the way, truth & light!

FOR HEALING YOU ARE THE WAY (1)

For healing Lord you are the way.

For direction and answers Lord you are the truth.

For hope, love and peace, Jesus you are the light.

Through every step I take, in every word I speak and every action I make, Jesus I come to you!   That Lord your Son becomes my breath, my waking thought, my lasting moment.  

That through every thought of confusion or heartbreaking cry of help Lord I come to you.  That my leaning into you for answers is enough.  That you provide me with the tools to not battle through a day but to ease through it. 

That I don’t have to have all the answers or have things the way I imagine them to be, but place within me that I am enough just the way I am, because I have you!

Grow this feeling, nurture it and let it bloom Lord. 

“Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth and the light. No one comes to the father except through me.”

John 16:4

hi i'm finley

Linking up with Emily fromEmber Grey for Grateful Heart Mondays

how are you today?

how are you today - in it for love

When people you love and who are close to you are going through full on moments in life – cancers, sickness and life and death situations – it’s so hard to know what to say.

It’s incredible how we end up internalizing it though.  What do “I” say to them. “I” don’t know what to do say, or sometimes it’s easier to just say nothing and wait for them to say something.  And I think all of these, in their own way, are fine.

It’s funny because I do go through this, and as humans we often revert back to our own situations when others are going through something.

I really struggle with whether this is a good or bad thing for the actual person going through it but I do know (here we go) from my own experience, that the asking helps. The “how are you”. The “can I do anything” helps.

Because even though it doesn’t feel great at the time or may not help at that point in time and is often a redundant question, to me, it helped later.

When my dad passed away when I was 16 it was a numbing time and I don’t remember taking a lot of what people said or did around me. I just felt like I was going through the motions.  The questions and statements,  they all seemed sincere, yet to me, hollow at the same time because I just wasn’t taking it in – but that is obviously to be expected.

Now, some of my most prominent memories from my dad passing away are of those who asked these questions.  I remember the gentle touches from friends and strangers when I went back to school for the first time.  The kind words and messages from friends and family.  I remember the faces of those at his funeral who were there to support us and really I feel comfort from those memories.

It’s sometimes impossible to help those who are sick or in drawn out life and death moments. They are in God hands and He has it covered in His master plan – whether good or bad, but it’s the ones who keep on living who need the questions to be asked, despite how awkward it makes us feel.

I remember reading about someone who had a loved one going through cancer treatment and they admitted that those questions were painful at times, and it was more how it was asked that mattered. To ask “how are you TODAY” instead of generally how are you, because every day is “a day at a time”.  They aren’t focused on the future, they are focused on the moment, the day at hand.

Of course, how trivial are these feelings of feeling awkward asking someone how they are in the grand scheme of things?! They are nothing in comparison to what those directly involved are going through or the person whose life is on the line.

The biggest thing I’ve realised we can do for someone is just be there when they need, whether they want/need you or not – you just have to ask – and that is free for anyone to do.  Ask them these questions whether you feel uncomfortable or not.

Just simply asking “how are you today”,  to ANYONE (because lets face it we are all going through something, whether its big or small) and sincerely listening when they tell you, can end up meaning the world to someone else: and that is what really matters.

hi i'm finley

waiting on your miracle

10/10/2014

6 Comments

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At the end of last month, September, we had a guest Pastor to Church, Sam Chand speak.   Sometimes at Church there are just some sermons that really hit you, that smack you right in the chest and say ‘listen well to this one Finley you need to hear this!’. 

This was one of them and paired with scripture (Sam Chand referenced Mark 5:36-43), it’s something to definitely study on as I seek answers as to our infertility and “what’s next”!

He spoke about Things to do while waiting on your Miracle and the story of Jairus, who was waiting for his miracle. About how Jairus must have felt waiting for Jesus to come to heal his daughter.  But instead, he had to wait.  He waited alongside Jesus as he healed a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years and was continually outcast from synagogues because she was “unclean”.    But she touches Jesus garment and by her faith she is healed.  Obviously Jairus is happy for her but the delay while he is waiting for his own miracle must have been frustrating to him.  Though Jesus did not neglect a woman who needed him.

Jairus’s daughter passes while he is waiting and he must have been quite upset at the situation and at Jesus I am sure.  But when they finally get to his house, Jesus tells Jairus and his family, no she is just sleeping and brings her back to life.   Now THAT is a miracle!   Even with the highs and lows.

Yet Jairus did wait.
Though not patiently I’m sure at times – but, he waited by Jesus side.
His faith must have been waivering, he would have been amazed at the healing power of Jesus in that moment of healing this woman – but he waited.
He experienced extreme sadness when finding out his daughter had passed, but he followed Jesus back to his home – and he waited – to see his daughter raised from the dead and healed!

But its all in the waiting!!!

Now patience isn’t my virtue and its something I have so struggled in with infertility and throughout my life.  But its not by patience alone, it’s by faith.  It’s that even in the face of fear and struggles, you have to take it to the cross.  You have to believe in your miracle.  Believe in the power that is Jesus as you wait!   And his sermon summed it up;

Things to do while waiting on your miracle
1.  Don’t be afraid.   
2.  Only believe
3.  Surround yourself with positive people (see Mark 5:37)
4.  Kick out the negative people from your life (Mark 5:38)
6.  Speak life into your situation (Mark 5:41)
7.  Feed your miracle

All these, except for number 4 which I feel can’t be helped sometimes (especially if you work with some of them!) are exactly what needs to happen.

But above all, have faith – have faith in the waiting – and believe that Jesus will put his hands on your situation and breathe life into it!  That nothing is impossible with God!

Amongst hilarious jokes and puns on waiting – you have to watch the podcast if you like a good laugh and a good sermon where it hits all the right spots!    (33 minutes)
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Faith and Fellowship Blog Hop

11/10/2014 5:37am

Great reminder girl!

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14/10/2014 9:05pm

Thanks Angela.

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12/10/2014 12:50am

Thanks for linking up with Susannah and I! 🙂

I love it when someone comes by with a truth that is super necessary, however difficult it may be to apply.Waiting is a thing we tend to do so poorly and in ways that communicate what a lack of faith that we have. I speak for myself….My waiting needs to be redeemed just as much as the rest of me!

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14/10/2014 9:07pm

Thanks so much Victoria. It definitely gets difficult at times and its a daily thing to just try and keep looking forward and to the cross for me!!! One day at time 🙂

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13/10/2014 10:52am

What a wonderful post, Finley! Your faith is so inspirational. I hope that you’re not waiting long.

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14/10/2014 9:08pm

Aww thanks lovely Jessah! Me too! Waiting on the promises of the Lord definitely for He does deliver! You are proof of His followed through promises! Hope you are well mamma to be xx

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