December 2009

Write a letter to yourself at 16?

What would you write if you were invited to write a letter to yourself at the sweet age of 16? Would you go for the ‘change your life, make different choices and change history’? Or would you want to reassure and reassure the tentative teenager? Activate supporter Faye Smith was asked by her local Sheffield newspaper to write her thoughts and this is the process she went through –

: “Writing the letter was an amazingly powerful exercise.

“It provoked a lot of soul-searching.

“I thought of preventing tragedies, but as any Dr Who fan will tell you, that irrevocably alters the space time continuum and tumbles us into chaos.

“So there was no standing at the foot of the twin towers or at the gates of Hillsborough.

“In the end I tried to reassure the girl I was that the problems she thought were so monumental, like the bullying I endured at school, would go away.

“Isn’t that what we’d all like – to know that things are going to get better?

“I can now see, though, that all those hard times forged something in my character, brought people into my life and prepared me for my future.

“‘Je ne regrette rien,’ as Piaf said.”

Blessings on you 16-year-old Faye…

Great news! You were right, the last four years of your life have truly been the worst of your life. But the bully who has made your life a misery is leaving…

Everything changes for you now.

Every year after this you will feel more able, more confident, more attractive, happier in your own skin and accept and understand yourself more, gaining a sense of purpose in life.

So stop people-pleasing and comparing right now.

There will always be prettier, sportier, brighter and more popular girls around but it’s so much more attractive to be positively yourself.

Enthusiasm and happiness are contagious.

Persistence will get you further than talent – and black won’t suit you!
Your life will never look like a flat line – that’s cardiac arrest.

It has many valleys as well as peaks, but Faye, lilies grow only in the valleys and make those mountain tops all the more precious.

Faithful friends, who will love, support, celebrate the good and stand with you in the bad, pour into your life from the age of 22.

And remember to keep family close.

There’s nothing coming that you can’t handle: there will be triumphs, joys and some heartbreaking sadness but remember your name means faith and that will sustain you every day of your life, as will your belief that the Almighty turns every circumstance to his good purposes.

At 17 you will weep over your lack of vocation. Relax. You discover both yourself and business at university.

You were designed as a creative communicator, which will bring you several careers to enjoy.

Then you find the strength to step off the wheel for a while to bring up your two precious children. By 30 you finally discover you are a human being, not a human doing.

Give thanks and forgive daily, move on and embrace every opportunity.
You make it to at least 43 with no regrets.

Faye x

PS: You are right, ’80s music will always be the bes

Write a letter to yourself at 16? Read More »

How to feel Good Naked Website

Hi, everyone, if you were at the Activate weekend and enjoyed either the seminar on Four Simple Steps to looking Good or the seminar Who Stole your Sex Life, then you might be interested to know that there is now a Facebook page for the book How to Feel Good Naked. So if you’d like to be kept up to date just type the book title into the search box on Facebook and ‘become a fan’. Thanks
Sheila

How to feel Good Naked Website Read More »

December Devotional – The Three Trees

I heard this story recently which beautifully explains how God has a special plan for our lives. Through the story, three trees have dreams of what they want to become. Years pass and eventually woodcutters come to their mountain. Each tree finds itself in a place they never desired to be, yet in the end – “God’s love changes everything.”
God has a wonderful plan for our lives and this message reaches out to all ages. Jeremiah 29: 11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

God has a plan for each of us. There may be times we lose sight of our dreams, and we may not understand things that take place in our lives. We must remember though that God loves us, has a plan for us, and is in control; therefore we can trust Him. Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

The Three Trees
Three trees stood on a hill. One day they began talking about what they wanted to be. The first tree wanted to be a throne that a king could sit upon. The second tree wanted to be a ship to carry great treasures. The third tree just wanted to stay where he was and look at the sky. One day a wood cutter came and cut the first tree down. The tree was so excited, he thought now I will become a great throne. The tree was cut into planks and made into a manger to feed animals in a barn. How sad he was. But over time a man and wife came. The wife had a baby and placed the child in the manger. Soon, the sky was filled with a heavenly light and angels were heard singing. All of a sudden the first tree realized he was holding the King of Kings. This was far greater than being a throne for a King. The tree felt all his desires had been fullfilled at that moment.

The wood cutter came again and cut the second tree down. The tree was so excited but he was cut into boards and made into a fishing boat. How sad the second tree was. But over time, a man with some fishermen came into his boat. Very soon a storm came up and the little boat trembled. The man in the boat stood and commanded the storm to be still. How happy the little boat was for now he understood that this was truly a treasure far greater than any he might have expected.

Again the woodcutter came. The third tree trembled in fear for he did not want to be cut down, but alas he too was cut down and cut into beams and thrown in a pile. How sad he was. One day the beams from the third tree were taken out and lashed together in the form of a cross and laid upon the back of a man. The man carried him to a hill where the man was crucified and died. This was the worst that the third tree had ever felt. How lowly and insignificant. But three days later he heard the news, the man who had died upon him had risen from the dead. Now the tree was happier than he had ever been for he realised that from that day forward, he would always be able to look up and see nothing but light.

We may never know why things happen to us in our lives, but we can know that “All things work together to those that love God and are called according to His purpose.”

On behalf of the Activate team, have a very happy and peaceful Christmas x

December Devotional – The Three Trees Read More »

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