Good Gifts

God gives good gifts... I know that full well.

My hubby is a perfect example of that. (#1006) I am reflecting on that today as we celebrate his 46th birthday! (#1007) He is my soul-mate and best friend (#1008, #1009) and he is an awesome and wonderful father to our kids! (#1010) Each day, I thank my God for the gift that my hubby is to me.

This week, my 1,000 Gifts list continues with these good and perfect gifts --- grace-gifts #1011 - #1017, from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17, NIV 1984)

~ Strength for a busy week.
~ Free groceries.
~ 130 pounds of food to Yonge Street Mission {in honour of hubby's birthday}.
~ Hubby helping to build a Habitat home {also for his birthday}.
~ Seeing house keys handed over to two Habitat partner families. So cool!
~ A big box of used books from my boy's school for the children at UrbanPromise!
~ Awesome time at a Sunday afternoon church BBQ!

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Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!

Hope...

What is hope? How can we practice hope?

I've been thinking about answers to these questions... the thoughts mainly prompted by my reading of the book UnPoverty by Mark Lutz and also by the still vivid experiences that our family lived through during our recent missions immersion trip to the Philippines.

The *HOPE* sign... in our front yard.

We arrived Manila in the darkness of night, during the hours between midnight and dawn... exhausted from travelling for over 24 hours since we left our home here in Toronto. We were very happy to finally collapse into the comfortable beds awaiting us at the house where we were being hosted at by our family.

Morning came... we were eager to get going and see Manila in daylight. Upon exiting the subdivision gates {note: security-guarded gated community}, this is the first thing we saw... well, these were the very first people we met, figuratively speaking. Talk about being confronted head-on by the contrast between luxury and extreme poverty... something that is so very evident all over the Philippines, especially in the big cities like Manila.

A little boy knocked on the window as our car stopped at the first traffic lights, just outside the gated community where we were staying. He was begging... for food, for money, for anything really. He could not have been more than six years old.

As I rummaged in my back-pack for some cereal bars to give him, I looked out the window and saw that he wasn't alone. What I saw broke my heart even more.

Holding his hand, standing beside him, begging alongside him, yet cannot be seen in the photo above because she is much, much shorter than the bottom of the car window... was a little girl. I am assuming her to be his sister. She could not have been more than two years old. Yes, not more than two years old!

Two bare-footed, raggedly-dressed, hungry, dirty and very young children. No parents in sight. Left on their own to fend for themselves...

"Where is hope?" I asked myself.

At that moment, I knew God was going to use this trip to change our family... to break our hearts for the things that break His heart.

Throughout the trip, I found myself asking the same questions over and over again. Where is hope? Where do these people find hope, see hope, experience hope? And... where do I fit in? How can I practice hope?

Then... we met our Compassion child Florianlyn and two other Compassion children, Jhon Sim and Julius. And then... we met Compassion LDP student, Rochelle.

It was through experiencing how these Compassion children and their families live life, impoverished yet full of hope, that I was reminded how hope is expressed and realized...

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1, NIV 1984)

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:23-24, NIV 1984)

They have faith, therefore they can hope.
They know The One who is faithful.
The difference truly is Jesus!

It was seeing hope in the midst of atrocity and dire poverty that spurred me on towards more love and more good deeds. My awareness prompting me to more action.

The following is an excerpt from the book Unpoverty by Mark Lutz... words that are so fitting to wrap up the thoughts I've expressed above:

So how do you and I respond to our awareness? ...broken hearts aren't enough. Awareness must lead to action.

What I find so exciting and hopeful is that it doesn't take much for us to help transform hopelessness into success. Today, most of us will use our credit cards to buy something we don't really need, the price of which would provide emergency food relief for a family in Rwanda, for a month or set someone up in Cambodia with a loan to start a business. I don't say that to make you feel guilty but to expand your vision.

