To Love Radically...

In Shane Claiborne's book... The Irresistible Revolution {Living as an Ordinary Radical}, he writes:

I saw the gospel with new eyes. One of the texts that had always given me trouble was John 14:12: "Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." You shall do even greater things? Here's the Son of the Almighty, God incarnate, telling us ragtag disciples that we will do the same things he has been doing. I don't know about you, but I haven't raised anyone from the dead lately. I haven't seen anyone turn water into wine. And I hadn't healed any lepers. Even though I touched them, they still went home lepers at the end of the day.

It wasn't that Jesus healed a leper but that he touched a leper, because no one touched lepers. And the incredible thing about that love is that it now lives inside of us. In the verses just after the one about the greater things, Jesus assured us that the Spirit now lives in us. Jesus says that he is going to the Father but will also remain inside of us, and we in him. We are the body of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus to the world. Christ is living inside of you and me, walking the earth. We shall do even greater things because the love that lived in the radical Christ now lives within millions of ordinary radicals all over the planet.

~ Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution, pages 84-85.

To be an ordinary radical is to love radically... like Christ did when He walked the earth... like He still does now with His unfathomable love for each one of us!

My thoughts, on this beautiful, sunny Wednesday... {as I link up with the community over at A Holy Experience on The Practice of New Habits... as a whole community of bloggers Walk with Him and write about a spiritual practice that draws us nearer to God's heart each Wednesday....} are centered on learning how to love radically... a habit that we can certainly all practice anew each and every day!

One way our family is practicing this very habit right now is by obeying when God called us to spear-head this... Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy, with Ann Voskamp... happening exactly one month from today --- Saturday, September 29, right here in Toronto!

Will YOU come celebrate with us?

Friends, it has not been easy... sometimes, it has felt a tad bit overwhelming... yet, it has thoroughly been an experience that I wouldn't trade for anything!

Yesterday, I had another one of those freak-out moments... I tell ya, I am thankful for a daughter who is mature beyond her age. She truly helped me through my freak-out-session yesterday, reminding me that God is in control... and that all we need to do is follow His leading!

Ah, His grace truly is sufficient... and sometimes, like yesterday, it comes in the form of a beautiful, 15-year-old daughter whom He's given just the right words to say! I am truly blessed. ♥

Happy Wednesday, friends...

Our happiness comes, too, not in the having, but in the handing over. Give your life away in exchange for many lives, give away your blessings to multiply blessings, give away so that many might increase, and do it all for the love of God.

~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

Click on the banner below to read more Walk With Him posts every Wednesday...

I promise you will be blessed!

Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!

Last Summer Days

These last days of summer... they are bittersweet!
In just one week, school starts back up and it gets busy again for me at my work!

It's truly been a good summer for our family. A tad bit too busy for my liking, but lots of time just hanging out as well... so it's all good!

When I realize that it is not God who is in my debt but I who am in His great debt, then doesn't all become gift?

~ One Thousand Gifts.

Ahhh, grace... the Gift of Grace! My girl's most recent blog post is about just. that. Giving thanks for everything... for all is grace.

As I continue to count grace-gifts, with unending thanks... for gifts from a God who is always good... these are the things I am thankful for this week... #1520 - #1527:

:: Trusting that HE will accomplish great things through this... Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy.

:: My girl's passion for and gift of writing. She's been churning out some great pieces lately! ♥

:: Having connected and caught up with several friends this past week.

:: A summer basketball tournament.

:: Nice drive up to the farm... chatting with the farmer and finding out that his family loves Jesus, too! ♥

:: An opportunity to teach the children at church on Sunday morning as a Summer Serve volunteer... while not a strength of mine, I did enjoy it!

:: Carseats donated by people from our church family for expectant moms ministered to by the Pregnancy Care Centre.

:: A productive Sunday afternoon!

Happy Monday, friends!

This week, just this... being fully alive... and beholding God!

It's true! What that ancient man Irenaus, very disciple of the spostle John, wrote, "The glory of God is the human being fully alive and the life of the human consists in beholding God." Don't I give God most glory when I am fully alive? And I am most fully alive beholding God!

~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

Let's soar into this new week together, friends... let's do justice, love mercy and walk humbly!

Click on the banner below for more Multitudes on Mondays posts...

Jump in... I promise you will be blessed!

Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!

Saying YES!

Sometimes, it can be flat-out nerve-wracking... 
... this saying "YES" to God, this stepping out of comfort zone, this trusting!

