The Way, the Truth, and the Life!

Hello Friends!

There is a song that has been playing on the radio lately that makes me super happy. I hear it and I just HAVE to turn up the volume (and sometime even crank up the base) and jam. It is by NewWorldSon and is called There is a Way. I think the reason that I am feeling so excited about this song is that (besides the jiving melody) it is such a great reminder! That there is a Way! And it is Jesus!

We have been talking a lot about the Father Heart of God at worship lately, and it is something that has been definitely making changes in my heart. There is something so powerful about the Love of God... Something so powerful in the knowledge that God sent His Son Jesus to earth out of Love for Us. There is something so empowering and humbling and fulfilling knowing that God yearns for us to be close to Him. Jesus was sent to earth to teach and speak of the Love of Our Father God, sent to the cross to take away our sins so that we might join our Father God in Heaven! How amazing is that Love? I don't know about you, but it is hard to feel bad about myself, hard to pick on those things that I dislike about myself when I remember that Love. The only thing that I can do is Praise. Sing out my gratefulness and love to Our Father God. And this song is that reminder. "I Promise that You won't be alone! There is a Way, the truth and the life and the way!!!"

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. - John 14:6 New Living Translation

Blessings, dear friends!

Renée

Essentials?

``...I think Mr. Darcy improves on acquaintance.''

``Indeed!'' cried Wickham with a look which did not escape her. ``And pray may I ask -- ?'' but checking himself, he added in a gayer tone, ``Is it in address that he improves? Has he deigned to add ought of civility to his ordinary style? for I dare not hope,'' he continued in a lower and more serious tone, ``that he is improved in essentials.''

``Oh, no!'' said Elizabeth. ``In essentials, I believe, he is very much what he ever was.''

"Pride and Prejudice", Jane Austen

I have been wondering lately whether someone can truly change. I guess I am not entirely sure what that means. Do you think that people, in essentials, are unchanging, but that it is in how we view, or in the information we have of them that casts their character? But when it is in your own self that you are trying to make those changes, do your essentials hold weight? Are essentials mostly moral, or do they cover self image and attitude? In pride and prejudice, at the end, Darcy explains that he was taught good morals but left to follow them in pride and conceit. And so this man we saw as cold becomes a man who on closer inspection is truly just learning a new way of talking to people and seeing the world. He is changing. But then there is the question of attitude....

There will be no argument from anyone who knows me when I state that I am a lazy person. I am not afraid of hard work, and in some (very rare) cases actually revel in it, but I do do my very best to avoid as much of it as possible. It is almost a subconscious, instinctive thing. So when I say that my husband and I are trying to eat better, and I have decided to try and lose weight you will not be surprised that I have done very little about it. My Hubby and I are doing more to eat better. We have, for a little over a month now, been avoiding pop. We no longer buy it, so it isn't even in the house to tempt us. And this last grocery shop that we did, we did together with an eye for healthier possibilities. (For example I ate FISH tonight!) I downloaded "workout" music, and have Wii fit to help get me moving. But I have only done one session on the Wii, and haven't been out to the elliptical at all. I like sitting still TOO MUCH. I like to read books and play on the computer. I haven't been into being active since.... elementary school I think. So even though Malcolm is raiding tonight, and I could have at least played Wii Fit to get some activity into the day, I played Bejeweled Blitz on my iPod Touch for like an hour, maybe more. So I guess I am wondering if being lazy is part of what is essentially Me, and if I will even stop procrastinating and move past lazy. Probably never.

P.S. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was okay. Funny. But I prefer the original. So, I have a copy to loan out if anybody wants to read it! (Zombies... although if you want to borrow the original, that is cool too)

Kingdom living/World living with Crazy Love

I really am very lucky. In view of the devastation and heartbreak happening in the world, more lucky and blessed than I ever take time to appreciate.

