King's Daughters

2009 has been a toughie that's for sure! I think whatever could have been thrown at us has been and it has been very challenging. I could write a book on the lessons I have learned and the person I have become through it. I can honestly say that I do wholeheartedly agree with James when he wrote in the Bible that we should count it all joy when falling into various trials . It has been a joy - truly, I am not just saying that. It's almost like saying that labour and child birth is a joy. It's the same sort of thing, you don't deny the pain but the fruit far outweighs the bit of pain that you have to endure. I thank God for working all things together for good in my life and for the lessons he has taught me in 2009. I also want to thank my beautiful family for being on this journey with me. Together we have faced giants, conquered battles and celebrated the victories. Together we have also cried, argued and driven each other quite crazy on some days. Never-th...

SUPPOSE JESUS CAME to your church. I don’t mean symbolically. I mean visibly. Physically. Actually. Suppose he came to your church. Would you recognize him? It might be difficult. Jesus didn’t wear religious clothes in his day. Doubtful that he would wear them in ours. If he came today to your church, he’d wear regular clothes. Nothing fancy, just a jacket and shoes and a tie. Maybe a tie … maybe not. He would have a common name. “Jesus” was common. I suppose he might go by Joe or Bob or Terry or Elliot. Elliot … I like that. Suppose Elliot, the Son of God, came to your church. Of course, he wouldn’t be from Nazareth or Israel. He’d hail from some small spot down the road like Hollow Point or Chester City or Mt. Pleasant.And he’d be a laborer. He was a carpenter in his day. No reason to think he’d change, but let’s say he did. Let’s say that this time around he was a plumber. Elliot, the plumber from Mt. Pleasant. Rumor has it that he fed a football field full of people near the lake. ...

Eric & I had a lovely 2 weeks in the USA to visit my mom & dad! It was a fantastic time of rest & catching up with family. We arrived home last Wednesday morning after 3 aeroplanes & a bus trip from London. It is great to be home but it seems that all that rest has already been used up. Eric & I can't sleep!!! Since we have been home last Wednesday we have been averaging 3 hours sleep a night. All I want for Christmas this year is some sleep ha ha. It's been a week now & we are getting desperate for sleep - any suggestions?

Nevertheless is John Kirkby’s story of the adventure of starting Christians Against Poverty. In 1996 John and Lizzie Kirkby set out on a faith adventure. John felt God call him to give up his successful career in the finance industry to do what he could to help the poor and needy in his home town of Bradford. John did what he was best at and devised simple budgeting systems that allowed people to reduce their debt whilst living a decent life. In doing this John found that he could share the life transforming faith he himself had experienced some four years earlier, and people’s lives were changed before his very eyes. I have read this book & couldn't put it down, it has really changed our life & given us strength to get through many difficult times. Eric at times said he had to put the book down as he couldn't continue reading - he was wondering how anyone can get through what John managed to get through. Eric & I have also had to privilege of meeting John Kirby ...

It's that time of year again - what fun! I love all the gift wrapping, baking, parties and all the fun around Christmas time. One of the things I like to do is sort out the children's toys to see if they need anything new. Well needless to say this year they don't need anything new, what they did need was a ton of batteries for all the old toys! Look at the photo above, these are all the toys that they never played with because their batteries had run down. Well, thanks to my wonderful mom and dad who bought us a giant pack of batteries, they are now all working! I do however realise why I let the batteries run down though - all these toys are noisy!!! Oh well, all good fun. So what are you doing to prepare for Christmas? Love

One of the nicest things Eric ever said to me is; "I don't care about your past, I care about your future". The best part is that he totally meant it, he has never brought up my "colourful" past or used the mistakes of my past against me. Sometimes I even feel like he doesn't believe the stories I have told him about all the bad things I have done in the past. It is so amazing to be loved for who I am not not based on what I did (good or bad) in the past. In the photo above are two of our most wonderful friends, it's so important to have great friends who will also leave the past in the past. One of my best friends ever, Michelle (above), has seen me at my best & at my worst, she has seen me single & married - and still she is my friend (whew!). I can't tell you how amazing it is to have a husband & great friends who all believe in my future & don't judge me on my past!

Hey there King's Daughters! Eric & I are having the most amazing time on holiday but thinking of you all every day. God has been so amazing by providing us with this unexpected gift of a good, restful holiday. There is lots of news but before I get into the news... who can guess where we are? Check out the clues in the photo above & tell me where exactly in the world you think we are!

