From Running in Fear to Standing in Faith

My husband loves to play a game called Temple Run.  It’s basically a person running along a path collecting coins and treasure along the way.  But they never stop running and you have to direct them to turn, duck and jump along the way.  And the whole time they’re running there’s this big scary Gorilla thing chasing them.  And if they trip, fall or slow down they’ll be eaten up.

I hate being chased, which is why I don’t play video games. But the other day I was thinking about this game and how this big scary Gorilla can feel like a shadow of our past that’s constantly following us around.  And here we are constantly running after Jesus trying to stay on the path collecting the gold and treasure along the way to prove ourselves a winner.  But is this how Jesus intended us to live?  Are we supposed to be running in the fear that we might be caught out by our past mistakes and failures? Are we worried that if we ever stop we’ll get swallowed up and lost forever in our fears and shame?

Here’s the good news – we don’t have to run anywhere to find Jesus.  Here’s already here, with us and in us.  And because he is in us we now have the same power and authority that Jesus has (Eph. 1:19-20).  If we know what power we have we won’t be afraid anymore.  We’ll realise that Jesus has already out run that shadow behind us and overcome it.  So we don’t have to keep running away from it.  We can stop running in fear and start standing in faith.

We don’t have to live with a shadow of fear on our backs.  We don’t have to be afraid of what might happen if we ever look back.  Our fear, shame and failures have already lost the game.  Jesus won our battle for us on the Cross.  We have the power of salvation which enables us to remove the shadow from our lives.

If you’re living in fear of what’s behind you just remember – Jesus has already won!  You don’t have to run anymore.  You don’t have to collect any more gold coins to prove your worth to God.  He has already given you the prize – salvation!  Knowledge is power.  By knowing who Jesus is you’ll learn who your really are* and start to living in freedom from fear.

* “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

February Half-Term In Pictures

Another half-term holiday has passed and the week was filled with children.  I mean, a lot of children.  We just kept adding and adding children until we just couldn’t add anymore!  By Friday we had 8 kids for the day with friends coming over with two more, which took us right up to 10 children! So I called for reinforcements in the form of my lovely teenage baby-sitter, Naomi.  She served as fun and playful crowd controller.  And amazingly enough we made it all the way through the day and ended up with happy children and a clean house!  I was so impressed by these kids, they played non-stop with little to no aggravations.  Once again I am amazed at how much love and family I have in my life.  I am truly blessed.

We enjoyed muddy walks, dancing on mummie’s bed, drawing, story telling and epic hallway lasers rounded off with more dancing on mummie’s bed.  I also had a few lovely surprises.  My Valentine’s gift arrived in the post with my all-natural make up and provided a new game of styrafoam waterfall. I was also given some beautiful tulips from my very lovely friend, Hayley, which I’ve been admiring every day in my window.

So here is our February half-term in pictures.

How To Be Spontaneous

Almost every Sunday after church as soon as we’re all in the car I can expect my husband to say ‘lets go do something.  Lets go to the beach or for a walk somewhere’.  And as my pragmatic brain works I already know that Sunday afternoons are perfect napping times for all four kids, everybody is starving after church and that we aren’t dressed appropriately for going to the beach – in the winter.

Now this is spontaneity at its best.  Forget plans, forget preparation lets just do it!  But in my experience the more spontaneous the idea the more work and likelihood of let-down there is.

So you see in order to be spontaneous you need to be, well…organised.

Would you like to be able to invite people round last minute for dinner?  Or invite a few people over for Sunday lunch from church that same day?  Well unless you’re willing to order take-out, stock up on large quantities of Tesco Finest Meals and have a maid who strategically comes every Friday to get your house ‘guest ready’ for the weekend, it’s time to get organised.

The best way to enjoy spontaneity is to pre-empt it.  For example, when do you find yourself being the most spontaneous?  When its sunny outside, when dinner isn’t cooked or when the kids are on holiday?  By figuring out what causes your spontaneous urges you can easily prepare for them.

For me, if it’s 5 o’clock and I look up at the clock and realise I haven’t thought about dinner I’ll suddenly crave for pizza!  My lesson, always keep a ready made meal in the freezer and boom! – I’ve just saved us £30.  I  also have a ‘Summer day-out’ bag ready to go with all the seasonal essentials.  It’s equipped with swim suits, sunscreen, swimming nappies, lighters for bbq’s, sandals, sun hats and homemade baby powder.  If the sun is shining on a weekend my family will suggest either swimming or the beach (in summer and winter!).  I have learned to just keep a bag stocked with everything we need for these days out.  So now rather than spending an hour tracking down six swimsuits, towels etc. we can just grab our pre packed bag and GO!

So you see being just a little bit organised can make being spontaneous all the more fun and care free without dreading how you’ll get through the day without a single wet wipe!

Have a happy (spontaneous) weekend  x

What are your spontaneous urges and how do you prepare for them?  Share your tips in the comments!