But what I mean is that I am lucky at the moment to be out of the flow of the World. Lucky that I would have a husband and family who would support me removing myself from the World's race for promotions and raises in order to focus on my faith journey and care for a beautiful gift of God bundled in a 2 year old package. I am removed enough from the trappings of the World to have the opportunity to shift my view, shift my way of being. There is trepidation and uncertainty in this, as my World mindset and my Kingdom heart struggle to abide together.

I have been that person who quiets their Kingdom heart to assure no offense is given or no one feel uncomfortable. Been irked by the emails that speak of Jesus and then dare me to pass them along (since 86% or whatever of people won't.) Do you, like me find that dare, that taunt, as reason enough to delete the message, unshared with contacts in your list? And do you, like me, when the email speaks so close to the heart it must be shared, specially select people in your contact list to send it to? Those people who you know will not be offended or put off by receiving it?

I have been the person afraid of following the faith journey. So studied in the ways of the World that not contributing financially to my household, not having a 5 year business plan, and not knowing what I will be doing as occupation when the sidewalk ends has been, and continues to be, a place of struggle in me.

I have been the person who feels guilty. Like Francis Chan said in "Crazy Love" (page 56/57) I have picked up somewhere along the way that I should set aside time for God, in which to pray and read the Bible. And the fact that I don't (even though I am home most of the day with that little bundle of God's gift) frustrates me, and causes me to feel guilty. Like I am being fraudulent when I speak about my faith, since I don't "do my time."

But, let's be honest with each other... God is not only in the silent moments set aside for prayer. God is not only in the moments of certainty and joy. God does not only love us when we are working hard, making good money, keeping our family comfortable. God is Everywhere. God is in Everything... actually God IS Everything. In Crazy Love Chan writes, " Over time I have realized that when we love God, we naturally run to Him-frequently and zealously. Jesus didn't command that we have a regular time with Him each day. Rather, He tells us to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." He called this the "first and greatest commandment" (Matt. 22:37-38).....This is how God longs for us to respond to His extravagant, unending love: not with a cursory "quiet time" plagued by guilt, but with true love expressed through our lives." (page 57)

And that is where I find I see the Kingdom in the World: through Love.

I have been surrounded by people who care and accept my heart and journey, regardless of their own position on the border between Kingdom and World. When these people, the moments of peace or laughter, the moments of Love are viewed as Blessings from a Loving God I cannot help but feel His presence in this place. So it is in shifting to see the Blessings. Focusing on the moments of Love. Choosing to see with Kingdom eyes that God is clearest. And in noticing and focusing on those moments we can teach ourselves to feel/see/perceive even the faintest whisper of God moving through our lives. So Love, love the Lord Our God so fervently , so passionately that we Run to Him-"frequently and zealously." Because we can be sure that any love that have for God, even when our heart is at it's biggest, doesn't begin to compare to the unyielding and never-ending love Our Father has for us. And doesn't that feel great? So focus on the Blessings and Moments. Hear the whispers of God in your everyday. And by all means, feel free to set aside time to pray and read the Bible. Just don't feel guilty if you don't.

Advent: HOPE

Our little home church is having an advent service Saturday night. Full of learning and Hope and all good things advent-y, I have been asked to share a little of my thoughts on Hope during the day. I always think better as I write, so here I sit, with a laptop that is on it's last bit of battery, Hoping and wondering what Hope truly is.

Usually Advent is all about preparing our hearts to meet Jesus. This is a focus because oftentimes folks do their rare church visits during this Holiday time. But our little house church is made up of people who have already met, and started a relationship with Jesus. So then, what is advent about? Specifically, this week: Hope.

Well Jerri and I were discussing that at our meeting and our focus is on (lets see how well I was listening) the fact that we are citizens of Heaven living on the Earth. Like a Man who is stationed in an alien country longing to be home, we too may long to be in our true home, Heaven. So how does this change how we act in our lives? Does it change how we see the world, if we think of ourselves as visitors on our way Home?

