The Year of Rest

After experiencing the Lord mightily in 2013, especially in the context of the name of my Year 2013, I was in great anticipation for what He wanted me to call this coming year - 2014.  

I started Naming the Year in 2011, after reading Ann Voskamp’s blog, A Holy Experience. There is power, growth, blessing in giving a name to your year - allowing the Lord to make you focus on one truth for 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days. This through joy and memory making moments, as well as despairing and disappointing situations. 

2011 was the Year of Rebuilding Relationships. It was my first year. To say the truth, quite a wobbly year, and by December 2011, I wasn’t sure I had accomplished my goal. 

2012 was the Year of Eucharisteo - Being thankful! It was just after I read One Thousand Gifts. It changed my life, my perspective and my picture of God, tremendously! It was a difficult year - two more miscarriages, after 7 healthy babies in 14 years. You can do the math, it wasn’t like I had any problems in getting pregnant or keeping my babies! The Lord sustained me with Eucharisteo.

2013 was the Year of Charis - Grace.

One thing I knew while praying for the Lord’s guidance in the Name of this Year, was that I want to have more of Him… more of His amazing grace that will pull me towards loving Him more and serving Him more, trusting Him more, so I would toil less, wait on Him, let Him be God in my life.

For a week, days before Christmas I prayed day and night. Lord what was the name of 2014 to be?  It came to me the day after Christmas, but I only recognised it a few days later. Three times over a few days I ran into verses with the name and it was only after it was posted on my Facebook wall that it hit me! 

Twice in 48 hours I got the verses in Matthew 11:28

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Then I got Hosea 11:11 in the Knox translation:

“And in their own home, says the Lord, I will give them rest.”

Oh, the joy and peace - I just knew it was right - REST.

The Lord wants me to rest in Him in 2014. Wow, what a hope, expectation, what a promise.

The past 3 months I’m studying Hebrews. And all the time while I was seeking the Lord for a name of this year, I knew it will have to do with the powerful message of Hebrews. The message of growing in my faith, but also in trusting the Lord more and more, pleasing Him more and more with my faith. But the most important, I remembered from the very first verses, “Entering His Rest.”  Oh, how I long to enter His rest, even more so since I’ve experienced his grace so powerful in my life in 2013.

It was almost like mountains lifting off my shoulders. The knowing in this year my goal will be to rest in my Lord. How I’m looking forward to undergo Real-Life-Training in How to rest in the Lord!

When I look back at the passing year, 2013, and how the Lord taught me about His grace in my life, I’m in absolute awe.  Coming from a conservative church as a child, grace was almost…. cheap. Everything was grace. Then in my thirtieth year I came to know the wrath of the Lord, and how He hates sin. He took us through the dessert and He taught us about obedience. He showed us His truths and how He long for us to walk in His truths, throwing off everything that entangled us - sin.  I came to know the Lord as the Lion, and not only the Lamb I knew in my first 25years or so. 

But as in everything when you stumble upon a new truth, you can easily become off balance. I only focused on truth and obedience. I knew I couldn’t earn my salvation, but I was pretty sure I could earn blessings from the Lord through my obedience. And whenever things went wrong, I was convinced I brought if over myself with disobedience of some kind. 

Through counting the gifts in 2012, I gradually came to see a new grace. A totally different grace than what I came to know as a child in the conservative church. Through 2013’s Name, Charis - Grace, I wanted to know the true meaning of grace. I wanted to experience my Lord’s grace. It was beyond what I could ever have thought or asked… The Lord just overwhelmed me with His grace and wiped out all the distorted believes I had about grace. Through real life experiences, often hopeless and desperate situations, He personally taught me about His REAL grace. The grace that He demonstrated to me on the cross, while I was still in the depths of despair, become more real in every day situations of despair and hopelessness. Nothing I did in the past, will do in the future or does in the present, could validate the blessings I received from the Lord in the Year 2013.

It overwhelmed me, day after day, and it was all grace. The beauty of it all was, the more I received His grace, the more I was drawn to God, to His love and to love Him. To love Him for Whom He is, my Heavenly Father.

As I studied the scriptures on Rest the past two days, it was awesome to read the true meaning of “Anapavo” - Rest. 

It describes a cessation from toil, a refreshment, an intermission.  

When I read it alongside Hebrews 4, I came to understand true rest come by diligently hearing the Word of God and to let it profit me, mixed with faith.  That was exactly what I sensed in my spirit, while praying for the Name of 2014.

How I long to be a Giant in Faith!  But for that to surface I need to go through gigantic tests of faith. That is a scary thought. I had to ask myself, why do I want to be a Giant in Faith? The answer: So I can rest, and have peace, while feeding on God’s grace and faithfulness, in this world of toil and hardship, lies and deception. This past year I came to have a taste of His grace, now I am in anticipation to experience all the facets of His rest in the next 12 months, 52 weeks and 365 days.

