Thinking out of the box.

Hello dear friends.

Well it's another new day. and with it brings a new day.
Full of good things.

I want to encourage you today, about our mind set.
Because it is so important, to keep a good healthy mind set.

We need to fill our minds with good things, because they will go into the soul.

There's a lot of stuff out there, at the moment and not of it is all true.

The only thing that is true and we can fully rely on is the word of God.

I am learning this, and learning to let go, and also learning that not all things, are all about me.

I need to take a step back, and let Jesus move more in my life.

This does not mean going religious cause I am over that, but building up in Jesus.
Because if we just go around not knowing in our minds, we are swayed by that news story, and the one that just came out 10 minutes ago.

We don't know ourselves.
 This isn't to make you condemned, or make you feel bad we need the strength of Jesus.

We often struggle with the truth, and what is the truth?
Of ourselves what are we to do?

We often have these issues come up, where we struggle in ourselves. and that is ok.

I had a hospital appointment, the other day, when we talked our my current medication. and what to do next.
Stay on the current one, or switch to a medication, that has good and bad things about it. Like all medication.

And if I go off the medication, will I always be mentally ill?

I might be, and that is what I have to come to grips with.

My life is happy, regardless, I am happy with my lot, even if I am up against somethings that are out of my control.

We need to think outside the box sometimes, and beat this thing.

That means, making the time to not just be living in a perficontist world. where everything has to be right, that there's no room for mistakes.

To be postivie in everything we do, because we can over come it.

We can over come our stuff we face, rather being labeled by things,  saying this is who we are, and that's our lot.

You might ask, what am I doing to over come this?

Well keeping a healthy mind, eating right is a way to bless the body.

Looking after yourself and watch out for triggers, that your mind will go back to. because it is a powerful thing.

Knowing how powerful? we can over come it.

Seeing yourself, as a success in everything, and that your the head and not the tail.

That people, don't need to know everything. and guard your heart, in everything you do. Don't allow yourself, to just open the gate for everyone.

Be on your guard, there are wolves in sheep clothing.

And let yourself, learn.

And don't give up, giving up allows everyone in.

And trust your friends, they will speak into your life. Possibly more so than family.

Watch out for warning signs, if you're not coping or spinning out like a washing machine on spin cycle, there's something wrong.

Go for a walk, ring a friend to talk things through, if you're struggling talk to your support person.

And be careful, about advice, people might mean well, but just pray, the lord will give you the way.

Be dead to the past, actively close the door to it. and DO NOT BE REMINDED OF IT.


Say this prayer.

Dear Lord,
I give you my life, I actively hand over my life to you.
Teach me your ways, and your love so that I can love others.
Teach me to forgive others, so I can let go and hold on to your forgiveness.
Lord I close the door to the past, I don't live there anymore, I am not that person anymore.
Lord will you help me live my life as you call me to live?
Free me of the things I can not change, I give you my life so I can change the way I think, act and talk.
Give me the power, to learn, to be wise,  and to just hold back on somethings, rather than spend my time worrying, because that achieves nothing.
It does not add a single minute to my day.
Lord I give you this thing I am struggling with,  ( Name it here) and I hand it over to you.
Be it sickness, be it health, be it trust.
Lord will you have these things, that come into my mind. Will you help me let them go and let you in.
In Jesus name
Amen.

Lossing it

Hi there team.
How's it going?

I am in awe of how God answers prayers.
We can be praying for a long time, for something to be answered.

I'm finding, out things for myself, that in th struggle you are loved, adored and cherished.

As my friend rang me from christchurch, and he's coming over to stay with us us this weekenend.
I love how he just calls me by my name, and he rings and cares. As we're planning out our time, together.  I have already asked him out for a meal.

I know what you're thinking you go girl, but this is acutally the first proper time someone is coming over to see me.

I'm trying to plan, but not too much. as he'll want to sleep and rest. as he is a care giver, and wakes up and picks people up off the floor, which he finds funny. he resured me, that he will sleep well. I feel bad that I have to work, but I hope that he'll understand, which he does.

He's also coming to the gym on friday, it's cardio.

