That's what friends are for.

Hi everyone, happy Wednesday! I hope you all had a wonderful Melbourne Cup Day yesterday! Who watched the race? Did you celebrate the day? My heart was soooo happy spending the day with some treasured friends and enjoying the sunshine. How much was everyone loving the weather?! Much needed I say! :) And today is going to be lovely too hooray! I wrote this blog post on the gift of friendship a few weeks back, and have since been thinking about how special my friends are to me. 

I don't know about you but sometimes it feels like life is a little crazy and things are up in the air, and messy, and unsettled, and really, you're not actually sure whether you're coming or going! Well, you may be going through one of those times at the moment, or you may just know from experience; but it's at these times that God is so near to us, closer than a whisper... and often he uses something very special to pour out his love to us...

He uses his kids = our friends!

Friends laugh with you...

Friends walk with you...

Friends share life with you...

And true friends always, always encourage your heart.

This is one of my most faaaavourite verses in the bible (Proverbs 17:22) and it's so true. No matter what is going on in life, what we are going through, how crazy things appear, spending time with friends is such a blessing. Friends bring such joy and encouragement. So let me encourage you today, try a few of these things and you will surely be blessed!

1. Get around your friends.

2. Tell them how thankful you are for them.

3. Make a time to catch up (and do something fun!) with one of them this week.

4. Be prepared to be filled with joy and encouragement!

5. Bless someone else!!

Love you guys and believe in you...

nat x

Images - 1, 2,  3, 4, 5 , 6, 7

The gift of friendship.

So I've been thinking... sometimes I don't really realise how precious friendship is, until I actually hang out with one of my friends. This may sound silly, but bear with me. We are living in the fastest growing technological age the world has ever seen. We are spending more time on our iPhones and iPads and less time with our friends and family. But when we finally stop (put our phones away) and spend quality time with a friend... it's actually amazing. :)

You know that feeling you get after you've had a really good chat with your friend, you jump in the car to drive home and you suddenly realise you're beaming? You know what I mean?! Well that is God's gift of encouragement to us! He's all about relationships, so this is one of His ways of blessing and encouraging us. He sends us a personalised present... all wrapped up inside a person. And there's more where that came from today my friends! 

Today I'm going to purposely think about the friendships I have, and how they bless me. Wanna join me? If so, this is our challenge for today:

1. Think of 5 friends that make you feel totally joyful when you hang out with them..

2. Write down those names..

3. Call, email or SMS them to let them know just how thankful you are for them and how special they are to you... :)

Love Nat x

Images via graybenko.com and wedbook.com and www.frostedproductions.com