sorry ive been sooooo slack!

Sorry ive been soooooo slack with my blogging! Ive been very busy! We have just put our house on the market to sell so ive been sugarsoaping walls and cleaning windows and practically every nook and cranny of my house! It went on the internet yesterday and has already had 300 hits! and so we had our first people interested today inspect the house and they want to put an offer in! How crazy that it might sell in one day! Well i will let you know how it goes!

xoxoxo

Growing up in God's house

Today my little girl (3 yrs) was playing with her dolls house by herself, she was having a lovely time. I stood watching her from the doorway, making up little games with her little 'family'. And then she started singing to herself...

'Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so, little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Jesus loves me, YESSSSSSSSSS Jesus loves me, YESSSSSSSS Jesus loves me, the Bible tels me so.'
There was alot of emphasis on the YESSSSSS!, It was so cute!

It is so great being involved in an amazing church, where my kids can grow and have fun, and learn all about our amazing God. A God who loves them and has a huge purpose for thier life. It is so important to me that right from the start they know and understand God's extravagant love for them. What an important foundational truth for all our lives. If only we all accepted it as easy as a child does.

xoxox

The best of friends xox

It has been almost 18 months since my youngest, Olivia Grace, was born and I can remember this day, (in labour at the Mater hospital) like it was yesterday!



Big sister Isabella Rose was very impressed with her new little friend, and it has been so amazing to see their little friendship grow and develop...



At the start Bella thought she was a wonderful dolly and really enjoyed helping me dress her, change her nappy and of course pushing her around in her dolly pram!



But she was soon too big for the dolly pram and kept trying to get out!



So Bella has now decided that the best fun to be had is driving around together on their bike... reaaalllllly fast! Im not sure Liv agrees!!!! What do you think!!!???

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Happy Mothers Day!!!

To all the Mum's, Nanas, Grandmas, Auntys, and every other woman that has had an influence in someones world for the better..... THANKYOU!!!

To be a mum is one of the hardest and yet most rewarding things I have ever done. Until I had my girls I didnt know I could love someone that much, no matter what they do, they mean the world to me.

A friend of mine had this as her facebook update a little while ago...

'I am a parent, cook, housekeeper, teacher, nurse, handy man, maid, security, coordinator, supervisor, manager, secretary, nutritionist, caretaker, personal assistant, life coach, bookkeeper,laundry maid, taxi driver and a motivational speaker! I don't get holiday pay, sick pay, or days off. I am on call 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week. Now,tell me YOUR job is harder than mine.'

Ha ha ha! It's so true, but I can honestly say the rewards far out weigh the work!



Last but definitely not least, I want to thank and honour MY MUM Jen xoxoxo

Happy Mothers Day Mum! You are truly a wonderful Mum, and Dave and I are incredibly blessed to have you in our lives. We had an amazing childhood, you were always there for us, gave us so much of yourself and more, and I have nothing but wonderful child hood memories with you.

You helped us through our teenage years with much love, wisdom, and longsuffering! (on your behalf!) and we are now strong, independant and wellrounded human beings because of all your hardwork and input.

You are an incredible Nana to my two girls, they adore you just as much as I do! You should be proud of the amazing job you did as our mum!

Now we are both adults, you are my friend, and through the good times and the bad, we are there for each other, and always will be xoxox

I love you Mum, more than words can express xoxoxox

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

What a weekend!!!

WoW! What a weekend!

Having two little kiddies means we dont get out on dates as much as we would like, so this weekend was a real treat!

On thursday morning I went to a fundraising brekky in the city, as I was driving home i saw the B105 car on the side of the road and thought they might have some cool stuff, so I stopped quickly to get some free choccy milk.... well i was the 3rd person of 4 to stop to get 2 tickets to John Mayer on Friday night!!! So exciting I hadnt won anything like that in my life and hubby was excited about a night out too!

Soooo friday night we went to the John Mayer Concert, it was great! He has an amazing voice and a very talented band too.

