God's Will for Us

 Psalm 100 shows us how to live. We are to have joy in God. And this is why we can be joyful even when things in our life are not...

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100:5

God's goodness, mercy and truth never change. So, we always have reason to rejoice!

Living While You're Waiting

Waiting is never easy! And yet most of the time we are waiting for something. So it's important to be thankful for everything we do have right now and learn patience and contentment while waiting. Also, we should not stop living while we are waiting. I like these closing words from a devotional. 

 ...Make sure you keep living while you're waiting.
It takes courage to wait patiently and yet get out there and embrace life. But you can do it. Lean on God and courage will never be in short supply.   Joni Eareckson Tada from Glorious Intruder

Three Healthy Habits

Last week I was reading Psalm 105. I noticed that there are lots of commands/verbs in the first five verses. Have a look for yourself! I  picked three to write about. According to google, these three things are very good for your health! 

 1) Thank God

Do you thank God every day? Is it a daily/regular habit in your life? There are many things to thank God for. How many things can you think of? Be really specific! And then thank God for all the things you don't have. For example, as far as I know, I don't have cancer. That's something to thank God for. You can even thank God for your trials, because God has allowed them for a good purpose. Thank God for all the prayers He's answered in the past and the ones He will answer. Choosing gratitude changes your attitude!

 It is such a simple thing to thank God but it can make such a big difference to your life. You can have a gratitude journal and write things down or jot down a few each day in your diary or prayer journal. If you like to draw, draw what you are thankful for! You could have a gratitude jar and fill it up with blessings. You could thank God for a few things when you pray.

 Aswell as showing appreciation to God, try showing appreciation to the people around you-- your parents, your siblings, your pastor, your teacher, your friends, your grandparents etc. It's easy to take things for granted and to only notice other people's mistakes. Yet, if you look for things to be thankful for, you will find them. It could change your whole view of your world and the people around you.

Do you know anyone who is always complaining and doesn't seem to notice blessings? This is what we can easily become like if we don't make a point of thanking God and counting our blessings. I was eating lunch with someone recently and it was raining outside. It is the middle of summer here in NZ and very dry. So I commented happily, "It's good that's its raining." The gloomy answer I got took me by surprise "But only a little bit!" 

One day this week I took my children to a hospital appointment. In the waiting room a little girl shared some of her food with Lydia, our little girl. I was dismayed to see she only had three fingers on each of her hands. That night for the first time, we all thanked God for fingers! There are so many things we just take for granted.

2)Pray to God

Aswell as thanking God, you can tell him anything that bothers you. He wants to hear it. Nothing is too big or too small. Ask Him for help, wisdom and strength. Tell Him what you are feeling burdened about and who is on your mind. You will unburden yourself! If is helpful, you can write down your prayers. Then you can look back and see how God has answered. 

Is it a daily habit in your life to pray? Not just as a tradition, but as something that is necessary and lifechanging! It makes such a difference when you pray. When you pray for opportunities, you notice them when they come. When you pray for God's help, you are very aware of His help and His presence. When you pray for something specific and see an answer, it makes God feel so real and close.

3) Sing to God

It's actually a command to sing! There are many verses in the Bible that tell us to sing. You don't need to sing well to sing to God. Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God in the middle of the night and amazing things happened (Acts 16:25,26)! Apparently there are many physical benefits to singing--it's a natural antidepressant, it lowers stress levels, it improves your posture, it improves mental alertness, it helps with sleep and so on. I don't know for sure if all those things are true, but it makes sense that what God tells us to do is good for us!

6 Tips to Help You Wait

This is a video I've made for teenage girls on how to wait. I have been thinking and praying about making videos for teen girls for a while. Partly to add to this blog and reach out to more girls and partly to get out of my comfort zone. Writing is way easier for me than talking!

If there is any topics you would like me to talk about, let me know. emily_lauridsen@yahoo.co.nz

Enjoy the video!

 

Something Better

 An encouraging thought by Elisabeth Elliot. Sometimes we realize later that it is a good thing God never gave us what we asked for! We can trust that He will give what's best since He sees the big picture.

Included In God's Plan

Are there ever things in your life that seem to be setbacks/obstacles to you being useful? Maybe it's a health problem and it makes you feel useless. Or maybe it's something that consumes a lot of time and you have no time left for the things you think should be doing? Or maybe you are a victim of someone else's sin or mistake and you feel like your life has been ruined? Or maybe you have made your own mistakes and you feel like God can't use you anymore?

Whatever your setback may be, you can be assured that God knows all about it. And your setback is part of His plan for you. Even things that are wrong and shouldn't have happened, He can turn around for good. Jesus death on the cross is a good example. Humanly speaking, it never should have happened. It was horribly wrong for Judas to betray Jesus and he chose to do that. But at the same time it was all in God's plan to save people.

