Morning Cuppas With Glenys

Forever His

I have had some times in my life where I have thought I would die. Surgeries for my heart, illnesses wherein I couldn't breathe, and an incorrect diagnosis of a terminal illness have seen me glimpsing death and had me question if I am ready to be with the LORD.

In facing death a few times, I have experienced immense peace in knowing that Christ has me in the Palm of His Hand and that should He call me Home to Him, that it would be instantaneous.

Alive or not, we are His. We belong to the LORD Who also numbers our days. It is a great comfort to remember that when my health continues to fail.

I am afraid of the manner in which I will die, but not of death per se. I have been the LORD's since before my birth and I will be even after my last breath.

His sacrifice has paved the way for us to not be afraid of Hell or with dying. We are forever His as soon as we accept Him as LORD and Saviour.

So in keeping with that, we do not have to fear world events either as we await for Jesus to come back for us. The Rapture will be instantaneous, should He take us Home with Him through that means.

Let us not give in to fear with current events and pandemics, but live in peace and security. That security and peaceful assurance is yours too, if you accept Christ as your Saviour.

We are loved by God and are His Children forever. Eternally His. Instantly. Dead or alive.

For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Romans 14:8

God blesses the habitation of the just

I love this verse because it speaks of the blessing of God for the righteous. There will be peace in the land, in the home and therefore, for the family.

Home is the cradle of civilisation. It is the foundation of training, knowledge, shaping our early years and moulding us into the adult we will become.

Home's an oasis of calm in a world that's not. It is meant to be a peacable place, a sure dwelling and a quiet resting place.

I just love the imagery of this verse and I love even more the promise that God makes to us who labour in our home. For we are wise if we do labour to show love and mercy and grace to each other and to make our habitation one of a sanctuary and place of worship through example.

May we not lose sight of the importance of home in the nurturing of ourselves and family. It is worth the effort and the results are guaranteed in the Word of God, for God blesses the habitation of the just.

"The curse of the LORD [is] in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. " Proverbs 3:33

On His young Shoulders

Luke 2:43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it;

Luke 2:44 but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances.

Luke 2:45 So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him.

Luke 2:46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

Luke 2:47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.

Luke 2:48 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

Luke 2:49 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

Luke 2:50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

We see here a 12 year old Child who is already aware that His Father is not Joseph, but God. A Child growing in stature and wisdom and grace- one who has more wisdom for spiritual matters than the Jewish teachers of the Law.

Seeing the response of the Child to His Mother, there can be no doubt that He knew even then that He was the Suffering Servant and the Passover Lamb. Yet He never wavered from that path.

Let us give thanks that this Child- the Son of God, chose to obey and honour His Father so that we too may call Him our Father!

If you do not know Jesus as your LORD and Saviour, now would be a good time to do it. Read this link and don't waste His sacrifice, for when He died, He had you on His mind.

Let us all not waste a minute longer living in sin and fear for the Age of Grace is almost over and the darkness of the anti Christ is about to begin for those who do not believe. Christ is coming for His Bride, the Church. Be among those of us who believe and live with Christ forever.

Let us all believe on Him and love the little Boy, Who took away the sins of the world- at 33 in His Body and with being only 12, the weight of that knowledge on His young Shoulders!

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31

We give You thanks

"We Give You Thanks"

Lord, as we gather at this table
May we be truly grateful
For the bounty You have given us.
We thank you for the earth and rain,
The good harvest and the wholesome grain
That went into our daily bread
And kept the stock that kept us fed.
Thank you for the hands that cooked and baked,
And for the water that our thirst slaked.
Please accept our thanks as we honour You
For Your goodness in giving us this food.

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name. Hebrews 13:15

Be blessed in your calling.

Serve God wherever He calls you. As a woman, wife, mother, homemaker or chronically ill woman.

If God has created you as a woman then the natural outflow of that is your calling as a wife etc and if you are a single woman, then your calling is to be a godly woman. You do not have to look for any other callings, for if you are God's, then being a godly woman in all these capacities, is your calling.

By embracing your calling and living a godly life, you will find contentment and peace. By living out your calling, you also will be living under God's Umbrella of Protection.

Be happy in your calling and seek to be the best Christian you can be. Our hearts are what God's interested in for that is what will last for eternity!

