Leave an inheritance for your children's children...

 

I was just casually flicking through my journal...which of late has started to gather a bit of dust (ooopps!!)... when I came across the last little note to myself and I thought I might share it with you...  It is only a short little blurb and to the point but so very important and something I pray will become the forefront of my thinking (and living) on a daily basis...

Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.

It is my responsibility and great priviledge as a parent to provide a good influence and atmosphere for my children to learn from... both inside and outside of my home.

Deuteronomy 6:6
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.

I need to model a lifestyle at all times during my day, whatever I may be doing, which will pass my values and spiritual legacy onto my children.  Whether that may be...
   cooking in the kitchen
   sitting around the breakfast or dinner table
   playing together
   watching TV
   driving in the car
   out for coffee with friends

Our kids learn so much from us in our everyday routine. Just take a look at yourself... do you ever say to yourself 'I am becoming my mother' or catch yourself doing something and think 'my mum does that!!'. 

Whoever we hang around the most is who we become like so our children are most likely to become like us.

What influence are we having on our children?
What atmosphere are we building in our home?

Every home should be filled with happy memories.... 

I hope and pray that as my boy gets older he will have a tonne of happy memories to remember and pass onto his children.  I want to leave a Godly inheritance in my little boys life.
  

Wanna know a secret...

I don't know about you, and this is probably another one of those 'girl' things, but I absolutely love it when one of my friends comes to me and says 'hey, do you want to know a secret?'  And just to clarify, it is of course something about them and not about someone else otherwise that would be classed as 'gossip' which is something I do not like to participate in!

When a friend wants to tell you a secret it makes you feel special...because they trust you enough to confide in you something close to their heart...they know that you will also hold it just as close to your heart and not tell a single soul.  Girlfriend to girlfriend and no further... its a precious relationship.  As girls we all need this type of relationship in our lives.

But do you want to know something else?  Our amazing God, King of the universe, creator of the world... He wants to tell us some secrets too!  He desires a relationship with each and everyone of us that is close and intimate so that He too can whisper secrets to us... All we have to do is ASK! 

Devine Secrets... between Him and YOU!!

What a precious relationship that is... The God of the universe wants to tell us His secrets... AMAZING!!

I wonder what He will tell me... or you??

ASK HIM & HE WILL....

Jeremiah 33:2-3
This is what the Lord says - the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the LORD:  ASK ME and I WILL tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come...

Sparkle...Sparkle...

Philippians 2:15&16

Do everything without complaining and arguing so that no one can criticize you. 

Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people...

I love that movie 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' with the gorgeous Audrey Hepburn playing the exquisite role of Holly Golightly.  My favourite scene is the very beginning of the movie where Holly has obviously been out all night and it is still early morning... the streets are quiet and the shops are not yet opened for business... Holly is standing in front of the Tiffany's window eating a croissant while gazing admiringly at all of those gorgeous Tiffany diamonds...

the ones that I can only dream of!

I don't know about you, but I love diamonds...

there is something about their 'sparkle' that just begs for my attention...haha. 

If you have a diamond, or possibly even diamonds, that you wear all the time, which I do in my engagement ring and in my wedding band, you will soon discover that the sparkle that you were so impressed with when you first wore that ring soon begins to fade and it becomes slightly 'dull'.  All the dirt and grim of everyday life begins to build up on and around that diamond and since a diamond can only reflect what is around it... it no longer shines as bright because the light that was once allowed to penetrate through the diamond is shut out and can no longer be seen.  However, if you take that ring and clean it all up, get rid of the grim and dust and build up of life, it once again shines like a brand new one.  You walk around with that flashy diamond on your finger wanting to display it to the whole world!!

Sometimes our lives can become a bit like a dull, not so shiny, diamond ring...

God has called us to live 'clean, innocent' lives like that of a child... but often we let the 'stuff' of life crowd us in.  We let little things start to build up around our shining light... things that people might say in innocence offend us... that movie we watched last week that we should have walked out of... we argue with our spouse about the smallest thing... we yell at our kids 'because we are tired'... and the list can go on.  It all starts to build up around us and we no longer reflect the light of our God.

We need to get rid of this 'stuff' and let our light once again shine in this darkened world...  

