Dancing through the twists and turns of life

This is the heading of the fourth chapter of Dancing with my Father by Sally Clarkson. I found the first paragraph of this chapter incredibly encouraging and edifying:

" In moving through life's pathway, we often miss the heavenly applause and the angelic fanfare that mark our seemingly ordinary moments. Focused on our outward performance, we overlook the spiritual reality of inner victories and heart growth as we face each day with courage. Yet our invisible God sees such moments as the significant occasions of our lives, where greatness is forged through secret choices of faith seen only by Him. p62"

How encouraging!

Love
Rosa

David had a different heart

I am reading a book by one of my favourite authors, Sally Clarkson, called Dancing with my Father. I am loving it because it echoes something of what I have been thinking over the past year or so.

Last year I went to a show called Houtkruis which was about a a love stroy during the Reformation and most importantly about God's redemption through the cross. A well-known Afrikaans sons was sung, also called Houtkruis and this song has words which are so true. Translated it goes something like this: If David danced in front of the Ark of God, how much more should we dance before the cross. These lyrics struck something deep in my heart and has slowly but surely been changing my view of worship.

The book I'm reading also speaks about this worship act of David and how we should dance with our Father through our lives. I really want to share some passages with you as I read.

One of the passages speaks about David as a man with a different heart. She is talking to her son about the David and Goliath passage, pointing out how David had a different heart and what it means to have such a heart:

"Nate, I told my son, all the other people, thousands and thousands of them, didn't even see God in their midst when the armies came into battle and the giant confronted them everyday. They lived in fear because of what they could see with their eyes. But David saw with is heart. He saw this challenge as an opportunity to show the greatness of God. And David pleased God greatly because he didn't just say he loved God, but he showed it by his actions...p22

A person with a different heart doesn't see life as it appears on the outside. Instead, she sees life from the heart, the way God sees it. She follows what God tells her to do in her heart, not depending on what she sees with her eyes. So you need to learn how to see God with the eyes of your heart and follow what God shows you is really true. It's like looking for God's secrets as you would search for treasure. The ones who have different hearts find the treasures of heaven that God has strewn all throughout their lives so that they can always find joy wherever they are.p23

David had grasped the keys to a joyful life: to look at things through God's eyes, seeing God's reality and purposes; to search for the secrets of God as for treasure; to watch for God's shadow, His movement; His humor; His artistry everywhere, every day and to respond to it...p24

With "heart" eyes, we learn to see God's power. We also learn to believe, as David did, that as children of God the whole host of heaven is behind us. David approached Goliath in the name of the Lord of hosts. What a difference it would make if we lived as though the Lord of hosts and his army were with us every day, that He was protecting us, loving us, working His will for His good pleasure in the minutest details of our lives.p24

...David had a different heart, one that saw God every day, that praised and worshiped God without pretense of religion but from the heart in sincerity and humilty...p39"

May we also have "different hearts" that see God in every circumstance in our lives and to rejoice in Him, our only true source of joy. I really really want this attitude.
Love
Rosa

Delicious rusks

I have made my own rusk recipe and I would like to share it. I think it is absolutely delicious.

1kg of cake flour
250ml oats
350ml sugar
30ml baking powder
10ml bicarb
10 ml salt
250ml butter/margarine
500ml milk/buttermilk/yogurt (whichever you have in your fridge)
250ml oil
2 eggs

1. Mix all the dry ingredients
2. Melt butter and mix it with the milk, oil and eggs in another bowl.
3. Mix dry ingredients with "wet" ingredients.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 180 Degrees for 40minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Cut in fingers and dry it in oven at 100 Degrees for 2-3 hours.

Hope you enjoy them:)

Passover

We celebrated our first family Passover. I googled Passover and Haggadah in order to help me find the correct order of the Passover and also everything I that I needed for example the seder plate.
I simplified the programme so that it would not be too long for two and a half year old Simeon. There were many highlights for him such as sweeping up the last bread crumbs (chamets); and hiding the afikomen and then going to look for it later; also opening the door for Elijah. But what he wanted to do most of all was blow out the candles right through the 'ceremony' and have his cup filled with juice all the time.
I would truly recommend this tradition to any other Christian family. The Passover is so meaningful for Christians. Here are some of the wonderful significances:
1. The lighting of the candles reminds us of Christ referring to Himself as the Light of the world.
2. The four cups drunk in the following order: cup of sanctification, cup of judgment, cup of redemption and cup of rejoicing, represents the process of salvation of the child of God.
3. The washing of hands symbolises how we are washed of our sins and how Christ washed the disciples feet.
4. There are three matsot which represents God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Spirit. The middle one (called the afikomen) is taken, broken and placed in piece of fabric and then hidden. In the same way Christ's body was "broken," and buried.
5. Each matsot is striped and pierced just as Christ was for our iniquities.
6. Later, the afikomen is searched for by the children, which symbolizes Christ's resurrection.
7. Afikomen means "that which is coming." Christ is coming again.
8. The motsot is made without yeast. Yeast represents sin. Christ was without sin.