Be comforted and blessed in your calling.

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-17

I know how she feels

So, many moons ago, my ex-husband and I used to go every Saturday to see our eldest son play football. On inclement weather days, I would sit in the car with a friend I had made. She came to watch her son play as well.

We would chat during quarters and half time and I had noticed that she had no wedding rings or jewellery of any kind. I knew she was married because her husband and mine would watch our boys together.

She was a bit of a sour puss to be totally honest. Perpetually moody and very negative. I couldn't understand why because she looked well and dressed nicely. There was something about her: she was a bit odd.

Anyway, during our talks she said she was perpetually tired. Bone tired. She didn't work outside of her house and only had one child and he was almost a teenager like our son. What could be making her tired?

Years before the mobile or cell phones came in, I asked her what she thought the time was. She pulled her watch out of her pocket and I couldn't help but ask why didn't she wear it?

She replied that she cannot wear jewellery of any kind. It drove her nuts. Her muscles ached constantly and she was in pain and was being treated for depression. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with her in spite of oodles of tests.

For her treatment, she was under the care of a psychiatrist who said she had some form of mental illness that bordered on OCD as well as depression and fatigue. Then she was labelled as a hypochondriac.

She was on strong pain killers and also Valium and anti-depressants. Nothing seemed to help and she told me she had to force herself to come and see her only child play each week.

I thought she was rather weird to be honest. I mean why can't anyone bear to wear even a necklace or wedding ring or watch? Mentally, I lumped her in the acquaintances category, rather than a girl friend.

One day she told me she was having trouble sleeping and she needed to sleep off her medications but often felt groggy and muddled during the day. So, I offered to pray for her. Well, she blew up at me and screamed, "There is no God! If there was, he wouldn't have let my brother die in a fire on an oil rig!"

I was told not to pray for her again and as she was very vitriolic, I decided to sit in our car from then on. I didn't need her anger and aggressiveness.

This was in the 1980's and fast forwarding to 1999, with the identical symptoms as her, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia after many tests for Lupus. I had never heard of it.

Psychiatric assessment wasn't even muted and I confess I felt a sense of relief at that. It was a medical condition for a nasty painful syndrome that I now know that poor woman had.

It all fell into place: a trauma that ended her peace, the body aches, fatigue, irritability, skin that could not bear being touched-and it excluding wearing jewellery, no restorative sleep, and brain fog with cognitive difficulties.

In those days, when fibromyalgia was not even heard of by the general population and doctors weren't trained about it, fibromites were treated with disdain and were labelled with munchausens and other neurotic labels and as a result were often overmedicated with anti psychotics and Valium.

After being diagnosed myself, I remembered this poor woman and I confess I too labelled her as a hypochondriac and malinger and possibly suffering from munchausens as well.

I am so glad that fibromyalgia is much more known and is treated as a real malady and not a psychiatric disease. Yes, we occasionally are still misunderstood, but not as much.

Since I found out about fibromyalgia, I still pray for that poor woman and I thank God that at last she would be heard. It's the least I can do for her, now that I know how she feels.

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

I'm happy to be an empty-nester

Whilst I do miss the "good ol days" when my children were young, I am so glad that it's over now. I don't think I could cope with it. Having an empty nest does have some advantages: our routine doesn't have to be as inflexible as when we had young ones to look after.

Meals are pretty impromptu affairs. We may plan to have such and such for dinner, but then decide either we aren't hungry or we may eat something like rice bubbles for dinner. Also, the meal hours are according to how we feel. And if I don't feel up to cooking, we will have a frozen dinner. We couldn't do that with young ones.

Bedtime hours are also more flexible as we go to bed when we feel like it. If I can't sleep it's no big deal to get up and make us a cup of tea and go back a few hours later. Waking up late is no problem either, neither are nana naps anymore. I take them as required.

I don't think I would make a good mother these days: Xena often wakes me up to feed her and I feel quite annoyed. I suppose it would be different if it were a child.

There's also a good reason for menopause: I think if I had a baby now I would forget where I had put it. And now with fibromyalgia fog, I know I would!

So even though I miss some aspects of my young mothering days, I am totally content with the flexibility empty nesting has now in my latter years. Besides, I couldn't stand being asleep while the teens get ready to go out. And forget about waiting up all night for them to get home safely.