God has called us to be SALT and LIGHT. 

We need to shine so bright that we leave a pleasant taste in people's mouths...haha.

If we fill our lives up with the Goodness of God, with His Word, with His Love, with His Peace, with His Joy... If we let the Spirit of God work in our lives... show us where we need to change and let Him clean us up... we can once again be a diamond that SPARKLES!! 

A diamond that shines so bright... illuminating the lives of others... a reflection of God!

DON'T

LET

ANYONE

(OR ANY THING)

DULL

YOUR

SPARKLE

A Glorious Life...

So I was thinking the other day that I hadn't set any goals for 2013 as I usually like to do at the beginning of each year and the longer I thought about it I realised that I honestly didn't feel like doing it and I didn't want to do it... I felt that there was no point and the reason why I was feeling that way was because a couple of years ago my husband and I stepped out of our comfortable lives into the great unknown, to achieve a 'huge' dream that we felt God had asked of us and to date we are still 'out on the water' waiting and working towards making that one dream come true. 

It has been a long and hard slog to say the least and there have been many times when I have wanted to give up and go back to where I was... living where I was comfortable... knowing what I was doing... not having to stress about certain things... etc, etc.... but on the other hand when you feel that God has called you to do something, it is difficult to let that go.  I guess I felt that this one goal had taken up so much space in my life that there wasn't any room for anything else.

So I sat down with my pen... a little reluctant to even start thinking about my dreams and goals and I suddenly remembered a scripture I had seen on Facebook earlier in the day...

James 1:12
God will bless you... IF you don't give up when your faith is being tested.  He will reward you with a GLORIOUS LIFE just as He rewards EVERYONE who loves Him!

WHEN YOUR FAITH IS BEING TESTED...  I feel like my faith has been tested big time over the last couple of years!!!

IF you don't give up... God will bless you!!

A GLORIOUS LIFE... what does that GLORIOUS LIFE look like???

This was my motivation to start to dream again...

I believe that God wants every one of us to love our lives... to be happy with where we are and what we are doing... to have our very own GLORIOUS LIFE but what do we have to do to be rewarded with that GLORIOUS LIFE?

DON'T GIVE UP!!!

Don't give up when the going gets tough... keep on believing... keep on having Faith... keep on praying and trusting... even if you are going through the most incredible testing time... God is still there... He is still in control.  Some of the toughest times of our lives can also be the most fruitful.  I have to keep reminding myself of this all the time!!  My character is being built... God is strengthening me for what is coming... Don't give up on the rest of my life just because one part of it is a little difficult at the moment!

I now have a full page of goals and dreams for 2013... all of them being part of my GLORIOUS LIFE!!

I'm not going to give up!!

And if you haven't guessed by now... getting back to the blogging is one of them.

The Impossible is Possible...

The other night my husband and I were driving home from Brisbane quite late and I was thinking about the fact that since I had written my most recent blog and had been feeling quite good about life, that there was a sudden turn around and I felt like I had been in a real battle.... isn't it always the case that when you feel like you are getting on top of things and God has been speaking to you that something else just happens to come up and you feel like you have taken about 100 steps backwards... even further back than where you started!! 

Anyway... as we were driving along I happened to look up at the sky and saw an almost full moon shining down through a scattering of cloud.  I then had this stupidest thought (stupidest...is that even a word!!?)...

I was thinking that what if there was life on the moon...

it is so far away and so big that someone (or something) up there wouldn't even look like a pin prick from way down here on earth. 

Then I thought... Imagine if you had the earth in your hand...

how powerful would you feel?? 

With all that life you would be holding and just one little squeeze and it would be gone!  

You would kind of feel like some sort of super hero...

maybe even Wonder Woman... but then again...

what about God?? 

God holds then entire universe in His hand...

not just our tiny little earth but all of creation in its entirety!! 

Whoah... hang on a minute... let me just wrap my mind around that thought!! 

If God, our all powerful, loving, caring, God is holding the entire universe in His hand then He must be pretty big huh?? 

Yep... massive, huge, incomparible...

our mind just cannot comprehend the bigness of our God.  

If it could then we would never worry or care about anything because we would

KNOW without a shadow of doubt that GOD is in control. 

