Faith Talk Friday: Daring to Dream

She is 75 years old. She is a fighter; a woman of God who has chosen to love the unlovely. Her name? Jan. I met her at a Church ladies night that we recently had.

The guest speaker, Pastor Francine Hunt's, message was called:

 

"You are a gift with gifts"

 

Francine said, "God puts a dream in our hearts and it is revealed in time".

 

Are there dreams you have but have put on the shelf?

Dreams that burn within you because you know that they are such a part of who you are and who you've been made to be?

Dreams that you would so desperately love to achieve but can't see any possible way to do it?

 

To have dreams is to have hopes and cherished aspirations.

 

She encouraged us to allow God to lead us into our dreams. 

To dare to dream. Dare meaning to step out and take a risk. To put fear where it belongs, behind us. To be sensitive to the heart of God. To say 'yes' every day to what He asks us to do. To be attentive to His voice, because when I am sensitive to His voice - it softens who I am.  

Part of going after our dreams is also to 'watch our language'. Not necessarily swearing (although that is not how we should speak), but watching what we say to and about ourselves. "I'm just not capable", "I'm too ugly", "I'm way too old for that now", "I just can't get past this point ..." If we are wanting to reach our dreams, then we can't be negative .

 

Sometimes our dreams are lived out in slightly different ways than what we first imagined.

Jan has been beaten, strangled, stolen from and verbally abused many times. As a little 3 year old girl growing up in the war, she lived her young life surrounded by uniformed men. She recalled these days with such a beautiful smile on her face, "We always had soldiers in our home. They would play their mouth organs, and their violins and organs and it was just wonderful!"

 

She went on to share how even at that young age she knew she wanted to be out as a nurse, helping the injured on the front-line and bringing them back to a place of safety. She re-realised this dream only when she was eighteen and this dream was lived out in a very different way than she originally thought it would be.

 

As she grew older she began to see the need to help heroine addicts and other drug addicts and to help alcoholics. And not just by going to them, but by having them in her home. Some of these people she still sees and has a lovely bond with even now, some thirty years on. She realised that she was in fact fulfilling the dream God gave her all those many years ago to help the sick and needy and nurse them to a safe place into a relationship with Jesus.

It's cost her dearly, this dream.

 

But through it all she looked me square in the eyes and said, "God still had lessons for me to learn. It has all been worth it and I am amazed by just how much He loves us!"

Tears welled up in this beautiful woman's eyes and she choked on her words of sincere praise. This is a woman who has lived out her dreams and experienced God powerfully in them. She inspired me.

 

She is moving towns as soon as her house sells. She's not familiar with this new town. She's not aware of why God is having her move there. She is just obeying His leading.

Oh to have such faith and such willing obedience.

 

To go after my dream, to go after your dream, with such a zeal and determination and persistence that nothing will stop us! Even if it comes at a high cost!

 

We can be women of influence in our homes, our communities in our churches by listening and obeying God when He leads us. We can achieve our dreams, even though they may to us seem hugely unachievable. If it's Gods dream in us, we can be sure He'll make it happen.

 

Don't give up on your dream, beautiful friend! Please just don't give up. This world needs you to do what God has made only you to do. Seek His face, ask Him for leading and direction if you need to, but just don't ever let your dreams stay on that shelf!

 

Remember: God puts a dream in our hearts and it is revealed in time.

 

 So long as breath remains in our lungs, untapped potential lies inside us, waiting to be released. The reason we are still alive is that we are carrying something inside us that this generation needs. That’s why we’re not yet in heaven. –Wayne Cordeiro.

 

Your dream is beating in your chest. Do you feel it? -Bruce Wilkenson.

 

 

Psalm 37:4 ESV     

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

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Family Friendly Wednesday: Home Happenings

We've been enjoying ourselves the last little while. Although there has been sickness in the home, we have still been trying to make the most of our days. I'm a very glad the sickness is on it's way out though! Definitely makes a mothers job even more challenging!

 

 

Mr R enjoyed driving his cars and trucks through the dirt. It's what every boy needs; cars trucks, dirt a tractor and a shed! He makes the best sounds effects when he drives and as you can see, he is such a happy little man!

