When you least expect it!!!!!

Something that I have been being reminded of recently is that God speaks to us through our everyday routine and activities.

I was first reminded of this about 3 weeks ago when my Word 4u 2day was looking at Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3). It points out that Moses was just doing his job when he saw the bush that was on fire with God's presence. It goes on to say that

"in that moment, everything
depended on his willingness to interrupt his daily routine and make time for
God."

Moses turned aside and his life changed.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of this again as we were looking at Luke 1:1-45 in the Midweek Meeting at church. It was verse 45 that got me as it says

"blessed is she who has believed
that what the Lord has said to her will be
accomplished."

Mary was just going about her everyday life when the angel of the Lord came and spoke to her and told her that she was going to give birth to a son and whilst she was shocked, she was willing to believe and interrupt her daily routine. Mary turned aside and her life changed.

Yesterday, I was again reminded of this as we were looking at Luke 2:1-12 at the Midweek Meeting. In verses 8-12, an angel of the Lord appears to the shepherds to tell them of the birth of Jesus. Verse 8 says

"and there were shepherd living out in the fields near by,
keeping watch over their flocks at night."

The shepherds were just doing their job when God spoke to them. The shepherds turned aside and their lives changed.

These are just 3 examples of lives being changed by people being willing to put aside what they were doing to listen to God. How willing are we to put aside our routine to spend time listening to God? How often do we say to God, not now, I'm too busy?

This has got me thinking again that I need to be looking for what God is saying to me through my everyday and being willing to put aside my agenda.

I encourage you to look for God in your everyday too.

Operation

Just quick post to update you regarding the operation that was planned for this month. It has now been rescheduled to January 2010.

This is probably just as well as although I wondered what God was playing at by letting my op be postponed by a month, I now think I know why!

I spoke to the consultant's secretary last week as I was getting quite stressed as I didn't know what the op was (i.e. purely investigatory or work being done). She advised me that the consultant will be looking at my knee and seeing if the grafting is possible and if it is, then they will remove some cartilage from my good knee. This potentially means having both knees operated on at the same time!!!!

The cartilage that is removed from my good knee will then be grown in a lab for a few weeks before being implanted in to my bad knee. So the op in January will be the first of at least 2 ops and the start of a new recovery journey.

Yes, No, Maybe!!!!!

I've been thinking about writing this post for the last week but I was lacking inspiration for a title for it and this is what has been stopping me. I have decided to post anyway and see where it takes me.

Last Tuesday, I was reading about meaning what we say and only saying yes to people if we mean it. If you're anything like me, I find it easier to say yes to someone than no when they ask me to do something and often end up overcommitting myself and not being able to do everything I said yes to.

Something I am learning is that I need to be aware of my limitations as with my knee as it is at the moment, there are things I just can't do and there are lots of things that now take me more time and/or energy than they used to.

I have heard it said the 'no' is an answer in and of itself, therefore we do not need to justify why we are saying no to something. I have found this so freeing as I always felt that when I said no to something I had to justify myself with some really good reason for saying no...but now...I can just say no, sorry in the nicest way possible.

If we learn to say no more, then we can begin to let our yes mean yes as we will no longer be overcommitting ourselves to things just to please others.

Disappointments & Me Time

On Monday afternoon, I received a phonecall that left me feeling upset and disappointed. Thankfully, at the time, a good friend was here and she gave me a hug and we went out for coffee and shopping!

Then, on Monday evening, I read in my Word 4u 2day about the Roman soldier in Luke 7:9 where Jesus says:

"I've yet to come across this simple trust anywhere in Israel..." (NIV)

I was reminded that all I have to do is trust. But...that's easier said than done isn't it???

Yesterday afternoon, I decided that I would have some "me" time and sat myself down with my bible, journal, Word 4 u 2day, a good book, my phone on silent and a vanilla latte. During this time, I read Hosea 14 and verse 9 stood out to me.

"The LORDs ways are right. Good people live by following them, but those who turn against God die because of them." (NCV)

The part that stood out the most was "The LORDs ways are right." It reinforces what I read on Monday and the fact that in the face of disappointments, I need to continue to trust that God knows what he is doing.

I am learning that taking time out just to be me is invaluable for my relationship with God as it is during these times that I can hear him most clearly.

Looking Back!

I have recently begun to use my journal again having only journalled sporadically over the last few years. Last night, I spent some time looking back at what I had written previously and came across some notes I had journalled from my Word 4 U 2day back in November 2008.