He is so reassuring, that I'm trying not to smoother him. but he likes my organisation.

I facebook stalked him, our first time out together was barkers of Geraldine, trying out the different cordials.

I think about him all the time, holding him in prayers.

I have prayed very much, for someone so kind, and telling me to relax.
Relax what's that?

Take a step back sisters, it will be ok.

I worry when I haven't heard from him. All I have to say, is the night is so pretty and the lights on the water, and it's him calling me.

He's inland Canterbury, and I'm on the coast.

We are good friends, at the moment, I'm not ''claiming him'' he can see friends if he wishes to.
I would like to meet them.
And his family in India, and hear more about his life back home.
I find India really interesting.

Well dear friends, I better let that do.
My lovelies, if you're every wondering if you're prayers are going to be answered, they will be.
Just hold on and pray hard.
Lots of love
Chloe

Seasons.

Hello team.
Today I want to talk about seasons.

And about the times we are in.

It is important, to know what seasons we are in, because we do need to know.

And it says in psalm one, blessed the the person, who is planted by streams of water, that in season, sends out it's shoots.

It's important, to get things in perspective, because we can get all hung up about  one particular thing. and we over react to that.

And when we over react, we go from normal feelings to abnormal, in a very short amount of time.

I will give you an example, of what happened recently. where I was lonely, like all of sudden the tears came, and not even crying out to God helped.

I was so lonely, that everything in myself ached. I decided to ring my best friend and we talked about it, that we do go through these times, of lonelyness. you can be highly successful but still be lonely, even in marriage you can still be lonely.

So here I was crying out to God, asking him for something from a lonely heart.

I had simply had it, I was looking inwards not outwards, and missing everything that the lord has given me.

It was with that, a good friend invited me up to her place to stay a few nights, and just come away for a break, and I gladly went up, and met some nice friends, and her family.
 for 4 nights.

Now there's a lesson here my friends, don't think for a moment, things have passed you by. to me, right now, the time was right for a holiday.

And we shouldn't get bitter but a blessing to the people around us, giving them a word of blessing with whatever comes our way.

And we should always hold things very loosely, not so loose that things fall through the cracks, but hang onto the treasures that the Lord has given you.

The power of friendship, to be able to give rather than receive. and for a time God will call you to move in areas, where he wants you to go.

I have many times, not thought for myself, but now I'm thinking for myself.

Making my own choices, because too long I have been old I couldn't.

so now I'm tending my own garden heart, and tending to it, ever so carefully, not to allow anyone in just to use it.

And it's ok, dears, for this to happen, I was with a friend recently, and we were talking, about mistakes.

I have in my own family, thought I couldn't make not even one, though by doing that I have made plenty.

We place perfectionsim, on ourselves, that things have to be perfect all the time, to have people see the better side of us, not the ugly side. and to go through life, with scissors and chop out what we want.

I wanted that part of my parents, but not the other part. I grew insecure and angry, and confused for most of my life. because my parents were trying to do such a good job of protecting me, that everything was done, and therefore I couldn't make a mistake.

I was growing, but I wasn't growing in the way that was Godly, because I had a sense of self rightousouness going on. and a really big problem with it.
Because I was chopping and collaging what I wanted and what I didn't want.

I was a on a roller coaster, heading for disaster, along with the over reactions, about everything I did.

so I grew up very confused.

It wasn't until I was in hospital, for 14 days, the lord came, and said ''Chloe can I carry you on my shoulders?" and I was humanly picked up, and placed on his shoulders, and carried, and we faced things, together.

Time and time again, the Lord has come through for me, times when I just needed to picked up and understood, times when all the confusion just melted away, that I really did know him.

I didn't need to prove anything to anyone, I was simply loved by Jesus.

And that is my encouragement for you today is, no matter what season you're in. hold onto the light that you have, and pray, pray for Jesus to come to your life right now, to make it lighter, to be carried with him. through his perfect love.
to put down those scissors, and stop your chopping.

it's when we surrender to him, we know how mighty we are for him.

Lots of love
Chloe

Never lone.