He is in control of every single situation in our lives and we really have no need to worry at all.  We can just hand it all over to Him and let Him take care of it...

every single situation...

not just the small ones but also the ones that seem insurmountable to us...

those ones that seem completely impossible.

If only we could keep our minds out of the way... how much easier would it be to believe the IMPOSSIBLE! God wants us to overcome in every area of our lives, we just have to trust in Him.  So, next time I start to stumble and worry and stress... I'm going to picture God holding the entire universe in His hand...

our GREAT, AWESOME, AMAZING, HUGE, ALL POWERFUL, LOVING, CARING,

GIVING, INCREDIBLE (there are no words!)

GOD who wants to bless us and help us all to get where He wants us to be...

overcoming, blessed, abundant,

faith-filled God warriors!!

Don't give up...

In my kitchen...

So, I got home yesterday afternoon after a big day out with my little boy... we had been to Girls Church in the morning and then straight to Gymbaroo for some playtime fun for Jad...

I went to the pantry for something to eat because all I had eaten all day was a piece of chocolate cake and an apple (not good... I know!) and I discovered an opened packet of

 lovely, fresh, green rocket and thought

'What THE??!!!'

it is definately not something one expects to find sitting next to the Glad Wrap!

I'm guessing that in my seemingly perpetual state of absentminded tiredness, I must have put it in there instead of the refrigerator as I was cleaning up the night before!

It has been a very busy couple of weeks and we are entitled to make a few little mistakes aren't we??  I did need to have a bit of a laugh... that was one way to achieve that I suppose.

Anyway... along with the tiredness, I have been a little bit emotional and this week feeling quite not myself and I was thinking as I was running out the door to Girls Church that I feel like I have lost myself... all my independence and confidence seems to have dissapated into thin air... this faith journey we are on at the moment was again starting to take it's toll and I again felt like giving up.  I was saying to my husband only the day before that it's not meant to be like this... this is not what our life is about... going back to the same old, same old... back into the rat race... I want to make a difference in this world!!

Well...God must have been listening because a very lovely lady at Girls Church said that she felt someone was feeling 'fragmented' and 'crumbly'... I quietly said to God in my mind that if no one else responds to that then it must be me... and of course no one else responded... so I did. 

Isn't it just so amazing that when we are feeling at the end of ourselves, God steps in and picks us up and points us back in the right direction... the way that He wants us to go.

Then this morning... still feeling my perpetual tired self... He spoke to me again...

Hebrews 10:35-39

'So don't throw it all away now.  You were sure of yourselves then.

It's still a sure thing! 

But you need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be there

for the promised completion. 

It won't be long now, He's on the way; He'll show up most any minute.

But anyone who is right with me thrives on loyal trust;  

if he cuts and runs, I won't be very happy.

But we're not quitters who lose out. 

Oh, no!  We'll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.'

I'm guessing that means 'don't give up' :)

The Cake...and I ate it...

Well, here it is... Not exactly as I had imagined it but it is a decorated chocolate mud cake

and it was definately edible!! It only took two hours to make the actual cakes,

a few hours to cool them completely and another two hours of decorating...

What a way to spend the day!!

There is definately an art to doing all this fancy stuff but I managed to fumble my way along with the help of my wonderful husband who stepped in when I was almost feeling like giving up and of course the Internet, a whole world of information...

I was very grateful for that assistance to say the least!

The entire event turned out to be a success and we all had a lovely afternoon

celebrating my son's dedication.

The next event on my agenda to tackle will be his first birthday...

So can't believe that a year has gone by so quickly...

Next thing I know and he will be off to school!

You think that's a storm...

So... you know those storms we've had over the last few days...

that's nothing compared to this...

Psalm 29

Bravo, God, bravo!  Gods and the all angels shout, "Encore!"

In awe before the glory, in awe before God's visble power. 

Stand at attention!  Dress your best to honour Him.

God thunders across the waters, Brilliant, His voice and His face,

streaming brightness-God, across the flood waters.

God's thunder tympanic, God's thunder symphonic.

God's thunder smashes cedars, God topples the nothern cedars.

The mountin ranges skip like spring colts, the high ridges jump like wild kid goats.

