For hard days...

Been a few difficult days recently, dealing with some very heavy life changing things. Even more harder I find - is that these things are effecting loved ones who I love dearly - so I feel so so helpless :-(

So what is the remedy for the hard times? How do we get back to that Peace that Jesus promised us in John 16. What do you do??

I am unusual in the way I live, and I understand that. I love that God is changing me in this way, as His way is so much better than mine. My way would involve bitterness, grudge holding, relentless anger, loose tongues and revenge.

His way is to come to Him. Simply. Be still and know who He is. Remember who I am.

In the hard times, my flesh screams for facebook, or alcohol, or company of friends, or tv, or playing silly ice cream jumping games on my mobile.... anything to escape reality. Run away from the world. Push it down. Dream of ways to seek revenge. Kill my thoughts till I crash in bed at the end of the day.

Laughter can conceal a heavy heart,

    but when the laughter ends, the grief remains. 

Proverbs 14

But when I recognise this, I repent and get to my knees. Oh, I don't FEEL like it, but I know it works. These fleshly desires are merely band-aids to hide the symptoms instead of the cause. Anti-depressants.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
James 1
We have the comforter, the Holy Spirit, who wants to comfort us and yet we drown Him out... By using band-aids, we have not addressed the issue or why we feel what we do. (And I always love knowing why I feel what I do!!) When we turn to band-aids, we are no better off than we started - just wasted a few more precious hours of our life.

If God is trying to teach me something in hard times, I want to get the remedy as fast as possible! You will find me (like Mary, not Martha) at the Masters feet. The world can wait. I'm of no use to the world if I am not at Peace myself. I will only spread the terrible way I feel if I go into the world, not at Peace.

And yes, this does take discipline. It is not always easy. It is a sacrifice. It is a dying to how you feel. Contrary to what your body tells you to do. Saying no to me and yes to Thee.

Sometimes it hurts. God can show things that I don't want to admit. That I don't want to let go of. He may tell me it is me who needs to change. Learn to think differently. Who really wants to put their hand up to being wrong?

My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline,

    and don’t be upset when he corrects you.

¹² 

For the Lord corrects those he loves,

    just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

Proverbs 3

He LOVES us. He wants to help us! But just like we can't blame a dentist for teeth decay if people don't see them, we cannot blame God for our faults if we don't speak with Him.

I can honestly say that when I bring my worries, tears, fears, hurts and burdens to Him, and have enough time with Him, and speak honestly and wait for Him to speak back, I always ALWAYS leave with Peace. A Peace the world can not give me.

I pray you will pray and know that Peace too. Don't just take my word for it :-)

xKelly

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. - Jesus 

Barlow Girl says it better than me....

I LOVE song lyrics. And I sing along loud to songs that sing what I feel. This one exercised my lungs after a tough morning.
We may not always FEEL God - but He is always, always there. He promised and does not break promises!! 

...so keep on talking - or sometimes more important - LISTEN!
He will show you, in His timing. Grow in faith xK

Barlow Girl - I'm never alone

I waited for you today

But you didn't show

No no no

I needed You today

So where did You go?

You told me to call

Said You'd be there

And though I haven't seen You

Are You still there?

I cried out with no reply

And I can't feel You by my side

So I'll hold tight to what I know

You're here and I'm never alone

And though I cannot see You

And I can't explain why

Such a deep, deep reassurance

You've placed in my life

We cannot separate

'Cause You're part of me

And though You're invisible

I'll trust the unseen

I cried out with no reply

And I can't feel You by my side

So I'll hold tight to what I know

You're here and I'm never alone

We cannot separate

You're part of me

And though You're invisible

I'll trust the unseen

I cried out with no reply

And I can't feel You by my side

So I'll hold tight to what I know

You're here and I"m never alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8QubLxJI54

Book: One Thousand Gifts

A good friend sent me a text earlier to say she enjoyed the book I lent her. I smiled as I remembered how this book changed the way I look at my life :-)

It's called 'One Thousand Gifts' by Ann Voskamp. Highly recommended!

Without giving too much away, it is Ann's story of her goal to be thankful for what she has, starting from a dare from a friend, to find 1000 things she is thankful for.

Ann has a beautiful, poetic style of writing that seems to dance on the page (and sometimes cause me to need to re-read a couple of times to make sure I read it right) The first couple of chapters are hard, as she shares some difficult moments in her life - but please push through!

