advice appreciated!

My Emma! I love her to pieces! She will be 3 on December 19th. I am so thankful to God for my beautiful little girl. She is affectionate, shy, kind, helpful, loves singing and loves painting!

She has been a terrible sleeper from around 6 months old. She is very very clingy with me. Recently she was ill and ended up sleeping in with me and now this is a habit which is proving hard to break. She literally has to cuddle right into me to get back to sleep when she wakes at night and it is beginning to take it's toll. I do enjoy snuggles with her but it is beginning to get a bit suffocating.

What do I do? I am at a total and utter loss. She likes space to sleep and move about and I am sure this is why she likes our bed! I tried putting her in her own bed recently in our room but she wouldn't have any of it! Leaving her to cry isn't an option as she will just come downstairs or wake Jacob.

Has anyone else had a terrible sleeper? What did you do to resolve the problems? I would appreciate any help or advice at all as I am desperate!

Psalm Saturday

³ Trust in the LORD and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him and he will do this:

Psalm 37: 3-5 NIV.

We are to TRUST, DELIGHT and COMMIT ourselves to and in the Lord! Are we doing this? Am I doing this? Never is it harder to trust in the Lord when I am struggling with my day. Do you delight yourself in the Lord? It is easy to take great pleasure in our Lord at Church but do we do this every day at home, in our day to day mundane lives? I find this hard!

Are we committing ourselves to the Lord? Do we entrust God with our lives and devote ourselves to serving Him? When we pray do we ask for God's will to be done or are we asking for all the things we want? Doing God's will isn't always easy and especially if it challenges you!

So some questions for us all to ponder on this Saturday.

Thankful Thursday

It is so great to be able to participate in Thankful Thursday again this week! Last week we were plagued by illness so I couldn't blog at all really!

So here is my list of 5 things I am thankful to God for this week.

• I am thankful that we are all recovered from the horrible flu type illness we had. Colin had it the worst and had to take a week off work to recover! Thankfully the kids didn't have it as bad as we did. Anyway all better now!

• When Colin takes time off work he doesn't get paid for it, (he is a taxi driver), so we had no income for the week he was off ill. I was very worried but he did say that there should be enough in the bank. Nevertheless I still worried! However, Colin has discovered he has received a tax refund! Praise God for providing this tax refund at the perfect time! I am so thankful for this!

• The winds have been howling and blowing a gale here lately. There has also been severe flooding in parts of England. I am thankful for a roof over my head and a comfortable home to stay cosy in this winter.

• Thank you Lord that I have one child who is a good sleeper! Emma is still up at night despite sleeping all night recently. I am at a loss as to why this happens but am thankful that Jacob loves his sleep and doesn't rise too early in the morning.

• The miracle of Jesus' birth! I am thankful for this time of year and the opportunity it presents to share more with the kids about what Christmas is truly all about.

God is everywhere!

Hello everyone! Finally I am able to return to a normal blogging schedule. We are all well again and over the worst of illness thankfully.

During this time God has spoken to us as a family so many times and it has been lovely. Jacob was off school most of last week which meant he and his sister spent a lot of time together. There were the inevitable fights of course but some sweet moments as well!

I brought Jacob's duvet downstairs for him to cosy under and he and Emma snuggled together at one end of the sofa. They just chatted together and Emma began asking Jacob why did God give us eyes, hair, chins, mouths and so on!! He answered most of her questions and it was just adorable to see them chat together this way!

Last night Emma decided it would be fun to wake at 2am and start singing. She was singing Thank You God for Snails and it was lovely! I wasn't happy that she wouldn't go back to sleep but I was touched to hear her sing her heart out!

At Church on Sunday both my kids go off to their own Sunday school classes now. Emma is in the toddlers class and loves this wee class. Jacob was so enthusiastic about his lesson yesterday and was desperate to tell me all about it when I went in to collect him. It is so encouraging to see your kids loving God and enjoying all that they are learning about him. We have such a wonderful group of friends at Church who all love Jesus and our children can see this in them.

God has truly spoken to me during all this illness and I am thankful to Him for these moments.

we are all sick!

Hello dear friends! I am so sorry I have not been posting this week at all. On Tuesday I woke with an aching body and sore throat and cough. Jacob woke with the same. Colin ran around after me all day but then the next day he woke with the same! Basically we have been in the house since Tuesday and unable to do much at all. Jacob has been off school all week and is better but still sounding hoarse.

Emma seems to be about the best out of all of us! I thought I was better on Thursday but woke yesterday feeling bad again. It has been one of those weeks when the days all blur into each other and you can't remember which day it is. We are all going a bit stir crazy being stuck in together. Colin hasn't been able to work either and it doesn't look hopeful for the rest of his working week.

So that is why I haven't been blogging this week. I hope to be back a normal routine on Monday(surely Lord????). We haven't felt this bad for a long while and just wonder if it has been the dreaded swine flu.

