Sunday, 29 January 2017

the adventure begins..





Welcome to Week 1 of our Exploring Your Story adventure. If you just happen to be reading this blogpost but you have no idea what the Change Your Life by Exploring Your Story adventure is all about, go to this blogpost to find out more. You are very welcome to sign up and join us by simply leaving your email address and name in the Comments below or by leaving me a message on this Facebook page.

For those of you who have been waiting for this day, very patiently, for a while now..guess what? We are now 30 34 adventurers altogether. Some of you I know very well, some of you I know fairly well and others of you I've never met face to face. I'll make sure that I post a video next Monday so that you can at least put a face and a personality to the name.

I will be praying for each of you, by name (I have a list!), every week. Please join me and pray for me and for the other 29 33 ladies who are with you. In fact, why don't we do that right now!

Heavenly Father, thank You for this long-awaited day. Thank You that it is none other than You who have called us together and given us a heart and a desire to draw near to You and venture forth into unchartered territory. I ask You to bless each and every one of us. I ask You to draw near to me as I draw near to You. I ask You to reveal yourself to me and to all of us. In Jesus' name. Amen

Without any further ado - let's get going. Do you have your journal handy?


Adventure # 1:  Read the book

I want to make sure that we are all on the same page (excuse the pun) as we start out, so your assignment for this week is to read my book Brighter Than The NoonDay Sun, available here. If you have any trouble getting hold of the book, please let me know and I'll arrange for you to receive a pdf directly (R80). I am aware that some of you have already read the story of my testimony, long ago. Please re-read it this week. I'm also aware that, in anticipation of this adventure, some of you have already purchased and read the book. Great, then you're striding out ahead.

As you read..

  • Think of the one thing featured in my story that you would most like me to discuss further. 
  • Now write that down as a Comment below this post. Thank-you :)
  • Think of your own salvation story. How did it happen? Where, when and in what way? Do you even have a story of how God reached out to you? Maybe you know about God but you don't actually know Him personally yourself. Write all this down in your journal.
  • Here's another thing I want you to write down in your journal - I want you to answer these questions..on a continuum of 1-10, how close am I to God right now? Is it an 8, a 4? Compared to this time last year? Compared to this time 5 years ago? Compared to this time 10 years ago? Do I want to be more intimate with Him than I am right now? What are some of the things that are stopping me?  

As you can see, its a bit of a personal inventory that I'm asking for. I'm going to be doing it with you and if I haven't said it before, let me say it now - I'm immensely grateful to have you as my companion, my accountability partner, on this adventure. You are welcome to email me, leave Comments below my blogposts, leave thoughts on the Change Your Life Facebook page, or leave a personal message there..I'm happy to engage personally with you on anything that arises as a result of our time together. In fact, that's what this adventure is all about, its a guided adventure. 

We're off to a gentle, slow start but I did promise you that I would keep it low-key. We're all busy. But if you're the kind of person who likes to have a daily calendar to follow (as I am), here goes:

Until next time..

Tonight (Monday)  

Read Brighter Than The Noonday Sun. Get it here 

Tuesday 

Read Acts 9: 1-30; Acts 22: 6-11; Acts 26: 13-19

Wednesday

Listen to this Be Magnified

Friday

Watch this just for fun 

Saturday

Bring just one aspect of your life that you're struggling with before the Lord. Ask Him for wisdom for this area of your life.

Sunday

Go to church. Even if you don't have a church, even if you don't usually go to church, go to church today. Just think of it as..an adventure!

Look out for my first video next week. Until then, avante! 




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13 comments:

  1. Excited to be on this yourney with all of you! Thank you for your story Gill: read it last night and finished it this morning and I am so deeply touched by how faithful God has been in your life! Saviour of a precious person I feel privileged to call my friend!

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    1. Thank you Adelle..faithful indeed. So let me know which part of the story you would like to know more about.

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  2. Hi Gill - I hope I am not sending this the second time - tried to comment from my phone but it vanished- I loved loved loved your book - so many things I can relate to! love your writing style! God is good - Amen

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  3. The parts on how you experienced the visits to heaven really caught my attention! just so many things that we can not even imagine through our flesh! what a day that will be when we all meet our Saviour face to face! maybe a book no 2?

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  4. Hey Vashti, I will definitely be spending more time on the heaven bits. I've almost finished a second book with the working title of Places I've Met God which is..well, all about places I've met God LOL, encounters with God in different places and times. Glad to have you with on the adventure

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  5. Great! You inspire me to finish my book! So little time to write!

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    1. Vashti, I've found the only way is to set aside a dedicated hour every morning (or whenever suits you best)..you have to make time, you will never find it :)

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  6. Wow. Loved reading your story Gill! Your visits with God and your hearing His audible voice are what I would most like to discuss further. Excited to be on this journey!

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    1. Hey Kim, your wish is my command. I will definitely be covering those things in our adventure together. Look out for the first video tomorrow (if I can ever get the jolly thing uploaded..taking hours!!)

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  7. I think the thing that struck me most was your innocent vulnerability as a child and how that impacted your walk with God. How do we get to that place again? Think of the walk we'll have with God if we could combine that with wisdom, obedience and maturity! #childlikefaith

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  8. I agree with Adelle and Kim, I long for that simple child like faith and hearing His voice, having the tangible awareness of Him beside me. The thing that stood out most to me, disturbed me actually was how your faith was belittled and mocked at such a young age, at the hands of good, loving and well intentioned adults. The enemy has declared war on childhood for so long and it is so subtle how he attacks children in so many ways. And then it takes us so long to recover and be restored from the damage done in our childhood. I would like to discuss this issue of the skepticism of adults, even us as 'Christian' adults... how do we nurture, encourage and foster the experience of the Spirit realm in children and the unique and simple way they have of encountering God so as not to quench their faith, cause disappointment or unbelief. Also how do we make church and our Christian walk relevant, meaningful and authentic for children, so that the children in our stories, be it biological, extended family or those we encounter through community and ministry grow up strong in their faith, bold and unwavering in their confidence and identity in God. Many questions.....

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    1. Sjoe Diana! That is such an important issue..I would love to hear from some of the other women have to say about this issue..consider the conversation open!! I will definitely also set up an interview with someone I know who has a whole ministry just focused on this and perhaps I can shoot some video for us all to share of this interview. Watch this space.

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