A picket fence and desires of the heart...

 

Hello my lovely friends. 

August was a while ago now, and when I wrote that last post, that last letter from the heart to you, I had no idea whether God would lead me to close the door on this blog permanently, or whether He'd call me back when His needful work in my life achieved His purpose. 

So many of you left comments in that August post that left me speechless, triggered tears, brought so much care and warmth to my heart - and then there was an avalanche of private emails which overflowed my inbox, also filled with unimagineable kindness and love. At the time I didn't realise how broken I had felt inside, how weary emotionally, physically and spiritually - but God knew, and in drawing me away, He taught me just what it was to be in the valley with only His still small voice to hold me fast. 

It's been about ten weeks now since I said goodbye, but at the end of October I had an inkling that He was ready to call me back to the blog, though His hand went up before me at that time with 'not quite yet'. I was in no rush to be honest, wondering how being here could benefit anyone.

And then it hit me. It wasn't about me. It is all about HIM. It's about putting self aside and coming before you to talk about Him, to write about Him, to lay myself bare for Him. 

He gave me three confirmations in the past two weeks that this place, this long-loved blog of mine, had purpose, and I let each of those confirmations swell in my thoughts and prayers until the knowledge and acceptance of what He was calling me to grew larger than the doubts I had about my abilities. For nothing I do, or you do, for Him, is about our abilities...for He alone is able. His will never fails. What the Lord plans always succeeds and comes to pass. 

He is not a God that we can tell Him what to do, for we cannot twist His arm behind His back and make Him obey our will...NO...He is in control, and friends, that comforts me more than words can say. Humbling ourselves before our Creator, and our Saviour Jesus/Yeshua, is surrendering to His will and purpose for our lives - trusting that every grief, struggle, trial, loss, separation or persecution, is for a greater purpose, and not to rebuke Him for them or turn away from Him because of them. 

I am His. 

Bought with the blood of Jesus Christ. 

Grafted into the vine. 

Set apart for His pleasure, to glorify Him in all things. 

So dear ones, I am back. And I shall stay here, blogging regularly once more, until He, and He alone, directs me otherwise. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me - your prayers were heard, and my heart is so very grateful. 

Do you like the little white picket fence?

I have always dreamed of having one, but it was not to be here where we live as it's a crime riddled suburb and we have electric gates for security. But my precious husband never forgot what my heart had yearned for. 

He found some old picket palings at a house that was being pulled down, and the owners said for him to take as many as he wanted. He picked through and brought home a trailer load of those in the best condition. Over a period of months he cut them down, sanded every one over and over until it was just right. Then he painted each one three times. At that stage he had to stop as he had broken ribs and needed to heal...but during this absence from blogging, he bought the long palings that were needed to support the pickets horizontally and once again sanded, and painted three coats. 

Then he aged them a little so that they didn't look quite so new, and finally placed them along the short walkway up to our front door. Yes, I cried. Tears of absolute and utter joy...all that love and care he poured into something my heart had desired for many, many years. 

In life we don't always get the desires of our heart, but sometimes we do. Other times, God blesses our desires in a way we'd not thought about...this really spoke to me when it came to my white picket fence. If the house had come with one I would never have loved it the way I love this one. I would never have experienced the love of my husband working at a project just for me, bringing something very old to life in order to fulfil a desire in my heart. I never asked him for this. He desired it for me. 

Now about desires...

Too often I hear Christians quote Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" and explain that it means God will give them what they want, what they desire. But when you study the Hebrew, that is not what it says. 

This verse is telling us that God will 'assign to us' the desires of our heart. This desire is what He puts into our heart, and it will always, always, bring glory to Him. Oh this excites me so much!! When we pray for Him to fill our heart with HIS desires, He will do it. And we will bless Him in this, and He will bless us for humbly allowing Him to take over our heart. 

He has given me a desire to write to you again, to share the things of an everyday ordinary life, lived gently and simply, with Christ at the centre. Praise Him. 

I have given the blog a makeover, bright and cheery, just like my heart today. There are some new patterns in my shop, and I cannot tell you how enjoyable it was to work on them. Two are remakes from more than ten years ago, and one is brand new...and there's more to come. But there's also a longing in my heart to design Scripture stitcheries again, small ones that can be popped inside a card. As the verse right at the top of this post says, 

"Therefore encourage one another, and build one another up..." 1Thess 5:11

Let us each look for ways to encourage and build one another up as this year draws to a close, and let it be a mission in 2025. But more about that another day. 

God bless dear ones!!!

Love and hugs