Meet Up: Retreat Time Here We Come

It is that time of the year when I can finally go away and put my feet up, while surrounded by a large group of lovely ladies...

Yes, my dear single mums.  I had the great opportunity to attend the Super Working Mums end of year retreat again.

Although I see most of the retreats as important as each other, this one is the one that prepares you mentally for the preparation of your goals and vision boards before the end of 2016.

The theme of the retreat was 'Maximise time, Manifest Dreams'. A time to reflect and identify those special gifts that will help you fulfil your dreams. For me, the dreams I know God has put in my heart.

The workshops were very interesting and very helpful along with the teaching by the guest speakers.

There was time to eat, go for a swim, get a massage or just relax. We all enjoyed the weekend and were able to come back refreshed and ready for the New Year 2017!

I am very lucky that my children are getting older and that I have a family member who looks after them so that I can attend the retreat.

Sometimes as a single mum, leaving the kids behind is just not an option.  That does not mean that it is not possible to prepare your goals for next year.  Now is the time, as we are in December, and Christmas is just around the corner.

I will be taking some time over Christmas to reflect even more on the past year and take time in prayer for God to agree with the goals and pictures I have cut out and glued in my vision book.

You could also make your own retreat at home with the kids. Why not ? At the end of the day, they are part of our lives and the big picture, how fun can it be to do it together.

Whatever way you decide to prepare for next year, try to see where you and the children are going, where would you like to be? What would you like to do ? Will you be in the same job ? Will you try and earn more money or be financially free of debts ? Will you be starting that ministry God has called you to start ?

I urge you not to enter into 2017 without a vision for yourself and your children because I believe we all have a purpose.  Even if it is just about making a better life for our children right now, we need to prepare to be successful in our households, whatever that means to you.

God Bless, Au Revoir!

Challenge: Another big goal accomplished!

Bonjour everyone,

I hope you are all doing great!

I want to tell you about one of the challenges I set for myself in 2015, as part of my goals for 2016.

This next challenge really surprised me though, as I was not ready for it, even if I had written it down in my vision book.

This weekends challenge came to me.  I did not choose to do it in advance. For some of you who know me, I do not like driving long distances.  I just do not like it. However, I knew that I needed to build my confidence behind the wheel if I wanted to travel as a public speaker.

This weekend was the last retreat for the year with the Super Working Mum group. As we set out on our journey (we normally take one car and of course I preferred not to drive !!).  It became clear that I would have to contribute to the driving experience. I was shaking just at the thought of it.

I remember asking God for help in the past, asking Him for the opportunity to drive far away from home, but not this weekend though! I was not ready but God was!

So I had to drive for two hours. Yes two hours! That was an experience but I did it in the end.  We all got home safe and the journey was so easy.

So, my dear Single mums, as you prepare your goals for 2017, know that God is listening and He can make it happen, if it is His will.

I did not have to rush, God made it happen. He can make it happen for you as well.

Good luck with your goals.  The New Year is just round the corner...

Reflection: Are you going faster than God?

Bonjour my dear single mums,

I hope you are all doing great! In the last couple of blogs, I have shared with you how important it is to take time to reflect on this past year 2016 and prepare to write down your goals for 2017.

When you look back, why did you do what you did? Why did you write that book? Why did you do the conference? Was that goal really what you felt God had placed on your heart? Or were you running ahead of God's plan for your life?

After a few days of reflection and while preparing my goals for next year, I decided to stop and take a step back.  I started asking myself questions.  Why did I do what I did? Write the book, help out at conferences, attend retreats and start the blog etc.

Even though these were the goals I wrote down last year in 2015, how could I ensure the goals were not out of my own heart's desire or simply just for my own selfish ambition? Instead of running towards every opportunity, should I have taken time to be more patient and wait on God before writing the goals?

This time my friends, I encourage you to prepare your goals whilst spending time with the Lord.  Ask him to show you the exact goals you need to work on for next year, in preparation for your purpose. Then pray and do not stop.  Keep praying, praising and worshipping God. Only He can approve those goals, not you.

It has been a struggle for me to sit down quietly, I can assure you. Especially when the kids are making so much noise. So, I started having my quiet time at night before going to bed.  When I found it hard to sit down still, (I get really distracted too!!) I started using a timer.

I started with a couple of minutes and now I can sit still for at least 30 minutes. I then take a break and I do it again.

My dear single mums, I know it can be hard to think about all these things to do but the year end is nearly here.  The shops are filling themselves up with Christmas gifts.

While we are working towards having a better life, take time in God's presence.  Dedicate all the few hours you have for him day and night and He will come through.  He will show you your goals, just sit still and listen...

Xxx

Travel: New York, New York

Meet Up: Catch up with the girlfriends!

Hello ladies,

I hope you are all doing great and are also taking time to enjoy some quality time with your girlfriends.

