Being saved is crucial if you want to live.

For those of us who regularly read the Bible, it is very apparent that even though we read of a powerful God Who chastises and punishes the wicked, we also see a kind, patient, lovingly holy God Who is full of mercy. 

The fact that God is merciful and holy is woven throughout scripture, both in the Old and the New testaments, and those who only see a harsh, punitive God have not truly read the Bible with an open heart and mind. 

Mercy, grace, justice, love, honour, fairness and compassion are hallmarks of our God Who loved us all enough to send His only Son to die for us when we were still sinners and unloving and unkind. 

The very Laws laid down in the 10 Commandments and then in Leviticus reveal a God Who knows what is best for His creation, and Who longs to teach His Children so that they will not only thrive but be holy. 

When we study the Word, a beautiful picture of our God is shown us through the Word and through His Son Jesus. He embodies the qualities of the Holy Spirit, Who Himself is the third Person of the Godhead. Here is an example of the mercy of God.

Do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speak, saying, “The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”; nor let the eunuch say, “Here I am, a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give [a]them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off". Isaiah 56:3-5

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control and mercy are all qualities of the goodness of our God. He is in fact the totality of holiness. 

It is because of God's Holiness, in that He is the essence and being of the above qualities is why He sent His Son to become sin in our place for He cannot abide with evil. Therefore, it is impossible to come into the Presence of God except through Jesus Christ. We must be born again or saved or we will not go to heaven.

We all know the world is getting darker and soon Jesus is coming in the clouds to take His Church- believers. If you are not saved, you will be left behind to face a great tribulation such as the world has never seen before. Salvation is still possible because God is merciful but man is not. Your salvation will come at a great price: you will lose your life.

If you are not saved, know that the Holy Spirit is wooing you and longing for you to accept Jesus. Today is the day of salvation: the Holy Spirit says, "Come!"

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10

My new maid servant

 

So as you probably know, I have had trouble keeping up to date with my dishes. No matter how good my intentions were, by the end of the day I had a sinkful of dishes waiting to be done.

Coming in to the kitchen first thing in the morning, I was always down as soon as I saw them waiting for me to find some spoons to attend to them. I know those who suffer from fibromyalgia like I do, would understand.

As we live in a rented house and we cannot change the plumbing to accommodate a dishwasher, I felt it was a never ending cycle that I couldn't break.

One day I was looking at the price of mobile dishwashers and I noticed that they make a dishwasher that you can park on your kitchen benchtop and I knew I wanted one. So we ordered one online. It's a Devanti.

It came yesterday and I am so pleased with it. It has hoses that attach to the taps in the kitchen sink. It takes a 8 place dinner service and does as good a job as the inbuilt ones. An added bonus is that I don't have to bend to stack and unstack it.

So not only does this dishwasher solve the problem of dishes piling up and no spoons, but saves my back from trying to bend. Ankylosing spondylitis is no joke. 

Anyway, I am overjoyed that the dishes are no longer my nemesis thanks to my new maid servant.

You wouldn't see June Cleaver doing that!

 

So today was a productive day. Apart from doing a few loads of washing, I had enough spoons to prepare some meals to freeze for during the week.

I confess I had a nana nap at "The Beach" aka the couch as the sun was shining and gave a beautiful warmth as I listened to the birds calling through the screen door.

Six more meals have been added to my freezer and I can say that it seems to be working out for me. I don't worry about cooking desserts- I usually serve some fruit with a scoop of icecream or a banana split. Easy.

With fibromyalgia  and other ailments making it difficult to achieve much, I can't tell you how pleased I am with my efforts today.

I feel quite the Homemaker and Chris is pleased as well. Only question is: does it still count if I did all this in my nightie? You wouldn't see June Cleaver doing that!

I am glad I have done this!

So I have been busy cooking those meals and freezing them as I mentioned in my last post. It has been quite an effort for me, but I think it's paid off.

I managed to get 30 meals cooked and in the freezer. I ran out of containers and room, so I had to place the food in plastic ziploc bags. No matter, because they will taste the same.

Last night I got a spaghetti bolognaise out, emptied it nicely thawed, onto a plate and nuked it for 3 minutes. It was great! I added shaved parmesan cheese and some salad and it was delicious! 

Yesterday my younger son turned 45 and we went to his place to wish him happy birthday. It's a 2 hour trip each way, so by the time we got home I was too exhausted to cook. So this came in handy. 

I have quite a few dishes to do today and I want to clean my kitchen well, so if I have enough spoons left, I want to cook four meals of chow mein with rice.

Sitting here talking to you, I feel like I am falling asleep and my muscles are aching badly. So I fear maybe another fibromyalgia flare is coming to pay me a visit. Just another reason I am glad I have done this! 