No, sometimes I am mighty happy to be an empty-nester!

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1

Idealistic or faithful

I was rejoicing in my friend’s engagement. She was sharing her dreams of the future with me and showing me her hope chest. She was very much in love with her fiancé and had everything planned to perfection. We discussed her wedding plans, and our views and ideals on marriage itself. One of the questions that came up was if she would continue to work once the children came, and the appropriation of funds coming into the marriage.

I was delighted to hear that my friend intended to be a stay at home mother once the children were born. Prior to that, they were going to have his money and her money in separate accounts with her keeping a secret account for provision for herself in case of marital problems necessitating her setting up a home for herself and the children. I expressed my concern that she should see this as a necessary step when entering into marriage.

She responded with saying that one never knew what the future would hold and it was unrealistic to believe that just because she was married, there would be a guarantee of happiness. She intended to be prepared for any event that should arise.I told her that it was foolhardy to enter marriage- (a Christian marriage at that) with one eye on the altar and the other on the divorce court.

I commented that it seemed to me to be a failing of trust on her part and also that it was in fact laying a foundation of mistrust and deceit in her marriage right from the beginning. Her retort was that I was just being idealistic and that being left without financial security in the event of a marriage failure was not on her agenda. She could not see my point of view so I let it drop- God would have to deal with her heart. I felt saddened by her cynical attitude.

To enter marriage with the view that it may very well end in divorce is a tragic view and a distortion of the covenental view that Christ has for marriage. Marriage is to be built on trust. If there are problems, then they should be worked through. The marriage is already failed in the context of trust if one of the parties has a parachute to use to bail out with when or if the going gets tough. The area of trust has been compromised already by my friend keeping her account secret- she has allowed doubt and deceit to cloud her mind.

One cannot enter a covenant with lies and doubts and plans for self preservation instead of trust in God. Not in a Christian marriage.The whole concept of marriage is built on trust and accountability to each other. I do not think it is idealistic or unrealistic. I think it is a basic principle of marriage that cannot be compromised. Issues of doubt and fear should be ironed out long before the nuptials. For to be double-minded about your commitment in your marriage is to invite trouble and failure.

The heart of the faithful is strong- but where there is any weakness in either spouse’s commitment there will be not only lack of trust but lack of blessing.My prayer is that the LORD will speak to my friend’s heart and give her the commitment and confidence that are hers as she trusts Him and her husband to build and bless their marriage. But first she must let go of the parachute and show herself faithful. Happiness can come only through true commitment and faith.

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-8

Mummy remembers you

On wings of love we'd have laid you down,

Wrapped moonbeams round your sides,

We'd dim the light of distant stars

And sing you lullabies.

We'd linger round your cradle

As we'd gaze at you in awe-

To us you'd be as angels

Too perfect for this world.

You must have dreamt of Heaven

For you decided not to stay,

The angels came and took you

As under my heart you lay.

Now Jesus gently rocks you

In His strong and gentle arms,

We know now, little angels,

You are safe from any harm…

Lord, lay them down in a cradle of gold,

Tuck rainbows round their sides,

Cover them with Your angels’ wings

And if they ever cry-

Tell them Mum and Dad are coming

Just as soon as they awake-

Please kiss our little angels, Lord

And love them in our place.

"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 18:10

Remembering my twins, Sarah Robyn and Ruth Glenys Urbani, born sleeping November 12, 1969

Being gracious to ourselves

My friend and I were talking about things that make us feel guilty. Our conversation centred around sick family and our less than gracious treatment of them. Which we both now regret.

It made me think about the issue in a new light and gave us both some peace. Here is my reply to her:

Thank God He understands and doesn't judge us harshly. We both will have to pray that He takes away our guilty feelings. Until we both can forgive ourselves, we won't have any true peace. You have understood my guilt and I certainly understand yours. We should give ourselves grace. Sometimes we fail to be gracious to ourselves. Praying for you with love and understanding and knowing you will pray for me! (and remembering that sanctification is an ongoing process!) we are a work in progress!

We cannot undo what's done- what is passed is past. But we can let go of negative thoughts even about ourselves and purpose to do better.