God's thunder spits fire.

God thunders, the wilderness quakes; He makes the desert of Kadesh shake.

God's thunder sets the oak trees dancing a wild dance, whirling;

the pelting rain strips their branches. 

We fall to our knees - we call out, "Glory!"

Above the floodwaters is God's throne from which His power flows,

from which He rules the world.

God makes His people strong.

God give His people peace.

Just saying...

'Wet Your Pants' in Style...

Years and years ago when I was about 20 years old (gosh that is a long time ago!)... I went to a weekend leadership seminar with a few other leaders from our youth group.  The one and only thing that I remember from that weekend was something one particular speaker talked about and that was to do something new and challenging every now and again... something so challenging that it scares you... something that would make you 'wet your pants'.

Now, I have to admit that it has been quite a while since I  have actually done something that scary, or wet my pants for that matter!!  Although... the last time that comes to mind is giving birth... and that literally can and did make me 'wet my pants'... lol!!  Maybe that doesn't really count...

Anyway... moving on...

I have been inspired to try something new.  I met a very talented young woman a few months before I moved away from Coffs Harbour and I have recently seen her post some gorgeous photos of her beautiful decorated cake creations... a hobby which she has apparently only recently discovered... but she is doing an amazing job of it!

So... with a very special event coming up in the next couple of weeks I thought I might give it a bit of a go.  Sure, I know how to bake... however... the decorating side is going to be a completely different story.  Not exactly 'pants wetting' stuff but hey... putting together a gorgeous cake (hopefully), catering and organising my event plus looking after an almost 10 month old is going to be a bit of a challenge to say the least!

I hoped online last night hoping to find everything that I may need without having to go out and about shopping around... and oh my gosh... is there some stuff out there!  I managed to piece it all together and work out exactly what I'm going to do and need to get and $150 later... I think I'm set.  I can't wait for all my little bits to arrive... I love parcels, even when I know what's inside!!

So... stay tuned... and here's hoping that ther will be a plethera of photos in a few weeks...

Oh and get out there and do something new...

'Wet your Pants' in style!!

If only...

This morning I was sitting on the floor enjoying playing with my gorgeous little bubba and then I watched him as he rolled and rolled around the floor on the carpet until he glimpsed my cat's paw temptingly dangling over the edge of the lounge chair.  He suddenly stopped rolling and stayed on his tummy, straining his head up as high as he could to try and look up and see the cat.  I could just imagine what he might have been thinking as he kept on looking and stretching up on his hands as much as possible... 'if only I could get up there'... 'if only I could reach up that high'

Right at this point in my life, I know that is what I have been thinking and I'm sure you know what I am talking about.  We all know what we would like for our lives... we all have many dreams and desires that seem 'just' out of reach and we think 'if only I could get there'... 'if only I could have that'...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having those dreams but just like my bubba who obviously has a few stages of development to go through before he can climb up onto that lounge chair to harrass the cat, perhaps God needs to develop and grow us before we can achieve some of our goals and desires.

Perhaps because if we had a million dollars right now we would squander it becuase we haven't yet learnt how to be completely diligent with the thousands that we already have... or if God allowed us to have that position of authority too early we might become a bit proud because we haven't quite grasped that humble attitude He is looking for.

Whatever our dream is and whatever God is doing in our lives takes time... time to build character, time to bring change, time to make us stronger.

I know without a shadow of doubt that one day my boy will be chasing the cat around the entire house but for now he has to just enjoy watching as he goes through a few more growth spurts and as the saying goes... "We need to learn to walk before we can run!"

"There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears"
Philippians 1:6

Need a vacation...

The last few months I have been on a bit of a journey... unfortunately it hasn't always been much of a pleasurable experience... one of those journeys that at times you wish you hadn't embarked on... not at all like a lovely relaxing holiday but sometimes we just don't have much of a choice either!

It has definately had a lot of ups and downs and looking back over those few months... even though it was extremely tough at times and in some areas it still is... I must say that I am thankful to have survived this far!

