A Song to Sing

Helping people follow Jesus: How to read your Bible part 1 (A starters guide to...

2011-10-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

Helping people follow Jesus: How to read your Bible part 1 (A starters guide to...: Start Here: Becoming a Christian and choosing to follow Jesus Christ can be a tough experience. You heard the good news, you met some C...

30 Day Fitness Challenge

2011-08-08T18:19:00.000-07:00

Hey!

I will be doing a guest blog for the next 30 days over at http://www.30dayfitnesscandace.blogspot.com/

Come and cheer me on!

:) Candace

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home: Christian Womanhood

2011-07-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home: Christian Womanhood: " Listen to how Piper describes beautiful Christian womanhood... ************************ Are you encouraged here? I personally invite..."

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home: A Woman of Discretion

2011-06-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home: A Woman of Discretion: "Are we training ourselves to be women of discretion? Women today would be wise to use their speech well. Careful before they say anything..."

Butternut Squash, Tomato & Quinoa Soup

2011-05-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

I'm no chef but I'm not afraid to make up my own recipes. It does make it difficult to share a good recipe though!

I had a butternut squash at home to use up, and I worked a late shift that day so I wanted to put it in my crock pot. Here's what I did:

Peeled and cubed Squash, placed in crock pot
Covered chicken broth & water (until 1 inch over squash)
Added 1 large can of whole tomatoes with juice
Sprinkled in thyme leaves (about 1-2 tsp)
Set on low and let cook for 8 hours

When I got home I put the soup in my food blender (in 2-3 sections) until blended smooth. Put this is a pot and added 1/2 Quinoa. Brought to a boil, then let simmer until quinoa cooked. Added sea salt to taste.

When I served the soup, I put a dollop of sour cream in the middle of the soup. For my husband I made garlic bread - crispy, cut it up like croutons and placed on soup. For myself I just squished up a few crackers.

It is super good! I was pleasantly surprised! I'm sure that you can make this easier somehow but it worked ok for me.

Enjoy!

The Heart of a Virtuous Woman - Mornings

2011-05-03T08:16:00.001-07:00

Proverbs 31:10-15 KJV

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

I love this passage and the verses to follow. Becoming a virtuous woman is my heart's desire though the Lord has plenty of work to do in me!

Lately I've been trying to conquer my normal attitude of laziness and procrastination. This morning I wrote a list of things to do, and so far have only accomplished one. I'm too tired to get off the couch and get moving!

I read another blog this morning ~ Like a Warm Cup of Coffee ~ and Sara-Mae mentioned that she got up at 4:30 am in order to wake up before the kids and get things done. And that got me thinking because she is not the only person I've heard of to get up that early!

It's a struggle every morning for me to get up and get my husband ready for work. I always get up the latest I can- hitting snooze as much as possible.

This morning my husband asked me a few times why I was so grumpy - I don't want to send him off to work like that - I'd love to be the bubbly, energetic wife who gives him a cheery send off in the mornings.

The problem is that it takes me awhile to wake up! This morning I've had two cups of coffee and still feel fuzzy.

I'd love to hear from some "morning" people. What time do you wake up, go to bed, and how do you get going?!

It would be nice to train myself before I have kids so that I'm not grumpy with them too.

Ok time to do the next task on my list!

My Utmost for His Highest

2011-04-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Reading today's devotional from Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest" I got the urge to share it with you! Here it is:

"Do you seek great things for yourself?" (Jeremiah 45:5).

Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person? God wants you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts - He wants you to get to know Him. Even some large things we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never give us anything incidental. There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you.

If you have only come as far as asking God for things, you have never come to the point of understanding the least bit of what surrender really means. You have become a Christian based on your own terms. You protest, saying "I asked God for the Holy Spirit, but He didn’t give me the rest and the peace I expected." And instantly God puts His finder on the reason - you are not seeking the Lord at all; you are seeking something your yourself. Jesus said, "ask, and it will be given to you…" (Matthew 7:7). Ask God for what you want and do not be concerned about asking for the wrong thing, because as you draw ever closer to Him, you will cease asking for things altogether. "Your Father knows the thins you have need of before you ask Him" (Matthew 6:8). Then why should you ask? So that you may get to know Him.

Are you seeking great things for yourself? Have you said, "Oh, Lord, completely fill me with your Holy Spirit"?

If God does not, it is because you are not totally surrendered to Him; there is something you still refuse to do.

Are you prepared to ask yourself what it is you want from God and why you want it? God always ignores your present level of completeness in favor of your ultimate future completeness.

He is not concerned about making you blessed and happy right now, but He's continually working out His ultimate perfection for you -"… that they may be one just as We are one…" (John 17:22)

The Struggle to Come Out From the World

2011-02-01T15:05:00.000-08:00

The Struggle to Come Out From the World

..."And so they linger on through life with aching, dissatisfied hearts, - with too much religion to be happy in the world, and too much of the world to be happy in their religion." JC Ryle

Read more of this post above!

Words of Warfare: New Year's Resolutions

2010-12-22T15:21:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Kelly's post over at Generation Cedar…

Words of Warfare: A Tool For Every Christian

It's that time of year again, when we have an almost tangible way to throw out the old and start anew…. New Year's Resolutions.

I'm always inspired to consider myself, where I am lacking and how I can improve. The list is a bit of a monster though. If we go in with the wrong state of mind we could end up depressed at how poor of a human being we are! Also, I think that there is a chance of your resolutions being a sin. Who are you trying to make yourself better for? And what are your reasons. If they are not to please God, then isn't it a sin? I heard or saw a quote the other day that I really like, it said something like "The Bible is not a giant self-help guide." And that is true! God didn't die for our glory! He didn't write a Bible for our glory, but he did give us a Bible so that we can have a road map to a life that is lived for Christ.

Kelly's blog today inspired me to change how I write my resolutions this year.

So exactly how do we use this power of God’s Word that He has so graciously given? We speak it. Simple as that and nothing else. When we speak God’s Word verbally, we literally wield the only weapon that will cause Satan to turn from us.

Jesus lived this example for us when He walked the earth. When Satan came to tempt Him, he immediately retorted “As it is written…” And responded the same way after Satan’s second attempt to trap him. Satan hates the spoken Word of God! Regardless of the temptation to sin, Satan is always the culprit. God tempts no one. So at the first indication of temptation, we need only to quote Scripture until Satan retreats.

When I am considering what areas I am lacking, what my sins are, how I can glorify God this year - I am going to try and find a verse to go with each resolution.

For example:

Overcome Gluttony

Proverbs 28:7 “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.”

Proverbs 23:2 “Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.”

The written word is a sword. So when I am tempted I will try to remember these verses and say them aloud.

I challenge you to consider your resolutions this year. Who are you trying to glorify? What verses can you find to back them up?

Happy Holidays!

'Only Girl in the World' - That's enough please! (explicit)

2010-12-18T14:37:00.000-08:00

Every day I hear… "Only Girl in the World" by Rhianna, and it's starting to really get on my nerves!! It is just one of many but for some reason this one just drives me crazy.

Rhianna appeals to a wide age-range of listeners, but it is my assumption that the majority of fans are girls in their teens and younger.

When an 'artist' develops a song, do they keep in mind the impact it might make on someone, or is every word based on what will sell - my guess is the $ sign wins, but let's not judge.

So, let's take a look at what this song is teaching women, girls, and men/boys about women/girls. The overall understanding I have about the lyrics is that she is talking about having sex (although I read a comment that said the song is about having someones full attention), so please take note that I will be posting the lyrics to this song - and therefore this post will be full of inappropriateness.

I am guilty of listening to a song, without paying attention to the lyrics. Is that subliminal messaging? It seems that it gets harder and harder to understand the words.. so maybe!!! But let's talk consipiracies another time.

These are the lyrics as per Ryan Seacrest… the reason for saying this is that online there is debate as to whether she says pie, guy or ride. Well, all 3 bring on a whole new meaning but are equally disturbing.

Verse 1:

I want you to love me, like I’m a hot pie

Keep thinkin’ of me, doin’ what you like

So boy forget about the world cuz it’s gon’ be me and you tonight

I wanna make your bed for ya, then imma make you swallow your pride

Do I really have to say anything? This verse makes me want to laugh and cry (and to be truthful hearing the song I didn't really know what all the words were so this just makes it worse!). There are some references that come to mind when I read this verse but I'll avoid saying them so this post doesn't become rated R.

I heard Mark Driscoll say once 'I don't believe in evolution, but I do believe in devolution - one day we will be a bunch of apes'. Well, I think we are pretty much there morally, don't you?

I think we are enforcing the world's (well 'civilized world's') view of women in this song. Women are allowed/expected to have sexual freedom and be promiscuous. Men are to treat women as something desirable, and also something very attainable and disposable (when you're done with one move on). Gone are the days where it is shocking that a man or woman would have sex before marriage - today it is the opposite! It is shocking, weird and immoral that a woman/man would abstain until marriage. For those who desire to wait, they find themselves with a small support group and a gigantic world of opposition. How dare a woman ask a man to abstain, and how dare she be upset when he 'respectively' declines the offer.

Want you to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world

Like I’m the only one that you’ll ever love

Like I’m the only one who knows your heart

Only girl in the world…

This verse, taken by itself and out of context of the song would be great! And maybe it is captions like this that make songs appealing to the mass. "See... it's a great song, with moral meaning!" … Oh really, and did you skim over the other verses?

It should be a top priority for a wife or husband to make their spouse feel loved. They should feel like they are the only one (except God) who really knows them. But I think in this case it is a loose attempt to bring some morality to the song. She wants the guy to make her 'feel' like she's the only girl in the world, like she's the only one he'll ever love. Well girlfriend, having sex with him is not the way to do that! He can show you those things by putting a ring on your finger! But maybe she used the word 'feel' because she realizes that it is just a false hope.

Like I’m the only one that’s in command

Like I'm the only one who understands, how to make you feel like a man.

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. ~ Ephesians 5:33
From my understanding, having command over our husbands shouldn't be something we should be promoting either. What has happened to the meek, modest and pure women in the world? We've all turned ourselves into a bunch of self-centered prostitutes.

Proverbs 12:4: A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones

Are we a happier society now that women are liberated? Where are the songs about raising a family, being a loving wife, a light for Jesus?

1 Timothy 2:9-10

I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

Instead of role-models like stars and singers, we need these women:

Titus 2:3-5

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

I will let you ponder the last bit of the song, again... I can't believe there are young children, teens and women who sing these lyrics and love these songs. I think most blame it on "I just like the beat, not the words" but isn't that like saying.. "I just like doing what I want, not sin"?

[VERSE 2]

Want you to take me like a thief in the night

Hold me like a pillow, make me feel right

Baby I’ll tell you all my secrets that I’m keepin’, you can come inside

And when you enter, you ain’t leavin’, be my prisoner for the night

[BRIDGE]

Take me for a ride

Oh baby, take me high

Let me make you first

Oh make it last all night

What do you think of top 40 songs these days? Do you think they have an affect on men, women and children? Should we be doing more in protest?

Not only have we liberated women, we've 'liberated' the gospel. As Kelly from Generation Cedar put it, we've made a 'Happy Gospel'. All you need is Jesus and you will be fine. Well that can be taken the wrong way... all you do need is Jesus BUT that doesn't mean we go on living a sinful. If you feel that pull in your heart for Jesus it's time for you to wake up and break the sin cycle. He wants us to be liberated... from SIN!

Lovely Earings by Terah Stetchman

2010-12-18T13:37:00.000-08:00

Design by Terah

I love, love, loooove the earings I bought this past weekend! These were made by a local artist named Terah Stetchman. She's a talented photographer as well! Check out her blogs here:

http://www.designbyterah.blogspot.com/

http://www.allteraim.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas!!

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home: Dying to Self

2010-11-29T11:54:00.000-08:00

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home: Dying to Self: "When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don't sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, but your..."

Ordinary Inspirations for the everyday Wife, Mommy, & Homemaker: 10 Ways You Can Encourage Your Husband To Be The Spiritual Leader Of Your Home!

2010-11-29T11:53:00.000-08:00

Ordinary Inspirations for the everyday Wife, Mommy, & Homemaker: 10 Ways You Can Encourage Your Husband To Be The Spiritual Leader Of Your Home!

Great, encouraging post!

All Your Anxiety

2010-11-26T13:05:00.000-08:00

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7

Yesterday my heart was heavy, and I decided to flip through a book of Hymns I borrowed from my church. I flipped to this song and began to play and sing the music. It helped me a lot, thank you God for all your help. Even though I can't see you, it is moments like this when I know you are there.

Is there a heart o'er-bound by sorrow?

Is there a life weighed down by care?

Come to the cross--each burden bearing,

All your anxiety--leave it there.

All your anxiety, all your care,

Bring to the mercy seat--leave it there;

Never a burden He cannot bear,

Never a friend like Jesus.

No other friend so keen to help you,

No other friend so quick to hear;

No other place to leave your burden,

No other one to hear your prayer.

Come then at once--delay no longer!

Heed His entreaty kind and sweet;

You need not fear a disappointment--

You shall find peace at the mercy seat.

The Happy Gospel: The Wrong Jesus

2010-11-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

The Happy Gospel: The Wrong Jesus

Faith

2010-11-16T14:50:00.000-08:00

Have you seen the movie "Facing the Giants"? I borrowed it this Sunday from our church library and my husband and I watched it last night. It was a great movie with a great message! And dare I say it made us both shed a tear!

There are lots of great lessons in the movie, but this particular quote has stood out for me:
Mr. Bridges: I heard of a story of two farmers praying to God for rain to come. Both prayed but only one prepared the land. Who do you think trusted God more to send the rain?

How often do we pray to God for something but then don't follow through in our own actions? Who do you think had more faith in the above story? The man who prayed and sat at home waiting for the rain, or the man who prayed and prepared his fields for rain?

"I am the Lord, the God of every person on the earth. Nothing is impossible for me."Jeremiah 32:27
I read this verse today, on a blog I am subscribed to. Check out the full post on Pathway to Purpose

Look at your own heart, when you pray for something.. are you truly believing God can answer? And are you living like your prayer will come true? Are we living for God or for ourselves? This movie showed how much more enjoyable our lives can be when we live to glorify God and not ourselves. I suggest watching it!

Galations 5: 16 - 26

2010-10-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

Life by the Spirit
(emphasis added)

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." Galations 5: 16 - 26

How can we know if we are living by the spirit? What are your desires? Where do you fit into the lists above.

Yesterday I posted a video about asking for the Holy Spirit. We can ask for the Holy Spirit! We can ask, seek & knock. If you ask but don't seek and don't knock, then you are just waiting for a miracle. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can change our desires, you can't do it on your own.

^"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelations 3: 15 -16

I liked Pastor Driscoll's metaphor. If you need a job Pray First! But then you have to ask, you have to knock. You can't just sit at home waiting for someone to bring you a job. There is a reason God gave you a body and mind that functions, we're not puppets.

If you read that passage and see things that are sinful in your life, what should you do? Just sit back and say, well if God wants me to live a different way then he will change me? If you have or know a child you will know that you cannot change them. You can lead, direct & encourage them in the right direction but you can't acutally change their desires. If you have a desire to live a spirit filled life - PRAY FIRST. Then seek & knock. Go to church, talk to Christian friends, read the bible.