If we have been convicted by the Holy Spirit and have confessed our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin. We must remember that self condemnation after forgiveness is from the evil one.

Knowing that these guilty feelings after repentance is an old pattern of thinking, we must bring our thoughts into the captivity of Christ.

Our sanctification is an ongoing process that doesn't stop until we are in Glory. As long as we are moving forward, we are doing well. We simply must be gracious to ourselves.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Psalm 51:15

An unending story

It is said a mother will raise a child for 18 years or so. What is not told you is that with each child, a mother’s heart is fragmented and not only will she give that child a Life Story at birth, but she will also give it her heart forever. Throughout the rest of her life she will be her child’s biggest influence, inscribing values and skills in its Life’s Book.

Every Page of that child’s life will be scrutinized and lived through. Every word, every full-stop measured in feeding progress, weight gain, colic and diaper changes. Every sentence will be measured in her child holding up its head, smiling, grasping and focusing. Each early Chapter will read as accomplishments in teething, crawling, sitting unsupported, first words and walking.

Shortly, a mother will become an avid Reader of the Book of her child’s life and will pore through it with rapt attention. She will often re-read the previous Chapters, seeking reasons for the present Story unfolding in the most recent Page of her child’s sojourn through life. Quite often this will be a fruitless exercise as she cannot re-write the Chapters. However, she will certainly be able to enhance the outcome of future Chapters by passing on her foresight and life skills to her child.

As the Reader and not the Writer of this Book, the mother will find that she becomes absorbed in every Chapter as it unfolds. Often against her will, she will find that she lives every hurt and disappointment, every heart ache, every pain and illness as if it were her own Life’s Story. And often, being a loving mother, she will wish that the sad Chapter was her own and not her child’s….but she is only the Reader.

Every accomplishment, victory, honour or triumph will become personal as a mother reads and lives her child’s Story. Indeed many mothers will find kudos in their children’s unfolding Life Story, especially if that child is successful. However, successful or not, a mother will still remain a loyal and enthusiastic Reader.

It is not unheard of for a mother to question the Writer of this Book whilst at the same time yearning for the Writer’s direction. But try as she might to become the Writer, this is a Book that she cannot write. She can and should, enquire of the Writer for guidance but in doing so, she must accept that the Editor’s decision is final.

It is interesting to note that just as a mother thinks she may be coming to the end of this Read, that she will find there is a Sequel which is just as compelling as the original. This comes in the form of grandchildren. After one glance at the Prologue, she will find herself giving yet more of her heart as her mind relives the first chapter of her own child’s Life Story.

With shaking hands and teary eyes, she will scan the Page eagerly, knowing that she will be a reader of this new child’s Life Story for many chapters to come. And she will undoubtedly thank the Writer as she lovingly fingers the new Page.

He maketh the barren woman to keep house, [and to be] a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. Psalm 113:9

Don't be afraid to train your children

The scriptures tell us to train up our child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) But how many of us are afraid or unwilling to train our children? We are afraid that we will lose our children's affections if we restrain them- we are afraid to be mothers!

Some of us don't train our children because we are too lazy- it is always easier to just let them go- it takes too much effort to harness them and direct them in the right direction. Some of us do a half-hearted training of our children- because they bug us, we make them toe the line! I suppose that is better than no training at all.

What are the consequences of us not training our children? At the very most rebellious young adults who have no respect for authority- yours or anyone else's. At the very least, young adults who cannot restrain themselves or their moods and who have no respect for property or other people's feelings. Definitely on both counts, we will have bred unhappy young adults.

A lot of mothers are so afraid of harming their children's psyche that they become the child's servant eventually, doting on them and spoiling them until they are insufferable to bear. Mothers, you cannot be your child's best buddy or friend. You have to train your child well and be a mother who is not afraid to enforce her God-given authority as Mother. Your children will respect you for it- they certainly won't respect you for trying to be their friend.

If we don't train our children well we are asking for rottenness to come into their character. A mother who trains and disciplines her children in a loving way will never lose her children's respect or love. Even from early childhood we intuitively know that Mother is our teacher and protector. We may not verbalise it as children but we all know we need a Mother's input in our formative years. However we train our children we can be assured that the results will reach into eternity.

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

'Train up our child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6