Nearly 5 years ago, I had a little baby with Down Syndrome. This was not in my plans at all. There are many hours I have spent doing things that felt to me like a waste of time (teaching her to do the things that other children do naturally, physio, appointments etc.). I felt like there were far more important things I could be doing! But this is included in God's plan for my life. There was no mistake. God didn't say, "Oops, How did that happen? Now, what are we going to do?" 

And no matter what happens in your life, you can trust that God's plan includes your situation and it is under control. Give God your problems/obstacles and your dreams and trust Him to work everything together for good. 

I love this quote...

Someday God is going to reveal the fact to every Christian, that the very principles they now rebel against, have been the instruments which He used in perfecting their characters and molding them into perfection, polished stones for His great building yonder. Great characters are not made of luxuries, they are made by suffering.    ~Cortland Myers                                                         

A Reason to Cheer Up!

Paul said these words when there was no hope that anyone would survive the storm he was in. God sent an angel to promise him that although they would be shipwrecked, no one in the ship would die. Paul believed God and was able to encourage everyone on the ship.  It took faith to believe God's Word, because it seemed impossible. God kept his promise and everyone made it to shore safely.

God doesn't promise that we will never be sick or that we won't die. He doesn't promise to keep us from storms and hard times. But He has promised to be with us. He has promised He will supply our needs. He has promised that He is working all things together for good, if we love Him. So we can cheer up, and believe God that it shall be as He has said.

A Little Boy and a Big Load of Wood

This morning a truck dumped a big load of firewood in our driveway. From past experience, I've learned to drop everything and get it in the shed as soon as possible to keep it from getting wet! But the grass was very wet and there were many puddles, so I didn't want my 2 year old who can't walk yet, to come outside with me. My four year old was the only other person at home, so I decided to put Lydia in her cot with some toys to keep her safe while I worked on the firewood for a while. I asked Joseph to stay in the same room with her, so he could call me if Lydia needed something. 
"But I want to come outside and help you," he answered.
"It would help me more if you would stay inside and look after Lydia. You can help me later when she is having a sleep." I explained.
Joseph obeyed cheerfully and everything went well. I got half the wood in the shed while they played happily.
Joseph might have felt more useful helping me put wood into the shed, but he was being more helpful playing lego and being with Lydia because that's what I needed.
While I worked on the wood, I thought back to when I was a teenager. I had a strong desire to be a missionary. I just wanted my schooling to be finished, so I could go. I felt like I'd be more useful to God on the mission field than at home. But all the doors were shut to going anywhere. Instead God opened up many opportunities right where I was. Over a few years, I was able to start my own Sunday School. In time, community children started to come along too that I was able to share the Gospel with. I was able to become a leader at a Girl's Brigade and was given the responsibility of teaching Bible Lessons every week. I was able to organize Girl's Sleepovers and eventually started a Girl's Club. I was able to be a missionary right in my own back yard.
 During this time, my future husband came along. He lived nearly five hours away, so we had a long distance relationship. Before we ever discussed where we would live after we got married, I secretly hoped he would want to move to my area, so I could keep doing all my little ministries. Then one day I got a text from him saying he had just brought a house. It hit me that I would be the one to move, not him! I guess most 'bride to be's' would be happy that their future husband could buy his own house, but I cried! I realized I would have to leave everything behind to go to a small town with a big church where I didn't see how I would be needed at all. I thought I would be of much more use to God to stay where I was. But like Joseph, I just had to obey God and trust that He knew best.
In time, in my new area, God opened up different kind of doors and opportunities. This blog is one of them!
So the lesson is, if you are where God wants you to be, you are in the most useful place! You may not see any value to what you are doing, but if it's where God has put you, be cheerful and do your best. If you trust and obey Him, He will use you. Even if you are sick or have a disability and feel useless. God can use you even then.
 And if He wants you to be somewhere else, He will open the doors. If not, He has a purpose for you right where you are.

Good in Public

(This is a Repost)

Hannah!

Our little girl Hannah is a very social little girl! She loves people and loves to be given attention by anyone she sees. When she is looked after in creche with all the other children, I get told, "She's one of the easiest kids!" Someone once asked me, "Is she ever grumpy?" My answer was, "Yes. At home!" She is no trouble to take anywhere, and has never had a tantrum when out in public. (Well, except for on the never-ending plane trip to Holland, but that's understandable!)But she does have her moments (like any normal child) at home!   
     
 I started thinking about this recently when I heard a mother mention how her teenage daughter acts at home. I don't know that teenage girl very well, but from what I've seen of her I  never would have imagined her being like that. She seems just the opposite in public. So I was quite surpised.

