Miracle

The door was closed
I said no more, I wouldn't
go that way again. I couldn't,
I wouldn't. It was just done.

Then time went on, things got busy,
But slowly something was changing.
A spark began and changed to hope,
a longing and a desire.

The time was not right. Not yet.
Was this really to be?
No the timing was still wrong.
So time passed and the desire grew strong.

Maybe now?
It seems maybe,
that our hearts just might be ready.
A few months pass, maybe not.

Then on Easter Sunday morning
it was confirmed.
And so with anticipation, hope and fear
a little Siertsema is due in December this year!

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

~Psalm 37:4~

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord.
"Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

~Jeremiah 29:11~

Let us hold unswervingly, to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

~Hebrews 10:23~

 

 

 

Catch up

Well, it's been awhile again! I guess it's a good thing that I'm busy with my two kids, part-time job and being a wife. That's about all I can handle these days. I'd love more time to write and keep this blog going, but most days, the days are just long enough to get in everything I need to do...and yet there's always more I want to do. Maybe when the kids are in school in the fall I'll have more time to write. For now, it's a busy summer with the kids, but you know, it's been a really great one! The kids are getting along well and enjoying each others company and I'm enjoying them as well!

A few notable days that have passed, and I will hopefully write more about them in the coming days, but I wanted to remind myself to do that so I thought I'd post blog titles here, so hopefully I can remember to write more about them sometime soon.

Miracle

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. ~Psalm 37:4~

A's second gotcha day/family day!

Kalyna's 3rd Birthday

Micah is 5!

When openness becomes a reality

The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. ~Psalm 37:23-24~

It's been a very eventful few months and I will hopefully have time to fill in these blog posts...if not this summer than in September hopefully! Can't believe that Micah will be in SK in the fall and A in JK. I can't believe we made it to the school days with both of them. Very hard to believe, but feels like a great accomplishment to know that we made it and a new chapter of our lives is about to begin, called the School Life. With it will come a new routine and new wrinkles to sort out.

But for now I'm going to just enjoy these summer months that are slowly fading away. Summer months that allow for spending more time with my amazing kids, (who right now are playing a card game together very nicely! -I'm so amazed at how well they play together these days!), having bbq's with friends, relaxing evenings with my wonderful hubby and just the overall slower pace that is the summer. It's been a really great one so far! :)

I hope you are all having a lovely summer as well.
And I'll leave you with these verses. They caught my eye this morning.

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.

Psalm 103:17-18

Psalm 42

Psalm 42 (paraphrased by me)

As animals long for water to drink, to satisfy their thirst, so I want to long for you my God. I want everything in me to long for you. I want to know the living God. I want to meet with You everyday. When I go through difficulties and I have only my tears, I remember how I used to run to God and live in His comfort...and the times that I praised Him. It helps me remember that when I am sad/discouraged/angry that I need to put my hope in God and continue to praise my Saviour. Sometimes it feels as though my troubles are causing me to question where my God is...but I know that my hope is in God and I will continue to praise Him all day long. I know God is my rock.

"By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me

— a prayer to the God of my life."

Psalm 42:8

 

 

Psalm 63

Psalm 63 (as paraphrased by me)
You are my God and I want to continue to seek you. I want to long for you with all that I am. I have seen your wonderful works in my life and have felt your presence. You love is better than anything in this world. I will praise you and lift up my hands in worship. I want your love to satisfy all my deepest desires. Throughout the night, when I wake, I want to be talking with you. I know that you are my help through all my deepest storms and I will cling to you; even when I feel threatened and overwhelmed with this life.  I will continue to rejoice in you, my God.

Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

 I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.

~Psalm 63:7-8~

Psalm 27

Psalm 27
This is just Psalm 27 in my own words as I read it and pray it into my life.

No matter what I face in life, God is always my strength. I don't have to be afraid of anything because God is the anchor the one who holds me together and gives me my salvation. No one can take that away. I can be confident in my unchanging God.
I am looking forward to the day when I see the Lord's face and dwell in His home and see His beauty. For He continues to take care of me no matter what. Because the Lord saved me, I will sing His praises and worship Him. I will seek His face; please Lord might I find You? I know that even if everyone left me, or everything was taken away, the Lord would never leave me. He would never forsake me. Please teach me your ways. Help me to walk in your ways. May your desires be my desires.

"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

~Psalm 27:13-14~

2015

Well, it's been awhile, but I guess that's what happens in life! Life happens!

