Re-evaluate Your Point

Hi it's been a while since I posted anything, I only write when I feel inspired to write something and in the busy day to day of life it's finding time to. Isn't that something. Just as I wrote that the "busy day to day of life" it made me think, what do we keep putting off because of our busy lives? When do we find the time to do things? And why did I just write that?

You know sometimes it takes something to happen for us to re-evaluate things in our lives. Sometimes we don't see everything clearly until something happens and you think wow hold on a minute. You think how could I miss that? Why have I been so blind? You're getting on with your day to day busy life and in the midst of everything bang! And suddenly you're aware of everything around you. It's not that you weren't aware of it before but it's all the more real now.

Ok let me get to the point. I know what you're thinking if you have read my blog posts before, is there a point? What point is that? What is the point? Is it all pointless? Or may you're thinking just get to the point? And why do I keep saying the word point? The biggest point I am making in this blog post is the point of our lives.

Notice the title now. That's it, there you go, look up, "Re-evaluate Your Point." Can anyone guess what that means? I know you have no time for this, with all these questions I am making you feel like you are in class again but keep reading. That maybe should be a motto for my blog posts "just keep reading, just keep reading." I do promise I am this annoying in person too if you haven't met me before or know me well, just ask anyone I know.

Anyway back to the title. I will tell you a story that got me to re-evaluate my point recently. As you may have seen for those of you who have me on social media such as Facebook I had a car accident on Saturday 1st of October 2016 in the afternoon. I was turning on to a busy road and I looked left and then right and there were no cars so I then went and next minute a car hit me on the front of my car on the drivers side. Probably from the time I looked left then right he came on my left, I don't know it happened so quickly. I didn't see him and and the three of us in my car didn't even have time to process we had just had an accident. On the short drive up to main road we were just talking about an accident that happened recently on that road and the next minute we had an accident ourselves. The other driver was ok and my friends and I were ok and that's all I could think about when it happened. All that was running through my mind was, "Is everyone ok?" We had a few minor injuries but nothing serious.

The rest of that day and in all the days following all we thought about is how precious life is. How any minute anything could change and anything could happen. I know God was watching over us because the other driver swerved to try and miss my car and if he hadn't I am not so sure I would be here writing this blog post. We were all in shock when it happened and later we were also so thankful we still had our lives. My car was a write off but we were alive that's the main thing.

You know every day we wake up, we get on with our busy day to day lives and we just don't stop to think how lucky we are to be alive. A lot of the time it takes something like that to re-evaluate your point. By that I mean your point of being alive. We all have a point of being alive. We all have a purpose. So what's your point of being alive? What do you do with your life?

Ooo careful when you start to ask yourself those questions it really gets you thinking the ultimate question, what am I doing with my life? Your life is a precious gift and if you are re-evaluating your point and you find things you need to change then you need to do it. Life is too short to get wrapped up in the busy day to day. Life is too short to get stuck in the same situation over and over again. Life is too short already and at any moment anything can change.

Writing that just reminded me of the Dash Poem. Have you ever heard of it? I am going to copy and paste it here from youtube of the author who wrote it reading it:

Click on this ----  The Dash or watch below:

This was my car just after the accident:

Thanks for reading! I am so thankful and appreciate all my friends and family in my life! I have been blessed with wonderful people in my life. I thank God that we walked away from that accident! 

If there is one thing I learnt from this and I have a learnt a few times in my life but it seems even more real now is that we need to re-evaluate our point! 

Love to you all,

God Bless,

Until I write again,

Nicola Hill

Substance

I feel it's that time again when I've got things on my mind and I feel like I want to write. I love writing it's my thing. It's always been my thing. I may not be Shakespeare quality but at least I can form words. This is just my sense of humour if you haven't encountered it before or if you have I apologise. See this is what I love about writing. I just start a post and the words come together as the post goes on. I know what you're thinking what sort of word coming together is this. It's a lot of rambling but you've read it all up to here haven't you?

Ok so go back on the link to this blog post and like it if - (no!). The whole "like this post if" doesn't work and I'm not going to bribe you in to liking my blog post. You get absolutely nothing by liking it. You probably looking for that X in the top right hand corner right about now or you're wanting to see where this goes. Is there anything in this blog post with any form of substance. Hmm that is the question.

