News.

I was doing so well with my posts, until I wasn't!

Anyhoo, here I am nearly a month after my last post.

And I have some news.

A couple of weeks ago we received the great news that my visa application has been approved!

So there has been a lot of emotions going on around here.

First and foremost, I have been praising God.

I can see His hand in all this and trust that this is His perfect timing.

But...there has also been some freaking out.

There are a few more details still to be worked out, I have to go down to London to have an interview at the U.S. Embassy where they will stamp my passport.

I have been told that I have nothing to worry about there because our case is strong.

But I am a little worry wort so that is exactly what I have been doing.

I have been reading this verse, over and over.

Praying it, asking for this peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus - Philippians 4:6-7, NIV

There have been lots of tears.

Tears of joy, and tears of me just being dumb.

Thankfully, the Lord has blessed me with so many wonderful people who have been great this past week. Telling me I'm being stupid, encouraging me and praying with me, making me laugh.

Seriously, my friends bring me such joy.

So, right now, I am waiting for some documents to get to me.

After that I will be heading down to London to (hopefully) get that stamp in my passport.

I'm praying and praying, knowing that the Lord can work out all these little details.

I am a happy, thankful girl just now.

Truly grateful for all that the Lord is doing in my life.

Excited for what's to come.

 God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. - Ephesians 3:20-21, The Message.



Delight.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with my dear friend on Skype. 

(I know I say this all the time but, seriously, it is the best) 

Anywaay. 

We were having a conversation about the future and my hopes. 

I was telling her about a conversation that I had with another friend last week 

*I hope you can keep up with me, I do have a point* 

We were talking about our future and in particular marriage and families. 

She said something that got me thinking. 

"what if this isn't what the Lord has planned for us though? and we sit here talking about it dreaming about it. I want to be happy with whatever the Lord has in store for me."

I had never looked at it in this way before. 

I have always, since I can remember, looked forward to having a family and children one day. 

What if this isn't what the Lord has planned for me? 

SO back to the other conversation on Skype.

*I don't know if I can keep up with this story so there is no hope for you!*

As I said, I was telling her about this conversation.

And she said something that really got me thinking.

"I think it is too much of a desire of your heart for the Lord not to give it to you" 

This of course lead me to this scripture. 

Delight yourself in the Lord, 

and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Pretty simply. We delight ourselves in the Lord and He gives us the desires of our heart.

Except, what does it mean to delight myself in the Lord.

I have been going over and over this for the past couple of weeks.

Delight.

Here are some definitions of this word. 

- a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment, joy, rapture

- something that gives great pleasure

- great pleasure, happiness or satisfaction

This challenged me.

In everything I do, do I take great pleasure in the Lord? 

Do I portray a high degree of joy in the Lord? 

Do I seek happiness in Him?

If I am being honest, no.

This makes me sad. 

Why shouldn't I express great joy in all that I do?

I am richly blessed.

Recently I have been occupying my thoughts on LOTS of other things.

They are not necessarily things that I shouldn't be thinking about but the definitely shouldn't be coming before the Lord. 

Because I am spending time dwelling on these things they are bringing me down and this affects my attitude. 

My heart was full of joy and love for the Lord, but I wasn't always expressing this in my attitude and actions.

So all these things that I was worrying about and that were consuming my thoughts I handed over to the Lord. 

By handing over my burdens I am freeing myself up for the delighting part!

By releasing ourselves from these things we are able to work on showing our joy in the Lord. 

I don't want to delight myself in the Lord in order to get the desires of my heart. 

I want to do it because I love Him and I do find happiness in Him. 

I delight to do Your will, O God, 

and Your law is within my heart.

Psalm 40:8

We need to set our affections on Him, and desire Him more than anyone else. 

I think the key to delighting in the Lord is spending much more time in His word and in prayer.
 By doing this we learn more about Him and become more dependant on him.

So that is exactly what I am going to do. 

I am going to change my attitude and show great joy in all that I do.
I am going to seek happiness in Him, in His friendship and love. 

So this is what has been on my heart for the past few weeks. Something that I have been thinking about, praying about and working on.

Work.

So...I have been really struggling at work.

We have basically got a new management team and they have a very different style to our previous management.

Don't get me wrong, I get on really well with them and I really like them.

But it is just very different just now.

There is a very different atmosphere and the staff are pretty down.

Me included.

I came home from work the other day and had a pretty bad attitude.

I decided that I wasn't going to do anything to help anyone.

