Teacups in the Jungle

The surgeon is out of the country for the next 2 weeks and we have his first appointment when he returns which will be July 30th. His secretary also told us she has scheduled in Izzy’s surgery to be on August 26th. Honestly, this is a little disappointing to us, we really were hoping for a sooner surgery date. The main reason being we have tickets to return to the Philippines for September 21st and we would like to give Izzy plenty of recovery time after the surgery. The surgeon would like to see her 4 weeks after the surgery is done. With that date now scheduled for August 26 it means we will only have 3 1/2 weeks after she has the operation before we return to the tropics. Not what we had expected or hoped for. Plus my parents are coming to visit us the last 2 weeks in August and we all hoped she would have the surgery over by then and we could just enjoy being together.

We have talked with the secretary (a lovely lady) and she absolutely understands our predicament but she cannot change the surgeron’s schedule without his ok. She has emailed him on our behalf asking it is is possible to change the date to an earlier time. It may be a while before we hear back from them and so we wait with a possible surgery date but one we are hoping and praying will change.

Danny and I stared at the phone and checked our email way too many times after our conversation with the secretary…then decided to take the kiddos to the beach for the day. We went to one of our favourite beaches on the Central Coast, Pismo Beach. I love the pier over the water. It is always cooler there and we knew Izzy and Judah would love seeing the ocean again and getting to be outdoors always helps our mood.

We brought the camera to take some photographs but it was a really overcast day and all our clothes were mix matched and didn’t look so good together when we viewed the first photos we had taken. Danny fiddled around (in a knowledgeable sort of way!) and changed the setting on the camera to black and white. Instantly everything looked better, the contrasts were complimentary and the lighting was good. Instead of a dreary, heavy looking day, it looked crisp and bright through the lens. Same day and same surroundings but a setting on the camera changed the outcome, changed the picture.

My mind has some settings too, to name just a few; a mind set on emotions, a mind set on myself, a mind set on the world around me and then a mind set on Christ. I can chose the setting, I can chose how I will view this day and the reactions I will have to what is coming my way. Somedays, through my lens things can look unplanned, mix matched, heavy, dreary and even blurred. However when I think on Christ, His will and plans and His control over every detail; clarity comes, light flows in, things slow down and I see my world a lot more clearly. This is it, a snap shot of peace. A life in focus of who I am in Christ, this is the image that I want to frame each day by.

In light of His Word I can see the contrasts of the world around me and the negatives (that I don’t to live by) finally fade away. Thinking on Scripture changes my perspective, here are some “mind” verses I looked up to remind myself of this week.

Colossians 3:2 – Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

2 Corinthians 10:5 – Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Isaiah 26:3 – Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee.

2 Timothy 1:7 – For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Psalms 16:8 – I have set the LORD always before me: because [he is] at my right hand, I shall not be moved.


Romans 12

There is a constant struggle within, to set my mind on Christ and the Truth of His Word or to settle for the anxiety of being tossed to and fro by circumstances, reactions and expectations. I chose peace, His will, His way, I want to prove what is the, “good and acceptable and perfect will of God” for me today. Tomorrow, we will face tomorrow.

This was our day….

Love to you all,

Philippa.