Men need respect & women need love. If we simply learn to meet the one main need that our spouse has then we may eliminate many other battles or problem areas. Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband . This is all that Eric needs to either make him or break him as a man. When I show him that I respect him he is stronger but when I disrespect him, especially in front of people, he is a broken man with no power at all. As women we don't realise the importance of our respect, it either releases our husband into his full potential as a man or without it we cripple our man & make him unable to be what God has called him to be. Here are some tips for wives: 1) Go to God - he already has all the answers & will very happily help you 2) Watch Your Words - communicate only words of life that will build him up, if you have any complaints just shut up & chat to God abou...

It's that time of year again! I love all the festivities, food & fun of Christmas & I am just starting to get into it by baking our Christmas cake so I thought I would share the recipe with you. The photo above is of last years half eaten cake ha ha. 800g mixed dried fruit 75g glace cherries cut in half 200ml brandy 300g plain flour I t ground cinnamon A little freshly grated nutmeg 125g ground almonds 150g softened unsalted butter 150g dark muscovado sugar 4 large eggs I t cocoa powder Pinch of bicarbonate of soda 6t apricot jam 450g marzipan 900g ready-to-roll fondant icing · Soak the glace cherries in the brandy for 24-48 hours. · Lightly grease the cake tin & line with greaseproof paper. · Sift the flour with the cinnamon, a pinch of salt & a little nutmeg. · Whisk the butter until creamy & add sugar gradually until light and fluffy. · Beat in the eggs & add the flour mixture & almonds, then the fruit and its liquid. · Add the cocoa and bicarbonate...

I can't tell you how many arguments Eric & I didn't have because I went to God first. Also I can assure you that the ones we did have was when I didn't go to God. It's quite simple really, God is so much smarter that we are & has a much better perspective on things so why not get his advice first. I have gone to God when I am angry, when I am sad, when I am hurt & even when I need some inspiration or creativity to make Eric feel more loved. For me God is definitely the source of our marriage & my love for Eric. I would have completely wrecked things by now if I didn't go to God - and I go often. Some women seem to be such perfect wives & I am happy for them, but as for me... well I just keep going to God ha ha. For me it's as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Don't you love Eric's big smile in our wedding photo above? Even Gary Clark (in the backgro...

This Sunday I had the privilege of preaching at our church. Preaching is a love hate thing for me but whether I am loving or hating it I do find it a real privilege an honour to be communication the heart of God to our Church. This message is all about the seasons of life based on Ecclesiastes 3. One thing is totally 100% guaranteed in life, and that is that things will change. God has appointed the times and seasons, the events of our lives, the happy and the sad, the easy and the difficult. God exalts and humbles the same person. He raises nations up and brings them down. The great thing is that God is in control, he has a plan & he works everything together for good so we can have a great life. The painting above is one that Lorah painted after one of our lovely summer holidays. I thought it would be nice to include it for you to see. So who wants to count how many times I said 'um'? Listen to the full message here .

It was really lovely to hear all your comments on the God Said post. As promised here is how it impacted me. I was having a rough few weeks, one thing after another has been piling on top of me & life was looking a bit stormy. You see, I asked God to make me a bigger person & remove the constraints that are holding me back in life. At the Hillsong Conference , Flip Flippen addressed this area & it totally challenged me. God has so faithfully answered my prayer by allowing me the opportunity to be a bigger person. God isn't going to "zap" me with the gift of being a bigger person, He isn't going to come down from heaven & remove my constraints. Of course not, He is going to allow a little bit of hell to break loose in my life so that I have the opportunity to respond as a bigger person. Even as I type this, I know that I really don't want to do what I know I have to do to be this bigger person. At the same time I really do want to be a bigger...

To kick off our series on marriage I thought it would be fun to start with one of my favourite books on the subject. Holly has a fantastic way of saying it as it is & hitting the nail on the head. This little book is packed with enough to keep you going for your entire marriage. Eric & I read it before we got married & highlighted the bits that were important to us. It has been fun going back & rereading it over the years & seeing how some things have changed for us & how most things are still spot on. When we were planning our life together we were excited about having a great marriage & read books like this one with great enthusiasm for how we were going to get it all right. Now several years later we run to this book & others for answers to the challenges we face. It's quite hysterical really as we both still want the same things, we still both believe the same things about marriage but somewhere along the line we realised that we are only h...

