The little birds...

If you watch little birds you will see they are busy and happy! Using whatever they can find they create the most gorgeous little nest.
I would be the little bird with some glittery thread in her nest!
We can be like this. Happily working away with the things that are available to us to create a beautiful and happy home.
All the while with a little song in our heart.

Banner by Free Pretty Things for You.

Tuesday 3 February 2015

The buddy system.

The other day Colette said that she NEEDs the encouragement we get in reading something encouraging and hearing what others are doing during the week. She inspired a blog post as I am exactly the same!

Over the years I have had women come along side me that helped and encouraged me. Mum and Nan  first and foremost then I have spoken about others like Mrs. Starkey who really was my Christian mentor when the girls were small. When the girls were a little older I added Laine from Laines Letters to this list. And she was the first time that I had a mentor that was on line. I never got to speak to Laine until recently but she wrote in such a way you felt she was writing to you and she was your friend just around the corner! She came along side me and encouraged me along the way and every day really. What a difference she made!


Helen had the same experience. She would go to the library and print Laine's Letters from the Internet then read them at home when her boys were small. She said to me it was just wonderful! You felt you were getting a lovely letter from a friend. At the end of that letter you felt revived. Full of conviction and a great sense of purpose and direction!

We might be blessed with plenty of mentors and helpers in our lives or we might need more. It can be quite hard to find people with so much in common and with similar beliefs. This is where the internet is wonderful!

After Helen I met Kaye. When I say "met" I have never met either of these friends in the flesh! But we all became friends thanks to meeting on line. Well, what a big thing this has been for me. I truly feel you can make wonderful friends on line and cast your net wide too!

Overall it has added together that I have always had someone encourage me in each stage of life so far. I feel like Colette. I NEED that encouragement. I need someone to report to and talk to. I do better this way. I just do.




Our hearts need encouragement. Thank goodness there are lots of ways to get it! Making time to read your Bible and pray will give you great encouragement.  And we are instructed to encourage each other and build each other up. The older women are to teach and encourage the younger women.

There are plenty of verses on this. It is normal to feel this way and be this way.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are already doing. 1 Thess. 5:11

Encourage one another daily Hebrews 3: 13

And let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works Heb 10: 24

Of course there is a flip side. Dad always told me the power of one bad apple to send the whole case bad. And he wasn't talking about apples! 

The knowledge that we do better with support is used extensively in all kinds of ways. Schools have buddy systems, many training institutions have buddy systems and the 12 step programmes for fighting addictions have you have a mentor who comes along side you. Anyone in diet/weight loss,  fitness will tell you that you will do better with a buddy or support person. The athlete has a coach. The Bible also say that two are better than one, when one falls don the other can help him up! Well, that is so true!

it is worth remembering that what you can build up you can also tear down. We have to be careful to place ourselves as much as we can in places we are being built up and avoiding being torn down. I'm old enough to know the things that are damaging for me. Too much news, horror/frightening/tragic movies, some music, argumentative or negative people... I need to try and avoid!

But if I can get little dose everyday of encouragement, lovely things to be thinking about, goals and aims and plans, then I am just happy and busy as a little bee!  I also do well if I'm involved in a challenge of some sort, even with myself! 

I think we are like sponges! I seem to be able to absorb positivity and feel refuelled but I also can absorb negativity and feel drained and upset. So i KNOW I have to be careful where I frequent and have wonderful friends and mentors that encourage me in the right direction. If as adults we feel this way imagine how important this is for children.

Here I've been able to add things that I know work for me. I seriously do better because of Feather your nest Friday and I participate with Wendy on her blog as she lists the ways she saves each week. Wendy's blog is My Abundant Life.  I do better because Helen and Kaye never have a bad word to say and are full of happiness and encouragement. There are several just wonderful friends who have the same qualities that I am so grateful for.




In my pantry/cellar challenge I do better because Helen and I are doing the challenge together and then I added it as a challenge here and now there are a group of us! Seriously I will be thinking about it and working on it thinking "I can't wait to tell Helen" this or that or be able to write an update to share. I feel as though I have someone with me all the way. 

Plus something else... having a buddy in what ever you are doing makes it fun! Somehow a challenge is fun and motivating. I don't want to report that actually I did absolutely nothing. I want to report I did this, this and this and possibly get gold stars! lol Ok Im probably not getting gold stars. But you know what I mean when you FEEL like you did well and you feel good about it!

It's through friendship and support I usually achieve things that I feel good about!
Having some cheerleaders in your life is a really wonderful thing. And many people don't. You can see just about any time that if you encourage someone or compliment them that they light up. It is a small thing to do to encourage someone but really it's so important. Be someones cheerleader, it might make such a difference to them. 