But thinking about it,  I have to admit that I am guilty of the same thing. I can be cheerful when I'm in public and then have a complaining or resentful spirit at home. I can talk nicely in public, and then have no patience when I think no one else is listening. I can wear a smile when I go out, but take it off again when I'm at home. We've had 2 visitors staying with us for the last month, and I'm becoming increasingly aware of how I act or talk at home!

How is it that we can treat the worst the people that we love the most?

Unfortunately I think we're all sometimes guilty of just being good in public.

I heard a quote once that said "The light that shines the furtherest shines brightest at home."

What do you think that means?

Psalm 101:2b says. "...I will walk within my house with a perfect heart." That means at home!

Are you 'good' at home? Or just in public?



A Difficulty or an Opportunity?

Enjoy Life's Simple Pleasures

What simple pleasures are you thankful for today?
I read on a blog this week of a lady who had surgery and then found out that what had been taken out was cancerous. She shared some things that she had to be thankful for. This was one of them.
I have a new appreciation and wonder for the simple things in life. Including the ability to wash dishes (which I have always loathed...)
This week I found out our unborn baby has a heart problem and will need surgery after it is born. The thought of being in and out of hospital has made me appreciate normal days at home.
Sometimes we need hard times to make us appreciate all the blessings God has given us.
After I have been sick, I so appreciate just having the energy to do my housework and look after my children!
Are you thankful that you can see? That you can walk? That you can talk? That you can hear? That you can smell delicious food and beautiful scents? There are people who would give anything to be able to do some of these things. And yet a lot of the time we just take it for granted and instead complain!
Are you thankful that you have the energy and ability to work? That you have the opportunity to learn and study? That you know about God? That you have a Bible?
I remember once back when I was single, sighing at all the things I had to do. My life was so busy and it seemed I was needed by everybody to do everything! Then the thought came to me, Imagine if you were sick and unable to do all these things. Be thankful you are able to do them!
This week make a point of being thankful and enjoying life's simple pleasures---baking a cake, going for a walk, spending time with a friend, eating a delicious meal, listening to birds singing, taking a hot shower, playing an instrument, making a craft, having quiet time with God,... and the list goes on.

The Pessimist and the Optimist

An Attitude Adjustment

 A woman once walked out into a river and screamed to every one that she was going to drown herself. Police talked to her; ministers came and talked. A great crowd gathered on the banks to watch. People begged her to come out of the water but she seemed determined to take the suicide's way out of trouble.
A young boy seventeen years old was working in a school for disabled people near the river. He looked out the window to see what the commotion was all about. In a few moments he hobbled on two hand crutches to the river bank. He waded into the water and called: "Look at me, woman. I can't walk without two sticks, but I am not giving up."
The young woman, strong and healthy, looked at the boy and shame overcame her. She walked out of the water. "I'll try again."
That's what you call an attitude adjustment!

There are people who have life a lot more difficult than you and they are not giving up--just like the boy in the story.
God promises in 1Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Whatever you are going through, there are others who have been through the same thing. And there are people who have been through much worse and have become beautiful people because of their trials.
No matter how big your trials are, God will help you through if you ask Him and look for the way of escape that He will provide.
With God there is never a reason to give up. With God there is always hope. With God there is always a reason to be thankful.
  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalms100:4

 

 

Do you need an attitude adjustment?

Too small to make a difference?

Do you ever feel that you're too small, too insignificant or too ordinary to make a difference?
My little boy is nearly 5 months old. He can't do much yet. He's still very dependent. He can't talk, walk or help with anything. I have to do everything for him.
But, you know what? He makes a difference to our house! He has a big smile and a cute giggle. Sometimes it's impossible to be grumpy when he's around!
One afternoon when he had just started to smile, I was trying to have a rest. He woke up needing a feed. Since he was feeding very often and having very short sleeps, I was feeling tired and frustrated. I was about to grudgingly feed him when he looked up at me and voluntarily gave me a huge smile! My frustration melted instantly.
He is so small and so dependent, yet he makes our home a happier place and he brightens up our lives. He adds so much enjoyment to our day. He can't do much, but he does what he can and he makes a difference.
We are all able to do much more than a little baby. While there may be things we can't do, we can at least smile, give an encouraging word, pray or give someone a card. There are many more things that we can do.
Never think that you can't make a difference!

  

Grumble Family

 There's a family nobody likes to meet;
They live, it is said, on Complaining Street
In the city of Never-Are-Satisfied,
The River of Discontent beside.

They growl at that and they growl at this;
Whatever comes, there is something amiss;
And whether their station be high or humble,
They are all known by the name of Grumble.

The weather is always too hot or cold;
Summer and winter alike they scold.
Nothing goes right with the folks you meet
Down on that gloomy Complaining Street.

