For This I Was Born

Over the Christmas holidays, I was able to spend some time reading. Reading is one of my favourite pastimes... one that I (unfortunately) don't get to do as much of anymore these days! 

I read Brian Houston's book, For This I Was Born. Brian Houston is the founder of Hillsong. Wow! What a great read it was. It is especially relevant because of the church planting work that God has led hubby and I (and our kids!) to be involved with at the start of 2008. 

When we joined The Sanctuary Pickering one year ago, we fully embraced the vision of this church becoming a "church planting church". We envisioned ourselves planting our first daughter church in three years. Well, God had other things in mind. He always does... something bigger than us! He put in place The Sanctuary Network's newest "seed" in North York, launching at the end of this month --- in two weeks! And... we have already been presented with several opportunities to help this newest "seed". God is surely going full steam ahead... like I've said before, this is one wild ride we're on! 

So, back to Brian Houston's book... several things made real sense to and jumped out at me. Here they are:

~ We have to build the kind of church that releases people into their God-given potential.

~ Your life can impact the future. How do you want future generations to remember you?

~ The truth is that our calling is not found in the ethereal; it is found in the here and now.

~ The secret of living a life of purpose is living for something bigger than you are.

~ Your life is not meant to be a to-do list of competing priorities. We all have got one life to live, the God-life. It has God at the center and all the other aspects of your life flow from and hinge on Him.

~ God will use time to grow, enlarge, and increase your capacity, so do not ever dismiss the value of time.

"... for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." ---II Timothy 1:12 (KJV)

Looking into the New Year

Happy New Year! Five days into the New Year and I'm just logging in to tend to my blog. It's been a hectic few weeks, to say the least. Hectic? A better word to use would be... stressful! Yes, that's right. It has been a stressful past few weeks.

Over the holidays, I encountered several stressful situations where I've had to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help me "live beyond myself" --- that is to display the fruit of the Spirit in my words and in my actions.

I had to go back to my Bible study workbook, Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself, to review the main points... love never fails, joy cometh, peace rules, patience waits, kindness tenders, goodness does, faith fights, gentleness bows, self-control stops.

Through it all, I realized one thing: it is when I can not do it myself... when I have to ask God to help me with my words and with my actions... that the fruit of the Spirit is actually being manifested and God is fully at work within me. It is definitely in those situations when I become fully aware of my humanity!

One good thing is that as I was reviewing the character traits that the Bible calls the fruit of the Spirit and as I reflected upon this New Year, I realized that a good goal for me this year would be to allow God to work more in me so that my life can display more and more of the character traits that make up the fruit of the Spirit --- a life lived beyond myself, one moment at a time!

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!"
---Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)

Christmas Miracles, Christmas Blessings

As I sit here and reflect upon the past few weeks that have gone by, I can't help but acknowledge as Mary did in Luke 1:38: "May it be to me as You have said." The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, to say the least... full of surprises, unexpected blessings and miracles, God-moments... all wrapped up in the holiday we celebrate called Christmas!

Let me list a few... each moment unplanned... each moment God's idea!

An unexpected carload of presents... leftover from the dinner our church helped served for families affected with HIV/AIDs... all donated to our church... enabling us to bless 19 more children in our church's immediate target area. That is nineteen more children from the three that we had originally planned to buy presents for! Talk about being reminded of the Bible story of 5 loaves and 2 fishes.

A God-moment... I hear about a few families in my son's class who have been affected by the recent economic downturn... not being able to provide their children with a merry Christmas... an opportunity to slip a few Toys 'R' Us giftcards into my son's teacher's hand so that she can pass them on... definitely what Christmas should be all about!

Downsizing at my workplace announced the week before Christmas... our department reduced to two people, my boss and myself... resulting in more work for me! Not what I had in mind at all... I wanted reduced hours... but all in God's sovereign hand. I am trusting that He knows best and this is what He wants for me at this moment in time.

So... Christmas has come and gone. We are stuffed from eating too much. The kids are overwhelmed by the presents they have received, to say the least! We are truly blessed. For our family, 2008 has been a year of truly seeing and believing God! As we look towards the New Year, I am definitely looking forward to more of the same in 2009... may God grant us more opportunites to join Him where He is at work!

Joshua 24:15 (NIV) --- "...as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Family Christmas Photos

The house is decorated... the presents have been bought... still some wrapping to do... the Christmas portraits have been taken... Christmas letters and cards are being stuffed into envelopes... and will soon be on their way.

We're getting ready for Christmas and our home is abuzz!!! It is our favourite time of the year. Here are some of our family Christmas photos selected from the numerous shots we took! Wow, I can't imagine going back to the non-digital camera age.

Luke 1:35, 37-38 (NIV) --- The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God... For nothing is impossible with God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Simple Christmas

I've been thinking more about having a simple Christmas this year. Quite appropriately, I stumbled upon this video and it fits perfectly with my line of thought today. It is a must-see --- here it is (please feel free to pause the music on the side bar as you watch the video):

 

So, I bring up the topic of a simple Christmas with my kids and we came up with some ideas. My son was quick to say that we should decorate less... his idea is for each family member to pick just a couple of their favourate decorations and only put those up... but we must have the Christmas tree! 

We also talked about spending less on presents so that we can give to the needy... gift baskets for needy families in our community, care packages for homeless shelters, food bank and packing shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse. 

