Riverlife Women

When you look in the mirror and see mess and weariness, the Lord sees an altogether different picture.

When your Heavenly Father looks at you, He sees the best of His precious creation. He sees your very finest efforts, and your glorious survival. He sees your tough choices and your hidden victories – your endless sacrifice, and your irreplaceable role in your family.

Today, take a moment to hear the Father’s adoration of you…. You are His Treasure and His Delight.

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Proverbs 3:15
She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”

To all the mums reading this now:

The Lord wants to encourage you today - you bring so much joy simply by being you. They don’t know how to express it effectively, but your kids are SO happy when you walk in the room. When you are present, they know a good time is soon to follow - no matter the day ahead.

It’s okay to be dismayed when their words don’t match up with this truth - but know that the Lord is rejoicing over you always - celebrating the haven you have created for their souls - the safe place you are for them. Don’t overlook the fact that in the rocky moments, He wants to be your safe place too!

Whenever your joy tank is running low- check in with Jesus and be refilled by His love for you. His all-encompassing love cannot be removed, no matter what the day looked like, or what you served up for dinner!

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Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 103:11
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him

Today, let the Lord refresh you as you prepare to take up your post again – He has all the reserves you need.

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Psalm 23:1-3
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.

You are a culture shaper!

When all your little efforts seem futile and, everyday, the same things need doing again, it’s tempting to devalue your effect in the world. The Lord, however, sees the sacrifices you make to hold the line of Godliness for your family, and the ripples of these brave choices are far reaching.

He sees the way your impact swings the balance back towards Jesus’ way and is championing you at every turn.

Stay courageous - stay standing in the breach - He sees that which you contend for, and He has angel armies assigned to it!

Joshua 1:6-9

God is always doing a new thing. He’s always redeeming what’s been lost; making beauty from the mess; growing new life from the dead; and bringing wholeness to the broken. Even if His pace is slower than ours and His masterpieces take longer to be made than we had hoped, He is at work. He never stops.

If you are looking at your life today and it seems in ruins, know that God is at work, even in the mess. There’s nothing too difficult for our Father to do. He is always doing something new, every day. His mercies are new each and every morning.

God is with you and He’s up to something new.

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Isaiah 43:19
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

Lamentations 3:22-23
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

The Motherhood Podcast Series has come to an end! It’s been two months of sharing stories and encouragements with one another.

We hope no matter what season of life you’re in, you’ve felt ministered to over this time.

A special thanks to all the women who have contributed in some way, whether it’s been as podcast guests, devotion writers, truth tellers or prophetic voices. But it’s not just these 21 contributors we want to say thank you to –– it’s also all of you who left comments of encouragement along the way.

Where to from here? We’re not sure!

Head to our stories and give some feedback about your favourite parts of this podcast/social media series and what you'd like to see more of in the future.

Thanks everyone!

"God is in every thing, every day. He’s not an isolated part of our lives. We need to bring Him into the every day.” - Janine Davis

In the final podcast episode, Janine shared wisdom as she brought things right back to basics: God is with us in every moment, and He's waiting for us to invite Him into what we're doing.

Do you feel like God is with you today or do you feel like He's left you? Read this truth over yourself:

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” - Deuteronomy 31:8

To listen to the episode, head to the link in bio 🔗 or search 'Riverlife Going Deeper' where ever you listen to your podcasts 🎤

When we're always looking ahead at what's next, we can miss the opportunities we're standing in right now.

Here's a word of encouragement from Tatum Lawn to you all 🌻

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When travelling through Europe in my early twenties, one of the top things on my ‘to do’ list was to walk through a field of sunflowers in Tuscany. It was up there with picnic under the Eiffel tower. While my sister and I managed a not-so-Pinterest-worthy snack under the tower, we passed many fields while sitting on public buses. I made a note-to-self to hire a car next time so we could stop when wanted. Funnily enough, I grieved this missed opportunity.