A couple of sentences before this one I just discovered what I will call this blog post - Substance. I don't always start my blog posts with a title sometimes I write the title after. That's how I write. I have to find the right title to fit what I'm thinking. Now I looked up definitions from googling substance.

In this post I am talking about substances such as liquids - actually no that's not the use of substance I had in mind. That's not my style of writing. The word substance that I'm using is in relation to man. Have you ever heard of the phrase "a man of substance"? What does that mean to you?

To me in short it means someone with a good character, humble, honourable and loyal. There is a lot more you can write about what it means, there are many definitions. I found the quote below which I liked:

Substance is one the things we look for in friends and in leaders and in family and we are always looking for substance. For that special substance in them that makes them who they are and makes them unique and draws us to them. Do you know who has substance? All of you. Everyone has substance however it's their choice whether they use that substance or not.

God made us with substance. 

"The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives life." ~ Job 33:4

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." ~ Ephesians 2:10

"Know that the Lord is God! It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." ~Psalm 100:3

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

The Power of Love

I have written posts on love before but no matter how many posts I write about it, I won't even scratch the surface. I wrote recently that without love everything else is pointless, we need love in this life. We do, everyone needs to feel love for others and to feel loved. It's what drives our life, our relationships with others and what we do. The lack of love also drives our life, our relationships with others and what we do. You see the difference between the outcomes with the presence of love and the absence of it.

I started writing this blog post in February and I kept thinking about it and writing more and having more ideas for this topic. When I think of the title it makes me think about the song called the Power of Love and some of the lyrics that go, "The power of love, force from above, cleaning my soul." I don't know who wrote those lyrics and what the person wanted them to mean but those words made me think that love really does clean our souls. It takes away all the bitterness, contempt and hate and it leaves us with love in their place which is powerful. It also comes from above because we learn love first from God.

Our lives stem from love and when they are driven by love and when we feel loved we thrive and when they are driven by other motions or we feel a lack of love we fall. You can see in life from people you know what the absence of love does or what happens when someone doesn't feel loved. The distress caused from this just shows you the power of love. You can see in life what the presence of love does and how happy love makes people feel and how it builds then up and this shows you the power of love.

We get hurt the most from the ones we love and we get the most encouragement from the ones we love. Love in itself is pure. Love isn't what causes pain, it's the absence of love that causes pain. Love is important. Love is needed. You don't love people because they are perfect because you wont find a perfect person. You love people because despite the fact that they're not perfect you choose to love them anyway. That is true love.

Love is sacrifice. The greatest sacrifice was when Jesus died on the cross for us. It wasn't about Him or His life but it was about us and saving us. I am not saying you have to die for people you love, I am saying that love is not thinking about yourself all the time but thinking about others first. It's sacrificing what you want to do for what someone else wants to do.

Love does not take advantage. Some people use love as a way of controlling another person. They use someone's love for them and can take advantage and abuse and manipulate. In this case they're not showing love and people become afraid to get away from it. If someone says they love you but they're hurting you constantly that's not love. Love does not deliberately hurt.

When we are thriving off love and giving love we are using the power of love and being the best version of ourselves. Remember love in itself is pure and good there is no bad in love.The bad stems from other feelings and emotions. We are not always going to be perfect even though we love because we can hurt those we love but the people who love you in spite of being hurt is where love is in its truest form.

Love doesn't have to be returned. Yes I typed that correctly. Love is not a give and take. God asks us to love even when it's not returned. That's right even when someone doesn't love you back, you love them anyway. Love is an act of giving not receiving.

Love doesn't die. If you truly love someone, you will always love them. No amount of time, space and distance will change that. If you've chosen to love someone you will love them forever. The real power of love is that it doesn't die. You may think but sometimes love does die. No that is the absence of love when love isn't there anymore. If love stays it does not die.

This brings me to the last thing on love in this topic. We control the power of love. Love is a choice. No one can make you love someone and no one can tell you not to love someone. You choose who you love. When you don't love anymore you've chosen not to love. When you love in spite of everything you've chosen to love. You can't kill love, love is always there but it's your choice whether you use it or not.

I hope if anything this has helped you see just how powerful love is and how important it is in life. Love is behind a door but we have the key. We have the choice of whether is open the door to love or not. We have the choice of whether to flip the switch and leave the power of love turned on or not. God asks that we always keep using the power of love in our lives and never turn off the power.

The Power of Love. How will you use it?

