Morning Cuppas With Glenys

Staying busy

In the wake of the Corona Virus, comes anxiety and fear for the future and for a lot of us-(let's be honest-most of us), we don't know what to do with our days.

Being at home is both exciting and challenging and it can leave us unsure of what to do and how to handle it.

My friend, Mrs Sylvia Britton of Christian HomeKeeper is a very gifted writer. She has blessed me so much with writing her Lists for the chronically ill woman. I follow them most days and they have helped me so much for many years now.

Sylvia graciously allowed me to post her Lists here and on my other blog and I am eternally grateful.

Recently she has written a post which is so very helpful for us concerning coping with isolation and the Corona Virus. Once again, she has graciously allowed me to share this with you. Thanks again, my friend.

Here is what she wrote:

We’ve been in semi-isolation because of covid19 for 4 weeks today. It is very similar to how we live our lives as older, semi-retired people. So, we’re not doing too badly here. I do miss my children coming ’round and I miss all the sweet little grandchildren being here.

It is a little harder for my husband who is newly without a job from being laid off. I say newly, but he’s been without work for 6 moths now. Still, it’s new for him, he has worked all our married lives and longer. So, I think it is a little harder for him to adjust. I, on the other hand have been ‘at home’ for over 35 years.

Since I am an old hand at being at home, I have a work flow, a way of doing things and getting things done, resting, participating in hobbies, chatting with friends online and then doing more work, that he is just now developing for himself. But in all, we’re staying busy.

This is the key to being content during this strange time in our world: staying busy. You remember of course that old saying that idle hands are the devil’s workshop? I also believe that an idle mind is his workshop.

But by staying busy I don’t necessarily mean work, work, work til you drop! What I mean is, your mind needs to be occupied with noble thoughts and good things instead of worry and sin.

It is possible to go sit under the tree outside and rest and still be busy with positive and good things.

Don’t dwell on tomorrow.

Don’t worry about yesterday.

Don’t stress that you can’t do more today.

Just do what you have in front of you to do.

It might be dishes, preparing a meal. It may be reading a book or drawing a picture.

Write that letter.

So, stay busy friends. Find some project that you would like to have done at your house or in your self and work on it. Whether it is a puzzle that has sat on the shelf for too long or cleaning out a room, starting a new Bible study or weeding a flower bed, now is the time to do it.

This will all end and you’ll be able to do more, go places and enjoy friends again. In the mean time, do what you can and do it well.

Wise words and so encouraging. If you want to be encouraged and are a Christian woman, you might want to join her FaceBook group: Christian Homekeepers

Blessings, Glenys

Everyone helped his neighbor, And said to his brother, “Be of good courage!” Isaiah 41:6

It takes my breath away!

We can be quite sure that when a person is facing death, that their last words and actions will encapsulate their life's work, goals and words. On the night He was betrayed, Jesus washed His disciples feet- even Judas His betrayer, showing us that Servant hood was why He came and was to be a hallmark of the Christian. He shared the breaking of bread and drinking of wine in what we commemorate in taking communion and is known as the Last Supper on that night, and He asked that we do this in remembrance of Him.

Knowing His hour had come and what would happen to Him at Golgotha, He asked that His disciples watch and wait as He agonised in the Garden of Gethsemane. So great was His knowledge of the ordeal He would endure and the separation of Himself and His Father as He took on our sins to die the torturous and cruel death of crucifixion in our place, that an angel came to minister to Him as He sweated drops of blood...

Even when betrayed by Judas's kiss, he ordered the disciples to put away their swords and he healed the soldiers ear that a disciple had cut off... and still as He stood before Pilate in a trial that itself wasn't even legal, He stood silent, as legions of angels waited for the order to rescue Him. But no such order came... and the Lamb of God, Who would take away the sins of the world and bring us to His Father, our Father- was led away as a lamb to the slaughter. With His own cross ripping off what little skin He had left on His back and shoulders... and wearing His only earthly crown.. a crown of thorns....

I am reflecting on the greatest act of love and compassion this world has ever known, and the more I reflect, the more I see of the depth of a love so divine, it takes my breath away....

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." Luke 22:19

I see love

Because of Rona and us being made to stay at home, I have had to ring people instead of going to see them. Although through necessity I had to make a few stops off at places of business this week.

People are keeping well back and practising social distancing at the post office and chemist. There has been almost a camaradie in people I talk to from business people to customers in the chemist.

They have been respectful and maintained their distance but did make eye contact and smiled. Whether in person like that or on the phone, the conversation has always ended with being told to be safe and take care!

I would return the smile and admonish them to do the same, and somehow this interaction lifted my spirits.

