Thankful to God for my mother....

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by. I thank God for seeing me through another week.

I thank God for giving me a loving family and God's many mercies to us.

Today is my mum's 70th birthday! My 2 brothers and 1 sister, together with their family, are back from oversesas to celebrate my mum's birthday. It is such a rare occasion and a very happy one for all of us. Due to being in different countries and their family and work commitments, my siblings have not been able to return at the same time in past years. So today we are all very happy and excited at this wonderful reunion! Thank God for giving us such a precious time.

I thank God for giving me a very caring mother. She took very good care of me and my 3 siblings since we were young. She is a wonderful cook and she manages all the housework in our home very well. She loves all of us very much. She is especially delighted to see her grandchildren (my sister's children).

Ever since my siblings all went overseas, my mum and I have been able to develop a closer relationship. I thank God for giving me grace to take care of her. She has many health problems and is getting weaker as she ages.

Thank God for using her to care for me too whenever I am unwell. She will cook for me and ensure that I eat no matter how sick I am. Sometimes I am so busy that I forget about meal time or rest. She will prompt me and sometimes "nag" at me to take my meals and breaks :-)

I pray that she may see Christ through my life and my love for her. She is still not a believer. Please pray together with me for her salvation. I hope one day she too will come to know the love of God and His mercies.

I thank God for all you, my dear blogging friends and visitors. It is a tremendous blessing to know all of you and to read of God's goodness and mercies to you. Thank you for the many precious lessons you are teaching me and the blessing of just knowing you. I just read Janet's thanksgiving post. Very encouraging. Do go over and read if you can and be encouraged by it.

Thank you for stopping by. Take care and have a blessed day!

Warm Regards,
Nancie

Resting in God's love.....

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by.

♥ I thank God for seeing me through another week. Today is Thursday. I am reminded to count my blessings and be thankful to God for His many mercies.

♥ I thank God for strengthening through the last 2 weeks. I have rather ill with persistent flu. Thank God that now I am feeling better. Thank God for the much needed time of rest, a refreshment for both my body and soul. I was able to spend more time with the Lord in reading of His Words, prayers and reflections.

♥ I thank God for reminding me that we are accepted by God and beloved by Him through what our Lord Jesus Christ has done in our life in saving us. No matter how weak or imperfect we are, how much we have failed, God's love for us remains unchanging. So I thank God that I can rest in His love.

Recently, I felt quite down when I think of the way bipolar disorder affected my life and my relationships with some people who do not understand me. Some things I did in my effort to serve our Lord has caused some misunderstandings with some people. I felt very discouraged. I felt like a broken vessel and unfit to serve the Lord with the limitations of this illness. In God's mercies, He sends me many encouragements through His Words, His people and various other ways.

The Lord especially encouraged me through a video of a testimony of a couple with 2 special needs children who were brought to know our Lord as their saviours through the severe trials in their life. In a futile effort to seek help for their two children with Down Syndrome, the couple was providentially led to borrow money from a Christian friend who invited them to go to church. When they went to church, their life were changed completely. They have always feel ashamed of having two disabled children but when they heard the Word of God sang and preached, they were moved by the love of God Who accepts them. Gradually they learned to accept and value their children despite the children's disabilities. They began to know the love of God and His many wonderful mercies in their life.

The Lord reminded me that He is in control. He makes no mistakes. Though He may allow us or our loved ones to be afflicted with paralysing diseases or  infirmities, He can still use us for His glory to accomplish His divine purposes. We are but an instrument in His mighty hands. Though broken  and unfit in and of ourselves, the Lord is able to use us as He deems fit. His grace is even more evident in our brokenness. I feel encouraged to continue to look to Him daily for the grace and strength  to live for His glory. May God make me useful in His kingdom despite my  infirmities.

This week, Iris shared about "life" and her dad's life. She said

My dad always used to say “You are unique. Only you can do the things God set you out to do”. I couldn’t agree more. Although there are people with the same skills you might have, but only YOU can do them a specific way.

I am reminded of my father who loves me very much. He always believed that I will do well. I am reminded too that I am unique and God has made me with a purpose, even with this bipolar disorder. There have been many blessings I experienced through this condition too and I must not let the negative things discouraged me. I pray God will give me grace and strength to be a blessing to others.

♥ I thank God for my family and my church.

♥ I thank God for everyone of  you and all my blogging friends. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements through this blog and email. May God bless you all!

Thank you for stopping by. Take care and have a blessed day!

Warm Regards,
Nancie

Thankful to God Who is with us through all trials....

I took this picture at Changi Beach, Singapore

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by.

1. I am thankful to God for seeing me through another week. Thank God for Iris  and Sonya who are hosting Thankful Thursday. They remind me to count my blessings and be thankful to God always.

2. This week Iris wrote about "Thankful for Trials'.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. James 1:2-3

She said "BUT what really makes these trials worth it and the part I am thankful for: GOD! He is faithful, no matter what. He walked/s with me through the good and bad times. He is there when I am on the mountain top, or in the valley. No matter how low my spirit is, He knows how to get me back on track... Remember: no matter how bad the day gets — count it all joy — He is there with you!"

Amen! I thank God that He is with me through all the trials in my life. No matter how bad a situation I am in, the Lord has seen me safely through it, and He has shown me His great love, mercies and sufficiency. In fact very often, it is in time of great trials, that God is very real and precious to me. So for this reason, I thank God for enabling me to go through the trials He has providentially placed in my life and enabling me to know more and more of His love and mercies even through them.

I thank God for His mercies and faithfulness to work all things for my good through all the trials in my life. I have known God and myself better through them. The Lord is more and more precious to me each day as I sense His presence with me and His gracious hands sustaining me and delivering me.

3. I am thankful to God for seeing me through these few very difficult weeks. I have been facing many difficult challenges in these recent weeks that sometimes I feel like giving up. But thank God that He has been sustaining me and strengthening me day by day. He is helping me to cope with the many challenges in my life and encouraging me with His Words.

4. I am thankful to God for my family and friends who are there for me in time of my trials and afflictions, for their unfailing love and patience.

5. I thank God for each and everyone of you, my dear blogging friends, for all your prayers and encouragements. Whenever I share on this blog, you always stop by to pray and encourage me with your sweet comments. In times of trials, especially these few trying weeks, these become most precious as God uses these comments and prayers to communicate His love to me. I know that I am not alone and He is with me, and He is loving me through all of you. May God bless your kindness to me!  I am thankful to God for the privilege to get to know so many of you in this blogging world. Though many of you are going through severe trials and afflictions of many kinds, your courage and faith in God is so evident to many of us. May God keep you always very near to Him and continue to make you a blessing to many.

Thank you for stopping by. Take care and have a blessed day!

Warm Regards,
Nancie