Which Voice Are You Listening To??

For years I believed that my ex-husband's abuse and adultery were my fault; that his sins and choices were my responsibility. If only I had been a better wife, a better lover, a better person...
The voice of shame accused me of failure at every turn.

The day he left, he said, "No one will ever want a woman with four children!" 

And the voice of shame agreed!

“He would have stayed if you were someone worth staying for,”  I was taunted by the voice of shame.

“It's all your fault that your oldest son became a drug addict. You are a terrible mother!” I was accused, by the condemning voice of shame again.

I was tossed around by the stormy waves of life...

Snapper Rocks, Gold Coast, QLD

For a long time, I believed these lies! I felt unworthy, unwanted, unlovable, unacceptable and judged.

I felt the shame of my marriage failing, the shame of being a single mother, the shame of my life not going according to my dreams...

Through another situation in a Christian workplace, I allowed people to take advantage of me; because I still didn't know my value and worth in God, and as a person.

I worked very hard through prayer with my pastors, and through counselling with my psychologist to come to the realisation and acceptance that the accusations and feelings of shame were totally unfounded and untrue.
I am NOT responsible for the choices of others... I am only responsible for my own actions and   choices.

I know I am not perfect, however I also know that I made the right choice to raise my children on my own. Our home was a safe haven; a place of love, acceptance, laughter, peace, joy and wonderful memories. My children were happier and more settled.

The voice of shame seeks to belittle and destroy us.

However, the voice of Truth seeks to build us up and speak life into us!

Sunset looking across the Blackall Ranges from Kondalilla National Park, QLD

I recently read an article on this very topic. These words really spoke to me:

"God whispers to the hearts of His beloved: Don’t pay attention to those feelings of shame — they don’t belong to you. Shame is nothing more than the scheme of darkness.

The author of Revelation refers to Satan as 'the accuser' for good reason. One of his nastiest tricks is to blame the inflicted for sin committed against them. He pummels our minds and hearts with twisted condemnations wanting to shift our focus away from our hope in Christ."

Sunset on the Hastings River, Port Macquarie, NSW

The voice of Truth gives us peace, hope, comfort, purpose and so much more. It seeks to encourage and not condemn.


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Gratitude - A Way of Life

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

I've posted a few times on Gratitude, including a post titled "Develop an Attitude of Gratitude" which explained the original reason for starting my Gratitude Journal.

I have many reasons to wallow in self pity:
- I have a prodigal son & 3 grandchildren who I (and all my family) never see
- I sustained permanent injuries from a car accident which changed my life & stole my independence
- I have a degenerative autoimmune arthritic disease which affects every joint in my body
- I live daily with chronic joint & nerve pain

BUT... when I find myself heading down the road of self pity, I force myself to look at the positives in my life (because there really are so many)

- I'm alive
- I am blessed with a wonderful, supportive husband to walk this difficult journey with
- I am blessed with 4 beautiful children. Although I only see 3, those 3 are incredibly loving, supportive & caring towards me and one another
- I have a wonderful team of medical professionals looking after me
- I have my photography which allows me to get totally lost in capturing the beauty of creation & life
- I have a roof over my head, clothes to wear & food to eat
- There are so many worse off than I am
- I could go on....



It's easy to be grateful when things are going well. It takes courage & strength to be grateful when life is difficult. When you choose a life of gratitude, you effectively reduce stress & worry, your relationships improve and you discover happiness you never thought possible.

GRATITUDE... Try it! It works!

** Both images taken on the Hastings river, Port Macquarie, NSW during our holiday there last September.**

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Weekly Top Shot: BLUE

One of my favourite times of the day/night to shoot. Blue Hour on the Hastings River, Port Macquarie, NSW.

Skywatch Friday: Sunset on Hastings

On the final night of our holiday in Port Macquarie, I wanted to photograph sunset further up the Hastings River with some boats in the shot . We spent the afternoon across the other side of the river taking photos on the break wall.  About 45 minutes before sunset, we drove to a spot I thought would be good for sunset but, the angle of the sun wasn't quite right and wouldn't include the boats.

