My Book of Encouraging Verses for this Pregnancy

During my last couple of pregnancies, I have been mindful of special verses of Scripture that have stood out to me and mean something a little extra special during that 9 month set-apart period of time.

These verses are the ones that I generally meditate on during labour.

They seem to go round and round in my head and really help me to focus on the Word and amazing character of Yah rather than on the pain in front of me.

It really helps to encourage my heart and so I write them down in a special book that I make which later then becomes a kind of a keepsake from that pregnancy.

The one I made this time will hang up near baby 'E's changetable on a special hook so I made it in similar colours.

Stassi and Brett will (hopefully) read some of these verses aloud to me during my labour - I'm really looking forward to them being able to do this, hearing these verses proclaimed in our home as we journey this together!



Here is the front cover.

The verse is:

"May the Master of peace Himself, give you peace at all times and in every way"
which is from 2 Thessalonians 3:16



Then it's Deuteronomy 33:26-29.

This is one of the chunks that I have put to song and will have playing as I worship my Creator during this birth.

"There is no one like the God of Jeshurun
who rides on the heavens to help you
and on the clouds in His majesty.
The Eternal God is your refuge
and underneath are the Everlasting Arms.
Blessed are you, O Israel, who is like you?
A people saved by Yehovah,
He is your Shield and Helper"

And on the opposite page is Psalm 143:6-12

I have also put music to these verses and will have this play during birthing too
(thanks to Heiko and Lori who recorded these for me!)

"I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
Answer me quickly oh Yah, my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I will be like one who goes down to the pit.
Let the morning bring me Word
of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go for to you I lift up my soul"...

On the left hand side of the page below, this psalm continues on the tags...

"...rescue me from my enemies
Oh Yay I hide myself in you.
Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God
May your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
For your name's sake,
Oh Yah preserve my life;
In your righteousness bring me out of trouble".

On the right hand side there are two more passages of Scripture.
The first is from Romans 15:5 & 6

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a
spirit of unity among yourselves
as you follow Yeshua Mashiach (Jesus Christ)
so that with one heart and mouth
you may glorify the God and Father of our Master Yeshua".

And the second is from Romans 15:13

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in Him
so that you may overflow with
hope by the power of the Holy Spirit".

A little close up from this page...

The next page contains the entirety of Psalm 84 which has been very special to me the whole way through this pregnancy. It just keeps coming up in different ways and I keep being reminded of it.

I really love GREG SILVERMAN'S version of this song which he calls 'How Lovely'. This is one of the special songs I will (hopefully) have playing during the birth (I say 'hopefully' alot in regards to my plans for birthing because even though I have desires for it to go a certain way, only Yah knows what will happen! So that's why I don't say 'this is what I am having'. I rest in the knowledge that He is in control!)

Anyway, this is Psalm 84:

"How lovely is your dwelling place, Oh El Shaddai!

My soul years, even faints for the courts of Yah,

my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself

where she may have her young -

a place near your altar Oh El Sahddai My King, and my God.

Blessed are those who dewell in your house, they are ever praising you.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs;

the Autumn rains also cover it with pools.

They go from strength to strength, 'till each appears before Yah in Zion.

Hear my prayer, oh El Shaddai, listen to me Oh God of Jacob!

Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For Yah is a sun and shield,

He bestows favour and honour,

no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Oh Yah Almighty blessed is the man who trusts in you".

The other side of the page has two more passages:

Joshua 23:14

"You know with all your heart and soul that

not one of all the good promises Yehovah your Elohim

(the LORD your God) have you has ever failed.

Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed".

What a mighty reminder and declaration that one is!!!

And the other on the right hand side of this double page is from

Psalm 89:1

"I will sing of Yah's great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations".

This is a real reflection of what I want my whole life to be about...a reminder of my life's mission statement in a sense!

And the last two pages have:

Psalm 128
(which was our wedding Psalm and continues to have great meaning and soul-strengthening-encouragement to me!)

"Blessed are all those who fear Yehovah, who walk in His ways.
You will eat the fruit of your labour,
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine planted within your home;
your sons like wild olive shoots around your table.
Thus is the man blessed who fears Yah.
May Yah bless you from Zion all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
and may you live to see your children's children.
Peace be upon Israel".

And finally Isaiah 43:1-3

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name,
you are ine.
When you pass through the waters I will be with you
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am Yehovah your Elohim,
the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour".

And one last close up to finish up!

Well more to come another time.
With love,

An Exciting New Adventure!!!