Then Saturday we went out for Turkish at Southbank with all my bridesmaids YUMMMYY!!!(this had been planned for a while) 2 came down from the sunny coast and 1 from the gold coast and we had a great night of fun, catching up and being amazed at the belly dancers courage!

Sunday Morning we went swimming at thier holiday apartment in the city, (the 2 girls from the sunny coast dont have kids yet so to make things easier for us that do they came and stayed in Brisbane, I HAVE VERY LOVELY FRIENDS!) my girls had a great time swimming in the pool and once again we all had so much fun catching up on whats been happening in our lives. We all lead busy lives so we only get to catchup every 6 months, with the odd phone call in between, but despite that you would think we only saw each other yesterday! We seem to slot straight back into effortless chatter for hours! I didnt want to leave cause these girls are so special to me, but my littlies were starting to tire and so we packed up and headed home.

Im looking forward to the next catchup with beautiful bridesmaids, you all mean the world to me

xoxoxoxox

Rainy Days...

My girls love the outdoors... so rainy day can be a bit boring!

We dont get to walk to the bakery to get a treat

or jump on the trampoline

or have running races in the backyard

or go to the park across the road

or ride our bikes on the path

or swim in the clam shell pool

so today was 'A BIT BOOOOORRRRRRIIIINNGGGG!!!!' according to my 3 year old!

I hope it doesnt rain tomorrow!

Walking in Gods will for your life!

The only place that I find I have total peace, (no matter what the circumstances around me are) is when I feel like I'm in the will of God for my life...

But.. what happens if I feel like i've stuffed up? I've missed what He said or I just plained ignored it? When His peace if just.....gone?

Psalms 37:23-24
'The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD,And He delights in his way. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand.


This scripture tells us that He directs our steps, and delights in our path. He wants the best for our lives and through scripture, prayer and the wise people we surround ourselves with, we find that 'best'.

However, we are still human and I love the fact that God knows we are not perfect, we are going to fail, mess up and walk away from His will for our lives at times.

The second part of this verse is where we find that peace again. Because even when we fall (make a mistake, big or small!) He still doesnt give up on us, quite the opposite in fact! 'He upholds us with His hand.'

When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am faithless, He is faithful!
When I have failed, He is success!

So when you find yourself in that position of stress, pain and regret from mistakes you have made, dont give up! Call out to Him and He will answer. He will uphold you in His hand until you have the strength to stand again, and walk once again in His will for your life.


xoxo

This week.......

This week i'm going to..

...smile more.
....cuddle and kiss my husband and girls more.
..... bless a stranger.
..... pray for my neighbours (her dad has an inoperable brain tumour)
.....make a cubby and not clean it up for days!
.....visit the library to borrow out some books for bella.
....read the bible more.
... visit my grandpa in the nursing home.

and just live to best life i can live!!

xoxox

Who can comprehend His love?

Eph 3:17-19 'I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.'


It's so true isnt it? His love for us is truly incomprehensible! No matter who we are, no matter what we have done, how much we have fallen short, disappointed, stuffed up, He loves us regardless. What an amazing thought!

I pray this for you today.... that no matter where you are at, what you are going through, that you would know that He loves YOU, and want to get to know YOU, intimately. I pray that today YOU would feel His love for you, a love that surpasses all knowledge!


xoxox

Working with little miracles...resilience and dreams

I have mentioned before I am a paediatric nurse, I work at the Royal Childrens Hospital, only twice a month because i'm primarily a stay at home mum. However as of Friday it will be once a week.....

Thursday arvo I got a call from the Nurse manager with a job offer once a week in Child Advocacy Services (Child protection and foster care etc)until they can fill a fulltime role. They were desperate for staff and I just couldnt say no. It's such a huge need area, so many beautiful, innocent children with such sad stories.

So I started on friday, and spent the morning playing with the kids, talking about their lives, hopes and dreams while their parents or foster carers were interviewed by the medical staff.

Alot of the children have behaviour problems, trust problems, social interaction problems and self esteem issues just to name a few and when you hear their stories, what they have seen and been through in their short lives it's totally understandable.