 

 

 We enjoyed a visit from my mum (prior to sickness) and had a great time together. The kids love colouring in with Nana and they enjoyed exploring outside with her and lots of cuddles. Mum and I went out to lunch together and had a great time chatting and laughing together! I love my mum!

 

 

I love Little Mr R's head poking through in this photo!

 

 

This was a beautiful sight that I walked in to one morning ... two little chilluns snuggled up with books. Oh how I love that my kids love books! I love the smile on Mr R's face as he listens to the enthusiastic reading of Little Miss J.

 

 

 

Mr S. reading Gulliver's Travels while resting from sickness. Days home sick from school are always best spent with a book. He looks so relaxed.

 

 

 

Our kids love to have adventures at home. This is our very tall Honeysuckle tree that they enjoy climbing (which gives mummies prayer life much exercise!) And these chairs are the cubby house rooms and door etc. (yes I checked they were stable!) I love how my kids can create their own fun!

 

 

We have a favourite park that we like to visit as often as possible. It is almost magical, especially when the sun shines through the trees and the kids go hiding under the branch rooves. We have discovered lots of beautiful things at this park and the kids rarely hesitate to visit such a glorious spot for a picnic lunch.

 

 

Our beautiful friend came up for a visit for a week and brought her lovely little daughter (who shares the same name as our Little Miss J) for some play time with Mr R. We visited a local lavender farm and enjoyed morning tea together and walking through the rows of gorgeous smelling flowers.

 

 

 This lovely lady is such a precious friend, and we enjoyed many late nights scrapbooking, chatting, laughing till our stomachs ached and eating probably waaayyy too much cookies and cream ice-cream. We went for coffee and lunch and a fantastic night out at our church (a post to come on that later!!)

 

 

These two little cuties had such wonderful fun together, and it was such a blessing to have them visit!

 

"Life is what you make it", quote un-quote my wonderful husband. We love making this life as beautiful as possible together ... after all, we only get one!

 

Enjoy your week! I've linked up with A Wise Woman for more inspiration for you!

Be Inspired Mondays: My Favourite iPhone Photo Apps!

I am an Instagram fan! Probably because I am a photo freak! I have more photos on my computer than I ever think I'll be able to scrapbook and that's ok. You've got to practise right?! And now, it's the same with my iPhone *sigh* (I'm actually completely ok with having a life filled with photographs! Although I do believe we don't have to share every precious moment with the world!) Today, I'm sharing with you some of my favourites and best of all they're free!

So, without further introduction ... here are my favourite free iPhone photography apps! (hang on, I'll just get my phone!) I have included links that tell you info about each app and how to upload them to your iPhone, as well as some examples of photos I've taken with these apps. I'm still not all that 'tech-savvy' when it comes to linking sorry, so I hope they work! Let me know if they don't!

Instacollage!

InstaCollage helps you quickly combine multiple sized photos into one beautifully framed picture & unique collage with caption in seconds.

 

 

 

 

Snapseed!

 

It makes any photograph extraordinary with a fun, high-quality photo experience right at your fingertips. Anyone can enhance, transform, and share their photos with ease using incredibly advanced features from the leader in digital photography software.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Sketch

 

 My Sketch is the best sketch maker turning your favourite photos into gorgeous sketches.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Textgram

 

Create beautiful pictures out of any text and share them with your friends on Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, etc.. or save them in your gallery.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Photostudio

 

PhotoStudio is powerful photo editing software featuring an array of advanced tools, filters and special effects inside a very friendly user interface. Beginners will appreciate the straight-forward design, while advanced users will love the performance and control. The program includes everything you need to manage, enhance, print, and get creative with your digital photos! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 



 

 Collect

 

Full of the features that matter, and designed so that collecting your photos every day is a joy not a chore. (this text won't  unbold sorry!)

 

 

 

 

This last app is my new favourite! It allows you to take a picture each day and attach it to a calendar so that you have a whole calendar full of daily little memories! You can caption the pics too, which is a great form of journaling the 'not to be forgotten' facts! The calendar is also printable, however, I am yet to  try printing my own as I have only just begun creating my monthly calendar this month. (The above image is an example from the website)

 

 

I'd love to hear from you with your favourite apps so comment below and let me know what they are! Do you use and enjoy these ones too or are there any others that are your favourites?!

 

Enjoy capturing your precious memories!