Hi there team.
How are you?
I hope on this winter bright day you're going well.

I want to talk to you today, about never being alone.

We aren't marooned on an island, left to our own devices.
though some times it might seem like it.

I have recently, being praying for my friends and I'm coming out of hiding.
I used to hide a lot, I had lots of feelings about things, and like a frightened child. I would just hide.

But I'm coming out of hiding, and slowly like a frozen flower defrosting, into the person that the lord has made me to be.


We need to trust Jesus, with everything we do.

We are at his beckon call.

And indeed Jesus when you see him in all his glory  is beautiful.

And sometimes we take that for granted, and sometimes we do need to come into an alighnment, with him.

A practical way of this was when I was coming back from holiday very recently, after meeting such lovely gentle people. from mid Canterbury.

And I was going through Oamaru, after being in Fairlie, helping out at a rest home, and I was going through and I was praying about going into see my nana or just driving past, hoping to make it up sometime this week to Moeraki where she lives.

I was praying about weather to stop in, or just keep driving as I asked my brother to book me in to the gym for the 6 pm class, I was already running late after stopping in Timaru.

so I commited it to prayer, and the lord said Chloe, you need to see her, she's in need of company.

So I turned off, into her drive way, and visited her for a time. and it was lovely to see her, I helped her out with her phone, and got my water bottle filled up she rang my cousin, and she came over, and then I headed away.
The lord blessed me so much I made it back by 4 pm, and off to the gym at 6 pm.

I am finding that, when we commit our ways to Christ, everything works.

So no matter, what you're doing today, if you're in that struggle, and your wondering why, that so many people depend on you to get your through.

It's because we need each other, and paving the way a bridge so to speak, to the next step in life.

We come to a place of complete surrender, when we surrender all of our needs to him, that he sees it, and he does work out things for our good.

So if that's you today, and you're feeling jaded, perhaps, to much pressure, on you.
Take a step back, commit it to prayer, and watch it all fall into place, because when it works it's beautiful.
That's my thoughts for today.
Take care and God bless you.

Chloe

Be active in your waiting.

Hello there lovelies.
I hope that you're having a really nice, day.
Again it's wet, and we have snow on the mountains.

Today I want to encourage you to be active in your waiting.

It's in those times, that we grow, and we devalop love and trust.


I was writing a letter to my lovely little Grace, who is 5 and indonesia is going through a really tough time.
Poor little Grace will be scared.
I wanted to tell her that not to be scared, but my letter I hope was full of hope.

We do need grace, we keep failing, we rise again.

I am urging you to be actively praying, and really pray, not just say it.

Joy still comes in the morning, hope still walks with the hurting.

We need to grow in the word of lord, we all need him to show us the way.

And have open communication. with each other, no one is going to shut you down, or out, they will hear you.

For a long time, I was frozen with fear. and the lord has given me dreams and dreams again, that I was trapped with ice, it was me, trapped in the fear.
Until he came and breathed on me and set me free.

Now I want to encourage you, because we can be  all need encouragement.

Sometimes, that we think the lord is slow in answering our prayers.
as we understand slowness, but Jesus answers prayers, fast, and quickly.

Well the sunshine is coming through, the clouds after a week of rain.
May I just encourage you that it might be raining in your heart, but the rain, cleanses, you and helps things to go.
Lots of love
Chloe

how do you see yourself?

Hello there my friends.
How are you going?

I hope that you're having a really nice time.
I'm on holiday at the moment, so I'm going to do a bit of book planning, and wanting to get an illustrator for my stories.

So my question is, how do you see yourself?

I was with friends as we went all out together to life group the other night, we had a meal out before we went to my friends place.

And the lord in the middle of the meal, came to me, and said ''Chloe I want you to see yourself as I see you.''

And then at the meeting a word came to my friends, that I should come out of ''hiding''.

The week before that, I heard a sermon about the Shuminite  women who came out of her hiding, and made way for Elijah, and was hospitable to him every time he was in her part of the country.
 
Elijah asked her what could be done, because she was so hospitable,   and she had no children.

So the lord blessed her with a son, but the son was out with his father, and complained about a headache, and was taken back to his mother.