The Child Advocacy Service aims to put these children in stable, loving homes, to treat their wounds, physical and emotional, and to help them move on to become successful in whatever they choose to do and be. It truly amazes me how resilient these children are, they still dream big! They just need someone to tell them that they can achieve it!

It is such an honour to spend just a little time with each child, encouraging them, praising what they do right, teaching them to play, reading to them, smiling at them and just generally loving them. It is something that unfortunately they have missed out on.

Im looking forward to the difference I can make next Friday

xoxox

Aaron's 30th Superhero Birthday!!!

Happy 30Th Birthday Aaron!!!

My amazing husband turned 30 on the 1st of April, and so I threw him a party! Just family and some close friends but it was sooooo much fun!!! I themed it 'Superheros' because Aaron is my superhero :) He is an amazing husband, daddy and most importantly he is my best friend! I love doing life with Aaron! He is fun, exciting, challenging, inspiring, loving, compassionate, good looking, generous, bighearted, caring and smart... I could go on all night!

As you may have already guessed I love my husband alot and I'm proud to do life by his side.

We went to the party as the incredibles family!
Hope you like the photo!


xoxox

My beautiful girls!

Well.... I think it's time I introduced you to my children!

Isabella Rose is 3 1/2 years old... and she is full of beans! She is a gorgeous little girl, very independant but still loves a mummy/daddy cuddle every so often! She is very sporty and loves to run and play outdoors in the park across the road. She keeps me on my toes but absolutely makes me melt when she says 'Excuse me mummy' 'Yes Bella?' ' I really really really love you!' Brings tears to my eyes everytime!

Olivia Grace is 16 months old.... she is alot more placid but still lets us or Isabella know if she doesnt get what she wants! She is very cuddly and very cute! She is just starting to talk alot more saying hello to everyone we see and is absolutely obsessed with Dora the Explorer at the moment, she is constantly saying 'Doooorrraaaaaaaa'. She loves Isabella and they have alot of fun together in thier playroom!

I love being a Mummy! It has its challenging moments of course, but 99.9% of the time it's just amazing! Watching tiny babies, grow and mature into walking talking little people, with thier own unique personalities, gifts and talents is just incredible! I count it an honour and a priveledge to have my two little princess's in my world!


xox

The 15 revolution!

This week I am reading a brilliant book by Paul Scanlon called 'The 15 revolution, Go ahead, inconvenience me'. In short its a challenge to give up 15 mins of your day, everyday, to make a difference in someones life. (Check it out at www.15revolution.com)
Here are some keys that i have picked out of the book that spoke to me:

Compassion is a sign, a clue to why we are here. What we feel empathy/compassion towards is probably something we are gifted to fix, improve or make a difference to.

Compassion is fueled by empathy, a sense of walking in another persons shoes. That empathy-filled compassion then thinks about how to make those shoes easier to walk in.

The fact is we can change the world just one live at a time, one helping hand up, one hug, one meal, one smile.... the possibilities are endless.

BUT are you willing to be inconvenienced? To step outside of your routines, plans and agendas to ask God for opportunities and then actually act on them?

So.....This week step outside of your comfort zone.

Say hi to a neighbour, ask them over for dinner, be interested in thier life.

Help an elderly person with thier shopping, pay for it (if you can), tell them they are important in a society which often leaves them in the 'used by date' category.

Smile, even when you dont feel like it, its contagious and it might be the very smile that gets someone through a very hard day.

Cook a sick friend a meal, deliver it to thier door, ask them if there is anything else you can do... and then do it

Just a few ideas how you can make a difference in your street, suburb, world.

xoxoxo

Why worry?

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy. Leo F. Buscaglia

Worry is... investing time and energy into the problems of tomorrow, even though they probably wont happen anyway!

Why do we worry? why do we waste our time and energy on such a meaningless activity? The facts are that no matter how much we worry about something, its not going to make it better, in fact often the opposite. When we put all our focus on the problem, a possible solution is often overlooked, not to mention the anxiety and stress we cause ourselves in the meantime!

