Some picture memories!

A couple of weeks ago our family travelled to Florida to spend a week with my family. We had such a wonderful and relaxing time.
We went on a nature walk at Caladesi Island State Park. This was the most idyllic spot. I tried to capture it as best I could so that I could return there anytime I wanted!

Beautiful shells.
A very kind couple took pity on my unpreparedness - as I was shelling without a pail. They came back to me with a grocery bag so I wouldn't have to juggle my collection in my arms.

Cute stuff is right!

Our next home...

The whole crew! Unfortunately my brother and his family could not join us this time. We missed them horribly.

My Mom and Son.

The cousins.

We all enjoyed reading some of our favourite books.

And being able to do just about everything outside.

Thanks for sharing some memories with us!

Spring Break!

I realize I shouldn't be as excited for spring break as I am after coming off of a two week holiday. It sure is nice to be home with the kids though.

This morning I was able to have a date with Alexander as the girls were occupied with the SHINE drama. When I asked Alexander what he wanted to do together he quickly laid out an itinerary. Most importantly, and first on the list was to show his Mom how to play Mario Brothers!! That is NO simple task. I die very easily on video games. Dave is quite perplexed at how bad I am after having spent so many years of complex hand eye coordination at the piano.
This isn't Alexander's first time trying to help me with video type games. He did write this note for me. I keep it on the fridge for quick reference!

We had a lot of fun playing and given that he is WAY more advanced than I am, he was very patient with me. At one point he asked if I wanted him to piggyback me in the video game so that I wouldn't die again in that tough spot. How sweet is that!!! He thought so too because he said "I am a good son!"

After the gaming was done we went and rode on the kids scooters. Very thankful I didn't break one.


I took the dog along too. I guess I was trying to compensate for my weak showing in the video game by multi tasking on the ride! I was just praying that I wouldn't have an accident story to tell after we were through as the dog and I had different agenda's for what our ride together would look like!

We were able to pack a few other fun things in our time together as well. It was a good day. One of those days where when it was time to pick Dave up from work, I realized that supper was still an idea in my head. I had spent a large portion of time in the afternoon helping the kids set up their play mobile.

I am so thankful to God for my family. For time together with them. God has used our kids in a powerful way to change me into being a more devoted disciple of His.

Hello Ladies,

It has been awhile since I've posted anything. We are having a such a good time with family! I will write more later.

I wanted to send a quick note as you are studying in God's Word, to keep at it! It can become habit to try to work out and fix our problems by figuring out our own plans our own ways. However, our methods seem to perpetuate the very problem we are trying to get rid of. As I was working through such a situation this morning (situations don't take holidays!)I was directed to Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

In Day 5, of homework we read;

"Have you ever found His word to be misleading? Has He ever tried to harm you with His Word? Certainly not!
"God's Word is always for the purpose of bringing good...Profit outweighs importance of pain or pleasure."

God loves each one of you so much and desires to meet you in your greatest need.

Lessons From My Dog!

The most frustrating thing about having a dog is when our dog acts like a dog! With the ravages of winter, our makeshift fence has taken a beating and Max has found ways to jump over or wiggle underneath when the motivation is strong enough, ie. the neighbouring dog is out, the deer are visiting, a rabbit runs by...a squirrel! The funny thing about this whole running away thing is that he knows it is wrong! He sees us coming to get him and doesn't want to meet up with us. He knows we are angry and that he has done wrong by us. When we catch up, he stands there looking out his peripheral, drops his tail and head and basically goes completely limp. When we get back into the house he sits there raising his paw over and over again in apology. At that point you are left looking into pathetically sad little puppy eyes and think, "you're just a dog following your instincts, what more can I expect!"
We are working on training him. If we watch him and he sees us in the window, that stops him dead in his tracks. Training takes dedication. It takes complete commitment to training the same way every time he goes out.

A recent replay on this situation near midnight the other night!!! reminded me of a few things I have read over this past week. I read about how, in Noah's time, God was grieved and His heart filled with pain over the humans evil inclinations. That "every inclination of the thoughts were only evil all the time." (Gen. 6:5 - 6) I've also been reading that I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil.4:13). When I think about my human inclination and how lousy my willpower is; I can see how I have grieved God by my attempts to become "Jr. god!" I have constant access to the Holy Spirit, who will help me choose not to jump over the fence. It is so important that I have dogged determination to bow to the rule of Christ's authority in my life as I work to overcome stronghold's and avoid snares.