Today I received a really interesting email. Well at first glance you would think not, in fact I usually delete all chain emails or long emails right away, I don't have the time to trawl through things like that. But today was different, I had been asking God to show me the way forward through something I am struggling with. I really didn't hear His voice at all this morning when I was praying. Do you ever get those moments or even seasons? The season when it feels like all hell has broken loose in your life. Last week life was perfect & this week it has all fallen apart... do you ever get that? Well I have been having a few weeks like that & each week seems to get worse. Here is the email that I received, before I tell you how it spoke to me I want to hear what it says to you. So have a read & I will do another post about how this cute little email hugely impacted me. God Said... I asked God to take away my habit. God said, NO... It is not for me to take away...

Lately I have been looking at my priorities & have noticed that it is essential to understand the season that you are in in order to set reasonable priorities. For me it has been a bit of a struggle because I have done the whole stay at home mummy thing for years & have moved on to a career & then even moved onto starting my own company. My eldest daughters are 14 & 18 but I also have two new gorgeous additions to the family who are 10 months & 3. Lately I have been feeling the tension between the busy me that has been allowed to grow as my teenagers have gotten older & the mommy with 2 babies. It's kinda like I have to go back & do it all over again. I love my babies & my teenagers & I love my life! The thing that I have been working on though is defining & understanding this season in my life. I have to reset my priorities to God, husband & children ONLY. That is how it was when Lorah & Jordan were little & that was righ...

One of my favourite writers is Max Lucado. His children's books have changed my life as I have read them to my children at bedtime. My absolute favourite is You Are Special - this has helped me so much with understanding how little it matters what people think about me and how much what God says about me really matters. This book has helped me so much with my identity & I know it will help my children with theirs as they grow up. Sometimes it's the simplest things that are most powerful, I imagine this is partly what Jesus meant when he said in Luke 18:17; " whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it " Have you ever been impacted by a children's book?

I have decided to start a section for my sermons so that they are available to you should you be interested in something a bit more than my posts. I don't preach often so there won't be much to listen to from me & I am not very good at preaching so it won't be as awesome as Eric's messages, never-the-less I will keep an archive of them under the category called " my sermons " should you ever want to have a listen :) To start us off I thought I would add a sermon I did a few weeks ago in our Strength & Beauty Series called Being Free. My heart's desire is that women (and men) realise who they are and are no longer robbed from their identity because they made a small mistake somewhere in their life or were victim of something horrible at some point. Even though the things that happened were horrible, they do not dictate who you ARE. No matter what has happened or no matter what you have done, here are some truths about who you ARE: You ...

It's definitely autumn, isn't it! Today I raked up all the leaves in our garden & then simply had to play in the big pile of leaves - I just couldn't resist. It wasn't that long ago that I was panicking about not being ready to say good bye to summer but now I am enjoying autumn & more determined than ever to enjoy each season in my life :) Life is too short no to. Have a great week & if you are doing anything fun to enjoy autumn let us know about it in the comment box below. x

Eric & I went to watch this movie on Wednesday & we both absolutely loved it! I wasn't expecting much when we went, I thought it would just be your usual romantic drama & was happy with going to see something light. However, it turned out to be a lot better than I anticipated. In a nutshell it's a romantic drama about a widower whose book about coping with loss turns him into a best-selling self-help guru. On a business trip to Seattle, he falls for a woman who attends one of his seminars, only to learn that he hasn't yet truly confronted his wife's passing. Watch the trailer here & if you decide to go see it take some tissues!

A bit random I know, but I thought it would be fun to Blog my bedside table! You can tell a lot about a person from their bedside table :) On my bedside table is my Bible, journals, notebooks (because I often can't sleep as I think too much so have to write things down during the night) & the books I am reading (Battlefields of the Mind - Joyce Meyer, Stop Acting Like a Christian & Just Be One - Christine Caine & I'll Have what She is Having - Bobby Houston). One of the journals is a journal of the journey of our church, I love our church and what God is doing & when I feel discouraged I read through that journal & look at all the photos & see all the beautiful people that God loves & my courage to ' press on ' returns. I have a little teddy on my bedside table, Sam (Lorah's exceptionally amazing boyfriend) gave that to me one Christmas - his mom probably chose the gifts but never-the-less I like it (and I like Sam - he is so kind to Lor...