A few years later when travelling in Italy with my husband and family, I thought this moment might be redeemed. It didn’t cross my mind that the season we were travelling in may not be conducive to my plans. After some research, I discovered this crop only flowers for about three weeks of the year. Again, I had missed the chance to walk among these flowers under the Tuscan sun (woe is me — I know).

Recently, however, while standing in a field of these sun-worshipping plants — only driving distance from home — it was a sweet reminder that most often the greatest and simplest joys can be found where we are. Rather than living with only a future-oriented mindset, I am reminded to cultivate the life where I am planted. May we not be so fixated on a harvest or new season that we neglect to tend the ground we’re on as well. And may we have the wisdom to know how and when to plan and prepare for what may be ahead.

When it comes to life’s milestones, it can be easy to live in a mindset that we’ll be content or find happiness when x, y or z happens. And what a blessing and gift it can be when it does. But how many of us reach that goal, or have our desires fulfilled, and still find our hearts yearning for more – our souls seeking complete contentment? We look to created things to fill a void that can only be fulfilled by our Creator.

Friends, the Lord gives us the strength and ability to be content where we are — while having the freedom to seek growth, compound healthy habits or pray for change. But know that the change won’t fill that void. The “next” thing — whatever that may be — won’t bring the contentment you deeply desire, or satisfy our aching souls. We can only find this in Jesus.

Sunflowers stand tallest in the day. When darkness comes, they grow weak — their strength is found in the light. And their faces are always turned towards the sun. I love the message in this for us. When dawn breaks each day, let us look toward the Son. He is our strength. And our joy is found in Him.


Philippians 4:4-13
Hebrews 13:5-6
1 Timothy 6:6-19
Psalm 23
Matthew 6:19-34
Ecclesiastes 3:11

"The battles are won in the small stuff; in the everyday moments." - Aimee Cowan

If you feel you're stuck in the same cycle, doing the same tasks, without seeing much obvious progress... continue to press on. Those 'every day moments' with our kids or the seemingly insignificant actions we take, are usually where life happens. Those moments matter ❤

Friend, I need the reminder as well:
to seek Jesus and cease chasing counterfeit joys.
– Tatum |

Luke 10:38-42
John 4:1-15
Matthew 6:9-13
John 6:35
Revelation 22:16

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Thank you to one of our Riverlife Women, Tatum, for writing this challenging and encouraging poem. What a gift it is to sit at the feet of Jesus ❤
Keep a look our for a devotion Tatum has written, which will come out later this week.

In the latest episode of the Motherhood Podcast Series, mother-of-four Kelly Gehrke shared how God helped her get through a really challenging time. She couldn't fix the problems her family was facing or control the outcomes, but she could simplify things by answering a simple question from God...

Kelly shares:
“I remember lying on my bed, feeling completely at my end and I just didn’t have capacity for any of it anymore. I felt like I didn’t have any hope in my situation; I couldn’t fix it.

"And I remember telling God, ‘I don’t know what to do. I don’t have any hope, I don’t know where to turn’. And I heard God say, ‘Can you love them?’

"I knew He was talking about my family. And I remember thinking, ‘Yes, I can. I can’t do anything else in this situation, but I can love them.’ And that was a really big turning point for me. God really just simplified it.”

Happy to all our Riverlife women!

What an incredible group of courageous, humble, bold and generous women we have in our church. Across generations, life phases and backgrounds, we are united together through our shared love for our God.

A word for you all today is: Strong.

So often, the world tells us to be stronger, tougher and more independent. That’s something our society pushes for us as women.
But what if we were a group of women marked by our dependence… dependence on our God.

We don’t want to carry the weight of independence; no, we want to find freedom in our dependance on the Lord.
Our strength doesn’t come from ourselves because we all have our limits. We find our strength in the Lord.

We want to stand strong against the current of this world and choose to keep our eyes fixed on our Father, no matter what tries to pull us away.

May we be a group of women marked by our dependance on God; a dependance that puts a fire in our spirits and a purpose to our steps.

