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Planning Without a Plan

Posted in christmas, GOD, WONDER, tagged #2017, #futureplanning, #jesussavior, #planningwithoutaplan, #trustinggod on December 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »

plan

As the year is coming to an end, I am feeling the pressure of wanting to have a plan, a full-detailed plan, for 2017 …

I don’t have such a plan.

This year our oldest has completed her undergrad degree, and is now working in her field (and starting the process of paying off student loan debt … aka welcome to adulthood). She just moved out into her own cozy suite, leaving ours empty.

Our middle child completed her one year training program and is now working in her first career, while continuing education for the next one. She would love to move into an independent-living situation, but is trying to balance the desire for that and the desire to continue education, debt-free.

Our youngest is in his final year of high school, and is considering the options for the year after high school and contemplating what to do with his life in the future. He is learning about the value of work, and how good it feels to have a job.

We, as parents, are on the edge change.

Though we are investigating using our suite as rental income, we (and by ‘we’ I mean ‘I’) are also feeling this home and property are more effort than joy. We have a lovely swimming pool, which gave summer employment opportunities to our oldest who taught dozens of kids to swim … but it now sits quiet much of the summer (and eats up many dollars … that could go into travel).

I, too am contemplating the age-old question,

what am I going to do when I grow up?

Though I love my current job/career with all my heart, I feel there are strengths and abilities that have been waiting in a dormant state for the door of the cave to open, and bring light to their usefulness. Do I go back to school? What would I study? Do I simply look for employment in my field, or look in an entirely different area?

So many questions, so few answers.

I’m waiting, and I don’t have a plan.

Many years ago the Israelites had a plan, given to them by God, through the prophets. They were going to be saved, redeemed, by a king, appointed by God. They knew he was co ing, they just didn’t know when.

The problem was, their perception of the prophesy and its fulfillment were two very different things.

They had imagined a warrior, who old not just redeem, but elevate them. What they got was a baby, born into low circumstances, who would grow up to be the saviour of, not just the Jewish people, but of Gentiles as well (“he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” 1 John2:2).

We each may be waiting, and wondering how circumstances in our lives will turn out. We may be dealing with the struggle of not having a plan.

But, there is a plan. Though the plan we think we have might not turn out as we had intended, it will be good, for it comes from the giver of good gifts, for all who believe.

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Everyday is Christmas

Posted in christmas, GOD, WONDER, tagged ##christmasismessy, #christgifttheentireyear, #christmas2016, #christmasisthefirststepsofjesustowardthecross, #definitionofchristmas, #everydayischristmas, #jesusisthegiftthatkeepsgiving on December 18, 2016| Leave a Comment »

To me there is nothing more beautifully Christmas than a quiet Christmas eve, with snow falling softly, a fire in the fireplace, loved ones close by and reflection on the birth of the Christ-child. All the anticipation and preparation of the advent season coming to conclusion as the hours tick towards the day we celebrate his prophesied arrive.

Very little of my own vision of Christmas is accurate, as much of what I love is so closely tied to the things that make me feel good.

I do love the symbolism of a benevolent Santa Clause, gift giving, and decorative lights.

Though I will never be a Christmas nay-sayer, I do find it healthy to remind myself that what defines Christmas for me, is not necessarily the definition of Christmas.

Christmas is really the first steps of Jesus toward the cross.

Though the birth of a virgin-born baby is joyous and miraculous, the prophesy of a coming Messiah was not fulfilled until his death and resurrection.

Christmas is messy, from the beginning, with an unmarried, pregnant virgin, and a people in need of a Saviour. The story only gets more muddied as Jesus travels through his short life, with a group of followers who might best be compared to Snow White’s seven dwarfs. Then his life culminates in the dung hitting the fan as his Earthly life comes to a bloody, seemingly hopeless end. It is not until Easter Sunday, when the tomb is rolled aside, and Christ emerges brighter than Mr. Clean, that there is reason for celebration.

