Beyond the Edge of Adventure

OK, so it's a bit late for my Christmas greeting. But it's only the day after, so it still counts, right? I just wanted to share a bit about the year that's passed and about what lies ahead. This year has been busy and at times quite difficult. I'd say there were more valleys than mountains, but on the whole, I think I've come out the other end stronger and learning to trust my faithful heavenly Father much more. We started our year with a positive pregnancy test for our fifth baby. That was scary and at times difficult to comprehend, but as the year progressed, we realised just how much God wanted this precious baby to be on earth with all the little miracles he performed along the way to make it my easiest pregnancy (no nausea, no fatigue until third trimester), my easiest labour (6 hours with only an hour and a half of active labour) and one of my most settled and calm babies (my eldest was by far and away the most settled!). Lara Julie arrived on Septemb...

Yesterday, I dropped four of our children with their grandparents for three nights. Since I had driven five hours that day, I hadn't had any wonderful ideas for dinner. Thankfully, my husband often does!   After I picked him up from work, this is where we went and what we ate!   It was a half hour drive from his work. We chatted on the way and I tried to figure out where we were going - it was a surprise and I adore surprises!   As we got further and further along on our trip, I realised I was tired. I was sick of the car and I just wanted to lie down and rest! I had been to the beach, so was sticky and sandy. I longed for a shower.   On the tip of my lips was the question, "Is it much further? I'm really tired." But I held back and reminded myself that my husband had spent time thinking about where to take me and had gone and purchased some items for dinner in an interesting-looking paper bag that reminded me of deli food - one of my favourite...

I didn't know all that much about spiritual warfare eight weeks ago. Now I know more. On October 14th, my seven-year-old son was baptised. It was higher than any other 'mountain top' experience I have ever had. Ever. Better than getting married, better than going to church camp. Better than the day he was born. I'd had baptism for him on my heart for about six months prior. I continually had that feather-brush thing going on in the back of my mind about having him baptised and becoming a christian. It felt weird. I didn't know how to approach talking to my own child about Jesus and I felt like a bit of a spiritual gumby. That's a terrible phrase, but it's how I felt. Like I was moving through wet cement to reach him. I prayed about it lots whenever it felt heavy on my heart and prayed for God's protection over him while I looked for any small opportunity to start 'the' conversation that is the single most important conversation one can ...

Rebellion: The action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention: "an act of teenage rebellion". I'm a rebel. Society tells me that marriage gets boring after a few years. Or it gets too hard. That loving one man as long as we both live is naive and silly. They say children are a burden and I should pop out two if I want to do 'the mummy thing' for myself and my husband for a bit, then get back to contributing to society by having a career. I heard someone who was being teased about 'meeting a nice girl and settling down' ridicule the person teasing them, saying, "Conform! Conform!". Seriously? I was 27 at the time and I knew NO 27-year-olds who had two babies and had been married for 6 years. The majority of 27-year-olds I knew were 'having a life' - drinking, partying, working on their careers, sleeping around........y'know. The usual expectations of people under 30! It's amazing what passes for 'ha...