Asking for the Holy Spirit

2010-10-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

May we all be filled with the holy spirit!

A Dose of Chocolate & Coffee

2010-10-07T11:39:00.000-07:00

I suggest you head on over to Chocolate & Coffee this morning: http://deborahshank.blogspot.com/2010/10/persevere.html

Here are some quotes taken directly from her post this morning that have got me thinking today!

..."I was reading from Jude this morning and Jude 17-25 hit me like a brick! Verse 18 says, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.""...

..."WE preach the truth right from the Word of God. That isn't popular in our society today. God's Word clearly states that sin separates us from our Heavenly Father and sin will not enter the gates of heaven. There is no maybe about that. The bottom line - if you have sin in your life you won't enter heaven. That may sound harsh to you but that is what the Word of God consistently tells us. Read it for yourselves. No where will you find in God's Word that you can live in sin and enter heaven. As Christians, we cannot compromise. We are to put on the characteristics of God daily. We are commanded to live by the ten commandments. They were written for you and I and still apply to our lives today."...

Blessings,

Blessed are the poor in spirit...

2010-10-06T13:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a wonderful opportunity to volunteer at a local Food Bank with my group of Girl Guides - probably my last week with the girls :( - but it was an eye opener.

God has a great way of teaching us through experiences. I'm chuckling to myself right now because … well because right now one of my struggles is our food budget! Here I am whining about 'how to cut down on my food budget' and God shows me that I am being, for lack of a better word, a snob! We do ok when we are buying groceries but then we get 'lazy' and eat out or I forget my lunch so I have to buy one. That is a lot of wasted money when we don't stick to our meal plan & grocery budget.

At the Food Bank we got to see a list that 'clients' will get when they arrive to get their food. Depending on the size of the family they get a certain amount of Food. Depending on their income they can come in once a month or twice a month. Only those with no income get to come in every week.

I was looking at this list, imagining a single mother of 3. The amount of Food they will get will be enough to maybe last them a week or even less. Compared to what my husband and I consume, we could probably feed 2-3 families a month on their budget.

What gives me the right to waste my money on luxuries? Every item in our fridge that we have to throw away because it goes bad before we use it, is something that could have fed someone else.

The biggest arguments I hear against making donations of any type are, "Why don't they just get a job?", "The organization will take most of the money and it won't help anyone".

To the first, I say who are we to judge? Sure there are probably some people that could be living their life better but how do you know that they won't change? There are many who are trying and still remain poor. What would happen if you were put in the situation where you needed help?

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" 1 John 3:17

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:26

From my time working in an employment assistance office for those on social assistance, I know personally that there are many people that have just been challenged with a poor life-style.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them” Matthew 5:3

To the second, yes there are some greedy organizations. Do research, find one that you know will help or instead of donating money, donate your time and volunteer then you will know exactly what is happening! Don't just say that donating doesn't help and move on. That is a poor excuse.

Planning!

2010-10-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

I was asked to help out with Girl Guides, I love it, I really do! But it is such a huge commitment! Weekly meetings, camping, and other various activities. It is almost a part-time job!

I couldn't say No so I said Yes but now I am realising that I have to say No now because there is just way too much going on!

I think I need to listen to this again, Mark Driscoll does a great job in talking about planning. Planning is important in my life because instead of just saying Yes to everything I should actually take a minute to make a plan and see how that looks in real life! Another step my husband and I are taking in planning is speaking to a Financial Advisor. All of these things are out of my comfort zone, I am not an organizer and I am a 'small plate' kinda gal. If you throw to much at me my plate will break!

Anyone have tips for planning your week? Your finances? Or what area in your life do you feel is disorganised right now?

My Lord will save me

2010-09-30T22:59:00.000-07:00

I remember seeing this skit at bible camp one year. Isn't it funny how things stick with you? Or course now I see even more meaning in it's story.

A man is caught in a flood, and as the water rises he climbs to the roof of his house and waits to be rescued.

A guy in a motorboat comes by, and he says, 'Hop in, I'll save you.'

'No, thanks,' the man on the rooftop says. 'My Lord will save me.'

But the floodwaters keep rising. A few minutes later, a rescue plane flies overhead and the pilot drops a line.

'No, thanks,' the man on the rooftop says. 'My Lord will save me.'

But the floodwaters rise ever higher, and finally, they overflow the roof and the man drowns.

When he gets to heaven, he confronts God.

'My Lord, why didn't you save me?' he implores.

'You fool,' God says. 'I sent you a boat... I sent you a plane.'

Love your spouse (even when you don't wanna!)

2010-09-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes LOVE doesn't feel great.
Sometimes you have to choose to love someone.

Ephesians 5:22-24 ESV
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Ephesians 5:33 NIV

However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

This week I have been struggling with negative thoughts about my husband. Somethings I might think are "he's so immature", "why doesn't he treat my like his wife and not like a guy friend", "why does he swear even though I tell him I don't like it"....and the list goes on.

Something I tell myself frequently is that "Satan doesn't attack those who are already going to hell, his focus are those going to heaven". I believe that if a marriage is broken, then our faith may become even weaker, and maybe eventually broken. (If your marriage is broken, you may or may not agree, but know that you are not alone and God does love you. He wants you to love Him, don't give up!) When God Hurts your Feelings

Here is a verse that I found while reading this Proverbs 31 Ministries positing. (What a great post!)

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

As well, Kelly from Generation Cedar posted the other day about protecting your marriage, it's so important to build that protection everyday, a single moment could lead to ruin: Guarding and Growing Your Marriage (another great post!)

Yesterday I was chatting with my sister about a difficult situation she is in with her boyfriend. She said "he is so immature". And my response was "well my husband is immature, guys just don't grow up, you can't make him". I thought that this was a fine answer. But my husband overheard and was hurt by my comment. It's not that I don't think that my husband is a bad husband, the point I was trying to make is that he is just not mature "like an older man would be".

Why am I so foolish? This one little sentence has hurt my husband deeply. And it's not true! What am I doing? I am comparing him to 'other' men. (See Kelly's blog post link above).

Plus I am realising today that my comment is not factual. I had a conversation with a co-worker. She is part of a club that has many Senior members. She said it is funny because they are all great friends, and they make 'sexy' jokes and have tons of fun goofing around together. So in my head, that means that someone my grandpa's age can still act as 'immature' as my husband.

We as women have this 'perfect man' in our minds and unfortunately no man will ever live up to that because it's a lie. Maybe Satan planted the lie because he knew it would help break down our marriages.

If you are struggling with negative thoughts about your husband, know that you are not alone. Talk about it with a friend, with an older Christian lady, or search online. You don't have to hide your feelings, everyone has them. Don't let them burn you from the inside - out.

Priorities

2010-09-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

I feel like God is teaching me a lot about priorities right now, from the small decisions to large!

A major decision we are facing is finding a new place to rent. On one side of the decision we would be near to church, close enough for me to take the bus to work and near to our church family (also near to family family too!). On the other side, we would be nearer to my husband's work, close to friends that we've known for years from living in that area & in a part of town that feels more open & 'country-like' to us. I am from a small town, so this 'big city' feeling I get living where we do now is not that fun for me.

Luckily I have some pretty awesome church family members that gave me great advice. I was reminded about how when we first started attending this church, how we said "now we feel like we are at home in this town". Where as before, I did not want to live here at all.

And then God reminded me that I need to get my priorities straight here!!! I truly believe that the decision to move farther away could mean that we stop going to church all together and start hanging out with only our non-christian friends. We've been there! Don't want to go back!

God should be the centre of our priorities!

This has me thinking… in what other areas of my life am I not making God the obvious priority? Are your priorities based on your selfish desires or based on God and His will for your life? Read the verses below, Paul speaks about how his own priorities have changed as he took up the cross! Does your heart desire "the fellowship of sharing His sufferings?".

7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:7-11

Getting Motivated

2010-09-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

I need ideas on how to get motivated!

Here is my list of things I would like to accomplish today:
- Bake (granola bars, muffins)
- Can pears
- Vacuum & Wash floors
- Clean Kitchen up
- Fold & put away laundry

It's not a huuuuge list but I don't know what it is, sometimes I have a list of things to do in my head or on paper and I spend so much time trying to get motivated to do anything! Does anyone else get like this or am I insane????

Actually writing this has helped a little so I think I will go do some baking just to get started. Maybe playing music will help too. I'll let you know how I do with my list.

Colossians 3:23-24 ²³Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, ²⁴since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Ciao!
Candace

Coconut Flour

2010-09-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of Coconut flour?????? I am not a health food store wiz so I had never heard of it before - until a couple weeks ago and I was intrigued!

Here is what I have found out:

Doesn't contain gluten
High in Fibre
High in Protein
Coconut flour is more than ground up coconut; it is made by defatting and drying the coconut before grinding it. Some people have tried grinding unsweetened coconut themselves and have had mixed results with it.*

So I went to a health food store and picked some up! I'm willing to try anything once. Coconut flour just sounds too good to be true. Well it is very good! But it comes with a big price tag!!! Definitely not a frugal option, but can be used to substitute for just part of your flour in a recipe.

The product I bought suggested that I can replace up to 1/4 of the flour required in a recipe with coconut flour. I took out my MUFFINS & MORE cookbook and found the recipe for Banana Muffins.

I replaced 1/4 of the flour with coconut flour as directed but then I took it a step further! I used Kamut Flour for half of the recipe & then finished off the last 1/4 with all-purpose flour.

Here's what wiki says: KAMUT Brand Khorasan wheat is considered an ancient grain. Because it hasn't been modified with modern agricultural methods it has many benefits. The grain itself is very high in its protein content. It also contains a high mineral concentration especially in selenium, zinc, and magnesium. This grain variety is considered a high energy wheat, and provides the body with more energy in the form of complex carbohydrates. Because of its low oxidation levels it loses little nutritional content when being ground and processed. Even though this wheat variety contains gluten, it has been found to be more easily digestible by people who may have slight allergic tendencies.**

So how did the recipe turn out? Ummm delicious! My muffins were so light and fluffy, not 'cakey' at all. The nutty flavour of the Kamut flour & the sweetness of the Coconut flour were great options for my muffins! I suggest you read the directions on your Kamut or Coconut flour when making substitutions or just follow a recipe specialised for these substitutions already!

*http://www.squidoo.com/living-low-carb-with-coconut-flour
** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamut

Seriously?

2010-09-16T17:40:00.000-07:00

⁷“Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! ⁸If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. ⁹And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. Matthew 18:7-9

My head was down, eyes were closed. I asked God to show me my sins, make them clear. I feel so numb - so content to do as I please. Am I here to glorify myself or God? My sins could fill a novel... however at this moment 3 came to mind in particular.

- Gluttony

- Drunkenness

- Harsh words

God why do I do these over & over when I know they're wrong? Give me the desire to change, let me feel the weight of my sin, let me feel the pain it causes. My next thought surprised me - "I would rather my mouth be closed shut than to continue a life with these sins".

My mouth lets me eat too much, it lets me drink too much, it releases the harsh words. My tongue enjoys the flavours, the taste, it forms my words. It would be so much easier to just have my mouth shut forever! Then I wouldn't be able to do these things.

I don't think it's actually the answer. If I close my mouth I know I'll find other ways to sin.. or I'll just explode. Like an air mattress.. you can plug one hole but sure enough you'll find another soon.

This thought though... it let me feel the gravity of my sins. Jesus didn't sugar coat things when he proclaimed the words in the verse above. He hates sin... he had to LITERALLY DIE for sin... so why is it that we can so easily brush them away, like they are no big deal?

Jesus doesn't want us to mutilate ourselves, but I do think He wants us to take our sins seriously.... repent... and turn from them. It is like the woman from John 8: 1 - 11. She was brought before Jesus as an adulteress. Jesus rebuked them saying "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.". They went away, leaving the woman & Jesus. 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "'No one, sir,' she said. "'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin.'"

We need to repent & turn. We don't need to chop off our limbs but there are things we can physically cut out to help stop the sin.

For example, here are some things I have thought of for myself:

- Gluttony: Don't just eat mindlessly, eat with the purpose to nourish. Our bodies are temples not disposal bins. Pack a lunch & stick to it. Don't buy things from the cafe. If I need comfort, turn to God not food.

- Drunkenness: In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with a glass of wine or beer. However, if you can't be content with one glass then this is something that causes you (me) to stumble. It's better to go to Heaven without ever tasting wine again then to show up at Heaven's gate with a hangover.

- Harsh words: This one is hard but I think that the easiest thing would be to be silent. If you are angry or upset, when you heart is racing.. your mind cannot function properly (proven) and that is when the harsh words come out. It's better to be silent, calm down, and then discuss the situation.

It amazes me that we have this amazing gift from God.. the Bible... and yet we don't bother to take it seriously. Do you believe the bible, every word? Then what are you doing? What am I doing!

Photo Credit: Tinaaa

Re post: Choosing to live the life

2010-09-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for awhile... was just going through my old posts and this one stood out. I posted this over a year ago, and to this day it still is a true challenge to my walk!

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other" Galations 5:16-25
"For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." Proverbs 23:21
The passages above clearly state how we SHOULD be living our lives and the consequences for not doing so. The bible CLEARLY states how to live a happy life and how to avoid a hard life! So why is it that we CHOOSE to live the hard life???? Why are we so weak? Why to we choose to be blind? Why do we choose the tragedy over the fairy tale? We wasts so much time in sin, and avoiding the ways of the Spirit. Just think of what we could accomplish if we only listened and acted!
God help us all, help me to be wise in Your Word! Help me to see that life has a purpose and that it doesn't have to be so hard!
Challenge: Think of 10 things that you do that are sinful! Be honest! Then take time to think about each one and write your reasons for your actions. What on EARTH is more important to you then following the will of God. I hope you can't think of anything. Then think about what changes would occur if you were to stop that sin. What benefits or blessings do you think you would get? Do the blessings outweigh the consequences? I pray that you (and I) can overcome those sins, Lord help us! We are weak but in you we are strong!

The Last Sin Eater

2010-07-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

Last night my husband and I watched "The Last Sin Eater" which is directed by Michael Landon Jr and based on the novel by Francine Rivers. The movie itself had a great message although I have a hard time with accents!!

It was really interesting to me how we all have a desire in our hearts for our sins to be forgiven. For example, the Sin Eater was an actual tradition (post Christ) and it was someone who, when a person died, would take away their sins unto themselves. Did the people who invented this know about Jesus? Or had they never heard the truth before?

Another example of God's finger print on our soul...My friend was telling me about a book she was reading by Henry David Thoreau and how he talked about how we worry too much about THINGS.

Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind." — Thoreau

When she was speaking, it made me think of Matthew 6: 25 - 34. I don't know for sure but I don't think Thoreau was a Christian and if not, how can he come so close to God and yet so far? It's amazing to see all these little connections we form from our soul's desires - how we all know we need something more than this.

Do Not Worry
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Wise Words to a Proud Heart

2010-07-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

When pride comes, the comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11: 2

Wise words to a proud heart seem to be useless. Have you ever tried to give someone advice or words from the Bible and they find a way to immediately brush it off or turn it around? I am guilty of this. Are you?

Or has someone tried to give you advice and it has left you thinking, "what are they talking about!!". Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 10: 12 "Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him." Not only do they consume the fool, but they only make you appear more foolish!!

