I don’t know how your world looks at this very moment, but over this summer, mine has changed considerably.  I’ve had a career change and so has my husband; my eldest daughter became engaged and wants to be married at lightning speed.  We are also planning renovations on our house, a surfing trip for my husband’s birthday and we have a fiftieth and a twenty-first birthday to plan.  Even just thinking about all these things makes me break out in a cold sweat.  How will we organise everything and remember all of the things that need to be done and when they need to be done?  How do we even know where to start?  I need inspiration!

It sometimes seems that life is forever changing and we have no control over it.  Things change so quickly that we can be in a spin and be unsure the direction we should take in our decision-making.  You just want to yell STOP!!!!  And jump off the merry go round for a while.

I have some good news . . . you can have some control over the way your life goes . . . just take a step back for a moment, make yourself a cuppa, have some quiet time and ask God for guidance.  Then you can start to look at your life and decide what you want it to look like.  Write it down.  Once you’ve done that, you can set some goals and work out what you need to do to achieve them.  It’s amazing how some circumstances can motivate us into action.

So get inspired and work out what it is you want your life to look like.  Some areas you may want to set goals in could be physical, self-improvement (books you will read etc), spiritual, family, friends, career and financial.  Read some of the ideas I’ve added for you to think about before you get started.


THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE
If you’re single and you’d liked to find that special someone to spend the rest of your life with, then write down all the qualities of the man you’d like to meet and start praying and believing for him.  If you’re married and the polish has worn off a little, work out how you can spice it up.  We don’t have to fall into the trap of just accepting things the way they are and never have anything change for the better.  If you want to have a fantastic marriage, it doesn’t just happen – you actually have to put something into it.


GET A VISION FOR YOUR CHILD'S FUTURE
For those of you with children, some stages in life can be difficult but if you can get a vision for your child and see them how God sees them – as someone special that He has equipped with gifts and talents with a unique destiny in mind – then when your screaming child won’t do what you’ve asked them to do, you can have a different outlook and react differently to what might be your current habit.

I feel very blessed because God told me before I even had any children that I would have a son and name him Joshua and then He gave me a vision of his life.  I went through some difficult times having children but I always held on to what God had told me and still do today.  As we raise our son and guide him, I hold on to that vision and thank God for his goodness.

See your children as God sees them and set some goals for your relationship with them.


KEEP GROWING YOUR FRIENDSHIPS
I grew up in a family of boys.  My siblings were all boys.  My cousins seemed to be all boys.  So I really didn’t have a lot of female influence in my early life.  Hence my initial attitude towards going for coffee with girlfriends was ‘What a waste of time.’  It wasn’t until I was a little older and had kids of my own that I learnt the value of going for coffee.  I didn’t realise that not only is it a great way to catch up with friends, but you get free advice and guidance about things in your life.  I have a few friends I go for coffee with these days and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.  They are my sounding board and my strength – I can just go ‘bla bla bla’ and they understand.  I can be myself.  I don’t have to be in control of everything.  And you know what??  I feel much better after spending time with them.  They let me know that I’m normal and everyone goes through stuff.

So I want to encourage you this year to develop good friendships with other women who you can trust and you know will stand by you no matter what.


DOING YOUR BEST IN YOUR CAREER
We all want to be fulfilled in our workplace and feel we’re doing a good job but have you ever asked yourself if you are doing everything in the very best way you can?  Are you keeping up to date with the latest info?  Improving your own skills and knowledge?  Ask yourself how you can better do your job this year and work on improving yourself and your skills to be the very best at whatever it is you’re doing.  Work out some ways you can become better and set yourself some goals for work.


I know, as I make myself a cuppa and take some quiet time, my world will become clearer.  I can map it out, set some goals and feel better about how my life is going and I know that, as you take time to do this, you will also feel better about your world.

God has said He wants us to have an inspired life but maybe He’s waiting for us to get inspired and find out what it is we actually want.  So get excited – don’t sit back and settle for life because that’s not God’s best for us.  Work out what it looks like for you and become the best you can be this year.  Get started and have an inspired summer that lasts all year.


Love Gai