King's Daughters

It's two weeks into the new year and I feel a bit overwhelmed by the reality of my life but also hopeful that somehow I can find the balance - in fact I will not stop trying until I get my days looking more like I want them to! In my previous post  I launched the concept of the My Life Pie. I was not quite sure how you would take it. Some loved it and some hated it. However, as the days go by I find myself sharing it with others as a way of explaining my attempt to find some balance this year.   So far I established that I work way too much and do little else during the week. Every Saturday I stay in my pyjamas and do as little as possible to recover from the week, leaving a little energy to get my butt to church on Sundays and do my best at loving my Christian brothers and sisters. Shocking I know!! My Life Pie gave me some sense of order, at least in theory, yet to be realised practically. Cleaning was the very first thing that I noticed was missing when after one

Bottom line – a grateful woman is beautiful and an ungrateful woman is plain ugly! Harsh? Maybe, but entirely truthful though. I have encountered both sorts of women and I have been both sorts of woman too. I actually feel more beautiful when I act in gratitude. How many of us know exactly what we are entitled to? We often make demands from people because we are entitled to things from them. This sort of attitude is the opposite of a grateful attitude.  Sadly I have a good example to offer. A while ago I was involved in organise a surprise for someone. Her friends and family and I spent weeks planning and going to great lengths to pull off a spectacular surprise for her, making sure that all her dreams came true. I had never seen such an array of beautiful gifts and the party that we prepared was simply perfect. One hundred candles were lit and strategically placed in the garden, champagne glassed were hired to ensure everything seemed magical and her favourite song was on pa

A short while ago ago I was invited to stand in the local borough elections for the Benhall and The Reddings ward in Cheltenham. The elections took place last on 22nd May and I received 594 votes. My opponent received 1188 votes so clearly I did not win. However, I don't feel like I lost either. I learned so much and gained so much and I can honestly say that it was well worth it. I will definitely stay involved.  Today I would like to share some of the valuable things that I learned with you: Politicians are Real People Local politics is often confused with national politics.  Yes in theory we are all one party but in reality the local councilors have little if any contact with the national leaders.  We might get to meet one or two national leaders but we are unlikely to become their best friends and change the country with them.  So what I want to focus on is our perception of local politicians and the simplest way that I can describe a local councilor is that they are very

“ Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. ”                                                               - Hebrews 4:11 Lorah, my twenty year old daughter, was in tears! She was tired and she was in need of sleep - two entirely different things. As I hugged her to comfort her she said, "When is my 'to do' list ever going to be complete?" Her frustration was one that many of us face, a life of never ending tasks and the constant feeling that there is more to do than we will ever have time to complete. As I tried to console her, I realised that offering to take on some of her workload wouldn't help her. What I needed to do was to teach her to manage her life well. Rest is mentioned so many times in the Bible in so many ways for so many reasons, it is a very important part of life. Without understanding how to rest we will burnout or end up being totally overwhelmed with life! This is

"I can't do this, it's too hard!" "Well I am going to do it because I have decided that I can." "But it's too painful, surely I will die if I keep going!" "Nope, I will push through, I will run until that tree over there no matter what it takes." This was my conversation with myself one morning.  I had set a goal for where I was going to run to but half way there I wanted to quit, I was running out of breath and my legs were turning to jelly.  The goal was in sight though, near the end of a very long and very beautiful Cotswold country lane.  I decided not to quit! No matter how my body felt or how much moaning I was doing in my mind, I had to reach that tree.  So I ran without quitting.  Then it happened.  You always hear of it but I experienced it, I broke through the wall.  Now I am sure it wasn't anything like a real runner's breakthrough as I don't run very far at all, never-the-less, it was a breakthrough for me

This is not a nice subject but an important one to discuss, especially if you have young school age children.  I wasn't sure whether or not to include this section as it's not very pleasant to talk about.  However, I remember struggling with lice in my children's hair for about one year and it drove us crazy.  At first we tried all the popular lice treatments but after a few months it seemed that the lice seemed immune to them.  It was then that I begun to research natural remedies and I did so mostly because of the high cost of the conventional methods.  We did have success and managed to keep the lice at bay only to discover that as soon as my daughter left the school she was in, the lice problem stopped.  Our problem was not lice treatment as much as it was another child in the school whose parents didn't bother with any lice treatment at all.   So if you are having a long term lice problem you might want to look into who the carrier is and have a nice little talk