I decided that I didn't even care if things went wrong, I was just going to look out for myself.

Yeah, it wasn't pretty at all.

So me and my bad attitude got home and I was adament that I was going to be horrible.

Later that night I was doing my bible study and I don't think it was any accident that I was directed to this passage.

"Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. ² Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ" Colossians 3:23-24

Yeah, message heard. Loud and clear, Lord.

So my attitude has changed. I am not working for the people that are making me miserable and putting me down everyday.

I was working for my Father who brings me joy, protects me and loves me.

Makes it so much easier to get through the day.

Living each day for the Lord, and working each day for Him too.

Needed this reminder, do you?



Home.

I came across this passage yesterday and got excited.

"As for me and my household,

we will serve the LORD."

Joshua 24:15

I can't wait to build a home with the Lord as our foundation.

This might be quite a while away for me, but I know who I will be serving when that time comes.

Jeremiah 1:5

Great reminder. Found here on Pinterest.

Happy Day.

Today my sweet friend, Nikki, is graduatating.

I am so happy and excited for her.

She has worked so hard.

I don't know anyone that deserves this more.

I remember going to look round the college with her in 2006.

I can't believe she is done now!

I am so proud of her.

I am very sad that I am not there celebrating with her and her family.

I have not been able to think of anything else all day.

A couple of days ago I was even looking up flights!

Oh my goodness!!

I just so want to be there with my friend for her special day.

I was hoping that the Lord would have me over there already, but that was in my plan and not His. (more on that soon)

Nikki, I am so blessed to call you friend.

You know that you are like a sister to me.

You are such a caring, loving girl who is full of energy and love for the Lord.

I have learnt so much from you over the years.

I'm sorry that I am not there with you today.

But I am looking forward to all the memories we are going to make together in the years to come.

I know that there will be many more.

I miss you, every day.

I love you.

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Sisters.

My sister in on holiday this week.

She is spending a week in Barcelona.

I am sitting inside watching the rain from my window.

Yes, I am a little bit jealous.

But I will get over it.

Until I she comes back and will have a beautiful tan.

I am a little (6ft tall) pale thing, and she has olive skin and tans so easily.

Annnnywho..today I am going to share some fun pictures of my with my sister/best friend.

These were taken a few months ago but I never got round to posting them.

So here you go.

Everyone always tells us how alike we look.

I have to agree.

My sister was approached by a man that she didn't know last week.

She said he was staring at her for a while before he came over to her.

Yeah, she was freaked out!

He said to her "are you Harriet's sister?"

It was a dear friend of mine that I used to work with, who she had never met before.

It made me smile.

So funny.

I don't mind looking like my big sister.

She is pretty wonderful.

When she gets home I am going to grab my camera and get some new photos with my lovely sister - and her tan!

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God

Philippians 1:3

I am linking up with  Emily today - actually today it is Amy!

Go and grab someone you love and get your picture taken with them.

You can never have enough photos with your loves.

And while you are at it, say a little (or BIG) prayer for the lovely Emily.

Praying that this sickness will pass soon.

Boo.

 

I have been thinking about my "boo", Karen, all week.

(there is a really funny story behind "boo", I will share one day!)

Do you ever just really want to be with someone, and you can't?

This is how I feel right now.

I wish I could just bake something yummy and take it round to my friend.

I wish we could watch movies.

Make funny faces.

Laugh uncontrollably, until it hurts.

But I am in Scotland, and she is in California.

Thankfully, I have lots of photos of us together that I can look through.

note: the majority of these photos were taken our Church Beach Camp, hence the matching outfits!

Today I am wishing that I was with my dear friend.

If I was, I would take a photo right now!

"Friends come and friends go,

but a true friend sticks by you like family."

Proverbs 18:24 (the Message)

I'm linking up with Emily today. You should do the same!

Fruit.

I was directed towards a passage in the Bible a few weeks ago, and it has been heavy on my mind ever since.

So I typed it out and printed it off, a couple of copies actually.

I have one on my notice board which I look at everyday before I leave my room.

The other I have posing as a bookmark. This way, when I am reading, I am being reminded of the passage.

I am trying to memorise it.

I guess I better share it with you!

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

Galations 5:22-25

This is one of my favourite passages.

A few weeks ago I was having a really rough time at work.

I wasn't always being patient with everyone.

I was getting very worked up over little things that would happen.

The Lord's love wasn't always shining through me.

