Lessons From Elizabeth

I'm reading a book right now about the life of Elizabeth Prentiss. She is the author of Stepping Heavenward and the well-known hymn "More Love to Thee." I have learned so much the last few days from reading this book, it's full of lessons and struggles she faced only through the grace and strength of God. I will have to tell you more about it later, but I wanted to quote something that I just read that fits into my last post about being annoyed at my time being interrupted. This is from her book Stepping Heavenward. Conviction is what I'm feeling right now.

"I have made prayer too much of a luxury, and have often inwardly chafed and fretted when the care of my children at times made it utterly impossible to leave them for private devotion-when they have been sick, for instance, or in other similar emergencies. I reasoned this way: 'Here is a special demand on my patience, and I am naturally impatient. I must have time to go away and entreat the Lord to equip me for this conflict.' But I see now that the simple act of cheerful acceptance of the duty imposed and the solace and support withdrawn would have united me more fully to Christ than the highest enjoyment of His presence in prayer could."

I see several things here that I need to work on.

1. I am impatient. I'm not just now figuring this out, but I get annoyed way too easily.

2. When I'm trying to spend time alone with the Lord and I am interrupted, I get extremely annoyed and ask the Lord if He even cares that I can't even sit down to read my Bible or pray for 5 minutes without a little voice calling for me. Yes, of course He knows that. And I don't need to be so hard on myself. I expect perfection out of me and that is silly.

3. I need to "cheerfully accept the duty imposed" upon me and quit grumbling as I walk up the stairs, or wait for another load of laundry to wash (our washer takes 155 minutes to wash on load, but hey at least we have one!) or change another nappy (diaper) or sheets in the middle of the night.

Why?

Why is it that I can not have 15 minutes of ALONE, uninterrupted quiet time? Just when I think I might be able to have time to sit, drink a cup of coffee or even...gasp...read a book...my 3 year old (in a few weeks) decides she needs me RIGHT THEN, or she has an accident in her pants, or she needs a new hair clip or SOMETHING.

Y'all, I'm still battling this nap time thing with her....and I don't even care anymore if she actually sleeps! I just need her to stay in her room for a certain amount of time so I can re-charge. She can not be quiet (or maybe my version of quiet) for anything! I'm so serious about her being quiet because our house is not big and our 3 bedrooms are rightnexttoeachother and goodness me I do not know what I would do if Bailey did not get her afternoon nap! So far Bailey has slept through all Cerys' antics, but I am so stinking tired of running up and down the stairs to give warnings, change sheets or whatever she NEEDS RIGHT THEN. I have even camped outside her bedroom door so I won't have to go far, but seriously....that seemed ridiculous to me for a grown woman to be sitting on the floor waiting for whatever to happen.

Anyway...it's raining (has been all day) but we did manage to walk up to the library, so at least we got out of the house! It's not easy getting all of us water-proof and I often wonder if it's even worth it to go out...but it was....

I got to wrangle Bailey into the stroller and cover her up with the rain cover (thank you Jesus for rain covers!). I got to convince Cerys that she had to wear her wellies because it was wet outside. I got to walk 20 minutes in soggy wet leaves watching Cerys try to walk around them because they are "wucky." I got to watch Cerys stop in her tracks and cover her ears every time an ambulance or police car went by- sirens blaring or not. (We live near a hospital, so it's a regular occurrence.) Then once we got to the library, I got to chase Bailey round and round a shelf of books while she chuckled (loudly) because she thinks it's a game when I tell her to come to me and she thinks it's even funnier when I take a step towards her. She takes that as her cue to start running. I got to tell Cerys a million times to use her "inside voice." I got to tell Cerys a million times that she does not need to re-arrange the baby chairs in the children's section. Then we chose some books.

Then I got to repeat that walk coming home. Then I got to mop the floor because I had to come in our front door with a stroller COVERED in mud and soggy leaves, instead of the garage door where we keep the stroller because I forgot the garage door opener.

Then I sat down, exhausted from our one hour outing. :) But yes, it was worth it.

On a Journey

Thought I would just post this devotion, it's something that I've really been struggling with for a long time. I worry too much about what other people think of me. It's not only exhausting, but wrong. On the retreat a few weeks ago, one of the gifts that was given to us was a small daily devotional book by Sarah Young called Jesus Calling. It has already spoken volumes to me and I just wanted to share this with you today.

"Beware of seeing yourself through other people's eyes. There are several dangers to this practice. First of all, it is nearly impossible to discern what others actually think of you. Moreover, their views of you are variable, subject to each viewer's spiritual, emotional, and physical condition. The major problem with letting others define you is that it borders on idolatry. Your concern to please others dampens your desire to please Me, your Creator.

It is much more real to see yourself through My eyes. My gaze upon you is steady and sure, untainted by sin. Through My eyes you can see yourself as one who is deeply, eternally loved. Rest in My loving gaze, and you will receive deep Peace. Respond to My loving presence by worshipping Me in spirit and truth."

