Amanda Viviers

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Amanda Viviers — Leave a comment

Finding strength for your today.

In my kitchen, we built a planter box, to try and convince my eyes away from the ugly fence that stares at me, multiple times a day washing dishes in my little beach shack.

In the last two days, flowers have unveiled gloriously in that little piece of windowsill green. My inspiration garden brings the outdoors, indoors as the water and bubbles fill my sink over and over.

I remember the days, when cooking and washing up was the most delightful of tasks, because it meant I was home. A rarity in the life of corporate hustler. I would open a cookbook, breathe deep and cook all day, so excited to be in my casual clothes and leaning into my home day.

Today, I struggle to find the inspiration for dinner, I roll my eyes at another sink full of dishes and I dream of days escaping my home, when I can leave the house without any cares or responsibility.

These thoughts shame me though, because I see photos of young children washed up on shores, I hear stories of people desperately wanting that pink line to appear, I know that the lot I have been served in life is indeed on the blessed side of my ugly fence.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;

Enjoy one moment at a time…

How do I enjoy my moments, when they are filled with so many dreams and desires and the weight of my own expectations overwhelm?

Moments,

Struggles,

Hormones,

Tantrums,

Sickness,

Plans falling over,

Opportunities not taken,

Moments.

Every time I think about more than my moments in my day, my serenity fades and I start to feel stuck in my apartment for the rest of my days.

Every time I think about the little moments, the laugh in his smile, the glint when she see’s, the new awakening of a season, an unexpected sleep in; it is in these precious moments that I regain my strength.

You see the way I used to live, I was always planning, I was always hustling, I was always being drawn into greater days, with even greater expectations. I am learning in my today, to find the white flowers that are opening, noticing what is right within my reach, rather than weighted expectations for tomorrow?

Do I believe we should stop dreaming?

No, but as a great friend said to me the other day “Amanda, what is so wrong with God surprising us in our future, rather than spending our days desperately trying to control the outcomes and the details”

Finding strength for my today, is revelling in the messy moments, picking up my knitting and letting things go that just don’t belong anymore. It is having conversations that matter, but keeping my relational accounts short.

It is kissing my husband passionately when he steps in the door, rather than telling him the list of unmet expectations and the struggles that overwhelm my soul.

It is playing a little as I wash those dishes, being grateful for the moments that are present and the duty that is my privilege.

The true story is that I have prayed desperately for the moments I have been graced with, yet when they arrive I can be so desperate to reach into the new, that I lose sight of the beauty in the realisation of my dreams.

Our strength for today is found in the messy moments, when we release and let go. When we smile and forgive, when we attend to the little details that often are forgotten. When we look heavenward with gratitude, when we take a deep breath and feel the sheer brilliance of the sun on our backs. When we walk a little slower, pick up one more toy smiling at their innovation and we live our lives breathing in moments that we might have just missed.

So for today, even though I’d love to fly away and search out hidden wonders on distant shores, as I dream of building orphanages and publishing books, I will surrender my will to this beautiful season and keep smiling as I watch the white flowers on my kitchen window sill bloom.

I will embrace my little inspiration moments in my today, knowing that suddenly it will be tomorrow and my season will have once again moved onward again.

What moments are you missing in your today, because you are desperate for your tomorrow?

Today.

One moment at a time.

Grateful.

Messy.

But overwhelmingly

Grateful,

Posted on September 7, 2015September 8, 2015 by Amanda Viviers — 1 Comment

Life is short, love what you do…

One of my closest friends, lost her husband suddenly. It was the most terrible of times. The last letter he ever wrote to her finished with this profound prophetic statement;

Life is short, love what you do

To watch my friend walk bravely out her days without her amazing partner has been the most deeply moving journey. She has grieved, she has stamped her feet, she has waited, she has questioned, but at the same time she has moved into days where she is living out the legacy of his vision for her days.

