04/04/2013
1 Year Blogaversary!*
It seems crazy to me to say that Inner Angels & Enemies has been up a running for a whole year! It has been a truly wonderful year, especially as I have come to find that I am not at all completely misunderstood. This was a huge discovery for me, because once my Dad passed away I thought I might have no one left to share my left field perspectives with.
Big huge thanks to those who have read the ramblings which I have the nerve to call writing, and for the constant support your feedback has given me. I am here to serve you, and when something I have shared here may connect with you, even in some small way, it brings me so much joy.
How awesome are my readers!! You have comforted me in my lowest moments, encouraged me when I am in fear. You have reassured me in my self-doubt and accepted me as I expose both the good and the bad. You have humbled me with your compliments, and inspired me by sharing your own stories honestly in your wonderful comments.
I hope we can continue like this for a long time to come. It’s all about connection! If you want to connect further, tell me how you are going, let me know if a post related in some way to you, do you have a favourite topic? Share your questions and opinions with me. I love to hear from you all. I am so glad to be able to open up to you in this special way, & I wish you so many blessings!!
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Happy Blogiversary to Me!
Blasting to the past with the link to my very first post – I hope my intentions are shining through a whole year later. 😉
So Far so Good
31/12/2012
What a Year!*
13 years ago God called me to write. It has been a long road from then until now and even though I never forgot my promise, or turned away from it, I have not exactly finished the book I promised to write. 😦
A few years ago, I was given some advice by the man who performed the memorial service for my Dad when he passed away. This celebrant had helped other writers to get published and told me to join up to a particular writing club in my State, and to start a blog.
So I began writing blog posts for the next 2 years, while battling grief and depression, I hadn’t joined the writers club and had still not created a blog site on which to publish my posts.
Here I was procrastinating, unable to face my fear and let the world into my place of intimate writing. In March 2012, God gave me a small taste of the most painful time in my life, a time I had been through a few years earlier. I won’t pretend I wasn’t scared. Reliving my worst nightmare is not something I take lightly. I was desperate to not have to go back through anything like that again. A huge upheaval shook my peace and after a few coinciding signs, one sentence stood out to me which I could not disregard. It spoke clearly into my heart.
“2012 could be your worst year or your best year. The choice is yours.”
In light of the threat of reliving my worst year, and the promise I had made to write, I made a choice to go forward to bite the bullet and push past my fear and so created Inner Angels & Enemies.
The level of growth, peace, connection and joy that I have received since I began blogging is paramount compared to anything I have experienced before. Yet, I had all but forgotten that warning back in March, at least until last night….
In a very casual manner, I was relaxing and enjoying watching some episodes of Boston Legal (both mine & my Dad’s favourite show, we used to watch together). Funnily enough, 3 episodes were based around the Christmas/New Year Holiday Season. As the last episode on the disc came to a close, the two main characters, played by James Spader (Alan Shore) and William Shatner (Denny Crane), were sitting out the balcony reminiscing on the past year.
Denny – “Shoot a bad guy, save the life of someone you love, what a great year!”
Alan – “I have thought of myself as many things Denny, but being loved is not one of them, yet twice today I have been told that the opposite is in fact true.”
Denny – “Happy New Year my friend”
Alan – “Happy New Year? How could next year possibly top this one?”
They clink their glasses and the credits roll……
“How could next year possibly top this one?”
Up until I heard those words, I had forgotten that warning earlier in the year! However, God did not let the year end without giving me a clear reminder of all He has done and ALL He can do!
We can only go forward in faith when we push past the fear and hold tight to the promises of the Almighty! Is fear preventing you reaching God’s promises in your life?
With God’s power, next year has the potential to be far better than our wildest imagination!
God’s Blessings to you all in 2013 and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
24/09/2012
My Mini Mountain*
After a weekend spent celebrating two members of my family’s birthdays, I feel as if I am peeking my head out from the bunker to survey the damage. I have not been near my laptop in a number of days and so made a bee-line for it as soon as I opened my eyes this morning, hoping I haven’t missed too many wonderful posts by my fellow bloggers.
I tiptoe over my filthy tiled floors, in memory of the numerous tiny footprints which headed in every direction a hundred times yesterday and the day before. I pretend I don’t see the basket of washing siting up on the dining table. I close one eye as I pass the lounge room of destruction, and I am not even game to head into the kitchen to make my morning cup of tea because I know I will get stuck in there, lassoed by the stack of dishes and benches piled as high as the Andes.
I unplug my laptop from its place in my office and run back to bed, diving under the covers, safe for a moment from the task that awaits me.
