My question for our little community is this:

"In your life, how is the balance between "being with" Jesus and "doing things for" Jesus?
Is He calling you to spend more time alone with Him?"

Have a fab weekend! Enjoy these videos submitted by people from across the globe!

Vicky : )

Hi there, How is the start of your week going?

I just got home from watching the movie "Once". It was an amazing film (other than the bad language..) and it really inspired me. The song "Falling Slowly" is especially great – I just bought it from iTunes and am listening to it as I type this…

The whole movie is about daring to step out on your dreams…the lead guy is a songwriter and dares to record a record. The lead female is from the Czech Republic and dares to play keyboard and even sing one of her own songs. Its also about relationships – daring to open up and trust one another. It was beautiful!

It reminded me of the need for us to dare to dream God’s dreams… to catch His vision. One of my favorites visionaries if a guy called Pete Grieg. He’s from England (hooray for the British!). One day when he was praying he started to write down a poem, a prophetic picture, a dream of what God was raising up in our generation.. It’s powerful. I want to be part of the army of prayer warrior that he describes. My favorite parts are:

"The vision is obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus…"

"The vision is an army of young people…they are free from materialism…they are mobile like the wind…people write their addresses in pencil….light flickers from their every secret motive and private conversation…advertisers cannot mold them, Hollywood cannot hold them…with blood, sweat, tears and sleepless nights they pray…and their prayers summon the Hound of Heaven…This vision will come to pass"

Wow!

Does that resonate with you? Share if it does!

Love,
Vicky : )

Hi there!

I just watched this on Youtube and fell in love with it! I want to
be like that old lady when I grow up! Her words were so powerful "Jesus
is in this car…He goes with me everywhere I go…" The presence of
God truly is with us when we walk with Him, and anything is possible
when Jesus is by your side! Hope you like the video : )

I’m
writing this from New Orleans, leading worship here for an Easter
service. I just had my first ever experience of eating Lobster (which
was great!). I’m at the hotel editing the first 3 chapters of the book
I’m writing while listening to a Classical music CD… very chilled.

The
verse thats been on my mind ever since I saw the video above, is that
"with God nothing is impossible". Do I really believe that? Would I
live differently if I TRULY believed that with every fiber of my being?
A question for me and for our community here:

"What seems impossible for you right now? What do you need God to do to help?"

Hope
you have a wonderful Easter weekend… sing, celebrate the risen
Savior, and show His love to all around you. I watched The Passion
movie last night on Good Friday with my amazing ‘adopted family’ in
Nashville. The main thing that jumped out of the movie for me was the
unrelentingly forgiving love of Christ. Loving His betrayer, loving
those who sentenced Him to death, praying for those who nailed Him to
the cross… I find it hard to forgive people for small offences…what
a challenge to my heart and all of our hearts. Let the Cross move us
this Easter to love and forgive as He has loved and forgiven us. The
bar is set high but with His power in us, we can do it!

In His unrelenting love,
Vicky : )

Hi friends! Hows your week going?

Every now and then don’t you love it when someone encourages you. It gives you the power and passion to keep running the race. It might be a word from a friend or a stranger, but it touches your heart and lets you know you matter and need to keep fighting the good fight! The word literally means to "en-courage" to "give courage" – isn’t that cool?

I stumbled over a few videos on YouTube of people singing one of my songs "Yesterday Today and Forever". Hearing the different arrangement, churches and nationalities singing my little tune was such an encouragement to me today. I’m working hard on writing a new album, so it meant the world to see my songs were being used out there! Here’s a few You Tube clips below….

So lets remember the power we have to encourage one another… The Bible says the the power of our words can give life. I want to notice when friends or strangers are in need of a kind word, and be someone who speaks life to them. Like I said in the last blog about Schindler – "we are more powerful than we know!!"

If you’re having a tough day, know that I’m praying for you. Pray for me too as I continue songwriting and book writing with the goal of drawing people’s hearts near to God. We can do it!!

Question for y’all!:

"In what area of life do you need to be ‘encouarged’ – ‘given courage’? What are you dreaming of doing, big or small, that needs the support, belief and cheering-on of others around you?"

Love,
Vicky

Hi Blog-friends!

