{back to basics} - monthly give up: Facebook

Here in the O household we have reflected upon things that are consuming our time and finances in an unhealthy way, and have decided that each month, we will attempt to give up one thing in the hope that we will find some extra time to spend together in worship and as a family.

For the month of March, it is going to be Facebook!

This is going to be a tough one, I can tell, but as you can read here, we discovered we spend WAY too much time on it!

I am looking forward to the challenge, and also to seeing what God is going to do in our lives with all our spare time!

If you are game, feel free to join in this journey with us! There may be something else you would like to give up for a month. Link back up with me and we can go through it together!

Much love

Daughter of the King
x

{Photo a day Challenge} January

Ive been following along on Instagram with Fat Mum Slim's Photo a Day Challenge.

Each month I'll create a collage of all the photos I took! Its alot of fun to participate in, and gets you to stop, take a step back and appreciate the smaller things in life!

Here's my collage for January..enjoy!

Much love

Daughter of the King
x

Weekend in review!

Hello Monday! You are back again! The weeks are just seeming to fly by here - we are almost in March already...where has the year gone?!

We had a fairly busy weekend in the O household! Saturday morning saw my 2 sisters come up for a little picnic down at one of our local parks. It was a very eventful picnic, with Miss D not wanting to participate in any way shape or form! She just cried the whole time, so we took turns cuddling her while we each ate our lunch!

My sisters provided lunch and even cleaned out my fridge for me...sweetest girls ever!

and P.s. arent they the most beautiful sisters in the world too? I think so! 

We then went to a babyshower of some dear friends of ours! They are expecting their wee pink bundle to arrive in the next 6 weeks or so! She looks AMAZING for 34 weeks pregnant!! Cant wait to give her cuddles!

Sunday morning Mr O went off to church while I stayed home with Miss D (we didnt get a wink of sleep the night before), then we headed off up to the South Perth Foreshore to celebrate one of Mr O's friends 30th birthdays! The weather was just divine and Miss D was a little more behaved this time... :)

AND...for the first time in awhile...she SLEPT overnight! 8pm till 3am, fed at 4:30 then back down till 8am! Woo-hoo! :)

Feeling mighty refreshed today! Praise God..He has been answering my prayers!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too - what did you get up to?!

Much love

Daughter of the King
x

Encouragement for the day...

I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. (John 14:16 MSG)

I just wanted to share this devotional I read this morning...it encapsulated so much of what I have been going through lately. I hope it might encourage someone else who may be having a rough time, feeling down, or just simply needs a reminder to lean on God when ur strength dwindles...

Help Is Here

Many people have received Jesus as Savior and Lord. They will go to heaven, but never draw on the full capacity of the Holy Spirit that is available to them or experience the true success God wants them to enjoy on Earth. Simply put, many will be on their way to heaven, but they won't enjoy the trip.

We often look at those who have wealth, position, power and we consider them "successful." But many people who are considered successful still lack peace, joy, contentment, and other true blessings. Such people have never learned to depend completely on the power of the Holy Spirit.

People who are self-sufficient often think depending on God is a sign of weakness. But the truth is that by drawing on the ability of the Holy Spirit, they can accomplish more in their lives than they ever could by working in their own strength.

God created us in such a way that although we do have strengths, we also have weaknesses and we need His help. We know He wants to help us because He sent a Divine Helper, the Holy Spirit, to live inside us.

We often struggle needlessly because we do not receive the help available to us. I encourage you to depend on Him, not on your own strength. Whatever you are facing, you don't have to go through it alone.

God's word for you today: Your worst day with God will be better than your best day without Him. The Holy Spirit is here to speak to you and help you in every way you need help today.

From the book Hearing from God Each Morning by Joyce Meyer. Copyright 2010 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

Much love

Daughter of the King
x

Five minute Friday: Grit

Today im going to start linking up with The Gypsy Mama and do her 5 minute Fridays for a bit of fun!!

Around here we write for five minutes flat on Fridays. We write because we love words and the relief it is to just write them without worrying if they’re just right or not. So we take five minutes on Friday and write like we used to run when we were kids.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them in their comments.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on: Grit

GO...

Grit
What does the word even mean? To me it sounds like all things dirty, messy and grubby! The kind of things that are enjoyable to do because half the fun of them is the mess you make in doing them! 

Grit...Like when baking a cake in the kitchen: pots, pans, bowls, beaters and measuring spoons everywhere..laying used and dirty over your bench as you scramble to make your yummy delight in the quickest time possible so you can devour it's yummy goodness sooner! 

