Waiting on God - Living In Confidence

During my quiet time a couple of days ago I read the following scripture.

Isaiah 40:28-34 (New American Standard Bible)

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired
His understanding is inscrutable.
He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

I love this passage. It inspires me. It gives me energy whenever I think about it. I don't have to do it all! In fact I am not suppose to. I am suppose to wait on the Lord and He will give me new strength. Oh boy have I needed to hear this. I have been struggling with all the needs that five kids in a house bring and I have been falling into bed at night and I am tired!

I think the thing that we have to remember about waiting on God is not that we just sit there and watch time pass but that we live in confidence that He is going to act on our behalf. My biggest challenge in this situation is not to run ahead of Him and try to solve the problem myself. Maybe there is something in your life that is dragging you down or making you tired. Maybe you have a situation that seems overwhelming and you don't understand it. Good news, God is working and He has given you an opportunity to live in hope. He is right there and He knows all about it and (this is my favourite part) He knows what "the best" resolution for us would be.

For any of you that have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I love to look up words in the dictionary. So I looked up the word inscrutable as it describes His wisdom from verse 28.

"in·scru·ta·ble" - defn. –adjective

1. incapable of being investigated, analyzed, or scrutinized; impenetrable.

2. not easily understood; mysterious; unfathomable: an inscrutable smile.

So this is good news. God's wisdom is not like ours. He sees our situation different than we do and He has a plan. Yeah God!

I encourage you to read all of Isaiah 40. The first section concentrates on God's promised deliverance , the second section is about His ability to deliver His people and verses 28-31 is Isaiah's response to the attitudes of God's people that might think that God has given up on them or He does not care.

Be encouraged, when we live in confidence of the character of Our God - we live a life of faith, a life where we truly give ourselves to Him without reservation, a life where we are moment by moment giving our concerns into our caring Creator's hands. In this state, He is able to transform our lives, our situations and our problems into "His best" for us.

The Speech

Thank-you to all those who have been faithfully checking this blog. It has been quite a while since I have written. It is not there there hasn't been anything to write about but it seems like every time I try I can't get the words down on paper. My very wise husband Jason says it is like the game Boggle. I have the words ready to go and then somebody comes along and shakes them all up and I know that the words are still there somewhere but I just need to find them again because everything looks different. So if you have ever played the game Boggle that is what our life has been like as of late.

I have alluded in other blogs to the fact that we were facing some big decisions that would really affect our family and life in general for the whole McGibbon clan. For those of you that we see everyday you know that we have a friend staying with us. She started out as a friend of Caroline's and over the past ten months or so we have all become friends. We have invited her to stay in our home and she has accepted. So for now we are a family of six and one friend who is like family while she is living with us. As we only have three bedrooms for this new clan of seven it has meant some changes and lots of sharing! We are all adjusting to our new situation and we look forward to seeing what God has in store.

I was struggling with some of the issues that surround our expanded clan this past week and I called Anita. I was wrestling with self doubt that I could handle all the pressures of this new situation. Not because of the little girl we have taken in who is a sweetie but because the arrangements are a complicated situation.

I started to cry, as my friend answered "Hey what's up!" "I am calling for the speech" I responded quickly as my voice started to crack. "I know, I know the speech, I know I have given the speech but I need you to give me the speech and quick." And my dear friend instead of calling me a ninny reminded my how much God loves me and she quoted scripture about what He says about me. And she reminded me what He says about this little girl who is in our home and she told me again that with God all things are possible. "You can do this" she said "because He is going to do it." And as the words sank into my heart, the lump in my throat started to get smaller and my voice got stronger and I was reminded again by my amazing friend that God is control and He has plan for our family and He has a plan for this sweet little girl.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

When I got off the phone with Anita, I felt so much better. A few seconds later the phone rang and it was Cheri. "Hey" she said. "I can't get you off my mind are you okay?" "Yes" I laughed! I just called Anita and she gave me the speech and I am doing much better. Cheri also gave me her version of the speech which ended with her telling me to call Louise for more prayer and scripture just to make doubly sure that I was going to be okay!

Every once in a while life requires your good friends to give you the speech even when you know the words by heart. Thank-you to my dear friends who gave me the speech and those of you who would have given it to me if Anita and Cheri had been out!