Why did it lift me up? you ask. Because in that kind admonition to stay safe and take care, I see the fear that truthfully we all are experiencing in one degree or another.

I also see that people generally have taken on board the complexity of this hidden enemy and the need to be cautious and careful.

There is concern in strangers' voices as they say this in parting, and it resonates in the spirit like the greetings and admonishment at Christmas to have a happy one.

I see something deeper in these admonishments: I see the milk of human kindness. The acknowledgment that we all are frail against this foe and a wish for each other to overcome and live.

It's a recognition that we are all equally vulnerable but equally precious. It's more than words that I hear: I see love!

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

Are you a delightful cuppa?

Troubling times bring out the best or worst in us. We are all like tea bags sitting in pretty tea cups waiting to be filled with water to make delicious tea.

We all have the tea leaf of our favourite tea in our bag. But add lukewarm water, and we sit largely untouched and of little use or pleasure to the tea maker.

By adding boiled water, we release the flavour that delights the tea maker and is pleasant to the palate.

In our trials, whatever they are, God does not sit aloof but watches with the love of a father to see how we will react. He wants us to turn to Him in our times of trouble and to trust Him.

Because of His great love for each of us personally, His eye of concern is on us and how we respond. He wants our response to be one of childlike faith. We don't have to understand everything.

It is easy for us to be confident and loving and trusting when little heat is in the water of adversity- but what happens to us when the boiling water of long and extremely harrowing trials come our way?

Do we allow the boiling waters of adversity to steep us in faith, love and trust- or do we give up on our faith and run from God, boiling but lacking tea in our bag?

I don't know anyone who isn't touched by this latest trial in the form of Corona Virus, and I don't know why God allowed it and hasn't intervened. But I can say that even though we are afraid at times, that God is not idly sitting by or caught by surprise. He is calling us to Him.

He is watching our reaction, and the world is watching us. How we react to adversity is the benchmark of how much tea is in our bag. Jesus wants us to overcome fear and find our strength through Him.

We don't need much tea: in fact a mustard seed size of faith is enough to move mountains. But we must have tea or we will be useless to others and a misery to ourself because we have no peace.

Let us resolve to keep tea in our bag and to allow the boiling water of adversity to make us stronger! Let's keep close to the Teamaker and be a delight to Him as we lean on Him with the eyes of faith instead of fear.

We want to be steeping in strength through clinging to Jesus! Are you a delightful cuppa?

"The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him, Who shelters him all the day long; And he shall dwell between His shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12

On trusting God: a post revisited

When I was studying psychology, I was required to read M Scott Peck’s “The Road Less Traveled.” It was a secular book but I will always remember the opening sentence which said something like, “Life is painful. When you accept that, then you can start living in joy!” It was a sentence that says it all I believe. Life is a struggle. Even life as a Christian. If we deny the pain or not try to cast it on God, we can miss great lessons from the Master.

I know in my life some of the darkest and longest trials have served to make me a stronger person. I can identify with another’s pain and therefore I pray with feeling, with compassion and with understanding. I learn how to pray for help from the LORD and I can see His Hand at work in my life and the life of others after the event, if not during.

Learning to cast your cares on God is often a slow practice and it comes from years of relinquishing control of your life and realising that only God can control an outcome that is causing us concern or pain. It results in the peace of trusting Him to act out His perfect Will in our lives and then learning to accept it. It is at times extremely difficult to put into practice. This relinquishing of control and learning to trust God to know what is best in my circumstances and to trust Him to do it for me has taken years. But after reflecting on the outcomes of many difficult circumstances and trials where I could not see or feel God’s presence or leading, I have come to the conclusion that He has worked all things out for my own good.

One way that helped me to realise that God had indeed answered my prayers or delivered me safely through a trial or grief was to keep a prayer journal. I wrote everything down. Every prayer, every fear. And I recorded all events. Over the years, a pattern of God’s faithfulness and deliverance was seen. This encouraged me immensely and helped me trust Him more as further trials overtook me- trials of health, marriage problems, financial problems and problems with my children. We have to learn to walk by faith and not by sight. God loves us too much to allow us to walk a boring path of constantly granted wishes with no challenges or hardship! It is only through the path of faith in life with all its attendant worries and challenges that true strength and faith in God can be found.

It is imperative that we purposefully and deliberately relinquish trying to control our life and put our faith in God by praying in earnest supplication – and then to leave God to work it out! It takes courage, humility and strength. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of time to be able to actually get to the point where you can pray and give it to the Father to oversee. But really, what other choice do we have? If we say we believe in God’s goodness and love for us but don’t trust Him in our trials, how can we be true to ourselves or Him? How can we know the wonder of feeling God’s hedge of protection around us, His mighty Love enveloping us during trials or feel the same love and awe at His depth of compassion towards us- if we don’t put our money where our mouth is? Or in this case, our faith where our mouth is!