These are just a few of the significances of Passover for the believer. In the Passover, one can show over and over again that Christ is the Lamb of God.

The Bible in 90 Days Continue.

I have started once again to read the Bible in 90 Days. I was hugely blessed the first time around, but I only got to Day 20 where I read how God commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous (this verse got me through my labour. God's timing is perfect). With the birth of my baby girl, I could not continue any further. Recently, however, my close friend has desired to do this and we have started together again. I am so excited at the thought of reading the whole Bible before the new year. It is also great to have an accountability partner. Hope you also feel inspired to join us. I cannot express the amount it is already blessing us.
Love
Rosa

Joyful mothering

I read this artcle and felt that it was sent by God. I have just had my second child and in between the moments of awe, love and blessing, I have had moments of fear, uncertainty and frustration. How can I be the wife my husband deserves and the mother God wants me to be to my children? One of the answers lies in the joy of the Lord. If we are joyful, because of what Christ has done for us, things can be so much easier. Our husbands and our children will not always remember our mistakes, but they will remember whether we lived out the joy of the Lord. I want to commit to being more joyful and to creating a home where there is beauty, fun and laughter.

The Heart of a Joyful Mom
Article by Jennifer (Steele) Carroll, May 2009

She truly carries the joy of the Lord with her at all times, but when we were young, and because it was always lived out before us as a normal way of life, we never saw it as out of the ordinary. After all, wasn’t this the way it was supposed to be?

