This Saturday, my mom and I took up the challenge of a 7 mile hike across an area of the Peak District.  It was one of those last minute, spontaneous ideas. Armed with a backpack full of picnic food and water and a printed out set of directions, we left the house and headed off for the one hour drive to the Peak District.  This was the first ever hike that we had done, and 7 miles was rather ambitious of us. But we parked up the car and headed off into the woods, following the instructions as closely as we could. Through the forest, we past three cows, some rock climbers and a squawking pheasant which scared us half to death. We then made our way through a very wet and muddy moorlands and made our way over the road and up the hill. From there, and following a lot of encouragement from me for my mom, we walked through a field full of cows, bulls and calf's. Half way through I managed to fall over, scratch up my leg and totally embarrass myself in front of all those cows! From there we followed ancient walls, went up hills and made our way past monuments and gigantic stones.


We were so high up - the views were breath taking!  We followed the hills round and made our way down a major decline and through a small village.  There we stopped for tea and our picnic and then we headed along the river to Chatsworth House.  These grounds were beautiful and the buildings are gorgeous.  From there we crossed a few more rivers, climbed more than 148 stairs and continued walking through more fields, woods and finally made our way to the car.


Three and bit hours later and two very exhausted ladies, we climbed into the car to rest. We hiked seven miles, through all of that and survived.  I am so proud of the both of us and can't wait to see what my weight loss is this week.

Do you do anything challenging this weekend?

Wow, I cant believe that another week has come and gone. Last week was my first linked up post for She Reads Truth. Last week I knew that I wanted to have an open mind and heart to what God was doing in my life, what He was showing me and what I was learning during the week ahead....and I was not disappointed!  This week has been a very filled week, with lots of decisions being made and lots of things coming into play....that is why I have called this post God at work. This week I have seen the fruit of my heavenly Daddy being at work in my life, to fulfil his promise to me that all things work together for my good and that He has a plan for my life. 

The outcomes that I have had this week have not happened over night. God has been at work, behind the scenes, for months now. Isn't it funny how you can only see God at work after the event?  Sometimes I just wonder if I am not paying enough attention but I guess that is a post for another time.

Here are the life changing things that have happened or come to pass this week.

• Four months ago, the company that I work for announced that by the end of the year, they would be making 300 jobs redundant.  My job was one of those.  Its been a tough few months, especially having to look after a team and manage performance when inside this is playing on your mind.  A few weeks ago I decided that I needed to be proactive about this job situation and so I applied for three different jobs within other areas of the company.  If I am honest, I only applied for them because I need to be able to pay my bills....and again, looking back I think that I made those decisions for the wrong reasons.  Anyway, on Tuesday morning I found out that I had been successful in my application and invited to an interview.  Two hours later, we were called into a meeting and told that our jobs are no longer at risk! (Thank you God)
• During this time my manager asked me to move to another team and manage a new system that was coming out in September. I was hesitant and while I prayed about it and continued to feel uncomfortable about it, I still made the decision to say yes to their request. Perhaps in part because of the feared ramifications of saying no at a time when my job was on the line or perhaps I just didn't want to disappoint my managers.  But I said yes when really I should have said No.  The past few weeks I have been feeling more and more uneasy about this whole thing and finally, I found enough courage to speak to my manager and tell her I didn't want to do this.  It went so much better than I expected and she completely supported my decision. (Thank you once again God)
• I then had to speak to the manager who had invited me to the interview for the other job. Again, another difficult conversation. But I dug down deep and was completely honest with her. I thanked her for the opportunity and apologised for wasting her time.  Again, she understood and didn't have any problems with it. (Thank you God)
• I have also been trying to decide if I should study my last two courses next year so that I can get my degree. Both are level 3 courses and i need to get distinctions in them in order to have a chance at finding a placement upon completion. Along with the time constraints that was going to put on my life, I was worried about how I would afford it.  So I have been going backwards and forwards with the choice to do one subject or two. This week God showed me through a conversation with two different people that I should study both.  My mom made me realise that through my car payments and a loan payment coming to an end I would be in a position to pay for both courses each month and my friend made me realise that sometimes we need to fight for what we want. That at times you need to sacrifice in order to move forward. That the choices you make today don't affect your tomorrow....they affect you twelve to eighteen months down the line.  So, I have gone ahead and registered for both courses. (Thank you God for good counsel in my life)

Thank you Lord for what you have done for me this week. Thank you that you are working in the background of my life to bring things to pass for me. Lord I thank you for not only what you are doing at the moment, but for what you are going to do.  Lord please help me to make better decisions in the future, it appears that I haven't done a very good job at listening to you or making decision's. Thank you Lord for giving me the courage to say what I need to say.

The most beautiful thing I saw today was the early morning glow of the sun rising. A new day is such a gift but sometimes we lose sight of it in our huge to do lists, worries or routine.  What are you going to do today to ensure that you capture the beauty in your life?