Psalm 46

By Ann Farrell ❤
(Mother of 4 and grandmother of 6)

Some say that parenting is a juggle, indeed, life is a juggle – a juggle of duties, demands and (hopefully) dreams. We know that juggling takes skill, strength and staying power. We can be awed by expert jugglers whose personas and profiles leave us inspired and perhaps overwhelmed.

Despite our experience of juggling – feeding and bathing children, keeping up with the laundry, driving here and there – we find it hard to sustain the juggle.

Balls slip through our fingers, new balls veer our way, sometimes without warning - our children get sick, we get sick, one of us has an injury or we wake up feeling burnt-out. We agile jugglers can easily trip, slip and fall.

Rather than finding ways to maintain the juggle, we are wise to pause from the juggle (at least in our hearts), to acknowledge that our skill, strength and staying power (however accomplished we may appear), fall short.

Sure, we still have tasks-at-hand and people who rely on us, but pausing to rest in God can centre our identity and endeavours.

God’s word to Zerubbabel (whose job was to lead the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem) reminds us that it is “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord” (Zechariah 4 v. 6).

We are reminded, from this passage, that might (collective strength) and power (individual strength) are not enough to accomplish the daily tasks God has for us. We need strength and sustenance that only God can give, day-by-day, moment-by-moment.

Rest in God, draw deep from His resources, and trust Him as we go about our daily lives.

“It’s the season of sowing, and that’s hard work. Sowing seeds as a farmer is hard work – it’s often monotonous – but it’s so so important. Unless you plant the seeds, you can’t reap the rewards out the other end.” - Becky Wauchope

Are you in a season that feels like hard work? Perhaps you feel like you're investing a lot into your children or your work or your business – but you aren't necessarily seeing anything come from that investment... yet?

Be encouraged – you are in the vital, formative stage! Your efforts now are laying the groundwork for what's to come.

Becky shared her wisdom on the latest Motherhood podcast episode, 'Joy in the Juggle' ❤

Here are 5 things the Bible teaches us about joy:

–> Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, so it needs time to grow (Galatians 5:22-23)
–> Jesus can help us return to joy (Jeremiah 31:13)
–> Your joy can infect others (Romans 15:13)
–> God's presence brings us joy (Psalm 16:11)
–> The joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10)

Thank you to Jonquil Burn for sharing these truths with us 🙌

“When we have kids, we’re okay with our bodies changing, we’re okay with our relationships changing… we expect those things. But we’re not okay with our spiritual reality changing. For me, my hunger stayed alive when I actually learnt to value the season I was in.” - Pastor Petrea Taylor

In the latest podcast episode, Petrea shared quite openly about the fact our spiritual lives and rhythms do change when we transition into motherhood.

“My relationship with God shifted so much to what I was used to. There were times of going into ‘survival mode’ in my own faith, where I asked God questions like, “Am I still of value to you God in this season?” But then finding I was of great value to Him, even if it looked different.”

Do you believe you are of value to God, whatever season you're in?

Here are 3 simple things you can do today to keep yourself connected to God during the hustle of your day.

A special thank you to Anna Ng for sharing her wisdom with us ❤

Truth 1 -->
In your busyness, put Him first! Your time with Jesus is vital for the health and strength of your family.

Truth 2 -->
Draw on His peace before yours has run out. He's your rock and your hope.

Truth 3 -->
Trust your instincts. God has given you the Holy Spirit to guide you and direct you. He has equipped you to be the mother your kids need.

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Psalm 94:18-19
The minute I said, “I’m slipping, I’m falling,” your love, God, took hold and held me fast. When I was upset and beside myself, you calmed me down and cheered me up.

Jaime Cole, mother of three, has written this beautiful/moving/challenging story about a difficult time for her family that actually became a driver for growing her spiritual hunger.

Thank you Jaime for being so open and vulnerable ❤

To read more of Jaime's story, visit riverlifechurch.org.au/testimony-how-god-grew-my-hunger/

"2021 was a difficult year for me. This isn’t unusual, of course, as life is full of difficulties for us all. But for me, this challenge was different in that for the first time, the difficulty related to my top priority – one of my beautiful kids.