Grit...like the sand that embeds itself on the scuffed knees of children playing in the playground..who have fallen over on the bitumen playing hide and go seek with their friends. Hair all awry and strayed, sweaty little bodies, laughter on their cheeks.

Grit... even though it may not be the prettiest of words...to me, it is devilish in that it usually means whatever it it's that is getting you gritty..you are most likely having a whale of a time doing it!!

That was good fun!! Now it's your turn!!

Much love

Happy Friday everyone!

 

I think i have had about 3 or 4 hours total sleep in the last 24 hours

 

 

Maybe even in the past 48 hours....ive lost count!

 

But...when this little angel wakes from her little nap...i somehow seem to forget all about it!

 

Maybe its these yummy toes...

 

Or this scrumptious smile...

 

Or these big blue eyes staring at me from the change table..

 

somehow she always knows how to brighten my day!

 

Happy Friday everyone!! :)

Youversion...

As I mentioned in earlier posts..I've been struggling to find some time to put aside and spend with God. Tonight, I'm home alone with Delilah while Matt is at work and I have been so afraid! I absolutely hate being home alone, with a passion! I hear little noises and see imaginary things then my mind goes off on tangents expecting the worst! So, as I was sitting here in our bedroom, finally putting Delilah down to sleep..I thought I might take a moment to read the word. I didn't have a bible close at hand (I don't want to leave my room!!!) so on the iPad I've just downloaded the YouVersion bible app! It's fantastic! It has reading plans and devotionals, you can listen to live sermons and so much more! Such a great tool and so handy to have!

I am currently following a Joyce Meyer 14 day devotional titled "the confident woman"...just what I need in my life right now...confidence!! The first devotion was fantastic and hit me straight in the heart. It talks about believing in yourself and seeing yourself as a worthy woman of God. He believes in us so we should believe in ourselves and be amazed at the things he has in store for us! He calls us not only to ask for things we need, but to have thus faith to receive them and accept them as given!

The bible verse for this devotional was Isaiah 43:4-5 (In YouVersion you can also chose from a range of translations to read your verses in).I particulary loved the message translation of this verse which is:

That's how much you mean to me! That's how much I love you! I'd sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you. "So don't be afraid: I'm with you. I'll round up all your scattered children, pull them in from east and west.

He loves us SO much he would do anything to have his children come back to him! We are that precious in his sight he would trade the world for us! Sometimes it takes time to really grasp the magnitude of Gods love for us...he doesn't see us as tiny little ants that he put on the earth just for his amusement! He loves us, wholeheartedly, and wants the best for us! He has an individualized plan for each of our lives which he is waiting patiently for us to discover..through him!! What are we waiting for?

And lastly, the end of the verse where he says, "So don't be afraid: I'm with you"...ahh...thank you Lord! I am claiming that truth right now to give me peace to get through this night!

Much love everyone

What consumes your time?

I have been out of the blogging scene for sometime lately, having given birth to our first child, Delilah, 14 weeks ago, and as such, I have also been out of touch with my walk with Christ. Im by no means proud of this at all, a little ashamed, but I know that I am forgiven.

I was browsing through a fellow bloggers posts recently where i found this post regarding her thoughts on Facebook and the reasons behind why she decided to leave the social networking phenomenon behind, and it got me thinking too. 

Matt and I have a joint facebook account, and we have had it since we got married. It has {ever so slowly} been creeping up on us and taking over our lives. I think if i could calculate how much time we actually spend on facebook, i would be appalled and sickened. It is constantly logged in on our phones, iPad, home computer and laptop. When im feeding Delilah, i will have a quick scroll through to see what is going on, when she is asleep - I will do the same thing. But, the problem is, I never seem to have time to sit down and read God's word. I never seem to have time to be still and hear his voice, and I never seem to have the time to pray - and i mean, really pray - not just praying for the little things.... like getting Delilah to sleep!

As a family I feel we have been foolishly wasting our time! That is not to say that facebook is all bad! We have so many wonderful friends and networks on Facebook! I for one have a brilliant mothers group online which is such a support network to me in this new thing called "motherhood" which i am slowly figuring out! It is also such a fabulous forum for us to upload pictures of Delilah for our family to see her progress and how she is doing. But, what did people do before facebook?? There was such a thing as emails, phone calls, home visits and good old snail mail! I kind of miss the simplicity of those times! I miss people popping over for visits rather than posting on my wall, I miss handmade invitations to parties rather than ones generated on Facebook! And i LOVE receiving letters in the mail....but they too seem to be a forgotten past-time, sadly!