It started out as one of the most joyous moments of my life... up there on that mountain top... I had just had our first baby after trying for over five years.  However, after a few months I began to feel not quite myself and had to come to the conclusion that post natal anxiety truly was a real thing in my life.  I never would have expected that after such a long time waiting to have a baby that I would be one who would experience this... but I was.  It was certainly a time of testing in mnay areas of my life.  I loved my little boy with all of my heart... there is no other love quite like it... and I didn't understand why God would allow this to happen to me.  All I really wanted was to be able to enjoy my boy... be happy... and not stress so much... surely that wasn't too much to ask!

Apart from the anxiety, my faith was also being tested in other areas as well and to this day it still is in some ways.

I was reading something yesterday which I wished I had read about four or five months ago...

"Even though I walk through the valley..."

It does say 'walk through' doesn't it??  That must mean that this isn't the end of my journey... it's not my final destination... I must keep on walking and not camp out in the valley.  There have definately been itmes when it might have been very tempting to find a nice relaxing resort and just hang out there for the rest of my life, give up and forget about everything... except my little boy of course... but God wants me and you to keep on going cause while we are 'walking through' our valley, He is doing an amazing work in our lives.  It may seem like it will never end but it will... when God is finished with us... finished doing the refining that we need to go to the next level.

I don't know about you but I want to get to the end of my valley and not have to go through it again because I tried to take the easy way.  So, I'm just going to hang onto God as tight as I can and trust inHim until I reach that next mountain top.  I also think that perhaps the resorts up there might be a whole lot better anyway!!

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose"
Romans 8:28

It is LIFE...

There was a time in my life, which when I think about it actually wasn't that long ago, when reading the Bible, the inspired Word of God always seemed like it was such a chore, like it was just hard work and would never really get much out of it.  Occassionally I would pick up a revelation but most of the time I was doing it because I felt that I had to. 

I could spend ages listening to worship music and just being before God in His presence and worshipping Him but as soon as I picked up the Bible it seemed to become boring... reading the Bible was such an effort for me.

I don't know if anyone else feels like this sometimes... or is it just me??

I would try to make it enjoyable with a nice hot cuppa or lighting some candles and it would help to make me feel good but I still wasn't really getting much out of it.

However, during the past year or so, I seriously haven't been able to live without God's Word in my life every single day.  I don't know what changed or how it changed or what I did... perhaps it is just that I feel like I have more time and I don't need to rush... or that I pushed through without giving up... whatever it is, it is GOOD!!

I read something in the notes section of my Bible today which really spoke to me about how important God's Word is for our lives...

The Word of God will light your way;
it will help you make right choices;
it will heal your wounds and settle your heart;
it will protect you and cleanse you from sin;
it will lead you;
it will make you wise;
it is bread;
it is water;
it is a counsellor;
it is life;
it is satisfying;
it is sufficient;
it is supreme;
it is supernatural.

How absolutely amazing is the Word of God!!  It is everything that we need for whatever path we are on in life... wherever we are at... whatever we are doing... God's Word is all that we ever need.

Psalm 119:162
"I rejoice at your Word as one who finds great treasure".

i can't get no satisfaction...

"I can't get no... satisfaction... and I tried and I tried and I tried and I tried... I can't get NO (do, do, do).... No, no, no!"

Now that I got you singing... haha!

As most of you probably know me quite well, you will know that I am someone who likes to set goals for my personal life and I have lots of dreams and visions.  Every year my husband and I sit down and write out our goals for that coming year and the next five, ten, and fifty years... and then we revisit them every once in a while to make sure we are on track, etc.

Well, unfortunately, I have a dream which just doesn't seem to want to come to pass right now and it has been quite a few years of dreaming and praying and waiting... lots of waiting (sigh).  I also have a few other desires which in themselves seems quite big and impossible from where I am sitting right now but I know that God is a God of the impossible!

However, just the last few days God has been speaking to me about being satisfied with where I am at right now and being satisfied in Him.  Sometimes when I have a dream or a goal I become quite focussed on achieving it that I am looking so far ahead of myself and not enjoying what I am currently doing or where I am at in life right now.

Proverbs 19:23 'The fear of the Lord leads to life and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; He will not be visited with evil.'

