Today I really wanted to encourage you.

I don’t know what is going on in your life, but I want to say that you are not alone.

I want to let you know that there is hope?

There really is.

Even if you cannot see it, even if you cannot feel it, don’t give up.

I know when I was going through a very challenging time in my life, I didn’t know how I was going to recover.

I didn’t know how things would work out.

I had to have faith.

I had to believe that He would work out everything for good.

And He did, in the most amazing ways.

I also had amazing faithful friends that stood in the gap for me.

Who is standing in the gap for you?

Who is a prayer warrior for you?

If you need prayer please let me know, I am here for you.

Today I just wanted to say that I am cheering you on.

Today I am at the local coffee shop having a writing session with a friend.

We are having a pot of ginger tea to help us with the writing session.

I love writing and I am making a new commitment to blog twice a week for the next few weeks.

I find it important to have accountability with my writing projects.

You see being creative is important to me it is what fills me with enthusiasm, it is part of who I have been created to be.

What stops us from being creative and expressing who we really are?

What stops us from doing the things that we really love to do?

Is it the thoughts of –

 I am not good enough

Who will read it?

 Is it good enough?

What will people think?

Or

Comparing ourselves to other writers?

My thoughts run to the negative, I am really good at thinking about all the reasons why I should not write.

Why do we allow those lies to stop us from being creative?

How can we break through from this thinking and pursue what is really important to us?

To pursue what we love to do?

To pursue what brings us joy?

We need to put aside those negative thoughts and just start writing.

Just start writing without editing everything that we write.

It takes vulnerability and just to show up.

If you want to write, then write.

I am cheering you on here.

I would love to read what you are writing about.

I love spending time with all of my nieces and my nephew, I love creating memories with them.

This weekend I had my youngest niece stay over.

We had such an amazing weekend.

Friday night we ordered Menulog and we had McDonalds delivered, she was so excited.

She said this is my first Menulog.

Saturday, we had a relaxed morning and then ventured out to the local shopping centre.

We shopped and brought my sister her birthday present.

The adventure for Saturday was to try sushi, we went to a lovely sushi train restaurant.

Well, did she like sushi?

She liked it but not the seaweed, she did like using chopsticks.

Yes, she was amazing at using chopsticks.

She really mastered using chopsticks.

On Sunday we spent most of the day creating, listening to music and painting.

I don’t know about you but I value the time I am able to spend with my nieces.

I value being with them, I value speaking into their lives, I value how amazing they are, I value them.

I love being a part of their lives.

Who can you encourage?

Is there someone that you can speak into their lives?

Let’s be there for one another?

Let’s experience new things with other.

Let’s invest in others.

Today is day three of lockdown.

Today I have been able to work at home and work on programs for term one.

I have been at home all day today.

I am so grateful to be able to work at home.

Today I have been working on programs for the schools that I work at.  

I have been able to work on permission forms for the programs that I run and also for creating new Journals for girls’ group and boys’ group for this term.

Today I have been able to catch up with some amazing Chaplains over Zoom

I love Zoom and I love that we can just be there for others and catch up.

Today, was so lovely.

Today was so encouraging and inspiring.

Prayer.

We had the most amazing prayer time with each other.

I love prayer and praying for others.

Prayer is so important in these times.

I know that at this time prayer is so valued.

We, prayed for WA, we prayed about our lockdown, we prayed for our schools, we prayed for each other and for people in the fire affected areas and we prayed.

I would love to pray for you?

What to do you need prayer for?

Let’s encourage each other and pray for one another.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

In Perth on Sunday, we have been advised that we are in Lockdown from Sunday 31^st of January from 6pm until Friday 5 of February 2021, for 5 days.

I first heard about lockdown on Sunday and I thought that I should go to the shops and buy some face masks as I didn’t know if I would have to be at school on Monday.

I didn’t know what the week would look like.

We were advised that there would be no school this week.

I just know that if we left our home, we needed to wear a mask.

My purpose for shopping on Sunday was to buy some facemasks.

I didn’t know for me how the week would be.

Well, I ventured out to the shops on Sunday and I could not believe what I saw.

The shops where even busier than they had been at Christmas time.

Actually it was even busier then Christmas.

The lines were out from the checkouts.

I was able to buy face masks for me and for my sister.

I felt so blessed.

The lines where long at the shops and I was grateful to meet a lady in line that worked at an ed support unit.

She was so lovely and let me go in front of her.

I love that when there is a crisis there are people that are so kind.

I love that in this time we can all come together and support one another.

Just wanted to let you know that if you need anything please let me know.

I am more than happy to help.

In the holidays I had my youngest niece stay with me, she is so lovely and we are always having adventures.

We decided that one of our adventures for the holidays would be to go to the local pool.

If was such a lovely warm day and we made our way to the pool, we paid at the entrance and set up our belongings on the grass.

