Happy Thanksgiving...

Photo Source: Wikipedia

Thanksgiving. The day when Americans meet together and eat turkey and are thankful. Well, that's what it seems like to us Australians anyway. But it is really, and then some.

It "is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens"..." (Source: Wikipedia)

Thanksgiving is mentioned many times in the Bible, hence why President Lincoln proclaimed the day of thanks to the Lord. He knew where his blessings came from and he was not afraid to share that fact.

I'm thankful for many things this year.

For friendships being restored and renewed.
For freedom from unhealthy relationships.
For being forced to live humbly thus learning the true value of the blessings that God gives me.
For my physical and mental health steadily improving as my emotional and spiritual health grows.
For being the mother of a hormone-ravaged tween.
For being the adoptive mum of four adorably cute guinea pigs who bless me with their wheeking everyday.
For the opportunity to experience the highs and lows of a higher paid job at work.

Many, many blessings. So much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Enjoy your day!

Thanksgiving: A Repost on Thanksgiving...

As it's November and the month for Thanksgiving in America, I thought I'd randomly post a few of my thankful posts and share what I was, and still am, thankful for.
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After a few weeks of trials and tribulations, I have been presented with various revelations from the Lord, and I am truly thankful for His constant presence. I am slowly reading through the New Testament and this morning I started on 1 Corinthians. Paul is the epitome of one called by God to serve Him, and I always enjoy reading his invaluable contribution to The Word.

Two passages of Scripture stood out this morning - 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 and 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. Both of these remind me to be thankful for God's presence in my life, for the sacrifice that Jesus made for me, and for their enduring presence in my life.

To read the rest of this post, click here.

Thanksgiving: A Repost on Becoming Unstuck...

As it's November and the month for Thanksgiving in America, I thought I'd randomly post a few of my thankful posts and share what I was, and still am, thankful for.
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Don’t you just love it when God plants a seed in your mind and then keeps watering it until it finally digs roots and starts to grow! That’s what happened to me over the last week and I’m very thankful for it!

As I wrote last month in my Freedom From The Past post, I struggle with issues from bad choices I made in my past. Just when I think I’ve moved on a little bit more, something will crop up to sabotage my progress and I slip back again; punishing myself for things that I cannot change now. But this last weekend God planted a seed in me, which has actually taken root, and rather quickly too, so He can grow within me the means to deal with my past better.
 
To see the rest of this post, please click here.

Thanksgiving: A Repost on Being Thankful...

 

 

Over five years ago I took this photo of my much slimmer self and blogged about being thankful. As it's November and the month for Thanksgiving in America, I thought I'd randomly post a few of my thankful posts and share what I was, and still am, thankful for.

 

Please click here to read what I wrote about Being Thankful.

 



BF2013: Yesterday I Said Goodbye to...

...my tooth. One of my upper left molars. One that cracked over 10 years ago, has since undergone a root canal treatment and many repairs. Approximately four weeks ago I developed an abscess that caused pain worse than childbirth (I'm serious!). Yesterday I had that tooth removed due to it well and truly reaching its expiration date.

I didn't want to lose my tooth, or any tooth for that matter, as I liked having a full set of pearly whites. But, alas, I had to!

What helped me through losing my tooth was something I read a couple of nights ago in a Max Lucado book. He talked about a leper whose lips had fallen off, and so on. I decided then and there to search for photos of lepers. Seeing the faces and hands and bodies of these beautiful people so badly scarred and disfigured by leprosy made me realise that one tooth does not matter.

I had asked God to help me to let go I'd my tooth and accept that I may have to lose it. He answered by showing me people who have so much less.

I'm so thankful that I have a God who answers prayers to thoughtfully. And I'm also thankful that He is helping me cope with the pain I'm experiencing from the extraction (no, it wasn't a simple one, and I was awake for it).

God is very good.

Paula xo

BF 2013: Thankful Thursday...

While in the middle of preparing a post for Thursday I received an email reply from my mother that made me cry from being thankful.

