Wednesday Wisdom

A collection of short thoughts, quotes, and encouragement also posted and curated for social media and therefore written accordingly.

Enjoy, comment, share! 😊

#wednesdaywisdom
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“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
– Maya Angelou
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This weeks #wednesdaywisdom comes to me as a sobering reminder to look at what I focus my energies on when occupying any space alongside others. Whether that be in the home, at work, at church, the street or any other kind of environment that I find myself breathing in the same air as another.
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Task is important, details are important, taking ground, making traction, pioneering, innovation – all important, but the ‘things’ that have the most eternal significance are not measurable in numbers and growth charts. How we treat people matters.
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Why can’t we be awesome builders and kind? Why can’t we have healthy debate and disagreement and respect? Why can’t we be driven and motivated and notice people in the process? Why can’t we be creating excellent things and be full of love?
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Well, I believe we can but it takes effort. It takes intention. It takes assessing our blind spots, being aware of self and surrounding ourselves with loving and honest people who will not only encourage our strengths but also call out our weaknesses.
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“People will follow a leader with a heart faster than people with a title” – Craig Groeschel
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Be kind – it’s free! It could change the trajectory of someone’s life more than a project or programme ever will.
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#wednesdaywisdom #wednesdaymotivation#faithdiariesblog #faithblogger#christianblogger #lovewins #bekind#mayaangelou #leadership#leadershipquotes #encouragement

#wednesdaywisdom
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Sienna turns two this week and for a whole year, she has loved to run! 🏃🏼‍♀️ From pelting it down our concrete garden path 😱 to seeing how far she can escape in the vast open space of our local park.
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One thing she absolutely loves to play is chase, the trouble with this is that mid-sprint she often turns her head to look back. As she does this her little two-year-old orientation falters and the inevitable face plant ensues.
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This reminds me that we rarely move forward in our own lives if we’re always looking back. If we pay too much attention to past failures and hurt it continues to define our present. Likewise, if we live on past successes we make no haste to grow into more for our future.
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We mustn’t ignore or bury our past to the detriment of healing, and we definitely must use it to learn from. However, we need to let the future we want to build define our present, fuel our decisions and keep us forward facing.
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“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3:13-14‬
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#christianblogger#wednesdaywisdom#wednesdaymotivation#faithblogger#faithdiariesblog#christianlifestyle#encouragement

#wednesdaywisdom
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What does rest look like for you?
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What does it mean to you?
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Is rest important? Is it passive or active? Is rest a weakness or strength?
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In my devotional this week it suggested that rest was a form of worship. Interesting. 🤔Given that Romans 12 talks about our whole lives being an act of worship I thought, yes, it would fall into that category so it makes sense 💭. Why did I struggle to see rest as worship?
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As I let the thought permeate further I realised, rest = trust. Rest requires belief, it requires faith that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do. Rest allows God to be God. Rest is a gift. Rest restores and heals, physically and mentally, rest gives space to stop and think. Rest is God’s idea, He programmed our bodies to rest, to sleep to re-energise. Nature rests. We have day and night. Rest acknowledges that our value and worth are not found in being unhealthily busy, in doing and having and achieving more by our own merit. Rest creates room for miracles, because when we’ve done all we can, we trust, we wait, we rest, we hope and we sleep because He who is faithful never does.
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Rest knows that God has our back.
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“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28‬ ‭NIV‬‬
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#wednesdaywisdom#wednesday#wednesdaymotivation#encouragement#rest#bestill#romans12#faith#faithdiariesblog#faithblogger#christianblogger#gritandvirtue#christianlifestyle

Please don’t eat elephants 🐘! This is an old proverb that @richharris87 quoted in conversation the other day and it’s been my mantra recently as we tackle some big life changes and decisions.
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Sometimes when there are many aspects of our lives that we want to improve, grow in or change the overall end goal can seem far off and overwhelming. I love this reminder to take things one step at a time. You can’t tackle large things – like elephants – all in one go.
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It’s a reminder to focus on His daily bread (@opechoi 😜) and say “ok, what one thing can I do today that moves me forward in this area?”
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Many bricks make up one strong and sturdy wall but it doesn’t get built in an instant. Each brick has to be individually laid. Miss one out and there’s a gap, a weakness in the integrity of the wall. Each one is important.
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When we only focus on the large elephant in front of us it’s too easy to walk away and not begin at all, but in order to overcome or achieve anything we do have to start somewhere, and the easiest way to do it is with one small bite size manageable task.
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I’m sure it would take me a really long time to build a brick wall because I’ve never done it before but a skilled builder whose skill is practised and refined could do it much quicker. The builder still has to build, but it’s probably second nature, so each new wall doesn’t feel overwhelming but rather achievable by laying one brick at a time.
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Do you see where I’m going with this?
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What are you avoiding today? What feels like too high a mountain, too big a task, but you know that until you deal with the elephant in the room, it’s not going to get better or take care of itself?
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One day at a time, one step at a time, we can do this 💪🏼
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#christianblogger#encouragement#mondaymotivation#faithblogger#christianlifestyle#faithdiariesblog#womenempowerment#onebiteatatime#mumsofinstagram#inthistogether#yougotthis

