Tag Archives: encouragement
Doubt your Doubts
Doubt is like a prison holding you back from all you were created to do and be and, in my experience, fear is the captor. Start the new week by doubting your doubts and believe your beliefs👍#beautifulcourageousyou #doubthasnoplacehere#itsamindgame #fearisaliar image credit @christianwomeninbusiness
You need a HUG!
5 Reasons Why We Need Hugs Everyday
*more hug info at mindbodygreen.com
Coming Soon – Oils for Healing
By popular request, I am handcrafting essential oil roll on perfumes with a blend of the oils I personally used and found to be very effective in easing the symptoms of anxiety & depression. These exquisite perfumes are almost ready and can be pre-ordered here in the comments!
Aromatherapy is the art and science of blending essential oils for therapeutic, cosmetic and mood enhancing applications. Each essential oil has its own unique therapeutic properties, exhibiting highly aromatic extracts taken from tiny oil glands in the flowers, roots, stalks, bark, seeds, leaves, gum or rind of plants.
In Biblical times essential oils were used for healing, anointing and as a fragrance for the hair and body; in fact the Hebrew word for anointing means to rub or massage a person with oil. Now this wasn’t just a bottle of vegetable oil poured over someone, we know this by the anointing oil recipe the Lord gave to Moses in Exodus 30:22-31, where the Israelites were instructed to make anointing oil with myrrh, fragrant cane, cinnamon and cassia in a medium of olive oil.
The Bible mentions aroma and incense throughout the scriptures. Frankincense, my favourite, was added to the grain offering as “a soothing aroma to the Lord” (Leviticus 2:1-2, NKJV). In Matthew 2:11 we read how the wise men brought gifts of Frankincense and Myrrh to the new born Jesus and in the Gospel of John, Mary, sister of Lazarus, took a pint of nard, also called Spikenard, a very costly essential oil, and anointed the feet of Jesus (John 12:3). There are many examples of essential oils being used in Biblical times.
Personally, I have found aromatherapy to be an easy and effective tool for when I need an emotional lift; most nights it is prayer and a drop of Lavender oil on my pillow to induce a deep peaceful sleep.
During my journey through depression I had a spritzer (an essential oil blend with a base of water) of lavender, bergamot and rose geranium (all indicated to relieve nervous tension, anxiety, stress and insomnia), which I would use every morning, and some days every hour. Closing my eyes I would spray the beautiful blend across my face, breathing deeply and feeling the almost instant calming effects of the aromas.
Our sense of smell is the only sense that is hard wired straight to the brain
When the nose identifies an aroma it travels up the nasal cavity where millions of olfactory sensors are located. Via the olfactory bulb, the aroma is sent directly to the centre of the brain, to the limbic system, the part of our brain that governs our emotions.
When the aroma is processed, neurochemicals are released, causing an emotional or physical response (relaxing, stimulating, sedative etc.) Our brains’ interpretation of the aroma will determine the reaction.
An understanding of the science behind aromatherapy helps explain how a fragrance or applied oil can have some very profound physiological and psychological effects. It works for me, not as some magic potion or an instant “fix” for a problem, but rather in conjunction with other healing approaches for the spirit, soul and body.
#BeautifulCourageousYOU… the book soon to be released
Final cover design for Beautiful Courageous You, (BCY) due to be released by Westbow Press in June! Watch this space for updates and beautiful giveaways as we start hosting our online community: Beauty and Courage Network, a place to come and share images that inspire beauty or courage within you, share your images on your social media and the BCY Instagram or Facebook and tag with #beautifulcourageousyou for chance to win… also to simply inspire others with what inspires you!
I am so blessed to have the opportunity to speak into women and young girls lives. Now I pray this writing will grow wings and fly into the hearts of every woman and young girl that needs a lift up out of despair and into the heights of joy unspeakable X

Cover by Mookoo Designs
“Save Me”
Going over some manuscript changes in my book and this snippet stood out as something to be shared, someone needs to hear this x …
“God already knows what you need, He has a divine purpose for every situation you face, so instead of crying out “save me” or “bless me,” may I encourage you to move beyond fear-based praying, disarm your self-interests and enter into a prayer life based on love, for His love will never fail you. Love-based prayers assert trust in a Heavenly Father that is Sovereign and always has your best interest at the centre of His heart.”
Overcome with Power That Brings the World to Its Knees
There’s no escaping this layer of affliction called ‘life’, there comes a point in time however, when you must decide to either allow the darkness to overtake your life and become a victim of your circumstances or you can choose to courageously move against your fears, face every situation and determine to push on knowing that God is with you, His presence within us is our assurance that we can live in peace.
