Merry Christmas!

Just popping in to say

MeRrY ChRiStMaS!!!

Praying you have a special day surrounded with love...and if not through people, the love of Jesus to fill your heart and give you many reasons to smile during this festive time.

Jesus is the reason for the season, and he doesn't want ONE heart to be sad on the remembrance of his birthday. 

If you have lost somebody this year, or previous years, I pray His love fills that hole in your heart today...the hole that nobody else can replace. Christmas is a time where we remember most those who have left us, but they are always in our heats. They would want us to keep living our lives, even though they cannot be with us. 

I don't know most of you who read my blog, and I thank you for taking the time to read my words... I pray that somehow I can encourage you, even if it's simply to show that you're not alone. 

Finally, I cannot imagine a Christmas without my saviour, Jesus Christ. It breaks my heart to imagine people who don't feel the joy and peace that I feel...and the unconditional love. I pray that you will feel this peace and joy that I feel...there is nothing like it in the universe! 

Bible Bashing on Social Media

As a Christian, I have no problem with people posting bible quotes or verses on social media. I do it myself.
However, there are people who seem to have a Facebook account with the SOLE PURPOSE to post bible verses and/or devotions... which becomes annoying, even for a Christian.
So, imagine how much more annoying it would be for a non-believer... Something many people don't seem to think about.

Personally, I have unfollowed people on Facebook, because I simply want to see them: how they're travelling, life events (weddings, babies, etc)...not bible verses. I begin to think, what's the point of even being friends?

If you are one of these kinds of people, I am not trying to judge, I simply want to ask why you have a Facebook account, when you could have a blog. Do you want to influence your friends? I believe you genuinely do. There is nothing wrong with that.

I do believe Facebook (and other forms of social media) can be a great tool for ministry. I appreciate many verses and devotions I see.

Please, just think about whether most of your posts are encouraging or bible bashing...

Summary of the last 12-ish months :)

I was a balloon in a bunch of nice balloons, like in the movie, "Up", going up, up, up...til somebody put an anchor on the perceived journey. How frustrating it is to be stalled when you felt you were reaching for the stars ...but how liberating it is to be released from that anchor & placed in a new bunch of balloons, once again feeling like the sky is the limit!

Still Blooming Where I Have Been Planted

Further to my original post about Blooming Where You Are Planted...
http://butterfly-robyn.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/blooming-where-you-are-planted.html

...yesterday I had some new thoughts.
Yes, I have learned to bloom where I have been planted...but maybe, just maybe the planting had much bigger ramifications.
I said it took much of 10 years to finally feel settled where I was planted. Now I have been settled for a few years...and there is always still that tiny voice in the back of my mind, saying, "How long will I be in this garden?" and "I wonder what is coming in the next year or so", "What is around the next bend?". However, I am still feeling settled in this garden.

I have dreams and plans, but they are still to come. They won't necessarily take me out of this garden, but they will change the 'soil'.

So, yes, this new season in the garden. I had the thought that the settling time I went through, was not just for the time I was in it... it was for the future... for people I had yet to meet...situations I hadn't yet experienced. None of these situations would have benefited anybody without that settling time.
In a way, it was like my settling time was the seed being planted, sprouting and growing. Learning to bloom...for the future.

I have come a long way since the pre-blooming days. I am grateful for the journey - the good, bad and ugly. I am more grateful for the memories of places I have been, to which I would never return...the lessons learned in those memories... that is what makes you a better person. The people you desperately try to love - because you know they are God's creation...even though they do not appear or act like they are God's - but they are. Some people have not 'deserved' the love I have attempted to offer, but I know in God's eyes, they did deserve His child attempting to treat them they way God willed, despite valid emotions and dangers. In the end, it's NOT about me.

So, now, looking back to when I first posted about blooming where I was planted...I can see that life changes, but what is important...essential... is the foundation.

Without the foundation, nothing will succeed. Being planted in this garden was building the foundation. Blooming in the garden was accepting being planted and moving with the breeze directing my stalk and petals in the right direction. This flower not only blooms under the right Sun, it releases the fragrance of the creator in His breeze.
Some may love it, others will hate it. In the end, it is the right scent and the right moment. This flower has much more to offer. There are many more lives that need to be touched by the creator's fragrance...whether they are conscious of it or not... so I continue to bloom in this garden. The garden does not stay the same, it only gets better... even when the storms come and the rain falls, the flower stands. So until this garden no longer needs this flower, I will continue to bloom where I have been planted...looking forward to looking back at the amazing things this garden is yet to bring :)

Why Prayer Warriors are Struggling... Mark Sandford

http://www.elijahhouse.org/topical-articles/topics/why-prayer-warriors-are-struggling-and-a-word-of-encouragement/fp-em1186

I just read this article from Elijah House Ministries... I hope it encourages somebody.
We are in a season where we must not give up or give in! We are the front-line soldiers. We have purpose. We must keep going! :)

A new church... a Year of Newness

Wow...after a bit of time in the desert, still growing and staying alive... we have found a place to rest... a place where the dryness is being soaked in living water... and WOW!! This morning we were able to worship with Aaron & Becky Lucas, and hear Aaron speak. For the first time in a long time, I didn't want to go home...I wanted to stay at church, and I could have stayed all day in that worshipful environment... the spirit was free and was releasing freedom... it was a beautiful environment...no agendas, no tall poppies... just God.