Well I better be off to check on some of my patients who are still in bed! Even when mum is ill the work just doesn't stop.

Take care and missing you all!

Still here!

Sorry I haven't been posting very regularly lately. Things have been pretty hectic around here over the last few days. On Sunday we had a very busy day at Church with a fellowship meal in the afternoon. Yesterday we had our parent and toddlers group at Church which was quite busy!

Last night I was looking into gifts for the toddlers Christmas party and nursing a sore throat and cough at the same time! I have, of course, woken this morning feeling pretty naff so I don't think I will be blogging much this week if I continue to feel this way.

I just wanted to share my most recent quilting project with you. I made this one for my mum and it was a hard one for me. The quilting is machine stitched and I done a kind of freehand Baptist fan design on the main part of the quilt. I am not 100% happy with it but then whoever is with their projects?

My mum loves it and it is just the right size for her lap. My mum hasn't been well the last few weeks. She has had a chest infection and has a chest condition which causes her difficulty exerting herself. She gets out of breath really easily. This has been caused by smoking and she has really really tried to stop but struggles with it. I worry about her so much. I love her dearly and worry about how much time she will have with the kids because of this condition. She can't do a lot physically so I worry about this too.

So anyway I am happy to be able to do small things like making a quilt for her to brighten her day hopefully!

Psalm Saturday

Psalm 14
For the director of music. Of David. 1 The fool [a] says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
3 All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
4 Will evildoers never learn— those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on the LORD ?
5 There they are, overwhelmed with dread, for God is present in the company of the righteous.
6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge.
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!
Footnotes:
Psalm 14:1 The Hebrew words rendered fool in Psalms denote one who is morally deficient.
Psalm 14 NIV.

Doesn't this sound like the world today? There are plenty who deny God's existence. There are people with no moral grounding or boundaries.

Much of our society just doesn't have time for God or doesn't want to know God. Yet He wants to know us!

2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Psalm 14, NIV.

I find it interesting how this Psalm can be applied to society today as well as way back then. It would seem not a great deal changes regarding people!

As a Christian we can pray that people will see that they need God and indeed call upon Him. It is our great commission to tell people about Jesus and what He done for us on the cross. Our society is crying out for a remedy to it's moral deficiency and only Jesus is the answer to this.

I know that before I became a Christian I was looking for something to answer the questions I had about life. I sought this in the wrong places. How glad I was when I found the answers in the Bible. It all just fell into place and made perfect sense!

Many others seek answers in other religions, such as Islam, or through mediums, meditation, science and so on. To believe in Jesus just isn't cool in our society. It is looked down upon, we are ridiculed and many suffer because of these beliefs. Society is so caught up with rights and political correctness that we all have to tolerate each others religions and lifestyles. So as Christians if we do not agree with a certain way of living your life then we are persecuted for our opinions. Our society is Godless so doesn't understand when we use the Bible as our barometer for right living and morality. We are then labelled as 'fundamentalists'!

I pray for the day when people return to the Lord, bow on their knees to Him in fear and when Jesus returns.

12"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Revelation 22:12-14 NIV.

Thankful Thursday!

Today I join Sonya at Truth 4 the Journey for Thankful Thursday. I get to list 5 things I am thankful to God for over the past week.

• On Sunday we had a wonderful praise service at Church. It was great to just spend an hour singing to God and thanking Him for all that He has done for us. All the kids were really well behaved too!
  

• At our 4pm meeting on a Sunday our Church has been doing a Bible study. The next book we will study is Ruth. We have just finished 1Peter. I am really looking forward to studying Ruth.
  

• Lately, dare I say it, I have been getting much more sleep at night thanks to Emma sleeping much more soundly! I am VERY thankful to God for this as many of you know, this has been a major issue with Emma since she was around 6 months!
  

• On Monday I wrote a post about not being in God's word enough. Later that morning I arrived at our Toddlers group to help set up very early with Emma. I decided to grab a Church Bible and sat down with it and read Proverbs 9, Psalm 9 and the book of Ruth. God really does hear our prayers!!!
  

• Finally, I am thankful that each Thursday I can come here and think specifically about what I am thankful to God for. It is so easy to get carried away with the busyness of the week and forget to stop and ponder!
  

So what do you have to be thankful for today?

Making your Home sing Monday.

This Monday I am back on track and joining Nan at Moms the word for Making your Home sing Monday.

I have an admission to make. I have not been in prayer or God's word very much at all lately. There, I said it!! Life has been busy over the last few weeks and this has meant that any Bible reading or regular prayer has fallen by the wayside. I know this shouldn't be the case.

The problem I have is getting 'quiet time' with God. The kids wake at ridiculously early times in the morning so I have no way of doing it then. In the evening, once the kids are in bed I often get my quilting projects out and spend time on these.

I don't feel proud of myself when I go through these 'episodes'. Some weeks I can throw myself into the Bible and pray frequently, but then other weeks such as recently I experience a self imposed drought.

