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Feast fever has arrived but a little later this year probably due to the uncertainty in planning where we should attend. So much to consider. Fasting and praying to determine God’s will for us and then the final decision made as the month of August waned. For a few years now I have wanted a Feast site in Adelaide but we are a small group of about 20 so it has never been an option since my calling. Travelling long distances by car or usually by plane, even passage by ship has been necessary to attend any of the Feast sites in Australia. Our closest site is two plane rides away and very costly. I used to think those who could quickly jump in the car after work and drive to their Feast site like it was “just up the road” were very blessed. Now I can see that this may not be so much of a blessing after all because it would be really tempting to go home to check on pets, gather the mail, and do the laundry with easy access. These are the thoughts I am currently having now as our Feast site is only an hour away, if that, depending on traffic. My struggle is with putting our old cat into the local cattery because I don’t want him to have the mandatory vaccinations, nor the trauma of leaving his territory which he patrols day and night.
It will be most unusual and a “first” to have the whole congregation together as we usually scatter to various Feast sites within Australia and also overseas. Seems like this will be the experience for all Australians in 2020 — to gather and feast within their own borders. It will be a very special Feast experience and one I’m sure we will treasure for the rest of our lives. We will be attending Hahndorf in the picturesque Adelaide hills where undulating pastures green from God’s generous blessing of plenteous and refreshing rain in due season has been supplied. We will all mostly dwell onsite in cabins placed strategically around lakes with BBQ facilities and where ducks and wildlife wander freely about. The vegetation and trees are lovely making a pretty scene straight out of a picture book millennial setting. Peaceful, tranquil and plenty of fresh air, room to move about, take walks, and explore the local main street replete with many restaurants, wineries, cafés, and shops with German based goods including bakery items like Oma used to make. Hahndorf is where I purchased my cuckoo clock years ago and was told it came from the Black Forest in Germany but was cheaper to buy here than back there in the motherland because the prices are quite inflated for tourists. Hahndorf is full of German goodies. It will be a most blissful 8 days full of loving fellowship, opportunities for sharing, caring, deepening our relationships as well as meditating on God’s blessings over this year in 2020 where many things have changed around the world. Each year it feels like I need the Feast of Tabernacles even more than previously as this world descends into deeper darkness during sorrowful times. Is it like this for you too?
Coming out of the world for eight days will be so welcoming and imagining the therapeutic time we will have away with others of like mind is easy — what will be difficult for me is to come home again because as I write I have no fixed employment. The new boss has axed my position only 2 weeks after advising she will definitely keep me on, however she then back-flipped to say that she would definitely have a Documentation Nurse. The following fortnight when onsite again the boss was absent so I emailed her to ask once and for all what is happening with my position, hoping to receive something in writing as she stated she would offer me a permanent part-time position. A return email stated that I will be missed but she cannot keep me on. However, I know otherwise. The Registered Nurses are upset as now they will need to absorb what I have been doing yet they are already stretched due to extra duties because of the Coronavirus on top of their busy shifts; they really do not have the time nor the experience and already stay back late well after their shifts finish. After fixing up the myriad of errors and problems these will once again surface and let the whole place down because people do not take the time to be accurate, or read through their assessments, nor make any sense. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are a dying art these days. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad. The only comfort I have is that God must be deliberately and purposefully closing this door in my life for a very good reason as I would never have willingly left this position and definitely wanted to stay until retirement age.
Approaching the Feast of Tabernacles is mostly very sweet but it is a little bittersweet this year as everything in my life during 2020 has been a huge blessing, one right after the other, continually to the point I got used to it and was in a comfort zone of sorts. We were even able to save up for a new car which we bought the week before the news of no more job, and then plan to give the smaller, older car to our youngest daughter as she learns to drive. Always thankful and grateful for God’s provision and generosity daily as it is very humbling and amazing to fill our barns or store rooms with plenty till they are overflowing as scripture says in Proverbs 3:9-10 and Malachi 3:10. Why bittersweet? Because I wanted things to go on as previously but alas this is not God’s plan for me so now I need to get my headspace ready for what is ahead. I have not had a job like this one where I was so happy to go to work that it didn’t feel like work. I was trusted, given great authority, I could work from home with remote access and come onsite weekly or fortnightly to touch base and the choice was mine. Accommodation was provided for myself and husband in addition to funds which more than covered petrol costs, plus a lucrative salary. As long as I kept on diligently producing the work everything else was my decision. The freedom made this incredibly sustainable and enjoyable. It was like a weekly adventure travelling for 220 km each way looking at the beautiful countryside from our car, seeing cows, horses, sheep, dogs, ducks, birds, alpacas/llamas (hard to tell the difference from a distance) with farmers sowing and ploughing their fields while enjoying big skies, sunshine and fresh air — it truly was like a holiday with travel up north to warmer temperatures. Time to move on.
God will provide. He always has. The not knowing when or where is the uncertainty for me. Time for another lesson in trusting Him, having faith that He has our best interests at heart. So, for me, this is a trial of sorts because I like routine and got used to working with friendly people, country people, who appreciated my work. It would have been nice to have proper notification and time to adjust rather than the way this unfolded, yet I need to remember that this is the world we live in with many doing it tough in COVID times where decency, truth, consideration, and caring for others seems to be either hit or miss. If this is the worst thing that happens to me then I am doing brilliantly. Reminding myself of all the benefits and blessings is comforting. Once again I need to focus on looking at how God has abundantly blessed me/us with what we have rather than what we do not have. Transitioning smoothly does not come immediately for me as I have come to realise I need a little time to get over the shock and feelings of sadness of losing something that suited me completely and used my talents to benefit others.
God’s beautiful and timely reminders for me come from His Holy Bible where it seems this is the only place I can obtain any real peace and therapeutic healing. Reading Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” confirms that it is marvellous how God participates in our walk, illuminating every step of the way. Considering Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” shows how God plans our way for our own good if we allow Him to be part of it. Then there is 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 “So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight”. Faith, precious faith needs building and nurturing — we need to be actively cultivating this most wonderful gift. I very much look forward to sharing the next installment of how God works in my life and until then I am lovingly reminded of a biblical scripture that needs regular meditation upon and is provided here for those who are unfamiliar with it or for those who need another reminder like me.
Matthew 6:25-34 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble”.
So there it is set before us of why we should not worry, be concerned, or focus on all the situations in life that need attention and provision for. God will always look after us as we seek first His Kingdom (Matthew 6:33). Letting go of control is difficult for all of us and this is a reminder for me that it is certainly not by my hand that things go well. Furthermore, we can also become prideful in our abilities which is such an ugly thing. We must remain humble and teachable, stay close to God and seek His will daily for our lives.