What a Love.

I am sitting in my living room, on my big comfy white chair (my favorite place to place my bottom and write anything from grocery lists to blogs) and maizey is sleeping in her room. These moments are sacred; these moments are quiet... hallelujah! Hah!

Its also in these moments that I remember how much I longed for little footsteps to thump around my home, and giggles and cries to penetrate the silence I was in. I am so thankful for these quiet moments, but I am always so thankful for the noise as well.

This morning I was overwhelmed to write. The Spirit of God was pressing on my heart my absolute need for Him. My need when my season is, in my eyes, one of fruitfulness and when it is barren. My confession must always be the same... more of you, less of me. The moments when I come alive are when His breath is running through every vein of my being... seeping from every pore of my body. The moments in either season when I feel like I've lost purpose or I am crumbling under the weight of my longing or loss are the moments when I forget or can't get my heart to be even strong enough to confess my need of Him. He is the ONE thing always neccessary to move forward. What love He has for us... Jesus is always our answer, and He always makes Himself available. He welcomes us as we are, no matter how long its been. He never punishes us by holding back His presence because we have failed to faithfully come, but welcomes us the same again and again. What love, what grace.

I felt the need to write that this morning. So whoever you are that needs this... its time to turn to Jesus. He is your answer. He is available. You don't need to know what to say, or how to come, just seek Him. Tell Him you need Him. He will always be there.

xxxx

In other news... things I'm absolutely loving at the moment:::

{Music}
Bethel Music - The Loft Sessions
Kari Jobe - Where I Find You

My favorite morning is a cup of coffee/tea, my bible & one of these albums playing ... nothing better for the soul...

Q AND A.

As tweeted... a little Q&A this post... :)

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE U.S. CITY....
Would it be right to say anything but St. Augustine, Florida? The place where i was born and raised.. where the sun shine's more often than not... where Barnacle Bills feels like home... where my mom and dad and brother and sister in law are right around the corner... and where surf groms roam free to cause trouble... yep, i definitely couldn't say anywhere else. :)

CAN WE BE PALS....
absolutely. the more pal's the merrier the gal. (ALMOST rhymed)

WHERE DO YOU FIND THE TIME TO BLOG....
well, i don't find it nearly often enough...because bible reading, writing, journaling and a few other heart things take precedence... but when i do find the time... i LOVE it.

WHEN YOU WERE IN THE WAITING...AND THE WAITING... DID YOU EVER HAVE DOUBTS & HOW DID YOU HANDLE THEM....
absolutely. I love 2 Corinthians 10:5 (MSG) "We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ."
Waiting can be so painful, but one thing I decided would be more painful, was getting to the end of the waiting season and holding my God promise in my hands, and wishing I would have gleaned every single God moment and lesson from the waiting. I certainly didn't/don't have it all figured out, but that was one thing I held to.. as well as having verses like 2 Cor that were truths I would/do cling on to.

WHAT HAS GOD TAUGHT YOU ABOUT YOURSELF THROUGH BEING A MOM TO YOUR SWEET BABY....
phew... so many things i could never fit them all... selflessness... love in a new form... choosing to be thankful even when I'm tired and worn down... when you wait for a miracle baby and she comes, i decided i would never complain for what i begged God for... in every challenge, she reminds me of God's faithfulness, and i always remember in my heart those that are still waiting for their promise... it brings such perspective.

WHAT DO YOU DO TO GET READY TO WRITE... WHAT INSPIRES YOU....
writing is a discipline as well and an 'in the moment' expression... so when its a discipline, i make the space I'm writing in practical... computer ready to catch ideas, tv off, house tidy so it doesn't distract me, phone off... but preparation for the God moment expression of my heart is all in the preparation of every day... reading my bible, journaling, worshipping in the every day...
i get inspired by other music, by life moments of heart ache and thankfulness, by need, by the expression i feel in my heart like God is desiring to give the church to sing..

WHEN YOURS INSPIRED BY THE LORD TO WRITE A SONG, WHAT COMES FIRST FOR YOU? MELODY OR LYRICS....ooooo..... tough one... both... one ... the other... depends every time...

YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO BE SO HAPPY...HOW DO YOU KEEP IT UP?...
I believe ONE HUNDRED PERCENT with all my heart that you can ALWAYS find something to be thankful for. so even in the moments when life is the hardest, choosing to see and speak the good and choosing to give yourself perspective will change your outlook. Its really not hard to look around and realise how blessed we are... i decided a while ago that i would always choose to do that.