"You would think of all people, Christians are most well-prepared for such trials. We have a Saviour! The all-powerful son of God! When He was on earth, the gospels describe Jesus compassionately intersecting the lives of individuals, powerfully delivering them from their present sufferings, and offering them eternal life.

"So, being a born-again, church-attending Christian, you would think that at the onset of this trial, I would call upon the Lord as an old friend, trusting Him for powerful and loving help in my time of need.

"Unfortunately, though, this was not the case. This is because, almost unbeknownst to me, I had another problem, an even greater one than I thought I had… I had fallen asleep."

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“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always” (Psalm 105:4)

Some of you may feel like you’re in ‘survival mode’ at the moment. You’re just hanging in there, hoping to make it through.

God wants you to know that He’s with you. He loves that you’re just trying to survive because He says: I’m here to take care of the rest. It’s in this time that you’ll learn dependency and learn to trust Me even more. Because when you reach your end, that’s where I show Myself to be faithful.

Some of you need to know that you will thrive once again. Your times of surviving – where you hang on to God – are what lead to your times of thriving.
What you learn in the wilderness keeps you safe in the promised land.

Your God is with you today, in whatever mode you find yourself in.

Isaiah 46:4
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

In the latest podcast episode, Angela Leth (mother of 3 & grandma of 5), shared how surrounding herself with a community of women is what kept her hunger for God alive during different phases and stages.

"If you don’t have a tribe, or even just one good friend, then find her. Find someone you can build relationship with now, who fosters your relationship with Father God."

When we are surrounded by other people who are passionate and in love with God, it can help to spur us on in those seasons that are challenging.

If you feel isolated or like you don't have a tribe, now is the time to get connected. Sign up to a Life Group at https://riverlifechurch.org.au/life-groups/ or send a DM to find out more.

How do we stay full yet remain hungry? How do we live in a place of abundance yet continually realise our need?

The idea of increasing our spiritual hunger can seem difficult sometimes, and even a paradox. How can we be both full of God and hungry for God at the same time?

Here are some thoughts on hunger…

—> Hunger requires humility
Hunger is a place of humility that keeps us in a place of dependency.

—> Hunger gives motivation
Hunger has a motivating factor that drives us out of where we are to a place that is greater.

—> Hunger is a daily dependancy
We need to remain in a place of dependency with the Lord, even though we may have abundance.

—> Stay hungry by eating
In the natural, we get hungry when we don’t eat; but in the spiritual, you get hungry by eating.

"I lose my rest when I lose track of my purpose." - Kristy Page

In the latest podcast, Kristy shared that we can get so easily distracted from what our purpose is in life. There's always a big war going on for our attention and there's a pull going on all the time, trying to take us away from our God-given purpose.

Sometimes we remain in rest when we get back to basics, just put one foot in front of the other, remembering why we are here on this earth.

Last week, Penny shared some great ways we can find rest in busy seasons of life.

If you didn't get a chance to listen to her devotion, or if you want a reminder, here are some practical ways you can find rest:

R - Reflect/Remember the things God has done

E - Engage with God through worship and prayer

S - Scripture: we need to know God's truth, whatever that looks like in the season you're in

T - Thankfulness: set your mind on the things you can be thankful for

By Toss Cook (mother of 4, grandmother of 3):

Easy, said no parent ever, of the relentlessness of parenting. So what can make a difference?

A choice to take a moment and a breath, and whisper a prayer, a desperate squeak if that’s all you have in the moment, and make that your first response.

It might be the seconds that can turn panic and fear and a stressed reaction into something more resembling the wise response we all intend to make, and hope we will make.

A second to quiet your mind and trust in the Bringer of peace and calm.

A quietened mind and a steady resolve to involve the One who is able when we are not, and give us that pause, so we are able to hear intuition rise up over fear and stress.

That intuition, I’ve always found, is God’s voice breaking into the situation, speaking clarity into the noise, giving enough pause to rein in an over-quick reaction, and trusting God to get me through.

We can’t always choose the music of our day, but we can choose how we dance to it, with an unrelenting belief that things will work out.