Blog
Posted: October 5, 2010
I am delighted to interview my good friend Grace Fox who has written a book about a topic that we all crave; freedom. So what’s stopping us? The old enemy of Fear! Once I started reading Grace’s book I could not put it down because it talked to me about areas of my life I was not even aware of. But here’s the best part; Grace doesn’t leave us stranded, she gives practical insights into how to overcome fear. This interview is but a nibble of the contents of the book; I know you will want more. “Courage comes when we act upon the truth of God’s promise to be with us.” Grace Fox is an international author and speaker described as “deep, daring, and devoted.” She’s written hundreds of articles for magazines including Focus on the Family, Insights and Power for Living, and she’s authored four books including Moving From Fear to Freedom: A…
Posted in: Uncategorized
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Posted: September 28, 2010
Nothing creates more discussion, joy, heartache and confusion than; relationships. In spite of the fact that we are saturated with information, surveys, studies, workshops on relationships in friendship and marriage, we are extremely cautious and even more isolated. In my next book, called SAND TO PEARLS: Making Bold Choices to Enrich your Life, (Release date-January 2011) I devote two chapters on the topic of friendship. This subject always causes the greatest conversation, heartache and mystery when I speak to women across Canada. In each of us there are basic needs, and when they are met, we can have vibrant, lasting relationships. Here are my top nine needs, and I am sure most of them will be yours as well: I NEED YOU TO: 1. Listen to me. I mean pay attention, look me in the eyes, nod now and then (not drifting off to sleep kind of nodding) but “wide awake” attentiveness…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty Unleashed, Encouragement, Expectations, Friendship, Making Wise Choices
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Posted: September 19, 2010
If you are a task driven person, with a huge sense of responsibility, the words “May you build a ladder to the stars and stand on every rung” have the potential to evoke negative emotions in you. Yet when I hear Bob Dylan’s famous words of his song called “Forever Young”, it spurs me on with excitement of all the possibilities God has given us in this great country. Bob Dylan released this song in 1974 on his album called “Planet Waves”. These lyrics were written by him during the era of the Vietnam War; a time when the fear of nuclear war loomed heavily in people conversations. People were afraid! Yet in spite of this unsettled time in history Bob Dylan reminded us to reach higher and seek out opportunities to experience life in a way that would remind us of God’s blessings. We are still afraid! I hear…
Posted in: Beauty through Boldness, Encouragement, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Fear, Uncategorized
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Posted: September 11, 2010
You ask your teenage daughter to clean her room. When you walk in the house you are amazed that she also cleaned the entire house and you smell the garlic and basil of an Italian dinner. The bathtub is filled with hot water, and a plush thick towel is laid out so you can enjoy your leisurely spa bath. Your husband tells you he will wash your car. Then you find out that he also vacuumed the inside of the car, cleaned out the trunk, polished all your black shoes and folded your laundry that’s been sitting in the dryer for three days. That is BEYOND your wildest expectations of what you dared to ever ask or dream of. Yet, that is what God promises for us. “Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish more that we would ever…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Encouragement, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Stuggles
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Posted: August 20, 2010
The deadly 3 “D’s”. It starts with discouragement, catapults into despair and may end up in depression. For some unknown reason you ventured into a dark cave and found there was no light to guide you out. Your aching body feels heavy and fatigued. Your mind is ruminating, you can’t focus and you keep chewing over the scene of your mess, failure or loss. I know every one of you reading this has experienced at least one of the deadly “D’s”. It’s a horrible place to be in, and we need help getting out. That’s where you come in. Yes YOU! We all need to take part in being God’s hands and feet on earth to lift up those going through one of the 3 “D’s”. If you are the one going through one of the “D”s right now, I pray that someone reading this blog will jump in…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Encouragement, Friendship, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Stuggles
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Posted: August 7, 2010
Pause, and envision the future. I own a greeting card that says, “The biggest fear in my life is that this is not just PMS but my real personality.” Whenever I read this out in front of an audience, I hear a loud gasp and chuckle. Then a few women lower their heads-I imagine with some embarrassment. Those words probably hit a nerve a little too close to home. Women are the most exquisite, fragile, influential confusing creations on planet earth. We have to be aware and guard those exquisite sensations and eruptions so that our life is not about one week of emotions, and three weeks of apologizing. God has given us our feelings to help us navigate through life with wisdom and power. Our feelings can be like a red flag that warns us of danger, or guides us with gut intuitions on the choices we make. They…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Making Wise Choices, Overcoming Stuggles
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Posted: July 30, 2010
We all crave to be accepted and recognized for who we are. When we sense we have been overlooked, rejected, put down or devalued, I believe our dark side kicks in. This starts when we are very young and someone gets a bigger ice cream cone or more recognition at a school play. We ask ourselves. ”Am I not as important or valuable as the other person? How come she/he gets more rewards or recognition?” When my children were younger and I took them to swimming lessons, they would constantly shout at me. “Look at me mommy; watch me swim. Look at how I can do the back flip.” If I got into a conversation with another woman or happened to look away, they would remind me afterwards, “Mommy, you didn’t watch me.” As we get older and become somewhat more mature, we become better at hiding our desperate need for…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out
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Posted: July 16, 2010
“Walk boldy and beautifully-without fear!” There are coyotes out there dad”, said the three year old boy, “They are going to come into the house and hurt us.” The dad walked to the window, looked for a long time and then said, “OK then I better go and get my gun and get rid of them for you.” The dad came back with a gun and pretended to shoot the coyotes. When he was done, he said to his boy, “There, they are all gone now, you can go out and play. “Thanks dad!” with a huge smile on his face the little boy got his toys and ran outside to romp in the back yard.” When my husband and I heard this story, we were not sure it was true, but we continue to use it to remind us about our own coyotes-imagined fear. We all hear things that…
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Posted: June 18, 2010
“I could never wear someone else’s shoes” a friend of mine said when I suggested she try shopping for shoes at a Consignment Store. “Her face grimaced as she finished her disgusted retort, “that just grosses me out”. Ok each to their own, but unfortunately with our present tumultuous economy, we have to find ways to cut back and I was trying to find a practical way to help. After all, we are not like the Israelites who wandered through the desert for forty years and their shoes never wore out. Our shoes do wear out, and quite quickly in fact. I just finished speaking on the topic of “If the Shoe Fits…” and my thoughts have been on shoes lately. It is evident that for some unknown crazy reason, women love shoes. The whole concept is bizarre if you think about it. Shoes are fitted onto the lowest, most…
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Posted: June 4, 2010
A balanced life is over-rated. Before you call me a fanatic and burn me at the TIME MANAGEMENT whiteboard; I want to ask you. “So how is time management” working for you? Over the past ten years we have been saturated with “how to” steps for managing our most precious commodity – time. It wasn’t until the day I threw my palm pilot into the garbage that I realized I had become a slave to time management. With all the time balancing, de-cluttering, workshops, fat day timers, Microsoft calendars and every piece of technology known to mankind to help us with our 24 hour days, we are still rushing, sighing and feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. A balanced life sounds like a wise, wonderful concept; but what happens when all of our best laid “one hour increments” in our day timer fall behind and we fall apart? In a question…
Posted in: Beauty from the Inside Out, Beauty through Boldness, Freedom from Busyness, Obligations and Offenses, Overwhelmed and Undervalued
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