Category: 366 days of novice motherhood

Place: home

Poison: suck fizzle

Favorite things: watching 1960s Jesus movies

I have so many incomplete projects.

How about you?

I look around our house and I could list twenty five unfinished jobs, from lights hanging in the ceiling, to sides of doors unpainted, to cupboards in disarray, to windows cracked awaiting fresh glass.

In a renovators delight your job is never finished. There is always something to do.

On the flip side though, there is nothing more satisfying than knowing I have finished a job to the best of my ability. To have brought something to completion.

Recently I finished my job, it was a difficult ending and the poles shifted dramatically in the final round. No matter what happened to me though I was determined to finish well.

I believe the way we finish something is the way we begin the new season.

In a consumer based society we don’t place high value on finishing well, bringing jobs to there detailed completion.

Therefore I was determined although 8 months pregnant with every reason to walk away in bitterness, I wanted to finish well.

Hopefully I did.

Lenten blog
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30 NIV)

Many skip over the fact that Christ asked his Father to take the cup from him. Meaning ‘please don’t make me die this way’. He went on to say though, ‘not my will but yours be done’.

Christ’s last words he left us with before his crucifixion were ‘it is finished’.

He brought his purpose and plan on this earth till its final conclusion. Painful, graphic and difficult, but he finished what God began in him.

What is it that you have not finished that you know you need to bring to completion?

What area of your life is they a battle that you must engage in, to be able to stand and say it is finished?

I’m in awe of the price he paid.

It seems with difficulty…

2 days to go.

Lent: 40 days of reflection..

A

Place: doctors surgery

Poison: coke zero

Favorite things: my son and his sleeping snore…

It doesn’t make sense, but often a dream must die before it truly can be resurrected.

I don’t understand Gods ways, he often confuses me…

Why must we often let go, before a dream can come into reality.

Have you found this in your life?

The bible says for us to gain our life we must loose it.

Lenten Blog
Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
So this is what the soldiers did. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:16-27 NIV)

This is the story of the disciples. They had no idea that the story of Christs death was far from finished at this point.

Christ had to die so that he could raise back to life.

What dreams do you have that you are holding onto so tightly, that there is no possible movement in their inception for growth?

What dreams do you need to lay down?

It is in letting go that we create space for the new.

God might have a new and better plan or dream to replace the one you are doggedly holding onto.

In my life I had to let go of preconceived notions of marriage, I had to let go of my timeframes and attempts to speed up motherhood, I had to let my dreams die, so that God could bring about something new.

The new was better than I could have ever hoped or dreamed of.

What expectations have you created that you just need to let slide?

What people are you holding onto, that you need to let go their own way?

What dreams are you frustrating with lack of perspective?

Lay them down dear friend and awaken to the potential of the possibility of the new…

All my love

A

Place: home

Poison: coke zero

Favorite things: my new bible

One of the greatest moments I believe in the walk towards the place of the cross is outlined in this one verse

Lenten Blog
As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. (Luke 23:26 NIV)

Simon from Cyrene was a fortunate man.

He was never mentioned in the bible again, but this man helped Christ at his greatest time of need.

The thought of helping Jesus, helping God is not something we think about often.

We can help God.

He asks that we share the burdens of our brothers and sisters. When this happens we are helping and honoring God.

The one thing motherhood has taught me in a very short space of time is how truly selfish we all are.

A newborn brings out every bit of selfishness in us. It shows us how we revert to selfish pride when pushed to extremes.

The beginning stages of a newborns life brings out the extremes.

3am struggles to fall back asleep, the inability to communicate truly what is wrong, sleep depravation, birth wounds and I could go on.

Although the walk of a newborn mother is no where near as extreme as Christ’s walk to the cross, I still believe that we all have the ability to help another and honor Christ.

Simon helped carry Christs cross and we have the capacity everyday to do this for another.

Lord open our eyes to those around us and show us how to help carry the burden of another.

Help me be more like Simone of Cyrene this Easter. Show me lord how to serve our fellow man by helping carry another mans cross.

Show me lord, open my eyes to the need and convince my hands to pick up the cross and help.

A