This past month, I said "Yes!" as I gave God my fear of public speaking, stepped out of my comfort zone and shared about exactly. just. that. as you will see in the following video, as part of our church's summer teaching series called Ordinary Radicals:



Friends, I have a confession to make. This week... it's been tough to "walk the talk"! I did lots of praying, lots of soul-searching, lots of appropriating God's grace... thankful that His grace truly is enough for me!

This morning, I woke up to this tweet by Rich Stearns...

God often answers the prayers of others through us. You have no idea how God will use you when you say “Yes” to him!
— Rich Stearns (@RichStearns) August 22, 2012

So true... I sure had no idea how huge a project it would get when our family said "Yes!" to God at the beginning.

Friends, I'm talking about this... Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy... a Benefit Concert featuring Ann Voskamp as the guest speaker... an event that will, God-willing, raise enough money to build a permanent facility for the Compassion Child Development Centre that our sponsor child Florianlyn belongs to! You can read more about the project by clicking on this direct link.

And, our family is pretty much spear-heading this on our own... without past experience, without industry know-how, without professional knowledge. Just... plain... saying... "Yes!" and trusting God to work out the details as we move along!

Now you understand why I've been having freak-out-moments this week, right? Oy! I tell ya... freak-out-moments are no fun... they've arisen because I've been trusting myself too much! I've surely been reminded that trusting God is by far the better way to go... the only way to go!

This morning, Ann Voskamp wrote these words in her blog post...

Sometimes you have to answer — when no else hears a thing. 

Sometimes you need to step up — when everyone else is still sitting down.

Sometimes in living your best life, the most missed ingredient — is to live obedient to God.

How else can there ever be a song? Unless you answer the call of God?

That’s the only rhythm that can make music: to do the will of the One whose heart beats at the center of the cosmos.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of us.

Love is never a trite feeling. Love is a wildfire in the bones, a burning flame willing to serve — willing to say yes.

That nothing is lost by sacrifice and everything is lost when you’re sitting down when you should be stepping up?

Wow! Exactly the words I needed to hear. God is truly gracious... I am so thankful, thankful that He is always good and... I am always loved!

I love how Ann worded this... "How else can there ever be a song? Unless you answer the call of God?" Ummm... God, seems like you are talking directly to me? You know... this answering the call... this saying of "Yes!"... to spear-heading this concert of songs... this Celebration of Joy...

It's coming up soon, friends... 
Just 38 days away... Saturday, September 29... Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy, right here in Toronto! Friends, will you come? I would love to meet you there!

And I will breathe deep... and trust God with details... and give thanks... and, say "Yes!"... for "nothing is lost by sacrifice and everything is lost when you're sitting down when you should be stepping up!"

The art of deep seeing makes gratitude possible. And it's the art of gratitude that makes joy possible.

And isn't joy the art of God?

~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

Click on the banner below to read more Walk With Him posts every Wednesday...

I promise you will be blessed! Today, we are writing about The Practice of Relationship.

Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!

Two More Weeks...

The sun sets, as we drive towards home.

Friends, how is it that Summer manages to pass by so quickly?
I can't believe that in just two more weeks, school starts up again! What I can't believe even more is that my girl will be in Grade 10 {second year in high school} and my boy will be entering Grade 7 {he'll be an intermediate student!}.

Time, would you please slow down just a tad bit?

As we enjoy these last two weeks of summer... we are also looking forward to a new year! In many ways, September marks the start of a new year for us... new school year, new ministry year, new friends, new adventures, new challenges, new endeavors!

In all this anticipation for the new... my heart finds comfort in the one thing that stays the same... the steadfast love of the Lord!

God is happiest of all. Joy is God's life. Don't I yearn for it to be mine?

~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

Yes! This yearning for Joy... the yearning for God's life! I want it to be mine. This, I believe, is found when one finds comfort and draws strength from that steadfast love of the Father... for it never ceases, it never comes to an end, it is new every morning!

As I continue to count grace-gifts, with a grateful heart... for gifts from a God who is the same --- yesterday, today, and tomorrow... these are the things I am thankful for this week... #1512 - #1519:

:: Trusting that HE alone will be glorified in this... Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy.

:: HE is in the details, even difficult ones... and I don't have to fret.

:: A fun night for hubby and my boy paint-balling with friends.

:: My Heavenly Father's extravagant and lavish love for me... earthly relationships may disappoint, yet His love never fails! 

:: An awesome night spent with our UrbanPromise Camp Freedom family!

:: My kids writing letters to our sponsor children.

:: Attending elder training at our church... and looking forward to launching a Meeting House Home Church right here at our house this Fall!

:: My girl being part of the Student Leadership Team of our church's youth group this year.

