Blogs: The new family circle.

I'm not that old but I remember life before computers, the Internet, iPhones. Most of us learnt how to be a mum/ homemaker from our families. I know my Mum's generation (baby-boomers) and my Nan's, still lived to a degree with their families and they always had them near to lean on and learn from. I haven't had that for most of my married life, we spent the first 7 years on the other side of the country from our parents and then 3 further years overseas. When we did move back to our home town (city), it wasn't the same. I'd become independent, I wasn't used to asking my family for help to do things and they weren't used to offering.

Now while I admit this is a little sad, one of the great blessings of our modern times is the Internet and blogs! The Internet can be used for many awful and silly things but there is some wonderful sites too. It's wonderful how you can find blogs on so many subjects that inspire you to try new things and teach you things. Even though some of us may be far away from our family or just don't have families that can help us learn, there is a family of wonderful blogs out there willing to teach you the things you want to know.

Three new blogs I have recently found and love are U Create, Home Cooking, & Knock Off Wood.
U Create is written by Kari and it is wonderful for craft ideas. She shares lots of other blogs too, so you might find some others you like.
Home Cooking is written by Ellie from Montana in the USA. She has some wonderful recipes! American cooking is quite different to Australian cooking but I'm inspired by it.
Knock Off Wood is written by Ana from Alaska, USA and is a fantastic blog about furniture making and carpentry. I have a soft spot for this as my Dad's a carpenter and I love the fact that a women is giving us ideas and showing us we can build stuff too. In fact I'm going to build a book case for my daughter with my Dad using Ana's plans.

Let me know if you find any other interesting blogs out there that can help us blossom.
xx Vanessa

How's your joy?

Another week has come and gone and I haven't blogged anything! I had such great plans, alas I had a funny week (not funny ha-ha, funny peculiar). I haven't felt myself this week, I've felt stressed, a bit low and a bit like I've got too much on my plate! My mind has been full of things I need to do and I want to do, but I've felt like it was so full I haven't known where to start. But today's church message really helped me.

We had a visiting speaker, Dr. Ian Jagelman who is our Pastor's lecturer and mentor. His message was about joy. I could give you lots of verses he shared but I want to share the crux of what it meant to me. When we spend time with Jesus, we feel happy and He wants us to be happy! Happy people can be life changers, because let's face it there are so many sad people out there, people want to be around happy, joyful people. I now feel I can face the coming week with a better attitude. So often I've felt like a Martha instead of a Mary (busy working instead of enjoying Jesus' company), I have wanted to change but kept feeling "if I don't do this stuff it won't get done!". Well maybe it won't but ultimately my life will be better if I have a closer relationship with God. I'll be happier, my husband will be happier and my kids will be happier (because if Momma ain't happy, nobody's happy!).

The Proverbs 31 woman seems so perfect, she's looking after her house, sewing and knitting for her family. Saving her money, up before dawn making breakfast, has her own business, looks good. Being good at all this stuff is great but ultimately "a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised".

So I'm going to endeavour to spend more time with my mate Jesus this week and to focus on the things that make me feel happy and very blessed. The collage above is the things that make me happy- my husband, my kids, my friends, chocolate, reading, my hammock, the beach, handbags, shoes, clothes, colours, jewellery, painting and my God. Yes I know some of these things are silly and frivolous, but I figure God made me and He put in the shoe/ handbag/ clothes loving part of me, and He never makes mistakes!
xx Vanessa.