My prayer for 2014:

"Dear LordThank you for this Word. I’m so looking forward to experiencing your faithfulness in showing me You can give me rest in situations that I’ll see impossible. Just as you already proved Yourself faithful to extend grace in situations where I deserved noting, was beyond hope, with little or total lack of faith. Thank you Lord, I’m waiting on You.In Jesus’ precious NameAmen”

What is the Name of your Year?

With much love

Linnie

This post is linked to:

Dead or Alive

Two weeks ago, Christo and I went away, just the two of us, for the first time in 18 years. I thought the day would never come! 

Since CJ was born in 1994, we only went away once. It was the year after we moved to Cape Town, CJ was only 18 months old. Our business needed serious changes, and my Parents in Law offered to look after CJ, while we went brain storming in a nearby town. Sadly it was the time during which CJ was still suffering from the terrible side-effects of his 15month vaccination, and he become seriously ill during that weekend. Needless to say we decided to not go away ever again while our child, or children (God willing) were small and depending on us.

In 2010, the day of Michael’s birth, Christo won the Sevenpointfive Franchisee of the Year award, winning 7 days in Mauritius.  Three month old baby Michael accompanied us to Mauritius, while CJ (then 15years old), Heidi-Mari and our stunning babysitter, Surine (months before her own wedding) looked after our smaller children, then 5yrs, 4yrs and 21 months old. 

You can read more here and here, how the Lord blessed us during that 7 days. How CJ and Heidi-Mari were a blessing to their siblings, looking after them with the greatest care, and even being ‘virtual babysitters’ for Baby Michael in Mauritius, so Christo and I could have peaceful dinners, while Michael could sleep undisturbed in our room.

The past few months were quite stressful, me becoming more involved in our family business. Life was challenging, trying to balance raising Godly children and being a true Helpmeet to my husband. Then suddenly, out of the blue, everything just came together for Christo and I to go away for just one night to the beautiful Franschoek, just 45min from home!  It happened so quickly, since it was the only weekend in a series of weekends, during which the older four children were NOT having an archery competition and thus available to look after our Health shop and their four younger siblings! 

The weekend was beyond what I could have imagined. Being in my husband’s company for 36 hours, having conversations without interruption, I appreciated more than anything!  The scenery was awesome, the 5star hotel beautiful, the food outstanding and being with my best Friend and the love of my life, amazing!  

Walking through the streets of Franschoek, with everything from handmade chocolate and homemade jams to scarves; wine in dim lighted, damp cellars, others beautifully displayed in sun light rows; a unique shop selling olive oil and balsamic vinegar in all kinds of flavours; walking in the rain in purple lavender gardens and raindrops on sun ripe lemons, was the perfect recipe for a memory making day in my marriage.  

As I reflected on this very special time alone with my husband, feeling alive and loved, I noticed how easily one can get caught up in an overwhelming life full of challenges and emergency situations. The danger of finding a comfort zone in surviving mode, dumbfound, refusing to get fully involved in the moments, in the fear of getting hurt or defeated. 

For some time I did.

There is only one way to get alive when living emotionless. Allow the Lord to open your eyes for His beauty and the love He gave you in your life.

The next weekend we went back to Franschoek for a one day outing, with all our children (except CJ, who went for his first compound bow competition!). It was a beautiful spring day. 

Just the night before it was one of the coldest nights this winter, leaving the mountains  surrounding Cape Town, covered with snow.  We were surrounded with beauty! We again walked the streets of Franschoek, with our beautiful children. Appreciating the comeliness of the scenery, visiting the charming Franschoek Pancake house, delighting in mouthwatering pancakes, peeping into little curios shops, and ended up on the green grass around the Franschoek Memorial, before driving up the Franschoek pass, with it magnificent mountains.
  

And all the way I was consciously aware of the presence of the Lord in all these beautiful blessings. From my children to the mountains.

Ironically, the beauty was highlighted by the white topped mountains, which was only possible due to the icy cold night before. Then it dawned on me, my life is beautiful particularly due to challenging, stretching, hard and difficult moments. 

The secret is in what I choose to do with it. 

Will I allow it to push me down and make me living like a dead? Overwhelmed and dumbfounded?

Or will I overcome? My God promised He has already overcame! Walking in faith and the hope of the Lord is part of the heritage of the Children of God. In Hebrews God promises His rest, if we mix faith into the Word, so it can profit us.

After experiencing the beauty of the Lord, I choose to walk in victory, because I'm under God's umbrella of hope, faith and love!

What do you choose in your difficult situation?

With much love

Linnie