Rock of Ages

God is a precise God. A God who listens. A God who is there. I don't say these things because I always hear or feel Him...in fact, this has been a week where I was on the lower swing of the pendulum...questioning His presence and my purpose. Finding myself overwhelmed - pounded by the waves of life...by situations - family, friends and personal. I was tired. Trying to do everything in your own strength does that to you...

And in that moment of weariness where I couldn't even sing in worship - I begged God to reveal Himself. To give me a glimmer of light on the pathway - a reminder that I am where I should be. And I got a tap on the shoulder...literally...from a girl who told me God wanted to give me a hug. CRAZINESS!!! And a few moments later, another friend received a word from God about "someone" who was overwhelmed...who needed to hide themselves in the Rock of God. As she went on into detail, I was amazed that everything I had just said to God was coming out of the mouth of someone I had not shared my struggle with. Humbling...Encouraging that God was reminding me that HE was a place that is immoveable and secure as he brought to mind one of my favourite verses He gave to me in bible school:
"From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety..." Psalm 61:2
God is our rock...our grounded immovable place in our lives. He towers over our problems. He is our fortress and shelter from our enemies. He is our constant. He knew what I needed when I needed it. He used tangible people to speak to me. To be His arms.
Rock of ages cleft for me...let me hide myself in Thee...

Top Three Picks of the Week...

Ugly Fish - A funny little story of the adventures of a bully named Ugly Fish I found in a Montreal book store. If morbid and cute could go in the same sentance...this book would be in it!


Wintersong - For those of you who know me KNOW I CANNOT STAND CHRISTMAS MUSIC EARLY!!! With this fact in view, I will admit to having purchased AND listened to the new Sarah McLachlan album. A definite MUST for the holidays...


And last, but DEFINITELY not least...Hotel Nelligan! The atmosphere was amazing, the door men UBER polite, and the pillows worth stealing! (DON'T WORRY MER...I DID NOT STEAL THEM!!!)

Bonsoir!

Well, I just returned from yet another of my galavants across country. This time the destination was Montreal with two of my oldest friends (not in reference to age!) - Kathryn and Karen. We ended up staying in the boutique Hotel Nelligan. AMAZING! I’m not one for spending lots of money on a place to sleep - but this was a real treat...








I have grown to anticipate some quirky thing happening when I go away - this trip was no exception. Kathryn and I had the brainwave of leaving at 5:00 am Friday to make sure we got the most of the weekend. A few cups of coffee and 6 hours later we arrived at our hotel in old Montreal. By this time I was exhausted - having had minimal sleep (I was up putting oil in my car at 2:30 am because I knew I would forget if I left it til morning!) and suffering a mild bout of motion sickness. Despite strong efforts, I could not keep my bagel and half an apple down... I can hear the gong sounding already!
Instead of landing at 1ish, Karen’s flight was cancelled and she had to take a cab to Newark airport to get on another flight. She arrived at the hotel at 5:30 and we were all hopeful that the rest of the weekend would go without hitch. If only my stomach would have followed suit. Pretending I was fine didn’t get me very far...in fact it got me to the restaurant - a nice public place to launch whatever was left inside me! Insert sad face as I resigned myself to crawl back in bed - not even able to keep water down!
However, minus the instance of forgetting Karen’s liquid gold in the hotel freezer and running TWO red lites and almost getting hit by a city bus in an effort to retrieve it, the rest of the weekend improved greatly! We enjoyed food, shopping, art and perusing the streets. Here’s some pics from our adventures...