Great news, Eric has started a Blog . He is writing his thoughts about church planting, leadership, creativity & innovation. If you want to know more about the heart of our church or just general thoughts on leading & impacting your world then subscribe to Eric's Blog. I am really enjoying what he has already written & am looking forward to all that is to come. Check it out here . Also for more about the daily life of our church check out our church Blog here

I have just returned from the most incredible week in London. The Hillsong Conference was so amazing, I don't think I will be able to put it into words for you. I have not laughed & cried so much in a long time, my heart was yanked in all different directions. God is clearly wanting unity amongst us churches so that he can come back & fetch His beautiful bride. I was challenged to the core this week & I know that a huge process of change has already begun in me. Here are some thoughts that stood out for me, each one completely life changing: Craig Groeschel: God needs to do something in me before He can do something through me. Joseph Prince: John 6:11 ...as much as they wanted Donna Crouch: Are you building "us" or "them & us" Flip Flippen: Your success is my mission Craig Groeschel: Make them one as we are one John 17:20 Phil Dooley: What you & I judge, Jesus might find beautiful Donna Crouch: What is the need in your city, not what...

You gotta check this out, what an awesome, amazing, blessed, special day I had today! At Church we dedicated Amy & another little boy called Aston. His dad, Tom, shared his testimony briefy, it is amazing. Oh my goodness, just 11 weeks ago this man, Tom, was on the street, no home & no hope. He came to church through a sandwich, gave his life to Jesus and today he was on stage with his family & friend dedicating his son to God. These are his own words; "About 10 or 11 weeks ago I was sat on a street corner somewhere around the city and a guy or a woman, I can't remember who it was, said, hey if you're hungry, go to the Guildhall about 1 o' clock and they will give you a sandwich and a cuppa tea. So that's what I did. I would come each week and each week I started to feel like a hypocrite. But you guys started speaking to me. I started to listen and to do something about my own problems. And it's through that, that we are all stood together on this ...

Raindrops on roses & whiskers on kittens Bright copper kettles & warm woolen mittens Brown paper packages tied up with strings These are a few of my favorite things... are you singing along yet? Here are a few of my favourite things : Smell of fresh laundry dried in the sunlight Giggling babies & toddlers with delight Playing piano & loudly I sing These are a few of my favourite things Warm roaring fires on cold winter nights Beech sand, umbrellas, buckets & kites Autumns bright colours & flowers in spring These are a few of my favourite things Your turn, you write a verse or two for the song :) It's a great way to feel happy, just ponder on the simple things in life that bring you joy.

"If we see prayer as a means to getting what we want, we have misunderstood it's purpose. It is all about aligning our wills with God's will & has more to discovering what He wants than getting what we want." A quote by Ian Coffey from his book What you always wanted to know about prayer . This sentence has changed my prayer life, my views on faith & a quite a few other things. I am committed to using my prayers to find out what He wants & then to use my faith to make it happen.

This is one of my absolute favourite books! It lives on my bedside table & has taken me a year to read through it just once. I am not a slow reader at all, it's just that this book is so meaty that if you read it too quickly you will miss out on so much. So I take one bite every so often & allow it to sink in before I move on. Since I am so passionate about the subject of identity I thought I would share an extract of one of the final chapters with you. This chapter is entitled "The Importance of Confidence" & I really hope this bit helps you realise how important it is to be you . Feast on this then buy the book please, it will change your life. " As we have studied the detailed & particular preparation that God moulded into David's life, we have seen how it enabled him to defeat Goliath... We see from 1 Sam 17:45-47 that he was obviously incredibly confident in his God, but just as importantly, he was confident in his own unique preparati...

More from Jordan... After a few months I moved back with my mum, I saw my dad every weekend, then every second weekend...then one day he didn't show up, my mum sat me down and explained "Jordan, your daddy isn't going to pick you up for a while". "Oh, is he coming next weekend instead?" "He's not coming at all..." I locked myself in the bathroom for a good while crying, I've always been SO attached to my father, and now suddenly he didn't want to see me, I was so confused. Right through all of this, my mother had to watch me hurt, she had to watch me beat myself up about it, thinking that I was the reason he didn't want to pick us up, nothing she could say would convince me otherwise. Being left by your father is a hard thing to go through, even harder if you don't know why; I think my father couldn't pick us up because of money problems, but that's not good enough, a daddy just cant leave his girls! He has to stick...

Not Easily Broken is a very moving film, I have watched it twice & have really enjoyed it. Based on the novel by TD Jakes you get a good balance of Hollywoodness (if you know what I mean) & Godly principles. I highly recommend this movie because it is a good story & very real. Some Christian based movies are so neatly packaged that most people in the world can't relate to them. Not Easily Broken covers some real difficulties that we can face in life & in marriage. It does not get the Dove Family Approved Seal but I still feel confident in recommending it to you as it is good clean entertainment compared to some of the movies that are out there. Have you watched any good movies lately?