In the Anglican tradition there is a wonderful liturgical refrain that is repeated by the congregation throughout particular prayers. Speaking on behalf of the group, the priest recites a brief commitment to God regarding a specific action. At the end of each statement, the group responds in unison, "I will, with God's help." This recognizes that God frequently calls us to behavior that is counterintuitive, and that we need extra grace and strength to swim against life's stream.

As I reflect on the poverty in the world and the undeserved place of privilege that I enjoy, I resolve afresh to let my own awareness prompt me to action. Will you join me?

"I will, with God's help."

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Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!

On Reaching 1000 Gifts!

It's been busy here... since our family came back from our missions immersion trip to the Philippines last month, our home has been in a state of frazzle-ness, abuzz with never-ending things-to-do.

This school-year seems to have started without warning, catching us {well, maybe just me!} off guard. As we get used to the swing of the many new changes that this month of September has brought us, I feel like the days are going fast-forward...

Amid all the frazzle, I found myself stumbling upon my 1000th grace-gift this past week... oh. the. joy! This calls for a pause in my busy-ness in order to blog... about reaching 1000 gifts!

I must say that this counting of grace-gifts, this hunt... it has changed me. It was in November of last year when I started with grace-gift #1... it is well with my soul. It was a time when I needed to choose joy... to live fully right where I was, to nurture a sore heart back to wholeness again. And the hunt, this practice of counting my blessings {naming them one by one} did indeed bring healing.

In February of this year, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself turning a corner.

Since then, I have not looked back... I am running the race, keeping my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith!

In the ensuing six months, God showed our family how our story is {and has always been} a part of His plan. He brought us to places we never dreamed we'd go... showed us things we never expected we'd experienced... broke our hearts for things we never thought we'd care about.

Which brings me to the now... to this moment in time... of my soul becoming fully awake to this new thing that God has led our family to... to act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with Him! (Grace-gift #999, God's requirement of us, Christ-followers, found in Micah 6:8)

And then to grace-gift #1000...
A gift I must count this one more time... 
It truly is well with my soul!

In hindsight, I can truly say that if I had to go through it again, I wouldn't change the story one bit... all the pain and frustration, all the not-knowing and fumbling in the dark, all the waiting and asking why... they are all grace. They were all necessary to wake my soul up!

Speaking of my soul waking up, I love Shaun Grove's new song Awake My Soul, from his newest album Third World Symphony. It is the song I wake up to each morning on my alarm.

Awake my soul to live this moment.
Awake my soul,
 give thanks and hold it.
Dear now. Be here now.
God is here now. Awake my soul.

And this hunt will continue... grace-gifts #1001 - #1005, with a heart bursting with thanksgiving:

~ Writing to our Compassion children.

~ Maximizing my mornings with Inspired To Action.

~ My girl making the Junior Girls' Basketball Team!

~ Relatives visiting...

~ An opportunity to talk about Compassion's ministry to fellow moms. 

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Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!

Choosing Joy

In His presence is fullness of joy. He is in this moment. And if I am rejecting the joy that is hidden somewhere deep in this moment - aren't I ultimately rejecting God?" ~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.

This was a tough week... probably the toughest first week of school our family has ever had. On Labour Day evening, my nephew bashed his head while running around in our basement. He ended up in the ER and needed to get stitches!

On the second day of school, my boy's class learned that one of their classmates took his own life. He was only 11 years old.  How do I make sense of that? How does my boy? How does anyone??? So. Sad! So. Tragic! So. Hard. To. Understand!

Then on Thursday, my girl badly injured her ankle at basketball. She is now wearing an air-cast and walking with the aid of crutches... and having to navigate a brand-new-to-her, bigger school!

Throughout this week, one thought kept coming to my mind... God is truly everything and Christ is truly all! I truly can not imagine a life without faith... how else does one choose joy otherwise?