And that celebration continues, for all people who humbly accept the gift, even today.

“… we have a Christ gift the entire year.”
(Dec. 24, 1871) Charles Spurgeon

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The Struggles to Success

Posted in christmas, GOD, WONDER, tagged #humbleking, #risebydescending, #studentswithspecialneeds, #thestrugglestosuccess, @humility on December 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »

humility

The past week has highlighted for me that I am so very blessed by the workplace community that I am part of, the people who I share the work with and the students who I am paid to assist.

The students I work with, work SO hard! Classes are SO challenging! Finding and maintaining friendships can be a daily struggle.

Earlier this week I was humbled by a student who I rarely get to work with. This student has struggles, for certain, but also great strengths. This year, I have felt like I needed to get to know this teen better. So I aimed to be intentional to say hi, inquire about their weekend, ask about things of interest. Then, the other day, I received a gift from them. I was speechless (a rarity, for sure). A small gift, roughly wrapped by the hands that offered it to me. It was those hands that offered a gift to me, that melted my heart, for I felt as though I needed to be the giver, not the receiver.

Then a student who exhibited great strength and the fortitude to do what was difficult, to be the bigger person, offering well wishes to someone who caused her sadness. As I watched the the humble act, I watched this student grow in years of maturity, right in front of me. This student, with special needs, initiated reconciliation and redemption of relationship right in front of my face … and I wondered if I would humble myself in such a way.

These students are laying the foundation well, for a great tower!

As we celebrate the Christmas season, we are celebrating the birth of the humble king, the ultimate humility. Born as a human baby, grew up in a family of humble means, then he humbled himself to the point of death.

“being found in human form, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him
the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:8-11

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Where is Jesus this Christmas?

Posted in christmas, GOD, WONDER, tagged "hopelovejoypeace, #christmas2016, #faithwithoutworks, #whereisjesus, #whereisjesusthischristmas on December 11, 2016| 1 Comment »

where

“Does your nativity have Jesus?”

I collect nativity sets, and was bidding on one. As the time came for the bidding to be over, I took another look at the online image to ensure that all of the significant characters were present, and I could not be sure that Jesus was there. So, I sent off a message to the seller, asking if her nativity had Jesus. The replay was that yes it did, Mary was holding him.

If you are a Christian, and if you are on social media, you have seen the posts that go something like this:

“lets keep Christ in Christmas”

This is a valid and appropriate comment, for followers of Christ, but what are we really communicating? And (more importantly) what does our communicating this really communicate?

When I see such posts, I find my head nodding up and down in agreement … then my conscience gets the better of me, because I realize that (for me) I am longing for ‘the good ‘ol days‘. You see I grew up in a time when Christmas was still very much about the birth of the Christ child. Even school programs at this season were about the nativity, or at least featured Christmas hymns. In those days you could still find nativity sets on the shelves of department stores. And this was the season that the non-church member found a seat in a pew.

Today is not the ‘the good ‘ol days‘ of old.

Today, as believers, we need to do something to communicate our faith, not just post words of disgust, or disappointment, or condemnation.

James 2:14-19 remind us of this very thing:

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.“

Perhaps, rather than fill our social media posts with longings for the days when we shared the in the beliefs of the majority, we should actually do something for those around us that communicates the hope, peace, love and joy of Christ …

In Matthew 5 Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount, his magnum opus (until his crucifixion, raising from the dead and rising into heaven). These are the words that, as followers of Christ, we ought to hang on.

“you are the salt of the earth”

If we are the salt, lets start sprinkling love on those around us.

“you are the light of the world”

If we are the light, shine like we are reflecting the one who resides in us.

Does your nativity have Jesus?

Go spice up and bring light to the world, not with your posts, but with your deeds.

“Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name
Fall on your knees …”
O Holy Night

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Like a Winter Snow

Posted in christmas, GOD, WONDER, tagged #audreyassad, #likeawintersnow, #quietking, #snowloving, #somethingsosmall on December 8, 2016| 1 Comment »

sno

A few days ago the wet west coast had a different weather system roll in. The air has a chill, the skies are brighter, snow has fallen and there are rumours of more flakey precipitation to come.

I am in a state of delight!

As we drove to work and school the other day, I was pointing out the beauty all aloud us, as though I was on speed.

“Just look at that blue sky”

“The white on that field is inviting”

“Oh those mountains! Fresh snow, and such a beautiful pink hue around them”

Now I know (because I’ve been there) that those (who live in other parts) who see the first snow fall and sigh, knowing that they will not see the end of it for six more months. But this weather change has birthed in me a joy and energy that have been sorely missed these last weeks (months) of rain-magenden!

How is it that something so small, something that makes me have to work harder (all those layers of clothes and boots), something that will cost me (when the natural gas bill arrives), something that others despise could cause such a change in the innermost parts of who I am?

Like the freshly falling snow, came the long-expected Jesus.

So small, some would say too small for a king. Helpless, dependent yet pure, innocent and captivating.

His arrival meant we would have to work harder. No longer bound by the Law, both Jews and Gentiles had a model of how to live, and following his lead would me, does mean, more effort, greater intentionality in what we say and do.

His human birth came with human cost … to him, through his willingness to endure the cross (and all that surrounded that) and to us. He has given us two promises: “in this wold you will have trouble” (John 16:33), but the second is the remedy for the first, “I am with you always, even until the end of time” (Matthew 28:20).

His arrival was not joyfully anticipated or even believed … then, or now. The prophet, Isaiah, said, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem” (Isaiah 53:3). The world of humans still choose to eat of the tree of their own choosing … but, he does not force himself on us, for it was he who gave us the choice to make … he knows that love is most favourable when we can choose it freely.

His voice was quiet, soft and slow. Like a Winter Snow came our redeemer …

Could’ve come like a mighty storm
With all the strength of a hurricane
You could’ve come like a forest fire
With the power of Heaven in Your flame

But You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

You could’ve swept in like a tidal wave
Or an ocean to ravish our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things we’ve scarred

But You came like a winter snow, yes, You did
You were quiet, You were soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Ooh no, Your voice wasn’t in a bush burning
No, Your voice wasn’t in a rushing wind
It was still, it was small, it was hidden

Oh, You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Falling, oh yeah, to the earth below
You came falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Audrey Nicole Assad

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Receiving Communion

Posted in GOD, WONDER, tagged #communion, #thebodyandtheblood, #thesacrificeofchrist on November 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

comm

As with appreciating nature, feeling in love with ones spouse and desiring a salad over a burger and fries, sometimes we take communion because it is good for us. Sometimes, though it is a practice where we are fully aware of all of the words spoken, the symbolisms, and the great, great sacrifice.

I have gone through the habit and ritual of communion in a robotic fashion, with less connection of my heart to the practise. This past Sunday was not that sort of ritual.

This past Sunday I felt an appreciation, an awareness of the longevity and vast numbers of believers in Christ who have participated in this practise since that Passover night in an upper room some two thousand years ago.

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you:”

And it has been passed on, and on, and on. Though variations in presentation, in elements (bread, rice crackers, wine, Welch’s grape juice, etc.), in delivery, etc. Yet it is still basically as Jesus himself directed.

The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

“My body” … his human flesh, willingly broken, as a debt payment for the sin of all humanity … past, present, future. His body, as sacrifice, was not broken quickly, painlessly but over many hours and torturously. He invites us, to do this as a remembrance of him, of his gift.

In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

“My blood” … Jesus was like the sacrificial lambs that had been slaughtered as atonement (payment) for sins. But the shedding of his blood was once, for all. Like the first Passover, when it was blood on the doorposts that saved the lives of the Israelites, the Passover of the final supper saved us all … for “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

This act of choosing (for he does not force himself on us) to participate in communion is the ongoing public statement of us that we follow the Christ, and that we receive his sacrifice of flesh and blood, as a personal gift from him.

