This one goes out to all you beautiful readers. Yes, that includes, you, too! The doubting one. The young and the old. Do you know that you were made in the image of God? Even if you’re just half the nature lover I am, then you’ll have to admit: God is the synonym for beauty. Have you ever looked at a flower? In detail? In taking your time to actually marvel at it?
Spirituality
About a month ago I sat down to take notes for my next blog text. Just thinking about this topic made me smile and made me happy. But twenty-four hours later I came down with a high fever and was bedridden for over a week. Thank you, influenza! Shortly after I got sick, both of my kids joined me. After more than two weeks the three of us were finally starting to recover.
One of my first thoughts when I was back on my feet was “My blog text!”. I was eager to start writing. But instead of having time to sit down and write, stuff kept happening. I would sigh at night, realising another day had passed and the page stayed empty.
What I only see now is this: Besides all the “stuff” happening, something else happened. Over the last two weeks, almost on a daily basis, I would run into a friend or be in a phone conversation with someone and every single time we would end up speaking about “it”!
I kid you not. So here it is:
The headline of today’s text has been stuck in my head for almost a month now. I’ve been meaning to sit down and write but this January has been so vibrant with experience and divine moments! So while it’s still the first month of the year, I’ll quickly put my thoughts on paper. What I’m about to share may seem simple but it has helped me tremendously over the last decade. Today’s text is about vision, perspective and how to successfully manoeuvre through the (almost) freshly started year. Curious? Let’s go!
On Sunday we discovered water in our basement. Plenty of water. The hot water boiler had given up. 53 gallons water slowly but steadily had leaked out of that old metal thing. So by Sunday night we had no more warm water. Funny enough, I was scheduled for an intercessory prayer time at our local prayer house that night. I stood in my kitchen and knew I had to make a decision. Two adults and two kids without warm water isn’t much fun. But it’s not the end of the world. It’s uncomfortable and inconvenient especially with winter temperatures outside. But I could still boil water in the kettle.
The moment we found out about the leakage I was praying for Josie, a little girl that is fighting for her life and needs a miracle. Honestly, that quickly put things in the right order on the inside of me. What’s a little “playing pioneer times” compared to so much suffering and tragedy? Nothing!
Once upon a time, December 2010, to be specific, I stood at a turning point in my life. Well, my husband and I did. We had made all these decisions together. Tough ones. Major ones.
That was nine years ago! We’ve come a long long way.
Some days ago we were driving to my parents’ house for the Christmas Holidays. While our kids were playing the “are we there yet?” game, I took my husband’s hand. “Do you remember December 2010? We sat in between moving boxes in Virginia, wrapping up our life in the U.S.” He nodded. It was so much more than just another international move. For us it was the beginning of a new era.
There’s an African saying that it takes a village to raise a child. It means that an entire community of people is necessary so that the child can grow up properly. As I pushed the button for my blog to go online some days ago, this quote came back to me.
Why? Because as I sat there, pondering how in the world I actually made it to the finish line I saw a picture of a beautiful flower bouquet. Let me explain.
God directs our steps. I pray daily that He would direct mine so that I could be His hands and His feet. I turned 40 not too long ago and my biggest wish for many years was about to come true. I would be able to go and find myself a new piano.
I’ve carried the name of my blog under my heart for many years now. Recently I kicked off this project and had a hand lettering professional create my logo. She asked me if this will become a food blog – and I was startled – no, not at all! I won’t be posting recipes. Let the experts do that.
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