GISG

God Is So Good! I'm not perfect but God dosn't count on my perfections or imperfections to love me. He LOVED me even before I knew what love is. He is still teaching me things and continues to inspire my heart. God is sooo Good! 

[licobr]

/ / L I V E R P O O L / /

Just an awesome day with all right people (or should that be the other way around... naaaaaa don’t think so ;-) )

[licobr]

21st Birthday partayyyy

[licobr]

/ / a w e l l n e e d e d c a t c h u p / /

So it’s been a long time since I posted anything. Since the last post a lost has happened. I have completed my first semester of my last year at university, one of the hardest semesters of my life. I don’t even know where to begin, I think it would be easier to break things up into sub sections.

Coming back from all the summer camps that I went to, I was literally on fire for Jesus, God had really been revealing stuff to me:

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

// Jerimiah 33:3 //

I mean, its great reading stuff in the Bible, and stuff being preached to you, but it is all greatly superseded when the L O R D G O D of heaven and the earth wants to have a conversation with you. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some highs and lows, (the lows on my side) where by I’ve tried to put Him in a box and humanize Him to an extent. There have needed several kicks up the back side, to get my butt in gear, and He is just so ready to do that, in deed in those moments it’s like a blind person learning to see again. I suppose that’s why they call it a ‘revelation’.

// Acknowledge Him //

Trust in the Lord with all your Heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways  A C K N O W L E D G E Him, and He shall make your path straight.

// Proverbs 3:5-6 //

I acknowledging God is remembering that His is there, it’s a combination of that as well as revering Him. It’s always a great thing to do because, in that moment you remember that God is closer than your own breath, that He is the all-powerful God that makes rivers in the desert, the God who makes the impossible possible. Acknowledging Him is saying ‘hey problem, here is my Big God’, it’s handing your situation over to Him and accepting His peace, which transcends all understanding.

// The ‘Promise King’ //

This is something I felt God was saying to me one morning when where praying. I t was at a time when I had deadlines and I think I may have been stressing at my lack of adequacy in a lot of situation and basically lulling in my failure (work of the enemy right there). The showed me a pic of a star that I had drawn, the star that was shown to the wise men, the star that was anticipated for Hundreds of years, the star that was prophesied about, finally happened. Jesus, was my promise fulfilled, He was and is the door way. Everything that God had promised the Israelites was fulfilled in Christ, ultimately, and because Christ is, and was and will be then when it says…

For the promises of God are Yes and amen in Christ Jesus. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for His Glory.

// 2 Corinthians 1:20 //

(praise the Lord!!!!!!)

I don’t think I have ever read the last part of that verse before, Praise the LORD indeed. WOW!!! So in regards to my in capabilities and my inadequacies and the fact that I didn’t feel qualified and felt that I was failing, in the words of one of my sisters ‘ we are, I am Qualified in the birth, death and resurrection, and ultimately in the B L O O D of Jesus’. I didn’t put my-self where I am, for it is the sovereign Lord who orders my steps. He never leads us to a place where he cannot provide for us, I mean He said,

“The LORD replied, "I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest, everything will be fine for you."

Exodus 33:14

So to, half way summery, Yes the Lord wants to communicate with us, Yes He is AMAZING, yes He is loving, Yes He is mine and all His Promises are YES and AMEN! That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for His Glory.

Isn’t He Just amazing!!!

// Coming soon //

These are a list of posts that will be up, so be expectant. If you have read this post and you don’t know of the God that I am talking about, He is so real, and HE loves. There are so many uncertainties in this world, but as you read my life stories ‘testimonies’ of how God always there for me, you can see that He is and will always be my certainty. He can be yours too.

If you would like to know more or have any prayer request please email me at [email protected] , it would be an absolute pleasure.

Knowing your worth

Your purpose

The bend before the home stretch

[licobr]

I literally had the B E S T time at my party. Thanks to everyone that came, you made me so very happy!!! Shout out to my amazing dj/physiology bae @bukkyjo, mate you smashed it. #idontknowaboutyoubutimalmost22 #21st #thejoyofthelordismystrength #dance #footloose

[licobr]

// Zoe is 13 //

I canny belive that r'kid Zoe is now 13. I always knew she'd be taller than me but I didn't realise that it would happen so soon, it's okay, I now have one extra person to reach the top shelf for me. Zoe really embodies her name 'life'. You only need to spend moments with her to hear pure joy in her laugh and the beaming light in her eyes, and I know this gift is indeed from God. She's so special to me, for this gift of Zoe.