It was referring to Numbers 17:5 where God appointed Aaron as the new leader for Israel. It pointed out 3 things:

1. Whose staff grew blossom - God doesn't pick his leaders because they're perfect. He sees potential qualities he can use to fulfil His purposes.
2. Where it blossomed - Certain things can only happen in God's presence. Sort out your priorities and set time to meet with God each day and stick to it.
3. When it blossomed - Your faith grows when you are going through hard and dark times rather than when everything is cool.

This really got me again last night when I read it as I realised that I don't need to be perfect for God to be able to use me...what a relief! God can use me where I am now if I make myself available to him, which leads in to the second point about where the stick blossomed. I am beginning a new adventure and am feeling very excited about it.

I will be setting aside time each day to spend with God but it will probably not be in the traditional way. I will be taking my bible, journal and camera out and about with me and will see what God wants to do through these times. I will try to use my camera to take photographs either relating to what God speaks to me about or just of something I feel makes a great photo.

I have found the third point to be true already and hope that as I grow in my relationship with God, my faith will grow all the more and that I will live in the knowledge that I am fulfilling God's purpose for my life.

I will also be blogging about what I am learning on this journey so please feel free to join me.

Long Time No Blog

Apologies for the lack of blog for the last couple of months, a lot has been happening and I have also lacked the inspiration for what I should write and wondering whether anyone really reads this and whether what I write is just being read or whether it is having an impact that I am unaware of.

Well anyway, I have decided that I will keep going with it.

Since I last blogged, I have been to the hospital twice. The first appointment, I felt, was a waste of time as the registrar said that the only cure for arthritis is a knee replacement and that I'm too young and he wasn't sure it would help anyway. I was then sent for X-rays and to wait for an appointment for an MRI scan. Another appointment was booked for the end of October.

The second appointment, was more successful. I saw the consultant who heads up the knee team and he is going to do whatever it takes to get my knee as good as possible, starting with a keyhole surgery in December to try to resurface the groove the kneecap tracks in as he thinks the problem is there from the chondroplasty I had done in 2007. If this doesn't work, then he is willing to do a knee replacement. So at last, it seems there is some light at the end of the tunnel and the day when I will be able to do things I used to be able to do is getting nearer.

In my last post, I mentioned about the positives I have found in having time to myself and not having to go to work. One of these is that I have been able to be there for a friend who has had a difficult time recently and had I been at work, I would not have been able to do this. God's timing is perfect and even if I don't know what he's doing, I just have to trust him, do my bit and then let him get on with his bit.

My routine has gone out of the window recently as I found it very restricting and was beginning to feel guilty if I did something that wasn't written on the sheet for that particular time, even if it was something that I really didn't need to feel guilty about such as fitting in meeting a friend for coffee instead of reading a book. This has led me to make the decision that I am no longer going to plan my days as rigidly.

As I said in my last post, my time is precious and I need to use it wisely, knowing my limitations and working within them but at the same time, aiming to bring glory to God in all that I do.

Week 2

I am now nearing the end of the second week of my new routine and have to say that although I haven't done much reading this week, it has been almost as tiring as last week.

This week, I have spent more time meeting up with friends for coffee than I have reading. This isn't a bad thing and it has been great catching up with people and getting to know them better.

At the start of this week, I had 4 books that I had started reading and none of which I had finished...I am now down to 2 and hope to be down to 1 by the end of the week. I have no idea why I feel the need to try reading several books at the same time but hopefully this means that in the future, I will be able to finish reading a book before I start another one. 2 will probably be the number as I tend to have one book that I read before I turn my light out at night and the other one will be Just Walk Across the Room which we are doing as a series at church at the moment.

Yesterday, I started the Discovery Workshop which helps to identify the areas in which you have gifting, what you're passionate about and therefore how and where you are best suited to serve within the church. I did the course back in 2002/2003 when I was on my placement year from university and found it very useful but felt that I ought to do it again as I have done a lot since then and changed and grown as a person. Unfortunately, I will miss the last session due to my hospital appointment.

I am looking forward to seeing the consultant but I am also nervous as I have no idea what he will say and hope that he doesn't say what the others have said which is that they can't do anything. This prospect scares me as I can't deal with the fact that I may be like this for the rest of my life or even the significant future.

I look forward to the day when I will be able to go to work, the gym, bowling, cycling, dancing and all the other things I used to do before that I can't do at the moment. I know this day will come but need to learn that it will be in God's timing and not mine.

I can see that God is using my time off work to build me and there are positives from it such as being free to meet friends for coffee and new friendships. I am reminded though that my time is still precious and I need to use it wisely, knowing my limitations and working within them but at the same time, aiming to bring glory to God in all that I do.