Now, I'm not about to say that we shouldn't have goals because without any vision or purpose we will perish but perhaps my focus needs to change just slightly so that I am putting God first in every part of my life and I am not becoming distracted from Him with my own dreams and desires.  Not that my dreams and desires are not of God... because I know that they are... they are good Godly desires but He needs to be my first focus and not my dream.

In Psalm 95:6-11 it talks about the Israelites in the wilderness after they had been set free from Egypt and they were being distracted by other things around them instead of focussing on what God was giving them right then and there.  God was supplying every need for them... they should have been satisfied but they kept thinking about their past and their own desires.  Because of this God said that they would not enter His rest... they would not be satisfied.

Psalm 106:13-15 'They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness And tested God in the desert.  And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul.'

Again it is talking about the Israelites in the wilderness and how even after God had done so much for them up until that point... like feeding them manner from Heaven, giving them water out of a rock, killing the Egyptians at the Red Sea... But still they kept forgetting about those amazing things that God had done and was doing for them and were distracted by what they wanted NOW!  They 'lusted exceedingly' and God ended up giving them their request.  BUT they were still dissatisfied... they had leanness in their souls!

Unless we put God first in everything that we do... in everything that we desire... in everything that we dream about... even though those dreams and goals my come to pass... we may not feel completely satisfied... we will not be completely fulfilled.  Our satisfaction needs to be in God and not in fulfilling our own dreams and desires, even if those dreams and desires are good.

God wants us to live an abundant and fulfilled life and the only way we can do that is by putting Him first... letting Him become our complete satisfaction.

If we never achieved anything else in life... never got given anything else that we wanted... never had any more dreams come to pass... would we feel completely satisfied?

Something very challenging for me to think about.... what about you?

Look out... here she comes!

Psalm 42:5
'Why are you cast down, O my soul?  And why are you disquieted within me?  HOPE in God:  For I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God'.

Sometimes as a woman my emotions can get the better of me... one minute I may be happy and jumping around with joy and then only minutes later I can start feeling a bit sad and a little depressed... but to top it all off, sometimes I don't even know why???!!  WHY are you case down my soul?  Sound familiar...lol!

Cast down means to sink or depress... And then there's the other side of the coin - disquieted... to make a loud sound, to be in great commotion or tumult, to rage, war, moan, clamour: clamorous, concourse, cry aloud, be disquieted, loud, mourn, be moved, make a noise, rage, roar, sound, be troubled, make in tumult, tumultuous, be in an uproar!  My goodness there are a lot more descriptive words for that emotion!  Definately the opposite end of the scale compared to 'cast down'.

But as women, that is sometimes what our emotions can be like - up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down.  I also know for myself that when my emotions are like this, I can take it out on those who are closest to me and unfortunately at this point of my life, it is usually my poor husband!  It has nothing to do with him at all or what he might have said or done but at the slightest push of my button...look out... my weaknesses begin to show and I don't like them at all!!

Our emotions are what we are made of and reflect the awesomeness of being made in the image of our God.  However, we must learn to take control of our emotions so that they are submitted to God.  They need to be expressed in a way that is godly and not like an uncontrolable freak!

'Lord, please help me in my weaknesses'...

Grace like a diamond...

I just love the movie 'How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days'... and this morning while I was reading my Bible I got the coolest picture in my mind and I just wanted to share it...

Proverbs 3:21-22 says 'My son, (or daughter) let them not depart from your eyes - keep sound wisdom and discretion; so they will be life to your soul and grace to your neck'.

Grace to your neck...  just like the Isadora diamond in the movie right??!!  Absolutely!  When Andie (Kate Hudson) walks out in her gorgeous yellow cocktail dress she looks nothing but beautiful... however when they place the Isadora around her neck she becomes the object of everyone's attention... she instantly grows two inches taller, walking around proudly displaying those huge sparkling diamonds and everyone turns their heads to take a look... she is just stunning!

A little while later into the evening she goes quickly running out of the building with the Isadora around her neck and when everyone suddenly realises she is still wearing it... all they care about is chasing after that diamonds and the pursuit is on!

We need to chase after sound wisdom and discretion in our lives and never let it out of our sight just as though it is the huge Isadora diamond necklace.  Wisdom and discretion will become that amazing 'Grace to our neck'.  