No trial is joyous at the time- but the benefits of facing up to them and running to the LORD with them far outweigh the negatives. For by denying God the time to work in our lives, and to not lay our problems and cares before Him, we are actually denying Him the ability to bring beauty out of ashes. What have we got to lose? We have so much to gain! He has been our King of Glory: let Him be our Prince of Peace!

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

"So teach [us] to number our days, that we may apply [our] hearts unto wisdom" Psalm 90:12

She's coming home!

Our granddaughter works as an entertainer on a big cruise ship and has been unable to get back to Australia for weeks. All the passengers have disembarked but the crew had to stay onboard.

With more than two weeks with no one getting the Corona Virus, our granddaughter has finally been given permission to disembark and get a flight home.

But that doesn't mean we will see her soon. Not only are we in quarantine, but she must be taken to a nearby hotel in Melbourne in quarantine for two more weeks.

But at least she will be back in the country. All the family can then breathe a sigh of relief.

It would appear that the curve of new cases is flattening, but there's still a lot of time left to stay in isolation.

We can only do what we are told and pray that God allows the pestilence to dissipate quickly.

Until our granddaughter touches down in Australia, we will be fervently praying that she travels easily without picking the virus up.

With all the doom and gloom, it is heartening to know that she's coming home!

Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. Isaiah 26:20

Only His shoulders can carry us through

We are living in a time of global tribulation. Pestilence in the form of the Corona Virus is frightening most of the world and those who aren't taking it seriously are fools. It is a time to sit and ask yourself where your faith lies.

Certainly we can have faith in doctors and nurses who risk their own lives to save those who succumb to this virus. But they cannot save everyone.

We can have faith in the governments of the world who try to contain it. But even so, it is proving difficult.

We need to take on board that God has us all in His Hand. All we can do is comply with what the authorities are telling us to do and trust that God will allow the virus to dissipate quickly with minimum loss of life.

We can only take on the problems of today... and we can only overcome by acknowledging that God is in control, even when it seems that He is not. He is never taken by surprise.

Jesus told us that we would have tribulation in the world and that sufficient unto the day are the problems of the day. We can't take on more than what we are doing in the present.

We must trust in Him Who bore the sins of the world upon His shoulders. Only His shoulders are broad enough for taking on eternity. We must relinquish our anxieties and trust in Him. He will keep us in safety and carry us through this troubling time.

Our shoulders can't take on more than the worries of today. Only His shoulders can carry us through.

Painting by Nathan Greene

"The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him, Who shelters him all the day long; And he shall dwell between His shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12

He works all things together for good

As you may recall, we were living in a RV fulltime for six months until my physical problems meant I became housebound. With great disappointment, we had to find another home to rent.

God blessed us so much with finding our cottage in the country. With selling or giving away all our furniture to live in the van, we had to buy furniture all over again, just like newlyweds.

Again, God blessed us by guiding us to places that allowed us to pay our furniture off through renting to own it or by doing Afterpay.

When we look out our back garden, we can see His Hand in all this. He knew what I was hungering for and graciously provided it in this cottage. I am a country girl at heart. Of course, He knew that!

It is not uncommon for me to sit watching the birds and taking it all in, and becoming overwhelmed with grateful tears to the LORD. I am a weird person who doesn't cry much in pain or adversity, but who cries with happiness.

With the Corona Virus, Chris and I have been thinking how God blessed us by having us get out of the fifth wheeler and into a stable home. The government in Australia because of Rona, have shut down caravan parks, with only those with permanent homes given permission to stay. We would have had nowhere to go.

Just the other day Chris said it was a blessing in disguise that I tore my meniscus in my knee and we had to go back to renting. We agreed that God planned this for us as of course He wasn't taken by surprise with this Virus.

Also, I might add, since moving out of the fifth wheeler, my knee has improved dramatically. With all that has happened recently, it is evident to us that God has had His Hand on us all this time. What seemed like a disappointment has been turned into a blessing.

This has just deepened our faith and our hearts are swelled with gratitude and praise.

It is good to remember that when one door closes, another one opens. God works all things together for good for those who love Him.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

It's not just me!

I am not the sort of person who sits taking her pulse all the time, but since this Corona Virus outbreak, that has changed.

Now every time I cough or feel wheezy, I freak- am I hot? no. Do I have a sore throat? no. Honestly, I am over myself!

But truly, it's not just about me, though goodness knows, I don't want Rona. But I don't want to share it- not with Chris or anyone else.

