EXPECTations!

It is a new year, and as usual I’m a little overwhelmed by what is expected of me as Wife and Mother. Our family is in the middle of watching a teaching by Dr. Bruce Wilkinson (our #1 Teacher and Mentor) on the Testing of Your Faith.  This week’s teaching was on How to Pass the Test of Faith. You will never pass a test of faith only on determination! At one stage your knees will buckle and you will just be so tired and overwhelmed, the giants so big, the Enemy of your Soul will ensnare you with his lies and you will loose faith. 

Being the Helpmeet to my Husband God intends me to be, and full time Mother to my precious children, is a constant test of faith.  The job at hand is gigantic, more than what I will ever be able to accomplish by myself, even with determination, organizing and self discipline.  

I need FAITH! And I can only step out in faith today by looking at the past and what God has done for me, and claiming God’s promises for me in the future.  

Oh, God has proven Himself faithful over and over in the past. Over the past 12 years (that is only the time I’m homeschooling) there were many, many crazy years. Never, not once, did He not keep me from drowning or did He not make a way in the dessert. I need to remember and set my one foot solidly on those memories.

The next is claiming God’s promises for me, my family, the Saints. When I know what He is planning for me, when my other foot is solidly placed on the hope set before me, I will not stumble.  Only then will I be able to face the giants set before me for 2012, and still rejoice and celebrate life with my family!  Seizing the time and seeing God’s love and faithfulness in the little things.

I just want to share one such a recent Testing of my Faith with you.

As many of you know, in January 2011 we discovered I was pregnant with Baby #9 and we were overjoyed. The whole family was looking forward in anticipation to the new addition to our family. Sadly, at 12 weeks we couldn’t find a heartbeat and three days later I naturally miscarried our tiny baby.  This was our 4th miscarriage, but the first after 7 healthy pregnancies and naturally delivered children and such an unexpected shock to our family.   It took me months to emotionally recover from the loss and I still mourn the loss of my baby in this world, but do know I can look forward to spend eternity to get to know my child I haven’t known on earth.  

As the months passed after my miscarriage and I didn’t fall pregnant again, I had to work through the realization that I’m probably entering a new season with my biological clock and would not hold another tiny baby of my own in my arms ever again.  That was another loss in itself, I had to work through.  Needless to say I spent hours of questioning and crying out to the Lord in 2011.  Many dear friends gave birth exactly the same time I was due, and that didn’t make it easier.  But the Lord had to work a good work in me, and it was all to my growth and maturity, though not the easy road. 

By the 3rd of October, the day after my due date, I was hopelessly in pain, when I realized I wasn’t pregnant before Baby was due.  With my previous three miscarriage I was always pregnant before my babies’ due dates.  

It was a Monday morning and we were in the early stages for our Testing of your Faith Teaching.  Christo and I did Testing of your Faith thirteen years ago for the first time, in a very challenging season of our life, and it had a huge impact then.  

As I was listening to the teaching on that early morning in October, I realized that I was in a huge test of faith.  For the following month I desperately leaned on the Lord, remembering His faithfulness in the past. (Please note, this is not how I would write the history of my life.) And claiming His promises to me, again not necessarily the happy ending of another baby, just the promises that He will never leave me, nor forsake me, never give me more than I can handle, working everything for good. Gradually I could feel my faith be strengthened through His faithfulness and His promises and by middle September I could hold a dear friends’ new born baby and know it is well with my soul. 

I will always long for my tiny baby, but I could move on, trusting my loving Father that He works everything for good.

Then by the first week of December there were two pink lines on a pregnancy test… Yes, I’m pregnant again, now 10 weeks and rejoicing, trusting, leaning heavily on the faithfulness of my loving Father!  Do my faith want to run out some days? Yes, with a little help of the Enemy of our souls and my human hormonal vulnerability, I’m bound to loose faith every now and then.  BUT God instructed us not to live by feelings, but by Faith!  

By having one hand on God’s faithfulness in the past and the other hand on His promises to me for the future, He guarantees I will stand solidly in the here and now - Passing the Test of Faith!

Will you please pray with me for the life of this tiny baby. That God will protect him/her in the secret place, weave him/her together in perfection and in due time send him/her forth to be born, to grow up and change the world for God’s Glory.

It is my prayer that you will look back in your past, remember God’s Faithfulness, then reach into God’s Word for His promises, claim them and step out in faith, conquering all the giants that might come your way in 2012, without fear!!

With much love

Linnie

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear,

but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

2 Tim. 1:7

This post is linked with:

Raising Homemakers

Women Living Well Wednesday

Encourage One Another

A Memory Making Morning with My Little Ones!