This is what the Bible says about worry.
Matt 6 v 25 - 34 paraphrased says 'Dont worry about what you will eat or drink or wear. Look at the birds of the air, God looks after them very well, and you know you are worth so much more to Him than them. You cannot add any time to your life by worrying. Seek Gods kingdom first and all else will be added unto you. Dont worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have worries of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own troubles.

Another great verse is Phil 4 v 6-7 'Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks. And Gods peace, which is so great we cant even understand it, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.'

Today I pray that your worries would start to fade in the light of His overwhelming peace. The trick is, actually giving your worries and your burdens over to Him, and not picking them up again. Trust that God has your life, your situation, your worries under control because..... HE DOES!

xox

I keep the telephone of my mind open to peace, harmony, health, love and abundance. Then, whenever doubt, anxiety or fear try to call me, they keep getting a busy signal - and soon they'll forget my number. ~Edith Armstrong

Feeding the Homeless every Wednesday night...

Every Wednesday night, a bunch of Brisbane young adults come out to the Fortitude Valley to our Citycare Centre ( www.citycare.org.au )and put on a meal for the people that much of society have scorned and forgotten. A mixture of uni students, young professionals, stay at mums and tradies. All with a passion to help where help is needed! Ordinary people doing extraordinary things by just putting up their hand and joining the team.

Now this isnt just a soup in a cup, this is a proper homecooked meal prepared by a professional chef, served to our guests around 'the family table', on fine crockery and cutlery. The vision behind this meal is to form meaningful and supportive relationships, often a skill that our guests have all but lost as they are looked down upon and shunned everyday of thier lives.

It is beyond heartwarming to hear regular comments of 'i feel so loved here' and 'this is the closest thing to family i have ever had'. It is amazing the change we have seen in the lives that have walked through our doors.

Friendship has been found, Faith has been found, Future has been found.

To all the incredible volunteers, WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE THE IMPACT YOU ARE HAVING NOT ONLY ON INDIVIDUAL LIVES BUT ALSO ON HUMANITY, YOU ARE CHANGING THE WORLD!

XOXO

Getting the most out of God's word...

As a teenager I often read the Bible and just didnt understand it, in the last couple years i have learnt to read the Bible deeper. Whilst I dont understand everything, it has definitely opened my eyes to alot of wisdom, strength and revelation that i was missing.

Let me give you an example of what i mean by reading the Bible deeper...

Luke 4 is all about Jesus going into the desert and being tempted. He had been fasting for 40 days and the first temptation was 'to turn stones into bread'. Now i can understand that one! After 40 days i would be tempted to do the same.

The next temptation is all about power. Satan says 'worship me and i will give you power over my earthly kingdom'. Once again i get it, an easy way to rise to power quickly, no pain necessary. I can see how it would have been tempting, Jesus knew the prophesies he had to fufil and Gods way was not the easy way.

The next temptation really bothered me however! You know those bits in the Bible where you just think to yourself 'What the!'

v9 ' Then he took Jesus to Jerusalem and set Him on a gable of the temple, and said to Him 'If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here; for it is written He will give His angels charge over you and thier hands shall hold you up'

Wait a second....
Where is the temptation in that? Why would Jesus want to jump of a building? It's not like he needed to impress Satan?

Then i decided to dig deeper.... i started looking at commentaries on this verse, researching the time and place it was written, who wrote it, the culture behind it etc etc

And this is what i found...

Before Jesus time, in Jewish culture, it had been prophesied that the Son of God would 'fall from the sky, on right hand side of the temple' and so there was literally a man employed, fulltime, to stand on a ledge at the right hand side of the temple to watchout for 'the Son of God'. Amazing!

It all became clear! The devil wasn't tempting Jesus to perform some crazy trick to impress him or anyone else, he was once again offering Jesus the easy way out.

Just jump off the temple and 'the prophesy' of that time would be fulfilled. Jesus would have been recognised as the Son of God instantly. No pain, no shame but instead, instant fame! The easy way out!

