Faithfulness ... living with the Faithful One

Over the last 5 years, I have come to experience God's faithfulness in a very tangible way and I am now constantly reminded of how faithful God is in the every day things of life but it is good to be reminded of His faithfulness on a daily basis too and so I wanted to share this.

Since we made a decision to move to Perth, God has just blessed us by opening doors, making connections, reminding us of old friends who we can reunite with in Perth, replenishing our failing finances, providing me with a potential job offer already ... and not just any job but one with Christian sisters and Psychologists who happen to also be South Africans?! Amazing ... although, contracts are not signed yet so I don't want to jump the gun but I am just so moved that despite my painful reluctance to leave Sydney, God has been encouraging us beyond imagination that He is in this move to Perth!! God is so good to us ... I'm humbled and amazed that He would want to be faithful to me when I fall so short of His glory and what He expects of us ... "perfection" - (Matt: 5:48). The beautiful thing is that He always knew that perfection was never to be achieved by any one of us except for His precious son Jesus ... a sinless Saviour who paid the ultimate price of sacrafice so that we might know God for who He really is ... the Faithful One.

I realise that there are so many times when I lack confidence in completely trusting God, and I try to rely on my own understanding and strength, but inevitably I fall over in a heap most of those times wondering where God is when I need Him most! But then I receive a gentle nudge, a bible verse or a daily devotional reading that brings me back to a child like dependence upon God ... for whom else can I turn to in times of trouble or struggle and know that He will always be there ... my true and precious friend, the Faithful One.

I encourage you to listen to and read the lyrics to one of my most favourite songs of all time ... it is called "Faithful One" ... it is truly soul changing and uplifting!

http://youtu.be/IczlW3QlHCs (Copy & Paste into a web page if this doesn't hyperlink)

God can never be unfaithful because He is the Faithful One and He is unchanging, a Rock through the Ages. We can depend on Him, trust in Him, love Him, honour Him, obey Him, seek Him and ultimately, bring glory to Him for his faithfulness endures forever and if you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Saviour, then the power of God's faithfulness is with you today and always until we walk into eternity! I pray you know God's faithfulness in your life always.

Sisters ... A Precious Gift ... and a HUGE decision!!

It's bucketing down with rain ... and I am not a fan of being wet, so it is a great day to be indoors blogging!! I just received an email from a dear friend, Eva and the first line read:

Look at your problems in the light of God's power instead of looking at God in the shadow of your problems

Today is International Women's Day and receiving this email made me want to "shout" out the overwhelming appreciation and love I have for all the women in my life who have, over the years, supported me, encouraged me, listened to me, cried with and for me, prayed with and for me, hugged me, laughed with and at me, rebuked me, taught me and ultimately loved me like the sister I never had. Not many of you may know this, but I was meant to have a little sister ... she would have been 7 years younger than me and she was born the day before my birthday ... but sadly, she was stillborn and was an Angel in heaven long before I even had the opportunity to know her. So I missed out on having a true sister but God has made up for that in abundance throughout my life. I celebrate her life and remember her as I can't help but be reminded of our painful loss the day before my birthday every year. I sometimes covet the friendship and relationships I see between sisters I know and I sometimes try to imagine what it would have been like to have had her in my life. One day we will meet in heaven and then, I will know.

But for now, I thank God for all the other "Sisters" he has placed so strategically in my life. Each and every one at the right time, in the right place, for the right purpose and I have experienced many blessings as a result.

I also have to thank God that I have a really wonderful brother who is very dear to my heart! I'm looking forward to spending some time living near to him and his family and connecting our lives again in a very real way ... which brings me to some breaking news ...

The Newells are moving to Perth!!

Yes, we have finally made a decision to "migrate" to Perth!! It feels like we're moving to another country, it's a HUGE decision and a massive undertaking and I'm terrified, excited, anxious, joyful and heart broken all at the same time! I've been looking for reasons to stay in Sydney and, unfortunately, the reasons to go to Perth outweigh the reasons to stay in Sydney and I am really starting to see God's hand in all this and His perfect timing too!

So when I received Eva's email with that one liner ... it just put everything into sharper focus and broader perspective for me! Over a year ago, unbeknown to us, both Brad and I simultaneously received what can only now be explained as a nudge from God to consider moving to Perth. We discussed it for a while and weighed up the options and I just could not get my head around the idea and refused to even entertain the thought of leaving Sydney again! After all, I feel like I've just arrived home ... but it's been 3 years since I got back from the Logos Hope and it's been a whirlwind 3 years filled with a wedding, a pregnancy, a beautiful baby girl, work, church, reconnecting with friends and finding our place again ... and whilst for the most part those things have been wonderful, amazing and inspiring, there have been many challenges too ... especially financially! Having not earned any income for over 2 years from 2007-2009, and with Brad commencing a new career path, we have, sadly, just "fallen way behind the eight ball" and consequently, Sydney is breaking us and we can't see a way forward here.