While I was busy nursing Michael on Sunday night, I felt a desire to just have a fun day with my little children!  It’s been a while since we went out with only their interests at heart, so I decided to take them to watch the animals and play at Stodels.  Josua is the fun guy in the house, so I took him with and to have an extra pair of hands.  CJ and Heidi-Mari stayed home to study and had lunch ready when I arrived home with hungry, tired little people.

Watching the Koi fish

Josua taking Michael for a horse ride

David is my son who absolutely loves animals.  His biggest desire is to have his own baby chick!  He told me if I only take him to a place where there are little chicks, he will catch one himself!

Andrew and Danika at the duck pool

David and Andrew with the goats

Is Andrew trying to catch a chicken for his brother, David?

After watching the animals, they played at the jungle gym and had so much fun!

David, Andrew and Daniel, my three Musketeers!

Danika, having fun between her brothers!

I’m convinced that I’m loving my children more with every new baby!  When I look at these precious little faces, love is overflowing my heart and I want to seize the moment in time!

My precious baby Michael! I adore this blue-eyed boy of mine!

We certainly need to do this more often!

They definitely enjoyed the outing. This was what I found when getting home, after I dropped CJ at the horse farm.

Little David, fast asleep on the couch!

Love you lots my little ones!

With Love

Linnie

"A book of remembrance was written before Him"

Mal. 3:16

EXPERIENCING THE MAURITIUS MIRACLE!

VIP TREATMENT DUE TO OUR BABY

One of Christo’s clients made a comment, after learning we are going to Mauritius with our three month old baby. 

She said, “Christo, you will get preferential treatment due to your baby.  People love babies!”

She couldn’t have been more right!

After I told a friend we’re going to Mauritius, she suggested when flying, try to get the special seats just behind business class, with the basinet for babies. Christo immediately put in the request with the travel agency and we got the seats.  What a blessing to sit in those seats! 

Michael fell asleep 10min after we took off, and only woke up after we landed in Mauritius (it was a 4 1/2 hour flight!). He slept most of the time in the basinet and I had a glimpse of the blessed holiday stretching out before us.  

On the return flight, he again slept for two hours in the basinet, giving my body a rest from holding a baby. 

In the mean time Christo had a dream flight having more leg space, almost like first class!

Since people are afraid to fly next to a couple with such a small baby, a fellow passenger booked to sit next to us, asked to be moved to an open seat further back in the airplane and we had three seats for ourselves, although we only had two seats booked!

The Lord is so good!

On arriving at Mauritius Airport, standing in the long queues to get through passport control, Michael woke up and started crying bitterly.  I was carrying him in the Ergo and while having my hands full with hand luggage, tried to nurse him, but he only cried louder! Next an officer tapped me on the shoulder and an airport assistant accompanied us to the VIP Customs counter - red carpet and all!  There were only two business men before us and within 5 minutes we were through customs and claiming our baggage.

Part of our Holiday package was a one day trip to a beautiful little island, Isle De Deux Cocos, only 5 minutes from Mauritius.  

As we arrived on the island the island manager immediately took extra notice of us since we had a baby.  He more than once came to make sure we were comfortable with our baby. When we needed to move due to the moving sun, he was there to carry our things. He even put us at the best table on the beach for lunch.  While having lunch, Michael was sleeping in the ergo strapped to me, he came to ask me if he could fetch me dessert.  

When leaving for the island in a tour bus from our Hotel, we had two young honeymoon couples with us in the bus and both of them where from South Africa.  It was great to experience the day with these friendly Afrikaans speaking people!

While having lunch on the island there were two native table hopping musicians, playing and singing any song you named.  After singing ‘Can’t help falling in love with you’ for Christo and me, they also sang a baby-song for Michael.

Isle de Cocos is the most interesting little island.  Apparently a British officer, recognizing the beauty of this island, built a house on the island for times when he needed a break.  

It is the most, beautiful house, but have only space for 4 people - not big enough for my family!

The main bedroom.  The swans are towels!

Except for the two bedroom house there is nothing else on the island.

We swam with Michael; went on a glass bottom boat trip to look at the coral and fish;

Had lunch; lay in the sun and went on the 7 minute-walk around the island!

When it was time to leave the island, our Island manager helped us again gather our belongings and helped us onto the boat.

I never could have imagined, having Michael with us, would assure VIP treatment. 

OUR VIRTUAL BABYSITTER

The next story was most probably the biggest blessing during our holiday!

We wanted to make video calls through SKYPE to help the little ones see us physically while we were away, so we left my MacBook Pro at home for the children, and took Christo’s MAC along. 

When we arrived at the hotel, we opened Christo’s Mac and was connected immediately - since the hotel had free internet access. 

