King's Daughters

One thing that I have been struggling with lately is to be who I know I am. It's not that I am faking it or being insincere, it's nothing like that, it's just that I haven't felt like myself for quite sometime and really want to get back to that place of being centered, aligned and at peace within. Getting free from depression has been really hard work this time around. It's not that when I wrote Hope's Journey that it wasn't a struggle, it was just a completely different struggle. Today I wanted to talk about something that I have been working on. Habits. In our life we could have habits that help and habits that hinder. I am extremely aware of the habits that I currently have that are hindering me as well as the ones I want to have to help me. This isn't new to me either, I have had these bad habits and awareness of the good ones I want for literally years! Some years I manage to overcome the bad ones with the good and other years I tend to lean tow

Eric hit the nail on the head tonight when he told me that I have to do the hard work of rest. God has been gently and at times very firmly telling me to slow down. He told me through the gentle whisper of His Spirit, through the audible voice of my friends and even through the doctor prescribing anti-depressants for burnout! Despite the clear and obvious warning as well as my desire to rest, why is it so difficult? Rest isn't as easy as it sounds. It's not like I can just stay in bed and sleep all day. If only it were that simple! I have to make a conscious decision to rest, to slow down and to find the balance in my life. My family still need caring for, my homes still needs cleaning, my business still needs working on and my ministry still needs me to turn up. I have cut a lot out already and said no to very many things, which has been a good start. It wasn't easy, I mean I was half way through my campaign for the next local elections and had to pull out. It really h

Last Sunday my wonderful husband, Eric , preached his sermon entitled Voices.   It was such a powerful message so I decided to share it with you, sadly we don't have a recording but I will do my best to recount it. Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off.  Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.       And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog,

Hello King's Daughters, I feel like it's been quite some time, in fact well over a year perhaps even two, since I have written anything meaningful to you. I have tried but words haven't come.  Many posts have been fillers or conference news.  I don't know what happened to me, I seemed to have come from a place and having life figured out to now not having a clue, from having much wisdom and revelation to share to having nothing.  At first I gave myself some time to grieve to loss of our church, D7 Church.  We met for the final time on Sunday 30th March 2014. Failure is hard, loss is difficult but when you have failed and lost in the things of God it seems harder. You feel as if you have let God down. One thing that no one tells you when you pastor a church is that it too, just like a business, can fail. If the books don't balance and your income is less than your expenses, you can fail. If you don't have a committed team to keep up with the work you can fail

My Dream Recently I had a disturbing dream.  I tried to put it out of my head and forget about it but could not.  You see although it was not pleasant it did contain a powerful message.  I want to share this message with you today, I apologise in advance for the graphic nature of this dream but I honestly believe it is necessary.  In my dream I was in bed with another man getting ready to have sex.  I was fully aware that I was married to my husband and that this man had a wife.   As we were becoming intimate I had a strong sense that there were people in the house who were also fully aware of what this man and I were doing and also that it was acceptable to them.  I was also thinking of my husband but it seemed that he too was aware of what was happening and it didn't bother him, it was the norm.  As we had sex I felt violated because I knew it wasn't right but because no one was objecting and because it almost seemed to be expected of me, I allowed it to continue.

Ladies, I have decided to share an email with you that came through this week from a lovely lady, Tracey, who is struggling so much and needs us King's Daughters to support her. Her name has been changed to protect her identity and I share this with her permission. Please pray with me for her freedom and if you have anything to share please leave a comment for her in the box below. I have found over the years that the most difficult struggles are the ones we carry alone but it is in this isolation that the devil has his victory. Let's all come out with what we are going through and support each other so that we can be free indeed as we are promised in John 8:36. Here is the email: "Let me introduce myself. My name is Tracey. I am 23 years old. I'm a Christian. I am going through a tough time as of late and your message on the King's Daughters YouTube about loving yourself really hit home because I don't love myself. I am fat and I feel useless! I just do

Have you ever felt that your whole society has a warped view of you? "You're entitled to your own opinions and beliefs." "It's a free country." "You have a right to free speech." They're phrases we hear all the time, and when it comes to opinions and lifestyles that are different to ours, we know the right thing to do is to be accepting and understanding of them. But as a Christian in an increasingly hostile world, where online conversations allow for instant, anonymous bullying with no identifiable consequences, what was once called 'free speech' has become what feels like a systematic battering of religion. In almost any secular situation, I find that I'm allowed to speak my opinion - just as long as it's also the opinion of the  secular majority.  In the online community especially, it has become extremely unpopular to believe in the existence of a god. Even more so the possibility of creation. Here's

