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

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' :)

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?

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.

Surfing

I am totally busting to tell someone about the most beautiful and fun surf that I had this morning and my husband is out playing golf so here I am... although I know that probably only a couple of you reading this will really appreciate it as much as I did.

After a short little drive to one of my most recently frequented locations it wasn’t looking very appealing for a surf. The waves were breaking right on the beach because of the almost full tide and there was nothing at all out ‘the back’ so I climbed back into my car slightly disheartened because after all it is the weekend and I really didn’t feel like going back home and doing housework!

So I drove back towards home and decided to check out a more popular spot hoping that there would be something to at least get wet for and if there was... not too many others already out there. As I drove into the carpark there were only two other cars and I sadly thought ‘this isn’t looking very promising’ but I will have a quick look anyway and perhaps have a swim instead.

If there are any of you who like to have a little surf you will know what the anticipation of walking up the path towards the beach is all about. I could hear some waves lightly crashing on the sand and as I came over the crest of the sand dunes it was just beautiful... clean 2ft waves, light offshore winds, slightly overcast and there were only about four others sitting out there!

I quickly raced back to the car, grabbed my board, walked back up the path, threw on my wetsuit and jumped into the water. The water was clear bluey-green and I could easily see the sand on the bottom, even out the back.

Within two minutes I was paddling onto a nice clean 2ft wave and caught it all the way into the beach. I paddled out again and after another two minutes caught another little wave. I paddled back out and sat on my board in the water for a while waiting for another perfect wave.

The waves died off a little bit and I looked out towards the ocean and on the horizon was a huge thick dark black storm cloud. It was gradually getting darker and darker around me and looked like it was about to pour with rain but then the sun ever so slightly peaked just over the top of this huge monster of a cloud and was glistening onto the water around me making it look like glass... it was absolutely gorgeous!! I sat out there in awe of the beauty that God had created for me to enjoy on this beautiful Saturday morning. I wish I had my camera so that I could have taken a photo because it was an amazing sight.

I caught a couple more waves and then it started to rain... the glassy waves looked even more inviting and the drops of fresh water running down my face were like heaven!

As I mentioned at the beginning, probably only a few will really appreciate what this picture is really like in reality but I’m sure that God creates special moments in creation for each and every one of us to enjoy every day and for us to realise how big and awesome He really is. It is good to get outside and see God in creation and appreciate what He has made for us.

Celebration...

This last weekend my husband and I celebrated ten wonderful years of marriage.  As we were driving on our way out to dinner I commented on how I felt so blessed that we had such an awesome marriage when we live in such a 'disposable' world with a divorce rate that is unbelievably high and many couples not even making it passed five years yet alone ten.

Some people treat marriage as lightly as the piece of paper that their certficate is printed on but to us marriage is a whole lot more than that piece of paper... it is a life-long commitment to the one we have chose 'til death do us part'.

From the very beginning of our relationship we chose to place God at the centre and I have no doubt that it has made all the difference.

I am more in love with my husband today than the day we married and everyday that love grows deeper as our relationship grows.  Love isn't just a feeling of butterflies in your stomach, or a weak feeling in your knees, love is a choice we make everyday no matter what we are feeling and regardless of circumstances.  Although, I am very glad to say that I often still get that gushing feeling when I see my husband even after ten years!

As we were reflecting on the last ten years over dinner and reminescing about all the fun times we have had together we started to wonder about what the next ten years would bring, where will we be and what will we be doing after another decade?  I'm certain that we will see many more dreams fulfilled and enough memories created to write a book!

It's the memories we create together that make them the best.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Like a butterfly...

I was very blessed today to share a lovely lunch out with my boss who is also my pastor and his wife and the rest of my work mates. We had an awesome time together chatting over yummy Thai and it was just like having lunch with the family. We all get along so well together and God has built such an awesome unity between us all.

Spending time with family and friends is sometimes something that we can take for granted because we may do it so often but it is the little things that we frequently overlook that we need to take time to cherish because we never know where our lives may lead us. Life is full of change and I am one of those people who actually like change. Change really does feel like a holiday and I love it (and holidays of course)! It can be slightly overwhelming and maybe even a little bit scary at first but as you begin to let go and go with the flow it can get quite exciting. Just like a caterpillar after being couped up in a cocoon while it changes from a multi-legged crawling insect into a beautiful butterfly.

God is continually wanting us to change, to grow in our relationships with Him, to become more mature in Him, to become like Jesus. He also loves to see us succeed in life, to achieve our goals and our dreams but to do all of these things, takes lots of little steps and lots of changing.

But there is one thing that never changes and that is God... He is the same yesterday, today and forever. No matter what we do in life, where we go, how we live, where we may travel on this earth... Jesus is always there, constant and steadfast, never changing, always by our side and in control if we allow Him to be.

It is comforting to know that through all of the changes that life may bring my way... and I know there will be many... that Jesus will always be the one and only unchanging detail...

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Hebrews 13:8

God is AWESOME...

I recently had the great pleasure of reconnecting with a friend whom I went to school with in New South Wales about 20 years ago. We used to hang out together at each other’s houses on the weekend, spent countless hours talking about boys and make-up and doing those silly things that teenagers do.

I remember one afternoon we had been out somewhere and had to walk back to her house and we decided that we were too tired, even though it was only about a 10 minute walk, so we stuck our thumbs out to get a lift from a stranger, which was very naughty! We ended up getting a lift by a very nice man and got home safely only to discover about a half an hour later that someone had seen us who knew my friends Mum and had dobbed us in... we were roasted!! The things we do!!