Since we were on the ‘Island of love’ we wanted to enjoy romantic evenings together. Dinner was between 19h00 and 22h00 and by then Michael would be exhausted, after a day in fresh air and plenty of sun and would need to be in bed. The hotel did have babysitting facilities, but I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Michael with a stranger.  As we discussed possibilities of babysitting, a unique thought suddenly entered our conversation - definitely Godly inspired! We would setup a Skype call with our children back home in South Africa and then place Christo’s Mac next to our sleeping baby. We could then go out to our romantic dinner while our older children 'baby sat' Michael. If he awoke sometime during the evening, CJ (watching the Mac screen back home) would see and hear baby wake up and give us a call on Christo’s cell phone. I could then quickly make my way to the room, make little Michael comfortable again and return to our table.

We were a little nervous about the setup, as we knew MANY things could go wrong with technology. Well (as expected from MAC) nothing went wrong with the two MAC's. We stayed at the hotel for seven days, and every night we had our children, thousands of kilometers away, baby sitting their little brother. One evening I even found the children entertaining Michael on the screen after he awoke, and they even managed to stop him from crying!

God is SO creative!

FUN IN THE SUN!

I remember when Christo, just after we got word that we won the Mauritius holiday, brought home brochures of Mauritius.  Wow! The clear, blue water was almost to good to be true.  Was it really happening that I was on my way to such an exotic place?

Our airplane landed the Friday night and we couldn’t see anything. What great anticipation when Michael woke me, early Saturday morning.  I couldn’t open the curtains and glass doors quick enough and what a site was awaiting me!

What I saw and experienced during that 7 days was more than what the brochures promised an Island holiday at Mauritius would be!

We enjoyed hours in the sun!

Walked on the beach in the shallow blue water.

Swam in the lukewarm, crystal blue water!

Played with Michael in the water!  We didn’t expect that a baby of only 3months would enjoy the water so much.  But then, the sea at the southern point of Africa is not nearly warm enough to take a baby for a swim! 

When we didn’t swim in the sea, we swam in the huge, round, swallow pool in front of our hotel room!

When some of us became too tired of all the swimming and playing in the sun, we could just fall asleep next to the blue sea, in the shade of a palm tree...

DON”T FORGET THE FOOD!

Christo could enjoy espresso’s as often as he liked and I...

enjoyed numerous kinds of refreshing, ice cold, fruit and coconut cocktails!

The main restaurant served buffets with every meal, the evening buffets were a rotation of different countries, with the Italian food being the highlight, for Christo and me! 

With every countries’ buffet the decorations were different and a delight to the eye.

Coloured rice, with candles for the Indian buffet.

My dear friend, Petra in New Zealand, this picture has been taken specially for you! Unfortunately the inscription isn’t big enough - it reads New Zealand Butter!

At the beach restaurant we could order from a menu and one afternoon I had the most delicious tuna, vegetables and rice, with a Virgin colada!

PRECIOUS TIME TOGETHER

During our time in Mauritius, neither Christo nor I had the longing to drive along the island or do shopping.  We only wanted to be in each others company and enjoy the blessing of being together on an island! 

The past three months where very stressful and tiring on us.  We had our new baby, with new dynamics in the house and we moved our health shop, with Christo working long hours to accomplish it and lot of uncertainties. 

Even when we did manage to sit together for a coffee, we seldom could finish a sentence without being interrupted by a very important request, a discipline issue or mind blowing idea from one of our children.

I was afraid it would take us the whole vacation to find our way back to each others hearts, leaving us no time to just be together in peace and understanding!

I guess building a marriage on the right foundation makes all the difference. Knowing the God who put us together, never changed and while we stay close to Him, we will always be close to each other, even if we ‘feel worlds apart at times!’  From the moment we got onto the airplane in Cape Town, our hearts and minds connect and we had the most enriching time together. 

Both of us rediscovered the person we fell in love with and was pleasantly surprised to realize that we were still in love, because of everything we went through on a daily basis.  We both had matured through being the parents of our many children and making a living to provide for all.  If it wasn’t for our children and hard work, we would be shallow and immature and we most probably wouldn’t have had the enriched relationship we’re sharing right now!

And again we knew, God knows best and His way is the only way! 

With full ‘love tanks’ we could return to our busy schedule and be certain that we are one, even more so through the difficult times. Together we will change the world for good!

GOD LOVES TO ANSWERS PRAYER

The one thing that stands out about our Mauritius vacation is God’s amazing way of answering prayer.  For at least a year I was asking God to take control over the situation - His will and not mine! This made me remember a quote:

“Don’t bring God to your problem, take your problem to God.”

That was exactly what we did, and He provided in every possible way, above anything we could have asked, planned or imagined!

Thank you dear God!