Last week I travelled by coach to Birmingham to meet one of my closest friends Nisha. Before that I met with Angelika, another one of my closest friends who also came to Birmingham. The following day we embarked on our girlie week trip of a lifetime to New York!

We always promised each other that when our birthdays were five year apart, we would travel together as it might be the last time. (We travelled to Poland together a few years ago, it was awesome!). Now, the kids are growing up, the girls might get married, make babies, who knows so yes that was probably the last big trip for the three of us.

Having good and positive friends is extremely important. I tend to get overwhelmed quickly and I cannot afford negative or overly excited people.

When you are a single mum sometimes people, especially if they are not single parents, might not understand what you are going through.

In some cases, there are people who can give you the exact support you need and might not be a single mum themselves. I know a lady who runs a single mums group and church in her community and she is married.  There was a time when her husband used to work all hours and was rarely at home, during that time she felt as a single mum herself.  So she has some insights into the life we live.

It is well known that to be successful, whatever that means for you, it is important to remain as positive as possible.

As a single mum, my life can be up and down at times and I find it nice to have a chat with a good friend who would not judge me all the time but instead keep me  positive and encourage me to go on!

So, ladies, who are you letting into you life? Who are the people surrounding you on a day to day basis? Are they always complaining and being negative? Do they just bring you down all the time? Are they taking up all your energy and you feel drained after a telephone conversation or even constantly upset?

Ladies, keep positive and choose well who you are spending time with!

Challenge: If you want to achieve something, help someone first!

Hello my dear single mums,

October is finally here and the cold is slowly creeping in!  Despite the last rays of sunshine, the days are getting shorter and shorter. And the woolly jumpers are coming out of the winter box.  In my last post I talked about starting to think about what you would like to achieve.

For next year and I also mentioned about my own goals which I wrote at the beginning of the year 2016.  For the next couple of weeks I would like to show you what I did this year and how I tried different things that people say might help us become successful, one of them being: helping others (or serving others).

I would love to be an international public speaker and speak at various conferences. So, when the opportunity came for me to help one of my friends with her own conference, I said "YES" straight away. There are many successful speakers who would tell you how important it is to hang around people, help them, and serve them.

If they do something that you eventually want to do as well, by helping them, you have the opportunity to learn for yourself, find out if you really want to do this and learn from someone (like a mentor) that can teach you a thing or two.

The conference was a real success! The speakers were amazing, the venue was perfect and the room was full. The presence of the Lord was really felt and everything went exactly according to plan. There were no issues at all. (I was the Event coordinator, so believe me its  true!!).

Why am I saying that helping at that conference was amazing for me? Well first of all, I realised that it is not easy to organise a conference.  You need a strong team of people around you who are proactive and can work well together.

I also learnt how to deal with at least 10 questions at the same time!!! I learnt more about my organisation skills and I also learnt that when God asks you to do something, you must take a step and he will sort out the rest.

When you step out of your own comfort and plan to help someone else, God will always present an opportunity for you as long as you are ready.

I had the opportunity to meet some ladies with common interest. I met new friends.  I got advice from different people but I was not ready. I did not print any complimentary cards which could have gone into the goodies bags!

So the message I want to share with you here is to be ready for the opportunities God will bring to 

you.

These opportunities will most likely come when we do not think about our own purpose but we think about others...

Reflection: 9 Months Later!

Hello everyone,

I hope that all my single mums out there are ok and have been coping well with the summer holiday.

By now most of the kids have been settled back into their school days routine and we can also take a rest from having to entertain them 24 hours a day!

For me, September was a good time to reflect on the past couple of months as we are nearing the end of the year 2016 .

I always take this opportunity to start preparing my end of year goals which I plan to achieve in
2017.  I use a goals booklet which I purchased from Terry Savelle Foy Ministries (www.terri.com) where I have pictures of my goals and dreams. I also add scriptures to it and it allows me to pray for that goal or that particular dream to happen.

So far, I have been able to achieve a couple of goals, not all of them, but what I know is that I am on my way to get them done, maybe not by Christmas, but as it is about enjoying the journey while moving forward, I try not to be too hard on myself while maintaining focus on what I am trying to achieve.

I wrote a book last year in November 2015 and I finally plucked up the courage to get it published.  It is all in the making and I am hoping it will be ready in a couple of months.

I remember writing it down as a goal in my goals book with scriptures and I can see it happening in reality.

I strongly believe that when you have life goals which you write down and then pray over regularly, God will make it happen; it works for me, so why not for you?

Some people believe and say that they write goals and achieve them anyway, which is fine ,but for me , attaching scriptures to them is like making a “contract” with God for all the promises he gave me. And when I see things happening and dreams becoming reality that increases my faith even more every day.

So, my dear single mums, I know we are very busy but you may want to take some time to think about next year, where do you want to be?, what do you want to do?, what your plans do you have for the kids?, etc and maybe start setting some goals. I constantly get overwhelmed so writing goals keep me focused throughout the year.

Go on ladies! Prep your goals for 2017!