I've touched on it very briefly in the past couple of posts, but I wanted to fill you in a bit more about a special and exciting new adventure I've been working on!

{recording in Heiko and Lori's studio}

I've been recording an album with two of my favourite people in all the world; my beautiful friend Lori and her incredibly talented and lovely hubby, Heiko. Together, we are recording songs which I've written over several years which reflect the deep feelings of my heart. Ever since I've known these guys, they have also been on a similar journey faith-wise; to seek the heart of the Living God, to know Him more intimately, to walk faithfully with Him and to know and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. These songs reflect our hearts collectively and individually. They are incredibly gifted, kind and generous people and I feel very priviledged to get this chance to work with them on this album.

I want to give you a bit of background on how this project came to be in the first place.

I want to make it clear that while I LOVE to write music and play and sing, I am NOT an exceptional and accomplished musician. I am not saying this falsely. Anyone who has played with me in the past knows that I know enough to get by pretty well and can lead a congregation but I really don't excel at playing one particular instrument. I'm not great with musical theory and can barley read music if there are no chords listed there to play.

So I guess I never really took it seriously that I might have something that anyone else would really want to listen to.

That is until earlier this year when I attended TORAH LADIES RETREAT which was so beautifully organised by my lovely friend Donna. Just before this retreat I'd spent some time in prayer asking Yah if He wanted me to do anything with the songs in my head and my heart. Honestly, I just didn't know if they were good enough to share.

He showed me loudly and VERY clearly that weekend, in a couple of ways, that He did in fact want me to record them and that He had given them to me to teach to and share with others. They were NOT just to be for me and my family! I had never considered that before! lol I am thick sometimes!!!

My beautiful friend Neen who was there that weekend heard these songs for the first time and began crying during one of them. She said something that really made an impression on me. She said, "You don't understand...we really NEED these songs right now!" (Sorry Neens hope you don't mind me sharing that - it was just a HUGE part of how Yah spoke to me! Love you!) I really took that very seriously; it was like Yah struck a chord in my own heart prompting me to take this seriously. The other ladies there were also all very supportive and encourged me to pursue recording these songs (thank you guys! Without all of your input these wouldn't be currently taking shape like they are!)

The next morning (the last morning) of the retreat, I got up a little earlier than I was planning and sat in the front room with beautiful warm sunlight streaming in onto me. I prayed again and committed my ways (especially in regards to this possibility of recording) to Him. I opened the Word to Psalm 40 and immediately, I heard the tune for a song. I tried to jot it down as best I could and even after being interupted half way through (unintentionally!) I could still remember the tune which for me is pretty amazing!!! I knew this was of Yah - was just another confirmation. That song is now on the album and is probably my favourite out of all of them so far.

So, why am I writing about all this? Well today, not even a full month since we began recording, I am so pleased to say that we are pretty much finished with laying down all the main instrument parts that I play and

the main vocal parts that I sing for the album! So far that includes guitar, paino, ukelele and mandolin parts along with vocals. It is really exciting to see it all taking shape! We still have ALOT of work left on it; musically, technically and practically with things that are involved with producing an album but we know that this is all in Yah's hands and timing. We are trusting Him with the finer details and doing the best that we can too.

The thing that will be different about this album is that it has songs specifically related to four out of the seven feasts of YHVH (which are mentioned in many places in the Bible including Leviticus 23). We have been using these songs over the past year-two years to teach our own family and to help us all learn more about His appointed times. We are hoping others; indivdual and families, will also be blessed by these during the annual times of celebration and reflection.

It is also reflective of our journey into understanding the Truth of our Father's Word as one entire book which shares His heart. It is reflective of our journey's into appreciating the Truth of His Torah (instructions).

This album also uses the names of Yehovah (Yah being a shortened form) and Yeshua, rather than just the titles of Lord or Christ.

There is also a song on there about how we are grafted in and are therefore, of Israel.

Our prayer with this album is that Yehovah, the name of our Father, will be glorified (just as Yeshua desired and did!)

We pray that many hearts will be drawn closer to Him and that the Truth of His Word would be a great encouragement to many lives.

I'll keep you posted with how it is all going as the adventure continues.

We'd really love your prayers during this time for things to go smoothly and so it can be produced as well as we can as soon as we can!

Here are a couple of photos from today...

Enjoying a cuppa together:

Heiko + Lori

Me cracking up when I probably mucked up a line!

Lori editing...

Heiko :)

More to come soon,

Love,