Well, its' been a while since I last posted something....  I guess I have been quite busy these past few weeks - and I can't believe that we are already at the beginning of October!!!

At the beginning of September, from the 4th to the 13th, I went to Canada (or should I say Quebec!) with my mum to visit my cousins.  They live in a small town near Montreal called St Bruno de Montarville (pas Compostville - c'est pour toi, Gege ), and it was so nice seeing them again.  The weather was good and even though we had a bit of rain, we managed to get a lot of sunshine - just enough to charge my 'batteries' and face months of rain back in Ireland!!!  My cousins took us to different places and we had such a good laugh together - nothing can replace family!  My mum really enjoyed the break too and we've come back with great memories to cherish until the next visit...  Here are some photos:

Picking apples and eating some!

Trying to seat on an elephant (not real!) at a Safari Park. 

Picnic in Chambly, a town near St Bruno.

Chambly.

Chambly again - I loved that place.

And here's my beautiful wee cousin in her Princess outfit - so cute!

That's my holidays.  Then, when I got back to Belfast, I only had few days to rest (not really as I was back to work) before the launch of the Worship Academy Ireland.  This is the course I did in England over 3 years ago and now, I am part of the team who facilitate this course over here.  And it was such a privilege to be able to serve such a great bunch of people - there are 21 delegates and already, we feel like we are all part of the same family!  The presence of God was awesome and the teaching was amazing.  I can't wait to see what God is going to do next and I'm looking forward to the next weekends.  We are still accepting more people until December time, so if you are interested and need more information, email me or check the website: www.worship-academy.com.

Yesterday morning, I was reading Romans 12 in the Message translation - it is so good that I thought of posting some parts of the chapter:

'So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.  Don't become so well- adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.  You'll be changed from the inside out.  Readily recognise what he wants from you and quickly respond to it.  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.'

.....

'Love from the centre of who you are; don't fake it.  Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.  Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.  Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.  Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant.  Don't quit in hard time; pray all the harder.  Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.  Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath.  Laugh with your happy friends when they are happy; share tears when they are down.  Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up.  Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.  Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone.  If you've got it in you, get along with everybody.  Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God.  "I'll take care of it."  Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink.  Your generosity will surprise him with goodness.  Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.'

Wow, it's so good.  And I pray that these scriptures won't just be nice to read but will become real in me and will show in the way I live my life every day!

Today, it should have been my dad's 70th birthday!  I would have loved so much to have had a big party for his 70th but I guess that where he is now, he is having a party everyday and I know that one day, I'll be able to party with him forever....

I can't believe that next month, it's going to be a year that my dad has passed away and somehow, it only feels like few weeks ago...  I wish that the whole world could have known my dad - he was such a kind person, very humble, hard working, loving dad and husband, a family man with such a great sense of humour!  I miss him so much....  I wish I could have the words to describe him to you but I am not very good at it.  So I thought of posting some photos in his memory:

April 1995, Brighton with my mum when they came to visit me.

August 95, France - playing in their back garden!

December 95, France - my sister thought that pig tails would suit him!

December 2001, France - with friends' daughter.  He loved kids and kids loved him.

May 2005, France - with my sister, making a BBQ especially for me!

September 2005, Italy - back to where he was born, Calabria.  He hadn't been back for 58 years!

This morning, I was reading Matthew 11 and I noticed something I had never noticed before - not that I had never seen before because I'm sure I had read it so many times!  But you know what I mean, when the Lord points out something to you and it's kind of a revelation.

Well, in verses 20 to 24, Jesus talks about the cities who haven't repented even after seing so many miracles.  Here is what it says: 'Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. "Woe to you, Korazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgement than for you"....'  And He goes on the same for Capernaum.

Now, Jesus doesn't say that the miracles are wrong or that He didn't perform them.  No, actually it says that Jesus had performed most of His miracles in these cities.  So people must have had faith and yet, they didn't repent.  Earlier on, in verses 2 to 6, when John's disciples ask Him if He was the Messiah, He tells them that 'the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those  who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news is preached to the poor'.  So according to Jesus' response, miracles are part of the Kingdom of God and we should expect them - God still wants to heal today.  But with what Jesus says later on, miracles should be there to show the power of God so that the people could repent - turn away from their sins, follow Jesus and honour God with their lives.  Repentance is the key and should follow miracles!!!

At least, that's what I felt the Lord was saying to me...

Few months ago, I read a very good article in the Joyce Meyer magazine so I thought of sharing some of it with you.  Be blessed!

... Perhaps today you don’t feel empowered, victorious, happy or even loved. I want you to know that you can win your battles, you can overcome, and you can experience life to its fullest… everywhere, every day, in every situation.

The life you want is possible, but you have to take it. It won’t just happen. You must go for the heart of God with no-holds-barred approach.

Matthew 11:12 illustrates this and has literally changed my life: And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (NKJV). This passage challenges every bit of apathy or passivity within me because Jesus is ultimately calling us to wage spiritual war with an aggressive (He called it violent) spirit.

I’m not talking about doing things in the flesh or responding to situations or problems with anger or hatred… these are what Paul described as "the weapons of the world" (see 2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV). I’m talking about aggressively using the weapons that Jesus has given us to effectively win the battles we face, and one of the greatest weapons is prayer.

It’s time to be earnest and intense because prayer makes the impossible, possible. It releases God’s wisdom and power into every situation we face. Supernaturally, it accomplishes things that we could not have accomplished ourselves, and it interrupts the plans of the enemy for your life!

I’ve learned this the hard way. When I pray without intensity or aggressiveness and do not "come boldly" to His throne, then I don’t see the results that I’m after (see Hebrews 4:16). Sometimes we just say, "Well, I prayed about it". But let me ask you: if your enemy, Satan, is trying to derail and destroy you with all of his might, then why would you ever fight your spiritual battles with such passivity?

Prayer is simply acquiring the wisdom and perspective of God that only God can provide. I’m not saying that we don’t ever need to seek counsel from others. But honestly, I’ve seen way too many people seek advice from others without seeking God first.

A few years ago, one of my grandchildren was having trouble sleeping through the night and had really never slept well since she was born. For two years my daughter and I talked about what to do, read books about it, consulted the paediatrician – all those things. But then it occurred to me to pray about it – fervently. So we began to pray and ask God to intervene and give us wisdom. Within two weeks she was falling asleep and staying asleep.

Sadly, it took me two years to realise that I had left God out of the equation. That’s what happens sometimes – we forget that we can turn to the powerful privilege of prayer at any time for every circumstance.

Your prayers don’t have to be long and loud to be effective. James 5:16 says, …"the earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]".

God longs to do supernatural things for you and through you. In His Word, I’m amazed at the things He did on behalf of His children. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying we shouldn’t live with a strong measure of practicality; we should always walk in wisdom and use godly discernment. But we should never let the ordinary keep us from believing we can become extraordinary individuals.

The enemy’s plan for you is ordinary. But God’s plan is extraordinary. And it is prayer that enables us to access all of what He has for us as believers. As we pray, God begins to lay out His wonderful plans, and He shows us the steps we need to take to reach new heights. On the other hand, if we don’t pray, we stay stuck in mediocrity. It’s that simple.

From ‘Enjoying Everyday Life’ (April 2008)