The Bible - the truest, wisest words we know!

If we say that we believe in God & that we believe in the Bible but do not take His word seriously then what is the point of it all. What is the point of the Bible if we are not going to take every single word to heart. God gave us a road map and yet we prefer to live blindly. It frustrates me when I catch myself doing this, when I see friends doing it, or anyone who calls themselves a follower of Christ. You just want to shout WHY!! Why do pull ourselves away from God, ignore Him, pick and choose what we want to believe; doing this just causes pain to Him, ourselves and others! “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments,because this applies to every person.” Ecclesiastes 12:13

Pastor Mark Driscoll said in his sermon His Garden from the Peasant Princess Series: "If you walk away from God, you are capabale of anything, and that includes the most atrocious of evils. Some people look at Solomon and say "I can't believe he did that". Walk away from God and see what you do as a totally depraved sinner!"

We can't use the excuse that life is too hard. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us. If we ignore this and go on living as we please after we have dedicated our lives to Jesus - we are crucifying Him all over again.

"Just because your life is hard, doesn't mean God isn't blessing you."

Life's Final Exam, is a really great Bible study that I found and I highly recommend it. It goes into depth about Solomon & our relationship to God's word. One question it asks is: Am I prepared for my future judgment? This is a question I have been asking myself daily for awhile now. I challenge you to ask yourself that question and if you can think of anything in your life that is sinful - ask God to give you the desire to change those things. Don't just try to remove them, because if you don't really desire the change, it will not truly happen.

Thank you Lord for the Bible. Thank you that you have blessed us with a tangible object from you. Reading it brings us closer to you Lord and living it - even closer. I pray that we won't pick and choose which words we will live by Lord. Please give us the courage and conviction to follow your loving path for us that you have laid for us. ~Amen

~ Take it to the Lord ~

2010-07-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,

Cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge—

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,

Thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised

Thou wilt all our burdens bear;

May we ever, Lord, be bringing

All to Thee in earnest prayer.

Soon in glory bright, unclouded,

There will be no need for prayer—

Rapture, praise, and endless worship

Will be our sweet portion there.

~ Charles C. Converse, 1868

Praise God for 7/11

2010-07-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

... And then something unexpected happens.

I am guilty of not truly believing that God can do ANYTHING. I say it, but do I really believe it? Do we really believe He can do anything - move a mountain, save a life, heal the sick. I don't think we have the ability to understand God. We can't label Him, we can't limit Him. We don't understand.

God, in His grace, has worked in my husband's heart. 07/11 will be remembered as the day my husband asked Jesus into his heart and made the decision to become a follower of Christ.

It was such an amazing moment. I am in shock, to lead my husband to the Lord was a dream for me, not a reality. My husband is amazing, and like God, full of surprises.

I look at my husband now and I really feel closer to him. Together we have the same direction and focus. I know it won't be easy from here, it will probably get harder. As Christians, we all choose the narrow path.

"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matthew 7:14

I am ashamed that I did not believe more fully that God would work in my husband so quickly. For my husband's sake I am glad that God is more faithful and devoted than I. This morning I read this verse:

"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." 1 Corinthians 1:25

It made me chuckle in delight because sometimes we think we are so smart and that we know what can and cannot happen. Thankfully, God is far beyond our comprehension and will continue to do the unimaginable.

Thank you Lord, there are no words to describe how grateful I am for your gift of salvation!

Lost Sheep

2010-06-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost." Matthew 18: 12 - 15

I feel like that lost little sheep. Except, I didn't innocently wander away and get lost. No, I knew where I was going, where it would lead, but I went anyway. I am such a stubborn little child. I don't listen, I don't take advice, I am selfish.

I look at the narrow path and grumble, it's too hard. I'll just take the 'easier' route.

I am full of wants, wants, wants.. forget the needs. I care about me, myself and I before anyone else. I desire instant gratification... I'd rather save face today, then be rewarded for my faithfulness in Heaven.

And yet, when I finally come to my senses and decide to return home - broken and sad... He is there. He doesn't stand there with a contemptuous glare on His face. He isn't getting ready to say... "I told you so".

He's standing there, with arms wide open. He says, even though you couldn't see me, I was always there with you. He is happy for my return.

I don't deserve His love, I am not worthy of His grace. And yet, He gives it freely. And I am so thankful.

I am so thankful that He is not like me.

Proverbs 31 Woman

2010-06-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

I have been reading lots and lots on other blogs about the Proverbs 31 woman. But did I take the time to actually read the Bible verses? ummm noooo. I am so guilty of reading about the Bible, then actually reading the Bible.

Here is a passage about the Proverbs 31 woman, she is who I want to be. Someone I look up to, and aspire to. At times she seems too perfect.... but isn't that we are supposed to aspire to? To be like Jesus? Sure, we may not get there, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

Proverbs 31:10-31 (King James Version)

10Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

11The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

12She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

13She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

14She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

15She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

16She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

17She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

18She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

19She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

20She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

21She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

22She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

23Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

24She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

25Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

26She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

27She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

28Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

29Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

30Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

31Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Anxiety

2010-06-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

I know it's not right. I mean, it feels right. Don't get me wrong. I know that when I think about him, the feelings I have, there's nothing wrong with those feelings, but the situation... the situation is wrong. I've been coming to see him for almost a year now. When I first started coming, boy, I was a mess. I was crying all the time. I hated myeslf. I thought about suicide. But now... Now I feel like life is worth living. I come in here once a week and have someone tell me that I'm great. That I'm smart. That I'm beautiful. It's like some otherwordly event walking through these doors. In my life Im not smart. In my life I can barely get dinner on the table on time. I can barerly remember to pick up Renee's dry cleaning or keep the TV guide current. But in here... In here I'm somebody. I'm strong. He makes me feel that way. He makes me believe that I can do anything. He is just a beautiful, beautiful person. I don't know what I would do without him.

This is a monologue that I am preparing for an audition. (The painful death of Sue Ellen Fitch by Thorin Alexander). No, I am not an actress!! But maybe a wannabe? I've always wanted to be in a musical. This year, our local theatre company has "White Christmas" amoung it's line up, and it happens to be my all time favorite movie! So, no time like the present right?!

Also, I have to sing a song, and with the help of a temporary instructor, I have chosen "Bushel and Peck" from Guys and Dolls. It's such a cute song, I love it!

Procrastination will be blamed if I do not do well. I have been putting off practicing beacuse every time I think about this audition I get butterflies and start freaking out! I know my song, but I don't know the monologue at all! The audition is in 5 days.

I keep thinking, well maybe I shouldn't try out. Then I momentarily get my courage back and say "all they can say is no". Why is this audition such a big deal? Why is it so scary??

I hope that everyone else in the world gets as nervous as I do, if not, what is wrong with me! And yet, if everyone else is as scared as me... why do we fear man so much? Why do we care what other people will think or say about us? Why am I afraid to showcase something I love to do (sing).

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7)

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

Raising Homemakers - Exciting New Website!

2010-06-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

I am very excited about this post today! I haven't posted in quite awhile and this new website has caught my attention!

http://www.raisinghomemakers.com/ has the possibility of being my new favorite website! Even though I am not yet a mother (Lord willing!) I will be oneday, and I am very excited about the things I can learn from this website.
Growing up in a non-christian home, I do not have a first-hand experience of what it is like to be in a Christian family. My loving mother did teach me to work hard, but there are definetly more things I would like to learn!
This website will hopefully help me to transform into the godly woman that I would like to be.
Check out the line up of talented contributers: http://raisinghomemakers.com/?page_id=54
What a fabulous idea! Very excited!

Purslane: Annoying weed or Nutricious Herb?

2010-04-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

The internet is amazing. I am astonished at my find today! Do you struggle with this 'weed' in your garden?

Pronounced "perslen," this common garden weed happens to have the most heart-healthy omega-3 fats of any edible plant. One nibble and you'll discover that its stems and leaves are crisp and succulent, with a mild, lemony flavor. 1

Purslane comes from India, where it was a food crop centuries ago. It was Gandhi's favorite food. Now it also grows across America, and around the world. It has a wonderful survival tactic: The succulent (juicy) stem, keeps it from drying out. If someone decides purslane is a "weed" and uproots it, it uses the water in the stem to make seeds before it dies, and soon there'll be even more purslane. 2

Have you ever thought that a weed could be edible? I haven't, and my mind is officially blown. I am trying to research to see what else is edible, and I can't wait to find some Purslane so I can try it!

Warning: Make sure that any wild plants you eat do not have chemicals sprayed on them! With everyone thinking these are weeds there is probably a lot of spray being used!

Some books I may get to help my research:

1 http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/7-foods-everyone-should-eat

2 http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Purslane.html

Acid - Alkaline Eating

2010-04-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

It's really important that we take care of our bodies. I believe that many diseases can be avoided with proper eating & exercise. Not only that, but we need to drink lots of water, laugh everyday, and BREATHE.

I have always felt out of balance. I am often very tired and grumpy. I've never taken the time to actually think about WHY??

Acid & Alkaline

I don't want to label this a 'diet' because I don't think that is correct. It is a way to understand how food has an effect on our body, and hopefully it will help you to make changes towards better health!

Basically, there are foods that are acidic and there are foods that are alkaline. The goal is to balance your diet between these two opposites. Our blood needs to be around 7.3 pH to function properly. When our body doesn't function properly it will cause disease, stress, lack of energy, overall poor health.

From what I have read, if you are too acidic, you can't lose weight. Once you balance yourself out by eating less acidic food and more alkaline food, you will lose weight. Well, I am going to try it!

Find out more

You can go to your local drugstore or natural health food store, and get a pH strip. You can actually test your pH to see where you are at!

Genuine Health is a nutritional brand that you can find at a drug store or health store. They have lots of good information online & brochures at the stores (look under weight loss). They have one brochure right now that has a free pH strip!

Spirulina: This is a super food that my friend and I have recently found out about! Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirulina_(dietary_supplement) and here: http://www.spirulina.com/ or ask a customer service representative at your health store about this product. This is a great way to help increase your alkaline intake. I have been taking it for a week and so far so good! I can't stand the taste so I mix it with juice, or just plug your nose until you drink it all. Some people might like the taste, you never know. They do have tablet forms as well, but I think that having the powder is better because your body doesn't have to break down the tablet first.

Do your own research online! Go to your favorite search engine and type in "acid alkaline eating". This will bring up lots of great information. I will let you know how everything goes in this new discovery!

Food Chart & information: http://www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm

Alkaline Acid Diet: http://altmedicine.about.com/od/popularhealthdiets/a/alkalinediet.htm

Spiritual Warfare

2010-04-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of listening to a 3 part series on Spiritual Warfare from Mars Hill Church. You can download the audio or video yourself here: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/spiritual-warfare/introduction-to-spiritual-warfare

I download these sermons onto my iPod and listen whenever I can!

This sermon series in particular interests me because I really do believe in Spiritual Warfare, but I don't feel equipped or knowledgeable enough either.

Satan and his demons don't have to worry about the non-believers, they don't spend their time trying to drag them to hell. They focus on the Christians. From what I can see, the stronger your relationship with Jesus, the bigger the target on your forehead.

What were you doing when Jesus died?

2010-04-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a great day! My husband and I went hiking with friends, we got our grocery shopping done, we had a romantic evening together. It was a nice day!

Then I was lying in bed, about to go to sleep, and this thought came to mind:

Jesus died today.

Not once did I think about this during the day. Not once did I pray, read my bible, give thanks to the Lord. Christ died for me on this day, and I didn't even stop to think about Him or thank Him.

Jesus you are my friend. I am so thankful for what you did. You are the best friend in the world. I don't deserve you as my friend, and yet you are still there. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I wish that I could be there for you, as you are there for me. I hope we'll be friends forever and I can't wait to actually meet you!

How do you celebrate Good Friday? Why don't we put as much importance around this day, or Easter Monday as we do Christmas?

Humble Christians

2010-03-31T09:55:00.000-07:00

Trial
Part 16: Humble Christians
1 Pt. 5:5b

Mars Hill Church

(If the video doesn't work you can go here: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/humble-christians)

Revealing Me: Changes

2010-03-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, I have actually committed to a blog series and have finished my 4 points! Now it is time for this promise I made in my introduction: "And then I will reveal what changes I am making or have made in my life this year that I truly believe are going to help me to draw closer to God."

Changes I have made. To start, I have had to make a lot of changes from a few years ago. From this series you can sort of see that there was a time when I was on a 'spiritual high' then came a spiritual low which made me try to find other ways to feel 'high'.

God is amazing, He has saved me from myself so many times. Not only did He send Jesus to die for our sins so that we can go to Heaven, He keeps saving me everyday from the world.

I'm just going to focus on the changes that I have made this year, to keep the post shorter ;)

I think something we are all guilty of is that we try to fill our lives with 'something'. We make the mistake to think that God can't fill all our needs. Especially when it comes to instant gratification. God isn't always going to 'satisfy' us instantly because that's not how He rolls ;)

In my time away from God, I made a lot of new friends and basically all we had in common was alcohol. Do you have friends like that? Friends that you only visit over a bottle of wine or at a bar? Well, my husband and I basically only had friends like that.

I have an addictive personality, and growing up, I was taught that alcohol is socially acceptable. So for me, this lead to drinking more and more. At first my husband said we can only drink when we go out and not have alcohol at home. I eventually convinced him it was ok to have a beer or glass of wine after work every day. After a year or so he finally gave in and we started to have wine or beer at home together. Eventually this lead to a bottle of wine or a few beer. When my husband got a job out of town, I found myself drinking wine at home alone and sometimes a bottle a night. I wouldn't say that I was addicted, but I did have the craving and I definitely don't know when I've had too much.

I don't know what changed in me. But Dec 30th we went to a friend's birthday party. I got drunk, and was hung over the next day. It was that day that I challenged my husband to join me on a mission to not drink at all, for 1 year.

A few reasons I know why I made this choice: I wanted to be healthier, I didn't want to waste days being hung over, I didn't want to waste money (we were spending more on booze then food a month), I didn't enjoy being drunk (didn't like myself when I'm being stupid), and most importantly, I knew this was a major area of my life that was keeping me from God.

To be honest, it was really tough at first. And there have been times where I've thought of having a drink, but we haven't.

Many of our 'friends' have not asked to hang out with us as often so we've had a chance to start to make other friends who do not drink.

This change has made me feel healthier, I feel like I am not wasting my days, and we are saving money, making new friends, so it has been very rewarding. I don't know if I will drink after the year is over, because I don't want to go back to how things were, but I wouldn't mind a glass of wine with dinner every now and then either... I guess that is something I will need to pray about this year.

Another change we've made is a budget. I love Gail Vaz-Oxlade and she has some great tools to make budgets & a cash system on her website. http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/

We've been struggling with this change, this Saturday I am attending a Financial Seminar at my church so hopefully it will inspire me to get back on track. But this change has made us more aware of our money, it has helped us to manage our debt and start saving. We have many aspirations for the future, and without paying off debt and saving, we'll never get there. Some of our pre-2010 friends are very bad influences when it comes to money. They are people without budgets, living for the day. Budgets were never something I was taught when I was growing up either, so the whole idea is very foreign!

