King's Daughters

This Sunday I preached the first sermon in the series called BATTLE OF THE MINDS - how our carnal mind is at war with our spiritual mind, the Mind of Christ. I have battled in this area for years so feel I have a lot of personal experience & victories to share. Also I long to see people in our congregation free from all sorts of things that hold them in bondage & I firmly believe that dealing with the carnal mind is a strong step in the right direction for all of us. Here are 7 steps to a free mind: 1.Renew your mind - Romans 12:2 2.Control your thoughts - Romans 8:5 3.Take one step at a time - Proverbs 23:7a 4.Don’t give up - Galatians 6:9 5.Be positive - 1 Peter 3:15 6.Think about what you think about - Colossians 3:2 7.Know your enemy - John 10:10 Right thinking can... Bring health to your body - Proverbs 4:20-22 and Bring prosperity to your life - Psalm 1:2-3 Can you believe how powerful this stuff is!!! Have a listen to the full message here if you

I may be hopelessly flawed but thank God for Jesus! I never quite understood the story of the prodigal son in the Bible - I always thought it was a bit unfair that the faithful son seem to get so little and the son that messed up got all the praise and honour. It never quite made sense to me how that was fair in any way. Since doing my own eating with the pigs and squandering the goodness that my daddy in heaven gave me I have come to be grateful for that story. I still don't think it's very fair but I am grateful that God sees things that way and sees me the way He does! Without his grace and seemingly unfair ways of dealing with things I may not be where I am today. I am still hopelessly flawed and very far from perfect in so many ways, but at least now I know who I am in God's eyes and I know that no matter what I do wrong or how far away I walk from Him, he will always come running to me when I need him - ready with a fine robe & nice meal of fatted calf. Do I

From time to time I really struggle with things, I get all stressed out & annoy my husband & children because I am stressed. The first thing I do when I get like this is I check my priorities, are they in order? This often helps right away, I usually get stressed when my life gets out of balance. I have mentioned my priorities several times before in previous posts - for me being a good wife & mother are my top priorities & everything else comes after that. My first sort of stress comes when I get that out of sync & start putting church stuff or other sorts of work first. This upsets the balance in our home & inside of me - not good. To "reset" the balance I usually start by cleaning the house or spending time with the children, just a practical way of reminding myself of what is most important in my life. I have noticed that on top of getting out of sync with my priorities I have an additional factor that causes me stress. This stress comes fr

Today I am going to start two new categories in my Blog - Dreams & Bible Study! I have come to realise lately the importance of both of these areas. For some reason this past birthday was a life changing one. I didn't realise at the time but looking back to last December (only a month ago but feels like forever ago) I see how things have changed for me. I turned 36 & for some reason being 36 has made me look at life very differently. First of all I started seeing how short life is & how little time I really have to do everything I want to do with my life - and there is a lot I want to do. Secondly, being 36 has made me look back at my life & how much of my youth I have missed out on. Until now I have kinda acted like an overgrown teenager, perhaps because I "missed" a huge chunk of my teenage years I probably felt like I had some catching up to do with the fun stuff. But turning 36 definitely changed the way I see myself. I feel older, much older

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

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

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

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

As you may already know, I have been on major decluttering process recently. I have had a deep look at my life, my priorities, my purpose & my loves. You can have a read about it in previous post - Less is More I , II & III . It all started in April when I found myself tired soon after getting back from a lovely holiday. It has taken quite some time to work through this process. I guess that's why it's called a process as it is not a once off event. The final part of my decluttering took place about a week ago when I closed my FaceBook account. It may seem like a silly thing to do but it is very significant to me. I realise after a week of not having it that I never needed it! I haven't missed anything but have gained so much time. So now what? I have decluttered & am confident that there is nothing left to "throw out" in both my home & my soul. I asked God what the next step is. These two verses immediately came to mind: Psalm 23:2 H

The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman is one of my favourite books. This particular book is aimed at married couples but I find the principles work in any relationship. You can also apply love languages to a friendship, to a parent child relationship, in a family & even your relationship with God. No matter how young or old you are this is a great principle to learn about. In a nutshell the 5 Love Languages are Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service & Physical Touch. You may already be able to guess what your love language is but I do recommend reading the book as you may find that your love language is not what you thought it was. Most importantly you may receive love in one language but need to speak another language to give love to someone. I have used the principle of love languages in my marriage, in my friendships, in my relationship with my children & in my relationship with God! It might sound silly to you but I try to tell God how I lo

I am busy reading Christine Caine's book Stop Acting Like A Christian Just Be One & I can't wait until I am finished it to tell you about it so I may have to do a review in stages! This book is so packed with life changing principles that I feel if I read it too fast I will miss something so I am savouring it, picking it up occasionally only when I am sure I have totally applied what I have learned & can safely move on. Lust - you may be wondering why I have chosen this as my post title! Christine's book consists of two parts, the first sections covers some fascinating thoughts on how we are made up, who we are & how we can be all that we can be for Jesus. The second part of the book is a 31 day devotional. I am only on Day 8 & as I mentioned I only move on to the next day once I am sure I have fully absorbed what I need & applied everything that has challenged me. Day 8 is called "Be: Content" & the caption under the title says; &q

One of the most significant things that you will deal with in life is dating. There are so many opinions out there, so much conflicting advice yet still so little you can rely on. I hope I can offer you some advice that will help the dating season be pure joy for you. #1 Know Who You Are To me this is the most important thing in every area of life, especially dating! I have done a whole bunch of posts on identity as I am very passionate about this subject. If you don't know who you are, how are you going to let anyone else get to know you? A lot of energy and time will be wasted trying to be who you think you should be to please the person you are dating! If the relationship ends then you will be confused about who you are and  will go into another relationship to do the whole thing yet again, adding another layer of confusion to your already confused life. Sadly confusion is the only result. Your identity is so precious, don't compromise who you are for anyone. If you