This is one of my weaknesses I hate about myself. It is almost cyclical and I don't like this side of myself one little bit!!!

SO; This week, to make my home sing, I need to pray about all of this! Either that I accept it for what it is or make changes to my life that will be consistent and not erratic.

Psalm Saturday

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 NIV.

When I read this verse I am comforted. I feel safe and protected by God no matter what. In our world there is so much evil and destruction it is easy to become overwhelmed. Watch the 24 hour news channels and you can quite easily become paranoid, bolting the doors, thinking that there are murderers and terrorists round every corner.

Is it that the world is worse now than say 20 years ago? Or is it that we have more access to up to the minute, breaking news reports which report every minute detail? I agree to an extent with the saying; 'ignorance is bliss'.

Christians are not supposed to live their lives in fear. We are to fear God, yes. We should not fear man and the world around us.
I think this means we shouldn't close ourselves away from the world either. God wants Christians in the world to tell others about Jesus and share the Gospel. If we live our lives fearing the world then how can we witness to the world? I have seen fear of the world in many Christians, (myself included), a desire to protect our children from worldly influences. It is natural to want to protect our kids but if we want their faith to grow then they do need to learn to cope with defending it in the world and also they can then be witnesses to others.

⁶So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"^b]">[b]
Hebrews 13:6 NIV.

I do still feel fear though!!! Even though God tells me not to. And I can't even begin to think of the fear Christians living in persecuted areas must feel. The point here is that when we feel fearful then we should remember God's promise in Psalm 23. We should pray and seek God in the fearful situation. Quite clearly the verse says to fear no evil and that God will comfort. This is a wonderful promise to cling to when fear sets in all around.

Thankful Thursday!

Hi there! Apologies for not posting much recently or commenting but I have had a hectic few days. It was my birthday yesterday and the day before that I went out shopping and for lunch with Colin.

Today I join Sonya at Truth 4 the Journey for another Thankful Thursday. We list 5 things we are thankful to God for.

• I am thankful for a change in Jacob's behaviour. He has been quite cheeky and aggressive lately but since Sunday there has been a definite calming down. He still has his moments but it is not as bad as it was at the weekend.
  

• I had a lovely lunch out on Tuesday and trip round some shops with my husband. The kids were at their Grandparents. It was so nice and relaxing to spend some quality time together.
  

• Last night I helped prepare a Sunday school lesson with my friend. I wasn't sure about being involved this year but I am glad I am. We have a lovely wee group of children and a fantastic team of teachers all aiming for the same goal. God is planning big things!

• Our Church has a podcast of teachings from our 4pm Bible study hour. This is a blessing and really practical if you miss any of the study. I missed several recently due to the kids being sick, so I am very thankful for the ability to use this.
  

• My lovely children singing happy birthday to me yesterday! So precious.
  

Are you authentic?

"Jesus wept."

John 11:35 NKJV.

I was reading last night that this is the shortest verse in the NKJV Bible. In context this is the reaction of Jesus to the death of His good friend, Lazarus.


Here is a dictionary definition of the word 'weep';

to express grief, sorrow, or any overpowering emotion by shedding tears; shed tears; cry: to weep for joy; to weep with rage. (Dictionary.com).


Not just a few tears in the eyes but proper crying, grief, mourning for the loss of a dear, dear friend.



What struck me about this was that Jesus was authentic. He was real. He experienced the array of emotions we have. He felt sorrow, grief, anger, joy, happiness and love.



So if Jesus, our Saviour and Son of God can be real then why do we find it difficult as Christians? I certainly don't want to be seen as a complainer or bitter by fellow Christians but I do want to be real and feel that I can share my problems with my friends. When I feel overcome with emotion I want to be able to unashamedly be real about it with fellow Christians. I don't want to put a mask on and pretend that life is wonderful, I am full of joy and oh so blessed when I am struggling to see this.



I think that sometimes we (myself included) are scared of bringing others down, appearing weak in our faith, and being judged as not having as strong a faith as others. This is very wrong among Christians. Paul spoke about weakness and how God shows His strength through our weakness.



I am thankful that I am in a Church where I know that there are people I can be real with, and they with me. However, there have been times when I felt I just couldn't share anything that was going on in my life. Specifically when I had Post Natal Depression. I was so ashamed of how I felt and scared of being judged that it took me a looooong time to share this with friends at Church. Of course I wasn't judged and had lots of support.



It isn't easy to share how you are really feeling but God wants us to be real among each other. Being a Christian doesn't mean your life will be free of suffering and you have a permanent smile and feeling of joy. Christians are only human and experience trials like anyone. I think sometimes we are not being real by brushing our true feelings under the carpet and not sharing these experiences with others.



Anyway, just a few of my thoughts on being authentic and how wonderful that we have Jesus as our great example of how to live our lives.