tough times he continued to try his best in everything and God continued to build him up.. it was what Beth said at the end that caught my attention the most she wrote,
'For me, Rodolfo's (the boy) life will always be a signpost that signifies a certain kind of reckless faith. It reads: We are yet to be all God has created us to be, and the effort it take to move forward is worth it!'.
That is so true! God is continuing to build us up, he is continually changing us and renewing us and sometimes, quite often, that means things get tough. We go through trials and times when we feel like giving up.. but the effort it takes to move forward IS worth it! There is no greater love than Gods, no greater peace than Gods, no greater mercy than Gods and there is no greater place to be than with God!
I am off to bed now as i have exhausted my blog, probably all of you and myself with my ramblings but before i go i want to leave you all with a verse that someone reminded me of, a verse to help to encourage you during those trials, a prayer from me to you!
'I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.'
Ephesians 1:17-19