So, now we have visited this new church 4 times, and we are feeling so at home...even though we hardly know anybody. Isn't it funny how that happens... you can feel lonely surrounded by people you know, or included among people you don't know. So, this season of rest is taking a turn. We're coming out of the slow lane, and preparing to merge into the lane calling our name.

This is such a new season... 2014 for me is "NEW". The year of New. I have even changed things about myself... I changed my hair and even tried some red foils...which I must admit I love ;) I've never had any colour touch my hair, so it was an exciting and nervous feat! I ordered some new glasses last week... even our time is experiencing newness... more time to spend on our marriage... things seem to be going forward and upward. I am soooo ready for this change! There are more 'new' things to come...some promises to come to pass...and things we don't even know of yet... I am "Big Kev" excited!

After this growing season in the desert, I say Bring on the New!!!! :D

Prophets don't just give ;)

I've been quiet for a while...just been so busy. My knee is mostly good. Occasional aches here and there, but overall good.

There is so much I could write, but I need to sit down and write...and I am finding I have less time to do that... so I will leave this short today.

One thing I loved about this morning... a prophet is so used to giving, that they sometimes forget they can also receive. It's an amazing feeling when you're sitting in bed, and God says, "Read this verse", so you do...and wow! That's like a direct prophecy for the soul... as if a prophet has just come over and told you something from God... but it was directly from the father himself.

When I look out the window, I feel as if God has kissed the morning with his sunshine... and it's going to be a beautiful day :)

We take the simplest things for granted

It's amazing the things we take for granted... on Monday I did something silly and injured myself at work... freak accident that left me with soft tissue damage on my knee. There was nothing anybody could have done to prevent the accident. It was just one of those things. I didn't think it was bad until I saw the doctor...and was put on Modified Duties for 7 days.

So, I have spent the week on-site instead my usual off-site activities. I felt like a plane grounded at the airport - except I was still active.
So, having completed the 5 day work week, I have come to realise just how many things I do at work that I don't really THINK about!
When you MUST think about what you do, you realise how much you actually do... small things like pushing a wheelchair (with somebody in it) out of the doorway, or just turning them around to see something better, picking something off the floor, loading the washing machine/dryer/dish washer... assisting somebody to balance themselves, hugging people with balance problems - being ok being knocked off balance yourself - it never feels nice to tell somebody that you can't hug them today... but I did just that...and he understood... maybe it was ok because usually I DO hug him when he asks...and manage to keep us both balanced. Haha! The small things... that are actually big. It makes you realise that they do know you care...because saying no to a hug, with an explanation may be seen as rejection by some, but he must know I care, because he was ok with it. He knows I'll hug him next time...

So, tomorrow I have my follow up appointment with the doctor. He will either give me a medical clearance, or not. I am trusting God for the right outcome. There are underlying reasons why I wonder if he may not - and that will be a God thing. Otherwise, I will be happy to know the plane is ready for take off!

This has been a week of realising just how much I do without thinking...everyday tasks we all take for granted.

It has also been a week surrounded by understanding and supportive colleagues. They have been amazing. It is not always easy asking somebody to do the smallest thing you can't do - because you don't want to appear lazy or inconsiderate...but they have made it easier for me.
In some ways I was taken out of my comfort zone. I have an organised week. I know what to do, and what is expected of me. It is also usually quite busy, with some days that are go-go-go. Outside my comfort zone I was forced to slow down. To accept my limitations and appreciate the different environment with different people - who are not strangers. I was just spending time with a different part of the family. Refreshing my memory ans skills in supporting them. Spending more quality time with them, while leaving my regular group in the hands of capable others. I felt like I was leaving my babies behind...I really missed them.

I will never take my 'air time' for granted again...being 'grounded' is tough ;)

Hello New Beginnings!

Huge Change

This has been an interesting season of growth and change. We have trusted God that we were where we were meant to be, and now, He has given us permission to move on... During this season, I have had less visions, and more prophetic dreams. In the past I hardly ever had prophetic dreams...always visions. We have been through a refining, preparation time. I have had one particular dream repeatedly...and now that dream has come to pass... So now, we have moved on from our church...it was a huge decision, but no doubt the right one. The sun is beginning to rise from a new direction... I will miss my friends, but we are not that far away. We leave hoping to see good things in the future of that church. Our part in the play is over, but the play is nowhere near over! :)

Vegemite and spoons don't mix!

I have recently been shown some You tube videos of people who have never tried Vegemite - trying it for the first time. Most of these people are American, and they ALL use a spoon and taste if from the spoon. And no surprise to us....they ALL HATE it! We Aussies who have been eating the stuff since we could eat solids can't even stand eating it from a spoon! (Admittedly, there are a few who take pride in saying they do like it this way.) If you're going to try Vegemite, make sure you spread a smudge on a piece of bread, or dry biscuit. ONLY a smudge. Better still, spread it over some butter. No wonder you guys don't like it! 😂