Work and Life balance

Hi everyone, firstly I need to apologise for not posting any blogs since January of this year. *shakes head at self. I have seriously let this thing slide and I do regret it but with life being as busy as it is and my poor prioritising skills this is what happens so please for give me.

On the topic of work, late last year my husband and I moved to a remote community within Australia to help others and also re find ourselves after such a horrific year previously. We have had many highs and lows a long the way but ultimately we love living remote. The one thing we are struggling with most is not having a church home to go to as the only church here is a Catholic Church and most of you are aware we are more Pentecostal. Anyway, not having that family to lean on has been a challenge especially during the growing pains period in our marriage with the season of healing and God restoring what the locusts had eaten. Beyond that I'm struggling within my position due to my boss who I won't blast on the internet but ultimately we are not here for the same reasons and our personalities truly clash beyond words. Me personally my main reasons for being here is; healing, following the direction god had given me and to truly help the less fortunate and through Christ prayerfully help others in the process. For her however, I believe her reasoning is something a long the lines of walking up the corporate ladder and making herself look and feel good in the process.... Ultimately I believe this is what causes a lot of our problems because I don't care about what others higher than me think as a whole, I mainly care about the families, children and community. My aim is to help them and to be like Christ to them because I maybe the only glimpse they see. Of course it's nice to get recognition for the effort you've put in but at the end of the day I work for God beyond all these smaller bosses. He is the one I aim to please in a sense. I can fall into the traps of trying to please management but that is not who I am and never have been that kind of person. Sadly, I believe that is the kind of company I work for as well. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians is a good saying that comes to mind.

I do have to recognise the areas within myself that I can work on because I cannot change how others act and feel so I truly do need Gods help with helping me to identify the areas I need change and grow in. I believe that some people are put in our lives to bend us, frustrate us, anger us, love us, agree with us and hurt us to test us and shape us into the people we are meant to be.

I'm sadly at the point though with this position that I'm almost ready to walk away. I have realised also that child care is not for me no matter in what context. I love the children and I love the families I just think that at this point in my life I would be better suited to making program's for others to implement. I truly feel that a community service provider position would be better suited whether it is helping young mums or helping create program's for underprivileged children to help them excel in life. Either way, child care is not the answer. I also want to find a job that I can openly talk about Jesus with the children and share the gospel with them in a kid friendly kind of way. The thing that gets me is that I'm currently living in a community that was built on an old catholic mission and Catholicism is still very evident today. A lot of the people are still very lost, don't know their identity is in Christ but are definitely holding on to the idea of a saviour and yet I'm not allowed to talk about Jesus to the children within the centre even though the local people here want it to be included, it baffles me.

I want to stay in this community as does my husband but I truly need God in this situation because this is not how I feel it is meant to be. I need his hand over this situation but more so I require his hand of healing and protection over this entire community. I have a deep passion to see these people freed from the torments of sin and walking in faith knowing that Jesus died on the cross so they can and will be free if they just surrender and follow Christ all the days of their life. I want the opportunity to share the good news with them. I have built some really close relationships with some local families and I just want to continue being the light for Jesus in their lives. I'd love for God to sweep in and remove me from this position but put me in one that I can truly be the hands that Jesus uses to heal and help these beautiful people.

Anyway, my issue here is that I obviously bring my work struggles home and unload on my husband who is also having issues of his own at work and because our housing is tied into my job and housing is hard to come by out here I feel quite pressured to stay in this job. We also have two dogs which adds to the struggles of getting other housing. At this point I don't see another job available that I truly desire so I'm just praying God steps in and does what is best for his plan which ultimately will be good for me too.

Please pray for us as we continue to fight the good fight on the front line against the enemy. We know that the closer we get to gods plan the harder and heavier the enemy will attack however, the fight has already been won on the cross by Jesus. Sometimes I can lose sight of that and need a friendly reminder.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Signing off,


Freedom fighter!

Life As We Know It

It has been quite sometime since I have written a blog and as I have a few spare minutes I thought I would update you all out there. So, we officially moved interstate to a very remote indigenous community as we felt God was leading us in this direction with many obvious hints along the way. I gained employment out here prior to leaving our home and it has been a once in a lifetime opportunity. My husband joined me 3 weeks later after my arrival as he had to finish up with work, house and getting every thing squared away. We have been back together for a month now and I have been here for almost 2 months, wow time flys. 

So, what can I tell you about this amazing, remote place? Well, first of all there are approximately 3000 people currently living here and of that 3000 only 300 are non-indigenous. For a change I'm part of the minority and honestly I quite like it that way! We have access to basic shops and we access them generally by foot. The main language spoken here is murrinh-patha which my husband and I are very interested in learning. We have learnt a few basic, key words but plan to extend on it. We are really enjoying getting to know the people and their unique culture. I can say that this experience  has been a huge eye opener for me. It truly puts something's in life into perspective. It has made me realise just how much we as westerners take for granted. 