WHATS YOUR TAKE ON WALKING FORWARD IN FAITH VS. WAITING IN FAITH....
My take on that is to be a sheep.
Jesus said that His sheep know the sound of His voice... so, incidentally, i want to be a sheep.
I think that we need to be people that pray for wisdom and discernment so that in each individual situation we are hearing the Spirit of God and knowing when to walk forward and when to wait. Sometimes our waiting involves walking.

DO YOU HAVE PLANS ON RECORDING YOUR OWN ALBUM, WITH YOU OWN SONGS?
I love being a part of my local church, Hillsong Church, and writing for the house God has put me in... the album stuff just happens sometimes to be a part of that in our church.

DO YOU FEEL A DESIRE TO LEAD PEOPLE IN A DIFFERENT EXPRESSION OF WORSHIP OTHER THAN SINGING SONGS? IF SO, HOW?
I love interpretive dance. I'm pretty good at twirling.

WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR LIFE IS ON HOLD?
Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength... Love people... and flourish with what God has placed in your hand for the moment. He will never fail you...and every dream and hope that He has placed in your heart will come in time... the time between now and then has purpose beyond what you could ever imagine....


Hope you endured my rambling and poor grammar :)

xoxoxoxoxoxo

jilly

to mum with love.

I blogged this week as a contributor for Hillsong Collected... follow the link if you should so choose :) and HAPPY MOTHERS DAY... to all the women...mothers spiritually or earthly...sisters...nanna's...daughters and all the rest... you are valued and loved xxxx

http://bit.ly/lNMwuw

Promises kept.

I can't help but look at my bible and think how BIG it is. Its actually quite small in size but the spiritual weight of what it carries is so vast I can hardly comprehend that there's a 'pocket sized' version. Isn't it unbelievable that it is the Living Breathing Word of God? I can only assume (or hope?!) that I'm not the only person that has at times become complacent in reading it and diving into the depths of it... but there is always a point at which I pass by it on my nightstand, or couch, or chair or wherever it was last left and my heart almost leaps from my chest. Its like my soul has been parched in a desert and at the sight of the Living Water it can hardly contain itself.

I found myself in Romans 4 today... reading about the Faith of Abraham. My spirit melted in the moment I read Romans 4:21 "He was FULLY convinced that God is able to do whatever He promises". There's a list to go on about the promises that Abraham believed God for... not to say that He didn't struggle when He didn't understand how God would come through on His word...and even make mistakes... but He was counted by God as righteous because of his faith. I think one thing I have struggled with in the last few years is knowing full well in my heart that God's promises are sure and will stand against anything... but being caught in the gap of not understanding His timing and outworking - because its not my timing and I can't see how He will do what He said he will do. (pretty sure if i knew all those things that would make me God and that is just as ridiculous as it sounds hah!) I found so much comfort in Abrahams story... He left a legacy of faith and He was FULLY convinced of God's promises and the repercussions of that today are mind blowing. I am sitting in my living room on the couch, writing this, overwhelmed of God's faithfulness to Abraham and what that means for me sitting here today... and overwhelmed by God's faithfulness to me... even after a long journey... and what that will mean for maizey when she's sitting on her couch, in her living room one day, thinking of the faithfulness of God.

I could post it a million times and the truth of His promise would never lose power:: He is faithful. His timing is ALWAYS perfect. He is close to the broken. He is close to the seeking...and He is after the deepest part of your heart. He will keep His promise.

xxxx

celebrating.

celebrate::::

1. Mark (a significant or happy day or event), typically with a social gathering:

2. Do something enjoyable to mark such an occasion:

There's not actually anyone that on this earth that I'd rather celebrate than my husband. He makes me smile the best and deepest smile that my heart could smile... and I am beyond in love with him. This weekend we've spent every day of it celebrating the amazing man, husband and father that he is. I love loving him...and i love the way that he loves me and our maizey...

i am so blessed... and FULL of thankfulness.

happy birthday to my baby cakes. i love you matty.

tea and other things.

New favorite:: T2's 'creme brulee' Tea .

It is DELICIOUS. I mean delicious in that way that makes you want to pass up the cookie for the tea instead, or what the heck, just have the cookie and the tea. :) I find myself curled up on the couch around three or so with my cup of tea and a book (most recently a re-read of an old favorite - hinds feet in high places)... those moments of quiet and time to sit and rest are what fuel my life at the moment. Which leads me on to the thought I have for this little post.