Thankful that I have such wonderful parents.
Thankful that I have a close relationship with them.
Thankful that while we live three states away from each other, we speak to and see each other regularly.
Thankful that God knew what He was doing when He chose them as my parents.

Mum, Dad and I ready to attend my cousin's wedding, 5th October, 2013.

Thank you Lord for blessing me.

He Gives Me Peace...

"I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid." - John 14:27 NLT

http://bible.us/John14.27.NLT

Thankful to have read this verse today.

Paula xo

Do You Like Change? I Do...



Photo Source



Change, change, change. There is nothing like change to either totally disrupt, bless or adjust one’s life. I believe that changes are the breaks between the chapters in your life book. The change in direction. An end and a beginning.

There has been a lot of change in my life this year. In previous years change has brought about different sets of circumstances that have provided upheaval, growth or regression. This year, however, is about milestone changes. The type of change that sets me on a new course and challenges me to stop and ponder many aspects of my life.

What my activities are.

Who I associate with.

Where I spend my time and money.

What I value most in life.

Who I am to my near and dear, and who I am in Jesus.

Where I will go from here.

Throughout all of my ponderings the Holy Spirit has been a discernable influence. I have felt the Holy Spirit’s presence throughout every change that has been made. I feel the calming presence that the Holy Spirit provides when the change I’m making is the right one. That in itself is reason enough to accept the change and not look back.

I’ve discovered that change involves not looking back; putting up boundaries; being true to myself; ending some relationships; surrounding myself with positive people intent on living, not just striving to.

Change involves many things for me. I’m looking forward to what lies ahead. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to say that. A new day has dawned for this old night owl who is now a lover of the morning. Yes, another change.

I’m thankful to God for His mercies, to Jesus for His contant companionship, and to the Holy Spirit for the discerning voice I hear and feel.

Life is good. God is good.

Praise You in The Storm...

Thank You God!

Forever I Am Changed...

I marvel at the change that has taken place within in over the last 18 months of my life. I've gone from a lost, confused and misled person to a woman who, while still dealing with stuff from the past, knows who I am in God and how He wants me to live life. It seems surreal when I stop and really think about it. But I am ever so thankful for the change because I dread to think where I would be now if He had not touched my heart the way, and when, He did.

The change from the person I was to the woman I am now was a painful process, but one that I knew I had to endure. To quote lyrics from Jesus Culture's Happy Day ...

"I'll never be the same,
Forever I am changed..."

This is the absolute truth, and one which I will be eternally grateful for! Thank you God for loving me, and thank you Jesus for saving me from my sinful, ignorant and foolish self.

"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

He Speaks!

A couple of weeks ago I posted about passion at work and why I can't show it like others can. Well, God shared something with me a couple of days ago and I wanted to share it here.

"They are passionate about it (their work) because they don't have anything else. I am your passion. That is why your walk is so hard, because you're having to live between the two. Go and show them what your passion is. That is what you have to do."

Wow! It's a bit of a stark reality, but it's His truth. I have Him; they don't. And He is right, in that He IS my passion. Since returning to the narrow path just on four years ago I wanted to live to make Him happy. Today, well it's a different story, as I have learnt that I don't have to DO anything to make Him happy as He already is. He loves me already. I already make Him happy just by being His.

What does make Him happy though? It's living FOR Him. Sharing HIS Word with others. Telling and showing others what HE has done for me. Not the other way around.

I have learnt to live by grace. By HIS grace. His never-ending, unfailing and unconditional love for me. It does not make my life any easier, and from the Word He gave me above He has explained why. The enemy knows that He IS my real passion and he doesn't like it one little bit!

So, I will show them - all the unsaved people in my life - that God is my passion. He is the reason for my all. He is the reason I can hold my head up high despite my past. He is the reason that I have all that I have, which is just enough.

Passion. God is mine. What is yours?

On Being Thankful...

It's nearing the end of Thursday here in Australia (and nearing the end of a very strange week), so I thought I'd hop on the Thankful Thursday bandwagon and let you know that despite the stress of my current situation, I am very thankful...

I am thankful that my work has been mayhem today as it's kept my mind from wandering and wondering.

