Hi Sis,
read this only now. Thanks for the remionder about what fat arms could mean...recentty (even last afternoon) looking at pics with my fat arms made me go "Oh yak!!" so your mail was an encouragement so I get a different perspective on it!!

I love the way you end it by asking what the shape of 'my heart' is?

May we overflow with love and compassion, acceptance and forbearance as He does with each of us.

Blessings
sal XO

Hi Beloved sis,
So glad my sharing on 'fat arms' helped you see a fresh perspective. Don't worry about your arms sis - they don't look fat to me - now as for my own - that's another matter. Not sure how I ever got such fat arms! Hoping that my recently aquired padding, fat arms and all, would make a thinner person feel cushioned well and comforted when I hug her! :)

Yes, dearest sis. May we, just as you said, overflow with love and compassion, acceptance and forbearance - just like He does with each of us. Interesting that you should say this because just this morning I came across an unknown desperate girl on the road - and oh how my heart went out to her. I was sure God had me there at the time so I could show kindness to her. And I felt the tears prick my eyes afterwards feeling for her. And then I thought of someone who had showed compassion and kindess to me just yesterday and my eyes filled with tears. It made such a difference to me. And I thought I must write a blog about it next year. So thanks for re-iterating it sis. And thanks for your wonderful example of reaching out to the hurting.

Much love and every blessing this season,
Anu XOX

Oh, Anusha! You poor darling!

I feel your pain as I am often flinging things. I think I must be the most clumsy person ever to walk the earth :-) I have a natural ability to walk over danger. Also these days I don't think my feet want to lift themselves as high as they did when I was younger, hence I am forever tripping over. What a lovely husband you have. I think my Leon would have reacted the same way. He is so patient, kind and loving, often putting his own needs after mine. That's why I try to nurture him as much as I can :-)

I love your wisdom, that 'why' word really isn't productive at all. Of course we are not going to get an answer, but so often I insist in asking 'Why????'. Yes, I agree I must be asking 'What would You like me to do now, dear Lord?'.

Life does fling things at us, usually when we are not expecting them. Myself, I cannot wait for 2016 to be over. Surely next couldn't be any worse. Thank goodness for our faith and trust in Our Almighty God, what a gift this is to all those who wish to believe.

Anusha, you are in my daily prayers, along with others who suffer from an autoimmune disorder. There is no reason for it, except it is what it is. I think when we accept our lot in life, praise Jesus for each new day and be grateful for what we have, this gratitude is returned to us and showered down on us fifty-fold.

May God bless you today and always one-hundred-fold.
Love and blessings,
Jo'Anne xoxoxo :-)

Thank you beautiful Jo'Anne for your loving response to my blog. I admit I had to chuckle over myself that day and it has given me more laughter each time I recall it. My Shan came up trumps bless the man. And so lovely to hear Leon is the same. May our faithful God bring healing to him through his surgery and even before. Be assured of my prayers sweet friend.

Glad to hear I am not the only clumsy one Jo'Anne. I too see to get worse with age. :) In this case there was a loose wire so I think I could be excused. Well, hope so anyway.

I am so sorry that this year has been a really hard year for you. I too have had years like that and the good news is that if it can't get worse it will only get better. So hang in there beautiful friend. Praying for you as you navigate this tough obstacle course called life. May 2017 be a great year for you and Leon and the children and grandchildren.

Much love and prayers for you too.
Hugs,
Anusha XOX

Hello sweet friend,

What a wonderful post this is, and what a fabulous conference it was. I love reading your blog, even though I mostly don't seem to get the time to respond. I often think of it, then get distracted ('goldfish brain') :-)

Often we are unable to see our own purpose for being somewhere or doing something in particular. Others can see it but we cannot. It was obvious to me that you were at the conference in Sydney to bless others (as you always do), and to be blessed right back in return. Eventually, we always reap what we sow.