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

The Beauty of Writing

I recently went on a trip to South Africa to see my family. I brought back my poetry books where I wrote many poems and my diaries that I wrote in when I lived in Zimbabwe. When I was in Africa, I sat on the floor reading through what I had written in them. It brought back a lot of memories of my life in Zimbabwe.

Reading through the things I had written back then also made me realise how much I love writing. Even as a teenager I was writing poetry and writing in my diaries then I wrote a book and now I have a blog. Wherever I have gone in life I have always been writing.

I also came across letters and cards to my family while I was in South Africa. This flood of memories went through my mind and it was such a special feeling. Just through reading I took a trip down memory lane.

If I hadn't had all that writing to read I wouldn't have had that moment. That's what I love about writing and reading other people's writing. Writing keeps things in the moment and you have something to look at years later. 

In a modern world one thing we are missing is letters and writing. Everything is very short hand these days, quick texts and quick posts. Quicker ways of keeping in touch. It's fast and simple but I think it misses things. This is just my thought, we all have our own :). There are other means of communicating too with those such as phone calls etc. 

I don't exactly have a theme for this post it's just my thoughts. I was just thinking of the beauty of writing. Even people who say they don't write, when they need to write something for example a speech or letter it's beautiful. 

I like that writing lasts. Look at all the authors whose books are still read today. Look at all the letters from loved ones people cherish. Look at the writing you have done that you can look back on.

We all have things we love to do and I love to write. Everybody has their thing and I like that everybody has different things they love to do. 

It was good to read some of my writing from years ago and I may post some of it on my blog sometime.

Until I write again, 

I shall love and leave you,

Nicola Hill 

                                 

Make A Start

I've sat staring at the cursor flicker on and off, looking at the blank page and not knowing where to start. Then I realised that's how I am going to start this blog post. And then I knew what the title of this post is going to be. I have things on my heart that I want to write about. That's the best feeling. I haven't written much lately and I miss it. Now I want to write. I have a lot I can write about. This feeling like I want to write is amazing. I can only write when I feel that inspiration and I feel my inspiration coming back.

I signed in to my blog tonight and on the recent views I saw one of my blog posts "A message of Hope" has got the most views lately so I opened it up and read it. As I was reading I was thinking God helped me write that. God is my inspiration and God's helped me write. I am so thankful that I can write and I want to keep writing for Him.

We come to the title of this blog post, which came in a very thought provoking moment (not really) but that's the point of it, I didn't have a title immediately. I just made a start on this blog post and then this mixture of thoughts in my head is coming together to create something. Who knows what it will create but as you keep reading I hope this mumbo jumbo makes sense. I just wanted to write mumbo jumbo in my blog :). Ok back to the title...

That's what we've got to do sometimes. It's not about overthinking things it's about just going out there and making a start. The best place to start is to start. Put one step in the right direction and step after step later you're on your way. You just need to make a start. So wherever you are and wherever you want to be, make a start to get there.

The question that runs through our mind is how am I going to do it? What if it doesn't work out? It's questions like those that stop us from starting. We can't base our lives on "What ifs". We don't know what life will bring and sometimes that's the beauty of it. You can't say this will happen and that will happen. You don't know what is going to happen. All that stress of what could happen will weigh you down.

That's when you go out and you just make a start. I don't know what will happen but I trust God has got a plan for me and that's enough, I have faith in that. Just like I didn't know what this blog was going to be about but I just started it anyway and as I'm writing now the words are flowing. I feel the keyboard and as I'm typing away it feels good.

Have you got a long essay to write? Make a start. Have you got a job to look for? Make a start. Have you got a house to clean? Make a start. Have you decided not to read my blog posts anymore? Ok that one is a trick question ;). My point is sometimes you don't think, you just do and sometimes that's the best thing. Sometimes it's not the best thing too. It depends what you're making a start on.

Put the key in the engine of your life and start it and then you can drive on your life's journey that God's planned for you. Make a start.

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

A poem for my Papou (grandfather)

My Papou (grandfather) passed away on the 10th of August. I couldn't attend his funeral but I wrote a speech and I wrote this poem that was read at his funeral. He was always writing lists so I wrote a poem in the form of a list. 

