The Changing of Seasons

I appreciate my friends abilities to share their lives with me. I appreciate their honesty, their candidness, their ability to share about the seasons in which they stand. I have friends who are on the brink of major changes, unexpected blessings, great sorrows, and certain cross-roads. My friends are standing in many different seasons in many parts of the world. All growing and changing; being stretched in ways in which I think some of them never thought were possible for them. I am surrounded by some pretty phenomenal people with some amazing stories and my view of their lives is as though I get to experience every thing single season within a matter of moments. I am blessed by their lives and their willingness to share a piece of it with me.

The Art of Trust

22 January 2009
Lesson three: Who belongs in your life?

"Where you go I will go."Ruth 1:16 NIV

"Ruth told Naomi, "Where you go I will go." You can spend your life anywhere with anybody doing anything, then suddenly meet someone and sense that there is a connection between you. It's what made Elisha quit farming and follow Elijah, an eccentric prophet; it's why Timothy hung out with Paul, an old man soon to be executed. You know intuitively, "I won't reach my destiny without you in my life." Looking back you realise if you hadn't met that certain person, or taken that phone call, or read that email, you wouldn't be where you are today. On the other hand, "Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye" (Ruth 1:14 NIV). Now Orpah's leaving didn't make her a bad person; it just meant her part in the story was over. Recognise when somebody's part in your story is over, otherwise you'll just keep trying to raise the dead. David pleaded with God for his newborn baby's life. "He fasted...spent the nights lying on the ground...and...would not eat" (2 Sam 12:16-17 NIV). But when the child died he had to accept that there was nothing more he could do, so he "got up...washed...changed his clothes...and he ate" (2 Sam 12:20 NIV). Acknowledge when something is over. If God means you to have it, He'll give it to you. If you've tried to make it work and it hasn't, accept His will in the matter. Get up, go for a walk, buy yourself a new outfit, treat yourself to a good meal; start living again! Never beg anyone to stay with you against their will. Their leaving is no accident; it just means God has something better in store for you (and possibly them too), so trust Him and move on!"

• I was sent this the other day and there was just something about it that struck me. By nature I am a "people pleaser" and often I place myself in situations of hanging on to things I should let go of; all because of that fear of being hated. I am a true work in progress, but I agree so much with the start of this devotion. Because of certain people walking into my life I have forever been changed and because of other people walking out of my life I have gone in a totally different direction than I thought I would. For example; I am in a job because of a woman I met in the halls of a building I worked at before moving to New Zealand back in 2006. It is truly amazing how one choice, life, or situation can truly change the course of where God can take you.

74 Days

No words can be placed in my heart

No attitude described

My voice was taken for a moment

My mind washed of every seen thing

500 days seemed so much easier than 74

The knowledge of the not knowing

The great instinct to run

The even greater instinct to stay

My mind knows all the facts

My heart senses it can break away from the ice pack

Beat after beat

Thought after thought

I'll be willingly waiting there

My genuine beating heart and I

Morning Glory

Sometimes when I am in the middle of a moment I want to capture the closest camera I have is my cell phone, sad story I know, but I happened to catch this moment one morning this past week. I got the opportunity (for work) to stay down in Dana Point in this beautiful hotel over looking the harbor and all. Most mornings my internal clock went off just as the light was starting to hit the horizon and can I just say it was breath taking. All the pictures I took on my phone can't even compare to what I saw. My first morning the sky above was this rich royal blue and the line of the horizon was this crimson red color...it was amazing. I sat in the chair closest to the window thanking God for moments like this, moments that I don't get every day. Had I lived in that room my whole life it would not have been as special and I probably wouldn't even get up to enjoy the view every morning, but because it was something special and different it was a treasured view.

New Year...New Possibilities

2009. A new year and with so much possibility. After having many conversations about this up and coming year I have been left with the mind set that anything is possible. I have no grand plans. No great resolutions. I am left with the attitude of being open to whatever comes and the idea that when I stand at this place truly anything can happen. Most of my friends can attest to the fact that I can be a bit of a control freak :) but with my open attitude I am doing my best to let go of my controling side and roll with the punches. So here is to a new year with new and endless possibilities.