-Jesus Calling, Enjoying Peace in His Presence
By Sarah Young

A King, His Queen and Two Little Princesses

Do you like our new picture up there?!? We were at Caerphilly Castle (it's about 10-15 minutes from our house) the other day and in the great dining hall they have this HUGE table. The room is still used, mainly for weddings I think, but we just love the big chairs and the girls love running around in the hall. Anyway, we thought it would be fun to take a family picture and we couldn't believe that the girls were actually still enough for it turn out this cute! We are trying to get the picture larger to go across as our header, but Marc is still working on that.

In other news, only about 5 weeks till our visit to DFW area to see family and friends! We will celebrate Cerys' 3rd birthday there (her Gigi is making her a Snow White cake, as per Cerys' request! Right Gigi?) and celebrate Thanksgiving!!! I'm particularly excited about Thanksgiving dinner. I haven't been going to Legs, Bums and Tums or running in the mornings for NOTHING! If I could lose some more weight, then I could afford to gain some during those 2 weeks. :) But then I would just have to work extra hard when I come back, so that may not be such a good idea. It will be a fun time to catch with friends too, and we are very excited to see some of you! Then for Christmas, we will be flying to Senegal to see Marc's parents! I know Marc is excited about it, but I am particularly excited to see where Marc grew up- I've never been! He wants to show me all the things he did and where he went as a kid, you know, all the cliffs he jumped off, where he went spear fishing, where he played football (soccer) etc. And I'm being serious about the cliff jumping. :) Good times!

Things are going fairly smooth around here. Marc is busy with the gap year program and some other student activities. I'm busy at home with the girls, but do get out and about some which is nice. I've struggled lately with my attitude about our work here. I love that our schedule is so flexible, but I also feel resentful sometimes that Marc can come and go while I'm here at home most of the day. God has really been giving me lots of opportunities to work on my attitude. :) Marc is working hard and I so appreciate that and I love that he is loving what he is doing. But there are days when I don't just totally love being a mommy...sorry, but there you have it. Just being honest. The girls are so sweet and I love them dearly, but they are very challenging right now. Just when I think I have them figured out, it all changes and I feel like we are back on square one again. But God is faithful and has brought us through each day!

The weather has turned cooler, although we have had some sunny days! Thank you Jesus. I love that you can actually tell the seasons are changing here, unlike Dallas. The trees are starting to turn colors and there's a coolness in the air! I love it! I went shopping to get the girls some winter things- little onesies for under Bailey's clothes to keep her warm, a fleece pull over for the girls, tights for wearing dresses, and "vests" for Cerys to wear under her shirts. We would call them tank tops or undershirts, but they are called "vests" here. So, if you ever visit please don't say you are going to wear your new vest and new pants...because you would be saying that you are going to wear your new undershirt and new underwear and we really don't need to know that much. :)

Working

Hey everyone, we are working on our blog- just want to make it cleaner and change some things. You may notice some things change over the next few days, so just be patient with us (all 10 of you that read this!)

Hope y'all had a great weekend!

Mad Cows

I came across this today and thought it was interesting. No wonder the poor cows are going mad!

I would like to tell you a funny story about this, but I won't because it is very serious and British farmers are struggling right now. This is just one more thing to add to my list of why I think I should become a vegetarian. But I won't go into that story either.

Cozy

To my friends and family back in the States, especially Texas, I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but...

Summer is gone. Fall/winter is here. The rain, fog, mist has moved in. The high today was 55. I'm sitting here in a quiet house (we wore the girls out today at this indoor play activity centre), in flannel pj's under a fleece blanket!

I told Marc it really felt like Christmas the last two days and he said, "Ya, the weather and that Christmas CD you are playing..."

"Excuse me? Christmas CD, that's not a Christmas CD. It's just instrumental songs, you know that Piano Winterlude CD?" I said.

"Yes Charity, that CD is all Christmas songs. Just listen. See, that's Jingle Bells." he said.

"Oh ya, it is. Ha. That's weird, I just thought it was all winterish songs." I laughed.

"Nice try." he says.

Retreat to the English Countryside

I had a great week, thank you for your prayers! I got to see women I have not seen in about 5 years, so it was great to catch up with them and hear what is going on in their lives. I also got to meet many new women and formed some great friendships!

I'm not really sure what to say about the retreat to be honest. It was a good time of reflection for me...what is important to me, what direction I need to take in some areas of my life, a time to rest and relax (sort of) and a time to just laugh and have fun. Amy Nobles from Texas came to lead worship all week for us. She was very sweet and we found out we have a mutual friend, the guy who produced her most recent album, so that was fun! Marilyn Jeffcoat from Total Sculpt came to share her amazing testimony and keep us fit! :) Patricia Wade and the women of the Esther Experience came to minister to us all week as well. I was amazed at their enthusiasm and generosity...not only in taking time to come here, but they just lavished love and gifts on us like crazy! God used them one particular night to speak to me in a way that I have never experienced. Without getting too personal here, I'll just say that God did something in my heart that I've asked of Him for quite a while but just wasn't sure if I would ever experience. I know that does not make sense to you, but just know that God answered your prayers for me and although I went with an expectant heart, I was not prepared for what He did for me! Thank you Jesus.

I might be kind of quiet this week just so you know. I've got lots to get organized and some things to figure out, so I'll be back when it feels like the right thing to do. Plus I've got 2 kids and a hubs that deserve my undivided attention this week! :)

Have a great week!

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