1 Corinthians 13

The Way of Love

¹ If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. ²If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. ^3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

^8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

¹¹When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

¹²We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

¹³But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

To say that this brings my whole being to a stand still would probably be the only accurate way to describe this. How can we read and not be changed. The word is so clear... we can use our words to sound how we want to sound, tweet our way in to the hearts of the world, and make ourselves sound like who we want to be deep inside... but without love... its nothing. Today I resolve again that everything I do would be birthed from a place of real Love.

xxxx

me&maizey

a little reminder.

just reading this verse as i was going to sleep and had to share it...i remember this promise from God over 2 years ago not long after max was gone... and just was overwhelmed by it tonight...
He really is so faithful.

"See! The winter is past, the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit, the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come my darling; my beautiful one, come with me. " Song of Songs 2:11-13

the victory blog.

well. i was wondering when i would FINALLY get my head in a space to write something making some sort of sense that was more than a couple sentences long... and here i am at 1130pm on a sunday evening with the NSW road works team hard at work outside my door on the road in front of our house... lights and jackhammers blaring at full brightness and volume... guess God was gonna find a way to keep me up somehow. looks like this is it.

JOKING. that actually is the scene outside my window, but my heart has been stirring to write. i still feel like im in the 'new baby bubble'... really still in shock that my little answer to prayer/miracle/victory baby is in my arms... and that she is safe and sound...thriving...perfect to me in every way. reflecting on the last few years of life seemed almost to painful at first... i couldn't figure out why... and then i realised, having Maizey here is like holding your breath until you are almost passing out and then getting that saving breath. i just took that breath with her.

SO here are the stats.



She's my living breathing gorgeous little reminder that God is so faithful. that after 3 years of waiting God knew my every day cry for a baby of my own again, and He was so faithful in placing each moment of our story so far together. Every day with Haylee was mapped out in His perfect plan, and knowing that if I would have had my way and been pregnant any sooner, we may not have had haylee in our world, is just one more reminder of His faithfulness. He has been so good to us in every moment of every season so far... unchanging in His love... unwavering in His quest to see the very best for us... knowing what taking in haylee would do for our hearts and how we would grow and knowing how to stretch us to be more like Him. I feel like i'm deep in the river right now... a stone underneath the waters being smoothed over and crafted to His design... and while my edges rough and ragged must be washed over by His strong currents the result is so worth the wearing down. I can see how much farther to go ... i know that this side of eternity we will be always crafted and refined by the Maker... but now i love the process, however hard and trying. Its amazing how God does that... teaches us to love his crafting, and in seasons where we've walked through a valley, teaches us to see His faithfulness. He is always so close...EMMANUEL.

i could go on and on. i'm walking on air. my miracle is here and i could stare at her all day every day. Thankfulness overwhelms me. i find myself so aware and with those on my heart that are walking in a season like i've been in... and praying that God would give them the grace to keep walking in the most trying of days... and in His mercy carry them on the days when walking comes to crawling comes to exhaustion. All of those feelings and hurts are so real in the valley... BUT... victory is coming... it always does... not always in our timing or plan... but God is faithful and victorious. He is on our side.

i feel like half of me is typing in baby brain... half in normality...but it is now midnight... and my eyes are feeling heavy. i'm so glad i finally could sit and type a little. more to come. this journey is just beginning...

here's some photos :::::

the day maizey was born::

a week or so old:::


with one happy papa:::

just a few more :::

the final weeks.

I honestly have to say I can hardly believe I am writing this, still pregnant, at 34 weeks...or 8 1/2 months... it feels so surreal. like... totally surreal.

All my heart keeps whispering throughout my last weeks & months over and over is 'God is so good'... and there is this soft refrain that keeps singing 'victory', and a beautiful knowing that the enemy is defeated by the power of our mighty God. The enemy was always defeated, even before this victory of a little girl growing healthy in my tum... but to see the outworking of such a victory...it brings that glorious defeat to the forefront of my mind constantly. It is a constant reminder that all those things I know are so wonderfully true are playing out in a story of life right in front of my eyes.

It has certainly been an adventure, a ride of wild curves and swerves as we've made our way through the last months. I spent about a week in hospital at 29 weeks after our little maizey made an attempt at escaping a little early... and all was well after some precautions were taken... and again God was faithful and Maizey was healthy and happy with a bit of encouagement to stay put. Then, this past Sunday, we gathered together as a church family to record the 2011 Hillsong Live Album marking another year since losing our Max and marking a huge miracle victory as I had the privilage of standing and singing while carrying our healthy baby girl in my womb.

