Summer is coming to an end

Summer is coming to an end.  While it is still hot at the moment, who knows how many more visits we get to the beach?  On a previous visit I was captured by something we do often when we go to the beach.  When my boys are little the waves are always a little daunting so we go close to the sea and dig a pool to sit and play in. To be successful the trick is to dig as close to the shore line as possible without the tide destroying the pool as it washes over the side. Digging further away seems fruitless as bucket after bucket is tipped in and drains away.

It got me to thinking.  Life is a lot like this.  With our own efforts we try to do the best we can.  We dig a hole and can fill it as many times as we like and the water just sinks away.  We look for the next big thing in life that will fill us and make us happy.  It isn't until we go to the source and dig deep that the water stays in the pool.    God is the source of our strength.  We need to lean in to him and dig deep into his word, holding on to his promises.  And he doesn't just fill us.  He fills us to overflowing (Psalm 23:5).  The more we give the more we receive.

At church we have been working through the book of Matthew.  I have been challenged by this verse:

 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Matthew 10:39 (NIV)

As I read this post at To Overflowing I am reminded that it is not about me.  Less of me and more of Him. Because in doing this I discover what it means to really live an abundant life .

Growing in his grace.

Losing myself in His love

 

Hello Mornings

I started.  Back to school, back to routine.  Time to do what I have longed for.  To establish a good morning routine.  It sets the day.

It was a beautiful one. 

My aim was for 7.00

My journals and books ready 

and then........

while it would be awesome to be up and to study and pray {let alone exercise as is suggested},  it is enough that I am up.  It is going to take time to get to where I want to be.  While I am waiting I do the next thing.  For now that is being up by 7, reading my Word for Today, focusing on what needs to be done and what I want to get done as I start the day.  I have been reading my study book Desperate and keeping up with where the study is online.  Next is to write about it.

I keep burning the candle at the other end.  Staying up late trying to get more done.  What I realise is that to set the day up right would mean that I am able to do what I should be because I am not trying to catch up.  The start of the year is always full on with starting back to school and everyone's birthday between December and April.  Something I keep having to remind myself of.   I have lots I want to accomplish.  I can't do it all so I need to start with what is important.

To the power of three

To the power of 3

Father, Son and Holy Spirit

A car is made to run on gasoline and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is not any other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. CS Lewis

Whatever you think of me and what I do. It is not about me. For everything I do there is one thing I changed to make it happen and several things that I choose not to do. Since making the date for the night  I originally shared this message,  I had been so challenged about what I  shared. I had nothing else booked for that week. As it happens things changed and I had had more than I could possible imagine fitting in. That day alone I prepared for the night, went to the school cross country, visited my son's intermediate open day, and had soccer practice on top of what I already do in a day {which always seems like not much when you have a 3 year old helping}. At every turn I have met with struggle. 

But I am always reminded that He has overcome the world and I need to press on.  Phil 3:14  If God can handle eternity then I can handle today.

There is something powerful in meeting with someone and sharing the journey.  Why wait for the next big thing, inspiring speaker or programme. I believe we have what we need, we just need to access it. We as a group of women have the opportunity to do more than has been before. To define our lives not let life define us. To stand together to be enough. Confident with where we are, yet fighting for who we hope to become. And pass it on.

There is so much more but for now - enough said

but keep watching this space..........

Plus One

+1

Ever said to yourself I will do............. when I …............ but, I am not there yet. Something I always said until I discovered there is no there. There will always be something else. Life is continually changing. Even with a destination it is not about the arrival but who we become. We get so overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done we do nothing. The phrase that women can do anything has been misinterpreted as women can do everything. We can do everything................. we are supposed to do................ but not all at once.

In my previous enough posts I outlined how we need to see who we are, what we have and what we do, as enough.  God loves us just as we are but he loves us too much to leave us this way.

We all have to do lists and things we want to improve on.  What if instead of trying to do it all we chose one thing that would make a difference and do it.  I always ask myself 'how good would it feel if I ...........' 

I have been really challenged by the Faith at Home series that the church has put together. There are a number of things that I have been meaning to do. My Faith box is collecting dust, we really only say grace on occasion. So I was inspired by something I saw on the internet. A family basket that had prayer sticks and study notes and children's bibles. . Til then I had put the bibles by the childrens beds thinking we would read them more. So I put it together and put it on the table. No we didn't do anything with it. It sat. The boys asked questions. I told them what it was. We eat meals to nourish us and give us energy for living. We read the word – the bread of life to give us food for our growth as a Christian. I have been reading my word for today more. At the end of meals we have read one or two stories and studies. All from doing one thing. 

