Whew, I finally finished a book.  While reading was happening during the previous 3 months, I haven’t finished any books until:

“God’s Smuggler” by Brother Andrew.

 Energy explosion by arabah joy ~ practical encouragement to establish better habits to restore energy in these busy full days.

The Tiny Book of Big Garage Sale Secrets by Isabelle Portis ~ gleaning a few tips for that fund raising garage sale of all the pieces of that growing mound in the garage!

Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst ~ you can read my thoughts from this book here.

 

Do you remember my previous posts about this little boy in Burkina Faso?

Here is a wonderful update on Fatao!

If you are interested in more information on the organization through which Fatao recieved his care, please click here.

Thank you God, for Fatao’s healing and for the community you gathered around him and his family.

Raking Leaves by Chica

Chica has completed a few Sketch Tuesday assignments that haven’t made it to the slideshow, due to Marme’s dropping the ball.  Hopefully this is the start of a delightful Sketch Tuesday art show for the 2012-2013 school year.

 

{this moment} – A single photo –  capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Linking with Amanda and with Amy

*Jessica and *BeachMomma send me an email with your mailing address and I’ll drop your coupons into the mail!

byquietwaters at gmail dot com
 

There is a longing, a craving in each of us.  For many of us it looks like chocolate or high calorie, sugary carb loaded tastiness.  But in her book “Made to Crave” Lysa TerKeurst suggests that our cravings really point to a deeper longing for intimacy, with the One who made us.

It does seems to me that the cravings for chocolate, sugary bubbles (soda), and any number of other things, are distractions for the deepest longings each of us experience.  And if one choose to deny the cravings, that place of longing may lead to a slight desparation, Lysa suggests.  In this place of desperation we are empty enough to glimpse the holiness that we are made for.

In other words, filled up with other things we are distracted from our deepest longing, and a spiritual battle is fought is keep us cloaked in that fog.  If one steps back from the pursuit of temporary filling, the emptiness reveals the possibility of a nobler craving for holiness and intimacy with our Creator.

When we find ourselves in this place of emptiness, we have a choice.  Will we choose to excerise and become disiciplined?  Or will our doubts and past failures sabatoge us again?

Lysa says, “The gap between our frail discipline and God’s available strength is bridged with nothing but a simple choice on our part to pursue holiness.”

I can choose holiness, to be set apart for God’s purpose.  At each craving for what gives only momentary satisfaction, a nobler choice can be made tapping into the strenth of God, who is wooing me into a place of greater intimacy with Him.

 

Posting this goals on my blog is helping me to keeping me keep track myself.  Life gets so busy during the weeks that I loose sight of what is being accomplished. 

Last week’s goals
Read:
False Intimacy, Made to Crave and Relentless Pursuit
Swallows and Amazons (family read aloud)
I’ve made progress in each of these books.  Hopefully they will be completed by the end of the month.
Personal Goals:
Increase full pushups to 15, decrease girly pushups to 10 (for 25 pushups daily), in process
Ab routine, continue100 crunches, in process
Swim 500 3 days weekly ~ YES
wash face, lavendar steam
read to kids
pray and bless each child
read a few pages before sleep

Homemaking
Process the boxes of apples & make applesauce, apple pie filling and apple butter

Business & Ministry
Bottle our first batch of Home Brewed Vanilla extract
3 Blog Posts week, if fits
Add new pictures to GBC’s Sponsored Children display

This Week
Read ~ Finish “Made to Crave, False Intimacy and Relentless Pursuit
Contine reading Amazons and Swallows aloud

Personal ~ continue the ab routine and pushups
swim 500 twice this week
keep pursuing the bed time routine

Homemaking
shred and freeze the squash harvest
make waffle mix for freezer

Business & Ministry
Bottle Vanilla
Book Reviews as books are finished
Decide on classes to be taught next semester and complete the inital paperwork

Most of the time the letters we receive are exciting and encouraging.  Hearing about the children we sponsor, about their dreams, their families help to build a connection between them and us.

We were notified in June that one of our sponsored children, Bryan Marcello, had left the Compassion program.  This week we recieved a “final letter”, not from Bryan, but from the director of his child development center.

“Dear sponsors, Benjamin and Michelle:

We greet you in he name of Jesus.  We wish you blessing and good health.  We inform you that the boy Bryan Marcello didn’t attend to the activities of the student center anymore and due to his absences we proceeded to his departure.  The boy is healthy, he studies and is stable economically.  The benefits he received through your sponsorship were medical checkups, gifts, correspondence, camps, spiritual retreats, excursions, school supplies, snacks, shoes beirthday celebrations, Family’s Day, Child’s Day.

As personnel of the student center we thank you for all your support;  and we encourage to continue giving your support and love to other children.

Sincerely,
Director.

This letter left me sad, as I’ve been concerned and praying since that June phone call.  Guatemala City has some rough areas, places where young men can be lead astray.  So we continue to pray for Bryan, knowing that he may have left the Compassion program, but God knows right where he is.

and that is gift #1230, giving thanks even when it is hard because God always knows where to find us when we think we’ve actually ran from Him or hid from Him.

and still always counting #1216-1230

Black princess cat close by
  The quiet morning hours
  Children laughing
Cool evening, dinner on the patio
God is so Good coming from a girl’s guitar
Sweet love words
Morning hugs
God interrupts my plans, giving a day for what’s really important in my daughters’ education, and in mine.
Fellowship in the foyer
Encouragement along the way
Duck eggs
The opportunity to love and be loved
“momma, can I sleep with you tonight?”  bad dreams are still chased away by snuggles
God always knows where to find us when we think we’ve actually ran from Him or hid from Him.

 giving thanks with the community of thanks givers, Ann and Laura and Michelle

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!