Category Archives: God

Day 9: Celebrate your love

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Day 9: Celebrate your love

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am, seriously despite all the things that I whinge about, the things that make me cry and the bumps that I talked about on Monday, I am super super super blessed. Today I have been challenged to ‘celebrate my love’, and I think that could potentially mean a lot of things, because over the years… I have given out a lot of love, some serious, some naive, some in the form of silly crushes and not so silly crushes… some has been wasted, but lots has been embraces and even given back… but that’s not what I want to celebrate today.  No, today I want to celebrate the fact that I am loved by two people in particular… my parents.

When I look around at families of all kinds, it doesn’t take me long to realise how blessed I am, I have a mum and a dad that love me to bits, they support me, they discipline me, they encourage me to try anything and everything that I want, they trust me, they challenge me, they have provided for me and they have shaped me into the person I am today.  I am so thankful for each of them and impact on my life they have had and will continue to have, so I just thought I would take a minute to say thanks and to celebrate the love I receive from them and the love that I have for them.

So… Mum and Dad… I love you stacks… always have and always will!

The Bumpy Bumpy Road

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Day 6: Love Your Bump

Love my bump ey?  Well while I do have a bit of a gut… I don’t have a bump because as I mentioned earlier… I am not pregnant… but thinking outside the box a little and determined to use as much of this love list as I can, I decided that while I don’t have a physical bump, I certainly have had, and still have some metaphorical bumps in that crazy journey that I am currently calling life.  So I thought that I would post about something I have been thinking about for a while… Embracing these bumps and moving on, and learning to love the person that they have made me become… which I guess by default is… ‘loving the bump’.  Some of you would know that over the last couple of years… Well maybe more than a couple, my life has been a bit topsy turvey, there have been some really crap parts and some awesome parts, and I think for the I have slowly been getting better at dealing with events such as these.

This year, yes I know it’s only the second week of Feb, has unfortunately been no different, the bumps they keep on coming.  Each time I deal with one and I am just starting to get my confidence back, it seems like there is another just sitting there, ready and waiting to pounce.  I have spent a lot of time thinking about the purpose for these bumps and I know for one,  they are making me stronger, in fact I often catch my self thinking surely I am strong enough… but apparently not, coz they just keep coming.

In my most recent bump I was reminded of something very important the way I respond both immediately and ongoing in a choice… I can either choose faith or fear…. Now despite the fact that I love and serve the king of kings, saviour of the world, all powerful, all knowing, omnipotent God, and I know that faith is the better response… my first reaction is usually not god, but fear.

Fear is something I have struggled with for a long time… Most of you probably already know this, in fact, in the middle of last year I preached about it, but once again it’s back and… once again I have had enough of living by it.  The thing is, most of the time fear seems like the easiest option, but more often than not, it just makes things worse.  So, in order to get on top of this fear and faith thing I have found my self seeking god in completely different ways than I normally would, I have been reading different books, listening to different songs and trying for the first time podcasts from churches around the world.  I have now listened to three podcasts from Bethel church in the states and surprise, surprise I have been learning… I know I shouldn’t really be surprised, coz in the bible it talks about the fact that if we seek, we will find and if we press into god, He will press into us, but I still am, just a little bit.  Anyway, in the first sermon I was reminded that we are called to be warriors of hope, and that it’s by our faith that we inherit the promises of god… Pretty cool ey? And then in the third one I heard something that I don’t think I had thought about before… That when you believe the lie, you empower a dis-empowered devil.  I know that the devil is defeated, but when I let the bumps get me down and cripple me with fear I actually just give the devil a stronger hold on my life.

So once again, I am taking a stand and making some decisions…

1.    The worry box is back… I will hand it over and let it go
Mark 5:36 – ‘Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe’
Philippians 4:6 – ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’

2.    I will be thankful for the bumps because they have made me who I am but I will not let them bump me off the track…
2 Timothy 1:7-9 – ‘7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time’

3.    I will choose faith. I will choose trust and I will not empower a die-empowered devil.
Romans 8:28 – ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’
John 19:30(b) – ‘Jesus said, “It is finished.”’

Soak it up

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Day 5: Do something you love

Tonight was the second night service for the year, and I am really glad that it was because it was most definitely my ‘do something you love’.  I love being there.  When there is no night service through January, while I enjoy the decrease in responsibility, there is a bit of a hole in my life.  I know that church isn’t the be all and end all of my faith, but I also know that it is a super important part, gathering together, sharing, learning and growing together.  It’s not perfect, but that’s because it made of imperfect people… but there is a lot of love and it’s good.

Tonight I was really encouraged by the honesty of the worship and in fact the whole service, it was real, not a show, or a routine, but passionate, honest and simple… it’s moments like that that I wish I could just stop time and soak it up.  I don’t think I stop often enough to just sit and be still in the presence of God.  But I know it’s something that I need to do more often… because it’s good… really really good.

This year our church, in particular this service and the youth and young adults bit, is going through yet another transition time but I am really excited about what’s about to happen, and hopefully the lives that will be changed with it and through it, including my own as I continue to grow and become closer and closer to the person that God wants me to be.  I am glad to be a part of the army, and to call this place my spiritual home, I know it is where I am meant to be and am glad that it will continue to be my ‘do something you love’ for a long long time to come.