Surprisingly enough, or maybe not so, God had to get on the loud speaker and said ... "It's Time to GO ... Vanessa & Brad ... what are you waiting for?"

So how did we get to this point ... well ... in May this year, I will celebrate my 40th birthday, my brother will celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary and my Dad will celebrate his 70th birthday!! So, we had all planned to be together in Perth for a family reunion!! Brad couldn't get the time off in May so we booked our flights for Saturday, 2 June 2012 ... and a return flight for 16 June 2012! But God had other plans!

Last week, we were informed that our landlords have decided to sell our unit. This immediately created the possibility that we would be forced to move elsewhere in Sydney or face a new landlord and a hike upwards in our current weekly rental price! As we are just scraping by in our current situation, we looked around and sadly, found no other options that were any cheaper or more inviting in the rental property market?! This caused us to think about what choices we had regarding our current situation and one thing lead to another and before we knew it, we were talking about potentially moving to Perth again!! I couldn't believe it ... I felt trapped and frustrated and initially very defiant that I would not be broken by Sydney and sent off to Perth unwillingly. I was just in the process of getting my private psychology practice up and running but unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of waiting out the time that it takes to be really successful as there is too much uncertainty. We also didn't think it was fair to throw Kaylah into full time day care, albeit we are delighted and so thankful to God for her current family day carer, Jan who is really wonderful with her ... but then I would be working full time to pay for her day care and that still would not get us ahead of where we really need to be in order to sustain ourselves financially?! In the interim, just prior to all this happening, my parents put their property on the market and sold it within a few weeks ... and this changed their circumstances too! So suddenly, their holiday in May was now no longer just a holiday but their final date for immigration to Australia ... no return!!

Now, to cut a long story short, we discussed some things with them which would ease our financial burden ... and then Brad & I talked long into the night and weighed up all our options and at the end of it all ... we made a HUGE and dare I say very painful decision to move to Perth as the best long term solution to everything. I cried many tears then, and since ... I'm crying now as I write this and will no doubt cry many more before we leave ... I'm heart broken but I know this is what is best for us as a family. We will, hopefully, if all things work out the way we are anticipating, free ourselves from financial hardship, alleviate debt, afford to purchase a house and own something bigger than the unit we currently rent, be closer to my family whom I haven't lived near for nearly 20 years but sadly still far from Brad's family and build a new life for ourselves. There are many altruistic benefits to our decision which includes that we will be sharing a property with my parents so that we can help them out as much as they will be helping us out. Ultimately, we aim to find a suitable property which has two fully self contained areas so that we can live side by side. They will take on the role of full time carers for Kaylah so that Brad & I can work full time and if, in the future, we are blessed with a new addition to our little family which is our desire, then I will have hands on help right at my doorstep! Of course, there will continue to be many challenges and difficulties to overcome but these things will provide the pepper and salt in our lives, will season our lives and makes us stronger, more resilient and more dependent on our faithful God in heaven. So now the process begins of sorting, culling, throwing away, tearing my hair out at all the stuff I've accumulated over the 16 years or so that I've lived in Sydney and making plans to move thousands and thousands of kilometres across this vast desert country!

We have seen God's hand in this decision and as soon as we had made it, changes started to happen for us financially ... it has been quite extraordinary!! God is so faithful and if only I could have a measure of His faithfulness, I think my life would have less worries, less burdens and more trust and dependence on Him in every situation. So this is why I loved the quote from Eva ... read it again ...

"Look at your problems in the light of God's power instead of looking at God in the shadow of your problems!"

So ... my 40th birthday party has now morphed into also being a Farewell Party ... and our actual date of departure is Saturday, 2 June 2012. I console myself with the knowledge that I'm only a 4-5 hour flight away from Sydney, that there will hopefully be cheap flights for friends to visit us and once we are financially more stable, for us to return and visit my beloved Sydney which holds so many of my dearest and closest friends in the palm of it's hands!

Please pray with us that God will grant us peace and a safe move to Perth, that we will find the right property for all of us, that Brad and I will find suitable jobs, that Kaylah will adjust to a new life and that my heart will heal from the hurt I feel at having to leave Sydney ... forever this time! I found a little card which I used to carry in my wallet and it just spoke volumes to me about God's faithfulness in all things ... great and small ...

"Prayer is asking for rain and faith is carrying an umbrella" - Barbara Johnson

2012 always felt like a big year of change in many respects but this has to be the most unexpected, surprising, yet painful but, once I warm up to it ... exciting change of our lives ... we're moving to PERTH!!!