[licobr]

M O M E N T U M

I went to the christian festival “momentum” about a week a go (a week a go), and the events that conspired require more than one post. The lessons I learnt need to be broken down into some sort pf order, from the tangled mess that's in my head. so take this as an introduction to my first Momentum Experience.

BTW, this pic was of the field across from the camping ground, when i saw it i was reminded of, “you are standing on a Holy ground”

[licobr]

. : M E E T  I S A B E L : .

It’s has been a long time coming but this is one of my very best friends ISASMELL. We’ve known each other since year 5, and we’ve been friends since then. 

We have a very interesting friendship, were by I’m incredibly embarrassing and she has to face the consequences. There are years and years of gut busting stories, and only require a certain look or phrase to each other to have the memories flood back like they happened yesterday. Having awful code names that rival any coming of age or sickly sweet rom-com chick flick (olly, non chavy spud , toast…..need I say more). Well she loves me so she has to deal with it, like the rest of my incredibly patient friends.

She knew me when I was small and spotty, when I rolled with jackups, slightly awkward, nerd who was about as cool as a slug. She has the privilege of knowing the still small occasionally broken out, very much awkward, biomed nerd I am now. I’m glad nothing has changed! She’s one of the only people, outside of my family that I would beat down at sam sams for!

She is so incredibly special to me and I cannot imagine not knowing her. She is soooooo talented, and it makes my heart so happy when I hear her sing, well of course she’s amazing, she is my friend (insert smug look). Even though were are miles and miles apart, for most of the year, she still continues to be one of my very favourite people. I don’t know how she manages to remain friends with me, but if she’s lasted this long, then she’s in it for the long hall. I hope you look forward to wearing a dress and make up at my wedding Is, and buying shoes for my kids.    

[licobr]

Appy Bi-Day Sista Shade

It was amazing to spend time with my Manchester fam, it’s been a long time coming. In student style we got a deal from Gourmet Burger Kitchen YUM! I usually pic the worst food anytime we go to restaurants, but this time, by Gods grace I made SPECTACULAR choices. All in all, the day was full of laughter, I really missed them all, they’re all so weird and wonderful all at the same time. Here is to many more with them! Cheers!!

[licobr]

L: daddy do you like my make up

D: yeah i do, your face looks smoother 

oh dad you have such a way with words! but i do love my no makeup makeup look!

[licobr]

Till death us do part ft. “classic Lisa”

Yes summer is wedding season, and Sophie and Pete's wedding did not disappoint. I had the great privilege of watching them tie the knot on the 2nd July 2016, at the park road church in Sunderland. God showed himself so strong in the run up to the wedding, as I was asked to sing at the wedding. The song they chose “first love - Antioch College” was literally my hearts song. SOOOO to fully and chronologically write stuff down I will now resort to doing bullet points. Here goes nothing:

1. Finding a guitarist- so when Sophie asked me to sing at the wedding, and when I first heard the song they had chosen, I immediately thought of Jen. We had previously sand together and she is a Great worshiper, AMAZING voice, but it wasn’t meant to be. I had to try and find alternatives and sort out rehearsals all the way from Manchester. Jen was great, she linked me up with Luke who said he could play for me. God I sooooo good, I had been putting pressure on myself to get things perfect and have things run smoothly, when in fact, I a mere mortal are not all powerful. God stepped in at each point, He put things in order for me. I had an unshifting hope in Christ, and who he was to me, that he would make a way, and He did. 

2. getting there- “classic Lisa” It was the morning of the wedding and my alarm went off, bearing in mind I had arrived the night before, and had to bake for the wedding as well as making food for the next couple of days. I was understandably tired. So back to the alarm, it went off and it was the last thing I wanted to hear. I got up showered, got dressed, did my makeup/ slicking down of edges (yasssssssssss). I dint have time to get breakfast. I was in a bit of a hurry, I had to get to Sunderland at 11:00 to practice the song with Luke for the first and the last time. I chucked on my trainers, shoved heals in a bag along with the best brownies ever (smug face) and absolutely pelted it to Jesmond metro. I was almost there when I was reminded that I had forgotten my purse (classic Lisa). I power walked back to the flat and got to the metro around 10:30 ish. God is soooooo good that the next mero was in 6 minutes. I managed to get to the church at 11:20 YAAAAAAAAAAAS. This would have been amazing if the wedding wasn’t scheduled to start at 12:00, and I was still yet to rehearse the songs.

