Peace

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful” (Col 3v15).

God’s peace does truly defy understanding (Phil 4v7). It can be found amidst hostility, strife, conflict, grief, terror, trauma, trials, confusion, anxiety, overwhelm, suffering … whether alone or with others, no matter age, gender, education, culture or background … this peace is available and real.

The verse above however, starts with the word ‘let’, then follows shortly after with the word ‘rule’. So despite this peace being freely available, it is only a guarantee following a choice and decision by ourselves. We have to ‘let’ it in and then let it ‘rule’. It’s not a foregone conclusion that it’s always going to be our present reality despite our circumstances and mood. You will know as well as I do, that we can often feel stressed and anxious, overwhelmed with cares or grief, with peace seeming like an eternity away … we fret, compromise, criticise, become angry, seek solace elsewhere and yet all we want is peace.

Why oh why do we often choose human options to satisfy our longing for inner peace rather than bathing in the transcendent peace of God through Christ, freely given and waiting for us?

So now let us “let the peace of Christ” fill us up, pervade our very being and allow it to rule our hearts and minds so that we exude it out to others. Real peace is tangible, attractive and influential. This powerful, strong peace is there, right now for us to know in reality … let us tap into such a glorious resource and blessing.

Ingrid x

My log store was recently filled up … I find it such a friendly thing to look at, just like looking at a bookcase … the logs are essentially books in their raw form … the material manuscript representation of literature!

The beauty of a forest, trees in abundance, all communicating through their root system in their unique language … providing refuge, shelter, protection, sustenance, shade, wonder, restorative healing to many a soul … then if felled, that timber in turn can provide shelter, heat, creativity, furniture, instruments, tools, ornamentation, paper … books … people use their skills and gifts to transform what was a tree into a book and a bookcase to hold them.

It’s reassuring and comforting to soak in the environment of a forest; to appreciate a log pile and to sit next to a bookcase full of books!

Ingrid x

Midweek Thought ~ A Prayer

Almighty God who hides great oak trees inside tiny acorns, we acknowledge our frailty and fallen humanity before you. Your majestic greatness seen in the diversity of creation and your tender compassion shown when silently writing in the dust of the earth, are staggering.

Help us when in times of adversity, to prioritise and maintain unity; to face storms without fear because we have firstly made sure you’re in the boat with us.

We pray that our desire to do right will always outweigh wanting to be liked. 

Help us never to settle for less than what you have planned for our lives, so that big dreams will achieve great victories. 

No matter what a day brings forth, let us be reminded that there is hope in the darkness, like there is light in a dawn. 

Enable our perspective on life to be framed by a knowledge of eternity so that our focus remains righteous and true.

May we know your steadfast love and power so that any fear we experience will be diminished by courage and resolute faith.

Empower us therefore, to daily fulfill our duty to uphold your truth and values, to beacon forth your light and love, to bring justice and compassion whilst retaining integrity and morality … and primarily, to bring glory to your holy name.

Amen.

Ingrid x

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. 

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. 

Psalm 94v18-19.

Unfailing love; support; consolation and joy … I’ll take them over slipping and anxiety!

I took this photo of the full moon from my bedroom window. So still, so beautiful, with the one bright star nearby and an owl hooting. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4v6).

Ingrid x

This photo is from the beautiful Mutinondo Wilderness, west of the Luangwa valley in northern Zambia. I have been there. It is a place where you can view from “horizon to horizon without evidence of human activity”.

The inselbergs are unique and stand steady, immovable but inoffensive, providing stable platforms for viewing and feeling at one with the vast expanse of creatorial beauty and diversity. 

It’s so easy to feel swayed by opinions, threats, intimidation, false information, fear and worry. Not that long ago, I learnt about the grey rock method of coping with certain people and situations … it’s helpful. What’s better though, is to realise and experience that the God who made the grey rocks is the one who can provide the best support, stability and strength for any challenge we may face.

This is my verse of the moment:

“I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 16v8).