How To Prevent Allergies, Disease and Obesity

A couple years ago my mum passed me a book called ‘Master Your Metabolism‘ by Jillian Micheals.  I thought I was going to be learning about healthy eating but instead discovered how there are thousands of toxins in our personal care products, and other things, that are unregulated and ruining our bodies through endocrine hormone disruption and here’s how.

How Do Toxins Effect Us

Chemicals which disrupt the hormone system – also known as ‘endocrine disrupting chemicals’ (EDCs) – may be a contributing factor behind the significant increases in cancers, diabetes and obesity, falling fertility, and an increased number of neurological development problems in both humans and animals, according to a review of recent scientific literature commissioned by the European Environment Agency (EEA).* These EDC’s can be found in food, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, household products and cosmetics. Toxins that end up in our bodies may have an affect in early development of things like the brain, reproductive, immune and metabolic systems.  And the worst part is that most often these effects remain unnoticed for years and even decades.*

How Are We Exposed To Toxins

Our skin, being the bodies largest organ, absorbs a lot of what we put on it  including the harmful chemicals.  This is how nicotine and birth control patches work.  They are absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream.  So we need to pay attention to not only what goes in our bodies but what goes on it as well.  To help you understand about the toxins  in personal care products and cleaners and what they actually do to your body I’ve put in this nifty info graph.  I dare you to grab any cleaner or cosmetic in your house and see how many of these are in them.

How To Start Living Toxin Free

Now before you panic and start throwing out every personal care product and cleaner in your home (like I did) take a breath and start by changing one thing.  Think about the things that you put onto your body and stay on the longest.  First up – body lotion.  We apply it all over us and leave it on all day or night. I’ve been on this journey for two years now and am still not living completely toxin free in my house.  But I’d love to help you transition to a more natural lifestyle affordably.  By making a few small changes to your personal care products you can not only save your health but also your money!  How many different shampoo’s, lotions and soaps do you have in your home?  Do you have special products for baby and daddy and mummy??  By switching to home made natural products you can be sure that they’re safe for the whole family and start to de-clutter your home from toxic products. Look out for my post on making your own natural lavender body whip coming soon! Sources: *European Environment Agency Infograph – Courtesy of Natural Healthy Concepts: What Toxic Chemicals Is Your Body Absorbing? [INFOGRAPHIC]

5 Fun Things To Do This Half-Term

It’s half term and I’ll be spending mine with 6 kids, yay! Heres a few ideas I wanted to share to keep the fun rolling all through the week.  Let the games begin!

1. Hallway Lasers – sellotape and wool

2. Poster Art – ikea paper roll

3. Muddy Walks

4. Pyjama & Movie Day

5. Baking

What are you up to this half-term?  Share your fun ideas in the comments.

Love Never Fails

Love is like style.  It will never fade or change.  True love remains.  There has always been and there always will be love in the world.  It’s the most important thing – ever.  Never give up on it and never let it go.  It can cover over any wrong, overcome any hurt and conquer any obstacle.  Love always wins.  Some may not believe this type of love – real love – exists.

Some may say it’s just a romantic fantasy, childish indulgence or pure fairy dust.  But it’s so much more than that.  ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.’ I Cor 13:4-8

I am so thankful to have this kind of love in my life.  And no, my husband is not perfect – but my God is.  Jesus came to give us love.  And now that he’s given it we simply have to chose to receive it.  Take it or leave it, its there just waiting for you.  Waiting for you to accept it and let it change your world.  Because love is the greatest thing you’ll ever have in your life.

‘And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.‘ I Cor 13:13

Let divine love into your heart this Valentine’s Day.

The Big Gesture

A note of advisory – this post is for married couples only.  You’ve been warned!

I know that Valentine’s Day is like marmite.  You either love it or hate it.  When I was single I used to roll my eyes at all the romantic fluff on the telly, but as soon as I got married it became a sacred day in our year.

For me the best way to celebrate Valentine’s Day is to do some extra gesture to show your love for each other.  For example, if your man despises Valentine’s Day because it’s just a marketing ploy to steal money from his wallet with overpriced cards and absolutely mandatory roses than why not find a free way of expressing your love to him.  And likewise husbands, if your wives are just waiting for you to come home and sweep them off their feet that day, give it a go.

So guys think real hard about your wife and find one thing that would just make her day.  Would it be not having to cook and wash up, coming home from work early and putting the kids to bed or maybe going out for a movie in the middle of the week.  Perhaps something as simple as adding some music, a candle and a bottle of wine to your dinner that evening, walking through the door sweeping her off her feet and kissing her until she melts like putty in your arms – are you getting the picture?  Show an expression of love that is a little over the top, a little extra-ordinary and bam! – you’ve made a big romantic gesture.

Now ladies I’m gonna be real straight with you.  If there’s no sex involved on Valentines’ Day it doesn’t matter what else you do to show your man you love him, they’re going to be disappointed.  One of the easiest ways us wives can show a gesture of love for our husbands is spicing it up in the bedroom.  By being the initiator on this one day of the year you can seriously make your husband feel like superman.

If you give it a little thought you can find a way to express your love meaningfully, not expensively.  So go ahead and enjoy each other.  Find a new way to celebrate your love this Valentine’s Day.