As a family, we have decided that we are going to trial something for a time, perhaps for the month of March to see how it goes. We are going to limit our facebook time to once a week. We will set aside some time perhaps on a weekend where we can check in, see what is happening and post pictures etc. The rest of the week, I want us to focus our 'free time' to be put to a much more productive use - spending time together as a family, enjoying each others company - getting back to the basics! I also want to spend MUCH more time digging into God's word. Life for me gets so overwhelming and i find i try and do it all on my own and in my own strength! I need to remember that I have a God who WANTS to be there for me, who is willing for me to lean upon Him when i grow weary and when times get tough abd when i have no energy and cant possibly see how i am going to make it through the day - he is there!

He wants me....ALL of me, to follow after Him - and in doing so, I believe he will enrich my life in ways i couldnt possibly imagine!

Is there something in your life that is taking over? Whether it be Facebook or other social networking sites, television, gossip magazines? I encourage you to do a stocktake of your own life and see what areas can be improved - God wants to be involved in your life - he just asks we take the time to get to know him!

Much love

Im linking up with Capturing Motherhood - picture me (im)perfectly 

Confessions from a walking zombie

Ugh...Sleep, where for art thou?

I wish I had listened more to those that kept telling me whilst i was pregnant to make the most of your sleep now before the baby comes along! I never in my wildest dreams believed how hard it would be to function on so little sleep! I also didnt believe i was going to have a baby that found it so difficult to sleep! Oh, Danica...how naive were you!

My little bundle of joy is now 14 weeks old, and from when she was about 4 weeks up until about 10 weeks old, she was a GREAT night sleeper! Always going from 10pm till 5am, no fuss, no dummy, straight from the boob to the bed! I was in HEAVEN, and although she wasnt the best day sleeper - i could function as i was getting a great night sleep. BUT..the sleeping fairies decided to change all this on me, roughly about the same time as her immunisations! Grr... Now, not only do I have a fuss at the boob, need a dummy to do her cat naps through the day baby...i also scored one of these at night time too! How lucky am I! :)

I am also a mother of a baby who doesnt like playing on her own...or with toys for that matter! There is not much that can entertain this little minx! I have rockers, bouncers, play mats, rattles, crinkly books, mirrors, bumbos...pretty much most gadgets under the sun...however, she would much rather you entertain her! Which means constantly sitting beside her, singing to her, walking her around, standing her up, smilling at her and pulling funny faces! But...not for long, as she gets cranky and bored - about 40 mins max and she will have a whinge! (You can see where i am going with this right? lol...Nothing much else gets done around the house!)

I am the mother that when out in public has a pram that is empty and ends up carrying the baby around the shops instead as the baby is so fussy! Also, the mother that you see on the train standing up trying to pat the baby to sleep as, heaven forbid I sit down when I try and get her to sleep...she wont have a bar of that either! The mother that pulls over on the side of the freeway and has to get the baby out of the car seat to calm her down she is that upset! :P

HOWEVER...despite all these little traits to my beautiful baby girl...I must say...she makes up for it in her personality! Although she drives me crazy sometimes when she only breastfeeds for 2 mins, gets bored during play time, keeps dropping her dummy, even though she wants it, and cries the WHOLE time in any car ride wherever i go....she always finds the time to stop and give me a cheeky grin to say, "mum, I love you!" Ive resolved to the fact that yes, I dont have an easy baby...but it can only get better! Im going to take each day as it comes and just deal with it! Step by step! AND...when she is all grown up and telling me how much she hates me for certain things, you dont reckon im going to remind her about these days...where im sat on the floor, in my bra and undies, no makeup, all shabby, unshowered, sitting beside her cot so i can keep popping that dummy in for her so she can get some rest! :) hehehe

Every baby is different! I am not envious of those that have little babes who sleep like angels day and night, sit happily in prams, play peacefully by themselves and feed quietly for minutes at a time...definitely not!  I believe my little princess was sent to me, as she is, in all her chubby cuteness for a reason....perhaps I needed a lesson in patience, endurance and grace! :) hehe

Miss Delilah Grace...you are my entire world, and I love you MORE than I could ever imagine! Thank you for making my days eventful and full of laughs and tears! With your cheeky, stubborn personality, and amazing charm - you are going to go FAR in this life! Now.....get some sleep!!!

xoxo

You can vote for my little minx in this years Bonds Baby search by following this link!