“For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.”
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2 Timothy‬ ‭1:6-7‬ ‭NIV‬‬
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God within you, it’s a gift, to have the Spirit of the living God choose to dwell in you, it’s an unwarranted unmerited, incredible gift. He wants us to fan it into flames, let it grow, burn deeper.
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We get to choose which fire we stoke, the one of flesh; self-doubt, pride, insatiable desires, jealousy or the one of the Spirit which sparks faith, grace, love, mercy.
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Fire needs oxygen and fuel to keep burning. If you’re feeling out in the cold today or like your fire has dried up – I’ve been there! But don’t worry..
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“The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33 v 4
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God can reignite, restore, renew and refresh.
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Sometimes I think we focus on ourselves and the specific ‘gifts’ talents or abilities we think God needs us to use when we look at this scripture. We definitely have those but first, if we fan into flames the gift of God Himself in our lives, all else will start to align.
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#faithdiariesblog#faith#tuesdaymotivation#fanintoflame#christianlife#christianblogger#faithblogger#keepgoing#womenempowermen

Perseverance – “a continuation in the state of His grace” I once heard this definition of perseverance and I loved it. In fact, I’m sure I’ve posted it before. He’s not distant or indifferent when we grapple with things but rather He sustains us through and in it.
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The first #wednesdaywisdom of 2019 reminds us to keep going! New Years is often a time to restock, rethink, let go of some things and dream into the future but it’s also important to hang in there, carry on and keep going. January 1st doesn’t mean everything instantly changes but it’s a good reminder that we’ve made another year, another day and each one is a gift.
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I know in our fast western culture it’s not easy to stick with things, to see the bigger picture, to think long term and base decisions on deep convictions. Being a scientist Einstein would have understood that part of the beauty of science is that it recognises failure as part of the process and one step closer to a solution.
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Einstein’s quote gives us a good reminder to keep going even when it’s tough if we truly believe in something to try and try again.
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Happy Wednesday all 🙂
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#wednesdaymotivation#wednesdaywisdom#christianblogger#humpdaymotivation#faithblogger#faithdiariesblog#womenempowerment#encouragement

Yep! #wednesdaywisdom
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Words and actions start as thoughts and beliefs. Do you see yourself winning or losing? Succeeding or failing? Blessed or cursed? •
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What do you meditate on? What do you speak over yourself and your future?
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“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”
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Is your soul prospering? It’s all connected.
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We can choose what to think, we can train our minds and change our habits.
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I pray you think you can today.
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#wednesdaywisdom#encouragement#soulsnack#faithdiariesblog#faith#faithblogger#christianblogger#christianlifestyle#positivethoughts

I wonder why it is and when it is that we learn to suppress our feelings or deem emotions as second rate or a sign of weakness?
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My daughter is two and fully displays and makes known EVERY emotion that she feels. Joy, sadness, jealousy, hurt, excitement, happiness, they all pour out of her without a second thought. She’s not yet learned the deceptive art of masking her feelings and she has full permission to FEEL whatever it is she feels.
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Now we all know that feelings and emotions shouldn’t be the master of us and sometimes we have to get them under control to see clearly, but I think too often we swing too far in the other direction and don’t allow ourselves to be true to how we really feel in a moment for fear of appearing or rather not appearing a certain way.
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How can we really deal with or harness any emotion good or bad unless we’re true to our God-given emotions?
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Sienna can be happy and miserable within the space of 2 minutes, each feeling is real at the moment of and yet neither completely define her but all are valid.
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So this week I’m trying to learn from my two-year-old – maybe not the tantrums – and allow myself to be more in tune with my feelings and own and accept them, the good, the bad and the ugly. To not apologise for them as if it makes me weaker. We’re so quick to label ourselves and others, if I’m sad I’m depressed if I’m excited I’m foolish if I’m passionate I’m deluded. But to feel is to live and be fully alive.
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If we don’t feel sorrow keenly we won’t feel joy deeply either.
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FEEL
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#feel #faith #faithdiariesblog#faithblog #faithblogger#christianblogger #christianblog #encouragement #tuesdaymotivation#tuesdaythoughts #wednesdaywisdom