I had a great weekend…hung out with two kids, built a den and watched a movie inside the den… Been a long time since I’ve done that! I need to spend more time with kids..their imagination and sense of play is so refreshing! On Sunday my church rocked. Today the week is off to an inspiring and mellow start as I work on my Book and on writing songs for a new album : )

Last night I watched a movie – Schindler’s List. I saw it once before, when it came out in the cinema back in ‘93. Much of it I had forgotten. It last over 3 hours and is a graphic story telling of the Holocaust. Once again I was amazed this all took place during my Grandparent’s generation…it is so recent and living survivors still exist.

The main character, Oskar Schindler, is a business man who’s heart is gradually broken for the plight of the Jews. He has great wealth and realizing that they will be sent to Auschwitz to die, he buys as many Jews as he can, under the guise of employing them in his factory. At the end is a powerful scene where he weeps at the realization that for the sale of his car he could have bought 20 more people, or for the gold brooch on his jacket, two more people…

I definitely don’t want to sound ‘preachy’ here! I’m just feeling inspired and challenged, and this is me speaking to myself as much as to anyone else : ) But….If you are able to sit and read this on a computer, and you own more than a few changes of clothes and have a means of transportation, you and I are among some of the richest people on the planet. Often we look at Hollywood and the movie stars and feel like that is what riches look like! In reality, riches look like OUR lives – when compared to the vast majority of people who live below the poverty line across the globe.

The movie was sobering and left me challenged to realize just how powerful I am – and how powerful you are. We are educated, able to communicate, able to use technology, able to dream and act on those dreams, able to make money and give it away…

Truly the power to change the world lies within our hands…

What will we do with it?

Comments and thoughts are very welcome….share below!

Love,
Vicky

So after a week with no laptop, I am now in possession of a new Mac! Its been a challenge to keep blogging without one, so apologies if the past week has been a bit lame! I am now back, full steam ahead! But now with an iPhone attached to my hand at all times, this new Mac and a constant addiction to Twitter and Blogging, I think its official that… I am a GEEK!

This photo is me doing my best smug Geek Impersonation, showing my status of Geekship, yet my OK-ness with that! And those are my reading glasses – I have to wear them whenever I read or type.. Someone said they make me look like I’m Swedish… ha.

Anyway…I’ve been reading Deuteronomy today and was struck how many times the word "remember" occurs! God continually says "remember who I am…remember what I’ve done…remember that I brought you out of Egypyt". We humans tend to be forgetful… Memories are important – especially when its remembering who God is and all He has done!

One of my best friends has a fascination with Polaroid cameras..she carries it in her purse and is always bringing it out to snap memory moments! I am thinking of starting to do the same, as now she has a cool collection of photos to remind her of those happy times.. I think as well as God saying "remember" on the big stuff like salvation, he also says "remember" about the joys and blessings He gives us in life; to live in the moment; drink it in and take a snapshot of it in your heart to always remember.

I don’t dwell on those kind of precious memories enough! SO my question for us all today is:

"If you could sum up the happiest few moments in your life, as thought they were two or three ‘polaroids snap shots’ what would those be?"

Here’s mine!

1. Me as a little seven year old girl kneeling beside my Mum by the family piano, praying to accept Jesus into my heart.

2. The band, producer and I sitting in ICC Studios England recording my first ever EP and loving every minute and knowing my family and friends were cheering me on with prayer and encouragement.

3. Me crossing over the American border with my Work Visa for the first time, to start life in the "Land Of The Brave, Home Of The Free"!

Others would be…

- The moment when my 4 year old niece picked me out of the crowd by shoutin "Auntie Fickeeeeeee!" during her Christmas play last year. (She calls me Fickee as she can’t say "V"s yet!!"

-Sitting in my family’s lounge back home, playing my Grandparents "The Wonder Of The Cross" (a song I wrote dedicated to them) with the whole of our family sitting around to listen

-  Walking up to the Graduation podium in Oxford, with a latin speech being read out, receiving my degree scroll.

Looking forward to hearing yours! And I’m working on a home video to post here in the next day or two!

Love,
Vicky

As you know Starbucks is a favorite location of mine! They are such a powerful influence on culture, arts and creativity in our generation… This post is part of the “Watercooler Wednesdays” discussions on ‘creativity and culture’ started by my friend on this site: http://randyelrod.typepad.com/ethos/2008/03/watercooler-w-1.html

So I was at Starbucks yesterday and saw they had a new poster up. I photographed it with my iPhone and included it above… I loved the quote on it and through it was pretty profoundL

“The deeper the roots, the higher the reach”.

