April May Gems Fresh FM

Just imagine if a King, the richest and wisest one ever, wrote a song, especially for you - because in it, He wanted to remind you that if you want, you can have all of this...
A close, personal relationship, offering contentment and continual supply. Rest, refreshment and restoration, for your soul. Wisdom, from a guide who will never leave your side. Purpose, protection and faithfulness. Correction when you slide and comfort when you cry. Hope, blessing, abundance and favour. As well as safety and security, for all eternity...

Well, one did!
Lets take a peek at this very popular song, recorded in a ‘little book’ inside the ‘Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.’ It is of course, King David's "The 23rd Psalm," and this, is April May Gems' "23rd episode!" -Enjoy.

There once was a baby, named Anna Grace. She had beautiful eyes and a pretty face. Surely she’d grow up to dance and sing...But instead, she did a different thing. She died...

Contrary to popular belief, time, in my opinion, really does not heal. No way! I believe it takes a much greater force to be truly, completely, healed - especially from the soul crushing kind of pain, like grief, caused by the death of a loved one, or even by something that just didn’t work out as we’d hoped - maybe even a disappointment that happened a long time ago but the grief still feels as raw today as the day it happened – (or didn’t happen!) Sometimes the whys and why nots truly leave our hearts puzzled.
Perhaps you think it’s too late, like the one who sits ‘over there’ with their head in their hands - because of the mess life made of their best laid out plans. They want to shake their fists and blame “the man upstairs” but it wont change anything because what’s done is done!

Be encouraged, don't blame... run! (to Him, not away.) He has a plan so much bigger than ours. Give it up and give it all over so He can take that broken thing and turn it into something different.

April May, author and founder of April May Gems and mother of five, is passionate about sharing her stories to encourage and inspire others and to restore hearts that are in need of hope.

I love seeing people who are depleted of hope, poor, or feel like their past is determining their future, be encouraged and then do great things - things they intrinsically love to do - once they have ... HOPE!
Receive hope today and begin to dream about doing what you love to do. What even is that thing you love to do? Can you even remember? I believe there is something you were born to do, created to do, called by God, perhaps even personally chosen, to do, and so often it’s quite simply that same thing that you did, and loved to do, naturally, when you were very young. I think it’s important for us to remember – what that was, so we can do it again. Then, we can love, what we do, right now! Why? Because, it’s fulfilling. And... its impacting!
My hope in this episode, is to remind you just what it is, that you love to do, (if, somewhere along the line of life, you forgot what it was) and then, encourage you...to do it. And if you think your past, your age, or your inadequacies disqualify you... I hope I encourage you to think again and realise, you’re actually in really good company!

So, I’m at a party, and an old friend yells out to me, “Hey sis, tell everyone about that story. You know the one - when that mate of yours took that bullet for you that time, and how, ever since that day, you try and live your life in a way that honours him, coz of what he did for ya! Yer, tell ‘em that story sis...”
I mean, seriously, how difficult would that be? Well, I shall try.
Even though at times, I know I have been -
the thorn in his crown, the sweat from his brow,
the nail in his wrist and Judas’s kiss.
The one who yelled out from the crowd,
for his blood to be spilled on this earth-shaking ground.
Yep, I turned away with a smile on my face, tried to bury His grace...
but alone in the night I still called out for Him ... yet, He loves me anyway.
How about you?
Do you know that you can have your eggs AND the true gift of EASTER too?

There are a lot of seasons IN life that are circumstantial. For example, we can go through a season of grief when we lose a loved one, a season of lack when we lose a source of income or even a season of ‘what the heck is going on in my life’ when we ourselves have made some ‘unwise choices’ - but
then there are also the Seasons OF life that every person goes through that are deemed ‘normal’ - bound to happen at some time and although that’s true and ‘everybody goes through this,’ they can often hit you like a brick!

Today, let me help you gain a whole new perspective, a lesson learned from the little blue boathouse, the most Instagrammed spot in Perth.
Be encouraged. You are seen. It just might not be the same as you see yourself.

April May, author and founder of April May Gems and mother of five, is passionate about sharing her stories to encourage and inspire others and to restore hearts that are in need of hope.

Have you ever really thought about Heaven much? I mean, is it for real? Do you think that on the day you rock up to God, He'll be there sitting on a throne asking you if you've been a good boy or girl? Is God really a 'Santa Claus' kinda guy? Like, being good gets you the rewarded harp-on-a cloud life and bad sends you off into another direction...?
Is Heaven a place of no tears and no sorrow? Does God care about the tears we cry now? Where do our tears go? Perhaps Heaven is like rain on a tin roof, washing away all our sorrows? After attending more than 15 funerals in my adult life I like to have hope that yes, Heaven absolutely is, for real.