A Lesson from a Group of Fireflies

I feel like I have been unplugged forever! We are back from family camp where the whole gang had a blast. TJ (and Jay and I) survived her first camp experience including sleeping in a tent. She loved the worship and continues to go around our house singing at the top of her lungs. "I just want to be a sheep" and "Oh when the saints come marchin' in!" At the last minute we took a friend of ours and the kids had a great time teaching her all the songs and showing her all the great stuff about camp. Jason and I taught together for the first time and really enjoyed all the adults in our group. We used Ephesians 1:1-14 to look at what scripture has to say about, our Heavenly Father, our Saviour His Son, The Holy Spirit, the body of Christ and our call to missions. The directors of family camp and the permanent staff at Ryerson did a fabulous job of blessing all of our families and we loved hanging out with them and watching God work!

Each night I would head off some time between 8 and 9 pm and try to get TJ settled down for bed. Jason and kids would head off to the dining hall, to play some board games with other families and so it was usually nice and quiet. It is really dark at camp when you are away from the city lights. Once I turned off the flashlight in the tent it was too dark to read or really see too much so I would usually lie on my air mattress and chat with God about the day, as TJ started to drift off to sleep.

I think it was about mid week that I noticed the tiny flying lights. At first, I thought, I was seeing things as I saw one little light quickly glow and then vanish into the dark. As I stared into the open space, I realized that I had seen it again and then the glow became more frequent and soon there was more time that I could see the tiny lights then not. I realized that they were fireflies congregating together and shining their beautiful sparkling lights for all the world to see. Pretty soon, the light show was amazing and I could hear other campers talking about the fireflies and commenting about the beauty. I heard kids asking their parents what are those lights and why do they do it? I must have watched them for over half an hour.

When I finally laid my head back down on the pillow, I thought what a great reminder those fireflies are for the body of Christ. I had noticed the one little firefly on his own but as he attracted more of his firefly friends the beautiful show began and that is when the kids began to ask about why these little bugs do what they do. God wants us to be in community shining brightly together for Him. When we go out into our communities as the body of Christ our neighbours will ask who we are and why is it that they do what we do? So as you head out into the world this week take a lesson from the fireflies and shine your light!

"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

The Fresh Start of Today

The summer is flying by and it has been just over a week since I posted my thoughts. Life at the McGibbon house has been a bit crazier than usual so my blogging time was taken over by the pressures of life with lots of kids. We are getting ready to leave for family camp at Ryerson (http://www.ryersoncamp.com/ ) on Sunday afternoon for about five days. Jason and I will have a chance to lead the adult sessions everyday and we will be looking at Ephesians 1:1-14. I can't wait. I am sure there will be lots to share about upon our return.

As I write this morning, the sound and smell of fresh rain is filling my family room. It is washing away the old and ushering in a fresh new start. All is quiet and the kids are still sleeping. Well, for now at least!

I love this time of day when I get up before everyone else. I have my coffee (Timmy's of course!) and read my bible and journal my thoughts and pray. I thank God for the gift of a new day. For the opportunity to start fresh, to readjust my will to His and to take time to be thankful for all the blessings He has given. Every morning I have this short but very sweet time to take stock, to take a deep breath and to be grateful that I am once again given the fresh start of Today.

Today, I have the opportunity to thank God for the gift of His Son more often. Today, I have the chance to teach my children more about His love. Today, I have the prospect of living a day of worship with every choice. Today, I will be given occasions to love my husband the way Christ intended. Today, I have the possibility to proclaim His Kingdom to my circle of influence. Today, I have the ability to make choices that shine His light into my community. Today, I can live my life for Jesus and not for myself. The opportunities are endless with what I can do with the fresh start of today.

Her Circle of Influence

Yesterday, I packed all my kids in the van and headed off with my parents to see my great Aunt Ag. She lives about an hour away in another town. On the weekend, Aunt Ag had a birthday so we were going out to give her our best wishes and take her lunch from Swiss Chalet. Aunt Ag likes the soup and chicken sandwich. My kids were thrilled that Grandpa was taking them out to eat!

When we arrived Aunt Ag greeted us at the door with her usual bright sunny attitude. Her positive approach to life seems to be enhanced with every birthday that she celebrates. Aunt Ag just celebrated her 102nd birthday.

As she interacted with my kids and talked to my mom and dad I stared at her beautiful smile and her sparkling eyes. The blue eyes that have witnessed so much life. It is amazing to really think about how much life she has actually lived. I listened to her asking questions about how the kids were doing in school, did they like french? How was my mom's mother keeping? How is our church? What was my niece Fiona been up to? I listened as she told stories of what it was like to live in Ireland when she was young. I watched my children's faces as she talked about how she went to work at the Mill when she was just 12 years old. They worked from 6am to 6 pm and it was hard work. I continued to listen as she and my dad reminisced about my grandparents and life when my dad was growing up. Their lives revolved around church and family and being together. I heard fresh about the influence that both she and my grandmother had been on their husbands and in turn their own families. I thought about how that circle of influence now included my children who were playing on the grass.

