Time

Where does the time go? The days, the months, the years. One moment you're thinking about what could be and the next you're looking back on all the years behind you. Have you heard the saying:
 Time waits for no one.

It's true. You can wish for time to stop, you can wish to go back but one thing about time is it goes on. Time doesn't depend on you. That's the thing about time, what happens, happens. It cannot be changed. Time will keep moving. Which brings me to the story of time.

The story of time is a story of what happens as time goes on. That we do have control over. We have a choice every day about what we will remember because everyday as time is moving we are making memories that we will look back on. Those memories cannot be changed because a time machine has not been invented yet but the good news is I am working on it. No I am not, I don't believe in time machines, you will never be able to change what has happened in time. That is why it's important what you do with each day you're given as time is ticking and there's no rewind.

What has happened cannot be changed but there is another saying time heals all wounds. To me it means that time heals emotional wounds, The wounds that cut people to the core from death to life experiences. Those feelings that overwhelm people. I think those wounds do heal with time but we have to give them time to heal. They don't heal in your time or when you think they should. They don't completely heal either there'll always be a scar but it won't hurt at much anymore because it won't be an open wound. The best thing for those kind of wounds, give it time. It even says so because it's written in the handbook of emotional wounds. There is no handbook of emotional wounds.

A good question is who are you today? It really got me thinking about who I am. Am I who I want to be? Am I affected by what has happened to me in time? Of course I am, we all are. Our history, our past, everything affects who we are today. It's those unique things that make us who we are. I'm not perfect, I know that may come as a shock to some of you but I'm not. I haven't ever met anyone who is either. I'm not happy with every aspect of who I am and I can never say that I am who I want to be. Let me explain why.

To be a good person is a lifelong thing you have to keep working on every day. I will never be perfect so I don't strive to be, I will never be fixed. I am a constant working project. The thing I love about God is that although He knew that we're going to be these billions of ongoing projects we were still created and given a chance to work on ourselves. He is the engineer that created us and offers His help all the time but we don't always take the help. We don't always follow the instruction manual that is the bible. We think we know how to put the pieces together but we don't. I don't, I can't put them together without Him and I don't always get His help when I need it.

That's the thing I do need it, we all do. God gave us time. This time to have our lives. As our lives go on and we wonder where does the time go, we should also be thinking how are we spending it.

So we've all got this huge gift of time from God, how are we going to spend it?

With that I shall love and leave you,
Until I write again,
Nicola Hill

I Am Me

This is a new poem I wrote called I am me:

I Am Me

I am me,

I am the only person that I know how to be,

I am not a little and I am not a lot,

I know what I am and I know what I'm not,

I love people, I like what I do,

It's a treasure to find people who love you for you,

I am not a creation that comes from the mind,

I am a person, one of a kind. 

I can be scared but I am not afraid,

The past has never stayed,

Even when things don't go my way,

I know there is hope for a better day,

I am thankful for my life and for those who see,

That I am me. 

~ Nicola Hill

A message of Hope

I'll start off by being thankful for my life, the people in it and for everything that's happened in my life the good and the bad because the good brought me through and the bad made me stronger.

I think God is my everything summarizes my life. Without God I don't know where I'd be today. Actually I do know where I would be and it wouldn't be in the good place I am now. He's been my guide and given me direction for my life. I feel like I am in the place I need to be. I am not worried about tomorrow because I know whatever happens I'll get through it with Him even if it's hard at first. I know whatever happens in my life there will be a light at the end of every tunnel. Trusting God requires patience. God doesn't just click his fingers and give you what you want when you want it. Imagine what kind of people that would make us, if we got what we wanted when we wanted it. We'd have no appreciation.

I am thankful to God right now for this blog post and for giving me a love of writing to write what's on my heart. So the story on my heart today is you. Yes I'm writing about you. Let's talk about you. What do you really want right now? Think about it. It could be a number of things. A new job. A new love. A fresh start. Some new object of some sort. We all have wants. What's yours?

Now think about that thing you want. Are you ready for it? Will it add value to your life as your life is now? I'm sure you can answer these questions but are they the right answer? Is there a right answer? Yes there is a right answer. God has the answer. He will give you something when He knows that you are ready for it. If you have it too soon it could destroy you. God's timing is the perfect timing. Waiting is the key. Waiting opens doors. 