You know when things have a good influence on you really by the way you feel and by the fruit of it. The right influences make me feel inspired, energetic, happy, encouraged, faithful, purposeful... and the wrong .... my energy feels sapped, depressed, discouraged... etc. The difference is instant. 



I had a laugh today. My husband sent me a text and he always makes up sweet names for me. This one was "my mighty little trooper" !!! Well, I am good with that. I am hanging around with the right people that encourage me to get lots done and be busy as a bee or a little soldier apparently!


All the flowers are currently in my garden. I have never grown these Lilly's before so I am really proud of them. Now some white ones are about to come out too! Plus we have had glorious weather. My garden is one of my "right places to hang around" as I feel happy and inspired when out in my garden. 

xxx




27 comments:

  1. Annabel, such a lovely post. We all need buddies and you came into my life just at the right time. You needed more christian friends ( as I did ) and I needed someone to encourage me with my blog work, tv work and having the spotlight on my family for being thrifty. You've uplifted me at a time when I had so many new things happening in my life.

    Your emails and blog posts are the highlight of my week.

    I'm so blessed to have lovely blog friends who support each other. It feels like a family.

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    1. Thank you so much Wendy. I am honoured to count you as a friend and appreciate your friendship very much. I knew I needed more Christian friends and God provided! xxx

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  2. Thank you Annabel for another lovely post. If someone had told me twenty years ago that I would have online friends who offer me so much support and encouragement I would have scoffed. Our world is changing and we are all so busy it can be hard for a number of reasons to have real life friends who are around.
    I have an evergreen magnolia (your white flower) in my garden too. A lovely old fashioned tree. There are now small versions.
    Kaye I hope the vents of last week didn't touch you personally. I had babysat one of the young men.

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    1. I never would have believed it either Barb! For ages I thought I could read what others wrote but not interact with them which makes a big difference too.
      The world is just smaller. We might find a friend anywhere! I have certainly made some wonderful friends via SS, facebook etc. In fact my husband found me via facebook! Amazing! Many thanks! xxx

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  3. My post should read the events not vents!!

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  4. So true on so many levels Annabel. Like minded friends are the rainbows in our day aren't they. And like Barb, I never imagined that my 'rainbows' would be in the cyber world. I value my online friends so much for their wisdom and experience, and they are often the first people I turn too for support and encouragement. I posted a quote from Jim Rohn on my Facebook page yesterday. It said 'You are the sum of the five people with whom you spend the most time'. A truer word never spoken, I think. What a joyous post...Mimi xxx

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    1. I saw your quote Mimi and I thought about it too. And its true. Dangerously so!
      Like minded friends with the same values are worth more than gold I think.
      Thank you for being one of them! xxx

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  5. What a lovely post, the sentiment is uplifting yes but also - wise. I have a Bible study that is just 6 other ladies and I attend and we have been talking about this very thing of building each other up and encouraging others and looking around for the opportunities to do both, can you believe that when we talked about the people we influence I didn't even list the blogging world! Thanks for reminding me that our online friends are opportunities as well. I am very glad Nana Chel introduced me to your blog!

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    1. Thank you Kathy! I think if you tell your friends about Laines Letters, really on days when you are home alone and need some encouragement they are hard to beat. I also follow several Christian leaders on facebook. Their words are often the first thing I see in the morning and this is a great help to me. I am glad Nanna Chel sent you here as well! I really appreciate your comment! Thank you! xxx

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  6. So, so true. I consider you and Patsi from a Working Pantry my mentors. I have learnt so much from the both of you. And it was through you that I found Patsi’s blog.

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    1. Sherri thank you so much! I dont even quite know how I found Patsi but I am considering her a mentor as well. I just read todays post and it is just wonderful. I feel so lifted up from reading that!
      Thank you for such a beautiful comment, you encourage me very much.xxx

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  7. I have had such abundance of blessing by "meeting" such lovely like minded women here. Such beautiful, heartfelt and encouraging words as always Annabel xoxo

    Barb, we were not directly affected, but my girls knew of them. So tragic for their families.




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    1. Thank you Kaye. I am so much better having Christian friends and God delivered them just as I asked for them! What a big help this has been. Thank you for being such a wonderful friend xxx

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  8. Dear Annabel

    What a wonderful post. I agree with you so much. Woman are meant to band together and encourage and support each other. It is such an encouragement to me to read these wonderful posts of yours and also to hear from all your wise followers. I also look to the Lord for guidance and I am always led to wise Christian woman.

    I think the key word for me is "Encouragement". I find you lovely ladies gently lead me to be the person I am to be.