With that in mind, this week's grace-gifts list continue with... #988 - #998:

~ God's protective hand on my nephew, and...
~ That his head wound is healing up nicely.
~ My girl loving high-school.
~ My boy got an awesome teacher this year.
~ A good talk with my boy about his classmate's death.
~ The gift of prayer... even when I don't know what to say.
~ Making music with my sister and good friend, just like old times!
~ God's protective hand on my girl... no broken bones!
~ She did great on her own at school the first day after her injury.
~ Her ankle healing up faster than expected.
~ Attending Beth Moore's Living Proof Live with my girl.

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Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!

Water = Life

For us here in North America, clean water is a given. It's just there... flows freely from our taps. Did you know that this is not the case for millions and millions of people in the developing world...?

We saw this boy and his friend in the red shirt behind the bike {during our missions immersion trip to the Philippines this summer} scooping water from the curb to drink. So heart-breaking...

My kids had the opportunity to try {notice I said "try"?} pumping water from a manual water pump. For the most part, the water that comes out of this is drinkable... but not always. Besides, it is expensive to get one of these pumps installed. Often, a whole community share one pump... most communities don't have one.

Most people get their water from a creek, river or a spring... as seen in this video... and it is definitely not clean water!

Please pause the Playlist on the sidebar of this blog as you watch the video.

By the way, if you are a Compassion sponsor.... THANK YOU so much, for all you do!

Well, enter Compassion International's Water of Life System. A $79 donation provides a child with safe water for life. For life. Did you read that correctly? Yes. For. Life!

Water = Life! 
Let's do our part.
Live simply, give generously.

One of my favourite quotes say, "Live simply, so that others may simply live." (This quote is attributed to Mother Teresa.) In this North American lifestyle, there is much we can do without... so that we can be in a better position to give generously. Our family is learning the lesson of simple living too... to act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with God. Join us?

$79 = water for life! It is cliché... I agree... but $79 is like one meal out for an average North American family. Will you say "Yes!" to water for life today?

Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!

These Last Summer Days

... it is impossible to ask God for too much. His capacity for giving far exceeds his people’s capacity for asking – or even imagining. ~ F. F Bruce, The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians.

Summer is drawing to a close as school starts up again on Tuesday. On these last days of summer, God's grace has been abundant, relentless, never ending... He is everything and He is all!

#977 - #987 of grace-gifts... on these beautiful God-given last days of summer!

~ Compassion children being sponsored.
~ My girl starting basketball training at the high-school.
~ Sorting photos from our trip... and remembering.
~ Attending pre-release screening of the movie, Courageous.
~ Opportunity to serve at our church... I'm terrified but challenged.
~ A new morning routine for me!
~ Fun night of bowling.
~ Fun Saturday at the Brickworks!
~ BBQ dinner with extended family.
~ Celebrating eleven candles... my boy, a gift from God!
~ Birthday dinner at his fave restaurant, Baton Rouge.

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Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

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Eleven Candles

Happy 11th Birthday to my boy! True to the meaning of his name, he is a gift from God. My prayer for him, as always, is that he will grow up to be "a man after God's own heart; doing everything God wants him to do." ~ paraphrased from Acts 13:22.

Since when did this sweet baby boy...

Grow up to be this handsome young man...?

I am truly thankful for these 11 years and looking forward to the coming preteen years! Knowing my boy, they are going to be funny, crazy and interesting ones!

Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!

Another Weekend Recap Post

Happy weekend, everyone! As you can tell, I've not been able to blog consistently these past few weeks {since coming home from our missions immersion trip to the Philippines}. There are two reasons why that is the case. First, we're making the most of these last days of summer by doing a few family outings... hence, I am away from my computer quite a bit {aside from doing work}.

Secondly, one which I am still trying to get my head around... is that since coming back from our trip, it seems meaningless for me to be blogging about the mundane happenings when there are millions of people suffering in poverty. I know, I know... life has to go on... I'm just still processing everything, digesting... learning how to live out this new normal.