I have been a little wheezy the last few days and the doggy in the pic is what I look like. But honestly, if it wasn't for this current situation, I wouldn't think twice about it. I have been wheezy like that many times.

Poor Chris gets The Look when he wants a kiss. Do I risk it? even if it's a one in a million chance that I have got Rona? He says he doesn't care and we kiss. Then I feel anxious. Even though the chance that I would test positive is about the same as me winning the lottery!

When I am FaceTiming my kids and I cough: this is the look they give me! And that's just on the phone!

Rona's got us all bluffed and anxious and I know I am not alone. But meanwhile, I take my pulse and temperature and reassure everyone who Skypes me that I am OK.

Then I cough, and this wall comes up along with eyebrows and I see once again: they too are anxious and it's not just me!

Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. Isaiah 26:20

I guess I am essential too!

In Australia, we've just had that debate about what's essential. With this Corona Virus, we are at stage 3 which means we must stay home unless it's essential work and if we meet in groups of more than 2 people, we will be fined $1600 on the spot.

Weddings with no more than 5 people: bride, groom, celebrant and two witnesses. No more than 10 at a funeral. And one is the deceased!

It got me thinking about what is really essential. You know, in jobs and in relationships as well. I think for me, keeping a grateful heart for what we have, not focussing on what we've lost is essential.

For me, loving Chris, loving my home and loving God is essential. Living in the present is essential to mental health as well. So to me, hugging and loving our family at home is essential now.

Keeping in touch with family during this time of isolation is also essential to alleviate anxiety and missing them. Likewise, keeping up with prayer and Bible reading is essential always, but more so in a time of trouble. We need to keep the faith and remember the promises of God.

Home has never truly meant more than now with us needing to isolate ourselves and it is up to us wives and mothers to keep the homefires burning.

Essentially keeping the home a welcoming and cosy place to come aside and allow this pestilence to pass is no small thing. I am taking this very seriously.

We won't hear it in the media, but housewives are essential in keeping up morale in families.

Therefore, I guess I am essential too!

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

The flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17b-18

A little bit of what you fancy

“A maiden that is negligent in acquiring skills in the art of cooking should resolve to change and gain lessons that will assist her. A diligent young girl will read carefully and seek to learn all she can of rules, courtesies, and the keeping of a proper kitchen. She will delight to please her family and friends with pleasant tasting foods that she has prepared.” -Mrs. Martha Greene

I have a confession to make: I am not a good cook. Cooking is something I do because we need to eat but I don’t particularly enjoy it. But having said that, I must say that I do make every effort to cook meals that Chris enjoys and that are nutritious.

Something as basic as cooking should come naturally to us, but I am living proof that it doesn’t. Does that mean that I have given up and only serve canned goods or pre-packaged meals? Absolutely not!

Because I see that cooking is a vital part of keeping a home and most importantly, keeping a husband and children healthy, I often seek out recipes and tips to help me. I try to choose plain meals and I am most fortunate in that my husband loves meat, 2 veg and mashed potato! He would be happy with that for every meal.

Even knowing that he would be happy with a plain meal all the time, I try to vary it by alternating between vegetables and salads and methods of cooking. One night, I may serve a stew with the vegetables in that with a hefty serve of mashed potatoes. The next night it may be a grill with chips and salad. But basically, his favourite fare is meat based, with vegetables and mashed or chipped potato.

I feel that in preparing our menus that we should be diligent to take into account what our husband prefers and try to accommodate him. I have found that it is just as easy to prepare something he likes and enjoys than to try something new and find he doesn’t like it.

Being a good cook is important in your overall efforts to be a good homemaker. Memories are often centered around meals that were tasty and served with pleasant company. I feel there is nothing that deflates one’s spirit more than sitting down to a poorly cooked meal served with indifference.

Trying to feed your family well not only pays off dividends in better health through good nutrition, but it also livens ones’ spirit. Taking the time to plan and prepare meals will enhance family life and create a more pleasant meal time.

Let’s seek to improve our cooking as we remember the proverb that says “a little bit of what you fancy does you good!” It truly does everyone good!

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

“Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:” Genesis 27:9

Get some sun and air

Fresh air and sunshine are important elements for good health. Even though we are mostly self-isolating due to the Corona Virus, it is still essential to get ample fresh air and sun.

History has shown us that people who were taken outdoors to convalesce following surgery or during an illness such as tuberculosis, generally fared better than those kept in dark musty rooms.

Convalescant homes by the sea were very popular and the seaside still is known for its' therapeutic properties.

Although we must stay at home, it would be very salubrious to go outdoors if you have a garden, or sit and read by an open window if it is possible.

Staying at home isn't existing for two or so weeks in a dank dark room. See if you can get some sun and air.

Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. Isaiah 26:20