2011 – Through the eyes of my iPhone

I feel l like all week I have been reminiscing and I guess it’s the right time of year to do for it, I mean with all the family times over Christmas and with the new looming around the corner, I think it’s a good idea to look back over all that has happened this year.

This year has been full on, part of me feels like it was only yesterday that I was reminiscing on all that had happened in 2010, yet another part of me feels like I have been married forever… It’s hard to even comprehend all that has happened this year, I was going to do a ‘Top 10 moments of 2011’ but I don’t even know where to I would start… I guess there are some obvious highlights, one being getting married and our awesome honeymoon to the states, but there are so many more little moments that I know I’d I miss something special if I started naming them… So instead I thought I would share my project 365 photos from the year and just one highlight… and one lowlight from each month… just to make sure it’s a little bit balanced… So here is 2011… wrapped up in a blog….

JANUARY…

20111231-144646.jpg

Highlight: Wedding Planning – Bridesmaid’s dresses, Making the wedding invitations and getting the perfect Cinderella wedding shoes.

Lowlight: Cutting my foot on the escalator at Doncaster… although swimming up the escalator trying to get back to the top was a very very very amusing.

FEBRUARY…

20111231-144654.jpg

Highlight: Hairspray… awesome

Lowlight: Working late…

 

MARCH…

20111231-144704.jpg

Highlight: Mixed Nuts victory

Lowlight: Cutting my foot… again… and begining to think that perhaps Dave was right and my choice of footwear was to blame.

 

APRIL…

20111231-144712.jpgHighlight: My hen’s celebration… awesome meringues, a weekend at the beach and the royal wedding

Lowlight: Jarring my finger, so much so my ring wouldn’t fit

 

MAY…

20111231-151807.jpgHighlight: Becoming Mrs George and going to New York and Disneyworld with my husband

Lowlight: Getting sick just before the wedding and the panic of being a Rudolph bride.

 

JUNE…

20111231-151816.jpgHighlight: Unpacking all our amazing gifts and setting up our home

Lowlight: Not being the Badminton Champion at SYG…. Again… my time will come.

 

JULY…

20111231-151830.jpgHighlight: Making the best birthday cake ever

Lowlight: Losing my text messages, but its ok coz I got them back

 

AUGUST…

20120101-112722.jpgHighlight: Listening to Davo preach up a storm

Lowlight: Back to full time work for more than a month… and becoming a teaching widow…

 

SEPTEMBER…

20120101-112728.jpgHighlight: Dusty and Jess got engaged… woo hoo, oh and a trip to Warrnambool

Lowlight: The phone and cd player that said no

 

OCTOBER…

20120101-112734.jpgHighlight: Dave’s School’s Star Trek play

Lowlight: Dave getting in the spa with a dead cooking birds.

 

NOVEMBER…

20120101-112740.jpgHighlight: Awesome concerts… Farnsy and Dolly

Lowlight: Bad haircut

 

DECEMBER…

20120101-112745.jpgHighlight: Christmas… what could be better

Lowlight: The Birds that got stuck in the chimney on Christmas eve… way too much drama

So there you go… lets hope 2012 is just as fun

Happy Day after Christmas

Wow Christmas is really over, all the presents are unwrapped, the parties have finished and it’s almost time to start 2012… who would have thought. Some times I think I spend so long waiting for Christmas that it is all done and dusted way to quick. Unfortunately I have no abilities to slow down time so I just have to accept it and move on.

A little while ago I wrote a blog about really listening to the lyrics of carols, and songs in general I guess and I thought that today I might share another song that has really been making me think. This song is one that before this Christmas I had never heard, as it was on one of my 2011 Christmas cd purchases. It’s a song by a guy called Matthew West and its just a reminder that even though Christmas the even is over for another year, the reason, the story and the purpose are still here and so like the weary souls from ‘O Holy Night’ we should live differently because of what has happened, and not let our everything that Christmas means… love, hope, joy, salvation, just get put in a box until we need it in November 2012, yes November, 2012.

Anyway, I have said enough, the song says it all anyway, so here are the lyrics to Day After Christmas by Matthew West…

Here comes the let down, Christmas is over
Here comes the meltdown, there goes the cheer
But before we have a breakdown, let us remember
The Light of the world is still here.

Happy day after Christmas,
Merry rest of the year,
Even when Christmas is over
The light of the world is still here
The light of the world

Come January, I’m ready for summer
The Super Bowl’s over and I’ll settle for spring
Sometimes we all need a change in the weather
But it won’t change the reason we sing

Happy day after Christmas,
Merry rest of the year,
Even when Christmas is over
The light of the world is still here
The light of the world
The light of the world
The light of the world

So take down the stockings, take back the sweaters
Take down the lights and the star and the tree
But don’t let this world take your joy after Christmas
Take joy to the world and just sing

Happy day after Christmas,
Merry rest of the year,
Even when Christmas is over
The light of the world is still here
The light of the world is still here

King of Kings

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV)
6For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mightly God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.


7Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom
establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.


Mary

Luke 1:28-38 (NIV)
28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[b] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Joe

Matthew 1:20, 24 (NIV)
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

Gabe

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Luke 2:9-14 (NIV)
9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

 14“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”