Waiting Game

In a world where nearly everything is available instantly, 'waiting' is becoming harder and harder. Be it waiting at the clinic, or waiting for someone to turn up at an appointment, or waiting for a table at a restaurant, we all hate waiting.  Well, I know I do.

But the Bible teaches us that there's a time for everything:

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV
God has made everything beautiful in its time.

Everything that is good for us requires a bit of (or sometimes a lot of) waiting, and most importantly... patience and faith. 

Abraham had to wait for nearly a hundred years before he finally received his first descendant, Isaac.  That's a very long wait for someone whose promised descendants as many as the stars in the sky. 

Moses had to wait in the desert for forty years before he was able to do what he wanted to do when he was still young and strong, free his people from slavery. 

Joseph had to go through numerous tragedies in his life before he finally saw his dream came true. The dream God gave him when he was a young boy that could've easily been forgotten due to various circumstances that were exactly the opposite.

Right now I'm in a waiting season. Luckily it's not gonna be for fourty or a hundred years, and it won't involve slavery or jail (well... just a tiny bit - pretty much having to stay home everyday until then), but I'm already finding it hard!

Being so used to my independence & active lifestyle, I find it hard to sort of just sit around and wait. Even if I want to do things, I am just physically incapable right now. Even if I could, I know that I shouldn't. All I can do right now is eat, sleep and watch TV. It might sound good to some people, but trust me, it gets pretty boring after a week or so.
Plus all the pain, the soreness, the aches and the emotional roller coaster which come with being 38 weeks pregnant, right now all I want is for bub to just pop out. "Tonight would be good, honey! Com' on now you've been in there long enough."

Unfortunately (for me) it doesn't quite work out that way.  God said there's a time for everything, and He makes everything beautiful in its own time. Just like you can't force a butterfly out of its cocoon, you can't force a baby to come out early. Well, you can nowadays with medical intervention,  but you know... naturally you can't. 

So it's time to practice my patience now.
It's time to just allow nature to take its course.
It's time to let God, the mighty Creator, does His thing, perfecting the baby for his readiness to see the world and breathe this air.
It's time for me to maybe get some useful reading done, have more quiet time, do more devotionals.
It's time to maybe just 'chill' more in His presence, in the quietness and emptiness of the house. 

Whatever I do, I need to wait patiently now, and I need to learn to use these waiting time wisely and completely trust that His timing is the perfect timing.....

So if you're like me, waiting for something good to happen, whatever it may be, just trust Him.

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11 NIV

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:   He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Baby stuffs revamped

I should have taken a photo of every single old baby thing that I've cleaned and revamped. I'd have a whole album full of them. 

Today I've been working on my nephew's old car seat. It was pretty dirty before after nearly 6 years worth of use and a few months of sitting in the garage collecting dust. First I took off the cover, washed it, dried it, and put it back together. I even worked out how to recline the seat for rear facing, thanks to Google and YouTube. Plus I added the extra cushion that Daph gave us. Voilaaaaa... looks brand new now!

It's a small thing, but when you are carrying 15 kg extra weight and a watermelon on your tummy, it's quite a big achievement, and I'm proud of it!  LOL.

Thank God for the car seat. Now I'm ready to take a new bub home.

New Chapter

For about two weeks now I've started a different chapter in my life. For the next 12 months or so my job title is  'Full Time Mum'. Something I havent done in like 7 years!

I guess I'm starting to really enjoy my daily routine and this 'Me' time while waiting for bub. So far l've managed to fill my days with things I enjoy doing or things I need to do. Like cleaning Naomi's room, taking a walk @ Hillary, window shopping, and preparing bub's arrival.

I had my baby shower last Sat. I've been really blessed having Kris and Sof organised pretty much the whole thing. We've also been very blessed with all the baby stuffs that's come from all different directions and so we dont need to buy much at all this time around•

I thought about this the other day and realise how blessed we are. My prayers lately is to see God open up the floodgate of heaven and pour so much blessings in our life that we cant contain. Because that is His promise to those who are faithful in their tithing, and I think that includes us. Truly it has been one blessing after another and I am so very grateful...

Although, contradicting what I wrote above,  I just need to whinge about how everything is so uncomfortable and painful at this stage of my pregnancy.
First of all the midwife encourages us to be in an upright and front-ward position all the time to encourage the baby to move his back towards the front of my belly or what they call Anterior position. I can do that by sitting and hugging a bean bag or by being on my hands and knees, or just simply sitting upright and not slouching on my back.

However every time I do that on the bean bag, my crotch and inner thigh hurt so bad that I cannot even stand up properly let alone walk. I have to wait until the pain is gone before I can walk again.
Sitting upright on the couch is tiring and I get shoulder and back pain from it. Plus the baby moves quite low on my pelvic that it feels natural to lean back and slouch on my back.... the forbidden position.

I dont know how much longer I can handle this. I really hope bub will come early.

Prayers

James 5:15-16 NIV

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

1 Kings 18:36-39 NLT

At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O LORD, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”
Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The LORD—he is God! Yes, the LORD is God!”

Romans 5:19 NIV

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

We often underestimate the power of the blood, Jesus' blood that's been shed for our sins have made us righteous before God almighty. James 5:16 says "the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective", so our prayers are powerful and effective because we have been made righteous by the blood. We have to simply believe and receive.

Elijah prayed, and God answered His prayer. Why? Because it brings glory to His name.
When we pray, we need to make sure that God gets the glory, when He answers our prayer.
God is in our everyday lives. We don't have to be afraid to mention to our non believer friends that we'll pray for their situation, sickness, etc. Why? Because God will answer our prayers and His name will be glorified, and that way we are sowing seeds of faith into their lives.
We don't have to be ashamed or afraid to tell others what we are praying for. Why?
Because when God answers our prayers, His name will be glorified.
So make sure when we pray, our heart's intention is that God will be glorified in our lives, in our prayers, and in all things.

At the end of the day, we are all here for one common goal... and the heart of the Father only cares about one thing... for all His children to come into the knowledge of Him, and receives salvation through His son, Jesus.

Let us not be afraid to make our prayers and petitions be known to others and to God, for the glory of His name.

My angel

Just reminding myself of what an angel she is. 

"I don't need your sacrifices"

Psalm 50:8-11, 14-15 NLT

I have no complaint about your sacrifices
or the burnt offerings you constantly offer. But I do not need the bulls from your barns
or the goats from your pens. For all the animals of the forest are mine,
and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains,
and all the animals of the field are mine.
...
Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God,
and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.
...
But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
If you keep to my path,
I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

All the riches of this world belongs to Him. God doesn't have any problems with our givings but He doesn't need it.
All He wants is our thanksgiving and our grateful heart.

Good stuffs on the net

Household Tips
www.buzzfeed.com/samir/18-household-tips-that-will-help-you-get-through-y?s=mobile

Must visit
www.buzzfeed.com/masseffect3/20-must-see-places-before-the-world-ends?s=mobile

New mum gadget
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/ingenious-things-youll-want-as-a-new-parent?s=mobile