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    1. So true Mel. I dont know where I would be without the encouragement I have had all my life. At times we need it even more or an extra dose!
      Thank you for all the encouragement you give me! xxx

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  9. Hi Annabel,
    I'm so glad Nanna Chel (mum!) told me about your blog too! I love your beautiful photos and find everything you write about so interesting and inspiring. Thank you so much :-) jasmine

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    1. Hi Jasmine! Your Mum has been very good to me. Congratulations on your beautiful new baby! My own daughter is having her first baby in May.
      Thank you so much for commenting.You must be a very busy person so I appreciate it very much.xxx

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  10. Dear Annabel,
    Yes! We all need buddies. I love this so much. I love that I can get online and find like-minded women who share so many common interests yet we are all diverse individuals. Every time I read a post from you or Wendy, Mimi, Patsi, (and a few others),I find more often than not that I soon have my notebook and I'm taking copious notes that help me in some way. Or I find a bit of information that I immediately want to share with someone I go to church with, or know at the kid's school. It's really an amazing thing to have mentors and women we just plain admire. Also, you may as well have been describing me to a "t" and you don't even realize it...I too am well aware of the media influences I can and cannot have, music, movies, and people. I want to continue to learn all I can. I went to bible study today and it was wonderful....not in a fluffy light way but in a way that challenged me to dig deep and realize that my worth is in Him and Him alone. I want to give to others, and find that I'm happiest when I'm learning, focusing on my husband, children and home, and encouraging others along the way. If I close my heart I become miserable and anxious. I'm grateful for this post, for the pantry preparedness challenge, for every little thing that causes me to pause and reflect and set goals and cheer others on as well. Yes, I'll emphatically say it again, I NEED this! Xxx

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    1. Colette I am so pleased you have a church and Bible study for support and fellowship. You sound very similar to me in the things you know hurt your heart. We always used to say "guard you heart" and I think thats a good saying, guard what we see, hear, are involved in etc as much as we can at least.
      And you are right... there is no use being off in mission fields if our own home is deserted instead. Home is our no 1 mission. Its a bit of a bloom where you are planted thing!
      Also I am happiest when Im focused on family and home, have my inputs of encouragement and get on with my work. Ahh its all a balance! Sometimes the balance goes wrong and I am trying to fix it back up!
      Thank you for your words. I am so grateful to have you here! xxx

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  11. I cherish every voice that has spoken into my life with encouragement, correction, guidance and wisdom. I call these special ones "My Sea Glass Treasures," that the ocean of life has smoothed out every jagged edge to a frosted beauty and pleasure to my life.

    Hugs and happy week, Annabel,
    Kelley~

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    1. Thats a lovely way of looking at it Kelley... polished over time. As soon as I have an image of the sea I feel peaceful! xxx

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  12. I am a bit late with reading your post, Annabel and it is a lovely one as usual. Now, how do you manage to get a comment from my daughter when I don't on my blog? LOL! See what an inspiration you are as she loves your blog and gets a lot of encouragement from it so in some ways you are being a Laine to her.

    Considering the sad events on the news it is important to have supportive and positive friends in our life whether they be on the internet or in our neighbourhood and we always need to remember that God is still in control.

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    1. It was just lovely to hear from your daughter and I know she would be so busy with the little ones and the baby.
      Nanna Chel some of the news upset me a lot. My mind cant comprehend it. I want to know whats going on to some extent. It helps me to know there still are Christians left! And we know God is victorious as we have read the last chapter! Thank you. We soldier on and cherish every day.xxx

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  13. good morning Annabel, I am using your idea to use Laine's writings as a starting point for my daily Bible study. Mine are not printed in a pretty book like yours but Ive been printing off a selection of them and reading one a day.
    Thank you for the idea. She is better for me than any other professional writer I've tried. But I don't think I ever would of thought of studying her teachings without you. I also read her back when we got our first computer and looked forward to every new post of hers. She is a gem, isnt' she?

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    1. Rhonda I feel the same way. Laines Letters I understand. They are very personal from a woman's heart. I can relate to them. As a study they are very good. Having the computer it is very quick and easy to look up more scriptures and the ones she is talking about... and often this way I find further study or articles on the same verses. Also the volume of work is huge so this could take a couple of years!
      I am hoping so much she gets this website up and running and she is writing again. Truly as a blogger her writing here was the highlight of my life, I would never have believed it!
      At times when I am struggling somehow reading some Laines Letters seems to fix me up! I am so glad you are doing this! It will be a good year! xxx

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  14. Hi Annabel, How right you are, we all need someone to lift us up and we need to lift someone up also! I have some close friends in our neighborhood, and some church buddies that I don't know what I would do without. Friendships are so special, I think God smiles down on us when we see friends, old or new, near or far. Have a good week. Hugs, Nana

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    1. Nana I am so pleased you have this support in your life. It makes us stronger. It is a gift! Thank you so much for commenting!xxx

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I really appreciate your comments thank you! The aim of my blog is the be a place of encouragement and happiness. Very rarely is anyone rude. Actually only twice so far! If you post a rude or aggressive comment I will read it but not publish it, thanks for understanding.xxx

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