The word Grace in this instance means - kindness, favour, gracious, pleasant, precious and well-favoured... who as a woman doesn't want all of that in our lives??  I know I certainly do!

We can shine and sparkle as we keep our eyes focussed on sound wisdom and discretion.

Encounter with God

Over the last six weeks or so I have been reading a couple of books in relation to encountering God and reaching my promised land... and during this time I have found such a hunger for more of God beginning to well up inside me... more than I have ever experienced before and I am absolutely loving spending time with God and just can't seem to get enough!  It is so true that if we draw near to God that He will absolutely draw near to us!!

One of the most significant realisations I have had has been that I need to become more like Jesus and one thing about Jesus that has really stuck with me is that not one single person who met Jesus during His time here on earth walked away disappointed.  Each and every person who chased after Jesus walked away from their encounter with Him fully satisfied.  Jesus healed every single person who was sick or diseased and He even raised the dead.  That is just so totally awesome!!!... not one single person walked away dissatisfied!  Imagine how incredible that would be if every single person we prayed for walked away completely and totally healed!

And an even more amazing thing is that Jesus said we would do even greater things than He because we would have the Holy Spirit... and that is what I am chasing after right now!

I so deeply desire such an encounter with the Holy Spirit so that I can become like Jesus... this is my life-long pursuit.

'My soul thirst for You, my flesh yearns for You'. Psalm 63:1

Good Samaritan

As I was driving home from the beach earlier today I was a bit annoyed at myself for spending so much time enjoying the sun and the surf and I was having words with myself saying that ‘I should have been at home doing the washing’ or ‘I should have been organising my shopping list for tomorrow’... blah, blah, blah...

I was about to pull out across the highway towards home and I looked up to the right and ‘oh my goodness’... I saw a bicycle and a body go flying into the air and crash onto the side of the road. My heart started pounding and my first thought was... I have to help that person... but then I thought... but by the time I get up to the U-Turn section and turn around and come back... surely someone else would have stopped to help out. As it was I had already waited for about ten cars that had driven past the incident so that I could cross onto the other side of the road so surely someone else will stop.

I decided to turn around anyway, just to make sure that whoever it was, was ok. As I got closer I was surprised to see that there were no other cars pulled over and no one else had stopped to help. I mean, it is the main highway into town and probably about 30 cars had passed as I took the time to turn around and come back.

So, there she was, a hurt and shaking little girl on the side of the road without anyone except me stopping to help... I honestly couldn’t believe it. She was so shaken up that she hadn’t even thought to pull out her mobile to phone anyone until I suggested it! So I piled her now mangled bike into the back of my car along with my surfboard, which believe me was no easy task, and I drove her (shaken but relieved) back into town where she needed to go.

I am still in unbelief that no one else was considerate enough to stop and see if she was ok. But I guess that was why I just happened to be in the right place at the right time...

But I don’t believe in coincidences.... I believe that God knew I would spend too much time at the beach this morning and He knew this little girl was going to fall off her bike and that I would be the only one to stop and help.

In a world where people are too busy and so focussed on what they are doing, I believe we need to be ones who will be open to what God wants us to do and who will keep a listening ear out for what He is asking us to do.

I could have kept driving all the way home thinking that someone else would stop because I was on the other side of the road anyway... I shouldn’t have to be the one to turn around and go back. But I was the one and I am glad that I was the one who God used to help someone else today.

I don’t know this girls name and she doesn’t know mine... all she knows, in her words, is ‘a nice chick’ stopped to help and made her day a whole lot better than what it was at that particular moment.

Be the Change...

Whenever I return from a trip away from home, as I am preparing to go to bed that night, I am always completely amazed at how small this world has become because my previous nights sleep was spent in another city or in some cases an entirely different country… how cool is that I have been shopping in Sydney this morning and home for dinner with my husband tonight. And yes… my suitcase was slightly overflowing this afternoon!

But tonight my thoughts are also on those who are a lot less fortunate than I am… as I have been so aptly reminded over the past few days at Colour… even though our world seems so small when we can travel to the other side of it within 24 hours, the problems that exist in this world today, and probably have for hundreds of years, seem so very huge and almost impossible to overcome or to even make a small mark on…. issues like poverty, violence, famine, slavery, human trafficking, homelessness… and the list could go on.