Happy Monday, friends!
This, just this... my prayer this week...

I was lost but know I am found again, Jesus, and I know what I want: to see deeply, to thank deeply, to feel joy deeply.

~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

Let's soar into this new week together, friends... let's do justice, love mercy and walk humbly!

Click on the banner below for more Multitudes on Mondays posts...

Jump in... I promise you will be blessed!

Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!

Coming Home

Friends, we're home... and thankful for the gift of time spent on vacation as a family! We truly enjoyed our time away from the normal routines of life... and loved basking in the beauty of God's magnificence in the Boston and Cape Cod area.

At this same time last year, we were also coming home... to a new normal... after having our hearts truly broken for the things that break God's heart.

It's been a beautiful year... of learning to live this new normal, of submitting our will and our ways to the Father, of living a better kind of life... one that is fully pursuing God's righteousness... to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with Him.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
~ Matthew 5:6, NIV

Yet... the most beautiful kind of coming home... is the kind that we, as Christ-followers, have all experienced... coming home to the Heavenly Father and experiencing His daily gift of grace! I read Andrew Farley's book The Naked Gospel while on vacation this past week and there are some beautiful quotes in this book! Here are a few...

Grace is the system that the Holy Spirit uses to counsel and teach us on a daily basis.

Grace isn't merely a response to sin. Grace is the core of the New. It allows Jesus to produce through us what's needed in the moment.

There's a godly sorrow or regret over sins that leads a person to desire change (2 Corinthians 7:10). This regret occurs because believers are designed for good works, not sins. When we sin, we're not living out our destiny. We're meant for something greater. We're meant to display the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing less.

Eternal life is not merely a better life or a better purpose for life. It's an altogether different life. It's God's life.

God wants to make his mark on your life with beautiful brushstrokes that only he can fashion together to create a masterpiece.

When we come to Jesus Christ, we receive his life. Through our expression of him, we find fulfillment.

Since Christ is your life, your source of true fulfillment, you'll only be content when you are expressing him.

Whether we realize it or not, our greatest desire is to express Christ in every moment.

As I continue to count grace-gifts, with a grateful heart... for gifts from a God who is always good... these are the things I am thankful for this week... #1506 - #1511:

:: Continued momentum for Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy.

:: Coming home... in many ways! :-)

:: Easing back into our normal routines slowly, with a few more days off from work.

:: Another great Sunday morning teaching at church!

:: Fellowship with peeps from our church family over lunch! It's totally awesome to have church at the movie theatres inside a mall... the food court is literally right there! :-)

:: Quiet Sunday afternoon spent at home.

Finally, here are a few photos from our vacation...

Happy Monday, friends!

Moses "persevered because he saw him who is invisible." (Hebrews 11:27 NIV) That is what makes us persevere through a life: To see Him who is invisible. It's my prayer with the last crickets of summer: Oh, Lord, open the eyes of my heart, the eyes of my hands, the eyes of my mouth, the eyes of my feet.

~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

Let's soar into this new week together, friends... let's do justice, love mercy and walk humbly!

Click on the banner below for more Multitudes on Mondays posts...

Jump in... I promise you will be blessed!

Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!

August's Arrival

God reveals Beauty and what is there to whisper but thank you?

~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

Friends, we are currently on a road-trip... enjoying some family time away from the routines of life... and basking in the beauty of God's magnificence here in the Boston and Cape Cod area.

As I continue to count grace-gifts, with a grateful heart... for gifts from a God who is always good... these are the things I am thankful for this week... #1502 - #1505:

:: This time of vacation... for rest and relaxation.

:: This time spent together as a family.

:: Continued momentum for Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy.

:: Everything becoming beautiful in His own sweet time!

Happy Monday, friends!

May you be looking forward, as I am, to a new week of basking in the extravagant love that our Heavenly Father so freely bestows!

Faith is not a once in the past action, but faith is always a way of seeing, a seeking for God in everything. And if the eyes gaze long enough to see God lifted in a thing, how can the lips not offer eucharisteo? The truly saved have eyes of faith and lips of thanks. Faith is in the gaze of a soul. The lingering look of love - that falls hard into eucharisteo.

~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

Let's soar into this new week together, friends... let's do justice, love mercy and walk humbly!

Click on the banner below for more Multitudes on Mondays posts...

Jump in... I promise you will be blessed!

Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!

In His Time...

God truly does make all things beautiful in His time!

On Friday, July 29, 2011... we met sweet Florianlyn, our Compassion sponsor child, during our family's three-week self-guided missions immersion trip to the Philippines. Meeting her and seeing where she lives and experiencing her poverty changed our family. It hit home for us what it means to truly have our hearts broken for the things that break God's heart.