Sometime around 600 BC the wisest king to rule Israel, King Solomon, wrote, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”  Not much has changed since then and this timeless principle can be applied to many areas of life including our business life.      Vision in this Proverb is from the Hebrew word châzôn which means mental sight, a dream, revelation or oracle and stems from the primitive root châzâh which means to gaze at, to mentally to perceive, contemplate (with pleasure); specifically to have a vision of, behold, look, prophesy and see.  So as you can see having a vision has a lot to do with being able to see ahead.      For many years people have tried to gain the ability to predict things, especially in the area of business.  We have everything from fortune tellers and weather forecast to cash flow forecasts and economists.  Having a vision however is not gaining the ability to tell the future but it is about having the ability to see what the future could be like.  O

Before we can get into the fun side of being a lover we should take a look at the things that can prevent us from enjoying intimacy in marriage.  Sadly few people wait until their wedding night these days leaving loads of marriages scarred by unnecessary baggage.  It wasn’t meant to be this way.  We, like swans, were designed to love once and to make that love last a lifetime.  In Song of Solomon it says three times, “Do not stir up nor awaken my love until it pleases.”  Usually when something is repeated in the Bible it means that we really need to get it!  Many versions omit the ‘my’ from that verse but when you realise that the original text says ‘my’ you realise that what is being requested is a man asking the woman not to arouse him before it is the right time to be aroused.  There is a right time and a wrong time to be aroused.  Why?  Because once you are aroused it is very difficult not to want to go all the way and this is why the verse in 1 Corinthians 7:9 had to be added t

Your body is designed to self heal. Every single cell in our body can repair itself if our immune system is functioning well. Even damaged hair and spotty skin should be able to heal automatically. Our body is an amazing and intricate design that should function absolutely perfectly. Sadly this is not the case for most people as we neglect our bodies and damage its natural ability to repair itself. We poison our system with chemicals and we poison our mind with worry.     Yes, worry and a healthy body is connected. Research by Dr Bruce Lipton PhD suggests that ‘95% of illness is caused by stress’. It has also been proven that stress can cause or worsen acne. A study was conducted in 2002 by the Stanford University School of Medicine involving 22 students suffering from acne. Their findings indicated that "Subjects who had the greatest increases in stress during examination periods also had the greatest exacerbation in acne severity."      Brittle, peeling

Hi girls, In my previous blog , I wanted to highlight just a few of the issues involved in ‘ethical fashion’. This time I want to make some suggestions of how we can find clothes that won’t have caused suffering or death to the people who make them. So here goes: Plan your wardrobe (more on this in the next blog ). Be aware that retailers do take notice of YOU. Every £ spent is a vote cast for a particular way of production. Retailers look at sales figures and ask if people cared about conditions of production, would they keep buying these items. So tell them and show them you do care. According to Katharine Hamnett, we really do have influence. She recommends that you write to shops you like and ask them about their ethical policies, tell them where you stand and how you will not be able to continue shopping at their stores if you don’t see them caring about workers and the planet. She says they will definitely listen and take notice the more they are challenged. Resea

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.

Hi girls, The last couple of blogs have been all about ‘ ethical fashion ’ and I told you that this time would be about planning your wardrobe. This is really important if you want an ethical wardrobe. It means NOT buying on impulse, without any thought, poor quality clothes that quickly get chucked out. Rather this is buying where each piece is important, valued and looked after, (even mended rather than thrown away). Buying this way is buying less and better quality. (Many of the more expensive clothes for sale will not have been made for fair wages BUT you can be sure that really cheap ones guarantee unfair pay). This is buying thinking of the lifespan of the item and shopping with a plan and budget in mind. It’s a reason discovering your personal style is helpful so you can build up a wardrobe of things you actually like in a style you feel comfortable in. A few ideas on planning your wardrobe: Consider the way you spend your time and how much of your wardrobe is dedicat

Well I can't tell you how happy I was to see our first topic of discussion - A Resolution to be Content.  I long to be content! I have so much energy and passion which is great but it can also mean that I can't sit still for two minutes.  I perceive contentment as being something peaceful and beautiful and I crave it. So when I saw that the first resolution was a resolution to be content I was very pleased. Tonight at Girl's Night we studies the four section of the A Resolution to be Content and it was really powerful.  One things that really struck me was that, and let me emphasise it..... Contentment is not about how we feel but what we have decided to do.  Choose to be content - it is your choice! That is my take away from this evening, but let's get back to the beginning so I can share with you how I got to this conclusion. THIS IS WHO I AM Every Bite Counts This section was about making every moment in our life count. Too often w