3. Just Sanging- when it actually got down to it, rehearsals only took 10 minutes, and we had 15 mins or so to spare. Luke and Jake had never heard the song before but they played amazingly! It’s only been a short while since I’ve actually started singing in front of people by myself. Each time I do it, I still have the same gut wrenching feeling, and my stomach is in knots all the time. But I know that God has given me the ability to overcome that fear. Fear no linger dictates my actions, but its God who orders my steps. I was so nervous, but during the performance I felt peaceful, I wasn’t singing to the audience, but I was singing to God. Because I meant each and every word of it! Here comes “classic Lisa”, when I got up on the stage to sing, the mic I was using wasn’t there, and in my nervous state I was too blind to see it. I had to walk of the stage and look for it, with the congregation staring at me!!! Great! After that hiccup, everything went well. The response I had from the guests was most encouraging. I also heard from Sophie that dad, a non-believer, as touched by the song. Now that's how I know God was at work, my voice can only go so far, but the Holy spirit, the presence of God can touch any heart, change every situation, regardless of circumstance, and I hope and pray that every person who was at that wedding, saved or unsaved, didn’t leave there the same, I pray that they encountered the living God in that church. Whilst I was working on the Bar that afternoon, many people came up to me and complimented me, words of affirmation! I am learning to lean on Gods words over me, that he is my only source of affirmation!!! Praise the Lord, For an AMAZING DAY!!! 

4. FLOWERS - To top it all off, I got some flowers from the reception, they’re so beautiful and I hope and pray that Sophie and Pete will bloom so beautifully, in the rays of God presence.          

[licobr]

.: Homecoming :.

It’s that time of year again when it’s time to return the books, packing bags and leaving the city you’ve called home for an academic year and return home. So many things happen over the year, you grow and you change, your experiences have shaped and moulded you into the person you become at the end of it. However all these things have happened in your UNI bubble, in separation from the person that people art home remember. It seems every time I go home I reintroduce myself to my family. In this journey into being the woman God has called me to be, I’ve gone from being an fearful child who didn’t know her left from her right into a someone who is learning to lean my burdens on my father, like  child laying her head on her father’s chest whilst in his arms.

I’ve often struggled with saying good byes, from primary school all the way up till now. You expect the end of the school year to feel like the last song of High School Musical, where you’re surrounded by your friends whilst dancing passionately to pre choreographed routine that everyone seems to know, where your crush finally realises you exists and sweeps you of your feet. Sorry to burst your bubble but they lied. It actually doesn’t feel like that. It’s more like a cacophony of emotions, you’re trying to fit everyone in, trying to express how much you really do love them and how much you’ll really miss them in what seems like an eternity without them. You cannot quite get across how much they really mean to you even though you’ve probably only known them for a couple of weeks. This is a really intense period of time, especially when you don’t want the guy you like to forget you through the hype of summer, you’ve played hard to get for a long time, but summer is even longer and anything could happen in that time. After all this has passed you wake up and realise that the previous day’s events have been capped with an anticlimactic next day. I suppose this is why script writers never write about the next day after the intense final kiss before the credits or what happened the summer after ‘we’re all in this together’. This is because you go back to the mundane, the general slog of life at home. Trying to fit back into the pecking orders of family life.

You have sooooo much time spend but the prospect of that time sometimes leaves me paralysed. There is so much to do! After 2 weeks of relaxing/ being bored out of head it’s time to get your act together, even if you hadn’t made summer plans and don’t have a lot of money, you do have amples amount of time. You can better your-self as a human being. Leaning an instrument or a language, volunteering, spending time with family or friends or just plain resting. Last summer I had 3 months of no official plans and in that time. By God’s Grace, I leant to play the piano, had first aids training, learnt how to do typography, and became closer to some of my now closest friends. I am so blessed at how God showed me and grew me during that summer, I’ll never forget it. May be I’ll talk about it in another post. What I’m trying to emphasise is that TIME is important, it cannot be bought or held on to, but is can be maximised. You can spend your time moaning about how bored and hopeless your life is OR you can spend that same amount of time doing something about it.

