What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

September

Every winter I begin to wonder if perhaps my basket collection is becoming a bit excessive and wonder if I ought to pare down.


Then, September comes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Feeling just a tad *or maybe not JUST a tad* bit overwhelmed these days.

Sadly, when I get to feeling this way, I begin treading water; accomplishing seemingly nothing and all those non-accomplishments add up to make me feel more overwhelmed.

A vicious cycle, I tell you.

The house is completely trashed from hasty birthday preparations and yard sale preparations that never panned out, thanks to buckets from heaven.

The laundry is mountainous thanks also, to buckets from heaven.

The school year has officially started but I am feeling less prepared than EVER thanks to a summer that disappeared before my very eyes.

Tomatoes are like dirty laundry these days...you get approximately 15 minutes of being caught up before more appear.

I have been intending to reopen my Etsy shop and set up a table at a craft show very soon in order to help more with finances but can't even seem to find the time to vacuum the throw rug in the living room or post those clothes on Craigslist.

Worst of all, the (very uncertain) future may make the next two or three months (or 6 or 12) the most insane months of my life. And the uncertainty of it all is driving me mad.

I wonder if the strength of it all is in me.

And then I read this, written just for me it seems:

God WILL give you more than you can handle

and

Our Priviledge on Earth

And I remember this:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."


And then I just step out, one step after another... in faith.

25 comments:

Bonnie said...

Its a shame your tomatoes did so poorly ;0P

I'm so glad to read this, I feel the EXACT SAME WAY.
Big surprise, you probably already knew that since you have the other half of *my* brain.

Got your deliciously long letter, and am praying away for your sanity.
Keep, stepping, I'm right there with you...
Lots of love,
Bon

Anonymous said...

prayers from a fan of yours in va ~

b

Els said...

Oh dear, you've got far more tomatoes than I can imagine growing here...
Just prepared a batch of "Rebecca's Zucchini Relish"; very popular here!
Tomorrow our kids go back to school, can you imagine, all three in high school!
I should have time then for snail mail....
Keep it up, God will give you all you need!
Love, Els

ulli said...

Keep putting one foot in front of the other--the important things will get done. Love your baskets of tomatoes and yummies. I just started canning, but the funny thing is that I don't have a garden and grow anything. Hubby thinks it's funny that I buy veggies just to can them. Oh well... I'm loving it.
Keep your faith--He will bless you with strength.

Anonymous said...

Prayin for endurance! Blessings!
-bobbi

Elizabeth S said...

God will give you the strenght and grace to make it through. Try doing one thing to the end. If I see one task completed it gives me strength to do another and then another.

ECS

Jena said...

I'll pray for you. Keep your chin up. When people praise me for all I get done in a day here with one baby and a farm I laugh and think they must not know the likes of *you*.

Unknown said...

I know you can! I know you can! I know you can!!!!!!

(((HUGS)))

Abigail said...

Little by little! (That's what I tell myself, anyway.)

Everything in our garden is doing wonderfully, too-- save tomatoes. This is the worst year we've ever had, and I pine for tomato-filled baskets to overwhelm me. Maybe we could arrange a trade of tomatoes for...what do you want? Corn? Beets? Eggplant? Kale? Onions? Potatoes? Rutabega? Peppers? C'mon, now!

Lastly, I've been praying for you all and hope that if you were flooded out, you're in a safe place. Many prayers going up for Elizabeth, too!

Bonnie said...

Praying for you guys and all this flooding! Wow, thats close.
Abby or Elizabeth (or anyone else who knows anything), please let us know here in the comments if you hear from Rebecca or Matt, and how they are doing!

Abigail said...

I just replied to your comment on my blog, but here's a cut&paste for you...

I'll definitely let you know if I hear anything. I heard that Elizabeth and her family are in a shelter right now, and I called Rebecca earlier this morning, but their phone is out of order, which isn't surprising considering all the power outages there are around here right now. I called Matt's cell, too, but haven't heard anything back yet. I know their creekbed is normally pretty dry by the end of summer, but I saw some pictures of their town that looked bad enough, so I hope all is well.

I'm envisioning their garden swept away :( , but hopefully they're all high and dry.

Bonnie said...

Thanks Abigail!

Anonymous said...

great post thanks for sharing looking for to visit more..loves from holland god bless you

Natalie said...

Thanks for the links, I'm feeling the same way lately. Treading water can seem pointless at times, but the links were very refreshing. May God bless us both as we serve him!

Sandy said...

Hi rebecca, we also heard about the flooding in PA - it was even on the radio here in South Africa! We are praying for you all.

Unknown said...

Praying, Rebecca!!!! :(

Leah said...

Love you Rebecca.

Anonymous said...

praying for you and yours rebecca safety from our awesome God
-Bobbi

Bonnie said...

For anyone checking- they are OKAY!!! Phone lines are down, and Rebecca's sister and her family are staying with them for now (they were evacuated). The roads near them are ruined or in terrible shape but our beloved Newman clan was spared- Praise the Lord!!!!!

Bonnie said...

In case you're wondering, there was massive flooding in the area where Rebecca's family lives. Massive flooding.

Anonymous said...

YEAH!!!!

Anonymous said...

sorry that yeah!! was from Bobbi

Unknown said...

Thanks for the info, Bonnie!! Been thinking of everybody!

So glad you are all ok, Rebecca!! Will pray that people will keep safe, the waters will recede, and cleanup will be as smooth & quick as possible!

Riahli said...

I've been feeling very overwhelmed at well... thanks for posting those encouraging words. Keep stepping in faith. :)

Mar said...

We had the same rain but not the flooding. I hope all is well and that everyone will be dried out soon.