Rich, Sienna and I over the last few months have been travelling back and forth, living out of suitcases, starting new jobs and nursery whilst also selling our house and buying a new one! Pretty much every weekend since February has been spent either showing people around our house of viewing prospective new ones. Before that, it was clearing and decorating ready to sell.
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We knew this would be a crazy season and so we decided from the offset that we wouldn’t panic, we would trust God and have faith.
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Worry is a choice and faith is a choice. I can’t say we’ve had a 💯 record of worry-free days but by and large, we’ve felt calm as we’ve DAILY relinquished control of what the outcome of each endeavour might be. In doing so we’ve left room for God to move and honestly, He has, in every way! In provision, timing, and peace. I can’t say it’s because we’re super wise or holy but we looked at the future and decided who we wanted to be and what we wanted to have achieved by the end of it all. AND what we didn’t want, which was to only survive to the end of this having clung on by our fingernails with full heads of unnecessary grey hair.
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What I’ve learned is that when we panic we plan our way out of miracles. It’s really ok to just take one day and week at a time and do what you can and hand over the rest to God. We either live by faith, or we don’t.
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I just started Erwin McManus’ book, “The Way of The Warrior” on Audible today. As I was driving to work I heard the above quote amongst a plethora of golden wisdom that the book contains. His words just rang so true.
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How will you act?
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#faithdiariesblog #dontworry#encouragement #christianblogger#lifestyleblogger#wednesdaywisdom #faithblog

A few years back now, I trained as a professional dancer. The entertainment industry can sometimes be a negative and ugly space that offers huge highs and equally deep lows. There are often more performers than jobs available which can breed comparison and bitterness if left unchecked. What I noticed after graduation is that it wasn’t necessarily the ablest and talented that found and kept work. Rather it was those that continued to work hard and persevere. It was those tenacious in their self-belief and/or pursuit of work that enabled them to find success. It made me realise that our beliefs are so crucial to our victory. We hear it all the time from self-help quotes, podcasts and books and yet I wonder how many of us actually take note and do anything to actively guard our hearts and train our minds. When we get to the edge of ourselves do we give up or keep going? I once saw a greeting card which a picture of an elderly couple on it that read something along the lines of, “People often ask us how we’ve managed to stay married all of these years, we answer, ‘we come from an era where if something was broken we’d fix it’”

For some reason, we’ve grown up in a western culture that can feel entitled, that feels like just because, we want something we should have it, just because we’re passionate about something we should be able to do it. Previous generations who fought wars for our freedom were just grateful to be alive. No doubt they fought for the freedom of opportunity that we have today, and in many ways, it’s a blessing. However, our ease of opportunity if we’re not careful can lead us to lose the fight to make things work. We must remember and learn from our elders that victory doesn’t just happen.

So today’s slightly late #wednesdaywisdom which is now technically a #thursdaythought is a bit of a throwback to an insta post I did a while back entitled: DO IT ANYWAY! Whatever you ‘it’ is – keep going and do it anyway.

Do it anyway

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When it’s hard, when it’s going well and when it’s not, if no-one notices, if it’s slow going, if it feels like you’re not making the progress you thought you would, if it’s scary, when people don’t understand, if you’re standing out there on your own..

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Do it anyway

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Keep going, persevere, keep your head down and plough on. If it’s a labour of love it will require some pushing. Speaking as a Mum I can tell you that actual labour isn’t fun! In fact, it’s a lot of hard work! Sienna wasn’t birthed in the ‘natural’ way, I had a c-section after a looooooooooooooooonnngggg labour without my preferred result. So even when things take an unexpected detour, and the road doesn’t look like what you envisioned – keep going and DO IT ANYWAY

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Three ‘W’s to help keep you going

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Know Your Worth – your validation doesn’t come from others, culture or any outside influence. It’s an intrinsic value you’re born with as a human and discover when you know Him who created you for purpose and died for you out of love for you. He believes you are worth His sacrifice. Before any success or accolade, triumph or failure you’ve made or will make, before any kind or ugly words were spoken over you – your worth was already established

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Know Your Why – why are you doing what you’re doing? You started because you thought it was worthwhile so remind yourself of that often – like all the time! “Your vision could be someone’s only hope”

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Know Your Where – what’s the vision? “Without vision, the people perish” or in some translations “they cast off restraint” Proverbs 29 v 18. In other words, without vision, we lose sight of things, forget the goal, let it slip, don’t care. Set the vision ahead and look at it often as you take each step

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Hope that encourages someone today. I’m encouraging myself to. Tag someone who needs to hear it. Love y’all 😊❤️

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