I am reading in Proverbs at the moment and I came across this verse that I don’t ever remember reading before (Proverbs 14:4):
Without oxen a stable stays clean,
but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.
Hmmm. . . interesting verse . . . It made me think about our house . . . if we didn’t have so many people in it, it would be nice and clean and tidy! But at the moment, it is full of people and yes, we all make plenty of messes! (physically and emotionally and even spiritually). But it’s in the mess of life and family that planting and sowing and reaping happens, and Lord willing, eventually a harvest! We are praying for and working toward a large harvest – a harvest of love and spiritual life, a harvest of people who are passionate for God and who will affect eternity with their lives! That makes me think of my favourite mummy verse: (Galatians 6:9)
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Being a parent can be really exhausting! At times, it’s tempting to give up on various aspects of parenting. But as we continue to change those nappies, dry those tears, make those meals, wash those clothes, read those Bible stories, take time to instruct in those teachable moments, pray with those little people, discipline and teach and train . . . in time, we trust God that we will reap a harvest of hearts sold out for Jesus. Of course there are no guarantees (with children or crops!) but the law of the harvest says that generally, when you plant and water and care for the crops, you eventually yield a harvest. Let us press on toward the goal, hand in hand with Jesus. We feel our need of Him every day.
These last few weeks have been full ones (I guess our weeks are never not full!). Here are some photos that share the story of our last couple of months.
First, Miss Jessah turned one!
She took her first steps a few days before her birthday and we’re sure it won’t be long before she’ll be off and running.
Tonight she fell asleep in my arms when I was putting her to bed. She hardly ever does that now so I really savoured the moment and thought back to when she was tiny. Where does the time go?
Here we are celebrating her birthday with Grandpa and Grandma.
To follow the tradition of the Mead girls, I made her a cat cake.
Hmmm . . what’s this?
Jessah wasn’t too bothered about opening her presents but she made up for it in how much she enjoyed eating her cake!
We all delight in this little girl so much!
Peek-a-boo!
Reading with Hannah!
We have been very busy with schooling . . . but here’s having a time out for a hug!
And here we are at one of our favourite places to go for some fun – Bowood House. We have many a photo taken in front of this big tree by the entrance.
Can you believe the Meadlings colour-coded the balls in the ball pit? Yikes!
We went dressed as traffic lights for our church’s Light Party! The kids and I helped with the planning and we were thankful that it seemed a success!
Peter and Jessah and I went away for a weekend recently – Peter had found a very sweet little cottage for us to stay in. We had some much needed rest and time as a couple. Here Peter took Jessah out to get some wood for the fire.
The autumn leaves are just beautiful at the moment!
On the ministry front, there has been a lot happening and there is a lot coming up! Here are some prayer points and we hope to send a fuller email update out soon. We always appreciate prayer for physical energy and spiritual vitality as we raise our family and serve in ministry.
Pray for the youth girls at church who are doing a Bible study called Beauty By the Book on Wednesday nights. Melanie is helping to lead this along with a couple other women.
Pray for a Cor Deo intensive coming up in two weeks. Numbers are high and we are anticipating a great time together. Melanie will be attending this (the last one I did was four years ago!) and of course Peter and Mike be teaching.
Peter is preaching every Sunday this month on the book of John. Pray for open hearts, especially for those who don’t yet know Jesus.
Please pray for Peter as he continues to teach his preaching courses at Union School of Theology over the next two days.
Thanks so much for praying for us!