I saw that quote online and I really liked it because it's so true. God does open doors. He will open doors for you, don't lose faith in Him. Have faith in His timing. For example if you try to swim before you've learnt to swim you could drown. In the same way God makes sure you're ready to face what's behind the door before He opens it. Good things will always happen in your life but be patient. There are good times always with God because even in the bad times you know the good times are around the corner. He's not going to hand things to you, God's a teacher. He will teach you and when you have learnt and when you are ready for the next stage, you can walk through that door He's opened. 

That image above comes from the bible verse Isaiah 41: 10 "fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand." God gives me strength better than any energy drink. Excuse my sense of humour.

God will give you what you need when you need it. When you need a friend God will send you a friend, when you need hope God will send you a message of hope, when you need a job God will provide you with a job, when you need money God will provide. However it happens and through who it happens, God's got your back. 

He is our strength:

How do we reach God? Through facebook? Twitter? Email? Maybe mobile, God must have the latest Iphone, He is God after all. He probably has one that hasn't even come out yet. He must have a really good signal to always be reachable. I want to join God's mobile network. No you don't reach God through any of those. You reach God through prayer. 

For you, for the people you love, for your life, for everything you can pray. Prayer is a direct line to God. There is never a busy signal and it never goes to voice mail. Prayer is never unanswered. It's answered by God in His own time and in His own way. I'd like to see those mobile networks beat that. It's FREE too. All you have to do is open up your heart to God. Tell him how you feel. I start my prayers with "Yo God what's up?" Ok not exactly but just speak to Him there's no book on how to pray, you just do it. "Hi God I could really use your help right now..." One way to start. "Hi God I'm not sure about..." Another way. God will listen to you no matter how you pray. You just have to open up your heart to Him. 

Do you remember the question I asked you? It was, "What do you really want right now?" What do you think you should do about it? I'll give you clue; it begins with a P and ends with a Y. That's it, you got it - Pay because money solves everything. There you go as long as you have money you will be happy. You thought I was going to say Pray didn't you. You were right that is the correct answer. PRAY to God for hopes, dreams, troubles, to help others and pray and thank Him for what He's given you so far. 

There is so much beauty in your life and God's plan for you is amazing! He's got an awesome plan for each one of us. Jeremiah 29:11-12: "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come to pray to me and I will hear you." 

That concludes my blog post for today. Love life :)! It's what God wants for you to have a good life. Wherever you are now there's a bright future ahead :)! 

Until I write again,

Love and God Bless,

Nicola Hill

Overwhelmed

This blog post has been building up on my heart for a while. I write when I feel inspired. I can't write for the sake of writing something or because I haven't written in a while. I love to write. Some people express themselves verbally, I express myself when I write. Verbally I sound like a monkey, when I write I sound like a human. Not in all cases I can express myself too but writing has always been a part of me and always will be. I also have a sense of humour which I can't explain but I have a humour that comes across in my writing too so just go with the flow and pretend that you actually find it amusing.

I am overwhelmed. I think that's the best way to describe the reason behind my new blog post. I am overwhelmed in a good way, in a way that I am so incredibly thankful to God for amazing things that have happened and continue to happen in my life. No I am not engaged or even dating before you jump to conclusions as that seems to be the first thing people think most of the time. Although that is an advert too, it's only a few months now until my sister's wedding and I still have a spot open for a date, so any respectable young gentleman (just sounding professional in case my dad reads this) send them my way.

I am happy the way my life is, really happy in fact. Sometimes things happen though and if you are
not careful even when your life is on an uphill climb certain things happen that bring you down. There is good and bad in the world but you've got to cling to to the good and stay away from the bad but sometimes the bad comes and finds you. Even so whenever anything bad happens as I have said you have to focus on the good things and realise you have a lot of them and I have a lot to be thankful for.

One of the lessons I have learnt very recently is about me too. I always believe that even though people can be bad there is good in them too and it has been proven countless times in my life. People react according to how they are treated but if you treat people right you will find the good fruits of their personality. Recently I lost my faith in people a little bit and began to doubt if there was actually good inside only to find that there was. I don't want to do that again but I can't say I never will.

There is so much hate and people writing about people saying that people are this and people are that but God tells us to love. God tells us to love to the point of extending love to our enemy. Which is my favourite bible verse Matthew 5: 43-48. I can't say I have any enemies, I don't like the term and labeling people that. I don't like some things people do but that doesn't mean I don't like them as a whole. I think we all have the option of being better but the choice is ours to take it. I have a puppy love where I just love people and I am thankful God made me this way. I am thankful I can love easily even though at times it's been hurtful when people don't love you back but as I've grown in the years in my life I've realised that's it's not about people loving you back, it's about you loving them regardless.