Here is my poem in memory of my Papou:

Number one of my list,

My Papou will be really missed,

Number two,

Our lives have been blessed to have you,

Number three,

You loved your friends and family,

Number four,

You are not alone, your wife and daughter were already waiting for you when you opened the door,

Number five,

The memories we have in our hearts will keep you alive,

Number six,

The things that made you who you were was the perfect mix,

Number seven,

You’ll be looking down at us from heaven,

Number eight,

Everything you’ve done we really appreciate,

Number nine,

Don’t worry about us we will be fine,

Number ten,

We’ll meet again, rest in peace until then.

 Love Nicola 

Gossip

Hi all!

I starting writing a blog post the other day but something was missing. I knew I had things on my mind that I wanted to write about but I couldn't find the words. I haven't written in a while and it's been a hard year and I haven't felt ready to write something. I know the moment when I feel inspired to write and I haven't felt it until now. I have been reading over my own blog posts and even some of them have helped me lately. I wrote them when my faith was strong. That's the thing about faith it's like a plant you have to water and if you water it, it will grow and if you don't water it, it will start to die but you can always plant a new seed, you can always rebuild.

My life has been hard this year, it's been hard because I've been listening to the views of people over the view of God. Sometimes no matter how much you care for people they don't care for you in the same way. Sometimes friends don't turn out to be friends. Sometimes people judge you before really knowing you or where you are coming from. Sometimes we forget that God loves us and God knows our heart, He knows who we are. In all of this I lost sight of who I am. I felt down in myself and I wanted to hurt myself sometimes. I cried a lot and I didn't want to live.

I've read about people who've felt that way because of others but I didn't know it could be me one day. The words we say and the way we treat each other have a massive effect. Words and actions can be two of the most damaging things. That includes me, I have to watch my own words and actions. I am not judging anyone and I am not a perfect person. I have faults too and I have made mistakes. I am just writing about how it felt.

The thing about us all is that we all have faults just different ones and because we're not perfect we don't have a right to judge others but we all do it and it turns in to this thing called gossip. I found a bible verse tonight on gossip that says, "He who belittles his neighbour lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent. He who goes out as a talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps things hidden." ~ Proverbs 11: 12-13.

I am not writing about myself being gossiped about but I am writing about gossip in general. We have all been gossiped about at some point in our lives. Being around a lot of gossip lately has made me think about the impact it has on others. I have seen the hurt people have felt from it and gossiping does damage, it doesn't do good. It causes many problems. I saw a quote that said, "Be careful who you open up to. Only a few people care, the rest just want to have something to gossip about."

There will be people in life that we don't get along with. There will be things people do that we don't like. There will be things people do that we know is wrong. The more we talk about it, the more it turns from a conversation into gossip. It's interesting when you write it like that isn't it because it makes me think wow I gossip too. Everybody gossips. If you type gossip quotes in google there are no inspiring happy quotes on gossip. It's not portraying gossip as a positive thing because it's not. Gossip is talking about someone behind their back. There is a quote that says "Whoever gossips to you, will gossip about you." Very true! It couldn't be truer.

Here is a quote that I liked:
 
Gossip becomes an addiction. When conversation turns into belittling and putting down others that's when it has turned in to gossip. It's easy to want to talk about other people. There is a difference between acknowledging their faults and gossiping. At the end of the day the human race is just stupid. We hurt our own race from within. We don't need to get hurt by animals or any other species because we do it to ourselves. Don't take me bluntly I am not having a go at the human race, it's more my sense of humour. We are just stupid people :).

Even with our stupidity God loves us unconditionally. God's taught me to love people even when people don't love me. I love people. I don't hate them for what they do to me. I don't like the things people do sometimes and I am sure people don't like the things I do sometimes. We're all a bit faulty, we're all a bit gossipy, we all can hurt. Gossip extends the hurt. By putting someone else down it doesn't make you any better, in fact it makes you worse than the person you are gossiping about.

I really liked this quote below :)

The one thing I have learnt this year is not to let the words and opinions of others get you down. The only opinion you need is God's. Maybe that's why I went through what I went through because God wanted to teach me something. I know who I am. I have good things about me, I have bad. My friends will accept me and value me as I am and people who don't want to be my friend won't. I like being people's friend. I know sometimes people will close the door on me but when I am someone's friend, I am their friend. I like this quote below:

That loreal ad has just popped in to my head. You are probably wondering what I am talking about and how this has got anything to do with anything. I like the quote from it that says "because you're worth it." Never forget in life that you are worth it. You are a special person. I appreciate all the people in my life, I love you guys!

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