Being Part of the Change

This song has been on repeat here this morning...



We sang this at church yesterday and I just. loved. it! The lyrics made much sense and they touched my heart in that deep, deep place...

I wanna be Your hands and feet.
I wanna be Your voice every time I speak.
I wanna run to the ones in need, in the name of Jesus.

I wanna give my life away, all for Your Kingdom’s sake.
Shine a light in the darkest place, in the name of Jesus.
In the name of Jesus.

Here am I, I will go. Send me out to make You known.
There is hope for every soul, send me out, send me out.

Ah, yes... I will go! 
And what better reason to go than in the name of Jesus! In fact, it is the only reason to go!!!

I saw this video last week and it truly made me pause... to ask myself, "How can I be part of the change?" It's a short video, just less than 4 minutes... friends, please take the time to watch it:

How can we all be part of the change?
This quote was part of our teaching at church yesterday...

Christianity is not simply a matter of making right decisions or changing our behaviour by will power. There must be something deeper, more radical. We need heart transplants. And God does that for us!

~ Brian G. Hedges, Christ in You.

Yes, a heart transplant... something deeper and something more radical... something that will compel us to say, "Here I am. Lord, send me!" 

As I continue to count grace-gifts, with unending thanks... to The One who calls us to join Him in the work He does... these are the things I am thankful for this week... #2929 - #2937:

:: My boy representing his school at the Intermediate Science Olympics.

:: A doable exercise routine.

:: Kicking off the Mother's Day weekend with our whole family participating in the First Response Relay, raising funds for the Pregnancy Care Centre to help to-be moms who are experiencing crisis pregnancies. Thankful for the almost $30,000 raised, with almost $7,000 of it coming from our church family!

:: Heart-warming stories, told by two moms rescued by the Pregnancy Care Centre, in Jesus' name! Both are now walking closely with God and acknowledges Jesus to be the Lord of their lives!

:: Waking up on Mother's Day to this blog post written by my girl! ♥

:: Celebrating Mother's Day with my sisters.

My sisters and me. On Mother's Day.

:: All in all, a great week!

:: Heart-to-heart chat with my boy. Motherhood takes courage --- "There are those who say that this is ordinary. Don't buy that for a second. Mighty. You are mighty. Because you mother." Indeed, yes!

:: My thoughts on Mother's Day... on fellow mamas who are living lives vastly different than mine.

Hello Monday!

Here are some thoughts from 1 Peter 2:9-12 (The Message), thought-provoking words. They were part of our teaching at church yesterday. Great words to live out...

But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

Choosing to live a surrendered life... because Christ's love compels me... and giving thanks for everything that my good God so freely bestows, so lavishly gives and so extravagantly showers!

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

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!

Mother's Day Thoughts

On this Mother's Day...
I am reflecting on how truly blessed I am and how truly thankful I am... for the gift and the privilege of being a mom... to these two great kids!

Actually, they aren't kids anymore! This year, as my boy turns 13... I will be a mama of two full-fledged teenagers!!! Wow, how time flies... it truly flows like a relentless river... not waiting, not wandering, not wavering.

Circa 2000. Taken soon after my boy was born.

A self-portrait. Being goofy. As they volunteered to be route marshalls at the walk-a-thon
we participated in yesterday to raise funds for to-be-moms experiencing crisis pregnancies!

Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? The fruit of the womb his generous legacy?

~ Psalm 127:3, The Message.

In my opinion, motherhood is the single most challenging, yet most fulfilling and rewarding job, in this world. I wouldn't trade it for anything else!

Friends, there are fellow mamas of ours... 
All over the world today... they are struggling to makes ends meet... they are struggling to feed their children... they are struggling to provide an education for their children... they are struggling for access to medical care... they are struggling to merely survive.

And, time... yes, time... it flows like a relentless river for them too... not waiting, not wandering, not wavering.

Friends, if we don't reach out... if we don't act... if we don't be Jesus' hands and feet to these fellow mamas and their babies... time will run out for them and it. will. be. too. late! 

You and I, fellow mamas... we need to give generously... so our fellow mamas and their babies may simply live! Check out this info-graphic to learn more:

Will you join me in helping these fellow mamas? 
Perhaps by sponsoring one of their precious, beloved children... in Jesus' name?
Perhaps by making a one-time donation to rescue them from poverty... in Jesus' name?

Perhaps by buying a Gift of Compassion to help moms and babies... in Jesus' name?

Wouldn't one of the above options make for an awesome Mother's Day present that you can give yourself on this very special day?

