• Reflecting on 2015: What I learned this year

    I have come to accept that my memory is not great. Looking back on the year that was leaves me with general impressions, swaths of emotions over time periods and only a few distinct memories. I indulged in a couple of hours of reflecting on 2015 and looking ahead to 2016 using Amanda Viviers questions, a highly worthwhile exercise-especially if you are a writer or creative in any way. I was left with impressions of these being my take away lessons from this year: Deep community can develop in only a year– I find it hard to fathom that some of my closest friends today were really only acquaintances at this time…

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  • Thankful Thursday

    Thankful Thursday is here for another week. This will be the last link up for this year with the fullness of the Christmas and New Year season. Join me in noticing the good in the midst of a potentially busy and stressful season. I know for many Christmas brings a lot of pain and heartache. The privilege of having a child to do Truth in the Tinsel with or make a sheep costume for, or even to be woken up in the middle of the night by. My heart aches for those who battle infertility and I am reminded to be so thankful for my daughter and all the aspects…

  • “The Gift of Jesus”- spoken word performance

    I have the incredible privilege of being on a MOPS team with the fabulous Eloise Allbury who has been such a huge source of encouragement and blessing in my life. At our final MOPS meeting for the year, Eloise performed a spoken word piece that she had written about what the gift of Jesus means to her. POWERFUL!! It had to be captured on video to share with others. I may not have the best camera or audio equipment but we recorded her performance. Listen to the words and may the truth of Jesus be ignited in your heart. Linking up with Inspire Me Monday and Literacy Musing Monday.

  • Navigating through the fear

    The plan for writing today was an update on our Advent celebrations and some personal reflections on this time. I guess my heart has other ideas as this has been brewing within me all day, and has been bubbling under the surface all week. I wrote in this post about the new leadership opportunity that I was praying through and had accepted. I have taken on the role of North Metro Regional Coordinator for MOPS Western Australia. I was stunned at being asked, excited about the next step I felt God calling me into and nervous about the demands of the role. This week it all became official. It became…

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  • Thankful Thursday

    The countdown to Christmas is well and truly on. At this moment, I am not feeling stressed by this (my first thankful!). It is my last week at work for the year. It is the last session for MOPS this week. I am almost finished my Christmas shopping. It is a busy season but I am not feeling hurried. Noticing the good and choosing what I focus on is certainly a contributing factor to this overarching peace. Our bottlebrush bush is finally blooming after many years of surviving but not thriving. This has been a positive to our neighbour cutting down a tree that hung over our side of the…

  • Thankful Thursday

    Another week has passed us by. What impression lingers in your mind and heart? Has the good stuck with you or are hard things overshadowing this week? My heart is heavy about a few things that I have been involved in this week which makes this list essential.  Advent has started and we got our Christmas decorations out. I have been so looking forward to this season. My daughter has caught that excitement too which is a joy to watch. She has embraced the Advent candles and Truth in the Tinsel activities. Getting to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law and adorable 2 year old nephew. Watching him and my…

  • What I learned in November

    Can you believe that it is December already?! As Advent starts, I am taking the time to take stock of what I learned in November.  I really love Gilmore Girls One of the Australian TV channels has be airing reruns of Gilmore Girls and I caught it at the start this time. It is not at a time I can actually watch so I have a series record set. I indulge in an episode on several nights. It brings back memories of my teenage years where I would share this show with a special friend. It is still as hilarious and engaging as it was back then. I even catch…

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  • Advent for me

    When you’ve been a Christian for a while, it can be all too easy to take who Jesus is and what He has done for granted. At least, it is for me. I find that the passion and real heart connection with the story of Jesus ebbs and flows. I have just finished a six week study on Mark through Hello Mornings. I found myself reconnecting with the foundation of the gospel message again, the person of Jesus. The last few days of looking afresh at His crucifixion and resurrection have particularly had an impact on me. Many tears have been shed. I had already determined to find an Advent…

  • Thankful Thursday

    I sat down to reflect on this week and write this post and all I could think about was the negatives. This is exactly why I started this link up. I want to be intentional about overcoming my negative default and notice the things in my life that I am thankful for. So here goes: Having rose bushes in bloom right outside my front door. I have to walk past them to take the rubbish to the bin. I chose to stop and smell the roses (literally) to notice that good in the midst of my mundane. The opportunity to sit with other writers encouraging each other and gleaning wisdom…

  • Advent as a family

    The catalyst for me looking into celebrating Advent last year was my desire to instil the real meaning of Christmas in my daughter’s heart and try to drown out some of the commercialism and focus on Santa. I have come to love it for my own heart preparation and focus on Jesus in a busy season too. Last year I tried to pack so many ideas into how we celebrated Advent that it did become overwhelming and another to do at times (you can read about these plans in this post). This year, I am streamlining my plans. I wrestled a little with wanting to create traditions in our family…