Month: June 2019

Categories
Inspiration

Stepping Into The Unknown

Stepping Into The Unknown

This same time about 22 years ago, Eddie and I were blessed with a baby girl who came into our lives to change it completely. The changes happened in quite a few ways and thinking back, we were perplexed when we thought about how this new addition would be catered for financially, emotionally and spiritually. Without exaggeration, we were not in a place where we thought we could afford to have a baby. I want to share with you a few of the unknowns that got us panicking and how God supernaturally solved them one after the other.

Our first unknown was our financial limitation; we had an inadequate amount of money in the form of savings for taking care of a new baby. We never thought we would get pregnant at that time and neither of our schedules gave room to having another baby. As at the time I was pregnant with our daughter, I was a cleaner and an ironing lady who worked in people’s homes and buildings round the clock in Cyprus. Eddie had two jobs, one as a factory hand and the other as a welding assistant. We just about had enough to pay for our son’s nursery fees, spend time with him and take care of our extended family responsibilities.  

Another unknown was the migration issue which meant even further reduction in the income we had as a family. Migration brought us into a new phase of life which was settling into a room in a house as a family and no immediate prospects which meant that we had to work through and keep pushing forward daily based on the words God had given us. We were poorer than poor, and we had no reason to believe things could get better apart from the fact that God said it.

A few days before our baby came, we were blessed with baby things by an unexpected source. It was like a raven feeding Elijah. On the day of our baby’s appearance, Eddie got his first proper job in United Kingdom and then unexpected and unbelievable promotions and provisions followed for our family every year around the same time; we knew very strongly that we were experiencing these things just because the Lord said so.

God is forever true to His words; He always shows Himself faithful even when we do not know how. Today, the young lady is 22 years old and now experiencing God for herself, just as the Lord promised us at the beginning. Throughout the wilderness times of raising her at the start, we never lacked anything. God provided just at the right time.

God’s word which I love and never forgot through these years says:

‘For the LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”’ Deuteronomy 2:7

To everyone reading this article, I want to remind you that you can afford to rest on and trust the Lord with your life and affairs, no matter how tough things look now. He does not and He will not fail you. The fact that He said it, is just enough – so rest in Him.

God is on your side!

PB

PS: Do you or anyone you know been married 1-5 years? Then please check this link out and also forward to them => http://gatewaychapel.org.uk/discovery

Categories
Empowerment

5 Examples of Empowering Beliefs for Success

Empowering Beliefs

If you want to be successful, the first step is believing that you will be successful! Going into a new business, a new career, a new venture or a new campaign believing that you’ll probably fail is never a good start. Instead, think positive, embrace the future and start thinking about some empowering beliefs which will drive you on.

5 Empowering Beliefs That Will Take You Towards Success

1. The future is exciting, not scary

It’s not unusual to believe that the future is scary and you should be afraid of it. Many people share this belief, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. Yes, the future holds things that we don’t know about, but this should be viewed as exciting, not scary.

2. You can do it

A phrase which should be reinforced all the way through our lives, the belief that you can do this can get you a long way. After all, what makes you less likely to do it than somebody else? This can eliminate many of the negative thoughts that you have about yourself at work, in relationships or with your family.

3. Failure just means you can try again next time

The fear of failure is one of the main reasons why people avoid taking on new challenges. If you’re a perfectionist or you have a fear of failure, this could be a terrifying thought for you. However, once you realize that not getting something quite right the first time often means you can try again and do better, you don’t have to worry too much about getting something wrong.

4. Overcoming a challenge is a success

If you can find a way to love a new challenge and try your best to succeed, you won’t be afraid of challenges and you’ll be feeling empowered all the way. Rather than thinking about the failures and what could go wrong, think about the excitement and success of overcoming a difficult challenge. This is often very rewarding for many people and can be a driving force in any successful venture.

5. Never stop being your best

If you’re performing at your best, there’s nothing more you can do. Nothing should feel more empowering than performing and working at your best, knowing that you’re doing everything you can to be on the road to success. Reinforcing this message to yourself each and every day means that you will keep on being the best person you can be, without comparing yourself to anybody else.