007 JB may prefer his favorite cocktail shaken, not stirred, but when it comes to our general state of mind and very being, I for one would choose to be neither! To not be shaken … how encouraging and reassuring. It gives me strength to stand by my convictions, to be confident and not to doubt. What I must not do though, is to focus on the end part without primarily absorbing and living out the first part … eyes always on the Lord … conscious of him at my right hand … that I must do. Like Peter walking on the sea … no problem with his eyes on the Lord, but remove them for the shortest of time and like him, we’ll be all at sea! 

I know I’d rather be steady than shaken … confidently calm rather than churning in chaos. So like the man who built his house upon the rock, let’s genuinely settle our daily lives into Christ our rock so that when the winds of change, challenge and confusion arrive, we are secure, steadfast and safe … not shaken. Peace will thus ensue … and having sat on a rock like in the photo, I can assure you that it is indeed very peaceful.

Ingrid x

A coupe of songs …

So I have WiFi! Yay … Back from my short stint of being off-grid 😆

Have been busy painting and many other things so just thought I’d post a couple of songs to be cheerful.

Gospel Song ~ Rhett Walker:

https://youtu.be/91Ab1IP2DL8

Yes He Can ~ CAIN:

https://youtu.be/KtKBkpbOLPE

Love to you all

Ingrid x

Midweek Thought ~ Eternal Timeline

Of course it’s necessary and very easy to get caught up with the daily demands of time keeping and scheduling … planning ahead, booking things in and aiming for targets. We have to do these things at home, in work and also for leisure. It is however, very easy to keep the focus there and never step out into the greater timeline of our lives where the higher purpose and true meaning lie.

I (yes me), was thought about before the foundation of the earth! What?! Seriously ponder that … honestly! If I was, then so were you and every other person ever to have life. How is that really possible? And if it’s true, then it provides a huge dimension to our existence and the definition of life on earth. If I was thought and known about in eternity past, then my passage of time here has meaning and is planned, not only for now, but for the continuance of time into eternity.

It kind of gives sense to life doesn’t it? There is a bigger timeline and tapestry of all eternity that we’re each amazingly a part of.

Take a moment or two to rest your head and close your eyes. Think of the vastness of what we do know, for example the galaxies of space … the unfathomable depths of an ocean … the intricacies of human DNA … big stuff, really big stuff. Yet what about the things beyond our human reach, understanding or even remote awareness! We are small and limited, temporarily here, but planned, considered, created and will continue forward into eternity.

My current circumstances, issues and immediate emotions are valid yet fleeting … may require attention and time, yet are not to be obsessed over to the detriment of the wider lens of life.

As much as it may seem daunting and mind boggling to think of our present existence being a wilting speck of time, it simultaneously equates to value of epic proportions as far as God is concerned … so whilst fleeting, every moment here has eternal value and perspective. Wow.

God designed each one of us individually therefore he must have a specific use and ideal plan for us. Listen to the psalmist: “for you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (139v13). God spoke to Jeremiah saying: “before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” (ch1v5).

“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (Eph 1v4). Before he made the world!!! So before he even made Adam, he had thought about the creation of me and what he hoped for me. Truly makes me shake my head in wonder and bafflement.

Yet for now I am simply going to take great comfort in the fact that my every moment is cherished by my father God who took great delight in planning and creating every aspect of my very being. I have a purpose in my short existence here on earth which will have eternal consequences. I am valuable and of great worth. My past is exactly that, past … but with every breath I take I am entering the future and must chose to see that who I am, what I do, how I show love amongst many others things, will be threads in the most beautiful timeline tapestry from eternity to eternity, woven by God himself. I hope my threads are strong and honourable, able to add beauty, colour and compliment to all those other threads around me.

Ingrid x

 

Another quote

Still no wifi and still busy with the holidays and unpacking! So another cheat of a post to share a quote … thanks to my oldest sister for sharing with me … I don’t know who the author is … she’ll have to post in the comments if she knows!

“When you’re young, it’s easy to confuse strength with dominance; when you’re older, you realize the feat of character it takes to be meek. I used to imagine my calling was to defend the Truth. Now I’m just trying to figure out how to love.”

I truly believe that to love and to be kind, in their most proper sense, is to be the essence of what God wants from each and every one of us. 

