• 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…

  • Dwell: Five Minute Friday

    When I saw the Five Minute Friday prompt “dwell” this verse immediately came to mind. Dwell and abide have been two words that are coming up often for me at the moment. I love this verse but often question what that actually looks like in my daily life. How do I dwell in the secret place? I think I am figuring it out slowly. So often I try to work to make it happen instead of rest, which is required.  Accepting a new leadership position felt so right at the time, then all the thoughts of inadequacy hit. I could choose to dwell on all of those doubts and fears…

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  • Thankful Thursday

    It’s that time of the week again- time to stop and take stock of the big and little things in my previous week that I am thankful for. God blowing me away with a call to take a huge next step in leadership and giving me the peace and agreement from my husband to take the leap. The opportunity to visit another MOPS group and be able to sit without responsibilities and indulge in some craft time. It turned out beautifully (but unfortunately I must not have baked it quite right as the pink colour has smudged with washing.) Family fun playing Monopoly Junior Friends who encourage me without even…

  • Planning for Advent: including a free printable!

    How fast is this year going?! Advent is almost upon us. I loved being intentional with planning Advent activities to do with my daughter last year. I did go quite overboard though trying to include several different ideas all into one season. This year, I plan to pare back a bit and be more focused. I don’t want Advent to become a stressed, rushed time as that defeats the purpose of meditating on and preparing our hearts for the real message of Christmas.    To help me prepare for Advent so that I can reduce the stress during December, I created an Advent planner for myself. Before putting up more…

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  • Be careful what you write/pray about! More letting go.

    I had somehow developed this idea that following all the growth this year, the roles I had taken on and the writing series I had completed that I was now in for a year of consolidating. I had grown reasonably comfortable and was quite ok with that. Silly me!!  For quite a while I had been sensing God nudging me to take Netflix off my tablet to help cut down the time suck that it has often been in my days. I kept thinking that I would just control the time and that would be fine. Finally this week, I obeyed. I took the app off of my tablet. I…

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  • Weary: Five Minute Friday

    It is Friday night. My daughter is FINALLY asleep. My husband is out doing the grocery shopping (oh yes, I have an awesome husband!). After a busy day and a full week, I am weary. Today I don’t see that as a negative. I am weary from serving an amazing bunch of ladies at MOPS, building relationships there. I am weary from putting myself out there to meet new people at a 2016 Kindy kids playdate. I am weary from wrestling through a very unexpected decision with God. I am weary from working in a job I love with people who build me up. I am weary from interrupted sleep…

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  • Thankful Thursday

    This week has been a blur of recovering from illness and supporting my daughter as she does then attempting to return to our regular routine. This thankful list is needed more than ever. Figuring out a plan that worked for the class I have on a Monday, keeping everyone engaged and feeling more manageable. We’ll see if it works next week! Stunning blue skies with wispy clouds Christmas decorations up in the shops and seeing my daughter’s delight at every Christmas tree she sees. The shopping centre near us including a nativity scene for Christmas and my daughter’s delight at seeing “baby Jesus”. An InLinkz Link-up Linking up at Literacy…

  • Change

    Change. This word is a cornerstone in my work and a large part of my personal life too. I work for an amazing school called Alta-1 College, specifically in the online schooling program for students with mental health issues or other challenges that make attending a campus too difficult. The key criteria we look for when enrolling a student? The willingness to change and engage in the change process. It can’t be the parents or guardians wanting the change either. It has to be the student themselves for it to work. One truth that becomes apparent quickly is that beginning to change is not all that difficult but persisting with…