I would never have made it here if I had taken a moment to view the destruction. I would be in there now, wiping and sweeping, folding clothes and finding homes for each element of the Andes. I will do it, I can’t help myself. Someone will lose their head if I don’t get my home back in order as soon as possible. But for the moment I am hidden away, in my bedroom and I sit letting the ‘Reader’ page spin as it loads how many ‘New posts’ I have missed….. 47!! Oh Lord, and then I recall that I hit a quick refresh the last time I was here so I am guessing that’s maybe 70 posts unread!
I love all the blogs I follow, I want to give credit to your talents and hear your views. I want to soak up the knowledge and perspectives of you all who inspire me so much, so what am I to do??
The good Lord has given me some new voices to use in my novel and I need to get them out of me before I lose their spark. I have a book I am reading, which is helping sculpt the voices for my novel, and I want to absorb God’s word so I keep up my armour and His hand in all the areas of my life. I have about 10 incomplete drafts, waiting for my overly analytical mind to edit and approve of before I can post them. I need to shorten them substantially because I realise that if my readers are as pressed for time as me they will skip over the ones with the word count that gets up into the high hundreds or beyond. I feel if my ideal of sharing both God’s input in my life to inspire others, and the valuable teachings from my Dad with as many as possible is going to be likely, then I need to tailor my work for the audience I have been given. And to top it all off it is school holidays!
Wow that was word 535… I better go…
Hmmm I think I will pray first …. After all faith can move mountains…..
13/08/2012
Another Award Oh My!!*
Huge thanks to my blogging friend Summer at Summer4Soul who has kindly nominated me for the ‘Lovely Blog Award’. Please drop over and visit her lovely blog as she deserved this honor and was rightly nominated also.
Isn’t it a wonderful thing, to receive an award for doing something that you love!
I must admit it is not something I am used to, aside from a couple of ‘Participation Certificates’, I have only ever received two other awards that I can think of (before I began blogging that is). One was for ‘Best Attendance’ at Pony Club when I was a girl, and the second was ‘Rookie of the year’ for my first part-time job at McDonalds. I didn’t even know these awards existed until I received them, so you can imagine the lovely surprise to know that my dedication to horse riding and doing my best at work was noticed.
Yet for some reason these blogging awards have a very different feel to them. I am dubious that I can write well, as I have never received any formal training and I am not ready to show any of my finished works to a publisher to gain constructive feedback. My calling was giving to me from left field, I did not plan to become a ‘writer’, yet once I began writing I found this immense joy springing forth as I poured my ideas out onto the page in front of me. To receive awards that let me know someone has connected with my words encourages me more than you can know. Thank you so so much!
Seven facts about me:
- I prefer savoury to sweet
- My favourite band is ‘The Waifs’ (Folk Blues)
- The history of Marie Antionette fascinates me
- I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Olympics with my family this year, more than any other year
- I would love to see Europe soon
- I have written a few children’s books (Yet to show them to a publisher mind you)
- I recently discovered, after years of refute, that I love Indian food
Blog’s I nominate for the Lovely Blog Award: Please check them out..
- Tj’s Garden
- SAB Inspirations & More
- The Insanity of Motherhood
- Sober Boots
- A Life Less Scripted
- The Journey of a Woman
- Life of a Female Bible Warrior
- Annie Wald
- Power of Positive Thoughts
- Sunshine’s Reflections
- Mom in the Muddle
- The Lighthouse
- Subhan Zein
- Close Families
- From a Humble Servant’s Heart
Once again let me express how much joy blogging has brought me, I appreciate every one of my readers and am encouraged by your comments. Please let me know if you have dropped by and lets share in the joy of Faith, Truth and Self-Awareness together!
15/07/2012
A Fragile Heart*
I haven’t been in the blogosphere much this week, because I am being dealt with, being brought a new level of perspective and change. I recognise that this type of growth usually springs forth from a fragile heart. My heart has been extremely fragile this week…..
In this condition I write and write, pouring my soul out in front of me. I have written 6 or 7 posts this week alone. Yet my state of mind and vulnerable heart are preventing me from seeing my words clearly and I am unable to trust myself or my writing. I am too close to it at the moment, so it’s impossible to edit or publish anything. I guess as usual I have too much to say.
I am going to try to use this time to withdraw, to calm my mind and spirit with relaxation, drink plenty of herbal tea and meditate on God’s word. Perhaps this break will even help me work on the novel which I have been trying to write for over a decade. I will come back to the wonderful blogosphere soon, I will read your fabulous posts and comment when I can get my head around it. I will publish only in God’s timing and His certainty. Until then I ask for your prayers, prayers for me to gain some clarity and some calm inspiration. I am fighting off my inner enemies as best I can, I need time to concentrate on my faith, put on God’s armor and call on my inner angels. I have faith that something amazing is going to emerge from the midst of these trials…..Until then…..
“Jehovah preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he saved me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; For Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, Mine eyes from tears, And my feet from falling. I will walk before Jehovah In the land of the living.”
Psalms 116:6-9 (ASV)
Inner Angels & Enemies 