If I know where I want to go then each step I take towards it is a step in the right direction. I remind myself how good it feels to be where I want to be. As much as I love achieving something I am enjoying what happens along the way. Something my boys have taught me. Riley loves to stop and smell the roses.

You have to know where you are headed. What is your purpose?  What is your one thing? I read this post just the other day from Brave Girls Club

Dear Seeking Girl,
So much of the greatest joys in
life come from moving something out of the way so we can see what we are
intended to see. Often we focus on a problem or an issue, sometimes doing it to
ourselves, and sometimes allowing someone else to keep putting something
stressful in front of us over and over again. And then it grows so big that we
can not see everything else around it, behind it, above it, below
it.
Everything has a place. Everything has a time. Everything has a
season.
When we allow something to consume all of our thoughts, all of
our vision, all of our energy, to suck up all of our joy, all of our heart, all
of our goodness, we are not letting anything else in our life have its place,
its time or its season.
If the issue that is causing you to struggle was
written on a tiny piece of paper and you put it RIGHT in front of your eyes, it
would make it so that you could see nothing else. It wouldn’t MEAN that nothing
else was there, it would just mean that it is not in its place. Take that “piece
of paper” and put it down on a table where you can see it with everything else,
how small it is, how much surrounds it, how much bigger the sun and the sky and
everything good is, how it does not deserve as much attention from you as it is
getting.
Dear friend, beautiful girl, take that worry from in front of
your face and see the people who love you, the way things keep working out, the
way the sun rises each morning. Hear the sounds of your life, taste the tastes
of your life, remember the things you have already learned and been through.
Remember how you want to feel and where you want to be. Pick it up as needed and
deal with it as needed, but then put it back down and live your life. Life is
meant to be joyful.
You are so loved. There is a better way. Always go
where the peace is.

What change could you make that would make a big difference to how you live your life?

I am happy. Not because of my circumstances but because

I do not do this alone. 

To be continued.....

I do enough

I do enough
You have probably already heard - Take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else and 'They grow up so fast' meaning leave what you think you need to do and do what you ought to do. Its just not always easy to just leave everything that needs to be done. While the washing will still be there tomorrow so will another couple of loads to add to it. It would be great to be able to prioritise what needs to come first and leave all the rest.  I can't do that.  I find it really hard to focus on what I am doing when there are other things to be done.  I wrote more about this in the She Will Run study - Guilt. You can read it here.

In short I have certain things that I do so I know I have done enough.  My solution is to simplify what I do so I can do what I was made to do. For every task required there is a simpler way to do it.  And there is always more to do

You do enough

Heard it all before?  

Are you saying to yourself.......

I could never..........

Its all very well for her she.......

that is just the point - the equation is I not her.

I don't think we need to learn anything new. Rather we need to acknowledge what we already know and do something with it. It is about making a start. Even if a little imperfect. 

I have enough

So it continues. I have enough

Take a moment to think about your place. As you walk from room to room are there things there that are just taking up space. Do you have things stored away that haven't been used that you are keeping just in case.  Do you enjoy going to your wardrobe and choosing something to wear?

Wouldn't we all like to have our place featured in Home and Garden magazine looking just as beautiful. Not me. I don't have the space or the money to keep up appearances. I am grateful for what I have. What I have is enough and I will use what I already have on hand or have been given.

– William Morris said this 'have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful'

Decluttering. Something that I have been working on for some time. There is a process to work through. More than I can outline here. In short,  I believe there is always a solution to make life easier and I can live with less. Many do

You have enough

 

The practice of new habits

Where do I start?  Well I sat down to put do some of the little things that needed doing like paying some bills, filing papers and printing information that I wanted to keep.  As well as this I cleared the emails.  And thats where this post came to my attention.  As usual I don't hear from God in just one place.  I have been following the Inspired to Action blog and read constantly about their Hello Mornings challenge.  I also read this post at To Overflowing.  Along with the message that I heard on Joyce Meyers Enjoying Everyday Life today about using your talents I was certainly challenged.  She talked about how we should use what we have been given not just do the required amount.

The habit I am wanting to develop is having better mornings.   Around here mornings are crazy.  I'm definitely more of a night owl.Getting 4 boys up feed and organised for their day is always a feat. I am seeing some of the same traits starting with my boys.  Late nights and sleeping in is not the best way to have a good day.