A lesson in multi-tasking

I am a ridiculous multi-tasker. It is by God's grace alone that I am still alive and on the planet! I can only imagine a spectator of my life shaking their head in disbelief at the things I come up with to do at the most obscure moments. Here's my latest contribution - painting with light using my camera on the 400 series along one of my many 3 hour plus trips north I have taken. When you're in a car for an extended period of time by yourself, you start getting creative with the silence! Don't worry...no vehicles were harmed in this exercise!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Just thought I'd write a quick little post to invite you all to celebrate the first snowfall. We actually got a few flurries yesterday already, but today - on Friday the 13th - record snowfalls are happening in Ontario...Buffalo NY is even shut down! CRAZINESS! The only time I celebrate is the first snowfall...from then on it's me vs. the cold. Bring on the woolies!

going to peru...peru...peru

Just thought I'd let you all know I'll be gone over Christmas holidays...I have the amazing opportunity to be a chaperone (if you can imagine!) for a mission's trip with 27 students from the high school I volunteer at. Last year I participated in a trip to Mississippi to help out with Hurricane Katrina along with over 100 students/staff/chaperones. This year it's a two week trip to Peru. From jungles, to high altitude mountain locations to coastal cities it's sure to be a diverse trip. I am excited for the opportunity to continue building relationships with the staff and students.
Please keep this trip in your prayers
...that God would prepare the hearts of those going and open up our eyes to see as He sees.
...that we would be available to His work in Peru, growing in our faith and encouraging the body of believers there.
...to trust in God to provide for all the needs - financial, physical, medical (yeah needles) and governmental (I have to get my passport...and my birth certificate by then!)
...that our team would gel together and amazing relationships would be built.
Thanx for your prayers and support in advance...I couldn't do what I do without the constant love and prayer support of family and friends. I will keep you posted as always!

held by a thread....

I once told a friend if I wasn't a Christian I would be a complete and total pagan...I wasn't lying. And when I say pagan, I'm not talking about the "nice" kind that you pass in life and think to yourself "What a nice person...they'd make a good Christian.". No. I am well aware of my underlying wild side...her name is Katie. Don't even ask me why she has a name - I think we made it up in the office once as a reference point to my craziness. Few have ever met her, but I am constantly reminded of her existance below the surface, itching to be released into society.
Katie is fun and carefree...she doesn't concern herself with consequences but lives in the moment. She pushes the edge. She thrives on out-of-character activities. She's the life of the party. The wild drunk. The girl with every guy. The chick on the back of the bike. She's pretty much everything I am currently not (aside from the bike part!) In relation to her, my life is pretty boring (that leaves heaps to the imagination!!!)
This is what I see when I look in the mirror...this constant battle with my flesh and the spirit that God has placed within me. I am always amazed, when looking back, to see how much God has spared me from, given my nature. I'm sure you're wondering by this point why I am sharing this. It's more of a reality check really. I've had people comment on "What a nice person you are". I have to laugh because I get the inside-out view. They only get the "processed" me. And I wonder if they spent 5 minutes in my thoughts - would they still be my friend?!!
See the reality of it is that when people say things like that, I know God is at work. Because I know who I am - I battle with her every day. I know full well the things I struggle with - the constant temptation to unleash this wild side and stop caring about consequences and truth. And then I am reminded of the thin strands that hold me. These strings of grace that are woven throughout me. The delicate balance that keeps me on the humbling tightrope of God-given spirit and my dang flesh! And so when people see good...I can only stand amazed and humbled at the God at work inside of me. I mean, look at Paul - revolutionary in the early church and apostle of Christ - he took the quote of all times when he said he was the chief of all sinners. How could that be possible? And yet his statement brings us back to the humble beginnings of the reality that we suck...and yet to the point of hope that God has bigger things instore for us.
2 Peter sums it up pretty good...
"God has given us everything we need for living a godly life...He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires." - II Peter 1:3b/4b
God gave us his very own Son. His very nature! We have his promises of strength, wisdom, provision - everything. He gives all His children the ability to live righteously before Him. There is no excuse for our character or inherited stubbornness...(like that blasted mentality - boys will be boys - argh! I HATE that line!) Basically the ball is in our court, and I wonder...what will our response be? Will we be willing to sacrifice?
I am reminded of a man stretched across a cursed monument...flesh torn and bleeding...gnarled metal holding him in place - hand and foot. As tempting as unleashing Katie can be at times...there is a man who loved me so much He died that I might receive all of heaven's promises. What in this world could ever truly compare to His love? What passing pleasure, or party can really fulfill my heart like He does? I pray you continue to meet His spirit in my life. May we all learn to reflect the nature of our Creator and Saviour.
And pray that Katie gets converted!