She shifted from New Zealand to Cambodia alone in her fifties, starting again, to live a life sown. It has been a hard journey, as she was robbed near her new home, watched the people she has been serving loose their life. Sickness, tragedy and heart ache has filled her days. She has not allowed the depths of these stories to shrink her though, she has stepped forward, felt the fear and brought her broken hallelujah.

She is living bravely in her moment, using the depth of her grief to minister and help a generation of young people in another country to live the life of their dreams.

I know her man would be immensely proud of her.

I know he would be watching with a gentle, quiet smile, a raise of his quirky eyebrows that quietly said “Look at my girl go…”

A life of serenity is not necessarily a quiet, retiring one.

Serenity is a place of peace, found in the midst of living a life of purpose.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

One day at a time, having the courage to live the life you have always dreamed of. When we stay stuck in holding patterns of the past, we are unable to live one day at a time, understanding that life is short.

It is short.

We just don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

What if we spent our today stuck in the pain of yesterday and missed out on the absolute sheer brilliance of living a life sown in our today?

What would you do, if you embraced the messy moments of fear, grief, disappointment and shifted forward into your unknown anyway?

My lovely friend Annie inspires me so much.

She hasn’t just moved on, she has dug deep into the very recesses of her soul and determined that she will live a life of purpose today.

Yes, living in her brave, courageous, today.

She is not sure about what the next five years will bring, but she knows in her today, that she needs to bring hope and courage to teenagers in Cambodia. A courage that despite the very hard parts of our story, that Love wins.

Loving People.

Loving Stories.

Loving Humanity.

Loving the hard parts.

Loving the mess of people and transition and change and living beyond ourselves.

What can you bravely do today, to live in this moment?

Take that step,

Make that phone call,

Book that appointment,

Write that piece,

Live surrendered in your today.

After 6 months of being in Cambodia, Annie knows she can’t go home to New Zealand, her work is not done yet, so if you want to help her stay, you can transfer funds to:

With the name Annie Cambodia.

New Zealand Accounts:

ANZ: 06 0383

0164749 04

Australian Accounts:

ANZ: 016141

299685840

Posted on September 5, 2015September 5, 2015 by Amanda Viviers — Leave a comment

Praying those doors open.

Prayer is not really a popular topic these days, mostly because of the shame attached to people’s expectations of us. Something I find quite peculiar though is this, the one in Whom we are praying too, doesn’t ask for much more than a simple chat.

A lean of our heads.

A quietening of our minds.

A sneak peak into the unknown.

Prayer is all about communion, common union between the unseen and the seen, the known and the unknown and a humble stretch that says ” I do not know everything and need a little help.”

That is what prayer is, it is just a opening of ethereal doors into a new perspective.

Maybe that’s why it was created.

A space of trust.

A place of peace.

A realigning of purpose and perspective.

As I seek serenity in my days, one could think it is a settling down, a shrinking of a life lived sown, so that we can handle the task list, the people, the plans.

Lately I have been reminding myself that Serenity is allowing the Greater Plan, to become my plans. I have been reminded that my way is not the only way. I am learning to wait and see, that He is so good.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Today I am seeking wisdom in my walk towards the next in my life.

Wisdom to know how to accept things from the past I cannot change, wisdom to know what I can change and the courage to actually do something about it.

I see people stay in places of in-between, like a holding pattern of unknown, because they are unwilling to do the little things that will take them to the next place of knowing.

When I pray, I find wisdom.

When I wait, I find serenity.

When I gain perspective, I can see what needs to change and what I need to let go.

Prayer is the vehicle that carries me to these places.

Lately though my prayers have been really simple. They have consisted of very basic words.

“Not my will be done, but yours.”

“Open Doors, open doors.”

I’m not struggling and striving hoping someone will notice, I am waiting, hoping, trusting and knowing that He brings all things together for good.

I know that He sees.

What is it that you are hoping for in this season?

What doors are you praying would open?

Serenity would tell us, have the courage to let go of what has passed, the tenacity to say yes when the new comes into our present and the wisdom to know the difference. I made this little poster for a friend today and it got me thinking.

It’s all in his hands.