I am thankful that God's presence and arms of comfort have been wrapped around me, protecting me from the fear I feel.

I am thankful that I took measures to counteract what was inevitably going to be a dive in emotions (let alone seratonin!).

I am thankful that I can finally be myself as I journey on a new path in my life.

All in all, I am just thankful. I am tired, emotionally drained, nauseaous at the prospect of my life ahead, but overall I am thankful.

Thank You Heavenly Father, thank You for my daughter, my family and my friends, my work colleagues, my Sisters in Christ, my blog friends, and my doctor! But most of all, thank You for YOU...for being such an important part of my life and for leading me where you know I am to go. In Jesus' Wonderful Name, Amen

Our God...He's Quick!

When 2010 started and I chose the verse in this picture as my life verse for the year, I did not think that I would receive a vision this quickly! But today I did. It's a vision that I've felt creeping up on me for a little while now, but the ease (for today) that I am following the vision is surprising me. I won't share any details at present, but I do want to share that we serve a Great God, a Wonderful God, a Mightly Provider, and we need to be so very thankful, as I am tonight.

Thank you Heavenly Father!

For Me...

I am feeling rather tired tonight. Actually, I've felt tired all week. From a beeping smoke detector battery in the middle of the night to a frightened child after a dream at 4am. I work full-time and then come home and run a house and take care of a 5 year old child. I do this day in and day out and it gets a bit tiresome.

But ...and this is a BIG BUT ... tonight as I was nearing the end of my chores, with pain shooting through both my legs and my head starting to ache, I was reminded that Jesus endured more.

He endured untold pain and suffering and death on a cross ... FOR ME.

Much more than working a full day to come home to deal with a child and household duties. I flinched after I had that thought tonight.

He was whipped, beaten, bashed, scourged, ridiculed and spat on ... FOR ME.

The worse that happens to me during the day might be a rude checkout clerk. Or another driver that won't let me in when in traffic.

He hung on a wooden cross with a crown of thorns sticking into His brow and with nails through His hands and feet ... FOR ME.

I watch "The Passion of the Christ" on a regular basis just to remind myself of the 'realness' of what Jesus went through. Some may call me crazy; I'm not. It's my 'wake up call' movie.

It reminds me of Jesus' humble nature, of the sacrifice that He made, of the culmination of God's ultimate plan to save, of what Jesus did ... FOR ME.

"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!" - Philippians 2:8 (NIV)

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to earth to be a living example of how we are to live our lives. I pray that I too can live a humbled and obedient existence, just as Jesus did ... FOR ME. In His Precious Name, Amen

Thanksgiving...

After a few weeks of trials and tribulations, I have been presented with various revelations from the Lord, and I am truly thankful for His constant presence. I am slowly reading through the New Testament and this morning I started on 1 Corinthians. Paul is the epitome of one called by God to serve Him, and I always enjoy reading his invaluable contribution to The Word.

Two passages of Scripture stood out this morning - 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 and 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. Both of these remind me to be thankful for God's presence in my life, for the sacrifice that Jesus made for me, and for their enduring presence in my life.

While reading through the first passage, I wrote the following down:

Thank God
Life enriched
Wait on Jesus
He is my strength
God called me
God is faithful

Simple yet poignant reminders about the simplicity of the Christian walk amidst the complexity of it. These are basic truths for me to hold onto throughout my walk.

Thanksgiving then leads onto a reminder of who I was before God chose me. It’s an open and honest reminder of the fact that He is wiser and stronger and I am to never forget that.

"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 (NIV)

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your presence in my life, thank you for the blessing of Jesus' sacrifice for me and thank you for your enduring presence through the good and bad times in my life. All things, good or bad, serve a purpose, and I have been strengthened by this truth through You. In Jesus' Wonderful Name, Amen

He Is With Me...

"And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." - Genesis 28:15 (Bullinger's Companion Bible)

My birthday has come and gone with greetings, gifts and good food, but the best part of it was God's Word (above) that was given to me. His promise that He will not leave me and is with me always and wherever I go. The promise of His eternal devotion and support with one year left to go on my Exit Wilderness Project. Amazing words and an enlightening promise by the One who gave life to me and has allowed me to journey through to this point in time.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the promises You make and never break. Thank You for staying with me even when I was walking on the wrong path. Thank You for such a blessed birthday. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Being Guided Through Life...