They growl at the rain and they growl at the sun;
In fact, their growling is never done.
And if everything pleased them, there isn't a doubt
They'd growl that they'd nothing to grumble about!

But the queerest thing is that not one of the same
Can be brought to acknowledge his family name;
For never a Grumbler will own that he
Is connected with it at all, you see.

The worst thing is that if anyone stays
Among them too long, he will learn their ways;
And before he dreams of the terrible jumble
He's adopted into the family of Grumble.

And so it were wisest to keep our feet
From wandering into Complaining Street;
And never to growl, whatever we do,
Lest we be mistaken for Grumblers, too.

Let us learn to walk with a smile and a song,
No matter if things do sometimes go wrong;
And then, be our station high or humble,
We'll never belong to the family of Grumble!
~Anonymous~

If I was a teen girl again.... (part 1)

If I was a teen girl again, there are some things I would do differently. But there are other things that looking back now, I'm very glad I did do.
Here is a list of 12 things I would make sure I would do if I could live my teen years over again.
Whether you marry and have children like I have or whether you stay single, I'm sure all these things will come in handy!
1. Learn how to keep your room in order!

This is one regret I have from my teen years. Up until I was about 15 or 16 I kept my room neat and tidy most of the time. But then I started to get very busy---teaching Sunday School. being a leader at Girl's Brigade etc.-- so I decided that my room wasn't a priority. I got married with the mindset that keeping your house clean and tidy is not a priority because spiritual things are far more important. Now I have a whole house to keep in order, a husband and 2 children with all their things not to mention myself! I have learned that keeping your house in order is a priority (not the first priority, of course) and I am trying to relearn how to keep things organized.
But if I had gotten into the habit when I only had my own little room to look after, I think the change would have been much easier.
2. Learn to treat your father with respect.
 If you get married, you will discover Mr. Right is Mr. Right not Mr. Perfect! All men have their faults and make their mistakes. So if you learn to respect your father in spite of his faults it will be easier to respect your husband with his faults. And if you never marry, you will always be under some authority, whether it's your pastor or your boss etc. So learn to show respect.
3. Learn practical skills like cooking.

If you are able to, learn how to cook! You don't automatically know how to cook the day you have your own house to look after.
One newly married man was asked how he was enjoying his married life. "Great!" he replied. "My wife really worships me. She puts before me three burnt offerings every day!"
4. Learn to find enjoyment in monotonous work.

Being married, being a mother or having your own house isn't all fun and games. There's plenty of monotonous work to do--washing dishes, folding washing, dusting, changing nappies to mention a few. If you learn to find enjoyment in work, life is so much more fun and enjoyable! There are different ways to make boring jobs more interesting like listening to music, memorizing Scripture or praying for people while you work.

One Proverbs says "In all labour there is profit."
5.Learn to be cheerful always.
This is something I'm trying to learn from my husband! Cheerfulness is one of his strong points.
Bad days can be so much better if we have a cheerful attitude.
6.Learn to look for the good in people.
If you are always finding fault with your family, guess what? You will find fault with your husband and your children or whoever else you are around. It's important to learn to focus on people's good points.

Laugh it Off

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."   Proverbs 17:22

Are you worsted in a fight?

Are you cheated of your right?

Laugh it off.
Don't make tragedies of trifles,

Don't shoot butterflies with rifles--

Laugh it off.

Does your work get into kinks?

Are you near all sorts of brinks?

Laugh it off.

If it's sanity you're after,

There's no recipe like laughter--

Laugh it off.

All Gone!

Sometimes Hannah will have a bad day and cry alot. It's like everything goes wrong for her. Everything she tries to do ends up in frustration. When you're a mother those times are very unpleasant.By the end of the day there are two grumpy people!!
But there have been a few times when she was crying away.....when suddenly she'd stop and say "All gone!" Then she would go on her merry way and forget about her tears!
She chose to stop crying and get on with her day.
We all have bad days sometimes and we all feel down every now and again. We feel like moaning and groaning and being miserable, just like Hannah!
When those times come, we can't always make ourselves feel better. But we can choose to be cheerful anyway and look for the positive things. When we do that, we often feel better before long.
We need to say "All gone" to our sad faces, and choose to be thankful and cheerful and get on with our day!
The Bible is full of verses about rejoicing and being thankful. I seem to notice them more and more!
 

God's Will For You and Me

Just be tender, just be true,
Just be glad the whole day through,
Just be merciful, just be mild,
Just be trustful as a child.
Just be gentle, kind, and sweet,
Just be helpful with willing feet,
Just be cheery when things go wrong,
Just drive sadness away with a song.
Whether the hour be dark or bright,
Just be sure you do what is right!