It seems as I type all of this, that I'm again overwhelmed by the simple fact that the story is just that... its the facts belonging to such a greater picture. Important? Absolutely! Our stories are so vitally important... but as I think about the story that is our (matty and my) lives together, I see so clearly that they only frame the substance which really matters and is true no matter what the up or down of the story is at the moment. The truth and the substance that is the constant, that makes up the fabric of who we are in every season is Jesus... the JOY of that washes me over. He will never change... No matter what comes in life... He will always be the center of our lives... and as the story frames the substance of us... we always live with the same truth and hope.

Maybe its just my pregnant brain as I type this all out, but I feel like there's a revelation in my heart today. I'm so beyond thankful for this beautiful baby that will be in my arms soon. Lord knows, she's been prayed for and so long awaited... but i'm also very aware that there are so many of you that are still in the waiting season... waiting for your promise... waiting for the answer you've been crying out for... and I feel like God's saying so clearly to let Him be your substance and to let him frame your life with a story that will glorify the substance that makes you up. He will never stop being faithful and true... and in the waiting He will be glorified as the constant in your heart and life.

i'll leave you with a little photo of late. the 34 week equator shot ... its getting harder and harder to take these simply out of vanity! ha!



As well a little update on Haylee (if you don't recall, she was our foster daughter for a little over a year)... she's doing great! She is about to be fully restored to her dad, so we are praying for him every day, believing he is going to be the very best dad she could have ever had... believing for his absolutely success in life and the next few years learning how to parent a toddler. We saw Haylee for what will most likely be the last time a couple weeks ago and she was BEAUTIFUL of course, walking and chatting and being the absolute treasure she always is...




xxxx

OH MY!

well... i'm still growing! yay! and at our scan of 25 wks last week so was our little one.
she does cheekily keep trying to make early appearances... i'm hoping that she's getting her wild side out of the way while she is 'womb-bound' ... then the perfect little angel that i know she is can be forever present from when shes born... over ambitious??? ha!

here's a blurry one.
and a bit of chubby cheeks on that face of hers...



i'm in love.

................................

in other news...

After a few weeks of no computer internet access *just phone* ...
we are back online.
moved in to our new place thanks to our amazing friends.
& SOOOOOO happy here.

i can't wait to sit and write again... for now though.. a sunday afternoon sleep is in order...

*snoooorr*

xx

and so we propose a toast.

{sfgirlbybay}

The best thing about yesterday was sitting on a park bench in bondi beach and 12:05 pm... my best friend Karalee by my side... with sparkling parkers organic juices... toasting. We toasted max kingston and how precious his life was when it entered the world at that point in my pregnancy last time... and in effect toasted the little victories that God has given to get me and matty to this point... and we toasted our little girl.. still in my tummy... still growing... and staying put.

I realised again, that sometimes in life its the little victories in the every day that make the big ones seem so much closer.

Oh victory, in Jesus
My Saviour
Forever
He sought me
& bought me
With His redeeming blood
He loved me 'ere
I knew Him
And all my love
Is due Him
He plunged me
To victory
Beneath the cleansing flood.
{words and music E.M. Bartlett}

alarm clock.

It would seem my body already has some sort of internal alarm set to prepare me for this baby. 4:45am and i was WIDE awake... i tossed and turned for a while... tried to think about nothing... thought about everything... even tried a trick a friend taught me ages ago, where you picture a roll of toilet paper right up close to your nose, and watch it roll around over and over.... (this of course must be a white roll.. no fancy decorative rolls... its totally the new counting sheep?? Ha!)... however, this didn't bring the sleep I was so desperately after. After a good hour of fighting my 'awakeness'... I got up... fumbled around for my contacts... put on the kettle... and now I'm sitting computer side with my cup of 'sydney breakfast' tea from T2 (FAVORITE-thx mia fieldes) and rambling off my early Sunday thoughts to you. I feel like I should apologize now... or maybe just hold down the delete button and start again????

We are moving in exactly a week.
I say we, but I actually won't be participating aside from maybe directing a little. When we worked out that this would be the time we needed to move, part of me thought... umm... perfect... this is gonna be an easy one for me... considering I'm not allowed to actually move anything! That is totally selfish... I know... but I try to be a teller of truths. Considering we only moved into our current place about 4 months ago, another move is daunting.... not only for us... but probably more so for our amazing and generous friends who always come show up with willing hands to speed up the process. or just make it possible!