Between the lessons I have learnt recently and the good things that have happened in my life I am overwhelmed. God has taught me some good lessons and made some amazing things happen in my life. From things in my job to my personal life it's been a wonderful time. I really go in to the detail saying "things" but it's not about people knowing what things I am talking about, God knows my life better than anyone and that's sufficient for me.

Going into the topic on certain "things" though, I will tell you now that I don't know when but I am going to start writing another book about my life experiences. I wrote my first book "Home Sweet Home" which I thought was going to be my major book but I wrote it when I was young and it was my first step in the book writing world and it's a fictional story with some of my life between the pages. Now I've come to the realisation that I have a story to tell, a different story. I don't know when I will write it but there is a story coming. Yes wait on the edge of your seat, no I don't intend for you to wait at all, whether one person reads my writing or one thousand I hope it helps or encourages someone in some way.

In summary: God's always good, I'm overwhelmed by the beauty in life and I'm going to write a book one day. In the meantime I hope you continue to keep reading my blog, I say this as if people read this but whether this is your first time (welcome by the way) or you've visited before, I'm thankful that my words get read.

God Bless you all.
Until I write again,
Nicola Hill

What I've learnt in 25 years

It's about time I posted a new blog post. I'll never stop writing but with my busy life I haven't written as often but when I feel that moment of inspiration to write something, I come here to my blog and write it all down. After I've formed words, people read my words strung together in my blog posts. I really make my blog sound interesting don't I ;). I've written many posts on here and you're always welcome to browse through and share my blog if you want to.

I've learnt a lot in my life. I've recently turned a quarter of a century. I think the biggest thing about turning 25 for me was looking back on my life and all the things that got me to where I am today, the good and the bad. I'm very thankful for the life I have and God's been a great support and friend to me over the years. I love life with God. Through Him I've been blessed with amazing people in my life.

If I'm writing a blog post a lot of the time God's going to be a part of it because He's what has helped me and I never would force God on anyone or judge those that don't believe, you choose what you believe, God is who I believe. God's the reason we're all here and I love God and I am so thankful to Him for everything so He's in my posts. God's a VIP in my posts and in my life ;)!

In 25 years I've done a lot of things I've dreamed of doing. I've had dreams become a reality and I've had nightmares become a reality. I've had tough times which I didn't know when they would end.

Life isn't always sunshine and rainbows but there is a lot of sunshine and rainbows in life. I think when clouds come in your life, you've got to remember that clouds will clear, they always do. I can't say I've remained positive all my life but I try to, I try to look at the beauty of life rather than the darkness. Although sometimes darkness surrounds us and in those times God's been my light where I've followed His light to find my way out. I've tried my own way too which took much longer.

When you're in the dark and you're holding a flashlight, are you going to walk in pitch black and risk it or switch on your flashlight. The obvious answer would be to switch on your flashlight. In this instance the darkness is your problem you're facing, the flashlight is God who is always with you and when you switch on the light you're following God's path.

Now going back to my age, 25 years old, yes I'm ancient now, not quite. I'm at the age where some of my friends have got married, had children - a lot of which is happening all the time, my facebook is a constant stream of engagements, weddings and babies. I'm very happy for everyone :). I'm still looking to bribe someone to marry me before my younger sister gets married in November. So far any money I offer they still refuse to marry me, I must be a real catch ;). Actually I am happy with my life the way it is, I'm always open to meet someone but I know if it's God's plan it'll happen. This year my "little" sister gets married and I couldn't be happier for her :)! I don't know if you noticed the "little" part because although she's younger she's taller than me.

My sister, my dad, my mom's brother and my grandparents star in a huge part in my 25 years. My dad raised us both when my mom passed away when I was 9. I used to call my dad, my sister and I the three musketeers because although we wished my mom was with us we made it through. That's another thing I've learnt in 25 years that life isn't forever. I've lost many people in my life but their memory still lives on. I have wonderful memories of my late mom and late grandmother and many other family and friends. It's amazing how even though people are no longer with us, the way they touched our life remains with us forever. I wish they were here with me. One great lesson I learnt from my late mom and my late grandmother was to be kind to people and they were a great example of kindness. That's what God wants from us, You shall love your neighbour as yourself - Mark 12:31.