We had been swimming for a little while and then I noticed that my nieces earring was missing.

I said, “Oh my goodness where is your earring?”

What, she had just received it from her Aunty for Christmas.

I was really concerned as I know that her earrings were expensive.

I was concerned that she only had them for a little while.

My thought was we had been in two different pools and that maybe it had gone into the pool.

My mind went to I can’t remember where I say her with it last.

I was thinking, did she even lose it at the pool, did she lose it in the car, in the carpark at the pool or was it in the car.

I said to my niece we need to pray to God, I prayed with her dear Jesus please help us find the earing, help us know where it. Direct us Lord.

We retraced where we had been, we went to the change room, no we didn’t find it.

We went to the small pool and looked all around the bottom of it, no we didn’t find it.

We went to the large pool and looked all around the bottom, we even had someone offering to look for it.

All I could think of was oh my goodness we have lost it.

My niece wasn’t to concerned she said let’s go back swimming.

We then went to where I had left my backpack on the grass and my niece looked down and said here it is.

Oh, my goodness we found it.

At first, I thought maybe it was her other earing that I had taken out of her ear and placed in my backpack.

So, I checked my backpack and her other earing was in it.

Yes, we found it.

Yes, we found her earing.

It was our earing miracle.

Praise God.

I love school holidays; I love being able to create memories.

I love taking the time to just be.

I love taking the time to just breathe.

I love taking the time to slow down and embrace every day.

Last week I had one of my lovely nieces or a sleep over.

We had a list of things that we wanted to do.

We decided that we would go and discover the new Perth Museum.

We started our journey by catching the bus into Perth.

What an adventure who knew that you had to have the correct about of money to go on the bus?

I didn’t.

We made it into town, take two.

The bus trip was long, but I am so grateful that we have the opportunity to catch a bus.

We had booked into the Museum at 12.pm.

The new Perth Museum is amazing and there is so much to see and do. 

I love how interactive it is.

There was so much to see.

I loved the golden stairs and how amazing they were.

My niece had been there before and there was so much that she had seen that she wanted to show me.

Aunty Tracey, she said close your eyes and I want to show you something.

I needed to put all my trust in her and she guided me to show me her favourite items in the museum.

I was so impressed with the museum; I would definitely go back.

After the museum we walked around the city, we looked at the shops and listened to buskers.

We then decided that we needed lunch and found this amazing place Bambamboo.

We ordered our food on an iPad and then collected it when they messaged us.

I would definitely go back to this place, it was so lovely and the service was amazing.

We arrived home very tired but content.

We are so blessed to be able to be out and about.

We are so blessed to be able to enjoy our city.

I am so grateful to be able to create amazing memories with my lovely niece.

What are some memories that you have created in the holidays?

I would love to hear from you?

Let’s encourage on another.

Will write soon.

I had to buy a new phone this week because my old phone died.

I had been putting it off for a while and I thought that my old phone would last a lot longer than it actually did.

Well, I was wrong.

My phone died; the battery just didn’t work at all.

I couldn’t even recharge it.

So, I went out to buy a new phone.

I am so very grateful for a new phone.

I am also very grateful that I could buy a new phone.

The other day I had my new phone with me and I was thinking maybe I should take a photo and then I thought I cannot my phone doesn’t have enough memory.

I then caught myself thinking about how I placed the limitations on what my new phone could do.

I had been limiting my thinking on old technology.

My new phone has a lot bigger memory then my old phone, yet I was stuck in what my old phone could do.

Sometimes we can become stuck in our thinking and put limitations on what we can achieve.

We can become stuck in our old thinking patterns.

We can choose to believe the lies that this is all that we can do.

This year I don’t want to feel stuck, I want to have unlimited memory.

I want to have unlimited memory to achieve more, to do more and to have more courage.

This year I want to be able to achieve so much more.

I would love to hear from you about what you are wanting to achieve this year.

Let’s encourage one another.

I have been on holidays for nearly 3 weeks and I am really loving this time.

I am very grateful to have this time.

I really am.

I am also learning to take this time to slow down.

Yes, I know I do find it difficult, I am used to my days being busy and full.

It is a process for me learning to take the time to slow down.

I have to be intentional about it.

This is something that I have to focus on.

Why do we feel  guilty when we are not being productive or busy?

These holidays I have finally subscribed to Netflix, oh my goodness.

I splurged.

I am wondering why did it take me so long, I am loving Netflix, I have been binge watching and sitting on my couch.

I am taking back the feelings of guilty; I am taking back the need to be busy.

I am allowing myself to relax, I am allowing myself to just sit.

What is it that you are taking back this year?

Will it be I will not feel guilty about taking time for myself?

I would love to hear from you.

Will talk soon, I need to binge watch Netflix.