The third change I've made is to 'try' and exercise more. This has been the hardest of the 3 to do but it's no surprise to me. I have a very inactive job so getting some exercise is important. "Exercise creates endorphins, endorphins make you happy, happy people just don't kill their husbands" - Elle from Legally Blonde. One of my favorite quotes!! It's true though, for our mind, body & soul, we need to take care of ourselves in all aspects. No toxins, lots of sleep, exercise, laughter, etc. For everything to work properly, we need to treat our body as the temple that it is! I've started swimming, which I really enjoy, so I think that exercising is going to be easier for me from now on.

Another change: My husband and I have been going to church every Sunday. That has been such a blessing for us. We've also tried to be involved with church events, seminars, etc. My husband is not a Christian, so I am thankful that he has been supporting me in this way. It has also created a lot of interest in him, because he wasn't taught anything about God growing up. I am praying that he will be saved this year!

What changes could you make in your life? What do you do that makes you feel ashamed? Maybe write a list of everything you are doing now that could count as sinful or foolish. Then think about what could happen if you stopped doing those things. Think about what you could do instead of those things! Are you living for God, or for yourself?

God's Glory

2010-03-21T13:54:00.000-07:00

I was inspired today by something that was preached in my church. We take God for granted and do not give Him the praise that He deserves.

Think of a time when you saw something really beautiful. Maybe fireworks, a view from a mountain, a beautiful sunset, a newborn baby. Try to remember the feeling you had when you saw that beautiful creation. For me, I get butterflies in my stomach and sometimes tears.

Everything on this earth is a hint of God's glory. A 'shadow' as it was put. If we fall in love, and worship the 'shadows' only, we are ignoring what is truly beautiful and magnificent. We don't give God the praise that He deserves.

So imagine that feeling you get when you see something beautiful. Now multiply it by a hundred, maybe a thousand, maybe a million... and that might be what it is like to see God.

Beautiful handmade earings!

2010-03-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Dalim?page=2

I don't wear a lot of jewlery but I came across this and fell in love! Wanted to share! Have a beautiful day!

Revealing Me: Folly over Wisdom

2010-03-15T18:35:00.001-07:00

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Proverbs 26: 11

Gross.... but so true. Choosing folly over wisdom is a waste of time, it draws you away from God and causes consequences.

A few days ago, I said to my husband (who is not a christian) that I believe a christian who falls, or rebels - falls much deeper then a non christian. In my own experience, it seems that when we give into sin or rebel against our Father, we do & become everything that previously we believed was wrong. It's not enough just to mess up a little, we have to REALLY screw up. And even though he is not a christian, he agreed with me! Because I am testament to that.

How is it that we can be so in love with God and then take a total different direction along the path? I remember saying to myself "I will never do ____, I would never try ____, I hurt for people who do those things but it would never be me". Couple years later I've done everything I said I wouldn't and I'm left asking myself, WHY?
We can't blame everything on Satan. I can understand that he's more interested in destroying a christian then someone who is already going to hell. But we can't always say "the Devil made me do it".

From my previous posts for this series, I have explained a few reasons why I think I fell. What stumps me the most is how I can understand and believe the Bible in every way, and then become purposefully ignorant to everything that's written!

This Sunday our pastor reminded us that Jesus IS COMING BACK. No one knows when He is coming back, do you? What is to stop Him from coming back RIGHT NOW? Are we 'ready'? Will you be able to stand in front of Him and not feel ashamed? We should be living our lives like Jesus is coming back tomorrow. Think about how this would adjust your actions. Do you have your weeks planned out? What is driving your life? Your schedules, your activities, your house, your money? What about God.

"But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!" Matthew 18: 6-7

"How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding. For its profit is better than the profit of silver, and its gain than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast." Proverbs 3: 13-18

We are human, we're going to sin. However, we need to work really hard to prevent sin and to protect ourselves from sin. What areas of your life are 'on the line'. We need to keep each other accountable. We need to read our Bibles! We need to pray! We ARE at war with Satan, don't let him win.

I pray that I will never fall again, in order to avoid that, I need to grow in the Word, in God and as a Christian overall!

Revelaing Me: Acceptance

2010-03-04T18:08:00.000-08:00

John 15:18-20 (King James Version)

18If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

20Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

When I read this verse, I felt convicted... how dare I stress or worry about what other people think of me... The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you...

Jesus was hated so much, that he was crucified. Compared to the persecution I will receive from others for my faith - IT IS NOTHING. HOW DARE I!

It is so hard not to get wrapped up in our own little world. To start to think that we are the centre of the universe.

In my life, I have struggled with wanting to be accepted. If I am trying to be accepted by the world, then that will only mean that I will do worldly things! However, if I am trying to win the favour of the Lord, then I should be doing Holy things.

Galatians 1:10 (King James Version)
10For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Do Not Worry

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Throughout my life, I have searched for acceptance. I have received it, but usually from the wrong people. When this happens, I am not happy, I am not living my life for God. It is so hard not to worry about the clothes we wear (or don't get to wear). The food we eat (or don't get to eat). It is so hard to not care about these, especially when it comes from worldly and materialistic desires.

How is it that we can be like Jesus, think like Jesus, act like Jesus, when we are such sinful beings. I am learning the answer. We can't! We alone cannot do it. From birth, we are evil, we are of the world. When we are saved, we can be a whole new being.

A great sermon that has inspired me to look deeper at my walk: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/faith-in-your-new-birth

Revealing Me: Deep Roots

2010-03-01T17:07:00.000-08:00

Ephesians 3:17-21

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

James 1:2-4

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

How deep are your roots?

Imagine you are a tree. You've chosen your home to be on hard ground, and it's so hard that you've had to spread out your roots in all directions instead of going down. A big storm is coming. You can feel it. It starts to get windy.... really windy. Your branches are swaying side to side, your trunk is creaking. The wind goes on, and on, and on. Your starting to feel tired, and weak. It should be over soon, right? No, it's getting stronger, and stronger and stronger. You can't hold it much longer, you're not strong enough, maybe you can hold out for a few....more...minutes..... then you lose control, start to fall, your roots painfully burst from the ground.. down, down, down you go.... if only you had chosen better ground to grow your roots.

Psalm 34:8

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

How can we grow our roots? Study, Practice, Pray

How do trees grow their roots? Well, I am not a botanist but I think it would have something to do with food & water! Maybe some sunshine.. ok, let's just stick with 'nourishment'.

How can we nourish our own faith? For me personally (remember I am not an expert), I have to constantly feed myself. I have a big stomach!

Here's what I find helpful (please note that this is not in any particular order) :

- Read the Bible (hehe, der). Seriously though, it's almost like we forget about the Bible. If you take the time to read the Bible, you will become wiser! It is amazing how the words that are written there can still be applied to your life. Just like Jesus, the Bible is living! This is the most important thing you can do. If you don't like to read, then get an audio Bible!

- I Listen to podcasts whenever I can (cleaning house, exercising, riding the bus, before I go to sleep, etc.) By the way I didn't know what a podcast was a month ago, so you're not alone for those of you who are scratching their heads right now! If I had to recommend something, the first person I think of is Mark Driscoll. Here is a great series that I've listened to: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/proverbs-2009 Start with one of those! During one sermon/study he says something about 'redeeming our time'. Just because you have to do something, doesn't mean you can't also be studying during that time!

- Socialise with Christians. If you spend time with co-workers, what do you talk about? Probably work. If you spend time with friends from your sports team, what do you talk about? Probably sports. etc, etc. If you spend time with Christians, what do you think you'll talk about?

- Read Blogs, there are so many people out there blogging these days. I love it! Here's one that I love www.generationcedar.com

- Go to Bible Studies, Events put on the by the Church, etc. Just more practical relationship building, and faith building tools!

- Find a Church. It is impossible to be a Christian by yourself. Who is there to challenge you? Who is there to encourage you? Who is there to view as a role model? I am not saying churches are perfect. Just like humans, churches are not perfect. They have their flaws, and sometimes they are big. Hopefully you can find a church that you can be involved with - don't just be a spectator. (BTW, just heard a great sermon this morning about Hypocrisy, ouch! Here's the link: http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/temptation-from-hypocrisy)

- Pray! God is there for you, He is listening. He wants to hear your every thought, every concern. He wants to have a relationship with you. Imagine you lived in a house with someone who never spoke to you. Would you have a good relationship with that person?

The consequences

For me, the consequences of not growing my roots is failure... it's falling away from God. It's putting my hope in other things.

Don't turn to self-help books when things are going wrong. Don't think "I've been through worse, I can get through this by myself". Something that has been on my mind this past year, that has challenged me, is the thought "You CANNOT do it on your own!" I am so weak, and broken, I just can't. No self-help book is going to help me. But do you know what, I'm not worried because God can!

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. -Philippians 4:13

And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." -Matthew 19:26

Revealing Me: Our Hope is Built on Nothing Less

2010-02-24T20:04:00.000-08:00

Do you ever see or hear something and it feels like you've never seen or heard it before... although you've probably witnessed it a million times?? I get that feeling a lot! It is a great thing, especially when it comes from wisdom.

These lyrics have been replaying in my head the past couple days:

"My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness."

I've sang this song many times and it's a nice tune but I've never realised the words before. Let's take a look at the word hope:

The Bible doesn't use this word in a wishful way. Example: I hope I can win the lottery! Instead it uses it in a more confident way. The Biblical definition of Hope is "confident expectation".1

The Bible doesn't take this word lightly, and neither should we. It seems easier to put our hope, our dreams, our everything into anything but God.

This topic has greatly been inspired by Mark Driscoll's podcast: Trial, temptation from Sin.2 (he hits the nail on the head here for me)

Our faith & our hope should be in God, can you say it is? Can I? Mark asks, how is your hope, on a scale of 1 - 10 how do you rate your level of hope? _______

If we put our hope into anything but Jesus, we are going to be let down. No question! If you can't see this already then please take the time to stop and reevaluate your life as I am. May God reveal all our errors to us and give us the strength and conviction to change our ways.

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."" 1 Peter 1: 13-16

Why Jesus deserves our Hope: If you believe in God, if you believe that Jesus died for your sins, then your hope should be that you will one day join Him in the kingdom of Heaven. Where do you want to go? If the answer is Heaven, then you need to direct your entire life towards that. If all you can think of is.. I want a big house and a big family and lots of money... then you will direct your life accordingly. Are you looking at the bigger picture?

"Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and your hope is in God." 1 Peter 1: 21

How can you tell that your hope is not in Jesus: Mark Driscoll puts this in a very eye-opening way in his podcast. He asks:

- "When your boyfriend dumps you, is hope gone? Well then he was the source of your hope."
- "You lose your job, you lose your joy, then the job was the source of your hope."
- "If an object other then God is the source of our hope, then when it dies, our hope dies. Jesus is a living God so our hope needs to be in Him."
- "As soon as you lose hope, you start dying."

If you do not have hope, then you are depressed. You stop trying, stop caring, stop learning, stop living.

I have put my hope in many things:

- Friendships: "As long as I have ___ everything will be great. They are someone I can turn to no matter what, they'll help me get through the trials of life."

- Boyfriends/Spouse: "I'm so lucky to have someone that will love me forever and will be my rock, my cornerstone. Without him I would be nothing."

- Beauty: "As long as I am beautiful in the worlds eyes, as long as I please others with my looks I will be excepted." "I won't ever be happy until I lose weight."

- School: "If I go to school and get a higher education, I will be set for life, I will be on top of the world!"

- Money: "As long as I have enough money everything will be fine, that's all I need to be happy!"

- Food: "___ tastes so good and it makes me feel so satisfied even though I know I'm going to regret this later, I can't help myself!" or "I have to have my coffee everyday, are you crazy!?"

- Alcohol: "Today was a bad day, but I'll just have some wine and everything will be better." or "I am not a very interesting person, but when I drink everyone loves me!"

- Babies: "Once I have a baby my life will be complete, we'll be all be happy as a family, and that is all that matters in life!"

What do you put your hope in? Travel, Missions, Fame, Sex, Sports, Food.. what? It could be anything.

I have put my hope in these things, and they have all let me down. When they do you feel broken, not whole. You feel depressed, hopeless, and not worthy.

It is good to dream. I'm not saying it isn't good to have some of the things about, but you need to draw the line between God and the world. Where is your hope?

"My hope is built on nothing less, then Jesus' blood and righteousness".

1 http://www.gotquestions.org/hope-Bible.html para 1

2 http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/temptation-from-sin

Revealing Me: Introduction

2010-02-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

I've seen a lot of people lately talking about your 'blog reputation'. I don't want to be fake and pretend everything is good when it's not... pretend that I am perfect when I'm NOT.

I've been a Christian for maybe... 8 years?? I really don't know and I really can't remember when I asked Jesus into my heart.. I think it was at Bible Camp. Maybe my best friend can help me remember this. I have a very bad long term memory for those of you who don't know me, and those who do know me can confirm this. Sometimes it's a blessing and sometimes it feels like a curse.

In those 8 years I have NOT been the best representative for Jesus. There have been high times and VERY low times as well.

I don't want to use the term, re-born, because I don't feel re-born in my faith. I knew what I was doing when I was in those dark places, and I knew that God was there.. I just don't know what made me do what I did. It could almost be thought of the 'rebellious' years of my faith.. was I rebelling against my Father? I don't know...

What I do feel, is... like I've been given another chance, been given a new desire for God. I know that God forgives, but feeling that is another story.

Unless you know me, it's going to be hard for you to understand what I am saying. I could probably write a testimony that would fill a small book but here's a quick outline... a summary of the last few years:

- Found God
- Changed friends, loved God, spent all my time with God
- Put false hope in many things except God, thought everything was going to be peachy
- Moved far away, big changes, lost hope, felt myself falling
- Crawled out of my hole, found new friends, found acceptance and new way of life
- Moved home, felt ashamed, desired God, thought I was ready to accept God back
- Moved again, left God behind, changed friends, tried new things, fell deep, lost good friendships
- Found boy, still no God, but was ok to be happy with boy, formed new friendships
- Married boy, still no God, but was happy with boy but not so happy with the rest of my life
- After various moves and trials, started to realise that something was still missing
- Started taking boy to church, seeking new friendships and evaluating our lives
- And this is where I am now!

It probably doesn't make too much sense but hopefully you can understand a bit better!

Every day my desire grows, and I hope it never stops. If I had to put a time frame of when I finally started opening my heart to God more fully.. it would be the middle of 2009. If I had to put a date of when I starting desiring to walk more closely to God, it would be end of 2009.

However, it wasn't until early this 2010 that I started making serious changes in removing and dismantling those barriers that are holding me back in my faith.

Just looking over that quick summary has inspired me to talk about a few things that have made me stumble in my walk.

1) Putting hope in all the wrong places
2) Not having deep roots or support
3) The need to feel acceptance
4) Choosing folly over wisdom

And then I will reveal what changes I am making or have made in my life this year that I truly believe are going to help me to draw closer to God.

PS I am not using or do not want to use this to uplift myself, or to brag (which would be very hard to do), or for anything self-serving. I use this blog to inspire others, to help me learn more about myself and God and just as an outlet to unclog my mind (maybe that's what's blocking my memory?) I invite you to kindly message me if ever feel like something I say is inappropriate!