"Oh this is such a lovely lunch." she kept saying. "I do love to see the children." I wonder when she looks at them if she realizes her influence on their lives. If she understands the heritage she has passed down to our family. I wonder who else has been touched by her life. I wonder if at 102 years old you begin to comprehend the enormity of the impact of your circle of influence.

I wonder...

PEPSI People

Well, life at the McGibbon house is never dull. We were away at the cottage for a few days last week. It was nice to sit and watch the kids play in the sand on the shores of Georgian Bay. The weather cooperated for the most part and we had a blast just hanging out as a family. We came home for the weekend and to make sure we did not miss our Sunday service with the Sanctuary Milton gang.

One of our church family members had made a photo presentation of activities that we had been involved in the week before with some of our friends from Mt. Airy Baptist Church in South Carolina. (view more photos on www.thesanctuarymilton.com) As I sat and watched the faces on the screen I was over come with emotion. How amazing God's family is! Light was shone in our community and you could see it all over the faces of the children that we had served and with the people that we had been able to make connections.

Our daughter Caroline has a shirt from Mt. Airy. On the back it has a great life statement. (I always think of it when I drink a PEPSI)

Prayerful

Evangelistic

People

Serving

In His Name

As the photo presentation continued to play and memories flooded my mind this statement is what I saw being played out in the images on the screen. Liam who is 7 came up beside me and said, "It was a good week with the mission team. I want to grow up so I can go and be just like them. Kathy and her whole family get to go this week and tell people about Jesus in place where they have lizards. We should do that. That is cool."

Thank-you to my friends in Mt. Airy for being a light in our community, for your prayers for our ministry but most of all for being an incredible example to my children and for inspiring them.

Pray for Kathy and her family this week and Mt. Airy Baptist Church as they send a team this Saturday to serve in Christ's name in Costa Rica. (Kathy, I am praying that all the lizards go for a holiday while you are there!)

As we go out into the world this week wherever we are may we all be PEPSI people.

The McGibbon Titanic and the Worshipping Daughter

About once a week at our house we have what is affectionately known as left overs night. Since we have a larger family there is rarely enough of one thing to feed the entire crew but if you throw a bunch of leftovers together....Voila we have a theme dinner! Well, anyway that is what I tell my kids so they won't complain. The thing about leftover night is everyone gets something different and you never know what it is going to be.

So last week we were having leftover night. For some reason I had to feed the kids first. To be honest I can't remember why but Jason and I had to eat after them. So as the kids started to clean up in the kitchen after their dinner and Jason and I tried to start to eat our dinner (in the dining room) the trouble began. A low rumble started to be audible in the kitchen. It seems not everyone was being helpful in the clean up process. Can you imagine that? The rumble started to grow into a roar so we called our youngest son Liam whose voice was the loudest to come and see us. We had a little chat and sent him back to help. Well, it seems that another one of our children was having a little trouble with the routine. Miss Trinity Joy wanted someone to play with her and she wanted them to do it now! For any of you that have children you can probably start to picture the scene in your mind. All Jay and I want is a little peace and quiet so we can finish our dinner. We don't need total silence and it does not have to be a leisurely dinner but we don't really want to have to wolf down our food and we would like to be able to hear ourselves talk. Well, the situation is deteriorating fast and we as parents are loosing any sense of control that we had fooled ourselves into thinking that we had. There are crying and yelling children, barking dogs who are trying to steal any food that is left unattended and frustrated hungry parents who are about to loose their cool, when through the chaos we hear the faint sounds of someone worshipping....

Caroline is doing the dishes and as she is washing up if we listen hard through all the noise we can hear her singing, "Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Blessed be your glorious name." Now if you have ever seen the movie Titanic, there is a scene in which the Titanic is sinking and people are screaming for life rafts and the string quartet is playing beautiful music up on deck. They seem to be totally oblivious to what is happening around them and are content to continue to do their job well up until the end. This is the scene that is playing out before our eyes. There is utter chaos in our house and it seems like the McGibbon ship is about to sink into the depths of the end of the school year kid craziness except there is one who is remembering what is important. Caroline is worshipping the King of Kings as the madness rages on around her. We were created to worship the Lord our God above all else. What a great reminder.