So, please bear with me, my dear blog readers... as I take some time to figure out how God would like to use this blog going forward.... as I continue to walk in obedience to Him! In the meantime, here's another weekend recap post... summarizing another ordinary, yet not so ordinary, week around here:

In Compassion news, God continues to amaze me by bringing sponsors my way! This week little Hadassa and little Wadley, both from Haiti, have a loving sponsor to call their own. God is truly good. Furthermore, I am going to be at a women's conference organized by my sister's church two weekends from now and they are giving me an opportunity to talk about the ministry of Compassion International! I have quite a few Child Packs {children from one of the centres we visited in the Philippines and also some from the Horn of Africa} to bring with me. Please pray with me... that these children will be connected with loving sponsors!!!

In other Compassion news, Shaun Groves has released his newest album, Third World Symphony. Shaun is a gifted singer & songwriter, an advocate traveling the world for Compassion International, being a voice for children who have no voice, releasing them from poverty. Please watch this video to hear Shaun tell you how Third World Symphony was born:

Please watch. Thank you!

Shaun Groves - Third World Symphony (Ethiopia Story) from Shaun Groves on Vimeo.

I have the album on repeat and I am being comforted by the songs, like a balm for my soul... especially for this ache that I have since returning from the Philippines. I am thankful for this music... truly a Third World Symphony! Buy it... you won't regret it!

Hubby and I also had to opportunity to attend a pre-release screening of the movie, Courageous. We received tickets for being a part of Compassion Canada's Advocate Network. It is coming to theatres all over Canada and the U.S. on September 30. All I can say is, "Go see it!"... it will change your life!

I think that is everything in Compassion-related news! In other happenings this past week...

I am floored by how God continues to lead our family to serve those who are the last, the least, the forgotten, and the forsaken. Our pastor met with me this past week and asked me to consider taking on the position of Volunteer Compassion Director! I will basically be helping people at our church learn how to live more compassionate lifestyles by serving the last, the least, the forgotten and the forsaken --- to live simply so that others can simply live! How cool is that?!?

I am excited... I have not said "yes" yet... I have a couple more days to pray, to mull this over. Honestly, I am terrified... by the *hugeness* of this role. At the same time, I feel challenged and I am remembering the verse from Joshua 1:9 which says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

So... in a couple of days, summer will officially be over as school starts up again! It is going to be a year of new beginnings for our family.

My girl starts high-school. Did I just type high-school? Really... where did the time go?!? For the very first time, my kids will be going to different schools so my boy will have to get used to not having big sister at his school and walking to/from school alone. He is also getting a new principal this year.

As for hubby and me, new things also... as he considers a Volunteer Board position with a crisis-pregnancy ministry and as I consider the role of Volunteer Compassion Director at our church! Wow... God has been busy... busy changing us, busy molding us, busy breaking our hearts for the things that break His heart!

I think it's going to be a great year of trusting God for our family... with the new beginnings that God has placed in our path! Thus, the journey continues...

... if it’s the true God we’ve been worshipping, we should be filled with a sense of new possibilities: of new tasks and new energy to accomplish them. ~ Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone, The Prison Letters

Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!

When We've Been Here...

When we've been here ten thousand years;
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise;
Than when we've first begun.

~ Verse 6, Amazing Grace, John Newton

This was an ordinary, yet not-so-ordinary week... as our family tried hard to get back to our normal wake-up times since returning from our missions immersion trip to the Philippines. By the way, we are still trying! :-)

#965 - #976 of grace-gifts... on these ordinary, yet beautiful God-given days!

~ His mercies, new every morning!
~ Compassion child, Jesus from Peru, now has a sponsor!
~ Visiting a friend who is sick.
~ Encouragement of seeing her grow in God.
~ Confirmation of our sponsorship of Compassion LDP student, Rochelle.
~ An opportunity to serve Him through a crisis pregnancy ministry!
~ Hubby and my girl becoming Volunteer Advocates for Compassion!
~ Movie night with the family.
~ A mall outing with my little nephews and nieces.
~ Helping and praying for a friend who is finalizing divorce papers.
~ A video... helping me to remember what I saw in the Philippines.
~ Fun Sunday afternoon at Buskerfest.