Turns out tho, I'm WAY more of a control freak than I previously thought.

Surely, we all battle the 'control everything' side of our human nature.... or maybe some the opposite 'couldn't care less side'... but being high risk pregnant, with a side of surgery, and moving on the week which coincidentally was the week we lost our little max on (we are 23 wks yesterday and max came at 23wks and 5 days)... means that I won't be doing much of anything. I'm going crazy. I think my mind runs at a bazillion miles per hour with what we need to pack, how we need to pack it, how we can make moving the least complicated for the actual move and when it comes to unpacking, what and when we should move which items... am I sounding crazy to you??? Even as I write it, I shudder to think what my husband must think of this crazy woman he married! ha! I mean, seriously friends, I have plans to draw a diagram of the house to place on each box and mark where in what rooms the boxes go... and even contemplated colour coordinating boxes to items which I can't pack on my own. ?!

Its not that there's anything wrong with any of these things... being organized is great... its a good quality... but what I'm finding God is teaching me ... is to LET GO. These are NOT the things that need to be keeping me up, mind racing. I have decided that I'm going to consciously choose and let God make this side of my personality work as my greatest asset and not a hindrance. If I am going to be kept awake by something, the absolute truest reality, is that I would hope that it would WAY more often being children without mothers, women in captivity, people oppressed and needing hope... not how many boxes still need my new home diagram on them. The stark contrast of putting those things even side by side in the same sentence only reiterates my point to myself. PERSPECTIVE MCCLOGHRY. perspective.

seriously. perspective...it changes everything.

Its is so much easier to focus controlling the things that are small and in our grasp(obviously!)...its easier to think on those things...to let them quietly become the things that consume us... maybe its easier because we can see the problem and the solution all at once. I suppose the challenge we face is understanding and knowing (not just in our heads but really knowing in our hearts) that even the biggest problems on the earth can contain both the problem and solution in the same view... and His name is Jesus. It is much harder to face the mountains, stand in faith, believing for the impossible and trusting in the unseen... speaking things are not yet as though they were and actually and truly resting in the confidence that He is the answer and He will come thru... and with the biggest things we see or know are happening, that though the solution might not right now be in our head, in our heart or in our hands... each step with the Saviour of the world... each obedience... each small or large practical God placed step... puts us hand in hand with THE SOLUTION... as we walk out the steps to heavens answer...

I'm not sure how discernible this post is going to be when my brain is actually functioning with all cylinders firing (wait...not sure that happens ever? haha)... but hoping something good and life giving comes your way from it... xxx jilly

home is where.

{5Gardenias}

Home is where the heart is.

short and sweet... but as a girl thousands of miles from my family... i just was loving that thought today.

xx

oh and you seriously leave the most wonderful ...lovely... encouraging comments. some at the most appropriate of times. pretty amazing. so thanks!!

i can feel it.

Change... It's past, present and future.

I can see it as I think about the last year of our lives...
I can feel it right now stirring in my heart...
I am full of expectation for what the future is going to hold, as it takes its hold on whatever part of our lives that it is meant to.

I don't fear it...as a matter of fact...I love it. It always costs something, and always brings best out of everything that I am...well... eventually. ha! Sometimes that's a process that takes a lot longer than I would like. Sometimes its messy... sometimes its not pretty... but somehow... I know its worth it.

The obvious change is upon me as our little girl is growing bit by bit. I know that every day is a miracle and I'm so thankful for every moment that my little girl stays in my tummy...

Just wanted to do a quick post and share this photo. 22 wks today & counting.



OH!

{{and tell you that i LOVE your comments. and i will definitely be addressing some of them specifically soon. }}

xxxx

the biggest little treasure.

meet our little girl.
She even waves. Its like southern hospitality is woven into her involuntarily!

She is the biggest little treasure. I can't believe that after such a long wait for her.. so many prayers... tears... hopes... she is FINALLY in my tummy growing and thriving... THANK YOU JESUS!

Its always easier to sit on this side of the journey and talk about how Gods timing is perfect and how you can all of the sudden see how He had a plan and purpose for all the waiting. To that I would say, well, of course it feels better with the joy of my heart in my womb... but I don't understand the waiting any more than I did before. I am, however, just as sure now as ever, if not more, certain that God has perfect timing... and whatever His reason or plan might be... I am for it... on board... will choose to lay my life and dreams down... for His cause and His purpose. Is that the easy choice?... absolutely not... but its the one that leaves me with joy in my heart and hope in my hands... no matter what He has granted so far.
That is what I have resolved.