I have things that I do to feel sorted.  As well as getting boys dressed, breakfast and making lunches, they include making beds, putting on the washing and dishes off the bench.   If I stay in bed just 15-30 mins later it means the house looks like this when I go out and I have to do it when I get back. 

Unmade beds, clothes everywhere, dishes all over the place.  A disaster zone. It always takes longer.  This means that I don't get on to what I need or want to be doing.  Apart from this I want to be spending time in the word and being focused on what God wants for me in the day.

So instead of writing my next installment of the enough seminar I have taken a step towards deliberately making some new habits that I have been wanting to make.  I have printed out a 100 days calendar to start a focus on creating new habits.  The first is something creative, the second something personal and the last something healthy.

1  Spend 15 mins at my creative space.
2  Start my day right getting up and having time in study and prayer.
3  End my day right to get enough sleep

Joining in with

I am enough

The verses that God has laid on my heart are Isaiah 43:18-19 and 44:3-5. An amazing promise. But take heed the warning that comes in 43:22-23. The people had not honoured God. What do we present to God, our faults or our offerings.

When I look in the mirror  I see something that is different to what everyone else sees. We see the strengths in others and the weaknesses in ourselves.  Till I decided.  When things aren't adding up in life start subtracting. 

Hence the equation.

i = e + 1³

i  = I 

I  -  aɪ(pron.)I; my; mine; me

(pron.)the nominative singular pronoun used by a speaker or writer in referring to himself or herself.

e = enough

e•nough(adj.)

1. adequate for the want or need; sufficient for the purpose or to satisfy desire:
   enough water; noise enough to wake the dead.
2. (pron.)an adequate quantity or number; sufficiency

I am enough

I have never been one to fit in, go with the fashions, do what everyone else is doing.

I was either not good enough or too good. When I realised that the very act of being different is what God requires of us. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the RENEWING of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and PERFECT will of God.

I like things a certain way. It wasn't until I saw my boys doing the exact same thing that I realised just what I was passing on to them. Things don't have to be perfect to be wonderful.

On the other hand when someone sees what I have done well  it is "so much better than I could do".  I worry that I make someone feel inadequate. What have I got to share? My answer more than I can imagine.

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well. Diane Ackerman

I could just curl up in my corner of the world and get on with my life. But there is more too it than that. I need to share what I know. There have been so many times that I have thought how great it would be to have known then what I know now . I know that there is learning in the climb up the mountain. But it seems to have taken so long to get to this point. I would love to have someone to journey with

I read a lot. I especially love Christian fiction. Karen Kingsbury would have to be one of my favs. She has an amazing talent for bringing characters to life. Her characters deal with all kinds of trials. How easy it is to write how it all ends. You are able to edit it to make it the best story there is. How many times I have read them and thought how great it would be to have a story like that. I can't go back and change what has already been but I can choose how I more forward.

It is not that I am any better or smarter or clever or wiser or prettier. There will always be someone who is more than me.   You may have noticed something all these words have in common, the ending – ER. You can read more about the ER complex here.  When we continue to chase the ideal that is exactly where we will end up. Stop trying to apply for my job it is already taken.

 

We place expectations on ourselves that we can never live up to. As Chris Rice says in his song is life for you 'like trying to smell the colour 9”

When you think you aren't enough He is more than enough.

2 Cor 12:9 My grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

Jer 31:3 ...I have loved you with an everlasting love

God is not disappointed in you. He loves you. He came so that you could have life and life to the full.

You are enough.

To be continued.......

enough said

It has taken some time for me to get to this point.  A dream has been building that is bigger than me.  It started last week as I had the opportunity to share some of that dream.  

I have heard it said that in order to be successful we need to prioritise what is truly important. Most Christians would say that they choose God as number one in their lives. I have come to realise that as William P Young writes in his book 'The Shack” the trouble with priorities is that it sees everything as a hierachy...you put God at the top... what does that mean and how much is enough? How much time will you give him before you can go about the rest of your day, the part that interests you the most. He doesn't want a part of us and a piece of our life. He simply wants us.

So I made a start with the ladies that I shared with.  So it continues. I hope you will join me as I unpack the equation and find what is enough for you.