What’s the only thing stronger and more powerful than dominance, hate and control? Love. 

What’s the only thing mightier than cruelty and bullying? Kindness.

Light dispels the dark … always.

God’s ways, his commands and laws are far more compelling, affecting and victorious. There is strength and honour in meekness of character and humility of heart. It’s often much harder for sure, but that makes it even more real and lasting … for eternity.

The quote reminds me of one of my favourite challenges which I very regularly say out loud to myself “truth with love” … speak it, act it, share it and live it out in all aspects of life.

Ingrid x

Midweek Thought ~ Time, worries and reliance on God

I have found lately, that I am extremely guilty of continued fickleness in my relationship with and reliance on God. It’s really rather foolish.

For the first time, I have to allow the children to spend a whole week with their father, week on, week off, during the summer school holidays. It’s hard, really hard. Not only because I worry about them … are they getting enough sleep; are they safe and happy; what if they’re crying and want me … but because I miss them, so very much. 

You know that I’ve just moved house. There’s a lot to do and a lot to manage. It’s the holidays and as a consequence, I genuinely have to focus for a while to know what day it is. I forget things and mislay things; I worry about cost and safety; about winter coming and whether or not I’ll have heating installed before then … it goes on … about schooling and the issues around differences of opinion between the children’s father and myself; about play dates and sporting classes … then I forget to order food or go shopping and need to remember that someone is coming to quote for some fencing or continue work in the cellar!

All boring day to day stuff and of course it’s normal to feel a bit discombobulated at times … that’s ok and you’ll all relate to it in some way.

What’s strange though, is that in this flurry of adjusting to a ‘new normal’, I’m not relying on God’s help as much or staying awake long enough to pray properly. How silly! Why is it that when I need God’s stabilising help, guidance and peace the most, I neglect to tap into the very source that supplies it? It’s bonkers.

I need God in a very real and present way right now, but I haven’t really communicated this to him much. I know that amazingly, he still cares, loves and will strengthen me, but he wants to hear my concerns and take my burdens to replace them with his incredible, surpassing understanding, peace.

There’s so much to pray about … not only my own small life and all it entails, but others too. It’s a bit like that book title ‘too busy not to pray’ by Bill Hybels, and the well known poem ….

“I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;

I had so much to accomplish that I didn’t have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me, and heavier came each task.

‘Why doesn’t God help me?’ I wondered. He answered, ‘You didn’t ask,’

I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak;

I wondered why God didn’t show me. He said ‘But you didn’t seek.’

I tried to come into God’s presence; I used all my keys to the lock. 

God gently and lovingly chided, ‘My child, you didn’t knock.’

I woke up early this morning, and paused before entering the day;

I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.”

(Author unknown)

I need to try harder and practice self discipline. 

“If you’re too busy to pray … you’re too busy” (Mother Teresa).

“We are too busy to pray, and so we are too busy to have power. We have a great deal of activity, but we accomplish little; many services but few conversations; much machinery but few results” (R A Torrey).

“To desire revival  … and at the same time to neglect (personal) prayer and devotion, is to wish one way and walk another” (A W Tozer).

Ingrid x

Just a couple of sisterhood shares, both from my youngest sister this time; a screenshot and a song.

Over the past 2-3 days I’ve been pondering a little about my own testimony and how my faith would stand up if really tested … not through persecution like some in the world suffer, but more akin to my own vulnerabilities. 

For example, if in certain company, would I be as likely to stand up for what I believe and withdraw from the conversation should it head toward things I would be much better off having no part in; or would I want to be accepted and seen as one of the group. May sound silly but we all want to be accepted and liked, therefore we are quite likely to brush aside grey areas and go with the flow rather than be seen as different.

If someone asked me outright if I was a Christian I’d have no problem saying yes … but what if my life depended on the answer and like some have had to face, I would be shot if I said yes? What about other questions from friends or acquaintances which prove hard subjects and ones which are current hot topics? Would I speak the truth with love as I see it in God’s word or fumble about and avoid any awkwardness or reprisal?