The beginning of 2015 was busy with our Upward Basketball Season 4! We spent every Saturday in January and February and 1 in March at Basketball. It's a whirlwind of a season, but I think it was a good one. We had a lot of kids out this year...more than I expected which made for some stress in terms of organizing a number so large, but thanks to our Heavenly Father, He provided some new coaches, coaches who were willing to coach two teams and a venue within the school board at a local elementary school which was really awesome! It definitely paved the way for next year, and we should be able to continue to support that many kids hopefully...
A lot of our time over those months were dedicated to the Upward Basketball ministry. God has blessed this ministry with three partner churches and many many volunteers from young to old! The message of Jesus was shared to all our Upward players and their families! It can't get much better than that!
Also, this year, Micah got to play for the first time! Next year A will get to play...and she is already practicing and can't wait until it's her turn to play too. I can't wait to watch her!

Well we enjoyed a little down time in March and then we swung right into April and Easter. This year's Good Friday service and Easter Sunday service were both so powerful, awe-inspiring and encouraging. We are so blessed to be apart of our church family. 

I guess this post doesn't have much inspiration, but mostly just a catch up over the last few months.
However, I am hoping to blog a little more in the coming weeks as I hope to do a study on prayer with the Psalms. The devotion encouraged summarizing the Psalms to help with prayer life. Prayer always seems to be an area I need to work on, so I'm hoping this will help my prayer life. I always try to write down my prayer requests, or who I'm praying for and then remember to pray for them as often as I can...but I usually do really well for a bit and then I struggle with it again. I really want to have a consistent and meaningful prayer life with my Heavenly Father. It's only by His strength I can whether the daily storms. So stay tuned (hopefully) for a little study on the Psalms and prayer :)

I hope you've all had a blessed Easter and are renewed in your faith and looking forward to when our Saviour comes again!

Christmas 2014

And the dust is finally starting to settle. After a whirlwind few days, we are finally home tomorrow after 4 days of Christmases in a row! The kids haven't even been home to play with their new things!

What a crazy Christmas...a Christmas full of rain and cloudy days...(no beautiful white snow to marvel at) but it made for great driving conditions, so I'm thankful for that.

We spent our time visiting a lot of family and celebrating time and gifts and renewing our familyship together. Lots of good food and games and chats.

A and Micah, enjoyed themselves as well, despite taking turns battling a nasty cold, they seemed to be enjoying the attention and of course the gifts. They have also turned into pretty good travelers, despite hearing A ask, about every minute - "we there yet" , if you can handle that on repeat, they do pretty good. I think we've also heard the "ABCD" song by A about a million times as well...but hey, if she's happy and singing, I don't mind hearing the same song over and over.... :)

It's very interesting seeing gifts change as the kids grow. Seeing the clothes get a size larger each Christmas, seeing the kids' interests change, or level of difficulty change. This is the first Christmas that Micah has received lego or playmobile....I'm already figuring out how I'm going to have to re-organize his room to accommodate a good organization system for lego and playmobile... he is loving this stuff...I think it'll be good for his engineering brain and his imagination.

A is finally taking a small interest in dolls...mostly the brushing of their hair...she's a very tactile/learn through the senses type of girl, so she seems to love to brush/touch hair. It will be a good skill for her to learn to play with dolls, I think. She still loves to watch cooking or to pretend to cook, so I'm sure she will be pretend cooking for her dolls very soon.

To all our family near and far, thank you for a lovely Christmas time.

And as always, so important to focus on what Christmas truly is about. I've heard it said that Christmas is mostly about family and spending time with those you love...but what about those people who's loved ones have passed away? (Remembering our dear Kalyna - her ornaments are sparkling on our tree - but oh to see her lovely smiling face on our Christmas card would just warm my heart....) Who can't make it home to celebrate with loved ones? Who is all alone? That reason for Christmas would simply be painful to them. However, the real reason for Christmas can be celebrated by everyone, no matter what. Doesn't matter if you are all alone, if you can't make it home, if you are missing your loved ones, especially at this season.  No, everyone, anywhere, any age, can celebrate Jesus. We can celebrate His birthday and what this means for our lives. Jesus was born to die for our sins...that if we ask, we can be forgiven and some day live with Him in Heaven. Even Micah can tell that to you now! :) It totally melted my heart today when in KidJAM, Micah answered the question - What present would you give to Jesus - and he said "myself". So glad that Micah is starting to understand what life is all about.

I'll leave you with these verses: Our KidJAM verses from these past two weeks...

Luke 2:11

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.

 

Matthew 2:11
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

 

I hope that you are having a Christmas that is full of our Saviour's love and peace.