halloween...

Yes, the lower case "h" is deliberate ;-)

I really have no interest in halloween.
I made the decision to not acknowledge the topic in my work art program.

This week, after some leave days from work, I returned and was sprung with the news my programs the following day were cancelled, due to a special halloween party. For somebody who deliberately avoids this event, it had me feeling a little anxious. The building was decorated...and if I was a 'celebrator', I would say it was well done. But as a 'see-er' it did not sit well with me...

It put me in that uncomfortable position...where you don't want to participate, but you don't feel you have a good reason to refuse... in the sense you don't want to spoil other peoples' fun...

So what did I do? I prayed. And what happened? I was answered :-) I asked for a specific way to be excused from part of the celebrations. Instead of ME asking, THEY suggested! Only God. So, I had a reasonably good day. The people in my care were given the choice, and only one wanted to continue at the party. In the end, everybody was happy :-)

Never underestimate the power of prayer!
Even a simple, quietly whispered prayer can bring forth a miracle :)

2015... season of pro-actively waiting...

Wow...this year is flying!!! I had high hopes for the year...and it is already past the halfway mark.
It really feels like time has sped up... In my head, I always have so much to write...then I come online and I forget most of it.

This has been an interesting year so far. A year where I am continuing to hold on to God's promises... to grab a little tighter and not give up. To keep myself surrounded by the right people, and again, not give up on His promises!!!

My life has been a testimony of waiting with patience... I know that I know that I know that God will fulfil his promises to me, but I also know it is not fun when you're in the waiting season and it doesn't feel like it will ever end.

When you are waiting, you often see many others who have already been blessed with "your" promise. It is a little difficult to be excited when they have not waited very long, and you are still waiting... it takes more effort, but the excitement is there if you allow it to spring forth.
I love how God places the right people on your path who understand the season you are in. They are also in this season, and it is a blessing to be able to openly share the frustrations and joys without being judged. There are also those who are experiencing the blessing you are awaiting, who you can also speak openly with, and they are just as encouraging.

Then there is the part where you can see clearly how God has set people up to assist you on the journey... HIS people. Not just any people.

So, again, as with many promises in my life...I am waiting in anticipation, following instructions and not giving up. I am looking forward to the day I can say, "Remember when....and now look at how God has blessed us!"

Image credit: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRzNTqWHDJKAnNjGQ8wUgeu_XTUpCReIqSP5G5FwqygVmRGkVGD

2015

This is the longest I've ever gone without blogging! LoL!
Life gets busy and priorities change. Actually, to be completely honest, life gets busy...and the last thing you want to do after a very long day at work is write.
Mid last year my work hours changed, some days were extended, and also the amount of time dealing with difficult behaviours increased...which has been bitter-sweet. Challenging, for sure!

Jezebel has been throwing some arrows...but I know "no weapon formed against [me] shall prosper".
In the end, Jezebel causes you to act with conviction, because, even the snake's directions can cause the Lord to smile on you. Jezebel may think she's calling the shots, but I am working with my Father to bring His glory. I'm doing something right :)

After the season in the desert, I am in a good season. The places that went into hibernation in the desert, are slowly being reawakened in the new forest. I love the forest.
I have found my like-minded friends who have similar gifts in ministry. I am slowly moving back into 'doing' in the church. It has been a strange experience going from being heavily involved, to being on the sidelines, then out of the 'game' altogether...then being led to a new team, and slowly being reawakened. This is a good season.

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 :)