Facebook says "update status, What's on your mind?"
Alisha speaking ...
Really? What's on my mind? How am I supposed to encapsulate all that is on my mind in just a few words? This blog entry began as just that, a status update ...
It amazes me how some people can successfully and constantly be updating statuses, twitter-ing, answering emails, returning phone calls, writing articles, baking cakes or reading novels and then blogging about it all, or doing anything that requires ten or more minutes of alone-think-and-reflect-on-your-own time. I can't remember sometimes what it is even like to have a thought that began on my own merit, and not come from my husband's brilliance, or from the whimsy of my children's creativity or from somewhere else, like those blasted status updates, never-ending opinions, or blogs, but a thought that came from the stillness within my spirit, or just the space between my two ears. Here it is 1:19 in the AM and I am typing the words that are coming to me because I am afraid that if I do not record them now as they come, the words, the thoughts, the time, the quiet will be forever gone, and will never return to me.
I have to remember I cannot begin to compare my life to others because our lives and circumstances are completely different. We have chosen the lives that we lead. There is less quiet because our children are home with us all day for school. They are begging to be taught at all hours of every day, not just during the 'school day' hours. I love to cook breakfast, to prepare lunch, and make a nice dinner for my family, where we sit together at the table for almost every meal. We do our best to keep the kids on a schedule, while giving them the freedom to explore the world around them and to indulge them when creativity and curiosity arises. Plus, we love to laugh.
This is why there is very little quiet.
I forget who I am sometimes. I have to remind myself, as I am doing right now, that I am an individual, uniquely created by God with a perfectly matched combination of talents, gifts, and personality to be exactly whom He made me to be.
I am a teacher, a writer, a photographer, a homemaker, a cook, a singer.
I am a wife, a mother, a counselor, a daughter, a sister, a friend.
I am a follower of the Living God and His son, Jesus, the promised Messiah.
I am a missionary.
I am a seed crafted by God to produce a particular type of fruit.
God crafted me.
So a status update? I guess that is really asking, how am I walking out all these things today?
Well, we are in the middle of an international move, so we've been trying to pack up our lives (the shippers-of-our-stuff come on Tuesday, so we have to pack suitcases and boxes as if we're already getting on the plane, and in the process, decide what's going with us and what's not important enough to go, and pray that we have enough money to pay for it all once it arrives in Ireland), sell off or give away the rest of what isn't really, really necessary (just finished another garage sale Thursday through today; oh and by the way, it is really difficult to let the things that has made your house for the past two years go for pennies; we had to do this when leaving Panama too), make sure my kids are transitioning well, that they are fed, warm, rested, know that they are loved, and not killing each other or the house we are living in ... So, to say the least, it's been a bit stressful lately, and I haven't been a very good communicator or blogger to update statuses frequently ... so, I apologize.
Please continue to pray for us, through our seeming silence ... We really need the comfort, strength, and confidence of the Holy Spirit ministering to us because of the prayers of those who love us.
Please pray that we don't lose sight of Jesus in the craziness of it all. Please pray that my husband and I will deal well with each other and our sweet children through the overwhelming stress. And we will do our best to sit at the computer every now and again to update our statuses and to let you know what else might be new ...
to be continued ...