The first time I heard it was at college. I am sure we were supposed to be studying, but Rachel, my good friend, and I were casually talking, surrounded by dozens of books, papers, assignments, pieces of sheet music, leftover coffee cup sleeves, one laptop, and a keyboard.
“We were having a family discussion one night around the dinner table,” she was saying, “and someone brought up the question, ‘Who is the happiest person you know?’ The vote was unanimous. Everyone decided it was Cathy Steele.”
The thought surprised me. Not because my mom isn’t a happy person; she is. The thought surprised me because my mom never strived to be the ‘happiest person’, nor would she put on a plastic smile “just because”. She truly carries the joy of the Lord with her at all times, but when we were young, and because it was always lived out before us as a normal way of life, we never saw it as out of the ordinary. After all, wasn’t this the way it was supposed to be? Mom cheered for us. Mom looked at a difficult situation and saw the good in it. Mom laughed. Mom praised our efforts. Mom smiled. Mom was our friend. In our small minds, through all those growing-up years, the idea was quietly, firmly established in our thinking and reinforced countless times that joy was a way of life because of what Jesus Christ had done for us, and that relationships would blossom and flourish when plentifully watered with it.
When people would ask my mom, “Why are you so happy all the time?” she would often reply, “I am just so grateful to be saved! Think of what Christ has done for us!”
My mom didn’t have anything like Created To Be His Help Meet when she got married. It wasn’t printed until decades later. She, from a radically different background, stepped into her role of being a wife and mother by revering and following the Word of God. Through the years, she formulated habits that served as crucial fibers for the fabric of our family. These are just a few of them.
She spoke of Dad respectfully, and joyfully served him.
She made a habit of telling us things like, “Daddy just got a raise!” or “Ask Daddy, he knows how” or “No, Daddy told you not to, and Mommy always supports what Daddy says”. She spoke well of him to us and to our friends. She chose to cook meals that she knew he liked. She let him have “down time” when he came home from work, not badgering him with honey-do lists or complaints about how hard her day was. She smiled for him.
When she had to sacrifice herself, her preferences, or her time, she chose joyful selflessness.
In our family of eight, there were often things that conflicted with scheduled plans. She was always the first one to offer to stay home with one of us sick kids, drive someone to a football game instead of going to that special dinner with her friends, or take one of us shopping who desperately wanted to go, even when shopping was not her favorite thing to do. One year in particular, she saved all her money from a home business and surprised Dad and the rest of us by spending it on a family vacation to Florida. We were too young to think anything like, “There are so many things she could have bought for herself with that money, but she chose us.” All we knew was that we were excited and happy, because Mom was.
When circumstances were stressful, or money was tight, she responded with joyful creativity and thankfulness for what we did have.
I never heard her compare what she had to what someone else had. I never heard her sigh, “If only...” She is an incredibly hard worker, and loves to exercise her gift of resourcefulness. I remember her coming into the house all excited one day because, “The people down the road are building their house, and said we could have their leftover bricks! We can make a sidewalk with those!” You would have thought they were bricks of gold. She was so happy and so thankful about everything; it really got to be contagious, even if none of us had any previous knowledge about laying brick sidewalks. She always praised Dad for being such a good provider for us, and respected the work he did.
When she was hurt, she chose joyful forgiveness.
I remember, as a little girl, perceiving when ‘Mommy’ was down or hurt over something. But it never lasted for long! Before you knew it, she was talking as cheerfully as ever, or suggesting something fun to do. We never had to wonder, “What kind of a day is Mommy going to have?” It wasn’t even a question in our minds. We felt peaceful and stable, because Mom was.
She did not spend her time entertaining herself, but joyfully invested in our lives.
If you want to know where you will find my Mom, it will be with Dad or one of us. She has constantly poured out her time, energy, love, skills, knowledge, patience, and prayers on our behalf, even when circumstances were extreme. On one occasion, the college house I was living in had a cat take up residence underneath the house and infest the place with fleas. We did what we could, but they kept coming back. We were all exhausted with our recitals, tests, and deadlines coming up, and were at a loss for what to do. Mom found out about it, told us she was coming, and drove over two hours to get there. She treated the carpets and bedspreads, washed all of our laundry, swept and vacuumed everywhere, opened windows to air out the place, put everything back in order, took us to lunch, and drove back home, all in the same day. The fleas didn’t stand a chance!
She freely blessed us to expand our horizons and joyfully let us go, even when it meant more work for her.
Through the years, several opportunities came up for me to travel and encourage other girls. The trips lasted anywhere from one week to two months. I am her oldest daughter and felt the responsibility to help around the house. But when the time came for another ministry opportunity, I never once received a guilt-trip discussion about all the work she would have to cover while I was gone, not to mention the continuation of homeschooling for the younger kids. She blessed me and encouraged me to go. She blessed my older brother, Joshua, leaving at the age of only sixteen to go on a mission trip to Hong Kong for two months. Other mothers questioned her “looseness” with the apron strings. But it was unspoken knowledge among all of us siblings that her blessing on our service to the Lord, regardless of where that happened to be, only made us want to serve and bless her more. We knew she was not selfishly possessive of us, and we loved her for it.
She gave us a legacy of joy that is now spilling over into our own marriages. Recently, my sister and I entered the biggest adventure of our lives. We became help meets. We now step in stride with our husbands, laughing, playing, working, learning, observing, growing, and rejoicing with them. God has blessed us tremendously through Mom’s example. We are joyfully fulfilled in our marriages, just like our mom, knowing that it is a privilege to respect and serve our husbands. Now that I am married, I fully realize what a heavenly gift she gave us.
She sent us out with joy.
“For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace...” Isa. 55:12.
“...her children rise up and call her blessed...” Prov. 31:30.

The Bible in 90 days

I was sitting one day with God's Word in my hands and I said to the Lord that I would just love to eat it and be able to know everything in a moment; to have verses at my disposal and to see what God has revealed to us of Himself and His redemption plan; to be able to teach my children on a spicific subject from His Word... I would love to be able to do that. I have read through the Bible once, but that was over a year and I found that it was difficult to stay motivated and not to lose track of what was happening.
After I said this strange thing to the Lord, I don't know whether it was the same day or the next, I found this exciting and challenging website: http://www.biblein90days.org/
I felt a sense of adventure at the idea of reading the Bible in three months. I also wondered if this was not maybe the Lord's answer to my heart's desire.
I am already at day 9. Yes, it is a lot of reading to do in a day. I can, however say that I have been blessed in such a great way by reading the Bible like this. One gets much more of an over all view and also a sense of continuation. I make short, quick notes when a specific verse stands out or on specific subjects, which I will look at again when I have finished. Reading the Bible has become so exciting, a good reason to get up early. I also take my Bible with me wherever I go in case I can get some reading done.
I am not writing this to brag about what I am doing. I have been so encouraged and I really want to encourage others to take up the challenge and see how they can be blessed.
Let me know if you would also like to do it and we can keep each other accountable.
Love,
Rosa