While Amy got stuck into one of our kitchen cupboards today, Daniel & I had great fun making play dough. He absolutely loves play dough & it keeps him busy for hours, so well worth the time it takes to make it. Here is the recipe. Ingredients 1 cup flour 1/2 cup salt 2 tsp cream of tartar 1 cup water 1 tsp cooking oil liquid food coloring Directions 1. In a heavy sauce pan, combine flour, salt, and cream of tartar. Pour the water and oil into the dry mixture and stir well. 2. Cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until dough forms (will pull away from the sides of the pot) 3. Let it cool in a bowl covered with a wet cloth for a minute. Add food coloring (or ready mixed paint) and knead until smooth and blended. 4. Store in an air tight container.

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary! I am so happy to have had these wonderful 5 years with Eric & even more happy that we still have so many more years ahead to enjoy our life together. I don't like assuming how long our life will be so I like to treasure each & every memory that we make together. Here are some of the highlights of the past 5 years: 2004 Eric proposed to me & the girls - how sweet is that! Went to USA to visit my mom. Got married in a beautiful park in London. We had a wonderful honeymoon in Sardinia, Italy. I bought Eric his first pair of roller blades for his birthday & he roller bladed for the first time. We made our first snowman together. 2005 Went on a paddle boat in Hyde Park together. Moved from London to Cheltenham - that was an adventure. We climbed an indoor wall for the first time, I was a bit frightened but Eric went up & down in a matter of seconds. Bought our first car. We went camping in Oxwich, Eric's first time camp...

I have had so much fun planning our King's Daughters Tea Party ! Check out the cute little bags I made for us yesterday :) If you haven't got a ticket but still want to come please let me know today so I can get one to you. See you on Thursday for a fun girlie time. xxx

I really enjoyed Eric's message yesterday, it is essential that we understand the basics of our identity isn't it. We were made male & female - this is as basic as it gets & if we remain confused about what that means then I don't see how we can get any other identity issues sorted out. As a woman we not only need to support who God made men to be but we also need to know how to support them. It's easy to say yes I agree a man should be a warrior, but what are you doing to support him in being a warrior? How easy do we find it to criticise men for all their failings? Think about it. As women we are very guilty of taming our men, undermining our men & domesticating our men. This is not just wives I am talking about, all women come into contact with men every day, how we treat them, speak to them & feel about them has a huge impact on them. I have learned over the past few years how important it is to be try be a Godly woman by respecting the men in m...

... to join me for a tea party. We will be meeting at The Place in the Gloucester Guildhall at 11am on Thursday 17th September. Tickets are £5 & there are only 10 places available so please book yours soon. Also if you are able to sponsor or part sponsor one of our homeless ladies so they can join us too that would be great! It promises to be a lovely morning with tea, cake, connecting & a little surprise from me. Love Angela xxx

' Less is More ' is going extremely well. I am finding the balance in my life & really enjoying life a lot more now. I have successfully decluttered many areas of my life including my schedule, my home & my soul! I have also put some good habits into place (like exercising) & got rid of some bad habits (like too much computer). My latest challenge is organising the hours in my day. For many people days run 9-5 for work then home for weekends. Leading a church is a totally different ball game. There are no working hours or weekends! It's full on & all the time - day, nights & weekends. We have decided that this is not good & can't possibly please God so we have added some structure to our daily life to allow for all sorts of things other than work. One lovely key that we have come up with is a lunch break. We have committed to stop for a proper lunch break during the day & have lunch together with Daniel & Amy. It's been such...

Last week was an intense one, whew! I loved it but am glad it's over & I can be writing all about it now. My baby turned 18!!! That was a biggie. I had no idea how much this would affect me, it's quite a huge step with all sorts of emotional stuff attached to it. Have any of you experienced a huge reaction to your child growing up? I don't know how Lorah has put up with me lately, I have not been myself around her & have not been the most stable mommy. Anyway, it's a done deal now, I think I have navigated my way through the 5 stages of grieving ha ha & have come to accept that she is grown up now & there is nothing I can do about it. Saying all that, I am a very proud mother, I have never met such an amazing teenager & can't find any fault with the way she has done her teenage years. Well done Lorah you are truly an amazing women & an inspiration to more people than you realise. Here is a photo of her cutting her cake at her birthday...