However, I am also encouraged… even though in my mind these problems seem very difficult to solve… as we join together in unity and do our little bit… whatever that bit maybe…. whatever it is that God has asked us to do… or whatever you feel that you can do… we can in fact make an impact in this world… in our lifetime.

We are the answer that this world is crying out for… God is the answer that this world is crying out for. We just have to be the brave and courageous ones and step out to do our little bit… which will, because of the power of unity, make a huge difference.

I don’t know about you but I want to be able to make a difference in the lives of the people of this world who are less fortunate… I do not at all like to see children suffering or women being disfigured and I am willing to do something about it.

That is one of the reasons why over the weekend I welcomed another new addition to my family… a gorgeous little four year old Philippino girl named Kyla and even though she may only be a photo on my refrigerator… I will consistently pray for her and her family and I know that my support will make a difference in her life and she will have a better and brighter future because I was willing to do something about it.

Whatever it is that God asks me to do, I pray that I will always have the courage and determination to take the plunge and just do it… to be one who will BE THE CHANGE!!

Its whats on the inside that counts...

With a title like that you may have thought I was going to write about being beautiful not only on the outside but also on the inside… however… I have something different in mind.



As I am preparing to go to Colour tomorrow I am of course very conscious of what I will be wearing but not only that I am also very aware of my feelings of both excitement and apprehension at the same time.


Those of you who know me well will know me as someone who almost always looks very cool, calm and collected… even under difficult and challenging circumstances and I have recently been told that I am like the woman on the ‘Navman’… always sounding very cool, calm and collected… and I hope that was supposed to be a compliment!


However, underneath that oh so calm exterior, right now is a sea of knots created by thoughts like…


‘I have to fly alone… and in a prop plane… and its blowing a small gale… and its going to be rainy… and do I need another jumper… what if I forget something’ and the list goes on and on.


And so I ask myself… ‘Where is my faith?!’


I know that this is going to be an awesome and amazing conference and I truly am very excited and looking forward to going, especially considering that I have never been before… but what about these other feelings that keep getting in the way… how do I deal with them? I was thinking only a few months ago that I was really getting over this worrying thing that I have had a problem with for so many years but once again it has reared its ugly head!


And I know all of those Scriptures about ‘Do not worry… ‘Fear not… etc. so no need to remind me!


I know that I will be fine once I get on that plane and I am on my way and I can always buy something if I am cold or if I forget something… so really there is nothing to worry about at all.


My God is with me and that is all I need to know to have a good nights sleep.

Rise and Shine...

This morning I was awaken from my peaceful slumber by some very inconsiderate feathered friends having a little get together in the trees outside of my bedroom window. I stumbled out of bed and opened the shutters so I could close the window and at least try and get some peace to go back to sleep at this ungodly hour (cough cough)…. As I opened the shutters, in front of me was the most gorgeous sunrise.

I was so inspired I then opened all of the shutters and lay back down on my pillow watching the sunrise over the horizon. After about only a minute I couldn’t stand it any longer… I had to get up and go outside to enjoy this as much as I could.

As it was, it was only 30mins before I usually get up and it was almost like God was looking down, laughing and saying ‘You could be enjoying something like this every day if you weren’t lazy and got out of bed just that little bit earlier’.

On Sunday at church one of my new friends shared over communion about being distracted from God (*squirrel*)… well this morning was totally the opposite for me… because of God’s creative handiwork in the sky I was distracted toward Him!

It made me wonder…. How much do we miss from God because we are distracted by other things or because we are lazy, or because we are walking around with blinkers on? I have been missing out on an amazing sunrise every morning because I like my pillow… what are we missing out on when we stay home from church on a Sunday because we are tired or the surf is good? Or what about when we don’t give the whole amount that God has asked us to give?

I thought about the rich, young ruler… God asked him to give up every single cent that he had to come and follow Him but the young man was too in love with his money to do that… I wonder how much more money and favour God would have given him had he been willing to give it up for God in the first place?

I don’t want to miss out… I am going to make a concerted effort to get up just that little bit earlier so that I can enjoy the beauty that God has created every morning.