claires last day of freedom...

claire is dreaming of being here.....

interview with claire:

hows your holiday been claire?
it's had it's ups and downs

what's been a highlight of your holiday?
relaxing on the beach and spending time with the LORD

what would you have changed about your holiday?
no relationship problems and everybody was happy

what, if anything, has the LORD taught you during your holiday?
to put all my trust in him and not lean on my own understanding.

how's that going for you?
good but hard

what was your favourite chrissy present?
my bracelet

what was the best thing you bought during your holiday?
new clothes because couldn't fit into them before and now i can

Did you drink during your holidays?
not that I remember, there could have been one night but it's escaped my memory. I was tied up and forced (tali, screams out: whatever!)

what plans do you have for the new year?
quit work and relax on the beach....
but seriously....to grow stronger in the LORD, and find out who I am in him.

what's 3 things that you CAN'T live without?
the LORD, love, laughter

what's 3 things that you CAN live without?
pain, misunderstandings, grudges

psychological test on Ms Claire:

favourite animal?
cheetah

why do you like cheetahs?
beautiful, fast- looks good, like it's style and sleekness, cunning

favourite colour?
red

why do you like red?
passionate, bright - stands out, strong

how do you feel about the sea?
calm, relaxing, soothing

Well for all of those who know what each of these represents, (and we won't say becos Lipo hasn't done the test, I don't think), is this revealing of our CLAIRE or what???

Interview complete, Claire is getting ready to leave my humble abode, moaning and groaning at the moment about her plans for today....shopping...baby clothes (for her friend)...not happy Jan! Not exactly what she dreamed of on her last day of freedom...

oh well, this is the reporter of the day signing off, to the rest of our wee tribe - have awesome days hanging out with our LORD!

40 days task

Hey fanau

I thought maybe some of you might need help with your task. The aim is to examine your life experiences and think about how it's shaped you and the lessons you have learned.

It's like in the book: 'pause to see how God has worked in the various defining moments of your life and consider how he wants to use those lessons to help others.'

You don't have to write something about each of the experiences we focused on last week (family, educational, vocational, spiritual, ministry and painful).

Just focus on the ones that have shaped you...so like Claire said last week she doesn't really have any ministry experience so there's no point her trying to find lessons from that area. Myles can't remember anything from his school days so there's no point focusing on that.

hope this helps :-)

decisions, decisions...

As a christian, it's scary making big HARD life changing decisions becos...

• it might mean choosing what is RIGHT instead of how you feel
• it might mean choosing to LOVE instead of be loved
• it might mean thinking about what would JESUS DO instead of what would you do.

Take my love life for an example....I have a man who loves me, sometimes well, sometimes terribly...I chose 15 years ago to love him and only him....SO why is it when life gets hard do I act like I haven't decided yet????

Who am I kidding? I'm not that kind of person who makes big life changing decisions and then changes whenever I feel like it. I say statements like it just doesn't feel the same, I feel like...I don't feel like...this feels wrong...

BUT I am my Father's daughter...I should know that when I make statements like 'this feels wrong'...that the only thing that's really wrong is I am relying on my FEELINGS.

LOVE is a CHOICE I made a long time ago...NOT a feeling I felt a long time ago.

This doesn't mean I can't let my feelings guide me. BUT when it comes to love, feelings are what this world uses for a guide...as for us christians...
we have only ONE choice to 1stly: LOVE GOD FIRST AND FOREMOST
and 2ndly: TO LOVE OTHERS as we love ourselves
NOT love others INSTEAD of ourselves....

to all christians please note: the Lord doesn't say 3rdly: love ourselves....because most people already love themselves way too much and need to learn how to love others ;-)

that ol' feeling

not quite sure what im meant to say or write, just feeling a bit too disconnected from everyone and everything...funny enough i dont feel like running away! The new year has brought on board new challenges already, its only been three days!!!!

not quite sure what this feeling is but i feel persecutions coming from the north,south, east and west!

i cant feel Gods peace anymore, not quite sure whether i feel him or not, its been a chaotic past weeks, filled with nothingness and everything.

heavy hearted Lord.... that same ol feeling of being the outsider has crept back in....

4 MY CHRISTMAS N NEW YEARS

It is not easy going through christmas and new years not knowing how you feel. Feeling confused and not knowing what is really going on might sound stupid but thats what my christmas and new year was like. But no one can fix it but me and I hope that with the help of our Lord, things will get to where He wants it to be.
But apart from my problems that people have had enough of hearing about, I had a great time with the family, spending time with everyone is how I've always wanted my christmas even though May and Bubba were'nt here. It was weird for me not wanting to go anywhere but having to spend time with the family knowing how I was feeling is something that was different.
I was very happy to be able to do that on Christmas and also New Years and I Thank the Lord that even through my toughest times He was always there whispering to my heart to try and do the right thing. So for my Christmas and New Years, I had a happy but confusing one.. One thing I noticed was that, even though things weren't that great, we all came together as one family and in one Heart..
This Year will be a different year, Whatever lies ahead of us, may the Lord Blesses everything and lead us in the right direction where He wants us to be..
We are not perfect and we will struggle but I pray that His power will help Lift us up and help Lead us through whatever He's already has in plan for us.
For everyone, All the best this year and may God bless you all with your walk and your plans..