God has created us with the ability to choose and we are faced daily with counterfeits that need to be tested against the truth. In case you needed this encouragement today too, here is a verse that I am reading and repeating over and over:

Psalm 28:7 NRSV
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in Him my heart trusts;
So I am helped, and my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to Him.

From the Mouths of Babes

A number of years ago as I was browsing through a table of books on clearance I came across a pocket sized hardcover called, "While Shepherds Washed Their Flocks by Night". It was a book of sayings from children. I bought it and read through it quickly and was quite delighted by it. I decided that I was going to keep a journal of neat sayings that came from my own children's mouth's. I have really enjoyed recording these moments with them and have so regretted the ones that I missed. Sometimes they are profound and other times just plain funny. The kids refer to them as often as our photo books. Just this past week at Alexander's guitar lesson before playing a song that caused him difficulty and lots of hard practice during the week, he gritted his teeth and said with conviction, "Let's do this!"

This past week Monica sent me an email with a number of these sayings, quite profound in nature, regarding love. Given the Bible study discussions and sermons on love I thought these might provide another angle to enjoy.

What Love means to a 4-8 year old . .

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds,
'What does love mean?'
Here are the answers:

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'
Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'
Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'
Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'
Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'
Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that.
They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents
and listen.'
Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)
'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'
Nikka - age 6

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday..'
Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'
Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.
He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'
Cindy - age 8

'My Mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'
Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'
Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'
Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'
Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)
Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'
Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'
Jessica - age 8
And the final one

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbour was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.
Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said,
'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

Graced to Love

As you know, I have been wrestling with a question from our week 3 of Living Beyond Yourself.

Beth's question, tucked in the middle of a paragraph on the final day of that weeks homework, hit me like a ton of bricks.

Do you realize that even your capacity to love God is completely divine and supernatural?

Human capacity – human ability. It's limited and narcissistic. As we strive for significance it is easy to pat ourselves on the back for successes and take the credit. However take an introspective look at our daily experiences and we find we have to agree with the saying, “the apple doesn't fall far from the tree?” I am not so far removed from Eve that I should forget what my capabilities or extreme willpower are. Or aren't. From helping with menial tasks to having devotions with the kids. It can all be selfishly driven under the cloak of love. I remember watching an episode of “Friends” where they were trying to perform a completely selfless act. The conclusion on the show was that it wasn't possible. Even the best examples in the Bible show what humans will do when left to their own desires. There's David with Bathsheba, a man after God's own heart; or remember Elisha's depressing descent after a miraculous Mt Carmel experience. Think back to Paul's letter to the church in Rome, left up to self we can't do what we want to do! So why would I be so surprised that I am not capable of loving God on my own willpower?

More impressive however, are the many examples in the OT and NT that display what happens when someone loves God with all their heart, soul and mind. We see Abraham willing to sacrifice his only son in faith believing that God will provide for what He promised. We see Joseph and Daniel being men of integrity and bringing Glory to God because of their unwavering faith in God. God's ultimate example in scripture however, is to be found in His son, Jesus. Christ's demonstrates His love for us through obedience to His Father to the point of dying on the cross for the wrongs we have committed.

Completely divine.

God's love for us is all the more amazing when I realize that he loved us enough to create us even though He knew we would decide to give ourselves credit for anything that seems to go well in our life or as Mother Teresa so aptly puts it – we wrongly “glory in our successes”.

Pride is one of the main reasons for my blindness to the inability to love.

C S Lewis says:

“The loves prove they are unworthy to take the place of God by the fact that they cannot even remain themselves and do what they promise to do without God's help.” 144

“Every human love, at its height, has a tendency to claim for itself a divine authority. Its voice tends to sound as if it were the will of God Himself.” 8

God desires that we love Him and others so He has given us everything we need for faith and godliness. Here are some verses I have been ingesting as I digest concepts of faith, love and purpose in community.

Ephesians 3:16-19

¹⁶ I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, ¹⁷ and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. ¹⁸ I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Hebrews 11:6

“without faith it's impossible to please God. Anyone who comes to Him must believe He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Ephesians 2:8, 10

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Acts 17:24-28

²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. ²⁶ From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, ²⁷ so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸ For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’

Some important parts of a life in Christ are mentioned in these verses. Faith, love, salvation and purpose. I need to have faith to believe that a loving God is my Saviour in EVERY aspect of my life. God will bless our earnest seeking and make our work significant. He will love through us as we believe that it is His love that we need.

I love this explanation by C S Lewis:

“God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them.” 154

As Meridith Andrews sings, “The old has gone the new has come, we are reconciled by love...”