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 :)