There are those who say that this is ordinary.

Don't buy that for a second.

Mighty. You are mighty.

Because you mother.

~ Lisa Jo Baker.

{Please pause the playlist on the sidebar of this blog as you watch this video.}


Happy Mother's Day, my fellow mamas!
"Mighty, you are mighty... because you mother. It's Kingdom-business, Jesus-work... this shaping of souls." ~ Lisa Jo Baker.

For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago.

~ Ephesians 2:10, The Voice.

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

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!

Prepared In Advance

Ephesians 2:10 says this...

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)

... we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives. (CEB)

He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. (The Message)

For we are the product of His hand, heaven’s poetry etched on lives, created in the Anointed, Jesus, to accomplish the good works God arranged long ago. (The Voice)

I am loving our church's current teaching series which is entitled Who Am I? - Seeing Myself Through God's Eyes. 

This past Sunday, we were reminded that each of us is infinitely valuable, enough to die for... and how Christ's sacrifice on the cross radically altered the relationship between God and humankind.


As God's masterpiece, His handiwork and His image-bearer, we have a place and a purpose... and that is, we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which He's already prepared in advance for us to do!

Salvation is the process through which we internalize God’s love for us so that we, in turn, can externalize that love to others. ~ D. Jacobsen & R. Sawatsky, Gracious Christianity.

I love the fact that He's already prepared these good works in advance for us to do. What good works might He be calling you and me to accomplish today?

Could it be to sponsor a needy child, in Jesus' name?
Could it be to volunteer at an inner-city ministry, in Jesus' name?
Could it be to welcome and befriend refugees, in Jesus' name?
Could it be to help trafficked women, in Jesus' name?
Could it be to support crisis pregnancy centres, in Jesus' name?

I absolutely *love* my role as Compassion Coordinator at my church. I love being able to connect people with opportunities to do good works. It absolutely warms my heart to see light bulbs go on resulting in people jumping into doing compassion {when it's not just an idea anymore but actually something tangible and practical that they can do}... making a difference through simply serving marginalized people in the communities around us!

I also absolutely *love* that our church is smack right in the middle of the 13 priority neighbourhoods identified by the City of Toronto. As it stands, we are currently serving in at least 3 of these neighbourhoods. The lack of services facing these priority neighbourhoods is a major barrier to opportunity for many people particularly newcomers and youth.

Yet, the priority neighbourhoods in Toronto weren't always these ones. This is where I marvel about the phrase in Ephesians 2:10 that says "which God prepared in advance for us to do."

As recently as 10 years ago, the identified priority neighbourhoods were mostly concentrated in the downtown core. Yet as you can see in the map, these neighbourhoods are now situated away from the downtown core, panning out into the "suburbs".

As the revitalization of the downtown core occurred, marginalized people were driven out of the core and moved into these new priority neighbourhoods... and now our church is surrounded. I added a red star in the map indicating where our church is situated.

Isn't this amazing? 
When our church started meeting in this location, in movie theatres in a shopping mall called Yorkdale, 10 years ago, there were only a handful of priority neighbourhoods around us. In fact, Yorkdale is a large upscale mall with over 250 stores, including many luxury retailers. But, look at the map now!

I believe that God chose this location for us to be all those years ago, so that we can plant down deep roots and be prepared to serve these priority neighbourhoods today. I marvel at this thought... at how infinitely important it is for us to always follow God where He leads, and not follow our own heart's desires!

As I continue to count grace-gifts, with unending thanks... to The One who calls us to join Him in the work He does... these are the things I am thankful for this week... #2920 - #2928:

:: Summer-like spring weather, lots of sunshine! ♥

:: A new month!

:: Hanging out with our church family at a community dinner for inner-city kids, a lovely evening BBQing outdoors!

:: Purging and spring-cleaning and donating everything to MCC Thrift Shops as part of our church's rePURPOSE campaign! 

Our van packed to the brim!
Our second car was the same too!

:: Great meeting with my fellow Missions Coordinators at our church.

:: Our church family donating generously to the rePURPOSE campaign!

The truck from Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) starting to fill up!
This was just the first few minutes after the truck arrived.

:: A day spent with my boy and his Robotics team at a region-wide event.

:: Sandwiches for dinner.

:: People from our Home Church!

Hello brand-new week!

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. ~ Micah 6:6-8.

Choosing to live a surrendered life... because Christ's love compels me... and giving thanks for everything that my good God so freely bestows, so lavishly gives and so extravagantly showers!

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

Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!