God is in control

Well, another week has come and gone. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for them to pour concrete on Saturday. Dad and Ross and Caleb came over and worked with Nate all morning, setting forms and wire and getting everything all ready, then when the guy showed up (about an hour late!), he said he thought the ground was too wet from it having rained so recently and was afraid the truck would get stuck or slide off the side of the hill, so they have to wait til later. :( I was so excited for there to finally be something done down there, but it's almost as if there is some huge force stopping it, and it's hard for me to believe that anything will ever get done. Nate did make good use of the willing hands, though, and they went and got all the logs he will need to make the pine bed. Caleb and Ross stayed after George and Karen left in the afternoon. We had pizza and then the boys played a game, then we watched The Lone Ranger DVD's and made fun of Tonto. I think Nate is going to try to get everything together to pour concrete this Friday, and just rent a line pump, so the truck won't have to go down as far and risk being in the soggy parts. Nate's dad has been so helpful, and "recruited" three guys to come and help on Friday! I think if it weren't for him, Nate would just let it slide, and never do it, even though everything is all set up for it. I really am surprised at how he has been about the whole basement thing. I heard him say on the phone to his brother the other night "It hasn't gone like I thought it would." Who did he think was going to do it? Who did he think it was up to? It's more than just procrastination, though, it's really like something is strongly holding him back from accomplishing anything down there. I don't know what it is, and I just continue to pray for him, and pray that it will get done in the Lord's timing. Esther was over here helping me wrap presents Friday night and I was telling her about how excited I was for the concrete to be poured the next day. She said "Yes, it is good that there is finally some progress being done on it now, about the time when it was supposed to be almost done." I said "Well, it just wasn't the Lord's will." To which she replied, "How do you know it wasn't the Lord's will, and it just hasn't gotten done?" That really made me stop and think. I had a great conversation with my father a while ago about how God's purposes will be accomplished, He has a plan for every part of our lives, but He has chosen to restrain Himself for the purposes of allowing our free will to be exercised. My Dad also said that sin can destroy the purposes of God in a situation, but that of course God does work everything out for our good in the eternal purposes. I'm not saying Nathan has been sinning by not getting anything done on the basement, but it made me think anyway. It just induces me to pray for him more. That is definitely something I don't do faithfully enough. I know my sin so often keeps me from accomplishing what I should, in being a godly wife and mother, and getting things done around the house, and being the friend I should be to the people the Lord has blessed me with in bringing into my life. It makes me take a longer look at my own shortcomings, and confess them before the Lord. Yesterday in church, Pastor Carl was talking about when someone you love betrays you, and we were reading Psalm 55. It was amazing, how it fit my situation of so many months ago, and how I could have written the same thing back in March. I no longer feel the hurt and anger to any degree comparable to what I did at the outset, the Lord has given healing and forgiveness and exchanged my ashes for beauty, but there will always still be a remnant of the heartbreak there. How far we have come, however, in the Lord's mercy and guidance. At our lifegroup last night, Bob was talking about the importance of prayer, and reading from a book that said that the Bible calls the church a house of prayer. Not a house of preaching, a house of singing, or anything else, but a house of prayer, and how we so often neglect this vital aspect of our Christian lives. I think I am going to try to spend an hour in prayer today, after I get the boys down for their naps. I have been napping then, but hopefully I won't be so tired today, and can really spend some time supplicating the Lord for His guidance and blessings. Well, I should go, although I would love to write more, I have much that needs to be done, and not much energy to accomplish it with. I just put Ian down for his morning nap, so I am going to try to get the laundry put away in our bedroom while he is sleeping. I am just waiting for that end of pregnancy energy boost, the nesting instinct to kick in, or something. I just feel so drained most days, and when I wake up in the morning, usually my legs are so sore from being all tensed up at night, that it's hard to do anything. Lord, I need your strength, please make it perfect in my weakness, and help me to accomplish what you would have me to today. Thankyou for your help today.