So where does Hope fit into this? Well, the question asked by Jerri was, "Where is your Hope grounded?" If your Hope is grounded in Earthly things, then your hope may be broken, lost, betrayed or disappointed. Humans are flawed, and finite. If you ground your faith in that flawed and finite place, like the man who built his house on sand, you will be let down. But if you ground your Hope to the end place, the eternal, Heaven, you cannot be broken, lost, betrayed or disappointed. Jesus prepared a place for us in Heaven, that is where we are headed, and have been since before we were alive. Something that constant, that solid, that eternal is the perfect place to ground your Hope.

Now I know that I have a lot of questions about Hope before I can even begin to figure out where I have it grounded. What is Hope? Where does Hope come from? How can I know where I have grounded my Hope... I have a lot of hopes centered around my family and marriage and home, does this mean I have grounded my Hope there?

The other side of the issue is the difficulty of Hoping for a place we don't know except for secondhand accounts. Heaven has been described for us, but is this enough to ground our Hope in? I remember when my family was moving into our new house. I was away in Naramata working at Summer Staff (I had spent the majority of the first 7 months of that year there including Winter session) and would be coming home to an alien place. I had been there briefly when my Mother went for a viewing, and seen pictures on the MLS site, but it belonged to someone else then, and pictures just couldn't do this monumental change justice. I will admit to having trouble envisioning what it would be like, let alone create a solid enough image to ground anything. I was very ungrounded during that time.

So How do we ground our Hope in Heaven? How do we know when it's done? I don't know. I would assume that, like in everything we surrender to God, we would feel a lightening, a surer footing in ourselves maybe? But this is what Advent is for. Asking the questions, being on the journey to that Bethlehem place, where knowing the sacrifice Jesus makes for us, gives the manger lasting importance. That He would come, a child in a manger, the King of Heaven, that piece of God humbled to show His love... this is the beginning, this is the place of Hope... Where do you ground your HOPE?

Lest We Forget...

Dear Lord,

May we continue to remember the people who have come before and those continuing the fight for freedom even today. May Your hand guide us that peace may come quickly, and our soldiers return home, safe and whole. May we always remember the price of war, and that the price is too high... May we always remember, for those gone live on in our memories. Amen

Saviour Please

On Saturday my worship/study group got together to discuss the third chapter of the book that we are studying. Earlier that day my Dad had asked me if I had heard a song called "Saviour Please" by Josh Wilson. I didn't know until I heard it, and then I knew that I had been hearing it on the radio. Enough that I knew most of the words... But I had not actually thought about the words and the meaning before. The song then got stuck in my head. :) So Dad and I tried to do the song during the worship time Saturday night... We had not practised at all, neither of us was sure of the bridge and I had hastily put some slides together after dinner. But the song has stayed with me over the last day or so, so I thought I would take a moment to blog a little.

Firstly, here is the song...




The part that has stuck with me the most I think is the line in the chorus that says; "I can't do this alone, God I need you to hold onto me." It is almost as if my heart has turned that line into a mantra. Stuck on repeat, it is a prayer that is continuous.

One of the things we talked about in worship one night, is about how we tend to make God smaller than He is so that we can 'manage' Him. And then, when the times of trouble, fear, or doubt come we forget that God is big enough to hold us, and hold all that comes with us. God is infinite, beyond even the wildest imagination, beyond any words known or unknown. When we limit God, we may feel more comfortable, we may even think we've got it all under control but there will come a time when that control will slip, and we will falter. How can we understand the might, the grace, the love, the compassion, the justice of God if we have made Him only as small as we can take or understand?

God is infinite... If we allow ourselves to bask in that awesome bigness. Allow ourselves to remember that He is bigger than us and anything that might be happening to us, there is a deep peace there. The world is full of many tests, hardships, victories, and hurts. But with God as our grounding place, as our centre, as our partner the moments of trial will be lessend and the times of love and victory sweetened.