Sometimes we remember what we are receiving with our whole heart, as when we first received.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

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No Perfection Required

Posted in GOD, WONDER, tagged #followchristnotchristians, #noperfectchristians, #noperfectchurch, #noperfectionrequired on November 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »

perfect

I deeply desire authenticity in my life.

I want to be ‘real’ in how I live, with the hope that no one will ever think that I’ve got it all together … because I don’t, and I have no expectation that I ever will, this side of heaven.

That said, I sometimes hear my kids say things that make me realize that what they have ‘heard’ from myself and their dad (and the Christian community around them) is that they need to be perfect.

Though, this was never the intended message, somehow, this seems to be what they have heard or understood.

I think that we humans tend to look at ourselves as never reaching the mark. We often think that perfection is the ultimate goal, and if we are not perfect, we are not useful or successful.

Sometimes this pursuit of perfection even keeps us from the very means to our success in life.

A few years ago I heard of a response concerning baptism that saddened and troubled me, to this day.

When asked, “have you considered going through baptism” (the outward, public declaration/confirmation of faith that many practise as followers of Christ)? The teen replied, “maybe in a year or so. I don’t really feel like I’ve got it together enough yet.”

I wonder, what does this teen understand to mean having it together? Do they think that to say, publicly, “I follow Christ” is to say, I’ve got it all together? Are they afraid that they will be considered hypocrites if they make that public statement, then do something wrong?

Here’s the reality,

we all do wrong things, have wrong thoughts, make wrong statements,

in short, we all blow it!

Recently, I was part of a conversation in which numerous imperfections and misinterpretations of the Bible by Christians were discussed. It was a heavy and dark discussion. I went home with a heavy heart. In the morning I awoke with a message on my heart:

Who are you going to follow? Me, or my people? My people are still in process, they have not ‘arrived’ yet. Take your eyes off of them, and follow me.”

To follow Christ, to be baptized or confirmed, does not require having achieved perfection, or having life figured out.

On the contrary, to follow Christ is to accept the fact that we have not arrived, we have not achieved any measure of good, apart from Christ in us.

They following is a portion of a reading shared in a staff devotions time at work. I think it speaks well to this topic of perfection in life, but especially in the Christian church:

“You have some in your churches who are looking for the perfect church. The perfect church does not exist. Never has. There will be no perfect church until you get home. In the meantime, I call you to learn to love one another in your imperfection. I love you in your imperfection and call you to learn to love each other as I love you. You are all people in process: cut one another some slack. On the wall of a restaurant is a sign that reads, “Food cannot not made at microwave speed.” Neither can disciples. Learn to love one another in your imperfection.”
Composed by Darrell Johnson

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What’s in Your Eye?

Posted in GOD, WONDER, tagged #beaminyourowneye, #changetheworld, #matthew7:3, #nooneisrighteous, #wehaveallsinned, #whatsinyoureye on November 17, 2016| 1 Comment »

Before you read too far into this post, I have a disclaimer:

I have been ever so guilty of what You are about to read. In no way do I think I am Teflon, and this problem doesn’t touch my life (or my eye). So please read this knowing that I am humbly aware that I, too, am guilty.

Something that the recent American presidential race has reminded me is that we are very quick to point out flaws in others. Perhaps it is because the candidates themselves did a significant amount of finger pointing, or perhaps it is because it is simply human nature to see, and draw attention to the negatives actions and words of others.

We are all guilty of doing this, in big or less obvious ways.

There are the couch potato sports fans, who argue and complain with the decisions of the refs.

The women sitting at a coffee shop, analyzing another customer in the shop.

The employees rolling their eyes at the new corporate initiative, coming down from on high … the employers rolling their eyes at the lack of buy-in from their employees.

The teens complaining to their peers about their parents … the parents complaining to their peers about their teens.