" "Christianity in Mosul is dead, and a Christian holocaust is in our midst," said Mark Arabo, a Californian businessman and Chaldean-American leader. In an interview with CNN's Jonathan Mann, he called what's happening in Iraq a "Christian genocide" and said "children are being beheaded, mothers are being raped and killed, and fathers are being hung." "Right now, three thousand Christians are in Iraq fleeing to neighboring cities," he told Mann. Arabo is calling on the international community to follow France's lead and offer the Christians of Iraq asylum. "You're startling me with the severity of what you're describing," the CNN host said. "You said they are --- beheading children?" "They are systematically beheading children," Arabo repeated slowly. "And mothers and fathers. The world hasn't seen an evil like this for generations." "   >>> Read full artic

Continuing on from my previous post , I wanted to look into the other side of depression.  The side where people use it to be lazy or to do nothing for the kingdom.  Yes there is a time when you need to slow down or stop in order to recover and get well but there is no reason to throw your whole life away and write off your future.  Depression is not a lifestyle it is a season. It can be cured and it can be managed.  If you are newly depressed or burnt out you may need to stop what you are doing and have a season of rest. What did God tell Elijah to do when he was newly depressed? Let's read about it in 1 King's 19:4-8 "Elijah  went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” Then he looked, and there by hi

Continuing on from my previous post , I wanted to talk about the Christian view of depression.  You see, very recently I faced complete burnout and ended up going to the doctor only to discover that I was on the high end of the depression scale.  It never occurred to me that I was depressed or burnt out because I have lived a balanced life and followed all of the steps I wrote about in my book  Hope's Journey . It did not even cross my mind that the series of difficult situations that I have faced over the past two year had actually worn me down!  I am a survivor - I just get on with things. Thank goodness for a good Christian friend who had the boldness to confront me and encourage me to see my doctor. She recognised the symptoms as she too suffers with depression but she also understood that as Christians, admitting to depression is the hardest thing. So why do I keep mentioning Christians, what makes it different for a Christian?  Well, first of all we are always told how

In September 2010 I released my very first book called Hope's Journey  where I opened shared my struggle and victory over depression, suicide and self harming.  Since that day I have had a couple of mild relapses into my old ways but can honestly say that today I am completely free of any temptation or desire to self harm in any way.  Perhaps the darkness became deeper after the book was released because I felt exposed or perhaps it was 'someone' trying to rob me of my testimony.  Times were especially difficult in the weeks before I was scheduled to publicly speak on this subject or share my testimony.  At times the struggle was intense but I knew that many would be encouraged by my story so I knew I had to stay strong and remain in victory or else too much would be lost. It had been a battle before Hope's Journey was released and continued to be a different sort of battle afterwards too.  At times I wondered if complete freedom would ever be possible but I continu

As you may  have noticed, I have been spending a lot of time in the business world this year.  God has called me and anointed me for business, as a minister in the business world, and it has been an incredible journey.  Since  preaching on this very subject  one year ago in our church, my whole life has changed.  I resisted God for about six months as I did not want to go back into the business world, the failure of my first company was a deep disappointment and I was convinced that I was not a business woman.  God saw things differently.  My resistance crumbled and He had His way - thank goodness! I have seen the most incredible things happen as a result and I know that God uses the foolish things to confound the wise . I always say to God that I am willing to be the foolish thing in his hand.  I am good at that - being nothing and allowing Him to be everything.  So as a result of all the wonderful and scary things that have happened this year, Women's Business Club was born.

Great speech by Ashton Kutcher - I am so pleased he mentioned all the crappy, seemingly insignificant jobs that he has had and how each one was essential to getting him ahead.  Too many people want the fame and success but want to skip the crappy little jobs that get you there!   I wonder how many people out there are busy doing crappy jobs not realising that they are one step ahead of those just sitting and wishing for fame and success - here's to the 'little' guy who cleans the tables at MacDonald's and here's to the toilet cleaners at the gym and here's too all of you that are doing what is perceived as crappy jobs - may you succeed in whatever is in your heart to do.   I respect you and thank you for all that you do.  You are the true heroes.  To those that are sitting and wishing or scheming how to get a bank loan to start big, why not go out and find yourself a crappy job, something small, just to get the ball rolling, I am sure it will get you one step i

Crash diets don't work - if you lose it quickly you will put it back on just as quickly. Losing weight too quickly makes your body think it is facing potential starvation and will go into survival mode! Your fat stores will be protected and any weight loss will only be water and muscle. You might enjoy a good few weeks thinking that you are losing weight but you will end up frustrated when it all comes back again.  Stop skipping meals right away, especially breakfast.  The best way to enjoy and maintain your idea weight is to train yourself into a new weigh of life.   I get so annoyed with all the different weight loss options out there that are so very expensive and just plan unnatural!  So I have written my own weight loss program based on nature and common sense.  This method has worked for me all my life.  Why spend a fortune when Nature's Weigh can give you each step for only £20 .  Why stress yourself out with a sudden complete change of lifestyle, when Nature&#