I sometimes feel a bit lost while traipsing through this amazing journey that I'm on. I flounder and I struggle with who I am supposed to be, what I am supposed to be doing, and why it - life - happens. But, thankfully I am blessed by an amazing Father who answers my questions of who, what and why.

While sitting here at my desktop computer that doesn't get used much now that I have my laptop (thank you for blessing me with that Lord!), I turned over to the latest offering on my God's Provision for Women perpetual devotional that sits next to it and I read this verse -

"He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." - Psalm 25:9

And, in His amazing way of teaching, I have been reminded about my identity and purpose:

- Who I am supposed to be - guided by and humble in Him...
- What I am supposed to be doing - learning from and living for Him, and...
- Why life happens - glory for Him and His way!

It's all rather simple really, and has been put so clearly in the verse, but I will shake it up a bit now. He guides me, in whom He wants my ways to be humble and right, while He teaches me His way, which is humble and right and guided. Not my way, not the wrong way, and not the brash and proud way. HIS way...humble, right and guided.

On further study of the verse I realise that He is also telling me that for me to learn His way, which is right and humble, I must become humble in my ways. (Are you confused yet? And have I repeated myself? Probably on both counts!) To become humble though, I must quieten my ways, quieten my actions, and quieten my self. If I don't, He won't be able to get through all the noise and busyness and teach me what I need to know to live His way...humble, right and guided.

His Word is self-explanatory really, but only if we take the time to look at the words and extract His meaning from them and interpret His words for what they really are. Simple instructions on how to live life from our Father.

I've started a study of the book of Isaiah this week, and I've been blown away by the bluntness, and simplicity, of the first chapter. God, through Isaiah, tells how He is disappointed in His people, what they have become and why they have become like that. He also tells how they can return to Him, what they can become once again, and why they need to do it. Simple yet exact instructions of redemption from a Father who loves graciously and who offers His best and all with a wonderful twist…eternity.

Take a look at a verse today - a poignant one that has stood out to you - and see if you can extract God’s guiding, and most likely simple, message that He has in it for you. I’m glad I took a look at this verse the He provided me and gained a reminder of the who, what and why of me and my life.

Thank you Lord for showing me Your way, and for reminding me that the guidance and lessons I need to live life the right and humble way are right in front of me in Your Word; available 24/7 and given to me by your love. In Jesus Wonderful Name, Amen

Happy Thanksgiving...

“Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,

let us be thankful,

and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”

- Hebrews 12:28

(Photo and verse taken from Zondervan NIV Daily Bible Verse.)

Inspiration For Our Souls...

With the Yes To God study starting last Tuesday, it seems that blogland is abuzz with how this study is going to change the lives of so many lovely ladies here. Everywhere I turn I am being inspired by the openness and rawness of ladies whom I have not even met in real life. It just goes to show that we do live a spiritual life, even as mere mortals here on earth. God is touching our lives through Lisa's book; with her challenge to us to become authentic and to get real.

The indicators that the time is right for me to get real with God is all around outside of blogland too. In the last 2 days I have come across the following 4 quotes, and as I read them I could not help but think that they are telling me something. Have a read and see if you can pick up on what I mean:

"I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday, and I love today." - William Allen White

"Life is a wilderness of twists and turns where faith is your only compass." - Paul Santaguida

"You see things and you say, "Why?" But I dream things that never were and I say, "Why not?"" - Geroge Bernard Shaw

"Surrender your blunders to the Lord. He can use them to make the pattern of your life more beautiful." - Corrie ten Boom

Yes To God ladies, and others reading this post, do...you...get...it?

I know I do! Do not fear. Remember but don't dwell on yesterday. Love where you are today. Life will always take us in directions we least expect. Have faith. Don't question the "why" too much; only God knows all the answers. Imagine what life can, and will be like, and embrace it. Give up your past to the Lord; release it and let it go. He let us experience what we did to make our life so much better today...yes, TODAY!