A couple weeks ago I went in for an ultrasound (I have these more frequently than normal as I am 'classified' now as high risk pregnancy).. these are for the purpose of making sure its all going the right way etc etc... we walked in thinking it was going to be fine as usual. We have walked in to this pregnancy full of faith for a healthy baby... aware of, but not dwelling, or expecting complications. We left that ultrasound with heart stopping news. There was a problem with an area of the ultrasound requiring that I have surgery as soon as possible to combat my body from continuing down the road it seemingly was on to another premature labour.
Talk about shock.
I'm sitting there thinking... this can't be happening again... God, WHERE ARE YOU???
Is my little girl going to be ok... i can't believe i thought this was all going to be normal...
(I'm just being brutally honest here). I felt like someone shot me in the chest.

These are all normal reactions. The problem becomes letting these thoughts take you captive. The solution... TAKING these thoughts captive.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

SO... as the enemy began his attack on my heart... Gracious Jesus stepped in with truth that is sewn in to the fabric of who I am... and truth began spilling on every doubt.

I.E. ::: This is not history repeating itself. God IS doing a new thing. Where is God?... RIGHT HERE... in this room with me...in my heart... in my everything...He IS in control... He IS right now knitting our little girl together in my womb part by part, every piece of who she is... and it is going to be OK.

I made a choice right then to not entertain thoughts that are contrary to what God says about my situation. He is mighty and great... and has us right in the palm of His hand. That is always the safest place to be.

{it's also helping to have things like this on my wall}
So now, surgery complete... home staying off my feet... and lots of time on my hands... I've been able to think about PLENTY. One thing I know is whatever God does in these next months... I am going to trust Him. I'm believing completely and am full of faith for a perfectly healthy baby... born at just the right time. I have also resolved that whatever happens... I will be ok with it. I don't claim to know what God is doing... I just know that everything is going to be ok... whatever everything ends up looking like... its going to be ok. God will never be out of control of what is happening... and His ways will always be higher than mine... His thoughts higher than mine....and no matter what, I won't stop praising Him... and let me tell you... when this baby girl is in my arms for the first time... healthy and perfect... you might here the celebrations of heaven and earth in that room from where your reading this. It is going to be a HAPPY day... :)

I would ask you to pray for our little girl as she keeps growing... there's quite a few milestones for us to pass in the coming months before she arrives... and prayer changes things... so we would love yours. I'll be 22 weeks on Saturday praise God... and plenty more of those week celebrations to come!

In other news... my husband is amazing and becoming quite the cook.. laundry man... general house duties man... grocery shopper and plenty more{AND} I have the best friends in the world. They frequently pop by with meals... groceries... to clean my house... bring flowers...take our dog for a walk...& the list goes on and on. Isn't it amazing how the family of God shines so beautiful in these moments. There are SO many beautiful things about where we are at this very moment... and to many things to count that I'm praising God for.

xxxxx

jill

OH. and thought i'd throw in these photos for a little glimpse at my amazing hubs coping with hospital stay life.... glad we weren't there long... ha!

{he can sleep anywhere}
{they tagged me}
{beautiful flowers from my mom and dad}
{sleeping arrangements for the night}

::time.... is on my side::

The wild thing about having a one year old little princess wildly running around the house, is that it seemingly leaves no time for much else in the day.
Ok, thats probably an exaggeration... she's not actually even walking yet... just this wildly speedy crab crawl that leaves one leg constantly underneath and one half walking... and time, well... there is minimal... enough to take showers, wash dishes, do the laundry and grocery shopping and every once and a while duck up to the cafe for a much needed cuppa.
In the last months we've also moved... which was an adventure that has us in a beautiful flat offering much more space than the old one... as well as heating that comes with the touch of a button and the speed of a rocket and leaves my american toes toasty warm.
We've had an amazing Hillsong Conference, where I was again left speechless at the glory and strength of a mighty and wonderful God. I also got to spend precious days and moments with one of my closest friends, Christy, who was here to be a guest at conference... If you've ever lived in a place far from what you always knew, you would completely understand how much a visit from a close friend is like jumping in a freshwater spring on a hot day... AMAZING.
I got to spend some time in the studio doing vocals on some of the most beautiful and worshipful songs my heart has sung... the boys working hard on the new Hillsong United album have pushed the limits and the Holy creativity God is bringing through their gifts has left my heart anticipating and expecting...