Exactly one year later... on Sunday, July 29, 2012... I took one deep breath {okay, more than several deep breaths!}, prayed lots... and I, a self-confessed introvert with a great fear of public speaking, stepped out of my comfort zone and did this... as part of our church's summer teaching series entitled Ordinary Radicals:



I spoke about relinquishing control and submitting my will, about letting God lead and following Jesus, about missional parenting and raising great kids, about meeting Florianlyn and God breaking our hearts for the things that break His, about our reaction and our response... one of which is in the form of this... Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy.

Friends, it was nerve-wracking to say the least, yet I was overjoyed and truly humbled to have been given the opportunity to share... and sooooo utterly thankful for God's amazing grace! He truly is always, always, always good... making all things beautiful in His time!

Only God can orchestrate such perfect timing, don't you think? 
One year ago... brokenness. One year later... a tangible response!

Today as I publish this blog post... it is August 2, 2012... and we are on a road-trip, on a short family vacation to the Cape Cod and Boston area. Yet, we will be remembering that it is also exactly one year to the day we first met our Compassion LDP Student, Rochelle, also during this same trip to the Philippines. It was another eye-opening and life-changing experience that will forever be etched in our hearts and minds.

I am marveling at just how amazingly good our God is... that He, the Creator of the universe, sees fit to invite us, mere ordinary people, to partner with Him in doing Kingdom work. That just really, really, really blows my mind!!!

This teaching series at church, Ordinary Radicals... takes us through the eight Beatitudes. I am learning a lot... about how we, ordinary people, can do radical things when we follow our Extraordinary Leader, Jesus! I love how the Beatitudes are written in The Message. You can read them here.    

This teaching series also reminded me of this quote from Shane Claiborne's book The Irresistible Revolution, which I read earlier this year:

I saw the gospel with new eyes. One of the texts that had always given me trouble was John 14:12: "Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." You shall do even greater things? Here's the Son of the Almighty, God incarnate, telling us ragtag disciples that we will do the same things he has been doing. I don't know about you, but I haven't raised anyone from the dead lately. I haven't seen anyone turn water into wine. And I hadn't healed any lepers. Even though I touched them, they still went home lepers at the end of the day.

It wasn't that Jesus healed a leper but that he touched a leper, because no one touched lepers. And the incredible thing about that love is that it now lives inside of us. In the verses just after the one about the greater things, Jesus assured us that the Spirit now lives in us. Jesus says that he is going to the Father but will also remain inside of us, and we in him. We are the body of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus to the world. Christ is living inside of you and me, walking the earth. We shall do even greater things because the love that lived in the radical Christ now lives within millions of ordinary radicals all over the planet.

Friends, let's be ordinary radicals together!

With Christ living inside you and me, we can do this! We can do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God... and we can make this world a better place!

Friends, will you join our family in being ordinary radicals? Will you sponsor a child living in extreme poverty... in Jesus' name? Will you come to Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy? We would *love* to see you there!!!

Our happiness comes, too, not in the having, but in the handing over. Give your life away in exchange for many lives, give away your blessings to multiply blessings, give away so that many might increase, and do it all for the love of God.

~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!

July's Joy Dare

I am taking the Joy Dare and counting to {an extra} 1,000 Gifts in 2012! Will you join me?

#547 - #639... July's grace-gifts... from the Giver of good gifts, the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

3 gifts loved:

:: Sunday morning teaching by Dr. Andrew Farley at our church.

:: God keeping our land glorious and free... Happy Canada Day!

:: Gathering of extended family members for dinner.

3 gifts read:

:: My girl's "it's-the-start-of-summer" blog post.
:: The Lure of Calm Waters - an inspiring read for moms!
:: Joy, Beauty and Hope - a sponsor of 49 Compassion children! Wow!

a gift in faith, family, freedom:
:: "... being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
:: Being part of God's family!
:: "... for freedom that Christ has set us free."

a gift in red, white, and blue:
:: Pot of red impatiens in my front garden.
:: Cool, white, summery clothing for insanely hot days!
:: Blue summer skies...

3 gifts of persistence:

:: Marriage.
:: Motherhood.
:: Growing vegetables! :-)

3 gifts of enthusiasm:
:: A growing enthusiasm for Eucharisteo: A Celebration of Joy!

:: Summer Friday family outings...
:: My girl's enthusiasm for accelerated Summer school.

a gift of challenge, conflict, change:
:: To step out of my comfort zone... a constant challenge.
:: The desire to stay comfortable... a good conflict.
:: Our Summer routine... a welcome change.