Anyway, we had lost contact with each other until the beginning of this year, we found out that we now live in the same city and tonight I had the opportunity of seeing my friend give her life to Jesus. There is nothing more exciting in the world than knowing that through all the events and changes that have taken place over those past 20 years, the number of places in Queensland that I have lived, the different places that she has been and events that have taken place in her life, somehow God has caused our paths to cross again at a time in my friends life where she needed to find Jesus. That is just so absolutely AMAZING!! And the other totally amazing thing is that God would use me to be the one who would be an influence in her making the most important decision in her life... that is just so AWESOME!!


I am so very thankful that God has His hand on all of our lives. Sometimes we may think that it ‘just happened’ but God is not of a God of ‘just happened’, He has a purpose and a plan for each of our lives even when we least expect it.

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.

Quiet times...

Early this week I heard a message from a well-known International preacher. One of the points he was making during his message was that we as Christians shouldn’t feel condemned or worried if we have only 4.5 ‘quiet times’ per week because that actually meant that we were like everyone else and we were ‘normal’.

I must admit that I was quite shocked that he was actually saying that it was ok not to spend time with God everyday! What happened to what the Bible says about ‘praying continuously’ and having a relationship with God? The soul purpose we were created for was to have fellowship with God and to have relationship with Him… how can you build a relationship with someone on only 4.5 ‘quiet times’ per week… and how long are those quiet times?

Imagine if your husband or wife came home and said ‘Sorry honey, I have too many other things going on in my life at the moment, I’m going to have to restrict the time I see you this week to only 4.5 times and only 15 minutes at the most. I won’t be able to phone you just to say that I love you or to ask you for help with any problems that I might be going through and I won’t be able to stop and think about you at all and wonder what you might think about my ideas… I’m just too busy’.

If that is what being a normal Christian is about then I don’t want anything to do with normal… I want to be totally abnormal! I want to be one hundred percent sold out for Jesus and focussed on Him all of the time. God should be part of our lives and thoughts all throughout every single day… we need to get rid of the spirit of humanism that is slowing creeping its way into the lives of Christians and the church and become like Jesus. I want the Holy Ghost to speak to me continuously and if that is going to happen, I have to be the one who takes the first step.


James 4:8 ‘Come near to God and he will come near to you’.

Dreams...

Last night over dinner with my husband our conversation eventually lead to us having a deep and meaningful about our future, our hopes and dreams, our desires and what we want to do in the coming years...which is one thing that we love to do. Craig and I both have some very big dreams (sometimes I wonder if they are even too big) but I don’t ever want to be one of those people who has lots of dreams and talks about them all the time but never actually does anything about it. So of course this afternoon, while I am at home alone without my lovely husband (he is working... as he does every weekend...we have a desire to change this!) I have again been thinking about our dreams and wondering how we can achieve them and what I can do to help achieve them.



The other night at our home group we were listening to a CD by a guy named Dr Dave Martin and he was discussing the differences between the way that rich people think and the way that poor people think. One of the points he brought up was that rich people believe ‘I can create my life’ but poor people think that ‘life just happens’. God has given us a mind to think and to create and to have dreams and visions... God is the creator of the whole universe, He created the world we live in, He did it all in only seven days AND we are created in the image of Him... We can create the life we desire through Jesus.


But I find myself in a quandary, as I so often do when it comes to my dreams, because I always wonder to myself... but what is God’s will?? I always ask myself the same question ‘is my dream also God’s will for my life?’ What is God’s will for my life? The problem is that I never get a straight answer... even from God. The only thing I have got to go on is God’s Word... The Bible. So I asked myself the question ‘Do my dreams line up with the Word of God?’ Well....Yes....they do!


So does that mean that all of my dreams will come true? I guess they will... if I work hard at it... if I have the right mindsets... if I trust in God for the impossible and have faith.


I remember quite a few years ago now, I believed that God was calling me to New Zealand to be a farmer’s wife. Now, for those of you who know me well, you will probably be on the floor rolling around in laughter right now!! As if I could be a farmers wife... right!!?? What was I thinking!!!??? Anyway, I was going... I had my ticket booked and paid for, my bags were almost packed until.... God stopped me. I mean He stopped me!! God gave me a word from someone who knew absolutely nothing about my situation and told me very directly to ‘wait for the green light’.... I was trying to go on a red light and God stopped me. So I listened... I didn’t go and God has blessed me with the most wonderful husband in the world!


As we start to take steps towards our future and head in the direction that we believe we should be going, the direction that our dreams are leading us, if God doesn’t stop us in our tracks... we must be on the right path. God may not always answer our questions for direction in our lives, He wants us to step out and trust Him but if we do start to go off in the wrong direction, it is wonderful and comforting to know that He will gently lead us back onto the right track.

All I Need

This morning at church we were singing a song and the last paragraph of the song says ‘you are all I need’. As I was singing this God really challenged me… is He really all that I need? Sometimes we can be singing a song during praise and worship and not even really thinking about the words we are actually singing.

I was thinking about it again this afternoon and considering how I would be if I really didn’t have anything left in my life except God? What if He took away my life as it is now…my husband, my job, my finances, my friends, my giftings, everything that I consider of value to me…how would I really feel?….would Jesus be all that I need? I would definitely like to think that I could say yes, He is all that I would ever need but I honestly don’t know.

It’s a pretty big challenge when you think about it but something that I am compelled to strive for in my life.