Our Sunday

We had a very blessed Sunday. Ben shared the sermon on the mount - yes
all the sermons he preached in 3 months at EMMC in one sermon. It was very
condensed, but it was good, as I know we all had no doubt about. The
church we went to was a house church. The kitchen and living room were
packed, so packed in fact that the kids and some women had to sit outside
on the driveway just outside the front door. Ben stood beside the front
door in the corner between the two rooms. There was also a lot of singing
and prayer. Though it might not be as simple as you imagine, they had a PA
system with a pulpit and flowers to decorate. All but Ben's sermon was in
another language. After church they had prepared a meal for us and we ate
with them. Then we returned to our hotel in the same back of the pick up
that we arrived in. The girls were pretty excited to be going to church in
the back of the box(covered with a canopy) We had a nap and went for ice
cream before we were picked up to go to evening English church by a friend
from one of the homes. We went by taxi. The church is very lively and on
this day there were a lot of visitors from Mylasia and the preacher was
also from there and he spoke very powerfully for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
The girls managed to make it through because he happened to be very
entertaining and there was a little girl just in front of us that stared
at us the whole time. She seemed like she had never seen white kid
before. When the service was over we went back to our hotel room but by
this time we had not eaten supper and since we are all feeling better our
appetties are getting bigger. So we did what we have been doing for 4 days
already we took a Trishaw to our favorite restaurant. That was our Sunday.
Thanks for the prayers once again and I want to tell you what the preacher
said, and what we are learning to do so much more. Keep out eyes focused
on the God's glory not on the enemy's glory. Enemy wants to rob us, God
wants to lift us up. We may have obstacles to overcome but none are too
big to
overcome, look straight into the glory of God.

Praise:
- I am not dizzy anymore
- Ben had an awesome message from God's word

Prayer:
- our one friend here will have strength to overcome her obstacles.

My feeling today:
- The poverty is so sad

We are doing much better.

Well the last two days have been wonderful. We are all feeling well! I
love life again. Praise the Lord! Thanks for all your prayers, they are
felt. Yesterday I had this great post all witty and full of life to send
you but then at the end I went to spell check it and it got deleted..turns
out Canada and here has the same problems - you have to save it to get it
back. So anyway, I won't cry over spilt milk, I'll just try again, the
only thing is I don't feel so witty today. :)
Any way here goes, yesterday we painted with the kids at Anita's home and
they had such a great time, we all had a great time. The other day when we
first met the kids I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up
and many of them said Artists or painters-- even before they began. They
had been looking forward to it for a while.
The kids are so beautiful and generous and they just love Joe, Ray and
Ari. When our girls look hot they fan them and hold an umbrella over them.
For our girls ego - I made sure to tell them not to get used to it. LOL
all I need is our girls to come back from here more princess than they
already were. It was especially hot today while we were at the zoo with
the whole group.
We gave the flute that our friend Peter Wolf gave us to give to them and
they were so thankful, one boy started playing it right away. It has been
one of their prayers to get a flute, a real flute. Big thanks going out to you Peter.
We found this great restaurant to eat at. It is called the Monsoon and it
is a western restaurant, we were very adventurous to begin with and got
quite sick so now we are not taking chances with the food. Our appetites
are very small and so we don't need to eat much - one meal a day in
addition to our small breakfast in the morning that our hotel provides.
One fun way to get around is by Trishaw - a bicycle with a side car for
passengers. This is how we went to The Monsoon last night. It is a lot of
fun.
the Home parents at Anita's home are becoming close to us. There is so
much I want to tell you about them - later. The grandfather invited Ben to
speak at the morning service tomorrow, this is such a great honor. Now he
just needs the guidance to know what to say, pray for him.

Praise
- Emotionally I feel so much better
- painting went well
- kids are feeling better
- we have made some great connections
- the spirit has led in so many ways

Prayer requests
- for Ben as he speaks tomorrow
- as we plan for the days between our time here and flying on July 1st to
Bangkok (adventure vs. stick it out in the city)
- That our girls we eat the food that is served us at the home we are
going to tomorrow (they eat the western food we order but the food served
in a home has all gone uneaten, I fear this is insulting)

My feeling today
- healthy is exciting, I love this country and I'm happy to be here, I
love my family.

Continued Praise & Prayers!

God is good... the girls feel so much better and we went to one home today and did the painting and balloon animals. They were so thrilled. It was such a good day.

I also feel a lot better emotionally. One prayer is that Ben is feeling sick now. I know it's working it's way around. Could I possibly stay clear of this one?

Can I keep him?

We are loving these kids so much. There is one little boy in particular
that we all think would fit fabulously with our family. "Can I Keep Him?"
..Ya I know You all warned me "you're gonna want to take them home with
you." Of course we can't but we can enjoy and love them all here. Till now
we have been getting to know each other, tomorrow Lord willing we will
start painting. the kids are so excited, we asked them what they want to
be when they grow up and a good number of them have decided to be artists
or painters, even before they have begun.

Thanks for all the prayers

Prayer requests:
- The enemy would have no hand on diverting us with sickness
- We would make good food choices
- The girls will feel 100 percent
- I would feel lifted and be able to sleep well tonight
- The kids will all have a wonderful time painting

Praise:
- Ariel is better
- God is so good and we love these people a lot

My feeling:
Honestly I feel down today and need to be lifted. I have prayed the breath
prayer "Abba I belong to you" a lot, and tears are so close and welling in
my eyes even as I write this.

Thanks for being there for us, I really feel the connection.