The rest of this place brings serenity and peace.

Speak tomorrow

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Amanda Viviers — Leave a comment

Having courage to change the things we can…

Humans are beautiful, humans are complex, humans are brilliant.

Every person we meet, every story we encounter is bathed in the harsh reality of humanity.

We are a swarming mix of emotions, agendas, passions, beauty, innocence, detail, forgetfulness and desire.

When Reinhold wrote the Serenity Prayer I am sure he was deep in the mess of humanity.

I can see him at his desk, with his pen in hand and his heart reeling in his throat, at the pain of trying to make a difference with his life in the midst of human story.

What part of the human story holds you back from letting stuff go?

What part of the human story compels you to step forward into the new?

I have found as I sit and listen to peoples story, many of them hold onto the stuff that they cannot change and then struggle to have the courage to change that which they can.

We get so stuck.

Do you feel stuck?

I often do.

The one thing I have been trying to do of late though is to start living the life I have always imagined. I have been stuck before because I realised I was waiting for someone to create the safety net in case I fail.

The more I step out and start doing the things I dream of, the more I realise that failure is just part of the human story. The question of those who are living deeply fulfilling lives is not whether they failed, it is whether they used the emotions and lessons from those failures to begin again.

Failure brings either two things;

Belittlement. Where we allow the failure to define us.
Wisdom. Where we learn and grow, living a life that is defined by what we have learnt in the failure.

My prayer this September is this…

“courage to change the things I can”

What can you change?

Do you need to ask someone for help?

The life you have always imagined to live is on the other side of fear. Yes, the brokenness of humanity means that there are some things we can never change, but what if we changed, what we can.

You might not be able to change where you live, but you can change your perspective.

You might not be able to quit your job, but you can start to build something in your life that brings forth your passion.

You might not be able to launch that dream that has been in your heart forever, but you could sit with a coach or mentor and find baby steps to start your journey toward it.

What is something that you can change?

This week I emailed another magazine editor with one of my manuscripts, I took a deep breath and just had a go. I find often in my life, the courage builds as I just step out and do it.

Taking small steps towards the massive goals I have always dreamed of.

What are you going to change today, to bring forward something new in your tomorrow?

Posted on September 2, 2015September 2, 2015 by Amanda Viviers — 6 Comments

How to find serenity

If I was completely honest with you (yes, really), the last few weeks have carried with them many highs and lows. There has been no real reason for them, but I have been delving deeply into places, that are often swept under the carpet so that I can move forward into the new.

The dark night of the soul, is not something to be ashamed of I believe when we embrace it and learn from it we are able to step into our purpose with clarity.

Tonight as I was reflecting on some of the emotions that have bombarded me, I was reminded of a simple prayer that I told someone to pray everyday when they were going through a similar time.

I think it is now my turn.

This is the prayer that was made famous by Mother Teresa and I thought I would start a new series from it, going through it verse by verse, day by day. Its wisdom for my today is so timely.

It was written in the early 1900’s by Reinhold Niebuhr

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.

To accept the things I cannot change…

Often the things I worry about the most are actually the things I cannot change.

I cannot change someones beliefs.

I cannot change the way someone feels about me.

I cannot go back and change a situation.

I cannot make someone include me when they don’t want to.

I can’t change the past.

I can’t take back words that have been spoken.

This is life.

The things that plague me, are often those thing that my thoughts and worries will never change.

What I can do though is ask God to grant me the serenity (the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness.) to accept these things.

To accept them.

To accept people.

To accept the past.

To accept words that have been spoken.

To accept that some people don’t see me.

To accept that there are days that my motive will be misunderstood.

To accept.

When we finally face those things in our days, that battle and wear us down, saying I cannot change these things and I will accept them.

I will not dwell on them.

I will forgive them.

I will look forward into the future.

I am thinking the days that I rely on God for these small victories, they will be fine days indeed.

These are the days I am bringing into my tomorrow.

Want to join me?

Let’s pray this prayer together each morning of this series through September.

Author: Amanda Viviers