Categories
Leadership

How Committed Are You?

HOW COMMITTED ARE YOU?

This week, my family visited a gentleman we’ve known for over 23 years. He was a farm owner and had such huge dreams of where he wanted to see his farm as well as his family. It was a great opportunity to take our children to see the farm that we have told them about numerous times, a place where our now 24 years own young man spent his first year.

Arriving at the farm and seeing the farm owner was such a great opportunity to teach our children about dreams, vision and commitment. There were so many things to learn from this trip, both from the farmer as well as Pastor Eddie’s perspective. I however want to share with you two of the lessons I learnt from the farm owner and the realisation of his dream.

The farm owner had some dreams I was quite aware of, one of which was sending his daughter to university in the United Kingdom. The farm owner was not educated, but he had a dream to send his daughter to the best he could. He did it! His plan all that time ago was something he shared with anyone that cared to listen. He would usually say with pride: ‘I will send my daughter to university in London.’ A few years later, he did and became the first to do anything like that in the village. He said it so much, planned for it and executed his plan.

The second dream the farm owner shared consistently was his plan to build a bigger barn and fully automate his farm. When we visited this week, he had already achieved this dream as well. His dreams were not mere words but words backed up with extremely hard work. His hard work was rewarded by the reality of his result today.

Vision backed with hard work always produces results, but we should not just describe what we want to see without committing to working hard to bring the dream to reality. Every dream needs commitment and hard work to make it a reality.

God’s word says;

The plan of the diligent leads surely to abundance Proverbs 21:5a

If you are a diligent person, you will have a plan and that should push you to taking action, enough to bring the plan to reality which will inadvertently lead to abundance and success for you.

As I looked at our farm owner of 24 years, we realised that he did not even need to go into his farm on the day we saw him. He was driving around his village visiting people as opposed to being on the farm at the milking time as he had to do in the past. He had worked hard enough to free himself from the hard labour that his previous situation demanded. I realised that dreams and visions have no respect for education or otherwise, it just responds to good plans, hard work and diligence and as you might have guessed, we used the opportunity to teach the same to our children again.

Got a dream? Stay committed to it and be diligent enough to see the reality of your dream.

God is on your side!

PB

Categories
Empowerment

What Are Core Beliefs In CBT?

Core Beliefs in CBT

CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a form of talking therapy which helps people who are suffering from mental health problems. It can help to change the way you think about yourself, those around you and the wider world through addressing common underlying problems which might be getting in the way of your success, health, and well-being.

During Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, there are often core beliefs which are identified and addressed. These are often the same for many people, and most of them will fit into several distinct categories, such as love and relationships, family, work and self-esteem.

What are the Core Beliefs in CBT?

Core beliefs are the beliefs that people have about themselves. These can be negative, such as the beliefs that other people are better than you, or that you’re not good enough for something or somebody. Cognitive behavioral therapy seeks to address some of these core beliefs which can be very limiting to your life and self-esteem.

However, core beliefs can also be positive. You may have generally positive opinions about yourself, with just a few negative beliefs which are getting in the way of your life in some way. Core beliefs are the beliefs that we hold about ourselves and may be generally negative or generally more positive.

Why understanding Core Beliefs in CBT can help with so many other things?

While it’s good to talk about your problems and the things which are stressing you out at the moment, many people underestimate the importance and the value of getting down to the root of the cause. Many problems are caused by core beliefs about yourself that you haven’t even though about, never mind thought about changing.

When you start to think about your core beliefs, your mind will open up to other things too. You will start to think about how your negative thoughts on body image have contributed to your negative opinions of yourself at work or your lack of confidence in the workplace. You might find that you behave differently in certain situations or around certain people, and this could be done to experiences you have had in the past or during your childhood which have shaped many of your beliefs.

Core beliefs are a key part of each person’s mind, and in order to fully understand yourself and analyze what you’re thinking, you need to understand your core beliefs in CBT first.