3 gifts water:
:: Rain... finally!
:: Clean water which flows freely from our taps.
:: A walk by the lake...

a gift of rhythm, rhyme, reason:
:: The sound of falling rain.
:: Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts... so lyrical, but most of all... points us to Jesus!

:: A sound mind...

3 gifts in weakness:
:: When my faith isn't enough, He still is faithful! ♥
:: When I'm afraid to step out of my comfort zone, He gently leads!
:: When I doubt, He reassures!

3 gifts in jars:

:: This treasure in jars of clay... an all-surpassing power from God!

:: Milk kefir in glass jars.
:: Tasty farm milk in old-fashioned milk jars.

a gift of life, growth, decline:
:: Blooming flowers in summer.
:: Colorado blue spruce in our front yard.
:: Days starting to get a wee bit shorter... sun going down earlier.

3 gifts curled:

:: Being curled up in bed, sleeping in on a Friday morning.

:: Her curls!
:: Curly garlic scapes... so yummy in a vegetable stir-fry!

3 gifts yellow:

:: Beautiful girl in yellow shirt.
:: Yellow begonias by the front door.
:: Big, bright yellow sun... abundant this summer!

3 gifts of stone:

:: Stones by the lake... beautifully smoothed by the rushing waves.

:: Stone sculptures by the lake.
:: "This Jesus is the stone you builders rejected; he has become the cornerstone!" (Acts 4:11, CEB)

3 gifts hanging down:
:: An abundance of clothes hanging in our closets.
:: Summer plants hanging off edge of plant beds.
:: Tomatoes hanging on... almost ripe!

3 gifts learned:
:: More about our church's Anabaptist history.
:: How it feels to be broken by God...
:: I am weak... but HE is strong!

3 gifts musical:
:: Birds singing...
:: Cicada sounds...
:: Tree leaves swaying as the wind blows...

3 gifts baked:
:: Fresh-baked muffins.
:: Store-bought chocolate cupcakes.
:: Raspberry pie for dessert.

a gift in light, dark, shadow:

:: Beautiful daylight highlighting all shades of green.
:: Bright moon in dark sky.

:: Shadows of tall trees.

3 gifts of story:
Three of Ann Voskamp's stories from Haiti...
:: What You Really Need to Know Before You Step Out into the World
:: How the American Dream becomes Christmas in July
:: The 1 Thing You Really have to Know About Your Family

3 gifts understated:
Seeing God in...

:: The beauty of flowers.

:: Intricate butterfly wings.

:: The calmness felt when sitting in amongst and enjoying His creation.

a gift high, low, far away:
:: Marking one year since embarking on our family's first missions immersion trip.
:: Trying hard not to slide back into comfort and forget what we saw...
:: Our Florianlyn and Rochelle, daughters via Compassion International... whom we met face-to-face during this trip.

3 gifts of sand:
:: Anticipation of spending a few days in sandy Cape Cod beaches.
:: God's plans, all beautiful... uncountable, like the sand of the sea. {Psalm 139:17-18}
:: The combination of sand and sunshine!

3 gifts of endings:
:: July's ending... summer half gone.
:: Ending of a ministry year... recounting God's goodness.
:: With every ending, there is always a beginning on the horizon.

3 gifts fresh:

:: A fresh lunch... made by my boy... for me!
:: Catching fresh air... on summer evening walks around the neighbourhood.
:: Feeling fresh after a good night's sleep.

a gift of vacation, at home, in relaxation:
:: Planning our family vacation... for later this summer.
:: Lots of time spent at home this summer.
:: A relaxed summer pace at work.

3 gifts of beginnings:

:: August's beginning... still quite a bit of summer left!
:: Beginning of a ministry year... anticipating great God-things!
:: With every beginning, there was en ending to celebrate and give thanks for!

3 gifts together:

:: Together, with my kids... putting sandwiches together for the homeless.
:: Together, with our church family... distributing the sandwiches on a Sandwich Run.

:: Together, with my boy... vegetable gardening!

3 gifts heard:
:: Awesome worship music on Sunday morning!
:: Great teaching series... on The Beatitudes, the first three so far... the rest to come in the next few weeks!
:: Birdsong!

3 gifts difficult:
:: A heart broken for the things that break God's heart... my Ordinary Radicals story!
:: Seeing brokenness...
:: Stories of beauty from ashes... like this one.

Click on the banners below to learn more about counting to 1,000 Gifts...
Jump in... I promise you will be blessed!

Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!