There’s a lot of soul searching to do and I think a big part of the bottom line is to know God … to really know him would mean that I would have no fear, but hope … and be more than happy to stand up for and share that hope, despite any adverse consequences. He would also provide the grace and right words with which to do it. 

The attractiveness to the alternative of holding my ground for God, in a moment or situation, is a fleeting and empty satisfactory temptation fulfilled; whereas to maintain God’s statutes for my life results in eternal blessings and rewards. There is no real comparison. 

May God protect us and give us strength in every moment we face against our weaknesses and trials, that we may come forth as victors, pleasing to him who made us and redeemed us through the precious sacrifice of his own son.

City Alight ~ Christ is Mine Forevermore:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=roQovDZeAWE&feature=share

Ingrid x

A quote

May 7th 1841

“The primary business I must attend to every day is to fellowship with the Lord. The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord, but how my inner man might be nourished. I may share the truth with the unconverted; I may try to encourage believers; I may relieve the distressed; or I may, in other ways, seek to behave as a child of God; yet, not being happy in the Lord and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, may result in this work being done in a wrong spirit. The most important thing I had to do was to read the word of God and to meditate on it. Thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, and instructed”. 

George Müller

Ingrid x

A UCB Word for Today share

 

Midweek Thought ~ A poem from a friend

I’m privileged to have a guest appearance for my midweek thought in the form of a poem by Alice Kerby, a wonderful friend.

GOD IS LOVE

If I were an artist I would travel to the highest point on Earth and paint a landscape depicting the sobering contrast of our size against the awesome majesty of His creation.

I would use every colour, and every colour would still not compare. 

I would become lost on my way home, a wandering babe in the woods torn apart by the thorny wilderness and I would curse myself for ever making the journey.

But God is love, and He would seek me and bring me home.

 

If I were a dancer I would choreograph a ballet with thirty movements. A spectacular feast for the eyes and an emotive story of grace and forgiveness.

I would use every position I could shape my body into, but every step would still not compare.

My feet would become blistered and bleed and I would curse myself for ever putting on those shoes.

But God is love, and He would heal my broken toes.

 

If I were a singer I would write a song. A melody taken from the sound of the winds in the trees with words that would reach deep inside the soul.

I would use every note, and every note would still not compare.

My voice would become sore and the words would break my heart, and I would curse myself for ever sitting in front of that piano.

But God is love, and he would flood my heart with joy.

 

Alas, I cannot do any of these things. But I was a babe in the woods, wondering with blisters on my feet and a broken heart.

A man found me. He led me out of the wilderness.

He washed my feet and bandaged them.

He hugged me, and he threw his head to the heavens and cried “Abba, Father. I have found Your daughter, and she is just as perfect as You always promised.”

And then I knew that man.

 

And from this day no matter how far I wander, how sore my feet get, how broken my heart is and how much I curse,

He will always find me, heal me and fill me with joy.

Because God is love.

Thank you Alice. ❤️

Ingrid x

Moving house

Ok, so moving house is not for the faint hearted and I wholeheartedly hope that I don’t have to do it again!

I woke at 5:20am yesterday and was on my feet until 10pm and then couldn’t get to sleep … what on earth is that about?

I am so at peace about moving, despite the monumental amount of work still to do. Chaos reigns; there is much confusion as to what’s where, yet I am calm and content. I am so thankful to God for directing and providing.

At risk of sounding somewhat clichéd or pious, I do honestly hope that I can continually say “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24v15). I don’t expect for one minute that’ll mean I’m always content and peaceful, patient and glorifying God! Far from it … I will moan and get cross, be impatient and grumpy, because I know my own frail humanity. What I do hope though, is that through the normal experiences of living … just being the unique person I am, that I am always aware of God’s faithfulness, provision, kindness and love. Despite who I am and how I act, I want to know his forgiveness and mercy … to know his presence with me as I now enter a new chapter of my life, in a new home here on planet earth, which is what he has provided for me and my children. It is really his, but I will do my best to look after it, share it and enjoy it for us and the use of others.

Come visit … once I’ve unpacked!

Ingrid x