Love in Action Journey

It's late, but I can't sleep. I've been tossing and turning for ages. Finally, I've crawled out of bed and found a cozy little corner in my lounge, wrapped up in my warmest gown. (Shew but it's quiet when everyone is asleep!) There is a word stuck in my heart that I need to explore with you tonight. " Beloved " . Short and sweet. Simple, yet deeply profound in turning our lives around. Here's what's rolling around in my heart ... It all started with a greeting I read in the book of 3 John 1:2. "Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers." That simple little verse has arrested my heart on and off for weeks now. Lately, God has been dealing with me graciously (and p-a-t-i-e-n-t-l-y) about "decluttering" my heart and everyday life from things that are stealing my time and drawing away my focus from where it needs to be in order for me to thrive and prosper (like this verse...

Oy!!! I don't know when last I had one of these whoppers of a day like I've been having today! You know those ones where half way through you are wondering why in the blue blazers you decided to get up?! Yip. It's been one of those for me. Just to give you a taste ... 1) I went out to breakfast with a friend. Each breakfast choice I picked, apparently they weren't able to make for me. So when I finally found something they could make for me, imagine my shock-horror when my plate of scrambled eggs arrived with a pile of lettuce on it to "replace" the other foods that they had unfortunately just realised they had run out of! LETTUCE!!! With eggs?! I kid you not!!! Mwah ha ha. Funny now, but I cannot say that I was giggling at the time! I promptly removed those crazy greens off my breakfast plate :0) 2) As I got home (in the rain) I realise that I was parked outside of my own gate! My darling hubby had arranged for the fumigators to come today and they parke...

I want to start this post by sharing that the things that I write around are not written from my "point of strength", but more as part of the learning journey that I am on with Jesus. I am forever grateful for His never-ending levels of patience with me! (Im sure He has to practice a little extra dose with me in my many trying-to-change-stubborn-ways ;0) hee hee). Even after walking with my hand in His for these last 37 years, He continues to show me grace in my learning how to live a life that honours, brings Him joy and that can reflect Him as the lavish good God that He is in so many ways. Gosh ... I have so much to still learn and change, but I can truly say that I love the process of transformation with such a loving God Almighty.  Ok ... that out of the way, let me start blogging what I am hearing and learning today ... I woke up this morning to another busy start. I had to say an early goodbye at the airport to my precious Mommy Darling who just spent a month with...

13 years ago, God gave us the precious gift of a beloved first born daughter. In what feels like a blink of the eye, our "little bear" has stepped from childhood into becoming a precious, beautiful teenager this past weekend. This mommy is soaking in every little cuddle from my growing-up princess ...  And this daddy could not be any prouder of the gem that our Tianna is in all our lives ... I loved watching her soak in the joy of every moment of her day. From opening pressies ... To hanging with her special JHB cuzzies and family ... She appreciated every moment of her day! A total highlight was her "lumo" party that night. These sweet girls danced, swam, chatted, played ball and had SUCH fun. May they never loose their child-like simple joy of life. A "forever" moment for me was having all her family gathered around her to bless her as she stepped into becoming a young lady.  And it meant THE WORLD to ...

I can hardly believe it! Our precious baby boy is a big 1 years old today!  What a phenomenal year it has been, having the privilege of raising this treasured son of our hearts. He has brought nothing but absolute joy to all of us as a family.  He truly is an every-day reminder to us of the great love, faithfulness and goodness of our amazing God.  This little guy had such a fun day! He soaked it all in. From balloons, snuggles and pressies in the morning ... ... To a super special jungle-themed party at home ... I'm sure that finally being able to tuck into a super-yummy piece of cake ... lovingly made by Granny, was well worth the year long wait ;0) And best of all is the love of family! Once again ... from Brett and I, thank you to all of you who have walked with and cheered us on, celebrating God's amazing gift of love and restoration in our lives as a family. We stand tall in Him shouting out that "God IS good!" and th...

Christmas has always been my favourite time of the year. Even as a little girl my parents would entrust my sister and I with the privilege of decorating the tree. (Hats off to my sweet mom! I think I may just have a tad-little-ity-bittie control issues when it comes to the final look of the tree - I have to make myself step back and allow the girls artistic license on the tree ... but when they are no longer looking I confess that I can't help a little rearranging! It just HAS to look balanced, or I can't sleep peacefully! ha ha). Anyway - back to my non-controlling amazing mom who let us decorate the tree without fixing it ... I remember how my sis and I would spend hours going through those little boxes of ornaments, playing with the sweet figurines. There weren't a whole lot of them, and I don't remember us often adding to the collection, but that in itself made it such a sweet memory. Each of those little ornaments carried precious memories with them. I remember a ...

A few weeks ago, a fellow blog friend and I were writing back and forth about the wonder of seeing how applicable the Bible still is in speaking so directly into our every day life situations. God's Words of life are so specific! They are alive and carry the weight of wisdom and freedom for anything that we will ever face. A few days ago, God graciously played out the most precious demonstration of His Word for us as a family to witness. He is after all the very best story teller I know and He paints His words of life into the most precious pictures in our every day lives if we have eyes to see and take notice. Here's the passage ... "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to...