Test of .....all measures....Keep your eyes fixed on the Lord...Only then will YOUR eyes see and true understanding happen!


What do you do when the reality around you doesn't make sense with the truth you know?

What do you believe in when it all seems to be unravelling around you?

How do you help those being tested to understand that God has other plans...good plans...when the troubles speak louder in their lives and makes this sound unreal to them?

How do you not lose faith when it all seems so wrong and you don't understand how it happened?

The enemy of our lives is a deceiver and he plays dirty....but it is only a game...meant to deter you from the path, from the way...the path we are meant to be on!

I have been tested in the past....in the midst of darkness...when everything around me seemed to be broken forever ...BUT there was one thing I could not ignore... just before the test had come...God had shown me in a dream not to take my eyes off him, regardless of what I saw around me!He even specifically showed me who I was to keep my eyes off! True to His word...although I struggled through it...I fell... had my share of panic...I can say that the Holy Spirit would remind me of what God had said to me and shown me and He would remind me of it in the middle of all the chaos and it would pick me up spiritually and I would raise my eyes again, above everything that seemed to be falling apart around me AND...He got me through it...He changed things....He broke the things that had come to destroy us! It may sound dramatic....but it is true! God did it! But I had to keep my eyes on Him....He says in His word...Call what is not what is! That means, what is in accordance with His Word is the truth...that is reality...whether you want to believe it or not and we have the right to speak His truth over the situations and circumstances that we face....because His plans for our lives, our families our world is REAL...Let Thy kingdom come...Let Thy will be done...on Earth as it is in HEAVEN...because of the precious Blood of Jesus...we have the right to claim this victory and apply His power over the works of the devil, who's only goal is to destroy and rob what God has created and what God desires in our lives!

Today, I face a new test...one so close to my heart that it frightens me when I look at the possibilites that could occur if it were to gain any footing in our lives....However, God spoke to me in praise and worship just before things began to unfold with these particular problems and He spoke to my spirit and said not to listen to what I was to hear....I knew what He meant...He was talking about the 'manifestations' that were to come....not that I was meant to ignore the problems or the details but to know that that was not from Him and if I was willing to fight and get through this with Him...I knew in the heart of my hearts that He would get us through.

Again...I am in the midst of it...It seems overwhelming at times! It scares me! I long for it to be resolved and I cry out to God for His mercy!

But...you know what....the only thing I know for certain is that God is good and I must not let the lies become accepted truths....I am standing for what is right...what is right before the eyes of God and that is suffice! It may not make sense to those around me...it makes me feel so alone at times....but I will listen to what God guides me to do...and I know it is from God because it is in accordance with His word...not my flesh or my desires! I will believe and exercise the faith that He has shown me thus far....

It is easy to believe God when times are good and things are relatively peaceful...It is a joy!
It is harder to believe God for times that are excruciatingly testing...in areas where hope seems harder to access and sometimes even impossible! In things that we never imagined would touch our lives!

But...you know what...it makes you grow...it makes you grow up as a Christian...as a believer...as a disciple...it allows you to understand the pain and suffering that many have no other choice but to live and puts you in a place where you can reach out to others with understanding...not just empty words....There is no testimony without a test, they say! And again God says that we shall overcome the enemy with the Word of God and with our testimonies!

God is God and He will never fail us!
Prayer is powerful....God's Word says that His words shall never return empty!
The work that He begins....He will always complete!

How do I know this....because even in the midst of the warfare that the enemy of our soul targets against us...God has shown me little ...BUT huge blessings and answers to prayers that I had long forgotten...they are like whispers from God, saying and encouraging me to keep keeping on!

Thank you, Lord for being the God of the impossible!
Thank you for the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, that has given us the confidence of a new life and hope for all areas of our lives as we submit them to you!

Thank you God for loving us and caring for our every situation!

Thank you God for listening and answering our prayers!

Thank you God for the victory over these situations that we are facing, for the deliverance from everyting that exalts itself against You in our lives!

Thank you God that Your Word is the final word over our lives!

YOU ARE WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE AND HONOUR!

My Fair Lady and the stage production!

Our Homeschooling journey has had many life lessons over the last couple of weeks...some quite testing...yet, all of them have proven to be quite revealing and insightful pieces to the bigger jigsaw puzzle that is our life!

Today, we had an awesome experience with some fellow HS families as we all went to see "My Fair Lady" at the Theatre Royal, Sydney. It was my protege's first theatre experience outside of the awesome productions we've seen through our church and churches like Hillsong, as well as some quite spectacular end of year plays that Calvary Chapel Christian School used to present, many of which my kids had taken part in. Here was something we had seen in a movie and we were curious to see how they would translate all that we had seen there onto a live stage! We were not disappointed! The whole musical held your attention and even the set changes were creative and breath-taking. The races at Ascot were soooo well done....so English and proper! We loved it!

At age 17, my 'Fair Little Lady' is experiencing many leaps of knowledge and experience that come with the territory....the good, the bad and the ugly. However, despite the tests, God has been steering the cruise ship through all troubled and calm waters.

Lately....I can't help but have these constant flashbacks to when she and my boys were these three little individuals...and that's the very word...individuals...and as they begin to establish themselves in this bigger world of theirs, it can prove to be really worrying at times for us as parents!

