Climbing by Self-Conquest

"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; 

and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, 

but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." 

:: Revelation 3:5 ::

{Robert Duncan Art}

"Every low desire, every bad habit, 

all longings for ignoble things, 

all wrong feelings that we conquer and tramble down, 

become ladder-rounds for our feet, 

on which we climb upward out of grovelling 

and sinfulness into nobler, grander life. 

If we are not living victoriously these little common days, 

we are not making any progress in true living. 

Only those who climb are getting toward the stars. 

Heaven at last, and the heavenly life here, 

are for those who overcome."

:: J.R.Miller ::

February 23, 2012

Hello Again!

Here is our exciting news...we have sold our car! We had a Mitsubishi Lancer Wagon that we loved, but there was no way we would have been able to fit a third car seat in. It was difficult enough fitting a small child in between the boys' seats, let alone another chunky car seat. We had the car for sale since October, and during that time we only had two people contact us about it (the latter bought it). Though it was discouraging over that time, that no-one seemed interested; yet we kept praying. The Lord has always provided for us, and has done so again! We didn't need lots of people coming for test-drives; all we needed was one buyer. And God blessed us with one! So we are very grateful. Now we will be looking into arranging finances for another larger vehicle (second-hand) and finding the vehicle. But again, it is so wonderful being able to trust in God's sovereignty and love; knowing that He will provide for our needs.

Our present means of transportation is a rather old Toyota Corolla, that my Oma used to own. We have had it for a couple of years now, as a second vehicle. So while we do wonder how long it will last :-) at least it's doing the job; and we're glad to have something to get us around!

The pregnancy is going well. Baby gives some fine big kicks and there is lots of movement. By the way, have you noticed my new countdown ticker, on the side?! :-)

The boys have been playing very well together recently. They have been taking a real interest in their tools. They spent several days last week, "sawing down" the beautiful Silver Birch we have in our back garden. (I'm just thankful they only had their toy saws! With all the effort they put into it, it wouldn't have taken them long to fell it, had they been using real saws!)

I have a paper hanging on the fridge with a list of home duties I'd like to complete in the very near future. It was a surprise for me to come home one evening, after being out; to find that two of my 'jobs' had been crossed out and ticked! Yes...that was my wonderful hubby. One of the jobs was - guess what! - cleaning the oven. {And we don't use a special cleaning spray. It's all elbow-grease, and steelos, and scrubbing, and wiping.} My man had done that, just for ME! He is very good to me. Talk about a lovely surprise!

My Mum and Abbie had a joint 50th and 25th Birthday Party, last weekend. I haven't posted any photos from it; as I am yet to recieve some photos from the evening. But if you'd like to hop over to Bethany's blog, you can see her pictures! It was a lovely evening, and we are grateful to all the friends who came along to the party!

I have posted on my Photo Journal, if you would like to have a look. Here are the links...
> December Family Photos, 
> Random from 2012, and
> Ours No Longer.

Until next time,
Love, Beth

Ladies, What Do Your Clothes Say About You?

I'm sure we can ALL learn something from this video!

But lest you feel like you do not need to OR just do not want to...then here is a thought.

"Please do not assume that you are sufficently mature in heart, or modest in dress. And please avoid the temptation to busy yourselves applying this message to someone else..." An excerpt

It is well-worth listening to... and I suggest you listen for the whole 15 minutes! :-)

Encouraging Reads

:: Stingy Out Gets Stingy In ::

Posted on the 'Femima' blog, I read this a couple of weeks ago; and found it challenging. The writer gives a few thoughts on

"How can we maintain a cheerful, calm, happy, giving attitude when we certainly don’t feel like it?"

Basically...

" When you give freely, you receive fully.

Stingy out gets stingy in."

:: Masking Anger as Justice ::

Another post from Femima. Once again it is a challenging one. It focuses on whether the discipline of our children is being applied in a God-glorifying way, or in an angry way that we describe as 'justice'. It is summarised well by this paragraph...

"The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. If you are an angry parent, you will not produce righteousness in your children . . . even if all your anger is directed at sin. The wrath of man DOES NOT produce the righteousness of God."

And another excerpt...

"We like to pretend that our anger is righteous, and that we’re in this for justice and truth. But as a matter of fact we’re just being selfish little punks when we lose our temper at our children."

:: A Bible Portrait of Christian Motherhood ::

A lovely article by J.R. Miller on what true Christian motherhood looks like. He uses Hannah, from the Bible, as an example. Many encouraging thoughts to ponder.

"The great need of this age, is mothers who will live with their own children, and throw over their tender lives all the mighty power of their own rich, warm, loving natures. If we can have a generation of Hannahs, we shall then have a generation of Samuels growing up under their wise, devoted nurture."

{All pictures taken from Pinterest}

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, friends! Yes, I am back, after 6 weeks of non-blogging. It wasn't intentional - just a busy season of the year. :-) These are some of the things we enjoyed doing...

