Happy Anniversary

Rocking out 18 years of marriage to this handsome guy. My best friend, my encourager, my biggest supporter and the most amazing father to our kids! So proud and so blessed you be doing life with you!

Boys to Men

Not gonna lie...sometimes being in ministry (and/or being married to one who is) can be so exhausting. Tuesday nights is one of the few nights that I fly solo while Jamie is out doing his thing. Tuesday nights are Connect groups for the youth of our community...While I am very tired, hot and would rather him be at home tonight....(just being honest here) I am very proud and excited about what he is passing on of himself tonight.

He is over-seeing the young men and leading them through a series called "Boys to Men", in which they take a look at the current state of manhood in our society, what does it mean to be a man, and what is a man among other things. They are also taking a look at issues that surround young men of today, the lack of good male role models, the personal hurdles they will no doubt face and the importance of surrounding with mentors and good friends that will see them through this tough time.

In a society where the father-figure in the home maybe absent both physically or emotionally and the worlds crazy definition of what a "man" looks like....I totally believe what he is passing on to these young men is invaluable and I am so very proud to call him my husband and a father to our children.

PS. If you have a young man and you want to send him along...I know he will be well looked after; he will have a lot of fun and have some good stuff passed on to him.

Too Many Hats

I have itchy fingers and a yearning to make and create in preparation for baby. Twenty-three weeks now and this pregnancy is flying by. Maybe it's because I am busy. Maybe it's because I have other children that need and take attention. Maybe it's because I am stretched in different directions with fingers in many pies. I don't know. I have nested. My house is sorted and decluttered...well as much as a house of nine people can be. Now I am yearning to make something for baby.... but I don't know what. I am not the fastest of knitters and baby will probably be five before I finish anything I start now. I could crochet but I have only ever had success with hats. There is only so many hats baby can wear. I could sew but that takes up space and huge effort to set up and I have to contend with little people sneaking under the table and pressing the foot when I am not ready or looking. I am stuck. Help me!

I believe this nesting mental space woman experience is not only to physically prepare our surroundings but a chance to spend time and energy focusing on this new life that we have been gifted. Mentally, emotionally and spiritually being aware of baby. Welcoming him or her into our lives by making space and preparing for their arrival. Birth is not just a physical event but a multifaceted and multidimensional, sacred event....and we must prepare and treat it so. You do yourself and your baby a disfavor if you don't. God has blessed you in the most precious of ways....recognize it and feel honoured. My thoughts anyway

Mother's in Arms

Just taking some time on my bed with a cup of coffee in my favourite cup....to rest for a moment, to reflect on this morning's launch of Mothers in Arms and to take in all the God has done, how far He has brought me personally and the amazing work He is doing in our community.

I am truly both blessed and humbled. I have so many people to thank that helped me pull my vision and today together....you are all truly awesome. God is good....so good.

True Story

Long post ahead.

True story//

A woman who was very unwell sat in the waiting room of the drop-in doctors waiting her turn to see someone. While she was waiting, she noticed a young lady come in with a small children, both of them clearly unwell and clearly needing to be seen by a doctor. Both women exchanged pleasantries while they waited.

The young mother was slightly apprehensive, then after a while she got up and went to the front desk and spoke to the receptionist there. When she came back the young mother said to the other women that she couldn't afford the price of seeing the doctor for herself so she had cancelled her appointment but waited so that her child could be seen.

Ever since I was told that story, I have been thinking about it. It's been haunting me. This is so not right on so many levels. But it's what we do as mothers isn't it? Sacrifice for our children, sacrifice so they can eat, so they can be clothed, so they can have the best that we can give them....really it we wouldn't have it any other way. But still, it shouldn't be this way.....not having access to help that we so clearly need. I know I don't know the details of this woman's life and why we she couldn't afford the fee to see the doctor and get the medical care she needed...BUT I do know that is she couldn't afford the fee there are bound to be other areas that she struggled to afford. I also know that we have no right to judge as to why she was in the position. None at all.

This makes me so sad, so angry. My heart breaks for her and others like her. Probably more so because I too like many others have been in that exact same position at one time or another. You do your best yet it's not enough. Your role as a mother (or a father) is to provide for your children, to love and care for them, to nurture them, to teach them and to equip them. But how can you when you yourself are lacking, when you are sick or in pain and can't get the relief or care you need. Or you just haven't the support you and kindness you need, that you deserve. How can one be expected to nurture our children, our legacy, the next generation well in this state?

What would you have done or said to her? Would you have done something/anything? I know many people would probably say "oh I would have paid for her" But would you have REALLY? REALLY?

I read a saying not long ago

"Are you more concerned with your standard of living than being concerned for another living?" - Francis Chan

This struck me to the core....how often have I been guilty of this? Numerous times...even when we were in a time of abundance and still even now when we certainly aren't. Thoughts of "how much will this cost me?" or "How will I make the food stretch if I give?" or "What if I don't have enough for me and my family?" Sometimes those thoughts win out and I don't act....and then I think about it for days. And yet the times that I do act....there is always enough, we always survive and it always works out. Sure, there is a pinch we feel, or we have to miss out on something but its never major.

I don't know how to fix this problem, but I know that we can't rely on the change of government to fix it. Surely they may help somewhat but it's up to us to do. For we have been commissioned to do this.....this is our role, this is what we must be doing...not just for others sake but for our own also.

One of my favourite passages in the bible is

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.: Isaiah 58:6-11

I pray for this young mother and others like her. I pray that she will encounter the kindness of strangers, that people will enter her life that will care, will help and will provide. I pray that she has everything she needs so that she can continue to be the best mother to her children that she can be.....will you join me?

Blessings Sharni xx

Life By Faith

 This mornings bible reading slapped me in the face......immediately after some gutting news. Our #lifebyfaith is not easy and at time doesn't make much sense at all and is ridiculously hard. And honestly some days I feel like I want to throw in the towel and do my own thing....because you know....surely I must know better (not!) God and I just had some words well actually I had words....God just listened and then slapped me with this! It's these words that brought me to my knees though....."for he never flinched but held staunchly to his purpose and endured steadfastly as one who gazed on Him Who is invisible. " Heb 11:27b

When Jamie and I prayed and told God we would live a life by faith...saying yes to whatever he asked....we could have never imagined the life we would be living, how hard things would be at times or the storms we would have to weather.....but we would never have known such growth, such intimacy and seen God move in tangible ways. Those are the things I hold on to....that and the deep knowing that God is good, He loves me, He is for me and He wants good things for me. That is how we live a beautiful crazy faith.

Number 8

 Here's to a flexible life plan.....Baby #8 is on its way!

Boy or Girl?