Back to Basics Part 4: The Sabbath

2010-02-17T17:12:00.000-08:00

Exodus 20: 8-11 (KJV)

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

I would love to have some feedback on this commandment please! What I am wondering is if the Sabbath is definitely every Sunday or is it a day you need to take every week... if it is every Sunday.. then why? Why is Sunday the last day of the week? This commandment confuses me.

What I do think is that we definitely need to take a day every week to relax, spend time with God and our family. We need to 'escape' from the stresses of work and everything we do during the week, or else we will explode!

Here are somethings that come to mind when I think of the importance of a Sabbath:

Rest & Relaxation
A day to focus on God (although I think every minute should be spent this way!)
Quality time with family
Time to refocus

At church this morning the pastor asked "Do you know that you are where God wants you to be?" Do... you... know.... hmmmm

And he also mentioned how he likes to go into the wilderness to be alone and to just spend time with God and to listen. How many of us do that? How many of us quiet our hearts and minds enough to listen to God?

Do you feel like your week just rushes by? Like you are strapped into a roller coaster and don't have any control over what is coming! I think it is a good thing to have an 'end' to a week. Because it gives you the motivation to start a new week fresh.

I think it would be helpful to me to ask myself every week (if not every minute), "Do I know that I am where God wants me to be?"

If you have some insight into this commandment I would love to hear it!

Back to Basics Part 3: O my ____!

2010-02-17T16:36:00.001-08:00

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Exodus 20:7

I have personally struggled with this commandment every day of my life! Why is it that I automatically want to say O my god? (please note the little g)

When I was younger I remember thinking to myself:

"Why do people use the Lord's name in vain to express themselves? If you think about it... why don't we use a name that has some evil force behind it.. like HITLER!"

Seriously! God is so amazing! Why do we say such things about Him? Why do we use His name when we are mad?

The 21 century has brought about a whole new addition to our dictionaries..... eg. LOL, BRB.. and many more that I do not use and are surprised to see others using!

Among those are the letters O...M... and G.... together.. they form a 'cool' saying that everyone is using!

I'm going to invent a new one... SIOTGM... can you guess what it means? Satan is out to get me! That's right people. Just when we think we have an idea of all the tricks Satan uses to pull us away from God, he throws something new at us. I wonder if he has a tracker that counts every time someone uses the Lord's name in vain. Imagine if there were a tracker to see every time Satan's name was used as a swear word... tally them both up... who do you think is winning?

"...For the Lord will not Acquit anyone who misuses His name" Exodus 20:7

Lord, FORGIVE me! I do not realise the severity of my words...

When you hear that someone has been gossiping about you, or someone says something bad about you... how does that feel? If someone started using YOUR name as a swear word, how would that make you feel? It hurts me when someone says something bad about me.. but imagine that happening a billion times a day!

Personally, I don't think it is any better when we change the swear to other words:O my gosh, Gosh darnit, Sacre Bleu (as oppossed to Dieu), etc.

Then again, why are we swearing at all!!!

Matthew 5:34-36 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
In regards to the wicked man.... "His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue." Psalm 10:7

Are the words you choose to use affecting your spirit? Do the words you use reflect God's love to others?

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

Back to Basics Part 2.1

2010-02-10T16:52:00.001-08:00

Hi dee ho!

I just wanted to add something to my last post.

This is a video (or audio) by Mark Driscoll on Addictions, after listening to it, I realised that it fits well with my post on idols!

I can't figure out how to embed it in this post so please use this link:

http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/proverbs-2009/addiction

You can download it to your computer or ipod for free as well!

Even if you don't think you have an addiction, this video will inspire and challenge you!

Back to Basics - Part 2 - No idols

2010-01-29T16:47:00.000-08:00

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Exodus 20: 4 - 6

I am the kind of person that when I read something - I just get the general idea, or touch the surface of the matter. It is when I stop and take time, like I am doing with these series, that I tend to go deeper, explore meanings and develop new thoughts and conclusions. Are you like that, or does everything just hit you all at once? That would be amazing!

On to the topic - Our God is a jealous God!

So on the surface to me this means that we shouldn't create things to worship, like a big Buddha or the Greek god's etc. There are some other things that come to mind:

These words stood out to me "any likeness of any thing that is in heaven". When I read this I thought of all of the things that we do create to represent heaven or Jesus. For example, almost every 'Jesus' I see is white, some even have blond hair. Does it say somewhere in the Bible that he is white? I am not positive, but I don't think so! Don't you think that when we create those false images of Jesus, that it could turn someone away from God? Maybe hinting a bit of Christianity's racial preferences?

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." Do we have idols in our lives that we worship, absolutely adore, we wish we could meet, be friends with, be just like? Are there other masters that we serve - this could tie into the first commandment - who directs the course of our lives?

"...visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." That part is scary to me... but it also makes sense in a way. For example, in my family history I do not know of someone who was a Christian. Naturally, when you raise your child, you use techniques that were taught to you, even if you don't realise it. Attributes are passed down, generation to generation. Reality TV shows us that there are families that do drugs together, multiple generations with similar failures (divorces, crimes, abuse). Thankfully we have Jesus. He can turn things around for us and for our generations, but first we have to let Him into our life and let Him change us!

American Idol... that name makes me laugh because it's so true. North Americans idolise celebrities like they are gods. Back in the Roman Era there was Zeus and Aphrodite. Now we have Michael Jackson & Britney Spears!

I recently heard the words "Righteous Indignation" and I think that this a great description of the meaning:

"We are supposed to feel righteous indignation when we see something wrong. God meant us to. It is a sign of spiritual health and a good conscience. If we are so tolerant and broad-minded that we can watch wrong and feel nothing there is something seriously wrong with us. God himself feels angry when he sees wrong and evil. It was in righteous indignation that he burned Sodom and Gomorrah to the ground. And it was in righteous indignation that Jesus threw the moneychangers out of the temple."1

I can't imagine the righteous indignation God feels when he sees us sinning. I don't think it's because "She's not listening to me!!" but because "I love you so much, why can't you see that!". He wants what is best for us and when we don't follow His commandments it is like spitting in His face and telling Him we know what is best for ourselves.

Have you ever thought about the universe? I try not to, because it hurts my head. But that is how we should feel about God! We can't put Him in a box, put Him in a text book, we can't know Him fully while we are on earth! We are fools to think that we have Him figured out!

We should not idolise, as it just draws our hearts and minds from God and wastes precious time getting to know Him.

1 Taken from: http://pages.prodigy.net/jmiller.cb/a115.html

Back to Basics - Part 1 - No other gods

2010-01-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

The other day I read Exodus Chapter 20 again. It inspired me to go 'back to the basics' of my faith. I want to make a post for each commandment and just unpack what each commandment means to me. There are many areas of my life that I need to work on, by spending time exploring each commandment I hope to identify some of these areas. My hope is that this will inspire others to look at their walk again. Are there areas of your life that you enjoy being ignorant about? We so often focus on the great things that God provides for us, and we choose to forget that one day will we be judged. If we are living fully in God then how will we ever fully live with God.

I don't mean to impress that if we break any of these laws, that we are doomed to hell. Otherwise I would know where I am going already. I do believe that we need to make every effort to follow these laws as part of a Holy and full-filled relationship with God. I don't want to take advantage of God's love, and I want to be aware of His anger towards sin. What a life we could live if we didn't have these stumbling blocks called sin.

"You shall have no other gods before me"

On the surface, to me this means that God is the one and only entity that we should worship, pray to, listen to and love. It is a fairly simple commandment. However, to me this also means so much more. God should be our life, our everything. It is very easy to focus our lives on other things. I tend to base my success on things like money, possessions, popularity, and appearance. What do any of these things have to do with God?

It so easy to see when you write it down, that these are worldly standards. Every day we are told that these are the expectations and guidelines for our lives. If we are failing in any of these areas then we are losing the game, sub-par.

How do you justify these things in your life? If you are focusing on worldly pleasures, are you serving another god? Isn't Satan the god of the world? How do we interrupt the cycle, stop, and re-focus our lives for God?

These are all big, challenging, and confusing questions. It is easy to say what to do or not to do, the real challenge is living it out.

I think God is challenging me to refocus my life, and disconnect from the other gods in my life. Here is what I am trying to do to accomplish that:

I) Read the manual for life he has provided, the Bible. It amazes me how practically every verse provides insight into God. No matter where I open the Bible to - I find words to challenge, humble and encourage me. My biggest mistake in my walk with God was to stop reading the Bible. Now, I realise it is the best tool we have for plugging into God. Are you thinking... "umm yeah, that's a no brainer?". Well it does seem like a very obvious statement, but it is so easy to allow ourselves to be blissfully ignorant, especially when we don't want to face the consequences.

II) Don't just read the manual, put it to action! When you buy something that requires assembly, it comes with a manual. With a show of hands, how many people actually read the manual before trying to put it together? This is so funny to me because it's so true. I am just picturing moments where my husband and I have bought something, and I ask him.. "Do you want to read the directions?" and he always replies "Nope! I got this!". That's not fair to him, I do the same thing.. it's just funnier when it's someone else right? ;) Usually, we will end up putting something in upside down, or resort to looking and that darn manual. Wouldn't it have been so much easier if we had just read it in the first place and followed the directions?

Another example: my mom always told me, read the whole recipe before you start so you know what you have to do. Well the other weekend I made a pie... and when I finished making the pie I got to the end of the recipe and it said chill for 4 hours! But we were eating it in 2! If only I had read the recipe, just like my mom said... don't you hate it when your parents are right? ;)

III) Cut the ties of the weights that are holding me down. What is holding me back? What habits have I formed that I need to change.

I think there are endless steps we have to follow in this life. We are constantly growing, changing and adapting. There's no.. do this and this and this and you will be ok. At this moment in my life, these are 3 steps I need to focus on and as you can see they are all related, their purpose is to bring me back to God, the one and only.

The Love Dare - Love Brings Unity

2010-01-06T11:41:00.000-08:00

My husband and I have been reading "The Love Dare" by Stephen & Alex Kendrick. There is a lot of great advice in this book. As the book suggests: "Whether your marriage is hanging by a thread or healthy and strong, The Love Dare is a journey you need to take. It's time to learn the keys to finding true intimacy and developing a dynamic marriage."

We started reading the book in the summer and we haven't been reading it every day for 40 days as it suggests. However when we are done reading it together I think I will start it again from the beginning. There is a place to write about your journey at the end of each daily chapter, so I plan to study it more thoroughly and record my journey.

Last night, we read Day 30. The title was "Love Brings Unity". It begins by reminding us of the Trinity.

"Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God the Father is there, creating the heavens and the earth. The Spirit is "moving over the surface of the water" (Genesis 1:2). And the Son, who is "the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature" (Hebrews 1:3), joins in speaking the world into existence. "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness" (Genesis 1:26)."pg. 146, p4

Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, are united together. There is no denying that they are together, unified, as one. Just like the Trinity. Husband and Wife are unified.

"In the unique relationship of husband and wife, two distinct individuals are spiritually united into "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). And 'what God has joined together, let man not separate' (Mark 10:9)." pg 147, p3

Unity, oneness, togetherness. As the Trinity is one, so are the Husband and Wife. I think that we forget this when we go through our daily lives. Many of us (including myself) make decisions based on our own needs. If I do this - how will it profit me? Should I buy this, do I need it? What are My hopes and dreams? When we pursue life selfishly, this leads to brokenness. You cannot have a prosperous marriage if you are only concerned with yourself.

The Love Dare proposes a few questions near the end of the chapter which I have copied word for word, emphasis added:

Husband - What would happen in your marriage if you devoted yourself to loving, honoring, and serving your wife in all things? What if you determined that the preservation of your oneness with this woman was worth every sacrifice and expression of love you could make? What would change in your home if you took that approach to your relationship on a daily basis?

Wife - What would happen if you made it your mission to do everything possible to promote togetherness of heart with your husband? What if every threat to your unity was treated as a poison, a cancer, an enemy to be eliminated by love, humility, and selflessness? What would your marriage become if you were never again willing to see your oneness torn apart?
- pg. 158, p 1-2

Men, are you living like this? Would you sacrifice everything in order to devote yourself to your wife? Are there areas of your life that you do not want to let go of because you are married? Is the consequence worth keeping those things? How much more fulfilling could your life be if you focused not only on God, but also on protecting the unity of your marriage?

Women, our hearts are so susceptible to outside influences. Our heart's walls so easily broken. It is very important for us to evaluate our hearts and minds on a daily basis to protect our unity with our husbands. Advertising, movies, TV, other women.. They all influence our perceptions. We're not pretty enough, not wealthy enough, don't have the best husband. Whose opinion matters to you? The worlds? If you let outside influences (poisons) penetrate your heart and mind - then you will be poisoned. You will be unhappy, sick, unfulfilled. However if we can learn to spend each day glorifying God, aiming for holiness, and for unity... then I think we will be happier, healthier and fulfilled.

Another question that comes to mind: (I can't find it in the book but if I do I will update it here later).

~ If you got very sick, and the only way to save your life would be to cut off your foot, would you do it? I think most of us would. Or we would pay whatever we had to for medical attention. We would do whatever is possible to cure ourselves. If you think of your marriage as a body, then why wouldn't you do the same? Why wouldn't you do anything and EVERYTHING possible to save your marriage? Or would you just let the disease spread and kill the body.

There are so many great quotes and topics in this book; I really do suggest that you read it! If anyone else has read it I would love to hear how/if it has helped or inspired you!

Generations for God

2009-12-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

This morning I was listening to a radio interview. The host, Kevin Swanson of Generations With Vision was speaking with guest Kelly Crawford of Generation Cedar. It was a very interesting discussion on Family Economics. Please listen to "A Family Enterprise" it is amazing.

Have you ever felt like your life is too complicated, too messed up? Do you feel like you're missing something? Do you feel like you are a never ending path of hopelessness? I know I do!

I very much dislike the fact that my husband have to get up each day and go our separate ways, to our separate jobs, our separate lives. We spend approx 8 hours a day at work, the best part of our day, and then we come home. Usually we come home tired, sometimes frustrated. We have enough time to eat supper, watch TV and then go to bed. My husband does not know what I do at my job, nor do I know what he does, who he talks to, who he is building relationships with. Now my husband has a job where he has to work out of town more of the time and is gone for a week!

I know first-hand the effect of having a husband that is never home and works away from home for weeks at a time. My parents lived this life until it ended with divorce. I personally believe that there is no way you can have a strong and lasting, loving relationship with someone you never see.

My husband and I do not have children yet (God willing) but here is what I am picturing if we continue on with the world's plan. Wake up make breakfast, get my husband off to work, kids ready for daycare and myself ready for work. Go to my job for 8 hours, pick up the kids, go home, make supper, watch tv, go to bed. Of course this doesn't include any lessons that the kids have, after school activities, play dates, homework, chores. (I am sure that those of you with a family are adding to this list right now).

I don't see any time left to just be together. I see my kids going to a school where teachers and friends have more influence than we will as parents. I see my husband and I spending less then half of our life together. I see tears, frustration, busy schedules, rebellious children, thoughts of divorce, and no time for God.

This is how the world wants us to live! Of course it does! I am sorry but we need to wake up! Satan does not want us to be happy or to love God!

The world says we are supposed to get those promotions, be career women, have husbands with jobs that make lots of money. We're supposed to desire those expensive houses, the nice cars, the designer clothes, the toys, the latest gadgets, the high-end restaurants, the credit cards, etc.

