Lessons I learnt from my Grandma.

Yesterday we celebrated the wonderful life of my precious Grandma Beryl. She passed away on Sunday morning, her very favourite day of the week :) And now she is rejoicing in heaven. It's been quite an intense two weeks, but amidst the sadness and sorrow, I have been amazed and thankful for the precious gift of family and friends. Why is it that when we face sadness and tragedy, we just want to be surrounded by people we love? Well, it's because love heals. :) It brings truth and hope and "peace that surpasses our understanding"...  so even in the midst of a storm, LOVE will always carry us through.

...

I love that. Love bears all things. To bear = is to support or carry the weight of something, to endure an ordeal or difficulty, to hold up and remain firm under a load. My Grandma definitely loved well. She loved God with all her heart, so it flowed through to me and everyone else she knew. 

This is a little snippet of what I shared yesterday:

"I just loved being around Grandma. Whether it was for cups of tea or chats, I would always leave her house feel so encouraged, loved and filled with joy. When I was with her, it felt like time slowed down. Her love drew me there, and the busyness of life just stopped as I entered her beautiful space. 

The simplest things brought her so much joy, and she saw beauty in everything. Thinking about this has really challenged me; to see joy in the simple things, to make it a priority to always release the love of God wherever I go, and to spend as much quality time as I can  with people I love. Because do you know what? At the end of the day... loving and being loved is all that matters."

 

So, here are some of the things I have learnt from Grandma. :)

1. Don't wait until someone is 'gone' to recognise their incredible qualities. 

2. Make the most of every moment.

3. Love well and extravagantly.

4. Give generously from a pure and transformed heart.

5. Love every friend and family member as if it's the last time you'll see them.

6. Bring peace to every situation.

7. Prioritise spending quality time with loved ones.

8. Encourage others always.

9. Everyday, tell your friends and family how much you love them.

10. Take LOTS of photos.

I'm so thankful for the blessing my Grandma has been in my life. I can hardly believe it's actually true. I'm going to miss her so very much, but I know I will see her again. :)

Bless you my friends and have a wonderful day!! :)

nat x

Images - Pinterest

Anything Can Happen ~ Book Sneak Peek { Come Up Here }

Hi guys, happy Tuesday :) Well, I've been writing away and I wanted to encourage you with another little sneak peek into my book. This snippet is from the chapter "Come Up Here... Because Anything Can Happen". I hope it blesses you! Love Nat xox

ANYTHING  CAN  HAPPEN

{ c o m e   u p   h e r e }

"When architects design buildings, plans are put into place with exceptional attention to detail, most likely incorporating many drafts. Workers on these enormous and complex projects must frequently liaise with the head architect, constantly referring to their original plans. What purpose would the plan be if the engineers looked at it once, and then proceeded to undertake a major project with no communication or discussions with the architects? That would be disastrous! Who would even think of doing that?! Surely no one right?

Our God is the perfect architect. Overseeing the hugest project in all eternity, he created the universe and everything in it.  One of my favourite scriptures is Revelation 4:1.  

"Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this". 

"He stretches out the stars over northern space, he hangs the earth on nothing".

God is constantly inviting us to 'go up' and hang out with him so we can see his plan from his grand perspective. However, how many times do we try and 'get the job done' without referring back to our 'head architect'?! It sounds crazy but we do this! So... now is the time to shift our focus. As we go up higher, everything is much clearer. We get a birds eye view of our whole life, all the noise and busyness is gone and we can see things from his perspective.

Just stop for a moment and imagine the plans for God's "earth project". Think of every person on earth. There is a plan currently in place for each of them. Every living and breathing creature has been created with great love and purpose. So just as engineers must continue to refer back to the plan and liaise with their head architect, we must incline our ear to God's invitation to “come up here”. As we soar, everything becomes much clearer.

As we look up to our heavenly Dad, all fear and discouragement goes...

and everything shifts.

It’s pretty simple really. When we’re focused on ourself, and what’s happening around us (or not happening in some cases), we can’t see properly. Our thinking is limited and we’re basically giving discouragement and disappointment an open door. So what do we do?

It’s only when we stop and look around at the bigger picture that we can see with perspective. What is your circumstance at the moment? Maybe it’s an overwhelming situation. Maybe you need vision or direction. Maybe you just need a flat out miracle. Well, take a deep breath and listen to his voice. He wants to give you peace today. Can you hear him? He’s whispering to you, ‘Come up here’. :)"

I hope you enjoyed that little sneak peek :) May you be blessed today.

nat x

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Friday Fashionista :: { Relaxed Neutral }

Well hello friends happy happy weekend... and hooray it's Friday Fashionista time! How has your week been? I've had a good but full on week... there seems to be a LOT going on at the moment, have you been finding that? So I am just taking one day at a time and lifting my eyes lots! So here is a little bit of fashion inspiration for your weekend, today we've got a relaxing neutral colour palette... a special request from a friend over dinner last night! So here we go... hope you all love it! ;)

So feel free to use this for a bit of "oh I have that in my wardrobe!" inspiration. I already know of several things I can try woo hoo. Have a wonderful wonderful weekend!!

Bless you :)

Love Nat x

Images - Pinterest

Just stay on the path.

I was walking through the bush yesterday morning. Well technically, it's not actually "the bush", it's actually suburbia... but it was like the bush. I live about two minutes from a beautiful 750 acre wilderness reserve called Braeside Park (if you want you can read a fun little story of a time my sister and I played in the playground!)... Anywayyyy, as I was walking I was just praying about life, you know those walks where you almost zoom out of yourself and you know something is happening, but you have no idea what it is? As I entered a denser part of the forest, thick ferns covered the ground like carpet. Apart from the five metres in front of me, the rest of the path had suddenly disappeared from view.

At that moment I felt God speak to me... 

"Stay on the path Nat."

Sometimes that's all we can do, right? Just stay where we are. Keep walking. Keep being faithful. Keep focused. But how do we navigate this unknown journey? Well, friends... I am happy to say that no matter what season you might find yourself in, whether you can see a lot of the path or a little... just remember He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And regardless of your circumstances, God doesn't change.

Are you someone who likes change? Or do you prefer things to stay the same? 

Change = to make or become different.
 

Hmmm. Different? Is that what we really want? I mean New. Yes, yes we want new. Of course we do. But different? Change? Ah... I don't know about that? New is exciting. But change, ah... change means 'out of my comfort zone' type stuff and 'can't see the path ahead of me' kinda stuff. And that's scary. But friends, let me tell you, we have stepped into something brand new. Something fresh is happening, something we have never experienced before. And with that new thing (whether we like it or not), comes change. So here are three tips to stay encouraged in this season, even when we can't see the path ahead. :) 

1. Stay on the path.

2. Lift your eyes.

3. Lean on him.

Proverbs 3 tells us to "Trust in the Lord with all our heart, and to not lean on our own understanding". Our Father's great promise is that if we lean on HIM, and acknowledge him, that he will direct our paths. Leaning is pretty easy don't you think? I mean, think about it, it's just a transferral of weight from one thing to another. So as we 'transfer the weight of our burdens' on him, he takes them and "makes our path straight"

I pray you have a beautiful day today my friend. 

Be encouraged to know that whatever part of the path you are on... 

Jesus is right there with you and is lighting even more of it up right now!

Love Nat x

Images - Pinterest