I have had some fantastic feedback from some of you who are joining me in the de-cluttering process! Thanks for your emails and letters, it is really encouraging to hear how your de-cluttering is going. It would be great if you could post your feedback on the Blog comments box too as I am sure others would be encouraged too. Continuing with my "Less is More" process I am discovering what is clutter that needs to go and what is not. Here are a few thoughts: 1) Hanging out with my children doing nothing ISN'T doing nothing! This is an important part of their childhood and spending time with them is very important. Games, painting, baking, watching a butterfly pass by, catching frogs, singing songs and cuddling take up a huge part of my day. This is not part of the clutter that needs to go, this is a precious season I need to embrace. If you are a teenager I would say that hanging out with your parents is valuable! The older you get the more you realise how important y

I am in the process of decluttering my life, starting with my home and moving onto my soul! It's a refreshing process and I am positive at the end I am going to have a prettier home and a more peaceful soul. After getting back from holiday last week and feeling tired only a few days later I realised that something had to change. Before the holiday I was totally shattered! The holiday was amazing and I came back refreshed. (the photo above is towards the end of our holiday when we were all nicely refreshed, although Daniel looks like he still needs a bit more rest he he) I quickly jumped back into real life! You guessed it, back to shattered again. This is not the way to lead a healthy balanced life hence the decluttering! I figured that less is more, if I can do a few things well I will be effective in what I do and more satisfied with my life. Doing too many things badly or even mediocre is not the way I want to do life and living with a tired and stressed me is not what is be

How you see yourself will affect how you see others! Have you ever considered that your identity not only affects how you see yourself but also how you see others? If you see yourself in a negative way it is highly likely that you will also be very negative and critical of others. If you see yourself in a positive way you will look for the good in others. If you see the good in others you are also likely to bring out the best in them. Likewise if you see that bad in others you are likely to bring the bad out in them too. Who do you want to be? Someone who brings out the good in others or someone who brings out the bad? We all have good and bad in us so your perspective is your choice - which way are you going to look at yourself and other people! If you ever needed a reason to work on your identity and how you see yourself, this may be it. Have a big, honest look at yourself. Decide to learn to love yourself and only then will you truly be able to love others. It is as Jesu

Insecurity makes us hold others back and limit their potential just so that we can feel better about ourselves. Insecurity makes us jealous of what others have. Insecurity makes us say horrible things about others so that we feel better about ourself. Insecurity makes us competitive and keeps us comparing ourselves with others Insecurity sounds like really hard work don't you think? That amount of struggling and striving will definitely lead to a frustrated, unsatisfied life! If you struggle with insecurity why not tackle it now so you can be free? We can't walk around being insecure women, our identity needs to be placed firmly in our creator because we are made in His image . We are a reflection of Him. If you notice some of the above characteristics in you, why not ask the Holy Spirit to help you change them from today? No matter how much you might want to be someone else, you simply can't be. God has created you the way you are. He has given you uniqu

Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel, rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. - 1 Peter 3:3-4 These beautiful women in the photo are my mother, Rosalind, and grandmother, Letty! I want to honour them today as woman who have lived a big part of their life already and can teach younger women about what really matters! Incorruptible speaks of integrity and not being subject to physical decay! Now I don't know about you but not being subject to physical decay sounds really good to me, do you think God was trying to tell us something here? That if we spend more time tending to the hidden person of the heart we are actually also taking care of our external beauty and how we age? Perhaps we were being given a beauty tip that goes far beyond "arranging the hair or putting on fine apparel". It s

Knowing who we are is an essential ingredient to a great life. So many times I see people of all ages spending loads of energy on trying to be who they think they should be. It's hard work being who you are not! You have to constantly be checking what you are doing, that you are keeping up the appearance of being that person, and some people even try and dress to fit the profile. So even more hard work, trying to figure out what to wear that would make you look like who you think you should be... whew I am tired already just thinking about it. I do however understand this, because I have been there and done it so many times. I spent the first 30 years of my life trying to be the person I thought I should be. Thankfully I figured out how to be me and how to love me! I found an amazing freedom that few people find in this day and age which is why you will find that I talk about identity very often. If you struggle with identity and you are not sure who you REALLY are, then m

I was so excited about sharing this book with you and have finally got all the children settled down so I can get on with it and am not sure where to begin now! How do you describe a book that has you in stitches with laughter but at the same time is so profound that you will not be the same ever again after reading it!  I must say I read it a few years ago and find myself reading it over and over as different things hit me during different seasons. My daughters also read it over and over again so our copy is well worn and always being read by someone. My favourite chapter is the first chapter - the just be u chick . This chapter totally blew me away as I realised that it's OK to be me, totally me, and I don't have to copy anyone else for God to use me. Sounds simple enough but so few of us really believe that, most of us never feel good enough and are always working so terribly hard at being good enough. If you are a busy mum like me, I would highly recommend that you at lea

Have you ever blown it big time? You try so hard to be all you can be and then you just screw up and make a mistake. Those times are so very difficult, aren't they? The problem with those moments is that we let them define us, rather than keep them in their proper place. They are simply moments. Yes we failed... for that moment , yes we screwed up... for that moment, but that doesn't define who we are , it just defines a moment of weakness! If I know who I am then I can keep those moments in perspective and move on quickly but if I don't know who I am then those moments will define me.  They could form a part of my identity. Girls, the world is full of messed up people who don't know who they are and what they want in life.  They are filled with fear, hopelessness and uncertainty. If we are going to make a difference in our world then we need to hold on to the truth about who we are and believe it wholeheartedly. The main key is knowing who our Daddy is. If we know