After reading the book, I went searching online a little more to find out about Ann. I love when a writers book matches up with the rest of their life.

Her beautiful photography work of capturing her 'gifts' she freely shares with others - often with encouraging words or verse on them. I also found various video clips about her work with Compassion. Ann speaking at various conferences worldwide. Her own website (http://www.aholyexperience.com/) where she is still counting gifts and encourages others to do the same.

I've also signed up to her daily emails which she shares what God is revealing to her - which also causes me to check and re-check my heart and where I am with God often.

Besides fame and the amazing success of her book - I also love that Ann continues to be who she is - a wife and mother. I'm sure it must be difficult for her to say no to amazing opportunities to visit or speak all over the world, but her online calendar suggests she keeps her priorities in order and limits the time she is away from her home. Her emails about washing and kids suggest the same!

As someone who struggles with 'God's will in my life' - this helped me in my daily struggles as humble wife and mother (which she write about in her book too) when I fear I am not doing all I can for Christ. God is using Ann in big ways, but she does not seemed to be overwhelmed or swept away with it all.

She just continues to be very thankful :-)

Meet Ann:  (from her site) 
Ann Voskamp. Farmer's wife. Home-educating mama to 6. Author of the NYT bestseller One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. DaySpring writer. Women of Faith speaker. Library book Loser. Named by Christianity Today as one of the leading 50 women most shaping culture and the church today. Soup-stirrer. Partner with Compassion International. Loud laugher, kid snuggler, and Jesus lover. Honestly, she's a bit of a mess. It’s okay, really. Grace is the most amazing of all.

Anyway, just wanted to share about Ann and her book and would love to hear if you have read it and what you think too??

Thankyou God for Ann, and the amazing gift she is to me!

xKelly

The Imperfect Mum update....

Hi all!

I'm doing a question evey five minutes on "The Imperfect Mum' - so have a bit of time between questions and thought I would use that time to write to YOU! :-)

Kristy recently wrote up a post about her and I here - which to me was very heart warming to read about. All credit to God for any good in me :-)

We get a lot of people on the page who think their way is right and that is that and fight it black and blue. I'm all for passionate people - Kristy and I both are very passionate in the things we believe in - but it doesn't mean we bash each other with it.

I love that Kristy and I are very different - and yet we can still run a page like this together - understanding why each one takes the action they do etc. We have not had a disagreement about running the page yet.

I admit I was nervous when I first 'signed up' to help out - and I took it to God a lot in prayer. I know the verse about being 'unevenly yoked' in 2 Corinthians and wondered if this applied here?

By my understanding, the verse shares about the two ox travelling in the same direction - and it won't work if they have different destinations in mind. For me - my aim is to show these Mothers on the page love, and Kristy has that same goal - it's just that our ways are different.

One day, I had goosebumps when Kristy and I spoke on the phone - and she shared she wanted me to know I can have full permission to do what I thought was right on the page. She told me I can 'do whatever it is God tells me to do' as she trusted my intuition that what God was telling me to is right. How amazing is that :-)

I love that Kristy knows how crazy I am about God, but still treats me the same way she would any of her other friends who don't know God at all. I really do find it hard when people feel they need to tip toe around me because I am a Christian and suddenly they need to stop swearing or put down their drinks. Or that if I speak, I am judging them by my standards....

I am me. I am not God. What you do is between you and Him. It is not my place to correct you!!!!

ESPECIALLY non believers!!

In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul writes: When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.

And yes, if I see a brother or sister who is committing a sin and we have a strong relationship - of course I speak to them about it. But with love. Oh, how many of us are missing out on the LOVE part! :-( If I was clearly in the wrong and not aware, of course I would want someone to speak up to me - and I would expect my nearest to be able to do the same.... To judge like I would want to be judged. Bring it on!


I've told Kristy how much I am praying that she knows God for herself and that He is a God who loves. Not a rule making, finger pointing 'YOU ARE WRONG' kinda God.

Yes, He does convict, and I can not live the way I lived before knowing Him - but that is between Kristy and God. And if you are in a relationship with God, you will know just how loving and gentle He goes about this. It's like, He really knows how much I can handle at each time in my life right?!? :-D

Oh, how wonderful He is!!!

xKelly