Finding joy in the everyday

My thoughts on the past year Every month this year I have written things that I consider important but I want to end the year with something that I think is growing and will become much more of an issue in 2017 — Intolerances I wrote a post on intolerances earlier this year, however very few people read it ( LINK ), I wondered why—has intolerances become acceptable across the broader community or did I touch on a topic that raises too many questions for Christians. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. (Romans 12:18) As mothers we need to teach our children to be tolerant — to love one another, to care for one another, to reach out to others.  As Christians  being tolerant means being loving and considerate of others who differ from us. Being tolerant means being patient and forgiving of others' errors. However, it doesn't mean being tolerant of evil or deliberate wrongdoing, nor does it mean we must  believe what

On the  17th of October 2016, police broke into a home  in a  middle  class   suburb  of Sydney,  Australia's  largest  city to find the bodies of a family—mother, father and their two young children. They also found the body of the family dog. The police have stated that they are not looking for any suspects and believe the father killed the family (it is unknown at this stage if the mother was aware of his plans). In the newspaper articles following the discovery, those who knew the family said they were "loved", a "much valued family in the community" and the mother was bright, cheery, a "rock",  happy, heavily involved in the school her two children attended. They appeared to be the perfect family.  Even with two severely disabled children, the mother was considered strong and determine and doing a great job.  (From:  Are you allowing the demon of comparison to destroy your family ) NO family is ever perfect and e very family will ex

We do not celebrate Thanksgiving Day in Australia, regardless, it is still important to be so THANKFUL for that the Lord has provided to us — not just the big things, but all the small things that we often overlook.  Here is a small collection of art that celebrate thanksgiving.  Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God  Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.  ~ (Psalms 147:7-8)

She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness. (Proverbs 31:26) One must always be very careful when writing on social media, especially if you have identified yourself.  Bloggers love comments, I do — but we need to be mindful of what we write. Some people write personal things and that is fine if you are writing about yourself and your experiences.  However, one needs to be very care when you start to write about your husband or wife. Many write beautiful comments, very complimentary comments about their spouse and they are lovely to read. However, it is a very different story when you start to write negative comments about your spouse, especially when you can be identified. However, regardless of identification—it is still wrong. Earl from xxxxx (last name and address were also provided) rated his wife on a Facebook page. He gave her an A for 'shopping and preparing food" and for "having a beautiful home". But ra

Let all that you do be done with love. ( 1 Corinthians 16:14) What would our lives  look  like if we did everything with love and joy? What if we carried out our household chores— washing  the car, cleaning the toilet, taking out the trash, making meals for our families, sweeping the kitchen floor—as acts of love? What if we made every  interaction  of our daily lives—greeting  people  on the streets, talking to our  neighbours , tipping the waitress—an act of love? What if we made sure that  everything  word we spoke to our spouse, our children, our parents, our co-workers, boss, employees, professors, students, and on and on was an act of love? Greet one another with a kiss of love.  Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. (1 Peter 5:14) Wouldn't our lives to transformed? Wouldn't our testimony for Christ be powerful? We are commanded to love. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved yo

When I am feeling down, I look at flowers — flowers say joy like nothing else. One cannot feels sad when you look at flowers like these. Perhaps that is why flowers are given to those who are unwell and in hospital.  Todays art has been created by God for all of us to enjoy.  Whilst I cannot send you all a bunch of flowers, these, I do hope, will brighten up your day and bring you as much joy as they do to me.  All these flowers (excluding the red ones) are from garden. My garden is busting with colour at present and when I come home after a day at work, it is such a beautiful welcome to see.  *** “ One of the marks of a godly woman is that she takes responsibility for her soul's need for joy and delight. A woman is a conductor, who leads the orchestra of her surroundings in the songs and music of her life. God is a God of creativity and dimension, and so He is pleased when we we co-create beauty in our own realm, through the power of His Spirit.

I came across the most amazing story of the early pioneer women in Australia, story I had never heard before and wanted to share. The women from a small town of Hahndorf (in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia) use to supplied the city of Adelaide with fresh produce at a time when most food had to be imported into state of South Australia. From 1838, when the South Australia colony was just two years old, Lutheran refugees from Prussia (Germany) had settled in the Adelaide Hills forming the village of Hahndorf. Women and girls carrying baskets of vegetables and dairy products on their backs, or on yokes across their shoulders to the city whilst their husbands and fathers worked the land. The women and girls left the village at midnight to walk the rough bush track to Adelaide 35 km away (22 miles).   At about 4.00 am the women reached a stream in the foothills near Beaumont which became a favourite place to rest, wash their sore feet (and put their shoes on) and t

Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. ( 1 Timothy 6:6-8) A few weeks ago I wrote about being content no matter the situation —  in good health or in poor health, during a perfect summer or during natures fury. (LINK) Finding contentment is difficult in our modern society. In fact it is an uphill battle with satan working very hard to make sure you don't find it.  We are always wanting more and even when we don't want anything, everyone around us reminds us that we do. This world is bent on destroying our sense of contentment. All the advertising that bombards us from our televisions, newspapers, womens magazines, radio, billboards are designed to disturb our contentment and make us question our contentment. Aren't we told often to upgrade phones because they are getting "too old" or that our