I wasn't being very kind towards others and I was definitely not a joy to be around!

One night after a horrible day at work, where I felt like I was picking up after everyone and doing all the work, I came home and read this passage and was moved to tears.

As I was reading over it again and again I realised that I was not showing any of the fruits. 

I was so annoyed with myself.

I prayed, and prayed some more.

Like I said above, I have been memorising this passage.

When I am at work now and can feel myself getting annoyed I start replaying this passage in my head.

In every situation I think, I am showing the Lord's love right now?

Can they see that the joy of the Lord is my strength? (Nehemiah 8:10)

Can they tell that I am filled with joy and peace because of my trust in the Lord? (Romans 15:13)

I have been working hard at changing my attitude toward situations.

These are the fruits that, as Christians, we should be producing.

I was thinking about how blessed I am to have people in my life who live by this passage.

I am truely thankful to have people that I can look up to and learn from.

I am blessed.

I may get annoyed with people at work, and get frustrated when I feel like I am doing all the work.

But, at the end of the day, I can chose how I respond.
I am giving each day to the Lord, and letting His spirit lead me.

I hope you all have a fruitful day!

Rain.

It was my day off today so I got to sleep in. I was so thankful to be able to catch up on sleep. I can never sleep past 8am so today I was just lying in bed listening to the rain. It was so heavy.

I love the rain.

We have had some crazy weather this past week. We had beautiful sunshine and then this rain came out of nowhere! Yesterday was particularly bad. I was getting ready to go to work and the rain was crashing down outside. I was not impressed. I cycle to work. Don't worry, it's not too far. Only about 8 minutes away (not that I have timed how long it takes to get there...)

So, as you can imagine, I wasn't really looking forward to cycling there in the rain. There had also been some thunder throughout the day. That just freaks me out.

About half an hour before I left for work I could see the sun shining. YES.

But then there was something else shining.

Yup, Lightning!

I had visions of me cycling to work and being zapped by lightning!!

I do not want to leave the house.

Then the sun came out again and I zomed off, hoping to dodge the rain.

I managed to dodge the rain, but not the bird poop! I just couldn't help but smile. What else can you do?

Yesterday I was so sick of rain. I wanted sunshine.

Today, I loved it again.

I was inside my lovely, warm house.

I was listening to music.

I was drinking hot tea.

I watched a movie (Beauty and the Beast!!)

It was a prefect raining day.

Everything is so green outside. It is beautiful.

We never have to worry about lack of water in our country and so often we take this for granted.

There are many countries that long for rain. That count every drop of it that falls.

And here we are complaining because it has been raining for a few days.

Time for a change in attitude I think.

 I found this image here.

I think this is beautiful.

Those kids look so happy in the rain.

They are not thinking about getting wet or muddy.

They are just enjoying the day that Lord has made.

"This is the day the LORD has made;

Let us rejoice and be glad in it"

Psalm 118:24

I hope you are having a wonderful day!  

Joy.

This is going to be a very quick post. I have lots to say about my weekend/week full of blessings.

Today's post is going to be some fun photos taken this morning at work. Today was my first day back after 6 wonderful days off. I usually have an attitude when I am going back to work after time off. I always pray that I will forget all the anxieties that I associate with work. I have to admit that this time I was really looking forward to seeing my colleagues. They definitely encouraged me with messages while I was away, telling me how much they missed me! I am sure that they are full of it but they definitely made this girl smile!

Anyhoooo...As you well know I was off on Friday the 29th, enjoying the beautiful Royal Wedding. I was a little (and when I say little, I really mean little) bit upset that I wasn't working because I knew that there would be a great atmosphere and that they were going to be dressed up. I cycle to work and this morning when I was setting my bike down I thought there was some creepy guy watching me. This was no creepy guy. In fact it was HRH Prince William. Yes, that's right.

Alright, so he was there with Catherine too. Oh, and they were actually cardboard. But other than that I was pretty excited that the Royals were waiting for me at work.

The Queen was there too! It was a family affair really. You might find this hard to believe, but that is in fact me behind a mask. I know, it's pretty realistic! (wink, wink!!)

Who knew that the Queen had moves like that?

She is just so proud of her grandson.

So this morning I had a really fun morning. The Lord really blessed me with friends who had no trouble putting a smile on my face. After we finished work I stayed for 2 hours chatting to the Queen, otherwise known as Abbie.

Today I am thankful for friends and all the joy that they bring!

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:4-7