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”- 1 Corinthians 10:31    

God has given us this amazing ability to see, and to have visions and dreams. With his help, he will strengthen you and make a way for your plans to be fruitful. Nothing can work without his help, let me tell you, when God steps into your situation, you’re just overwhelmed at how perfectly everything fits into place. You can do nothing but praise him.  

I think one of the most important things to do over this “homecoming” is to spend time with God. To allow Him to take control. You need only to be still and know that He is God. And know that whatever you do this summer it will be great, as He will be with you!   

[licobr]

I love how beautiful this world is. We have a wonderful GOD who has made water wet to the touch and the sun to shine even in the lake district. We have such a beautiful world, and every part of nature screaming out at us, of how Wonderful God is. 

[licobr]

.: You are KNOWN:.

. : Intro : .

I love cloths! The textures the shapes, the colours…YAS! To express my-self through the cloths I wear and to become identifiable though the distinct style and appearance you have conjured up for you self.

You know you’ve made it in life when you happen to nip off to the loo, only to come back to hear “I knew you were in here, I just had to look at your scarf to see it was you”. I love to dress up like any other person and pinterest fuels this drive to buy more stuff, to try new shapes and new patterns and new colours. To look and dress like that cool light skinned girl with that long wavy hair and the effortlessly cool tucked in shirt that doesn’t look poufy or plain ratchet, but looks artistically dishevelled. Her loafers that strut the cobles streets of a miscellaneous European street and lighting that caresses the features on her face…because when you do you’ll be as happy as she seems to appear. When you do, you’ll be invited to those cool parties that she would probably be at. If you looked like she did, you could post a picture and have people comment #lifegoals.

But what happens, when you spend money on the THAT shirt and realise that you’re not as tall and that model so it just doesn’t hang right, or your Primark loafers just don’t clip clop down the cobles streets of Italy or Spain, but rather the chewing gum stained concrete jungle street of reality. What do you do when the highlighter you just bought, does nothing else but highlight the insecurities of your inner self. Your mascara opens your eyes to see that you’re not that pinterest girl that you #lifegoals to but a broken individual who chooses to pretty up the outside because she feels ugly on the inside.  

What do you do when that insane thrill of a new purchase only graces you with an action potential of joy? Money well spent wright?

WRONG!

I love cloths, but when cloths and my appearance become my master, that’s when you know something is up. When you have to think and rethink your outfit, not out of creative freedom, but out of fear of what people might say or think of you.  That is when you know things have to CHANGE.

This in another shackle that Christ came to break. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. I have been lost to my-self for a while, and there are reasons for this. Everyone has their reasons. In the words of Pastor Sheryl Brady “it’s time to be less self-conscious, but to be more God conscious”

. : JESUS take the wheel : .

“Before I formed you in the womb I KNEW you, and before you were born I consecrated you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations” Jeremiah 1:5

The word that sticks out to me the most in this verse is “KNEW”. WOW! Before you were even a thought or a concept in the minds of humanity GOD knew you. It’s really important that you pick up on that fact that KNEW is passed tense. It wasn’t like God was just walking around one day and bumped into you to KNOW, you. But the fact that has always KNOWN YOU, from the past to the present and back. Before time began he KNEW! But he didn’t just KNOW you, he gave you purpose.

“For those who he KNEW, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son; so that He could become the first born among many brethren.

And these who he predestined, He also CALLED and those who he called, He also JUSTIFIED, and those whom he justified, He also GLORIFIED…” Romans 8:30

To be JUSTIFIED is to be declared or made righteous in the sight of God. So God not only knew us, but he also gave us purpose. If someone were to question your existence… well that would be STUPID because you have be justified, by non-other than God. the creator of the universe calls us into relationship with Him. In that place of intimacy God shares things with you, you get all the affirmation that you crave, that this world cannot even dream to comprehend how to satisfy. I have learnt and still am learning that everything stems from that place: from relationship with God. The best bit of this whole thing is that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can have relationship with God. It is only though his sacrifice on the cross that we can be free to live for Him. If you seek this relationship with God,

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord...” - Jeremiah 29:12-14

“I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me”-Proverbs 8:17