The Facebook status that complains about corporations destroying the Earth, followed by one of the same person showing her hot beverage in the new ‘seasonal’, and disposable coffee cup.

WE ARE ALL GUILTY!

“As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one”
Romans 3:10

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.”
1 John 1:8

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”
Romans 3:23

“And why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but not notice the beam in your own eye?”
Matthew 7:3

I am finding myself, lately, to have words barely off my tongue and I can visualize a beam coming out of my eye, all the while prepping for surgery with tweezers to remove the splinter from the eye of another.

Maybe others are feeling the same.

Maybe that’s not such a bad feeling.

I bet that if we became more aware of our own faults we could do more to change the world than any president or prime minister, the world over.

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Talk Dirty to Me

Posted in GOD, The Hubby, WONDER, tagged #lovebeginsinthemorning, #reallovemarriage, #talkdirtytome on November 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Ok, I admit …

I may choose blog post titles simply because they are somewhat risqué (today’s title, for example).

But, as with much in life, there is truth and real marital experience in those words!

W A Y back in the stone ages, when hubby and I said the I dos, we received a book about marriage as a gift. The only thing I remember from that book was one line:

“making love starts in the kitchen, in the morning”

and non-verbal joking about that line continue to this day!

The thing is, like my risqué blog post titles, there is truth and real marital experience in those words!

You see, what that one-liner is communicating is that affection for each other does not start over a candle-lit dinner, but it starts the moment a couple awake, and continues each and every moment of the day.

Just this week, while at work, I look up to see my hubby, at the classroom door, holding a cup of hot goodness (aka a London Fog). He stopped at a coffee shop to pick up my most soothing, favourite hot drink, just to show kindness and affection for me.

Though I loved every sip of my beverage, what I loved more was knowing that, in the middle of the day, hubby’s thoughts were of me.

It is when I know that hubby’s thoughts are of me, whether we are together or apart that I feel loved. Perhaps that is because this sort of mindfulness is the way Christ loves us?

“For husbands, this means love your wives,
just as Christ loved the church.
He gave up his life for her.”
Ephesians 5:25

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ENOUGH!

Posted in GOD, Nature/Creation, WONDER, tagged #monsoonseason, #rainraingoaway, #rainydays, enough, rain on November 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

“Rain, rain go away
Come again another day.”

I don’t think it has been 40 days and 40 nights, but rain, grey and clouds have been pervasive in my neck of the world’s woods for at least a month … and it’s starting to get to me.

My head is aching with the atmospheric pressure, and I am convinced that my toes are ready to sprout algae from being cocooned in my socks and shoes. Then there’s the sadness that can overtake life. It is a heaviness of heart that can make it difficult to rise from bed in the morning.

Since moving to the Pacific North ~~wet~~ west coast, over twenty years ago, I have detested half of each calendar, when the monsoon season takes over and I start to dream of tropical locales, such as … Saskatchewan!

I have attempted the suggestions of those who have adapted to the seasonal conditions. One common suggestion is to make sure I get outside every day, no matter the weather. That one didn’t work! As soon as I step out into the moisture guttural sounds begin to emit from within, all on their own.

Other than ingesting massive quantities of Vitamin D, and having a faith that God will eventually let the sun shine down on me once again … someday, I have learned that I just have to wait it out.

I am not one who does waiting it out well.

What is good about this rainy season is that it reminds me of the truth of Hebrews 1:11:
Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for
and the certainty of what we do not see.”

These dark, oppressive days help me to keep my eyes, my hope, on what I do not see, but what I hope for … the brightness of the light that is to come.

And so, though usually through gritted teeth, I pray thanks for the rain.

For I hope for what I do not see.

May the blessing of the rain be on you—
the soft sweet rain.
May it fall upon your spirit
so that all the little flowers may spring up,
and shed their sweetness on the air.
May the blessing of the great rains be on you,
may they beat upon your spirit
and wash it fair and clean,
and leave there many a shining pool
where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.
Celtic Blessing

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