Thankfully Jesus looked into the future at you and me and saw the bigger picture. He knew what He needed to do to save us, and it wasnt going to be easy, yet He was still willing to do it.
So He used the Word and basically told Satan to back off... and he did!

So I would encourage you, next time you read a scripture that you just dont get, dont leave it there and get discouraged. Look deeper, read commentaries, research the author, the culture of that day etc and find the incredible jewels that are sometimes hidden, just a little under the surface.

xoxox

Birthdays!

I love birthdays!!! It's so much fun getting together with friends and family to celebrate. This Saturday night we had a birthday dinner for my mum (march 14th) my brother (march 26th) and me (march 16th). Mum brought down an awesome homemade dinner and a peppermint crisp cheesecake for dessert! SOOOOOO YUMMY!!!! And we had a great time catching up, chatting and laughing.
April 1st is Aarons 30th (my husband) and I am planning a superhero party for him! Its going to be lots of fun, everyone has to dress up as their favourite superhero. Aaron, the girls and I are going as 'the incredibles' family! I will post photos after the event!
Have a great day, and try and make it a great day for someone who is having a shocker!
Shout someone lunch, be a listening ear, give someone a cuddle, make a difference!
xoxoxox

Working with little miracles... Faith like a child

Matt 18:4 ' Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child (trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving) is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'

Well you may have noticed in the 'about me' section that i'm a paeds (childrens)nurse. I work at The Royal Childrens Hospital, Brisbane. Most of the time im a stay at home mummy with my two little girls. But just to keep uptodate, and because i actually love it, i do a shift once or twice a month.
Im casual so i get to go to any ward that needs extra staff that day. I did a 12 hour shift last thursday in the oncology (cancer) outpatients department. This is where all the kids with cancer, who are not quite sick enough to live in hospital, come for their chemo, day surgery etc. I worked in the recovery section, where the children who have day procedures come to wake up from thier anaesthetic.

It is here that i saw the perfect example of childlike faith....

A little boy came out of day theatre, after having a thick needle put into his spine to infuse powerful chemo drugs to fight the tumours in his body, and he was my patient, to maintain his airway, oxygen levels etc and help him to wake up. He was a gorgeous little fella, totally bald from the chemo but still gorgeous. As i lifted up his shirt to see the rise and fall of his chest i noticed a piece of felt tied hanging around his neck with a picture of Jesus and a short prayer for healing on it.

Moments later his eyes slowly opened and i started chatting to him about normal 5 year old stuff, ben 10, his nintendo ds etc etc. Then i checked his chest again and I came across the Jesus picture. I asked him what it was and he just looked at me, very matter of fact, almost as if i was silly for not knowing! and said ' thats God, He is making me better'. Tears welled up in my eyes, a perfect example of faith. There was not a doubt in his mind, despite all he had been through, he had the peace and confidence that 'God was making him better'.


So today as you do what you do...
1. Please for for healing for this little boy and peace for his family.
2. Have faith that God has your future under control, no matter what circumstances you find yourself in.

Smile :)

So powerful yet so personal

Gen 1:3 'And God said Let there be light; and there was light'.

I love the fact that God says it, and it is. His word is so powerful that a mere utterance produces light! Amazing!. It amazes me the power and authority God has.
But.... even more incredible to me is this...

He is huge and mighty and yet He can still be so personal and intimate with me!
Me, just a regular human being in a mass of billions of human beings, all doing their daily routine. Being wifes, husbands, children, doctors, nurses, teachers whatever their day brings.
At any moment within my day i can just stop... and talk to God, the creator of the universe, and tell him my thoughts, my fears, my dreams, anything. And as i do,not matter what the circumstances I am in, i get an overwhelming feeling of peace, of love, of understanding and of confidence that my future is set in Him. Truly Amazing!

Phil 4:7 ' And Gods peace, which surpasses all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus'

My first post!

Well, this is my first post.... this blog is going to be my thoughts, my day, my girls, my life, and my devotions. Im not sure how long or how often it will happen but I have decided to do it sooooooo ...... here goes :)