Isn't it weird that when you hear about someone who doesn't have any debt you are in shock? EVERYONE has debt these days, so you think that they must have really really great jobs!

As they say in the interview, the world tells us that the corporate world will bring freedom and security. The more money and things you have the better you will be, the happier you will be. Do you feel this way? If we asked someone with a million dollars would they say that they are carefree?

What is the divorce rate now? Like 50% or more? Do you think that this has any connection to women going to work instead of staying home, husbands working long hours away from home?

Here is what I would like my future to look like:

Wake up, make breakfast for my family, pray, study God's word. Go to work ......together! Work together as a Family Enterprise. Build relationships with my kids, spend the whole day with my husband. Teach our kids how to follow God's word, SHOW them how to follow God's word. Work together towards the same goal, build a life together. Teach our children through homeschooling, teach them how to live. The best lessons do not come from a textbook.

God gives us so many gifts, so many tools and resources. I don't want to go through life never using these gifts, never living to our full potential.

The world invents things for us to make life easier. Cars, ready-made food, schools.. and so much more. Things so that we don't have to think, don't have to work. We don't have to grow our own food because we can just go to the store. We don't have to teach our kids because the school can do that. What is the product? Obesity, health problems, rebellious children, divorce.. what else, what can you see? Open your eyes!

It would be a radical change if we tried to live for God, for our families. You will not take your promotion to heaven, you will not take that car, your riches, your accomplishments. When you are dying do you think you will be grateful for all the things you have? "Wow I am sure glad I spent my entire life pursuing my career, now I can die knowing I accomplished something."

Or do you think if you spend your life pursuing the "American Dream" you might just think "I wish I spent more time with my family".

Are you consumed by the world or by God? Which do you think will make you happier? Which do you think will be more rewarding.

The world's way of thinking is like a drug. You want more, you need more and you are never going to be happy, fullfilled.

It won't be easy to live in the Biblical Economy, it will be hard. You may think, we can't do that because we can't afford to. What is it that is preventing you? A big mortgage? The car payments? An addiction? Fear of being different then the world? What can you give up in order to live a happier, more full-filled life? Don't you think that living a healthy, loving life is worth more than gold?

We need to have a revolution before the Family becomes obsolete.

New Years, New Dreams

2009-12-29T15:59:00.000-08:00

I'm Letting Go - Francesca Battistelli

My heart beats, standing on the edge
But my feet have finally left the ledge
Like an acrobat
There’s no turning back

(Chorus)
I’m letting go
Of the life I planned for me
And my dreams
I’m losing control
Of my destiny
It feels like I’m falling and that’s what it’s like to believe
So I’m letting go
This is a giant leap of faith
Trusting and trying to embrace
The fear of the unknown
Beyond my comfort zone

(Chorus)

Giving in to your gravity
Knowing You are holding me
I’m not afraid

(Chorus)

Feels like I’m falling and that’s what it’s like to believe
Feels like I’m falling and this is the life for me

Do you find yourself planning for the year ahead? Do you know what you want to do in a year, in two years? I do, I know exactly want I want. I've talked about this before, but it is a recurring stumbling block in my life. The problem is, I know exactly what I want for my life, but that's not how it's supposed to be!

Jeremiah 29:11 (New International Version)
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Proverbs 27:1 (New International Version)
1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

The chorus to the song above is great, I love it. Here it is again in case you forgot:

I’m letting go
Of the life I planned for me
And my dreams
I’m losing control
Of my destiny
It feels like I’m falling and that’s what it’s like to believe
So I’m letting go
This is a giant leap of faith
Trusting and trying to embrace
The fear of the unknown
Beyond my comfort zone

I don't even know how to live like that, but that is my goal for this year.

Let go and let God lead my life.
Throw down the reigns and fall on my knees.
Pray instead of plan.
Be prepared for every task, every trial.
Take advantage of every moment, face every fear.
Search for and learn 'agape' love and ignore the fleeting pleasures of the world.

I don't know how it will happen, how I can change, but I trust that God will change me, will lead me.

Christmas is the Season of Giving

2009-12-04T18:25:00.000-08:00

John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." Luke 3: 11

hmmmm... well I have lots of clothes, lots of food, a place to live. I am so blessed and I have been feeling the urge to bless others as well. I think it is important for us all to have this feeling all year long, but like me you probably don't. Jesus' presence is so strong this time of year, even for those that don't believe in Him. The spirit of love, generosity and kindness can be seen everywhere.

If you are looking for ways to help others this year then please consider Samaritan's Purse: http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/ from what I hear 90% of your donation goes directly to help someone in need. I have heard from many people "I don't like to donate to those things because most of your money just goes in their pockets". I feel so sad when I hear this. Of course an organisation is going to need money to advertise, have a website, travel overseas, employee people who can do this full time... if they didn't have funding they wouldn't exist! And if they didn't exist then how are we supposed to help people overseas?

I am not saying that you can't help someone locally, please do! I just feel so ignorant as to how people live in other parts of the world... so ignorant of the turmoil that happens in places of conflict, 3rd world countries..... we are so comfortable living in the North American culture... we can't imagine living each day without knowing if you will be able to eat, have water to drink, be sold, work 20 hours a day... it's just something that's in the movies, not real life.

I hope that we can all sit and think about what really happens in the world everyday. There are many people that will not only not be getting gifts for Christmas, they also will not be waking up in a nice bed, a home, have food or water or family.

Jesus didn't build up an empire for Himself, He gave everything He had to others and more. Would you be willing to die on a cross for me?

A Review of Nestle's Carnation 60% fewer calories Hot Chocolate

2009-12-04T17:53:00.000-08:00

Kids don't try this at home.....

The Weight of Sin

2009-12-03T20:46:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 10:13 -- No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

I don't think the majority of us realise just how much Satan wants us to fail! He does not want us to be happy, to worship God, to love our husbands, to be honest. Every minute of the day Satan is looking for ways to destroy our faith.

God tells us exactly how to live our lives in the Bible... it is our manual for life.

I think we need a reminder of the 10 commandments taken from Exodus 20:1-17

You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

WELL I CERTAINLY DON'T DO ANY OF THAT!!!!! Is that what you are thinking? Are you SURE?

Here are some great questions to ask yourself (taken from Nancy Leigh DeMoss, http://www.reviveourhearts.com/)

Is your thought life pure?

Do you find yourself imagining what it would be like to do certain things with certain people?

Are you careful in relationships with the opposite sex?

Do you guard your eyes from anything that might tempt you morally?

Do you secretly wonder what it would be like to have another man’s wife? Or another woman’s husband?

When you watch or read things—are they pure and lovely? Do you have any secret or private habits that aren’t pure?

"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one" - Matthew 5:37

God isn't saying MAYBE

God isn't saying "Don't Steal... but taking a few extras minutes for your lunch break doesn't count... or keeping the money you found on the floor... or getting a freebie from the grocery store because the clerk didn't scan it... that's not what I mean!"

He isn't saying "Don't bear false witness against your neighbour... but it's ok to talk about them behind their back! It's ok to make judgments against them... that's doesn't count!!"

Of course he'd not saying "Don't take my name in vain... and of course its ok to deny me when you feel embarrassed! It's ok to use my name as a curse.. that's just the language these days! Everyone is doing it!!"

Have you ever thought of why people use His name in vain? Why don't they say.. Satan! or Hitler! Why would you curse such an amazing, holy, beautiful thing? It just doesn't make sense unless it was Satan's idea.

Please read this chapter.... as I cannot describe everything that I want to say, but God can.

Hebrews 12

God Disciplines His Sons

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."[a]

7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13"Make level paths for your feet,"[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Warning Against Refusing God

14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

18You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned."[c] 21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear."[d]

22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."[e] 27The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our "God is a consuming fire."[f]

God please help me to live a pure and holy life. Help me to see Your commandments for what they are.. not just suggestions. Help me to remember that You are real in everything I do. Help me with my temptations so that when You return I do not have to hide from You in shame, but can stand and worship You and receive Your love fully.

Pass the Real Salt!

2009-11-26T10:40:00.000-08:00

"Pass the REAL SALT!!!

Pass the salt and pepper please!

Natural, unprocessed organic sea salt contains 84 valuable nutrients and trace elements. The table salt you buy in the store has only 2 minerals (sodium and chloride); the other 82 have been removed in processing. ALL 82 of the removed minerals and trace elements are essential for good health. Sounds wild doesn't it?

And what about this? Regular table salt is coated with aluminum hydroxide so that it will not stick to your salt shaker. But this coating of aluminum hydroxide also makes it insoluble in your body.

Natural organic sea salt can be safely eaten in any amount because it is completely soluble in your body.

This is reason enough to ONLY use sea salt in your diet."

This article was taken from the Edmonton Sun March 22, 2000

Who Wears the Pants?

2009-11-22T10:19:00.000-08:00

I am a huge fan of the Duggars and watching them has opened up so many questions for me! Recently I have been questioning modesty. I was not brought up in a Christian home but my parents did teach my sister and I bit about modesty. It was very different than what I am reading about on other Christian blogs or seeing on the Duggars.

To Wear the Pants or not to Wear the Pants.... that is the big question!

Deuteronomy 22:5:
“A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.”

This is a controversial verse! I feel like this applies to cross-dressing, or does it involve actual styles of clothing?

I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. (NIV, 1 Timothy 2:9-10)

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. (NIV, 1 Peter 3:2-5)

I was reading "How has modest, feminine attire changed me?" on isthismodest? and there was a paragraph that really stood out to me:

"I love that when I go to a store older people look at me with admiration and say how lovely my daughters and I look in our long dresses. I love it that men no longer gawk at me but instead respectfully open the door for me. I love that people assume I am a Christian because of my attire."

Wow! I would love for people to look at me with admiration and respect! And to have people assume you are Christian just by your clothes, I think that's wonderful!

I have had men 'gawk' at me in the past (and at the time that is what I was going for)... however, now that I am married and building my relationship with God... it makes me feel uncomfortable. The only man I want to please is my husband! And more importantly I want to please God! If my clothes are distracting people or causing them to think lustfully then I am sinning!

There are definitely women's pants that are feminine... like if you saw a man wearing them you would know. Butt women's pants are made to flatter certain features that don't need to be emphasised. For example when I look in the mirror I automatically check myself out to see how I look, and what I am used to doing is looking to see if I am HOT or NOT...... what would happen if when I look in the mirror I am looking to see if I am HOLY or NOT.

What would my Father think of what I am wearing? Would He say, you are beautiful my child?

It is a lot to think about, and something that I have never thought about before. I have always thought that short skirts are not modest, obviously, but I have never thought about pants. Butt be honest with yourself! When you see a picture of a woman wearing pants, especially tight pants or jeans (which is the style) what do you think? Or when you are buying pants, what do you look for? I know I look for whatever makes me look the best!

I am seriously considering making the switch to skirts and dresses. I actually feel much more feminine when I wear a long skirt then when I wear pants. The problem is I don't own many skirts! Hmmmmmm I think it's time to visit the thrift stores soon! I will let you know what I do, I am going to pray about it some more and talk to my husband (do a little research on the male mind).

I am starting to realise that I live each day for myself... every decision I make is based on what will make me happy. Lord help me to wake up each morning and ask the question "What does the Lord want me to do today" and then give me the courage and conviction to answer.

Love this top!

Some great websites for modest clothing ideas:

http://www.christa-taylor.com/

http://www.shadeclothing.com/

http://www.tznius.com/cgi-bin/group.pl?id=26

http://www.funkyfrum.com/default.htm?Click=7453

http://sakurarose.com/

A Fungi Fable

2009-11-20T12:25:00.000-08:00

Has anyone ever said to you "Mushrooms have no nutritional value"?

Well people have said that to me, and while eating mushrooms as a snack the other day I decided to look it up!

I love mushrooms and when I was little I used to eat them right out of the bag without washing them.. ewww.... I wash them now

Here are some interesting facts that I found:

Selenium

Out of all the produce you can chomp, Mushrooms are the best source!(1) Observational studies indicate that death from cancer, including lung, colorectal, and prostate cancers, is lower among people with higher blood levels or intake of selenium.(2)

Potassium

Did YOU know that one medium portabella mushroom contains more Potassium then a Banana or a glass of OJ?? I didn't!! I also did not know that Potassium helps lower blood pressure and the risk of stroke. (6) Regular button mushrooms also contain lots of potassium!

Vitamins

Mushrooms contain 3 essential B-vitamins: Riboflavin, niacin and pantothenic acid. (3)

Medicinal & Edible

While there are over 14,000 mushrooms, only about 3,000 are edible, about 700 have known medicinal properties, and fewer than one percent are recognized as poisonous. (4)

Weight Loss

Mushrooms are mostly made of water (just like us!), they also contain lots of fibre and are low in calories. (5) Like most produce, mushrooms make a great addition to any diet.

No Shiitake!

Apparently, Shiitake mushrooms have been used for centuries by the Chinese and Japanese to treat colds and flu. Lentinan, a beta-glucan isolated from the fruiting body of shiitake mushrooms, appears to stimulate the immune system, help fight infection, and demonstrates anti-tumor activity. (7)

There are many more benefits to Mushrooms, research it yourself! You will be surprised to see just how many websites are dedicated to the Nutrition of Mushrooms. Thank you Google for the ability to find answers! And thank you God for providing everything we need, even when we don't realise it!

PS next time someone tells you that mushrooms have no nutritional value, please stick up for our Fungi Friends!

(1)http://health.learninginfo.org/nutrition-facts/mushrooms.htm; p. 1

(2)Russo MW, Murray SC, Wurzelmann JI, Woosley JT, Sandler RS. Plasma selenium levels and the risk of colorectal adenomas. Nutr Cancer 1997;28:125-9. [PubMed abstract]

(3)http://health.learninginfo.org/nutrition-facts/mushrooms.htm; p.4

(4)http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/mighty-mushrooms.php p.1

(5)http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/mighty-mushrooms.php p.6

(6) http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/mighty-mushrooms.php p. 7

(7) http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/mighty-mushrooms.php p. 11

The INCONVENIENCE of CONVENIENCE

2009-11-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

Source: http://www.kentonjenkins.com/Frustration_on_web.jpg

And this is how I feel today:

Phone rings, baby cries

TV diet, guru lies

Good morning honey

Go to work, make up -

try to keep the balance up

Between love and money

(From Trisha Yearwood's X's and O's)

I'd like to....

Kiss my husband to say good morning instead of good bye.

SIMPLE

Sometimes I think that families must have been so happy back in the old days; of course I don't really know but that's how I'd like to picture it. I'd like to own a small farm, have a large family and live off the land. I'd love to grow my own vegetables and fruit, have some farm animals, go hunting... just use everything that God has provided.... every muscle, every fiber, every food, every beautiful thing that He has created.

Instead we are just so lazy! All we care about is convenience! How to get things done faster, that is what our goal in life is. Get everything done, and faster, faster, faster.... until *gasp* your heart fails because there is too much stress in your life, too many things... too much!

I think that most of man's greatest accomplishments are our greatest downfalls.

We invented the microwave, junk food, meat that can sit in a box of rice on the shelf, fillers, preservers... Just make it CHEAP and make it LAST!!! Who cares about your nutrition, NOT the people that are getting you hooked on convenience.