I can't do this alone, God I need you to hold onto me. Please continue to save me from myself. Remind me of your greatness, that I may never forget that you are bigger than any trouble I might find. Take my hand, and lead me on the path You have named mine. That I might be the light that points to You, so all may know Your love.


P.S. The book that we are reading together is "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan

P.P.S. I am totally stoked that I embedded my first video on this blog! (Aren't we getting hi-tech!) lol

What do I know? And other moments in life.

So I know it has been a gagillion years since I posted (intentional use of unspecific, made up, fake number) but in my own defense I have been very rarely on my computer since the beginning of September... and when I am on, it is to read the wit and intelligence shared by those I follow, as opposed to trying to replicate the awesome.... lol Anyway, now that the excuse portion of the post is behind us, I will enlighten you to the reason I have felt the call to blog.

Isn't it amazing how God places things in our life just as we need them? Or perhaps they have been present in our lives (or in the wider world) for many years, but you never noticed/were exposed to/thought of it in the same way as to make a difference in the here and now.

For example, when I was in grade 8 I participated in the Musical "Annie Get Your Gun" at school. Until that year I had no idea who or what Annie Oakley was, but in the weeks after starting the musical Annie Oakley seemed to be referenced in everything I saw...

Okay, so maybe that example didn't quite grasp what I mean.... So here is another example:

It was a mild early fall Wednesday night, the darkness was friendly and familiar as I drove the streets of Saanich to take my brother home. The evening had been lovely spent with my family (save my parents who are in Jamaica to celebrate their 30th anniversary) eating pizza and ice cream. Playing video games and being on the computer (a fairly common family pass time). My brother and I have a very interesting conversation concerning toy guns and whether children should be allowed to play with them. But then, as I drove back home in the quiet of the night, with only the radio and the street lights to keep me company (there may have been other motorists...lol) what should play on the radio but this song. It's "What Do I Know of Holy" by Addison Road. As soon as it began to play, it was as if the world became as small as my car, and I heard my heart speaking the words as she sang them. That the song played at that moment, when I had nothing to distract from hearing it, in the darkness and quiet of the night when I feel the most 'receptive', I believe, is no cosmic coincidence. The Lord works quietly around and in our lives, and waits for a time when our hearts are the most receptive, to speak His love, to speak His plans, and to speak His word.

Now I am sure you are wondering what He spoke to me...

I made You promises a thousand times
I tried to hear from Heaven
But I talked the whole time
I think I made You too small
I never feared You at all No
If You touched my face would I know You?
Looked into my eyes could I behold You?

He said, "I see your doubts. I see into your very depths and know that you feel as if you know nothing at all."

I guess I thought that I had figured You out

I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about
How You were mighty to save
Those were only empty words on a page
Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be
The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees

He said, "I see your gifts, I gave them to you. I see the possibilities and hope you offer to the world even when you do not. I am endlessly patient and will keep whispering my words until you hear."

What do I know of Holy?
What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame?
And a God who gave life "its" name?
What do I know of Holy?
Of the One who the angels praise?
All creation knows Your name
On earth and heaven above
What do I know of this love?

He said, "You don't need to know it all. I know it all. And I will speak through you, love through you, hope and have faith through you. Open your heart to me and hear."

There is a part of me that fears God. Okay, maybe not God, but the deep change He is working in me even now. Even as I try to discover my calling I turn and run from God. The change he is working in me is one on the molecular level. I will be changed deeply, I can see glimpses even now. And my fear tells me to turn away. My fear tells me that life is easier/better/more fun without God, and yet I feel the calling keenly. Something is moving. I am afraid to look closely to find out what it is.

What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?

In the grand scheme of things I am but one grain of sand. But in God's Grand Scheme I have a more defined role. I pray I have the courage to find out what it is.

Well, Malcolm is here and so signals bedtime. Good night world, may you also have the courage to open our heart and hear the whispers in your heart. (They are probably important.)