That’s so true for us as people who follow Jesus… I think, like a tree, He can only use us outwardly in ministry as much as we are digging deeper into him in our personal walk with Him. Otherwise you get a top heavy tree that cant sustain growth and crashes to the ground. We’ve seen so many people ‘fall from ministry’ and I see this poster as a prophetic message to us, to make sure that if we dream of touching people’s lives publicy, we must dig even deeper into God devotionally and in the unseen place of intimacy with Him.

Matthew 6 says “go into your room, close your door, and pray to the father who is unseen” – lets seek Him in the secret place! When we go deep, He can grow us tall and we can touch lives for His kingdom!

Hope that encouraged you today! I am off to figure out my laptop situation…need to buy a new one!

My question for you and myself:

“If I want to have a high reach, impacting many for God, am I TRULY growing deeper and making time for that?”

Peace!

vicky

Well, Monday’s here and its a new week! Hope you had a relaxing weekend…

I had meetings at the National Religious Broadcasters convention today and have more tomorrow…meeting with Publishers about my forthcoming book… I’m excited about writing it! Other highlights of today were trying Panera’s Tomato soup (amazingly yummy!), running into my friend Spence unexpectedly at NRB, and realizing its only a few weeks until I take a trip to England and get to see my family!

Speaking of family, hope this photo makes you smile… Its me with my Mum…thought it was pretty fun! Now I can drink water all by myself…back then I needed help! Haha…

So I’m sitting here at my desk, surrounded by a pile of books, working on my first draft of the early chapters of my book…I feel like I need to decide NOW that I will do something other than just work this week… I need to do something new, daring and exciting. I like the quote that “today is the first day of the rest of your life”. That’s very true…

This week, and every week, I want to make sure I do something new, exciting and adventurous. Some weeks it might be as small as trying something totally new from the Starbucks menu, or taking a more scenic driving route from one place to another. Other weeks it might mean jumping on a plane and taking a spur of the moment trip to visit friends….or who knows!!

My question for you:

“Do you step out of your routine and your comfort zone enough? What could you do this week that is unusual, new, daring and life-giving?”

Love,
Vicky : )

Happy weekend greetings!

Don’t you just love Saturdays? I played in Kentucky last night, with the SHE Tour. Thick snow had fallen in Kentucky, so to the brave people who came out to the concert – thank you!! Good to see some of you from SHE commenting on the Blog last night!

Well, I’m loving getting to know you guys on here. I figured it was time you met some of my nearest and dearest people.. so here are my Grandparents! They are my ‘heroes of the faith’ and have inspired me to follow Jesus with all my heart, and to enjoy the adventures of a life of ministry…

Their story is amazing – after living in England they moved as Missionaries to Israel (where my Mum spent the early years of her childhood), then they later lived in Zimbabwe Africa for 20 years, building water wells, preaching the gospel and discipling new believers with through-the-mail Bible School classes!

They also worked along side a preacher called Smith Wigglesworth, and my Great Grandmother was healed of a serious physical illness when he prayed for her. Watch the video I filmed on my little Flip Camera for the whole story!

Its a long, 10 minute video, so feel free to watch as much or little as you like… There was more of it, so it cuts off abruptly…but I thought you’d enjoy this 10 minute snippet!

A wuestion for you on the topic of family…

“How many members are there in your family, and where did you grow up?”

Get some rest this weekend if you can!

vb

Greetings!

Today was a great day (except for my Laptop dying…hopefully the Mac store can resurrect it!!)

Here is another little home video shot for you guys…Today the Fedex truck brought me a present from one of my sponsors, “Line 6″…Hooray! I thought I would show you me opening the package and seeing what they gave me!

Line 6 make all kinds of cool guitar pedals, amps etc. Today they shipped me a “Variax” guitar, which models different guitar sounds, such as nylong strung classical, 12 string, jumbo and even simulates different tunings without touching the tuning pegs! I will show you more about it when I have had a chance to sit down and figure out all the cool features! Thank you to my mate Darrell and all the crew at www.Line6.com : )

Its nearly the weekend folks! Friday night I’m playing in Kentucky as part of the “SHE Tour” that I am on this Spring (See www.sheevent.com). The line up is Rebecca St James, Evie (her mentor), Joel and Luke (an Aussie duo) and me! Pray that the first night goes well and that God really shows us and touches lives…

I will leave you with a question, as that has become a tradition already!

“What is your favorite book of the Bible and why?”

This community rocks,
Vicky