She laid him on Elijah bed, and went to see him.

Now she said when asked if everything is all right, she said yes everything will be alright.

And then she explained the her son has died, and is laying on Elijah's bed.

So what can we get from this story of heart ache, but yet joy?

Is that that in our own lives everything happens for a reason?

That our own lives are filled with joy and love yet with such twists and turns that we ourselves can't understand?

Is it that it's time to come out of hiding ourselves to says to Jesus, ''Ok Lord you have me?"

Even when you're family think you're crazy? even when everything might not make sense or things seem like a struggle at the moment.

Maybe for you, the struggle is long, may for you, it feels like there's no rest, maybe for you, you just want someone to care and you just can't take care in.

Maybe for you, you're walk is lonely, and you cry out to God, with all you have like Hannah praying for a son, and when she had Samuel, she handed him back to God.

What are you doing today that is blocking you from coming to God.

How does he see you?

Like that meal out with friends, I finally got it, Jesus was out with us.
 he's everywhere we go.

And that is why we need to be a light to people, a way maker for people, to take our lamps, and not hide them under our beds, but to shine brightly like a city on a hill.

Where does God have you now?

Ask him where is he in the room, and ask him what is he wearing, and how is he speaking to you? right now personally for you?

You might not have many friends, but the ones you do have, take courage because they are there for a reason.

And God will give you many more friends, to be with.

Be it you feel like a stick, in winter, or flourishing tree, you are planted for a reason.

You are here for a reason. you are born for a reason, you have a dist-any for a reason.
You are here.


We need also to make sure that we don't crowd out Jesus, in our work place.

that we make him welcome wherever we go.


Faith is like a muscle we have to exercise it to make us strong.

And the Lord will give us the strength to make us strong for him.

Don't count God out just yet, give him a chance to show up at your work place.
 and in your life.

It's taken me a long time to get to this far, in my own life. I didn't like myself for a long time. I didn't trust any of my family, I didn't trust any guy friends, that wanted to be friends with me. I was like a horse the bolted, and the Lord came, and healed that.

He had to get me into a place of brokenness so that I can see him in all my life.

I was seeing myself as a dead tree a good for nothing, soon to be burned up in the fire tree.

Then the lord put his breath on me, and I started to grow, that all the things that I had done to me,weren't the case.

That I was chosen by him, to do work for him. and now I work for God.

He has made my path straight, and curves nice and even and not sharp, but I had to be in that place of brokenness for myself.

so to all those people out there that think that you're passed it, you have nothing good to offer. 

Take a closer look, and search within yourself, and get the breath of lord over your life, and he will help you heal.

It's time to stop bolting like a race horse and take a slower aproach to God.

Many blessings.

Chloe

 

Hang on

Hello there my friends.
How are you?
I hope that you're having a really nice day.
I hope that you're having a good day.

Today I want to share with you, about hanging on, when things get tough.

When all of sudden you're finding out, things for yourself, that you're suddenly not as strong as you think you are.

It's not a weakness, rather, it's a strength.

In it's those strong moments, that we draw on God's strength, and his love in our lives.

In this world we have so many voices on what we should be.
And what advice to take, rather than have open minds.

It's only now, that I'm learning things, for myself. it's in these times, of strength that I go to God, and I look at grace.

See when we are in the fog and we can't see our way, we need God's light on our lives.
Running away from ourselves we run into chaos, and turmoil.

We just need to stop shouting, to be heard. raising our voices, doesn't do anything. rather it just adds to the stress.

So hanging on, to what you have is precious, and be the garden of your soul, and not let everyone in to see it.

Rejection is really hard, especially when you're in your 30's your not young anymore. it seems really hard to see the sunlight come in the cracks of a shattered yet hopeful heart.

When all you see is noise, and you're wanting peace.

I go to the bible, and I read about how Jesus comforts us, and longs to hold our brokeness. the secret tears of our past, in presesnt.
That we long to close the door, on it. and try not to cry.

That it's ok, to be not ok, when hope comes calling.

Hope still walks with the hurting.

Lots of love
Chloe