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

Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!

A Hodge-Podge Post

Hello weekend! Happy Saturday, everyone!

It's been a quiet week here on my blog, hasn't it? Not necessarily so here at home as we got back into, no... it's been more like... as we are trying hard to get back into routine after coming home from our trip to the Philippines.

It's been harder than I thought especially since it's still Summer... which means no school for the kids! My flexible work hours sure don't help one bit either... I've been working from 11am to 5pm instead of my usual 8am to 2pm. Sigh...

Well, this coming week is it... the last week of Summer holidays! We have to get our act together if we want the kids to get to school on time! Aaacck!

Well, like I said in the beginning of this blog post, the blog's been quiet but it's certainly not the case in our household. So here's a hodge-podge from my thoughts about this week:

• Remember my first blog post upon coming back from the Philippines? The one where I said, "I don't want to forget..."? Well, last Saturday as we went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, we met a woman and her baby. She came straight towards us as we approached our car in the Wal-Mart parking lot. She spoke very little English but she had a note, scribbled on a piece of cardboard that said, "Please Help... Four Kids... Need money for food and rent. God Bless You." Under my breath I said to God, "Thank you, God, for not letting us forget... for helping us to remember!" We went back into Wal-Mart and bought her groceries, diapers, baby food. Then we drove her to a McDonald's across the street, bought her some food so she could sit there and wait for her sister to pick her up. Turns out, she's a brand-new immigrant (two weeks only) to Canada from Romania. They ran out of money and can't find jobs. I was able to give her a brochure of a local organization that might be able to help her.

• In Compassion-related developments, another one of my Child Packs now have a sponsor... little Jesus from Peru have been sponsored!!! It is truly amazing how God is showing me how HE is leading the way in my new journey as a Volunteer Advocate for Compassion Canada! Also, I am happy to report that both my hubby and my girl have officially become Volunteer Advocates as well! So cool!!!

• This week I had the opportunity to visit a friend, the one I blogged about here who has been dealing with kidney failure. God is doing an amazing work in her life! She is now on daily dialysis and is doing very well. Best of all, she has started attending church. God is truly good...

• In other Compassion-related news, we received confirmation this week that our sponsorship of Rochelle is now active! I'm excited about this new relationship that we have the privilege of cultivating. I am thrilled that our family is going to be a part of the God-story in Rochelle's life. By the way, they found out that her birth certificate has her name spelled as Rechelle... but I'm just so used to typing Rochelle. It's how she spelled her name growing up and it's how it was spelled when we met her in Cebu! So, I think... Rochelle it is!

• Yesterday, for the first time in our married life... we had no mortgage payment!(#964)  I still can't believe it, it's like I'm in a dream. God is truly so good... this was an unexpected grace-gift, to say the least!

• Hubby has been asked to consider a volunteer Board position with a Christian organization that ministers to women in crisis pregnancies. We are praying and considering, looking intently for God's leading. This past year God has slowly, but surely, been directing our attention to ministries that reach out to those who are the last, the least, the forgotten, and the forsaken. Here I am. Lord, send me!

Well, that's the kind of week it's been for us... full of surprises from our Heavenly Father, who always loves and is always good! I just finished reading What's So Amazing About Grace?, a book by Philip Yancey. Here are a few quotes... they are gold:

The Christian knows to serve the weak not because they deserve it but because God extended his love to us when we deserved the opposite. Christ came down from heaven, and whenever his disciples entertained dreams of prestige and power he reminded them that the greatest is the one who serves. The ladder of power reaches up, the ladder of grace reaches down.

"But the fact is, the reason I do what I do, and so many of our volunteers do what they do, is that we're being obedient to Jesus." ~ Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity.

The world thirsts for grace. When grace descends, the world falls silent before it.

Unwrapping more of His love in this world.

Act justly.  Love mercy.  Walk humbly with God!