• the boys and I loved having Joel around for 10 whole days! 
• family days with both sides of the family and scrummy meals
• working days at home, getting things done that we just hadn't had time for earlier
• taking the boys to a children's pool and watching their happy faces as they splashed and played
• having an hour long ferry ride on Lake Burley Griffin, just the four five of us on New Year's eve
• lots of times at the play park...watching Joshua & Jonathan climb up, slide down :-)
• having time to read, something I hadn't done for awhile
• drives on dirt roads

This year, I began a 100 Day Calendar (by Ann Voskamp), in which you choose 3 things you want to do daily; and then commit to doing those 3 things each day for 100 days! The purpose of this is to create good habits, by diligently committing to these choices. As one of my choices, I committed to a Quiet-Time daily. By this I mean a dedicated time to be alone with the Lord. Not just a hurried reading and a quick prayer; but enough time to really be still before God. Towards the end of last year, I found that I would be reading, and quickly praying; but often it was in the lounge room with little boys climbing all around, or needing supervision. I found I wasn't diligently setting aside time alone to just spend with the Lord. It can be so easy with little children around to excuse oneself. When they are finally in bed after lunch or at night, the self part of me cries out, 'I'd like to do this, and that while they are asleep; and I will pray later' which then can easily never happen. Even though it has been just 8 days, I have found anew, just how beautiful it is to speak with the Lord without being interrupted! I aim to have my Quiet-Time while the boys have their afternoon sleep. Often they are nearly awake by the time I am finished and I may not have other things done; but my heart is at peace and refreshed. If for some reason, it doesn't happen after lunch; I am learning to make sure it still happens at some point each day!


Have you decided to strengthen your walk with the Lord in 2012? In what ways are YOU seeking to make this happen? Please do share some tips with us all! 

Joel, my darling man, is enjoying his work at council as Business Services Coordinator. It keeps him very busy; but with good working hours and every second Friday off - it's not exactly stressful. I am still so grateful to have him come home for lunch each day. It's such a blessing. :: Joel is such a wonderful husband...actually there is none better! He is an excellent daddy to his boys, as well. :: At the moment he is enjoying reading through a Bible plan called 'Major People'. It focuses on the lives of different biblical men; and takes several days to cover the chapters written specifically about each man. For example he is studying Joseph's life, presently. He then has chosen to read Calvin and other commentators, to gain deeper insight. :: Joel recently finished waterproofing our garden shed. After putting the shed up, we found it was leaking quite badly underneath the walls. It took him several days to completely seal it and test it. But now it is waterproofed, which is a relief. And we have been able to move things into storage there; and organise the house a little better. 


Joshua began a chore-chart this year. A very simple one, with simple tasks - using pictures to explain what he needs to do. It has been nice to see him follow it along and get excited. He especially likes the end of the day when he gets to choose a sticker to place on his chore-chart calendar! Joshua will be 3 years old in March, and he is a real delight. He is starting to heed our instructions quickly, and think carefully about what he is doing. Obviously there are still plenty of times when he takes too long to obey, or grows impatient with things. But it has been nice to see him actually decide to say 'sorry' - of his own accord; or to change his attitude when he realises he was wrong. He has a big smile and an affectionate cuddle. The other day, as I planted some seeds, he came up beside me and watched me. Then suddenly he turned to me and said, "Good job, Mum. Good job." It was so cute and heart-warming!


Jonathan is nearly 18 months now. He has such clear blue sparkly eyes! He loves to follow in Joshua's footsteps. The things Joshua does with neatness and precision, Jonathan copies adding extra gusto, and getting filthy in the process. It is wonderful to watch their interaction and how Joshua is learning to look out for his younger brother. And to see Jonathan imitating Joshua...trying to say 'Thank You" or "Please". On the other side of that, two little boys doing the same mischievous thing is 'double trouble'. It's a lot quicker spreading cornflakes all over the floor, when there is two of you to turn the box upside down and shake. ;) Jonathan has quite the gift of giving big kisses on your cheek, with the added sound effect. He is such a darling little son.


Baby is 16 weeks along, and all seems to be going well. I am looking forward to my first midwife appointment tomorrow. Joel has taken the afternoon off to accompany me. With each baby he has been able to make it along for the first visit...that way he gets to meet the midwife and hear the precious sound of our baby's heartbeat for the first time. :: I am also rather excited that a lovely friend is due with her third baby, only 2 days after my due date! She and her husband have two boys also, so we are both wondering whether we'll have girls this time! ::


Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post (which announced the baby). I enjoyed reading all the comments and it was lovely to hear from each of you!


I have read some wonderful articles recently, which I will share in another post. Oh and hopefully I'll be posting in my photo journal soon as well.


Until then,
Beth


P.S. Photos are from Pinterest

Announcing...

{Ten weeks along, and ever so thankful 

to God for our new little blessing!}

Jonathan and a Paddlepop

Click here to see photos of

Jonathan with a Paddlepop!