We drive instead of walk, we watch instead of read. We gather around the TV instead of the bible.

Cars, houses, RVs, Big Screens, Cell Phones, MP3, Computers, Clothes, little stuff, big stuff, the stuff that he has that I don't. Stuff that I know I can't afford but that is what credit cards are for, WOW soooo convenient!

And what does all of that stuff cost? Our time, our money..... We have to work overtime, all the time.... Less time at home, more time working to pay for our home - that we don't have time to live in!

Children rebelling because they feel rejected, but really parents are trying to provide everything they could ever want.

How about the one thing that really matters? The one thing that will carry on even after death?

LOVE

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

DESIRE LOVE, NOT CONVENIENCE

DESIRE GOD, NOT THE WORLD

Finding a Church Family

2009-11-13T18:17:00.001-08:00

I have not been a regular church attendee for almost 5 years. Recently I have grown the desire to find a church family to be a part of. Mostly my desire is to be around other Christians, so that I can grow in my faith.

I have been attending church with my husband for the past 2 weeks. We chose a church by 'googling' chuches in our town. The one we chose happened to have a Pastor of whom I have seen in the past, so I thought it would be a good choice.

It is not the sermons I want to speak about, but the Church Family itself.

Looking back I do not feel like there is an emotional connection with that Church. There was 1 lady that said hi to us and welcomed us. We could have taken the initiative to introduce ourselves but didn't.

When you first meet someone, you don't love them. You barely know them! And the next time you see them you will probably not remember their name. It takes time and relationship building before you actually start to feel love towards them.

But Jesus said to "love your neighbours as yourself". How are we supposed to do that! I guess neighbours could suggest that you know that person and it is not the first time you are meeting them. But how are you supposed to emanate love to everyone around you? How are you supposed to make those new comers at church feel the love?

How are you supposed to live your life like this song:

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love They will know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side

And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

They will know we are Christians by our love

By our love, by our love

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

They will know we are Christians by our love

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand

And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

They will know we are Christians by our love

By our love, by our love

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

They will know we are Christians by our love

This unity seems impossible to me. I would love to find a christian community where this love is so apparent. I would love to have people to look up to and learn from and trust.

I am not sure if I will be able to find this immediately. I think it is something that has to be built gradually. And I hope that one day my children will know their christian family and know the love that Jesus speaks of.

There are many people that are blessed with a strong christian family already, and thank you God for that. I can't wait until everyone in the world is united! That will be a glorius day.

If anyone has stories or suggestions on how to seek out a Church Family I would love to hear them!

Sears Granting Wishes

2009-09-24T13:29:00.001-07:00

Forgetting to Acknowledge Satan

2009-09-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

Today's Daily Success email was about Satan's presence. Today's post is mostly taken from the IBLP email:

The babies were crying, the dogs were howling, and the women were talking when missionary Otto Koning arrived to preach the Gospel to a gathering of natives in Papua New Guinea. He realized that he had forgotten to bind Satan, and told the chief to keep the group assembled while he went outside for a few minutes.

He went to the edge of the jungle and told Satan that he must leave, quoting several Bible verses that applied to the situation he was facing. As Otto exercised his kingdom authority, based on his position in Christ, he heard the noise die down.

What made the difference? Satan was disabled through kingdom authority. Many times Otto found that when he exercised kingdom authority, natives who had previously been unresponsive to the Gospel would tell him “We can hear you now” and would “take the hand of Jesus” in response to the message of salvation (1. This account is given by Otto Koning in The Snake Story video)

"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" II Corinthians 4:4

If Satan is not opposed, he will be free to accomplish his deadly agenda. He will blind the spiritual eyes of unbelievers so they cannot see the glorious light of the Gospel of Christ.

"He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them." John 12: 40

Satan will harden the hearts of unbelievers and believers. He will appear as an angel of light to deceive, if possible, the very elect of God "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" 2 Corinthians 11:14

He will do whatever he can to destroy believers or diminish their effectiveness and thereby hinder the work of God. We must realize that we are in mortal combat with a relentless but conquered foe, and we must learn how to resist him using kingdom authority so that he will flee from us! "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" James 4:7

On this basis, let’s counsel and support each other to seek first God’s kingdom and to walk in a manner worthy of God, Who calls us into His own kingdom and glory. "encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory" 1 Thessalonians 2: 12

Are we forgetting that Satan is real? That he is constantly working against us? What would happen if before you began your day, your bible meeting, your Sunday morning service, you prayed that God would protect you, and you commanded Satan to leave your presence through the power of Christ? Let's not forget to do this, any longer. If Satan is blinding non-believers, then we need to pick up our sword and fight!

Look Great, Feel Great: Key 3

2009-09-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Key 3: Exercise

My favorite part of this chapter is when Joyce talks about how exercise makes you happy. When I read that I immediatly thought of this quote: "Exercise creates endorphins, endorphins make you happy! Happy people just don't kill their husbands!" Haha, oh dear, I am a dork, yes this quote is from Legally Blonde (love it!).

But it is true! Exercise does make you happy! When you are stressed to the max, your body goes crazy. You pace, you fidget, you don't know what to do! Thats because your body wants you to exercise! That way you will release endorphins and lower your stress level. I never thought of it this way, but God, in his infinite wisdom, made us perfectly! We have a tool to counteract stress, and that is exercise!

Joyce says that studies have shown that exercise can even help some forms of depression and those who do not react to anti-depressants.

God created us to be movers & shakers. Not drivers & sitters. We are created to move, that's why we have joints, muscles, endorphins... The world continues to create so many 'convienances' for us, that cause us to be less active. Sure we get things done faster but our stress levels and weight pay for it!

I like this chapter because Joyce doesn't just say.. exercise is good, will make you thin, ok moving on..... she actually talks about the health benefits, in detail. Apparantly regular exercise could prevent diabetes, heart diseases and other health problems.

Here is an example: when you exercise, your blood is pumped harder. When your blood is pumping more, not only are you getting a good workout, but so are you veins, aretries, blood cells, etc. Its internal, not just external. If you have a strong running 'motor system' you are less likely to develop diseases.

Another example: Your body uses glucose (sugar) for energy, when there is too much glucose your body stores it. Your blood cells actually absorb the sugar as well. What happens when you keep adding sugar to something? It gets sticky! Your blood gets sticky and will stick to things, causing blockages... which causes strokes, heart failures.. etc... So if you are consuming too much energy, and not burning enough... you're in trouble!

Oh and one more that I thought was interesting: Osteoporisis can also be avoided! If you exercise regularily, you can prevent brittle bones! As you get older you might tend to exercise less and this causes your bones to slowly break down. However if you keep them active, they will be in great shape a lot longer!

This doesn't mean you should start training to be the next olympian... but if you can fit a 30minute walk into your day, every day, you will greatly increase your life span, and quality of life! Is there somewhere you could walk to instead of taking the car? How about riding a bike? What can you do today to improve your quality of life?

WHEN FASHION GOES WRONG

2009-09-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else see this picture today? WOW. Do you remember seeing those purses that kids had that were shaped as animals? You thought that was bad!

She either REALLY loves or REALLY hates cats! haha

After a little bit of research I found out that this Young And The Restless actress, Stacy Haiduk, borrowed this prop from the set.

Apparantly she has 3 cats at home who she loves and rehearses with.

Can anyone say publicity stunt? I don't know if this is better or worse than the Bjork 'swan' incident.

Can You Afford Evangelism?

2009-09-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a really interesting dream. I can't remember all the details so I will make a few up, but here is the general story:

I was a counselor at Pines Bible Camp, which is a bible camp in BC where I was once a counsellor in high school.

On this day, I came across a notebook and I opened it to see who it belonged to. When I opened it I saw that this book had songs in it, that someone had made, actually it looked as though many people had contributed to the book because there were many different handwriting styles. The poor grammar and penmanship made me assume that the book must belong to some campers.

I couldn't help myself but to read some of the work. Almost immediately I was taken aback. The songs were about drugs, sex, violence and almost every second word was a swear. I couldn't help but to be surprised and disgusted. The kids at the camp were 12 years old and younger. These songs were so vivid, as though they were the songs of a drug dealer, prostitute or convict, not kids...

My eyes fell upon a name on the last page, Matty P. Coincidentally there was a kid named Matthew Prite at the camp this week. So I decided to confront him.

I found him sitting alone under a tree watching the other kids play a game in the field. "Hey Matty" I said, "whatcha doing here?". He looked up at me with stressed eyes, they were the same eyes I had seen before, but I had never noticed the heaviness before.

"I don't wanna play this stupid game, so my camp leader told me to sit here and wait until it's over".

"Why don't you want to play?" I asked.

"Because this game is for babies, I am not a baby." He whined.

"Ok, that's alright. Matty.." I hesitated, "I need to ask you something".

"Whaaaat?" He asked annoyed.

"Do you know what this is?" and I showed him the book.

"uh yeah, that's my book, I thought I lost it."

"This is your book?"

"Yeah well mine and my buddies', give it back!"

I held the book back. "Matty, I read some of the things in here.."

"You read it! You stupid B****!"

I gasped, "Matty, that's enough!" and I grabbed his arm,

He struggled, "let go! This is abuse!!"

"Matty, please, I just want to talk, I am not here to get you in trouble."

"What? Well... what do you want then?"

"I just want to talk, can you please just listen for a few minutes?"

"Well if your not going to rat me out then fine" He huffed.

"Where did these words and ideas come from?"

"Whatdya mean? I just write what I think about"

"You actually think about these things? But where did you learn about all this?"

"pssh, lady, wake up, everyone knows these things, its all we talk about at school."

"oh..... well what do you think God thinks of these things?"

"I don't know, I don't even know if he's real."

"You don't think some of the things you have learnt this week are real?"

"well maybe but everything here seems to good to be true. The world isn't so peachy"

I thought, wow, he's already worrying about the world, already affected by the horrors.. and so young.

Just then his counselor came over to us.

"Hey, what you two talking about?" Fred said in a chipper tone.

I got up and pulled him to the side. I showed him the book and explained what I was talking to matty about. I asked him if he had seen the book before.

"Yeah I did."

"You did? Did you confront him about it?"

"No, I just grabbed it and threw it away. I don't have time to deal with that."

"What do you mean you don't have time?"

"Well I am busy and our schedules are so packed, I didn't have time to talk to him alone."

"Well do you think that you could make some time later? He is in your cabin and I think it would be better to talk guy to guy about this."

"Yeah I guess I could do that but I'm going to have to charge like $30 for the time."

I was stunned. I didn't know what to say. He's not going to help this kid.

"Well I didn't know that there was a cost for salvation." And I turned my back to him and walked back to matty.

I sat down by matty and said, with tears in my eyes, "Matty, can I tell you about the moment I accepted Christ?"

Seeing my emotion and looking genuinly interested he replied, "Ok".

Now there are a couple strange things about this story, but it was a dream remember! First of all the counselors at pines are volunteers and do not have timcards or hourly rates.

But it did make me think... "I didn't know there was a price for salvation".

This could be translated into money, time, effort... how much of a price do we 'charge' when we go to talk to someone about God. Is it some kind of burden to us? Is it something that takes time away from OUR lives? Is it too much to ask of us? Is it too expensive for you? Can you afford evangelism?

Jesus paid the ultimate price. A price that we, luckily, are not required to pay everytime we talk to someone about God.

If you are making excuses, like me, then I pray that you will see them for what they are - lies.

Do you find yourself thinking anything like this:

"I am too busy to talk to him/her today, I will do it some other time"
"I'd take her/him out for coffee but I'm behind on my bills"
"I will have lots of time later to talk to someone"
"It's just too hard!"
"Someone else will do it"

The truth is, probably no one else will do it. If you feel the pull to talk to someone, it's probably because God wants you to. You are their link to heaven, are you going to take that away from them?

Series: Look Great, Feel Great: Key Two

2009-08-31T09:21:00.000-07:00

Key Two: Love Yourself, Love Your Body

This key seems obvious, and yet it is something that not many people put into practice. Love Yourself! In order to treat your body right, give it the things it needs, you need to actually care about it.

In today's world healthy is not necessarily the goal. Many people that we 'look up to' are super skinny, but do you think they are healthy?

It is unfortunate that it is so hard to feel good about ourselves. We have such a scewed view of beauty. We are constantly bombarded with images though all types of media. Beauty sells, and that is why all these companies only put the skinniest, prettiest girls in the ads. Not to mention all the editing and airbrushing that goes into the picture. I am sure most of us remember the Dove Evolution Commercial (If not you can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U)

Even though these women that we see in the ads are artist's renditions, we still feel the need to look like them.

It is sad that we look to the world's artists for beauty. What about the greatest artist of all? The one who created the ultimate masterpiece: YOU!

(1 Corinthians 3:16) Do YOU not know that YOU people are God’s temple, and that the spirit of God dwells in YOU?

(1 Corinthians 6:19) What! Do YOU not know that the body of YOU people is [the] temple of the holy spirit within YOU, which YOU have from God? Also, YOU do not belong to yourselves

(1 Corinthians 6:16) And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols? For we are a temple of a living God; just as God said: “I shall reside among them and walk among [them], and I shall be their God, and they will be my people

In the book it mentions this fact:

It was found that people who are underweight and unhealthy have the same risk of disease and life expectancy as those who are overweight and unhealthy. Futhermore those who were 10 pounds overweight (slightly overweight) but active & healthy had the same life expectancy as those who were average size and active.

So the key is activity! Which she promises to talk about later on in the book.

Joyce also told a story of a friend, she said her friend had been struggling for years and years with her weight. Then one day she came to Joyce and told her "I am going to focus on being healthy and giving my body what it needs, then I know that I will eventually be the weight that I am supposed to be". (Not exactly word for word)

If we could all realise and know what our bodies need. Good foods and exercise. If we could make those our goal, instead of weighing x amount of pounds... I think we'd be a lot happier.

Your body is a temple, treat it right. If we do, we'll be at our full potential and ready for God's Will.

Series: Look great, Feel Great: Key One

2009-08-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

So I have begun to read the book and so far it is very good. The author suggests that you read the entire book before starting to implement her 12 keys. This is because you should do each key in order, and spend as much time as you need on each key. Once you feel you are successful then you go on to the next key.

I will briefly describe each key as I read them. Then when the book is done I will continue to post my progress, however the posts will only come as I complete each key.

Key One: Let God do the heavy lifting.

For this key Joyce recommends taking one step to building your relationship with God. The basis of a happy, healthy life all depends on Jesus.

Joyce wrote about how willpower is made to be such an important part of life (by the world). Also everyone believes the lie that you can be succesfull as long as you have a strong willpower. However, how many of us have been on a diet, at first your willpower is strong because you are determined. Then slowly the willpower starts to fade, until its gone.

Only God's power is strong enough. There is no way we can do anything on our own. If you try, you will fail. God will not fail, His power will not fade. Cast your burdens onto God. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Let Him show us the way. Never believe the lie that your willpower alone is strong enough, because you will always be disappointed.

Look Great, Feel Great Series: Day One - My Journey to a Healthy Life

2009-08-20T15:39:00.000-07:00

I was at the library today and found the book "Look Great, Feel Great: 12 Keys to Enjoying a Healthy Life Now". I thought it would be interesting if I documented my journey while reading the book. I will write a blog for each of the 12 Keys and then let you know what is helping. I will try to be brutaliy honest! To start, here is the exerpt from the back cover of the book:

Do you have any idea how valuable you are?