The Corrie ten Boom quote came with a verse from Proverbs 16:3 -

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

Therein is another instruction from our Amazing Father as to what we should be doing to become more authentic and to get real! Give it up! Give up trying to be in control. Give up trying to be someone that we're not.

When I think of the real Paula, the authentic Paula and who God wants me to be, I think back to when I was a child; when I had innocence and looked at the world as a wide-eyed child. I have to stop myself with my daughter and remind myself that she hasn't been there and done all that yet, so I must become like a child in some ways so I can appreciate all that is in front of me. Does this sound familiar?

Yes, Jesus told us in Matthew 18:3-5 that we must "...become like little children...", that "...whoever humbles himself like this child..." and "...whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." This could be part of our key to getting real with God.

We need to return to our Father. We need to welcome Him back in completely. We need to renew ourselves, plant ourselves back at His feet and say, "here I am Father, I need you, I cannot do this by myself anymore, and I am sorry for going against you and thinking that I could." We need to admit that we just cannot do it alone, that we need to uncover who is actually under all, as Lisa says, "the fluff", and we need to become the women that God originally intended us to be.

Where we are did not happen by accident. He gave us a free reign to do as we pleased, and most of us messed it up. I know that I did, and not just once, but twice, even three times. But I know now where I went wrong. I can admit that I made the WRONG CHOICE! I didn't do what God had told me I should have done. As a young child and teenager, He told me, but I chose not to listen.

Despite all this, the current pattern of my life is more beautiful that it's ever been. My life is not exactly how I would like it to be, but I dare say that if God were standing in front of me right here and right now, He would tell me that it's exactly where He wants me to be. That's good enough for me. I can deal with that. I don't have my sweetie with me, I am raising a child alone, I have health issues that wear me out, but at the end of the day, I have my Lord who sticks by me so amazingly that if I didn't know that He loved me so, I would actually wonder why!

So ladies, we need to elimate the fear, the yesterdays, the questions, the trying to live life by our road map, and we need to have some imagination and faith. And we need to do it TODAY! And most importantly, we need to show the same love for ourselves as God does. That might just be a big ask, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the love you shower on us, your Girls, as we do life and now endeavour to do it real for you. Please give me the strength to not fear, to dream, to imagine, and to have more faith that it will be OK; that I will be able to let go and let you lead. The best is yet to come, as I know better now, and I am thankful to you for sticking by me all this time. In Your Wonderful Name, Amen

Thankful Thursday...

Welcome to my very first Thankful Thursday post. After reading various Thankful Thursday posts over the last month or so, and reading Susan's today at Forever His, I thought I would post one too!

Today I am thankful for the blessing of my adorable daughter Jasmine, who at 4 and a half years of age, offers me her renewed love for me on a daily basis with every "Mummeeeeee" that comes from her room in the morning when she wakes. She displayed the desire to be Mummy's little shadow last night before bedtime and "help" me to sort out a computer issue, and just blesses me generally with her presence, even during the tense times we have together sometimes.

I am also thankful for my wonderful 'adopted' siblings here in Brisbane, who provide me with love, advice and support when times get a bit hard for me while I do it solo as a parent. Without these siblings, and others who provide me with support, I would not 'do life' as well as I do while living so far away from my family.

My thankfulness stretches right out beyond this blog page to my new Sisters in Christ that I have found in blogland. I am so grateful that God led me here as I am learning to be a better person for God, and also sharing my life experiences and knowledge with others who are going through what I have gone through in life so far.

The greatest thanks, however, must go to our Heavenly Father and our wonderful Saviour, Jesus Christ, who are with us 24/7, watching over us and caring for us as God's Girls. We are blessed and Hebrews 12:28 expresses it well -

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe..."

"Thank you dear Lord that I have been blessed with the wonderful people that I have in my life today. Thank you that I am able to learn from them, and turn to them when I am weak. And thank you that I am always able to turn to you at any time and about any thing, and that I know you will always be there for me. In Your Heavenly Name, Amen."