I love people, I love how everyone is unique. That's another thing I've learnt in 25 years is be yourself. You shouldn't have to change yourself for anyone and you should surround yourself with people who appreciate you for who you are. Life is too short to spend it running after someone who doesn't want you. God says we should love all people and we should but we can't make the people we love, love us. I don't like the saying love the people who treat you right, I think you should love regardless because we were created by God to love one another and if Jesus can love us when he was betrayed by man, beaten, nailed to a cross and still forgive us then I'm sure anything anyone has done to you in your life will never compare to what man did to Jesus and yet sometimes we can't forgive the smaller things. We need God's help with forgiveness it's not easy to forgive people who have hurt us. Forgive but still be careful because just because we've forgiven doesn't mean that they have changed but we have. Forgiving eachother as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive - Colossians 3:13.

Growing up in Zimbabwe the power and water cuts and food shortages taught me not to take anything for granted and it taught me to appreciate everything more. When we'd have all day or all week power cuts, I am really thankful I live in the Uk and the lights are always on with the exception of the five minute power cut I experienced once. I appreciate being able to go to the shops and everything you need being in the shop. I remember getting everyday things like milk and bread from a friend of a friend in Zimbabwe because the supermarkets were practically empty. I remember queuing for hours for things like milk, bread, sugar, flour and fuel. Imagine standing in a queue for a loaf of bread, I didn't have to imagine, I did it ;)! Zimbabwe is still a beautiful country with such friendly people even with the economy, I am still so happy I grew up there and I am glad I've learnt to appreciate what I have more. It has improved since I lived there, the economy is still not at its' best but the shelves are full now, there has been a lot of new places opening and tourists are even visiting. I'd still recommend it as a country worth visiting, it's a really beautiful country.

I could write forever on things I've learnt in 25 years because every day I'm learning something new but I wont write an endless blog post ;). My older blog posts are all part of the things I've learnt. I've learnt a lot from reading the bible and having a relationship with God. The best part of my 25 years has been God and hopefully He's going to help me live at least another 75 years so I can get a letter from the Royal Family here in the Uk on my hundredth birthday ;)! However long my life will be and we never know, anything can happen, I pray it continues to be a happy one and I know with God in my life it will be no matter what life throws at me.

With that I will love and leave you with this post to swallow,
Until I write again,
Nicola Hill

A Midnight Poem

Here's a midnight poem from my heart to yours, 
May you discover your open doors, 
May your love run deep, 
May you have treasured friends to keep, 
May you have someone to catch your tears, 
May you conquer your fears, 
May God stand as your guide, 
Always by your side, 
May even when you have it tough, 
You know God's love is enough,
For your life I pray,
May God watch over you day by day,
May on your darkest night,
God be your light,
I want you to know,
That wherever you go,
God's created this life in which you star,
And God's never far.

~ Nicola Hill

Human Beings

We are people. Yes this is the start of a very intelligent blog post. I really aced that one. We are not aliens, we are human. H-u-m-a-n. It's not an excuse being human it's a fact. We fall under the same category as human beings.

What does it mean to be human? Maybe you can tell me. In an ever changing world with all kinds of people there is a way we as people would describe being human. Human beings are kind to one another. I am sure if other species could study us that's not the definition they will find.

Especially when human beings + social media mainly shows the hurt people feel from others. Whether it's from a break up, friends or colleagues or even strangers. Everybody hurts.

What we all have in common is that we all have feelings and feelings are what drives us. However feelings are not what drives God. God loves people who hate him.

I am not such a fan of social media at the moment because of the way people are written about. Not to say I haven't written things when I have been hurt too, I am not saying I am any better.

It reminds me how different we are compared to what God wants us to be. Mark 12: 30 - 31 says "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself'. There is no commandment greater than these."

It said love your neighbour. It never said except when they... It said love. We are asked to love. February isn't the month of love but all our lives is a time to love.

Human being - it doesn't matter how they are treated they love anyway. (A definition I would have liked to see).

Your heart can get crushed when you open your heart to others, it can can hurt but God heals all wounds and keeps you strong to keep loving. He gave us the ability to love.

It doesn't matter what people do to us; what matters is what we do to them.

A good verse on this and part of my favourite bible verse is: Matthew 5: 38-48.

Love to all,
Until I write again,
Nicola Hill