Tag Archives: Romans

2016 – Photos, Lessons and Thankfulness

Posted in Faith, Family, Friendship, God, Life, Project 365 by

Ok so today is the last day of 2016 and I can’t tell you how ready I am for 2017.  It’s not that 2016 has been all bad, it hasn’t.  There is a part of me that will actually miss the things and events of 2016, but I am ready for something new.  Ready to start again.  2016 has held lots of my best and most treasured moments, our travels around the world, new friends, old friends and meeting and holding my baby boy for the first time.  But the second half of 2016 has also been my hardest time to date, saying goodbye to Josh way too soon and learning to live in world where he was and now isn’t.

Much of 2016 was unexpected, but through all of this I have grown.  I have learnt more about myself, who I am, who I want to be, and where I need to make changes.  More about my family and friends, just how important they are, and how much they love Dave and I through both good and bad.  And more about what is important in life, how much trust I have in Jesus and that even though I may not see the whole picture I can trust that this is part of something much bigger than me.  That this year has been and will be way more important that I will understand for a long time.  I have learnt to hold on to the things that I know are true and good and to hope and celebrate joy in really really crappy places.  I know that “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28, NLT).

Looking forward to 2017 I must “be strong and courageous! I must not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord my God is with me wherever I go.” (Joshua 1:9, NLT with my paraphrase).  God has this covered, he has Dave and I covered in his love, in his grace and in his mercy.  His love brings joy and peace beyond understanding and circumstance.  We have good things ahead and my hope is that we will see some of these in 2017. 

Usually at this time of year I would right a blog looking back at the year through the photos taken on my iPhone which I am still going to do, only this year instead of writing a highlight of each month, I am going to write about the things I am thankful for.  On most occasions these are also the highlights, but practicing my gratitude and highlighting the blessings brings me a lot more joy than just telling you that something was good.  It’s also better for my brain. So this is what 2016 looked like through the eyes of my iPhone with my gratitude lens on.

January…

I am thankful for:
•  Travel, exploring Europe and having my mind opened to more of the world with the best travel buddy I could have ever asked for, Dave.
•  Meeting new friends.
•  Polka bands and spoons in Austria.
•  Exploring London, Paris and Disneyland with my best friend.

February…

I am thankful for:
•  Warm weather and food with friends old and new.
•  Parkrun and it’s ability to engage my fomo so I actually exercise.

March…

I am thankful for:
•  More food and sharing it with more people – this seems to be a theme of my life.
•  Inverloch and the opportunity that it gives me to step back and slow down.
•  Beautiful cards from Happy Mail that I have been able to share.
• Learning about snapchat filters and the fun they have brought… even though I still haven’t quite conquered snapchat.

April…

I am thankful for:
•  The outback and red dirt and the feeling that I get when I am standing surrounded by it.  By the incredible landscapes and history our home holds.
•  Camping, hiking and exploring new and beautiful places with Dave’s family and how much closer I feel to them after having these experiences.
•  Getting over my fear of bugs, I don’t know how, but I do know it happened in April and now they don’t bother me… at all, it’s really nice.
•  Birthdays and the wonderful excuse they are to catch up with people and eat delicious treats… see I told you it was a theme.

May…

I am thankful for:
•  School and the community that it is, for the wonderful and talented kids, for our trip to Mt Gambier and watching them perform in the Lion King.
•  5 years with Davo as married couple.  Marriage just keeps getting better and better and it is still the best decision that I have ever made, to say yes to him and to get married.

June…

I am thankful for:
•  Finding out we were pregnant, even if I wasn’t quite ready.
•  For work and the fun things I get to do, talks, presentations, adventures and be creative.
•  Bram and Jean and the impact they had on Box Hill Salvos, but also on Dave and I.  Their wisdom, humility and enthusiasm is something that I greatly value.  For Bram and I’s competitive parkrun spirit and his encouragement of my running.

July…

I am thankful for:
•  Anti-nausea medication and the difference it makes.
•  The generosity of friends and the wonderful and relaxing weekend in the city it provided for Dave and I.
•  Catch ups with new, but great friends.
•  The joy of sharing good news with family.  For how excited they were and how much they loved Josh, even before we new he was Josh.

August…

I am thankful for:
•  Sharing my pregnancy with one of my best mates and having an endless supply of food at our shared desk.
•  Scans and how incredibly detailed they are, for seeing Josh move around and starting to get to know who he was.
•  The joy of sharing our news of Joshua with our wider group of friends and family and the amount of love that was poured out.
•  More sunny days as winter started to disappear.

September…

I am thankful for:
•  Cleaning things out and making way, decluttering and letting go.
•  Our Babymoon to Lakes Entrance and time spent with just Dave.
•  The incredible example my grandparents are in their marriage, 60years strong and still so in love.
•  Tiny baby clothes and toys.
•  Another scan and the detail in which we were able to see our perfect baby growing.
•  Turkish Delight milksakes and pink donuts.

October…

I am thankful for:
•  Dust and Jess and the exciting news that our Baby was getting a cousin.
•  Spending time with friends for the grand final, birthdays and mario party.
•  Holding Josh and being about to spend 3 heartbreaking days with him, for how perfectly he was made and how beautiful he was.
•  Watching Dave with Josh and falling even more in love with him as he became a father to our tiny boy.
•  Being able to sing, kiss and cuddle my precious little one.
•  Friends and family that stood in the gap for us as we grieved, for food and gifts that filled our house and for love that was poured out so abundantly.

November…

I am thankful for:
•  Learning to breathe again.
•  Sunny days to spend out on the deck and catching up with family.
•  Gingerbread, Christmas Trees and the Christmas Movie Marathon voting system.
•  Our photo wall and being able to put our whole family up there.
•  Singing to celebrate on of my old teachers at school and the impact he had on our musical lives and just singing in a choir again.
•  Heartfelt and their gift of beautiful photos of Joshua

December…

I am thankful for:
•  Polaroid photos.
•  Having Kirsten home for a couple of weeks and getting to hang out with here.
•  Crafting and blogging and having time to due some fun projects.
•  Perfectly wrapped Christmas gifts.
•  Christmastime – meals, celebrations and time spent with those most important to us.
•  Joshua’s tiny hand prints on our tree.
•  More time on the deck.
•  Summer, heat and our new air conditioners.
•  Time to reflect.

There has been so much to be thankful for and really this is just a snap shot.   Despite the pain and turmoil of moments, 2016 has been pretty good, really good actually, but I am still looking forward to 2017 with the hope of even more joy.  I will be strong and courageous, and I will trust that there is good because I love God and he loves me and will be with me whatever 2017 holds.

The Bumpy Bumpy Road

Posted in Faith, Family, God, Life, Love by

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.”’