For me, the conference was wonderful. Meeting those I have known on Facebook only, for a couple of years. It was so lovely to meet you finally, even though there wasn't a great deal of time to be together. I think next year I may need to make an appointment with you :-) This year's conference is definitely going to be one of many for me. I got so much out of it. Prior to going, I thought 'Okay, this is exciting. I shall meet so many people, and learn so many things'. Well of course both of those happened, but more importantly I felt God tugging at me and pushing me in a certain direction. Often when we are busy in our day-to-day lives we don't seem to have enough time just to be still and listen to Him (well I know I don't). This is something that I need to concentrate some more on.

God never ceases to amaze and surprise me, and I am so happy that He did surprise you. What a blessing you were to so many over the conference weekend. I am looking forward to doing it all over again next year, which by the way, will come around way too quickly :-)

Much love and blessings,
Jo'Anne xoxo :-)

Hey beautiful Jo'Anne,
It was great to meet in person at last. I'm so sorry we didn't get a chance to chat properly did we? I'm glad we managed one meal together! But next time we must defnitely make more time for each other. YES! YES! YES!

I'm so glad you enjoyed it to the full and also had many wonderful God moments. May next year be even better. This is my 5th one and the best so far - because it was the first time I had such a special tryst with God.

The surprising thing sweet Jo'Anne was not that I'd be a blessing to others and be blessed at conference. I sure hope I did bless others. And I am always blessed by it. The surprising thing was that the most important reason for me to be there was not any of these things. It was simply to meet God. I've been pursuing Him hard all year and this was the climax! He met with in a very powerful way. Praise Him. And has topped me with His joy. I would not have put meeting him as the number one reason for my being there, because I can meet Him at home too. Oh but it was. Praise Him. He is a faithful loving mighty personal amazing awesom God!

You too are a great blessing to all who know you Jo'Anne. May He work above and beyond all you ask and think in the coming year.
Much love always and prayers,
Anusha XOX

I'm not surprised He surprised you my friend,you deserve every bit of it! You persevere and hope and never give up. Im so grateful for your experience of a heart filled with joy!
Gives me hope too. I think it was you who introduced me to Ps 1 as well!
And to love His word!
May God continue to bless you and your family!

Hey beautiful Angie,
How lovely to hear from you. Thank you for your kind comments. May our blessed Father top you up too with His joy as you wait on Him. Yes, there's always hope for more and for His wholeness and joy in our lives as we search for it and ask for it. Matthew 7:7 :)

Glad to hear I introduced you to Psalm 1. It's been the base of my life and my dear friend Michelle gave the same Psalm to me 2 days later in my birthday wish. It was so good to have it reiterated.

Sending warm thoughts and many blessings on you and yours too.
Lots of love,
Anu XOX

Dearest Anu,
I'm always touched by your writings, (whenever I get a chance to read it). Today is one of those that touched my heart. I'm writing this from a motel room, I can clearly understand the story of the motel shower taps!! Thankfully ours is working with a bit of manoeuvre !! We drove to Melbourne to attend a family wedding and are taking a scenic drive down the coast. Oh, the creations of God! Our motel room faces a beautiful bay which reflects the Peace of God. We will be leaving in an hour's time, on a 4 hr drive back to Sydney.

One thing I know is, Jusus has captured my heart. Even if our circumstances change, our hearts are hot for Him. Rom 8:34 says that HE is permanently seated at the right hand of God interseeding for us day and night. So, whatever may change our times, He never changes and He anyway keeps us under the shadow of the Almighty! He will tug at our heart strings to keep us hot. So, for those who love and fear the Lord, when trouble or sickness tries to drag us down to lukewarmness, God will keep us hot in the love for Him.

I feel I can write more, but I think I have written the essence of it.
May Jesus always tug at our hearts and keep us hot. We will all rejoice when we see Him face to face.
Much love & hugs,
Chits.

Dearest Chits,
How lovely to hear from you. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and to respond during a busy time away. Bless you. I hope you had a wonderful time in Melbourne - weddings are always exciting and seeing beautiful places on the way is refreshing isn't it?

Thank you for your beautiful testimony of our faithful God who woos us constantly to Himself - making us be piping HOT for Him. That's a beautiful promise that He is interceding for us night and day. Yes, I echo your words. May God keep us piping HOT for Him constantly and may we glorify Him through it. What a wonderful day that will be, when we see Him face to face.
Much love and hugs and many thanks,
Anu XOX