Just when I think...THAT'S IT...THEY'VE LOST IT...God does put me to shame...because they will come out with the the basics we have tried to lead them to...and yet with added depth as they have learnt to apply God's principles to the situations and tests that they have to deal with in their own lives!


It's just a matter of trusting God...regardless of what the panic and worry triggers inside try to create. I remember my husband very early on in our parenthood, kneeling before God and saying to Him that he was giving the kids back to Him...for God to raise them and guide them and basically surrendered them to Him. Not understanding fully what this involved....I kind of panicked! What was he doing, I thought!


On this side of the journey, I understand that what he did was very insightful and I know that the basically trouble-free childhood I enjoyed with my three was because of God's presence in their lives!

Thank you God for listening to him rather than to my ungrounded concerns!


HENCE.... we confront, embrace and grow everyday...remembering to try to be flexible from the perpective of dealing with what comes our way..... not with the principles!

As parents we were extremely proud of our 'baby girl's' course results today...she was given another DISTINCTION for her last assignment...all of which was her own work!!!! This has only proven to encourage her and reinforce the constant nagging that " MOM" has been doing about her being capable of achieving anything she puts her mind to....which as your typical teenager does not necessarily have her academic achievements in first place, however, having committed to this course...deadlines have to be met and course units completed...all within the learning and growing and responsibility perimeters!


Our boys too have been coming home with Merit certificates from school!


So all round...we are some mighty proud parents...knowing that these little things are proving to them that they have no need to be concerned about having others recognize their achievements and abilities...something that because of opinions held by our many 'schooled' friends had chipped away at their self-confidence and even self-esteem, as their ability 'to cope in the real world out there' was always questioned!!!!!

Tests aside...troubles dealt with and forgotten...I thank God for these children and the husband He gave me...

I am humbled and awed....

I only pray that He guide me every step of they way as I carry out my roles of mother, teacher, friend, wife and 'helper'.

To many these choices represent that I have limited my life...my abilities...yet...I am challenged daily...I've grown in ways that I would never have dreamt possible through the commitment of marriage and family...

God and my family keep me real...Thank God!

A prayer for the Lapthornes....

Over the last couple of weeks, I've watched the case of Britt Lapthorne unfold before my eyes in total shock!

You cannot imagine what those parents are going through...How could you....

Just this week, I've nursed my little girl (17 by the way) through a bug that had her in a lot of discomfort... the first night she cried in pain after having had cramps for hours on end...I stroked her hair and voiced words trying to get her to not tense up and try to relax....inside desperately crying out to our Lord to heal her and take the pain away....Thoughts ran through my head...she is very rarely sick, so I'm not use to seeing her weak or in pain...I couldn't help but plead to God for her and for my boys.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about the distress and unconsolable pain that Britt's parents are having to go through......................My prayers are with them.....................I cry out to God now that the person or persons responsible be found and brought to justice! God have mercy on this family...let them feel Your presence and comfort during these dark days.....

Father God, have mercy on us all....and protect our children from evil and the perverse, in the Name of Jesus, I pray.

GBU.....

From Deepest Darkest Peru.....

It took me a while to decide what I should share as my first post....so much to say...so little time!

After some thought....I decided I'd start by sharing a bit about what makes me, me.....and the recent 50th Anniversary of Paddington Bear had me reminiscing about where it all began in my life....of my native homeland...Peru!



A Peruvian I am, however, I left when I was 4 and actually grew up in LA and Sydney....and despite not having grown up in Lima, two trips back there during my teens, allows me to assure you that apart from the terrible smog....Lima, where little Paddington is supposed to be from...is not deep and dark.....AND.....it got me thinking....I've known Peru is famous for its Spanish and Inca heritage....for its llamas, alpacas,"The Condor Pasa" and other Andean music, ceviche( yum yum), the Nasca lines, etc.....BUT....BEARS?

No fellow Peruvian has ever spoken to me about native bears!
Does Peru have any bears at all?


So the homeschooling mum in me did the next logical thing and made this question part of our homeschool studies today....Are there Bears in Peru? Could there be Paddington 'primos' (cousins) back home that I had never heard of?


Research proved that Paddington's creator originally made Paddington's homeland as Africa...thus he was to come from 'deepest darkest Africa'.....however, his editor soon put him straight on the fact that there were ...no BEARS... in Africa!

Thus.....little Paddington was made to come from Peru...andj the 'deepest darkest' bit was just too good to let go of...

Answer to the question:

Yes!

There actually are bears in Peru....Blow me down! Never knew myself!

They are actually the Spectacled Bear, called this because they have a curious white fur coloring around their eyes that looks like they are wearing spectacles....they are actually an endangered species and were once highly respected by the Incas and native tribes...sadly...modern man's developments and poaching has made them a rarely seen animal, striving to survive in the most remotest parts of the Andean areas of South America.

Little is known about their behaviour in the wild! In fact, they are the only South American BEAR !

So there you go....Paddington Bear...the most famous Peruvian... was actually teaching me something about my own homeland without me even realizing....and here I thought it was just another fancy of the wild English/Gringo imagination (nudge...nudge...wink...wink), like the awesome mexican music that was being played in the background of the scenes of the Last Indiana Jones movie when he was supposed to be in Peru......uhum...

Alas...Isn't there always something new to find out about ourselves?
And...Isn't it great to look forward to finding them out....
Great to build on the good and strive to deal with the bad and the ugly!

God Bless!