One Year!!!

Tomorrow marks one year since the public launch of The Sanctuary Pickering. It has been a wild ride, to say the least, since God plucked hubby and me out of our comfort zone and plunged us into something very unfamiliar to us --- church planting! 

The journey has definitely not been a bed of roses; it's been like a roller coaster complete with its peaks and its valleys. I've laughed and cried. I've smiled and frowned. I've been elated and been angry. I've trusted and doubted. I've been confident and been scared. You get the picture! But throughout it all, my God has remained faithful and He is good! And, I have grown in my faith!!! 

As we launch into this second year of existence as a local church here in Pickering, I am excited! I want to be reckless for God, to be dangerous for Him! God has been opening doors like never before. Reaching this city will not be easy. In fact, spiritually-speaking, it is very hard ground to break. But I have no doubt in my mind that God will accomplish what He has set out to do here, in this city! 

You’re the God of this city I You’re the King of these people I You’re the Lord of this nation I You are I You’re the light in this darkness I You’re the hope to the hopeless I You’re the peace to the restless I You are I There is no one like our God I There is no one like You, God I For greater things have yet to come I And greater things are still to be done in this city I For greater things have yet to come I And greater things are still to be done here. 

Happy 1st Anniversary, The Sanctuary Pickering! My prayer is that God will be glorified through this church, in this city!!!

Reckless Faith

reck·less (rĕk'lĭs): adjective
Lacking or marked by a lack of care. Characterized by unthinking boldness. Utterly unconcerned about the consequences of some action; without caution.

Today, my morning devotional reading challenged me to live a life of reckless faith. Upon reading the definition of the word "reckless" (see above) --- I have come to the realization that I am living too safely when it comes to my faith.

Here's what gripped me this morning:

We are to be reckless in our faith – not habitual, not routine, not guarded. Reckless.

Reckless faith is… living out loud for God, regardless of the consequences.

Without thinking, without distress over consequences, without anxiety over what might happen, and without concern for what friends might think.

It is so much easier to stay afloat in the safety of our comfort zone than to step out into stormy waters, putting all of our trust in Christ.

How is God calling you to be reckless for Him today?

Do I really believe I can trust God enough for me to be reckless in my faith?

Wow! Talk about a wake-up call or being hit in the head with a hammer!

God, I desire to be reckless for You. Help me to live a life of reckless faith!

Disturb Us, Lord

I saw this poem today somewhere in blogland... it is too powerful to pass up and forget about that's why I'm re-posting it here.

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

By Sir Francis Drake, 1577

Beautiful. Powerful. Thought-provoking.

Our Summer in Pictures

Summer's end comes with the arrival of Labour Day --- that is today!!! Wow, this summer sure went by FAST (yet again)!

Here's a little snippet of our summer...


My daughter walking with my nephew to the park.


My son (in red) and some friends at the park.

Having fun at the park.

Helping little cousin down the twisty slide.

We went to an Argos game at the Rogers Centre. It was a treat to have the dome open on a nice, clear, warm summer evening; nice view of the CN Tower.

Great company!!!

The Ignition Staff after the game; the Argos lost!!!

My kids with Pinball!!!

Our end-of-summer road trip; this and the following few photos were taken at Preque Isle State Park (Erie, PA).

At the Maritime Museum (Erie, PA); in front of the "Niagara" --- a vessel used during the War of 1812.

In front of the Bicentennial Tower (Erie, PA).

Henry Moore sculpture; in front of the Columbus Museum of Art (Columnus, OH). The following few photos are also taken at the CMA.

My daughter cut her hair and donated it through the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program --- 12" long grown over two years!!! Way to go!!!

We celebrated our son's 9th birthday by going bowling and having dinner at his most favourite restaurant, Baton Rouge!!!

...having ice cream before dinner!!!

...very yummy dinner!!!

That's our summer in a nutshell... there is so much more to share but I would have to upload so much more photos!!! I think this is a good enough snippet.

Goodbye summer --- we look forward to your arrival next year!!!

Nine!!!

Nine years old already? Wow, my baby boy is now NINE and off to Grade 4 next week!!! How time flies. It seems just like yesterday when we welcomed him into our family that one crisp, cool Labour Day Monday evening nine years ago... his arrival made our family complete! He is truly a gift of God --- true to the meaning of the name we chose for him!!!

World Changing Family

While on vacation this past week, I read 'Becoming A World Changing Family' by Donna S. Thomas. While it focuses mainly on world (overseas) missions, it has a ton of great food for thought.

The first thing that caught my attention is a story about a family with three grown children who are all living "on mission". The father's account is as follows:

It was a concious decision for my wife and me early in our marriage. We were in college then and members of the student volunteer group. The group challenged us to make a commitment. Here is what we signed in faith: I will live my life, under God, for others rather than for myself. I will not drift through life but will do my utmost, by prayer, by investigation, by meditation and service, to discover that form and place in which I can become the largest use in the Kingdom of God. As I find it, I will follow it under the leadership of Jesus Christ, wheresoever it takes me, cost what it may.

I shared this commitment with our children when they were young. They witnessed it in our ministry. We considered it important to let them know why we were giving our lives to the church, why a call to serve is among the highest calls one can possibly receive from the Lord, and why material gain was never a factor in our ventures.

We certainly cannot take credit for what God has done in the lives of our children, but I believe we have helped in the process.

Beautiful story, isn't it? This is exactly what hubby and I are doing. We are trusting God for this type of response from our children. It would be awesome when we'd be the ones telling the same story in the near future! In the meantime, it takes a lot of hard work to model for our children how it is to "live on mission" in this world of ours!!!

I only have this one chance to mold my children... I can't go back! I feel that it is of utmost importance to get this parenting thing right. The book ends with some very encouraging words which makes this whole concept of becoming a "world changing family" quite doable. Here are those words:

God sent His only Son to bring us salvation, and look who He used to help get the job done. Not anybody important. No one considered outrageously successful. Some common fishermen. A tax collector. Workers. Ordinary. Never had a course in public speaking. Just obedient. Yet they set the course for changing the world.

So, what am I waiting for? I say, LET'S GET ROLLING!!!