Check here for each of the posts
I am enough 
I have enough 
I do enough
Plus one
To the power of three

Faith at Home

My husband and I attended an amazing Faith at Home introduction session at Northpoint this week. So inspiring! I am glad that I had a notebook to jot down the great bits. The focus was around Deuteronomy 6 At the end of the evening there was a challenge to make a stand for your family and not to forget the Lord. To find a rock as a reminder of the committment made. You know how good something is when you want to do the homework. So I have done it. I found a rock and have written on it Joshua 24:15 'as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord'.

inrl

Something new. I am joining in with thousands around the world for a linked up retreat. Looking forward to all it has to offer.

What's on my mind?

With all my sorting and organising I have been thinking about a few things that I wanted to get down to try and clarify why I do what I do. So here goes.

One of my biggest motivators is something that seems to come up time and again through things that I hear and read, is that I have enough hours in a day to do all the things that God intends. Phil 4:13 says 'I can do all this through him who gives me strength'. Notice it isn't I can do all things. I'm not supermum! So how do I know what I should be doing? The answer lies in being in tune with God. Knowing his voice when I ask just what I am supposed to be doing. It usually starts with a feeling. Whether I have a peace about what I am going to do. Then looking at the options. What is important vs urgent. Something I learnt from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. My key bible verse at the moment is Rom 12:2 which you will find at the top of my blog. We live in a busy time, rushing from one thing to the next and it is so easy to overcommit our selves and our children and not really enjoy anything that we are doing. John 10:10b says 'I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. Daily we need to make a commitment to stand out from the world and do what is right with God

This leads me into my next train of thought. If there are things that I should be doing does it mean that I have to leave the things that aren't a priority? One thing I have heard countless times as a mum is the old adage that the washing will still be there tomorrow so we can leave it and do what is more important like playing with our children. They grow up so quickly etc etc. True but along with that days washing comes tomorrows and soon we are overwhelmed with the day to day things that drive us crazy. So I find I have adopted more of a theory of the need for balance. While I would love to plan my days and be organised for what is coming up I have learnt that my circumstances do not allow for it. At the moment I have an overall picture of what I what to get done and do things one at a time. When I feel I haven't been doing something in one area say creative I make time to do something. The same goes for time with my husband and children, organising, business opportunities. One thing that I am beginning to understand more is how to use my time more effectively. My thinking was I needed long stretches of time to really get things done. But I would be waiting too long because it just doesn't happen. So I found that spending small amounts of time on one thing gets me that much closer to my goal. It is amazing what you can do in 15 mins. A tip I picked up from my reading and notes about scrapbooking that I have been reading. While some might call the things I do over organised. The systems I have put in place save me time that I can use for other things. And ultimately I can enjoy my life.

Feeling guilty

I have been absent of late as I mentioned in this post I have been working mainly on clearing my pile of to do's. In doing so I have been reflecting on the big G - guilt. It has been lurking there and as I do got to thinking. Heres what I came up with.

I began thinking about guilt when I came across a video from Cheryl Richardson talking to 'supermoms' about how to say no. The number one reason we can't say no is because we feel guilty. She says that in feeling guilty we should embrace the guilt as our friend because it means we are doing something for ourselves.

Every day I make decisions about what I am going to do. And whatever I choose to do I generally end up feeling guilty because someone misses out or I do something that I could be doing better. And that is not okay. So I have made a decision. I will not feel guilty. Sounds great but is it that easy? In short no it's not. What you need to do is start small. With one step. I like to remind myself that I can do what I can with what I have. And we are so good at thinking about what we don't have and what we aren't doing. Start thinking about what you are doing and have done that is making a difference. You might be surprised at how much it boosts you.

John 10:10b 'I have come that they may have life and have it to the full'. Whatever I choose to do I want to enjoy it not be constantly thinking about what else I could or feel I should be doing.

E100 Bible Study

One of my biggest goals this year would have to be making the most important thing the most important thing. What is that you ask? My relationship with God. Through all I have read, seen and heard I know that when I am connected I can live life better. All God desires is for us to be in relationship with him.

At church we have started the E100 Bible Challenge. It involves 100 readings through the bible to give an overall understanding of it. I was all keen and eager. A great kick start to getting back into regularly reading the bible. A week has been and already I am struggling with keeping to the schedule.

I heard a great message from Joyce Meyer today though that was a real boost. The main message I took from it is how we all desire to be better but no matter what we do God loves us anyway.

So I will not feel guilty about not doing what I thought I would. I will press on and do what I can when I can. It won't just happen though I need to be intentional about it. I will keep you posted