Welcome to the Gong Show...NYC Style!

I no longer wonder at the craziness that consumes my life at times! My weekend started with a gong that resonated til my 3 am arrival back at home...and I found myself in that crazy world of laughing at myself before crashing into the deepest depths of sleep. Where to begin?...
I learned my lesson the hard way about not leaving enough time before your flight. 2 hours is ample time to get to the airport, check in and be at the gate, right? WHY WASTE PRECIOUS TIME WAITING?!! That's always my philosophy...cut it as close as you can so you can fill in as much as you can. I'm a psycho scheduler. Well, my drive to the airport was not an hour, like planned...no, torrential downpours, construction and accidents over doubled the time allowing me to show up at Buffalo airport just in time to wave at my flight taking off. (insert sidebar - saw an amazing rainbow and was reminded that God's promises - whatever shape or form they take - are AWESOME! I took a picture while driving over a bridge...maybe not the smartest thing, but I couldn't help myself. Not bad for someone trying to stay on the road in pouring rain!
Anyways, missed my flight and, not to be discouraged from a weekend in NYC, I rebooked for a 7:45...would you believe it took me almost til 7 to get to my gate? Even if I had left 4 hours before my original flight I would have still been pressing for time! WHAT IS WRONG WITH DELTA?!! I was wondering that well into the nite as my flight was delayed an hour and a half. So much for dinner plans...time to play around with my camera in the terminal! It's a wonder they didn't suspect me of being a terrorist! GONG!!!
Got on the plane (I was one of the privileged in the Emergency Exit row)...only to find out the lady beside me didn't speak English (is that not a requirement?!!) and the flight loos were out of commission... GONG!!! I'm lucky I have a bigger bladder than Maia!
Anyways, I finally made it to NYC amidst the craziness. Saturday morning we drove 1 1/2 hours to go apple picking with the kids. Some great photo ops, but Karen and I could only stay for half an hour...aren't the kids the cutest?!!
So yeah, got back in time to head out to the NY Yankees game with new friend, Mark. Too bad we got lost in the Bronx - but we did make it for the 5th inning. Just in time to see the Blue Jays come from behind to clinch the game. There was a bunch of crazy canucks I almost migrated to...just because being a lone fan for the opposing team in the middle of Yankee Stadium isn't the safest thing at all times. They really take their baseball seriously...
Had some amazing Thai food in the city before heading home to challenge Karen & Al to speed scrabble. We sorta lost track of time until someone had the smarts to check a watch and see it was already after 2am! Not a favourable hour to stay up to when church is at 8:30! It poured rain - changing our afternoon hiking plans to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Besides them screwing up my order, the food was really good and I got a complimentary piece of the infamous dessert to go. Too bad only 4 of the 20+ kinds did not have chocolate...
Spent the afternoon in the city going to the "Goog" and perusing book stores for Jeremy Cowarts book "Hope in the Dark". To no avail...I guess it's Amazon.com for me! I got to the airport with tons of time to spare - only to find out my flight was delayed again! They couldn't make up their mind whether or not to board us...and when they finally did we had to wait half an hour before we could actually take off. Hello migraine headache, 1/2 hour late luggage, and 3:00am arrivals at home. GONG!!! Too bad I had to get up for school this morning 'cause I had a first period art class to teach! GONG!!!
In the aftermath I humoured myself in the fact that my "time-saving flight" took longer from start to finish than actual driving would have! And yet I can still laugh at it all...at my life. It is always an adventure and never boring. May the madness never cease...