We will definitely dialogue more on this as Christmas approaches. As a mom, it definitely is not an easy task to strike a balance between focusing on the real meaning of Christmas and "spoiling" my kids a little bit! I understand that balance to be different for each family. For our family, I know we've reached that balance when my kids want to give more than they want to receive. I don't think we're there yet. One step at a time... slowly, but surely!

"For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!" ---Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)

Looking Back

This week has been an emotional one as I traced back and saw how far God has brought hubby and I (and our children too!) these past 12 months. You see, this week marks exactly one year since God started to jolt us out of our comfort zone in order to send us into an unfamiliar territory --- church planting work! This morning, it felt good to go back into my blog archives and read about how God showed us the way. Some of those entries can be found here, here, here, here and here! 

At this one year mark, I can say for certain that church planting work is definitely not easy, but I definitely wouldn't trade this experience for anything else! Hubby and I have definitely felt God stretch us, mold us, change us and grow us in ways that were unimaginable to us just one year ago. 

You see... 

Once we thought we were already giving more than what's required of our time, energy, effort, talents and finances to God. Through this journey HE has shown us what it means to totally give ourselves away. 

Once we thought we had faith. Through this journey HE has taught us to see how faith can indeed move mountains. 

Once we thought we loved enough. Through this journey HE has shown us to love beyond our boundaries, to love unconditionally, to have our hearts be broken with the same things that break HIS heart. 

Once we thought we had it all figured out. Through this journey HE has shown us how to follow Him without reservation. 

This one year mark represents only the beginning. There are still many chapters to be written in the story of this journey. I said before: I think this is going to be ONE WILD RIDE. It sure has already been! 

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; 

There is no shadow of turning with Thee. 

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; 

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be. 

Great is Thy faithfulness! 

Great is Thy faithfulness! 

Morning by morning new mercies I see; 

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. 

Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me. 

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest; 

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above 

Join with all nature in manifold witness 

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. 

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth; 

Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide. 

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow; 

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! 

---Great Is Thy Faithfulness Words by: Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923.

Week 2: Walking By Faith

Tonight, my Bible study group completed Week 2 of Jennifer Rothschild's Walking By Faith: Lessons Learned in the Dark. A few things jumped out at me. They are...

~ Only after I admit my insufficiency, yield to God, and receive His grace do I have something about which to boast.

~ If we settle into the position His grace has placed us, we'll see His strength made perfect there. And we'll experience the joy of our journey following Him.

~ God is the pilot, and we follow. We aren't invited into the cockpit because we are not in charge of the journey. Our pilot is completely trustworthy. We need not fret, for He is capable of navigating through any turbulence. So we can rest wherever He has lovingly placed us. And when we do, we'll experience the fabulous freedom of following.

~ To follow God, we must die to our own desires, one hammer blow at a time.

~ The desire for complete control denies us the power available to live a crucified life. God is the one in front; living by faith means that God leads as we follow.

~ It's hard to let go of our desire to be in charge, but the life of faith requires us to trust the Lord completely and not our own clever convictions.

~ I have to yield control to the One who is trustworthy, capable, and knows exactly where I need to go. He alone can get me there the best possible way. How silly for any of us shortsighted sinners to bark commands at the One who sees all of eternity. Since God Himself goes before us and prepares the way, following His loving leadership is the surest, safest way to travel.

Can you say food for thought? Definitely! Especially for this girl who likes to know everything, to be in control and to be in charge! Learning to walk by faith is definitely a life-long lesson, one step at a time!

"If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it."
---Luke 9:23-24

Halloween Snippets

For a narrative of our evening, see this post.

"You are the light of the world."
---Matthew 5:14 (NIV)

Trick or Treat!

Let me preface this post with a portion of an email that I wrote to some friends after Halloween last year:

Up until this year, we were comfortable with doing both neighbourhood trick-or-treating and also going to the church’s event. As you all might have read on my blog, we did go to the church’s event this year. But, after coming home and re-assessing our decision, we were convinced and convicted that God would have wanted us to stay at home all night and make a difference in our community that way on Halloween night. So, that’s what we’ll start doing next year --- a new tradition is born!

Still quite unknown to us at that point in time was God's plan to lead us, a few months down the road, into a church plant whose focus is our own community! God was changing our hearts in preparation for something He had in store for us. That is just awesome! 

So, yesterday started with the kids participating in a Halloween parade at school. The sense of community was strong as parents came to watch the parade. Then, we stayed home last night (as opposed to going to a church event, that is)! The kids went out trick-or-treating with hubby. I chatted with a neighbour while handing out treats. The kids came home and we hung out on the porch handing out some more treats. We interacted with neighbours and friends who we don't normally bump into. It was a great evening! 

During the course of the day, my daughter said something that struck me. She said she is wearing her cross necklace as part of her cowgirl costume because she wants people to notice that there are Christians who do not lock their doors and hide in their houses or disappear into their church buildings during Halloween; that there are Christians who want to be involved in their communities; to let their light shine in a dark place! 

Now, I think that is cool! 

Photos to follow in the next post... 

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." ---Matthew 5:13-16 (NIV)

Shoebox Time!

It's shoebox time again! This is one of our best-loved family traditions. This year, little cousin A is finally old enough to understand the whole idea of packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes so we invited her to come and join in the par-tay!!! The children (and the mommies --- my sister and me) worked hard and had lots of fun at the same time!

Here are some photos:

All done!Twenty-one shoeboxes filled with goodies ready to be sent off.Great job --- Big A, Big J and Little A!!!We can't wait for the rest of the littler cousins to grow up and join in the tradition!

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

---Acts 20:35 (NIV)