Hopefully it will work

So I have noticed that even on a rare good day with my fibromyalgia, I still have a dip in energy by 3 or 4pm. Usually that's my time to start preparing dinner. I simply run out of spoons.

Because I don't want to make eating frozen dinners the norm, I decided to try a new plan. I am going to cook a few weeks to a month ahead and freeze the meals.

Any day that I find myself having enough spoons, I will cook a few meals at the same time and gradually build this up to a month of meals in advance.

I know it's going to take a lot of planning, but I think in the end it will be worth it. I actually started yesterday.

Firstly, I went through my fridges and freezers and grouped meats together. Yesterday I made 4 meals each honey chicken with vegetables, potatoes and gravy, then another 2 meals of Mexican chicken with rice. Today I am going to bake the chicken rissoles and kievs and add mashed potato and greens.

The next day, God willing- and spoons available, I am going to cook some stews with a lot of vegetables, using up my pork and beef steaks. 

On the next Spoon Friendly Day, I plan to make up 6 meals with my sausages. I find my slow cookers- I have 3 of them, so handy plus they don't heat the kitchen up like the oven. We are in our summer at the moment.

I am not sure if I can freeze baked potatoes and bacon successfully, but if I can I will do that for lunches.

We will still be having salads with our meals but I buy the packet salads that are already cut and washed, and that not only saves on spoons but helps me with my arthritic hands.

I know this way is not a new thing to most people, but it is something new to me. Hopefully it will work. 

We live in a fallen world

 I have tried not to dwell on my illnesses these days, but still find that I have to remember to do this:

Accepting that one's life is going to be difficult due to ongoing illness makes for a happier life. When the chronically ill person decides to give it to God, and to cling to Him instead of succumbing to false guilt, life takes on a normality in what many would see as anything but. It is a surrender, if you will.

Suffering does not make us second-class Christians, as some false teachings would purport. Nor does it mean we are faithless or aren't reading our Bibles or standing on the promises of God regarding healing.

Furthermore, being ill does not check us out of God's watchful Eye of concern, or mean that He is an uncompassionate God. No, we all are subject to frailties and problems in the flesh because we live in a fallen world... we have not been singled out to suffer...

God has given us things to do in our suffering and it is important that we stay close to Him and continue to read the Word and pray. It is not that God has moved, when He feels far away during a flare or illness, but our emotions are also hurting as a result of our condition.

It is important to pray that God heal us, and to ask the Church to anoint us with oil according to the Scriptures... It is essential to our emotional and spiritual health to stay in the faith and believe that God can heal us, but to pray for strength until- or even IF it is His will to do so.

I know that should/when another flare comes for me that I will have to cling to Jesus and reread what I have written here (for I write it for myself as well as you). I will need to surrender this next painful chapter of my life, knowing that God will still be there for me.

Surrendering our pain and our life to God is the only thing we can do.... meanwhile, I thank Him for the few days of respite..

Suffering is not our fault, but is because we live in a fallen world.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 1:2

Normally abnormal

We chronically ill women try so hard to do "normal" things. Like look well. Be cheerful. Be patient. Kind. Hospitable. Our family and marriage are our first priority after God. We try so hard to spin our wheel not fast- but at a "normal" pace. 

By "normal", we compare ourselves to those who do not suffer from chronic illness and pain. Or are disabled. We are very careful to keep serving our family but sometimes with the illness that afflicts us: we fail. This often gets to us and causes us to sink into depression. 

Being unable to process that we simply can't act as "normals", we often berate ourselves and sink into the Pit of Despair. We are often judged by "normal" standards, as we simply cannot attend certain social functions like before. If we do, the pain and effort can make us tense and we can make us appear moody unsociable grumps aka the death head at the feast. 

If only "normals" would realise that we are pushing ourselves every day to live a life that not even closely is "normal" like in the days before our health failed. We get so adept at doing this, that we have become quite good at wearing masks to cover the Mask Of Pain. Hence the appearance of being in a mood. 

My fibromyalgia and other health issues have now made it impossible for me to disguise, and I have learned to acknowledge this to people and tell them in advance that my attendance or action or whatever is totally subject to how I am on any given day. 

Basically, I have had to pander to angina, spinal and knee problems, fibromyalgia, polymyalgia rheumatica, and submit to tyrannical spoons by being totally flexible about my appointments and so on. 

People may still misjudge me but that is not my problem. I just pray that the LORD will allow them to see that I am not lazy or unsociable, but am just a chronically ill woman who finds just breathing some days enough effort. 

The LORD knows I am not well, but people take a lot more convincing. I am normally abnormal.   

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Colossians 3:12

My eternal quest

 

I slept well last night but still had no spoons to speak of. After a morning of minimal chores, I sat down next to Chris to watch the birds coming to eat the food I had thrown out for them.