A Little Less Romance, A Lot More Love

I remember Valentine’s day when I was 15 and single.  I was half way through high school, living in America at the time, and had just watched my oldest brother get married and my other brother get engaged.  I had reached that stage where I was getting that ‘when will it happen to me’ feeling.  And then Valentine’s day came and, of course, with zero prospects I was going to get through the day watching romcoms and eating any unwanted chocolate gifts.

When my dad got home from work that day he came in holding a dozen crimson roses that he lavishly bestowed upon my mother.  But then what happened next took me totally by surprise.  My dad gave me a valentine’s gift!  Not roses or chocolates or an overpriced hand crafted card, but a Starbucks gift card and the new Josh Groban CD.  I mean, who needs a teenage boyfriend when you can drink Starbucks while listening to Josh Groban??  I felt so incredibly loved by my dad because he thought of me on that Valentine’s day and not just my mum.

Now fast forward 10 years later and I’m married and 4 months pregnant with baby number four and have absolutely no interest in Valentine’s day.  I mean my body was literally using up all the love I had received from my husband to create yet another baby and I was really not in need of any extra love – please, no more!  So my gracious husband told me we didn’t have to go anywhere and we could just watch a movie together and he would get some nice dessert.  Now he was speaking my language!

But seeing the season we were in my oldest brother and his wife decided to share a little bit of their love and spent half a day turning the living room into a romantic restaurant just for us.  There were dangling fairy lights surrounding a table just for two complete with flowers, candles and champagne and a lovely steak dinner. After dinner we went to our bedroom to find our TV set up in our room with a selection of DVD’s and a divine chocolate dessert next to the bed.  I was in heaven!

These Valentine’s days have been special in my life because it was couples sharing love beyond their own marriage.  So let’s be a different kind of Valentine this week and share a little less romance and a lot more love to those around us.

Happy Valentine’s xx

Running Reflections

Before I hit the road for a run I always plan my route.  I know exactly where I’m going, how far I’m running and that I will always end up back home.  I also love to have this type of plan for my life. I just can’t help myself!  I’m very task and goal oriented and am constantly working a plan to reach my goal. I’m a dreamer, a visionary and I love seeing where God wants to take me.  God has a plan for each and everyone of us (Jeremiah 29:11) and he has already prepared good works for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

I love seeking out those plans and praying into where God wants to take me and what good work He wants me to do, today, next year and 20 years from now.  But sometimes I get ahead of myself.  I’m just so desperate to reach the end that, like a runner waiting for the gun to shoot, I can false start the race.  Now in a professional race if you have two false starts you are disqualified from the race altogether.  Being over eager is just as harmful as never getting off the couch to train for the race.

But praise God, because of Jesus we now have unending grace that allows us endless do-overs in life.  We need to have the self-control and submission to wait until it is the right time to go.  This is something I am challenged with a lot.  I have a 1, 5 and 10 year plan but I’m always wanting to be at the end of my 10 year plan without working through the first year.  This will get us nowhere.  If we jump the gun we don’t get to run the race.  Instead we have to turn around and go back to the starting line.  God’s plan is worth training and waiting for.  And remember, we all need to grow to where we need to go.

“And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.” Hebrews 6:15

Confessions of a Competitive Mum

I’ve recently taken up running again.  My most recent run was Sunday morning.  As I hit the road I felt a huge sense of elation as I reconnected with my running shoes, focusing on my cadence, breathing and arm movement.  Then I turned into the neighbourhood and the only people on the streets were runners and there were a lot of them.  And what did I start to do – compare myself to them.  I instantly felt embarrassed by my non branded clearance priced top, muddy shoes and wobbly tummy.  All the other runners had the latest professional high-vis, dri-fit gear.  So, of course, in order to compensate for my lack in appearance I must run faster.

And as I run faster I’m eventually breathing so loud and sweating so hard I’m sure the next person I see is going to intervene and perform CPR.  Thankfully that didn’t happen and I was completely grateful to God for making it all the way home without passing out.

Why, oh why, did I put myself through that?  My competitive streak got the best of me again and I put myself through physical strain to win.  But what did I win exactly??  Oh that’s right – nothing.  I got no medal, no standing ovation, not even a pat on the back.

Instead of comparing and competing I should have focused on the reason I was running.  I run for strength, stamina, health and a nice big dose of endorphins.  Because lets face it ladies – with our hormones going from sky high to rock bottom we need a good natural healthy dose of happiness.  I get mine from exercise – and no, a whole packet of custard creams is not a healthy dose of happiness.

Negative comparisons are rooted in insecurity, jealousy and envy and do nothing but distract us.  When we lose sight of the finish line we can easily lose our focus and start looking around us.  But when we get distracted we can easily be disqualified by stepping into someone else’s lane.  God has given each of us a lane to run in and we must remain focused on him so we can get to where we need to go.

Remember that in a race everyone runs but only one wins the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24).  Don’t lose sight of the prize that God has for you.  Keep your focus on Jesus and he will show you the way to the finish line.

“…let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.” Hebrews 12: 1-2