If you suffer from self-doubt or self-hatred, if you abuse your body with bad food or bad habits, even if you simply put yourself at the very bottom of the list of people you do things for, under the kids and spouse and parents and boss and friends, then you do not understand your own value. If you did, you wouldn't treat yourself that way.

You were put on this earth to spread God's love, and nothing could be more valuable than that. Maybe you never learned your own importance. It took me many years of studying God's Word and fellowshipping with Him before I got even an inkling of my own worth.

Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received (as a gift) from God? You are not on your own.

1 Corinthians 6:19

God has a great future planned for you and you need to be ready for it! You need to be looking great and feeling great, ready to do whatever God asks you to do.

- Joyce Meyer, from the Introduction

I hope this book will help me to break some of my bad habits! I will let you know what I find inspirational. I welcome you to join me on this journey!

The World's View of Children

2009-08-13T15:59:00.001-07:00

I was watching TV the other day and a commercial for Staples came on. Actually, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPIIMbG9R4w

Maybe you've seen it already, it's to the tune of "It's the most wonderful time of the year". The dad in the commercial is overly happy that his children are going back to school. I am not sure what they are trying to say here but what I get is: "I'm so glad that you will be gone for 8 hours a day now so that I don't have to look after you myself."

No wonder so many people are so messed up! How can children go to a public school with tons of other children, and not have the chance to build a strong relationship with an adult figure. Sure I remember some teachers who I would say were my favorite, but it is nothing like the relationship you have with your mom or dad. Just think how much stronger those ties could be instead of spending 6-8 hours a day, 20 days a month, 10 months a year away from home and from the parents.

I do not have kids but I am seriously considering homeschooling them when we do have a family (God willing!). Not only would it strengthen our relationship as a family, but we would also be able to be the main influence over our children.

I come from a public school and when I used to think of kid's who were home schooled, I thought of.. weird... losers... sheltered... and other negative connotations. I never thought of anything positive. I think that this is instilled by society to make sure that children aren't home schooled, so the government has control over what they learn, don't learn, and how they learn.

Is there anywhere in the Bible that says "You must send your children to a public school"

Here are some verses I did find:

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Deuteronomy 11:19-21
Teach them (God's Words) to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.

Hebrews 12:5-11

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ...

Titus 2:4-5

And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

Proverbs 19:18

Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ...

There are two verses about discipline and love. Do we believe that when we send our children to school that they are receiving the discipline and love mentioned here?

There are wonderful benefits to public school such as the variety of courses and tools available to children. However, I think that if it is their desire to learn the trumpet, it will happen... or to go on a field trip to Germany, it can happen. Anything is possible with God!

Garden Fresh Soup - Tomatoccini

2009-08-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I wasn't sure what to make for supper and I noticed my tomatoes I had picked from the garden were ripe. So I decided to make some soup, I didn't know exactly what I was going to make when I started but here is what I ended up with:

I cut the tomatoes (4 large) into chunks, threw them into a saucepan, pour some Extra Virgin Olive Oil over top, mixed, covered and let simmer for a few minutes. I noticed they were nicely cooking into a nice liquid.

I had a bunch of zucchini so I peeled and cut one up, and threw into the pot as well. I put the lid back on and simmered more.
Then I went and grabbed some herbs that I am growing, basil and some parsley. Cut up fine and threw those into the pot.

I have also grown some shallots so I cut a few small ones up and put those in.
Added garlic salt and pepper to taste.
After I was satisfied everything was nicely cooked I threw the soup into a blender and made smooth.
Put soup back into the pot and decided to add a bit of 3% milk. This made it even better! Here's the finished product:

I could have made this without the zucchini and just made a nice tomato soup. You can add dairy or no dairy. I think you can make soup from any type of vegetable!

When I cook I don't like to use recipes, or I will use them as a guideline. The only time I really to try to follow recipes is when I am baking. I find that if you are taste testing every so often you will be able to make something you really like! I love to invent soups, they are so delicious!

The Uncertain Future

2009-08-05T16:08:00.000-07:00

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. Proverbs 27:1

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins. James 4: 13 - 17

I think these verses speak for themselves. These are some of my favorite verses right now because I am faced with an uncertain future. Admist the struggle I know that God is in control and things will work out as long as I listen. It is important to include God in all of your plans, if you don't I can guarantee they will fail eventually. This is a lesson that I am sure we all have learnt. Let's make an effort to loosen the hold on our future so that we can finally be guided in the right direction.

Choosing to live the life

2009-07-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other" Galations 5:16-25

"For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." Proverbs 23:21

The passages above clearly state how we SHOULD be living our lives and the consequences for not doing so. The bible CLEARLY states how to live a happy life and how to avoid a hard life! So why is it that we CHOOSE to live the hard life???? Why are we so weak? Why to we choose to be blind? Why do we choose the tragedy over the fairy tale? We wasts so much time in sin, and avoiding the ways of the Spirit. Just think of what we could accomplish if we only listened and acted!

God help us all, help me to be wise in Your Word! Help me to see that life has a purpose and that it doesn't have to be so hard!

Challenge: Think of 10 things that you do that are sinful! Be honest! Then take time to think about each one and write your reasons for your actions. What on EARTH is more important to you then following the will of God. I hope you can't think of anything. Then think about what changes would occur if you were to stop that sin. What benefits or blessings do you think you would get? Do the blessings outweigh the consequences? I pray that you (and I) can overcome those sins, Lord help us! We are weak but in you we are strong!

Kale & Smoothies

2009-07-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

I purchased some Kale from the local farmer's market and wasn't too sure what to do with it. I had some leftover chili so I chopped and steamed some to put in there because I wasn't sure what it would taste like. I don't like Spinach so I was afraid. But surprisingly it wasn't too bad!

I told my friend about a smoothie that I had made this morning for my husband and I. Here is my recipe:

1 c frozen blueberries
2 frozen bananas
1 tbls Udo Oil
1 tbls fresh ground flax seed
1 c chopped raw kale

This made a green mixture that tasted pretty good and I knew it was nutricious. I got the idea from this article: http://ezinearticles.com/?Green-Smoothies---My-Kids-Eat-Kale-For-Breakfast&id=2220465

My friend asked what Kale was and I wasn't completly sure so I looked it up on good old wikipedia. Here are some good facts I found:

Kale is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties and is anti-inflammatory.

Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and reasonably rich in calcium. Because of its high vitamin K content, patients taking anti-coagulants such as warfarin are encouraged to avoid this food since it increases the vitamin K concentration in the blood, which is what the drugs are often attempting to lower. This effectively raises the effective dose of the drug.

Kale, as with Broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane, a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties, particularly when chopped or minced.

I found out also that it is a part of the cabbage family, not spinach related! Which is happy news for me!

I put Udo Oil in lots of things. It is best not to cook it at all so I add it before I serve something. Here is a link for information on this product: http://www.florahealth.com/flora/home/canada/products/R7980.asp

So that is my nutritional advice for the day! Try out the recipe and I would always love to hear more smoothie recipes

No Temptation's Seized a Man that he can't Overcome

2009-07-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

Thank You Lord. Today I have been faced with financial challenges and I have no idea what I am going to do. At first I felt stressed and worried but then I thought about yesterday and how I had asked You for help in every aspect of my life. I had also declared that I will wear Your yoke. And so I can only look at today's setbacks as a gift from you. If I truly believe that You will show me the way You'd like me to live and I know that You are in control.

The verse I have quoted above is a new/old favorite. I think I have an addiction.... I am a shopoholic. If I don't buy anything everday I feel like there's something wrong. It could be something small, groceries, lunch, whatever. Maybe God is curing me of my disease by taking away all funds possible. That's one way to look at it I guess!

So I am going to challenge myself with the challenge below. Thank you Lord for caring about me, through my troubles I know You are there, walking beside me. I pray that You will give me the will and the strength to conquer the areas in my life that need change. I thank You for challenging me today. Amen

Challenge #3: If there is something happening to you that you consider to be a hindrance, try to look from God's persepective and see if he is trying to teach you something. Maybe there is something in your life that you are doing that is not glorifying Him. Also for those shopoholics out there... try to buy nothing for oneday. Then try to only buy things that are a need, and not a want for a week. Keep your progress in a journal.

The yoke of God

2009-07-08T15:52:00.001-07:00

Lord I am ashamed that I do not reach to you when I need help making a decision or when I am feeling sad, confused, or happy. Thank you for all of the blessings you have provided for me. I know I take everything for granted and when I start to look at my life I realise that I have much more than I deserve. You are a gracious God. Thank you for not leaving me when I tried to run from you. Thank you for waiting with arms wide open.

Lord I am selfish. Please rid me of my selfishmness and replace it with a desire to glorify you. Please ignite the fire within me and let it be a burning reminder of why I live. Amen

It is hard to stop and talk to God when we are emotional. Personally, I am going to try and go to God for everything. We cause ourselves so much stress when we worry about or try to change things that are out of our control. My best friend quoted a line to me from this passage today:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”-Matthew 11:28-30

I was confused by the word yoke, and so here is a devotional I found that explains it very well:

"My yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30, NIV).

These words that Jesus speaks seem impossible. How can a yoke be easy and a burden light? A yoke constrains. It's placed on animals to make them work slavishly. And a burden by its very nature is heavy, isn't it? But Jesus, as he so often does, encourages us to look at these things from a new perspective -- His perspective. The Greek word used for "yoke" in this passage from Matthew literally means "to team" or "to pair". When a farmer trained a new ox, he would yoke it with an older, trained animal. He would fit the yoke tightly to the experienced ox, but loosely to the inexperienced one. This meant that the experienced ox did all the work pulling the load while the inexperienced one simply walked beside him, learning how to do the job without having to pull any of the weight itself. What a wonderful description of what Jesus does for us!

When we team up with Him, He pulls the load while we walk with Him, observing, listening, and learning as we go. The Greek word used for "easy" in this verse can be literally translated "kind" and it means "beneficial" or "good". God's yoke is good for us. Being paired with Jesus helps us to plough through this difficult life successfully. The "burden" Christ places on us is simply the request to follow His lead. When we do that, what seems impossible suddenly becomes possible. For that reason, His burden is light.

How many of us are trying to pull our loads alone? How many of us resist yoking ourselves to Christ and following Him in all things? I know that I did for a long, long time. But chronic illness taught me that doing things my way, apart from the Lord, was doing things the hard and often unsuccessful way. Friends, no matter what your situation, I encourage you to take that easy yoke of Christ. In doing so, you will surely make whatever burden you carry light.

Challenge #2: Cry out to God everyday. Praise Him for His blessings and trials. Go to Him like you would a close friend. Instead of thinking "what do I want" replace it with "how can I glorify God". I pray that you (and I) may happily wear the yoke so that you may grow in the Lord everyday.

Patience is a Virtue (And a constant battle!)

2009-07-02T11:21:00.001-07:00

Patience: the ability to wait calmly for something to happen without complaining or giving up, the capacity for calmly enduring difficult situations (source: http://www.freedictionary.com/)

It's easy to say patience is a virtue, but I find that statement to be an understatement. I beileve that if someone is able to be completely patient then that is more "God-like" than just a plain old virtue.

It's in GOD'S HANDS!

I have been struggling lately to process that fact in my mind. I have to realise that no matter what I do to try and shape my life - the effort is futile.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Notice how He doesn't say "For I don't know the plans you have for yourself but hopefully it will turn out ok".

If we are able to allow Him to direct our lives and go to Him when we are not sure what to do then everything is going to be just fine.

Good plan - sounds simple.

If only it were simple! If only we could call God on his mobile and ask him "So I don't know where my husband and I should settle down, can you just tell me what to do?"

I truly believe that God has a plan for us and if we are faithful then we will be able to follow through with that. I also believe that when we are not faithful and try to take things in our own hands we will faces challenges and be dissatisfied.

I long to hear God's voice and feel peaceful with decisions that I make and in order to do that I need to learn how to meditate. However when I try I find that my mind is still going a mile a minute. Along with many other things in my life that I am trying to improve (to be closer to God) this one will take some serious time and effort.

I want to start proposing some challenges each day, mostly for myself but also to challenge anyone reading this!

Challenge #1: Meditate and listen. Some good advice I recently found was that we shouldn't be setting a time each day to spend with God (penciling him in to OUR schedule) but throughout the day we should be meditating and spending time with God. (By the way I learnt this from the IBLP daily success emails, you should really sign up!) Another good practice would be to keep a journal and each day write down what you asked God about and if you feel you were given any direction.

A "G-r-e-a-t Response"

2009-06-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

I receive the IBLP daily emails and this one has caught my attention today:

Have a “GREAT” Response!
Great rewards are waiting for those who endure testing, including the power of God and a crown of life. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12). If we could learn how to have the right response to every situation involving reviling, we would take a giant leap toward daily success.

G—Give thanks: “In every thing [including reviling] give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thessalonians 5:18). If our first response is to thank God, we will have the right heart attitude to understand the deeper reasons for God allowing it to happen.

R—Rejoice: “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). Giving thanks is an act of the will; rejoicing is a response of the spirit when we list the benefits that God intends to give us through the trial.

E—Engraft God’s Word: “…Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). During His wilderness trial, Jesus defeated Satan three times using Scripture: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). We are to follow His example.

A—Appeal to God: “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Psalm 50:15). Crying out to God is powerful! David testified, “When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me” (Psalm 56:9).

T—Triumph With Good Works: “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). It is through good works that we put to shame those “that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ” (I Peter 3:16).

To sign up to receive the IBLP Daily Success emails visit this website: http://www.iblp.org/

Books I am Reading

2009-06-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

The Love Dare: This is a great book with daily exercises. My husband and I are reading this together. I believe that after we finish the 40 day book we will have learnt even more about eachother. The book provides practical and wise suggestions on how to have a healthy marriage.

The Duggars: I didn't know about this family until my friend introduced them to me. They are very inspiring. Imagining living debt free and having 18 kids? Seems impossible but this family proves that it is not.

So you don't want to go to Church anymore: I just started this book but I am already enjoying it. It bothers me that Church sometimes feels like a routine and not a time to be praising God. I believe the purpose of this book is to provide you with a new found love for going to Church but it does also challenge our Sunday morning routine. I think this is going to be a great book to teach me (or anyone) on what it means to walk with God everyday.

A few thoughts

2009-06-26T15:21:00.001-07:00

Here are few random questions and statements that have come to mind this week that I am still trying to find answers for:

1) You don't need to EARN God's love because he has already given you all his love

2) Who do you blame for the way you talk and act?

3) We tend to be selective of what sins are and are not. For example: Gossip in church, judgement of others. Is murder, stealing and adoltery not the same as these in His eyes?

4) Submitting to your husband does not happen when you are too full of pride.

5) We should not set aside time for God, we should be spending all our time with Him!

Free to be me!

2009-06-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

I am learning a lot lately about how to live happily. I have been challenged lately about my daily words, actions and motivations. There are a few blogs and resources that I am finding very interesting! Check out my links for more information.

I have also found a new way to express creativity! If you have not already tried Polyvore then you're in for a treat!

Golden Green by cre8freedom on Polyvore.com