So... thats a little catch up on the happenings of us mccloghrys for the past few months :)

To catch you up on our hearts and our little girl... the last night of Hillsong Conference, just before we were ready to go and lead the the amazing church that had gathered in worship, I got a phone call. We have been waiting to hear whether or not our precious girl would be able to stay with us permanently or would be restored to her father. I have to say so that you have our hearts perspective and desire, that we wanted her to stay more than I could express because of our deep love for her... but... more than that, we wanted Gods very best for her life. On top of that, God has put in our hearts a love for her father... he is loved by God as much as everyONE and i know God is after his precious heart. So there is a lot stirring beneath this phone call. I answered and was given the news that the courts decided Haylee would be returned to her father.
Crushing to my heart that loves her so much... there's a real grief that comes along with the news when youve have a beautiful girl for the first year of her life and love her much more than the most delicious of tim tams. (if you know how much i love tim tams you will understand the how much i mean)
Crushing because I know that God is in it and weaving together His perfect plan and it is all going to be ok.
And here's where we reverse...
NOT CRUSHING. because the Word says...
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Once again i found myself facing a situation that, if i allowed it could wildly change who i thought God is...How, in my small mindedness, somehow i feel that if i just "pray really hard" that God will give me what i want... somehow, the mighty God of the universe, creator of everything, gets reduced in my head to wishing on a star. Ridiculous comparison, trust me, i know it is... but do you see where i'm coming from? What is it in us that takes "ask and you shall receive" to mean writing a christmas list to santa claus. I'm not going to go theological here... i'm not the person to do it... there are plenty of others who've done that with this exact verse, and done it unbelievably well... but i hope you hear my heart...
I believe that prayer changes things. I believe that we can come against the tactics of the enemy as he is out to steal-kill & destroy... and that we have authority in Jesus name to stand against what he has set out to accomplish and bind him in the Name and by the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe me i wholeheartedly do that.
I know God loves me. I know that He wants to give me the desires of my heart. I also know He loves me to much to tick of my santa claus list with things that aren't His best. I know that He is so vast, His thoughts so much higher than my thoughts...His ways SO much higher than my ways... that it would be utterly ridiculous for me to assume I know what He is up to. Which is where believing for His kingdom to come, and His will be done in every situation is where i know my heart must lie.
When the decision for where my heart has so tenderly been, comes...when all my seeking, praying, believing and trusting reach the culmination of that phone call... and the choice is again in front of me... who will i trust? I know in my heart that God has had the victory. That He is never untrustworthy. He is hope and salvation. That in this decision there is hope for a beautiful little girl who will be with her dad like God intended...that God is so in love with her dad and after his heart to mend and heal him.. and that my role was always to pray for him and believe in him and have a heart that wants to see his life restored and our little girls life to be right with his...AHHH... isn't it amazing how when God perspective reaches our hearts... when we see through the eyes of Jesus... that everything changes. Does it still hurt... oh my gosh... it HURTS.. but it hurts with a joy that lifts that hurt from the ashes and fills it with life. When you know who holds the future... the future always looks beautiful.

So the chaos in our house has quieted for the moment... and there is a lot of time. To sit, to dream, to write... this time is gold and so precious... and i'm so thankful for every moment.

I hope that helps you in some way... i feel like we are all on this wild journey of life... and the discovering of our amazing God and how He is SO much more vast than we ever could imagine... and sometimes its rocky... and it hurts... but there is always beauty for ashes... no matter how big or small the bump in the road might seem to you. We are all on a journey... and its ok to feel how you feel... just remember that God isn't scared of your feelings... and the best place for them is in his hands. He is a safe place.

I've typed a novel here... so i'll save what else i was going to write for the next entry...

xxxxxxxx

hackett to my soul.

what a week.

all i can say at this point is that an amazing worship cd will get you through times of joy and times of brokeness and if you're looking for one try this one:::

http://forerunnermediagroup.com/Groups/1000048438/Forerunner_Media_Group/Forerunner_Music/Artists/Laura_Hackett/Laura_Hackett.aspx

Laura Hackett.

i can't turn it off... or even down...

phew.... LOVING IT.

she sings to my soul. the Spirit of God was so present and full as this blasted thru my house.

i've been soaking up the Nov 2009 album, some favorites::: Beautiful Mercy & There's a Gap.

hope you enjoy xx

{ happy 2nd birthday baby boy }

I couldn't have imagined what it would feel like to wake up Saturday morning and realise that it somehow had been 2 years since Max and come & gone. I was so angry. Angry that it happened, angry that it has been 2 years and we are still waiting to see two lines on a pregnancy test, angry that life seemed to move on like nothing ever happened for everyone else ... and yet we still feel this huge hole. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel like this every day. In fact, these days...most days, I feel completly normal. I have an amazing life, amazing husband, beautiful baby girl and much more & I think about Max every day... but usually its not so painful... its a beautiful happy memory... so I suppose I was a little suprised to feel this way.