We drove to the car ferry crossing so we could shoot sunset from the opposite side of the river, hoping that a ferry would cross in time. While we were waiting for the ferry to cross the river, I took out my tripod & camera and snapped a couple of shots...

Then we drove onto the ferry to cross back over the river.

And we discovered this little gem... an extremely old and rickety jetty.

There are 1440 minutes in every day... 1440 opportunities to capture a moment of beauty.
What moment of beauty did you capture this week?

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Holidaying in Northern NSW: Part 6

On day 6 of our holiday, we decided to explore the "Greater Port Macquarie" region of  North Haven, Lake Cathie (pronounced Cat-eye) & Camden Haven.

Lake Cathie entrance

And a mandatory low down "Sea Grass" shot taken on the southern most end of Lighthouse Beach, just north of Lake Cathie entrance.

We stopped for lunch at North Haven, a quiet little town, beside Camden Haven Inlet. The mountain in the background is North Brother Mountain (more on this mountain in Part 7).

We then drove through the town of Laurieton and out to Camden Head where we walked in the Kattung Nature Reserve. Perpendicular Point Walk is a beautiful, easy 3.6 km walk, through bushland full of wonderful birdlife and then right out to the point. The stunning panoramic views and spectacular vertical cliffs provided many photographic opportunities.

Looking north to Grants Head, from halfway along Perpendicular Point.

Out on Perpendicular point looking south you can see the rugged vertical cliffs and away in the distance is Crowdy Head. The power of the ocean against the cliffs was magnificent to watch.

Stunning, spectacular, magnificent, wonderful... all words to describe the coastline in this area.

On the way home, we stopped along Camden Haven Inlet to watch the sun set over North Brother Mountain.

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Holidaying in Northern NSW: Part 5

High on the rocky headland, north of Lighthouse beach, is Tacking Point Lighthouse.

Built in 1879 and designed by NSW Colonial Architect, James Barnet, Tacking Point Lighthouse is one of 5 similarly designed navigational lighthouses. The other 4 being; Fingal Head Lighthouse, Richmond River Light,  Clarence River Light (now demolished) and Crowdy Head Lighthouse (all built between 1878-1880). Only Tacking Point Lighthouse & Crowdy Head Light still have the storeroom attached.

There are 1440 minutes in every day... 1440 opportunities to capture a moment of beauty.
What moment of beauty did you capture this week?


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Holidaying in Northern NSW: Part 4

After our huge day on the Central Coast of NSW, day 4 of our holiday involved exploring most of the beaches of Port Macquarie. The first 2 beaches are Town Beach & Oxley's Beach, which I didn't photograph.

The next beach south is Rocky Beach, which isn't the best for surfing or swimming due to it's abundance of rocks as the name suggests.

Flynn's Beach is the most popular beach at Port Macquarie with barbecue facilities, good surf and the surf club which patrols the beach.

The southern end of Flynn's Beach is quite rocky

Walking over the headland, you come to Nobby's Beach. Not the best for swimming due to the rocks but great to walk along. It is also popular with dog walkers. The high headland in the distance is Nobby's Head.

Nobby's Head provides some excellent views south...

My husband Michael made good use of his new binoculars. We saw a few whales far out to sea.

Continuing south, we walked along "The Kenny Walk" which winds along the rocky cliffs.

This rocky cove doesn't seem to have a name...

There were quite a number of Banksia trees along the Kenny Walk

Looking south across Shelley Beach, which provides some well protected swimming.

The top section of The Kenny Walk before the path leads down to Shelley Beach.

After this walk, we drove further south beyond Tacking Point to the expanse of Lighthouse Beach

Looking north, you can see Tacking Point Lighthouse on the headland in the distance. More on the lighthouse in my next post.