All though I'm still struggling with parts of the past and at times losing sleep over it all, I realise it is the enemy attacking my mind because he truly doesn't want to see God succeed but we are praying and believing for our huge miracle so that we can finally be free from the hurt and pain once and for all. Our home life has had some seriously rough moments but we just love it out here and I'm settled in my soul that this is where we are meant to be. This is home and we are relying on God for our breakthrough. We are staying quite busy now which is keeping my mind occupied which doesn't leave room for the enemy as much which is great. We are staying strong together and we are definitely enjoying each other's company as we work together too, which we just love. Out here there is only a Catholic Church and all though we have visited just to experience it, we don't feel it's the right place for us as non denominational or closest to Pentecostal believer and followers as we are so we do church at home by reading the bible together, daily devotionals and podcasts so that has been a great help. 

All in all we are loving it out here and still just finding our feet but it's coming into wet season now so this will be interesting also. Well that's it for now so I will keep you posted when I get the chance.

God Bless, 

Missionary in the making!! 

What would you do with a do over?

 

My husband and I are going through and have gone through a lot of trials in our marriage and we had both gone through struggles before marriage. Like most of you, this life hasn't been a walk in the park. Most of you realise that life's struggles catch up with you at some point or another. If your life is pretty amazing at the moment, truly thank God for his blessings upon you. Pray for wisdom and strength to help you endure the future struggles that will at some stage come your way. If you are currently in the valley of the shadow of death where things seem so hopeless, thank God for the stretching of your faith and stay hopeful knowing that it can't last forever!

There are times my husband and I talk about the life we are looking forward to in heaven and being hopeful that we will still be really close friends up there. You see, life here has been such a strain on both of us and we are just looking forward to the eternal life of joy. We joke around about when God creates the new world that we'd get a proper do over on our marriage free from the reminders of the tainted, hurtful past we are having to overcome and just being like innocent, sinless children who have nothing but love for one another is what we would desire. 

As we all know, God gives us many opportunities in this life to put things the way they are meant to be. Only problem is I can never forget the devastations of this life until I leave it so that is why I speak of a literal do over. You see, my heart will always choose my husband, in this life and in the next. My only problem is that in this life I cannot seem to let go of the wrongs done to me. Now, I understand forgiveness and I have to practise it daily but no matter what, some things just cannot be undone. Life is not how I saw it going for my husband and I but I guess it's important to remember that this life is not my own.

So anyway, this hypothetical scenario is the acknowledgement of my little girl dreams. It is where I get to hold my hope because hope for this life I currently live in  has been lost. Maybe and prayerfully it's only temporarily but either way it isn't what it once was and God only has the answer to my problems now and until forever. I know in my heart of hearts that God wants me to carry joy wherever I go but I'm afraid that light that use to burn so bright inside of me is now a little flame. Not completely blown out but it's on it's way out but it's in Gods safe hands. The next move belongs to him...

Wouldn't life be nice if we could have a literal do over in this lifetime? I know I'd be the first to jump at it but instead I just have to do the best with what I've got. I know that my life and marriage is in God's hands and that he will turn all our hurts and pains into something beautiful because God will not let us go through these struggles without having something more beautiful to look forward to on the other side. Problem is having the patience to wait for God's perfect timing. It truly shouldn't be that difficult since it's in perfect timing but yet our weak fleshly ways keep us crying out for the changes to come much sooner. I know we as a couple struggle with this. 

So I guess what I'm getting at is that I understand how life can be a struggle beyond a measure you thought you'd never be able to deal with. You are not alone. I am there right alongside you but more importantly, God is there with you. Walking you through the hardest and biggest obstacles you may be facing right now. Don't give up, even though you feel like there is no other way, there is a way..... It's God's way! Look to the heavens, give thanks for the things he has provided and have hope for the things yet to come.

God Bless!



When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

God First

The importance of putting God first: In todays society with the busyness of life we sometimes can forget God's order for our lives. When we allow our spouse, children, job or others fill our God spot over time things start to breakdown. How do I know this? Well, I've been there. You see when I was new to my faith, without even knowing it I had my spouse in my God spot. Like myself, I've heard many others neglecting God by filling that space with their children or their jobs and I'm not saying that these things aren't important but when you have the right order in your house the rest will and does fall into place. 

By me having my spouse in my God spot, I was putting so much extra pressure on him to perform or be that of perfection. I wasn't truly aware of it at the time and Satan is very tricky at how he maneuvers because as we all know, he knows our weaknesses. He also knows what we are destined for so if he can keep you preoccupied, caught up in your own little bubble, you are truly making him happy. Now I can tell you from experience that because I was idolising my husband, my time with God was slipping. I wasn't praying daily, I wasn't reading my bible and I wasn't going to church. Do you see the domino effect that happens when we put anything and/or anyone in our God spot? Not only do things start to fall apart but the major construction that goes back into repairing what we broke is a painful transition. I can tell you, had I known of the pain that I was going to experience by not putting God first was going to be so deep and destructive, I would have made a conscious effort to begin with. 

Now what I'm about to say, I say with all sincerity. God is a jealous God. He is not happy when we are filling his place with other things. This is not to be taken lightly. When doing so we are actually in sin. The bible says:

Exodus 34:14: for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Exodus 34:17: “Do not make any idols."

When it's written "no other god" this also means idolatry etc.

Matthew 6:33: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

You see when we have our life set out in God's order, he will recognise our efforts and bless us for it. Although that shouldn't be the focal point of why we stick to God's design for our lives but boy will it keep us out of some strife. Let's not make life harder for ourselves than it already is. 

God Bless,

God's my #1 and I'm his #1 fan!