His peace is not just for getting through the tough times, but He has promised us perfect peace and contentment all the days of our lives. Where do we find this peace, this lasting cure for fear? In his book “The Sheperd’s Rod; Volume XV11”, Bobby Conner puts it like this: “This is the pattern we need to learn: As we turn our inner focus, our will, to Christ and place our affections on Him, adjusting our thoughts to the Word, we will discover abiding peace.” The Sheperds Rod: Volume XVII page 60
Although the scriptures admonish us to keep our minds on that which is Truth, this is easier said than done. In light of birthing our stillborn baby boy , my relationship with God became, fractured, to say the least, I knew I was supposed to face up to my fears with faith but instead of facing up to them I was overtaken by fear about ‘everything’!.
As days and weeks passed I slipped into a deep depression and eventually my faith was all but gone. As I write in view of hindsight I can see where the situation that I thought was going to swallow me up has become my greatest victory, the truth has set my anxious heart free, for indeed Jesus stated that we shall know the truth and the truth will set us free (John 8:32) Let me encourage you, whatever you are facing that threatens to overcome you, you will get through this and be an even more magnificent you… a beautiful, strong reflection of His Glory. YOU are an overcomer The Message version puts it like this:
Every God-begotten person conquers the world’s ways. The conquering power that brings the world to its knees is our faith. The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5;5)
Now tune into Mandisa’s smash hit ‘Overcomer’ and start doin some ‘overcoming’ 😉 x
Keep a Grip on Hope
It’s a Good Thing to Hope for Help from God
I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness!
I’m sticking with God (I say it over and over).
He’s all I’ve got left.
Lamentations 3; 21-24 (MSG Version)
Bankrupt Without Love
In recent times I have come across many people that are busy with performance, busy with measuring up to the worlds plumb line of success, busy people pleasing, wearing ‘busy’ like a badge, like it’s a status to be coveted. In prayer and pondering I asked the Lord to speak to me about this busyness… should I be more busy so as to soak in the success pool? Here’s what I believe He whispered; ‘they keep themselves ‘purposely busy’ while I have created you to be ‘busy about your purpose’, your purpose is to love and be loved, Kingdom success is measured by how well you love’. This brought such a peace to my soul, and reminded me of the words penned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13;
The Way of Love
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. (MSG Version)
Apprehended by a Spiritual Force
Lately it’s been on my heart to share an excerpt from my book, may you be encouraged that no matter how tough life gets there is ALWAYS Hope… always x
Overwhelmed with fear and alone I found myself calling on God, my God the God I had abandoned, the God I didn’t need. All the while I had been trying to do life my way, He was there waiting for me to come running back into His arms, all of my effort and strength was gone all I had left was to surrender to the hope that I once knew. Hope in God was buried deep within my spirit, early years of Sunday school had planted seeds of hope that somehow, someway there was a divine meaning to my life. As I turned my thoughts back to God, I cried out to the unseen, somehow I knew He was in the room with me as a profound peace swept over my being.
My broken heart carried a pain so deep that I could hardly breathe, still in grief from my father’s death, in shock from the promiscuity of *Jake and now I lay waiting, hoping for a miracle… the survival of my twin babies. Somehow that night my hurt collided with the healing power of Jesus, I felt simultaneously weak but strong. The apostle Paul tells of the strength he found in Christ “It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (MSG)
Letting Christ take over is hard for most of us, for me there was no other choice I had reached rock bottom with no options but to surrender my will to His. Often in a sorrowful situation we shout accusations at God and then turn and walk away, I have learned by my past to not shout at God but instead it is best that we stop and listen.
Amid the calamity, a monitor strapped around my stomach, intravenous drip and observations by the nurse every hour, I managed to drift into a peaceful sleep a peace which truly surpassed my understanding. I awoke early to the gentle nudge of the obstetrician on duty, before I could clear the sleep from my eyes he began, “good morning, we are making plans for you to be taken to a larger hospital that specialises in pre-term labour, it is the safest place to be should your twins decide to come early”. Within the hour I was in the ambulance and being taken to Rockhampton hospital, alone and uncertain of how the following days would unfold the long drive in the ambulance ushered in the opportunity for my thoughts to begin to race and before long my peace had turned to dread.
Immediately upon arrival I was taken for an ultrasound to check on the twins, a cold stone-faced radiologist performed the ultrasound without a word spoken to me. All I recall is thinking “God where are you in all this, it’s all my fault this is my punishment for turning away from you”, why would He want to answer my prayers? I was convinced that God was angry with me. Finally, the radiologist broke his silence; “we can’t do anything for you, one baby is very sick and will possibly die in the next couple of days and then the other will have a chance of survival, you need to be taken to Brisbane”. His words were like missiles flying off his tongue and straight into my heart, no warmth or empathy just very matter of fact. The hours went by very slowly that day, as I lay and wait for the next report on when and how I would be leaving, the same incomprehensible peace washed over me.
*name changed for privacy 😉