Here's the thing though...

Something in me knew that I couldn't stay in bed all day. As much as I wanted to recluse... I knew, with everything in me, that I needed to get up and face the day.

And we did.

We spent the day in Palm Beach, NSW (about an hour from our house), on the beach, with a picnic/my brother and sister in law/our haylee and a big bunch of blue balloons to celebrate Max::: then that night we went to dinner at a beautiful restaurant by the Opera House and let our balloons rise to the sky as matty whispered a little "happy birthday Maxy"... and it was beautiful.

It was a beautiful day : to remember a beautiful boy : who changed our lives forever.

The more the day went on, the more I realised how much Max is a part of my life. I realised that the person that I have become is so much in part to what happened when Max was born, and what happened when he died. Living that day and seeing the things we saw and the way we wept isn't easy... but the fact that we are more in love, that we love God more than I could have ever imagined, and that our capacity as people and servants in the kingdom is so much greater/different makes me see that somehow its a beautiful thing. I would do anything to have a little two year old boy called Max playing with his trucks on the floor as I blog... but at the same time, I wouldn't change anything about the last two years because somehow the place God has brought us to makes it all worth it. Like the Word says... HIS LOVE is BETTER than life. ::: I know this verse so differently now. And He always reminds me of his loving-kindness... and faithfulness. He is our Sustainer... Comforter... closest Friend.

SO.

I learned...

:that its ok for moments/days/trials to get to you...
:its ok to deal with the emotions that we naturally have...
:its ok to suprise yourself...
:its not ok to wallow in a pool of self-pity because you throw chains all over yourself and miss the ability God has to make all things beautiful...
:that God is in EVERYTHING::but if you shut off, there's a good chance you'll miss Him and accuse Him of being absent...

This blog has always been about being open about where I am with this whole loss/life/moving on thing... so i hope that its serving its purpose... i'm just on a journey... and i know its heaven focused ... and the Holy Spirit has a lot to teach me still on the walk... but i'm gonna keep walking:::

thats all for now x x x x
jilly

the new colossus.

"The New Colossus" is a sonnet by Emma Lazarus (1849-1887), written in 1883 and, in 1903, engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

—Emma Lazarus, 1883

This kept creeping into my thoughts the last few days as I've been a bit homesick for America. Isn't it amazing the foundations that the United States was built upon?? I know, I know... its far from its foundations at times it seems... but still, under the years and years of politics, poor decisions etc etc... this was proclaimed... a call for the broken and lost to find light and be welcomed in. What a beautiful picture. You can't help but see the likeness to our invitation from Jesus...

I love this invitation. I needed it. I accepted it. It changed my life forever.

sobering thoughts.

There is something absolutely sobering about life and death. When it visits your doorstep, or a house very close, the reality of how short life really is comes soaring home.

This past week a good friends little brother passed away, unexpectedly, alarmingly, it was something no one would have seen coming. The shock of it resounded in our house and throughout so many homes around us as we mourned and grieved with our friend and we reminded and all to aware that life is but a vapor. The same evening, a good friend gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in a hospital not to far away from our home. It struck a chord in me, that this is life, full of joys and sorrows... that we live in a world plagued by the truth that it is not our eternal home. This place, after the fall of man, was never again meant to be a place that we would live forever. I feel somehow renewed knowing that in this sorrow there is also such great rejoicing, as our beautiful friend is in heaven right now rejoicing with the angels:: and whilst we are left here on earth, there is much to be done before we see him again.

So, in these hard days after such a loss, we are mourning with those who mourn... and speaking hope and life::offering love unconditional::and a shoulder to cry on.

As for the other side, the beautiful baby girl that was born, she is such a promise of hope and life just by taking her first breath, that I am still absolutely overwhelmed at her perfection! (and i'm totally gonna go see her tomorrow and have cuddles!!)