Don’t be Conformed to the Pattern of this World, 
Who was it that told you trees must be green or else they are not trees. Who was it that told you that you must have a house by this age, a spouse by this age, children by this age, go on a world trip by this age and retire at this age. That is the single most stupid thing I have ever heard. We are to be transformed day by day. Each day should be a day of growth and change. We cannot live life trying to fit into the pattern of this world, because we were not made to do that. This purple tree is one of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen, but there are a bunch of people who will have a whole lot to say about anyone or anything that is different than they are use to. It’s time to make up your mind that no matter what people say, you will be you, confident in who you are and whose you are.
Image credit: Ros Willis. Used with Permission © prohibited. 

Created to Stand Out, 
When I look at this photo, I see one tree, that stands out above all the others, because it is a different colour, but then when you look a bit closer, you see that each one of those trees is very unique and not the same as the one next to it. Why in life do we try so hard to fit in, to be the same as everyone else, to copy another, when we were made to stand out? We are made to be unique, to be different, special and precious. We are a valuable creation and not the same as our neighbour and I’m sure glad about that. If we were all the same, as the saying goes it would be a boring world, but not only that imagine how much you would get annoyed, and how there would be so many things in this world that could never be done, because we were all the same. Don’t try to be someone else, just be you and be the best version of you that you can be. You are born to stand out, so live bold and brave and be who you where made to be. The world will be a better place for it.
Image credit: Ros Willis. Used with Permission © prohibited.

Dark, Glowing and Beautiful, 
When I think of the colour brown, I think of earth and dirt. It’s not a colour that is usually used to make a child’s bedroom look bright and colourful or to make a car look sporty, but what if there is more beauty represented in this colour than we realise? If it represents dirt, what happens in dirt? Things are planted and things grow. You might be looking at this picture and wondering what does this have to do with plants or things growing, well a lot. Because it reminds me of the colour brown, at first look, it doesn’t look that inviting, it looks like a dull kind of a day, but when you look a bit closer, you see there is a beautiful ocean, the light is breaking through and there is a sense of anticipation. What if you didn’t view life through the lens of mess, dirt and stuff to be avoided, but instead as though the mess, results in a planning, the darkness comes before the dawn and as through there is hope for what will be. There is more to be thankful and hopeful for than maybe you stopped to realise. What about the very fact you can see this picture and read this blog? Now that’s something to celebrate.
Image credit: Ros Willis. Used with Permission © prohibited. 

Stand up; Look up; Get Up, 
When I first looked at this picture, I wondered what I would write about, all I saw was randomness and nothingness, asides from maybe a small moon in the middle, but it seemed not be worth writing about. Then I looked again and this is what I realised. Sometimes we need to stand up, to lift our eyes a bit higher and get up out of the position we are in, in order to see a different view of things. While the view may seem so, so; it is quite a different view from what someone who was down in the water, would see. Up on the mountain we have a bigger view. We can see further and clearer. Are you sitting down behind a bush, in some shrubbery, or even under the water drowning in a sea of doubt, anger and frustration? Maybe it is time to get up out of the water and climb up the mountain. Sure, the climb may be hard and it may challenge even your beliefs about yourself, but it will be worth it. Because on the mountain top, the air is clean, the view is free and unhindered and you will see that there is hope. So, Stand up, Look up and Get up, it is time to get a new perspective. Don’t live in yesterdays view, live on the mountain of today, with the horizon of tomorrow in clear view.
Image credit: Ros Willis. Used with Permission © prohibited. 

Hills and Valleys
In life there are always going to be hills and valleys, but what we do in the valley counts just as much as what we do on the mountain top. We can make a choice to live like with the same integrity in the valley as we do on the mountain top. Or we can complain and make life miserable for ourselves and those around us. Will you be someone who is the same when they are being watched, as you are behind closed doors? What is it that people see when you are in the valley? Do they see the Joy of the Lord? Do they see someone who lives with honour and integrity? Do they see someone who reflects the one, they live for? Or do they see someone who is bitter and complaining. Maybe if we learned to live different when the valleys came and saw them as something to cross, a challenge to forge, rather than a place to sit and give up, we wouldn’t stay there nearly so long. Let your character be developed. Come out the other side stronger and more in love, with your first love.
Image credit: Ros Willis. Used with Permission © prohibited.

Around the Bend
Sometimes we don’t know what is just around the bend, but maybe we don’t need to? If we spend all our time worrying about what might happen, could happen or may happen, we will miss out on the opportunity to enjoy the now season that we are in. We will miss out on enjoying the beauty of life, the sights, the smells, the sounds. We will miss seeing the beautiful handiwork of our creator. We only have one life, so live in the moment. Yes, live with a dream, a vision, a goal for the future, but the bible tells us that God’s plans for us, are for good, so if your view of the future is not that, then you need to trade it for the truth and enjoy the moment you have now and enjoy the fact that there is something ahead to look forward to, for his mercies are new every day. 
Image credit: Ros Willis. Used with Permission © prohibited.

Train or Train, 
Is this just a train taking you some place or is it to train you? What if the train you are now on, which seems to be going somewhere but you don’t know where it is headed or even how you will make it there, is not just a train on a journey to a destination, but instead more about the journey to the destination and the training that will take place along the way. Maybe it is time to stop a moment and see that you are on a train, which although momentarily stopped at a station, is not a chance for you to bale and get out of the situation you are finding a challenge, but instead an opportunity for you to see that you are on your way to a destination. Like Psalms 23 says, he leads us through the valley of the shadow of death, it doesn’t say we camp there and nore does it say we run away from it. Stick with the journey, keep close to the one who knows where you are headed and begin to enjoy His company. Cause no matter where you are in the journey of life, if Jesus is by your side, then you are in good company and bound for an adventure. Learn to see things through a different lens.
Image credit: Ros Willis. Used with Permission © prohibited. 
 

It Was Never Made to Stop You
Do you sometimes wonder, why is this seeming obstacle in such an out of the way place? Could it be that the problem is seeing the fence in the ocean, as an obstacle, as something designed to stop you, rather than as something meant to keep you safe, to guide you to where you need to be? Could it be that this thing that you are experiencing now, is in fact preparing you and equipping you for your future. What if instead of seeing it as something that is going to stop you, you saw it as something that is going to make you, mould you and refine you? This does not mean that you will become the bad thing, or that you follow along with what whatever the trend is, but that for every hardship we face there is an opportunity to be thankful, there is a chance to be grateful for the one who never changes, who always is there to guide us; the Holy Spirit. Without this guide, we would be lost at sea and going into waters shallow that we should never go. With him, we can face the water, and come out stronger, because of the work being done in us on the way.
Image credit: Ros Willis. Used with Permission © prohibited.

What Happened? 
Are you faced with a situation that has caught you by surprise? Are you sitting there wondering what am I going to do now? You where moving along on the railway of life and things seemed to be running nice and smoothly, but now all of a sudden, things seem to have gone off track. You can’t even see the way ahead; all you can see is an ocean of impossibility. Sometimes life takes us by surprise, but it is in these moments that we can either learn to sink, swim or walk on water. We have the choice to panic and give into fear, to do what the world says is a logical response to the end of the road, maybe in this instance that might be to get a boat or we can do something which is out of the box and calls for courage. Will you be someone who when the world says give up, you say, I am going to learn to dance on the sea of impossibility, for I am more than an overcomer and no weapon formed against me will prosper. I am able to do all things, through him who gives me strength and so I will not be held back by something that was never made to hold me back. Maybe it is time to rise up and walk in your God given authority.
Image credit: Ros Willis. Used with Permission © prohibited.