Because of my heart failure, my feet and legs are up like balloons and Chris rubs them for me to help move the fluid up towards my heart. With neuropathy from my diabetes, he rubs my toes to move the blood around and help the circulation. It is heavenly.

Suddenly, I heard sonorous sounds that woke me up: to my horror, it was me snoring! Chris just laughed when he saw that I had woken myself up and suggested I try to get some more sleep before lunch. But the moment was lost and I got up and made some grilled toasties for our lunch.

I soaked the few dishes in hot soapy water, removed a small leg of lamb from the freezer, did some computer work and fell asleep at the screen. So I went for a nana nap as that's the only thing I can do with a fibromyalgia flare.

After I napped, I put the lamb on to roast and completed the dishwashing. We ate dinner and Chris cleared up the kitchen. We took our night medications and Chris watched TV while I blogged.

And so, here I sit, talking to you and longing for my bed again. I had no joy today finding some spoons and it may well be that tomorrow I will be pursuing my search again- it is my eternal quest.

Our little haven

 

So yesterday was a day of horrible fibromyalgia pain and fatigue. I felt a little down so I came to my couch and sat next to Chris for a cuddle and rest. 

We love feeding the birds that come into our back garden and all through the day, our garden is like an airport. Birds of all types come to dine and drink and it is so restful and fun to watch them.

They have their own little antics and natures and they can be quite amusing. And apart from watching their different natures and antics they have something else that we find very attractive: they have babies.

It's such fun to watch the mothers feeding their babies and to watch the babies venture further and further from her as they learn to feed themselves. They fly but are still juvenile and yesterday their mothers were distancing themselves from their chicks and refusing to feed them, much to their annoyance. 

The magpie juveniles are especially raucous and squawk even with food in their mouth. They are almost always feeding. The minor bird mummy also is weaning her chicks from her and as soon as she moves away, they follow like the duckling family juveniles do. So fun to watch.

But by far, my favourite birds are the Kingfishers which have also had babies. Whilst laying on the couch, I can see outside and I was delighted to see a mother Kingfisher with one of her three babies on our garden swing.

They were watching the porch which was covered in birdseed for the galahs and rosellas. I had thrown out some cut up luncheon meat, and they were waiting for the magpies to vacate the porch so that they could dine. Kingfishers are shy and besides, magpies are three times their size. So they wait.

It is the season for little white cabbage moths too. They are flying around the agapanthus plants and I guess they are mating because they seem to be in pairs. As are the pigeons that come for the seed.

There are three that regularly call in and partake of the parrot seed on the ground. There's a little female who just wants to eat, but there also is an amorous male who has romance on his mind. He pursues her constantly and hopes to make her his by dancing for her. 

He fans out his tail feathers and hops towards her, then takes a few steps back. He repeats this courting gesture until she tires of him and runs a few feet away. But he is insistent and pursues her over and over again. I hope that he wins her heart as it is such fun to  watch the young birds as they leave the nest under their mothers supervision.

We have a bird bath/feeder in the back garden which we used to fill with seed, but now with torn meniscuses in both knees, I cannot get down the steps to fill it, so they get fed from the back sliding glass door. I just toss the food onto the back porch. They don't care where it is. 

They are quite used to me now and I have them almost eating out of my hand. So much so that as soon as I open the door, they come flying in to the garden from all directions, calling each other.

We have water in the bird feeder and in a plastic container in front of the steps. They bathe and drink and sing and they enjoy our back garden as much as we do.

It's a lovely place to recoup one's spoons during a fibromyalgia flare. The daily scenes are so peaceful and we love our little haven and we know the birds think of it as their haven as well. Their constant visits and frequent broods of chicks speaks of a place of plentiful food, water and safety.

We are grateful God lead us to this little country town- it is a gift from Him: our little haven

You can say that again

So today we have shopped online but most of the food we ordered was unavailable. So we took a trip to Aldi  and managed to get  meat,  chicken and cat food.  Most products are being limited now.  There are distribution shortages of staff due to Covid. 

There's a four hour queue to get tested or one can do a Rapid Antigen Test at home, but there's a shortage of tests and it's very difficult to get one. People who can't get tested are isolating and missing out on work just in case they are positive.

Our Prime Minister suggested that as most Australians will test positive soon so he told us to make sure we have paracetamol aka Panadol on hand so that we can manage symptoms at home. (Lotsa luck with that one!) So people went out and stripped all pharmacies and supermarkets of all brands of paracetamol. 

To top it all off for me is that once again, my antidepressants haven't made it off the wharves. They don't know when they will be available again. So it's lucky that I have extra Panadol on hand for my fibromyalgia and an extra box of antidepressants. I am so grateful to the Proverbs 31 wife in scripture who was always prepared and laughs at the time to come. 

A past Prime Minister of ours once famously quoted that life wasn't meant to be easy. You can say that again.