Categories
Inspiration

My Wrong Assumption

My Wrong Assumption

A few weeks ago, PE and I were out of town, which meant one of our children had to take out the wheelie bin for the garbage day. We came back later that afternoon and I realised that our wheelie bin was gone; there was one left in front of a neighbour’s home. I enquired and it wasn’t theirs; it surely wasn’t mine either as mine was clean inside and it also has our door number on it. I didn’t have a choice but to take the one left outside. I however had a suspicion of who I thought took mine and I planned to take it back!

The missing bin wasn’t going to come back out until 2 weeks afterwards as we have alternate bin collection dates. On the said date, I brought out the strange wheelie bin and started waiting for the neighbours to bring theirs out – knowing fully well that someone on the road had it, just not sure which home; though I had a strong suspicion.

Glued to the window, I was waiting for the collection time but unfortunately, I had to go respond to a pastoral call. By the time I finished, the garbage team had come and gone and the neighbour I was convinced took my bin had now taken their wheelie bins back inside. I was most upset with myself but still decided to go check the other bins left out on the street anyway – just in case my suspicion was wrong; but I genuinely thought that my chances of being wrong was less than 10%.

As I scouted the street for the bin, equally trying to dodge my neighbours, as the whole thing looked so ridiculous!, I noticed that there was a wheelie bin in front of the poshest looking house in the close; no way was my wheelie bin with that neighbour; they looked too perfect to get that wrong – but there it was with my house number on it. I grabbed the bin, heart pumping like I had been at the gym, I wheeled it speedily from their side of the road to its position by our house.  

As I was running with my bin, I asked myself why? It was my bin anyway. I realised that I was embarrassed on behalf of this neighbour of mine who had my bin and felt bad that I made the wrong assumption about another neighbour on the street. I remember saying; God, I’m so sorry for this wrong assumption. As I did that, a scripture crossed my mind and I thought to share that with this story.

Brothers and sisters do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one lawgiver and judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you-who are you to judge your neighbour? James 4:11-12

Though a funny situation; I learnt this lesson and thought to share it with you; do not be quick to judge or make assumptions, as they might be wrong and leave you feeling really bad if things turn out not to be as you thought it was. Give everyone a fair chance and be at peace!

God is on your side!

PB

PS: I will be holding a significant, life changing meeting with ladies at the Dartford Hilton on Saturday the 15th June at 10am and I’ll love you to register and come. If you do come, make sure you stop to say hello to me. http://www.gatewaychapel.org.uk/lady

Categories
Empowerment

How Do You Change Negative Self-Beliefs?

How to Change Negative Self Beliefs

Thinking positively about yourself isn’t something that you can do naturally unless of course you’re a very positive person and you (rightly) have a very positive opinion of yourself. A lot of people, however, struggle to think positively about themselves, and as a result, they end up with a series of negative self-beliefs which limit their progress and cause them to lose confidence. These negative self-beliefs often begin to occur as children, but they can creep in as adults even after the most confident and happy of childhoods. Here are some of the things you can do to change any negative self-beliefs.

1. Change Your Approach

If you’ve become used to thinking negatively about a new experience or an exciting new opportunity, turn this around and start to think positively. Next time you’re told at work that you’re being sent to a new location to speak with a difficult client, embrace it with open arms and appreciate that you’re being trusted by your employers! There’s always a positive side if you look close enough, and sometimes you don’t even need to look that much closer.

2. Stop Judging Yourself

We can all have the tendency to judge ourselves a little bit too harshly, whether this is over our appearance, our talents, our skills, our experience or our performance. In order to get rid of your negative self-beliefs, you need to stop judging yourself and think about the positive things that there are about you. If you can’t think of any, ask your friends and family as they will definitely be able to each give you one positive thing. You can then start to write a list, as well as concentrating on some of the ways you can build your self-esteem and self-awareness.

3. Understand Why You Have Negative Beliefs

This could be a step which is much further down the process, but it’s different for each person. Understanding why you have negative beliefs can help you to eliminate them and start thinking positively. If you realize that the reason you have so many negative beliefs about yourself is because of a bad experience you had when you were a child, you can start to shake this off and realize that you wouldn’t believe these things were it not for your bad experience.

A few simple steps will put you well on your way to changing the way you think about yourself and eliminating your negative self-beliefs from your mind.