Pray for Ariel

Ariel was not well last night, this morning she is feeling a little better but can you please pray that she will feel 100 percent better. Also pray that we find a restaurant we like today we have all been eating so little. This place is very different. The people have been so great and we have taken many pictures and short spurts of video. Today we have a driver hired for the whole day. We plan to go to the Lake of Shining Waters home but we have to wait to see how Ariel is feeling. Our time difference is 12 1/2 hours ahead of Manitoba time in case you are wondering.

Where our legs will take us

We went for a walk just for our first look around, lots of old run down
> building, puddles from the rain, beautiful friendly people, vendors
> selling anything and everything. On our way back we passed a sign that
> said baptist church we went to the door and there was a group gathered
> inside. The usher spoke English and invited us in. I looked at my family
> thinking - will they really enjoy this? - in another language and in this
> heat?? we have only been here for a few hours...my legs and mouth moved, I
> hardly think it was me because I did not want to go in. Ben agreed I know.
> We went into the church and sat somewhere in the middle were there was a
> pew open. We turned a lot of heads as we entered. Almost right away the
> girls complained and wanted to go... the service was not going to be over
> very soon. I kept thinking "why are we in here? was I so tired from the
> flight that I walked in my sleep into here." The heat was bad, there was
> no breeze. A kind lady behind us passed a hand held fan to the girls. It
> felt good but how much could we take. The man speaking in from bowed his
> head - It was time to pray. We bowed our heads and I started to pray my
> own prayer "Oh God what are we doing in here? Please help the girls make
> it through the service..it would be so rude to leave just after we've
> arrived. there must be a reason you have led us into this church. Please
> Lord why are we here, help us make it through." I put that prayer on
> repeat for a while -- it was long prayer. When the prayer was done I felt
> confident some who if we waited God would show us the answer. a few
> minutes passed - We had been there maybe all of 15 minutes, Seraya asked
> has it been an hour yet? Can we go?" Ben looked over at me-- we can't make
> it to the end of the service, I feel like I am going to faint. I see it in
> his eyes too. I whisper to him that he and Ariel should go now to the back
> and we will follow --so we don't make a scene. he goes I wait. Suddenly
> the prayer is being answered A man who can speak perfect English comes and
> sits beside me
> telling me that an English service held in a different place in the
> Evening is the place we should go, he understands we are struggling, with
> the language and the heat. I see we were led to this seat to get this
> information and so I know I can leave in peace. Thank God. We go with this
> man later to the English service it is a huge blessing to worship with the
> believers here and being led in this way. I was in awe of God. The last
> thing I will write is the writing on the wall in the church. Sorry if my
> writing it very choppy my time is short here.
>
> "To have ten thousand members who are Christ centered and spirit filled
> believers and to reach the people with the gospel and plant many churches"
>
> Prayer requests
> - We will stop feeling dizzy and get good nights sleep
> - the home tomorrow will be a blessing
>
> Praise
> - the way God leads
> - safe travel here
>
> feeling
> - surreal
> - happy
>
>
>
>
>
>

One Sleep

We drive to the coast today(about a 6 hour drive). One more sleep until we fly out. Tomorrow we leave!!

Prayer requests:
- that we won't forget, lose or have anything stolen, like passports or a bags
- the girls will get along well, squashing selfishness and jealousy (good one for all of us)
- that we will move through the airports with ease and there will be angels to help us along the way

Praise
- for the great time at my parents and Zeke really adjusting well
- Ben and I have such an amazing friendship

How I'm feeling:
- Extremely excited and a little nervous

A Bear

Yesterday morning started out pretty normal. I woke up at 6:00 my dad was already up and had mate(green tea) ready. We usually sit at the table, drink mate, visit and then read our Bibles, and my dad reads the daily bread, but first we needed to take Zeke to do his business in the pasture(training him where to go). The dogs played and did their stuff and we came back inside. Then Dad looked back out the window and saw a black bear wandering in the yard, right were we had just walked. Can't believe he was there with us and we had no idea. Tito barked and attacked, Zeke started barking from a distance and then went to the opposite side of the house to bark--what a chicken! Can't expect too much protection from him. LOL I ran to get the cameras and to wake Ben and the kids. Soon we were on the front steps watching this authentic nature show before us. It was very cool. The bear seemed to have no fear of the dog or us, he just calmly sauntered where ever he wanted, at least until Dad shot him with the sling shot. Then he made a quick exit up the hill. We won't soon forget the experience. Thanks God for letting us see a bear.

Who Cares?

What time is it when the clock says "Who cares"? - It's the best time of your life. The clock on the wall of my parents house ticks away pointlessly with these words scrolled over it's face. That's life in the mountains. It feels so relaxing not to care about the time, you eat when you're hungry, you work and play in the day and sleep at night. But it's hard not to care about what time it is because it is something I'm so used to. I hope you find some time today to say who cares about the time, don't have to be in the mountains to relax a little.

The Adventure has Begun

The adventure has begun. I don't know how to really feel about that, I'm terribly excited, almost like I'm living someonelses life, yet I am afraid, not for what is to come(like many of you think we should be) but now that this long awaited adventure has begun it will all too soon be over. But no sense wodd'n up my panties over it, instead I'm going to spend every minute living in the moment. And at this moment I'm going to share some time with you.
We left Altona Saturday at 1:00pm drove through the night and arrived here just in time to enjoy some of my mom's home cooking got supper and to help milk Buttercup.
A small thing but huge prayer request was answered upon arriving here at my parents. We wanted Zeke(our dog), who will be staying here for the duration of our trip, to get along with the farm animals. He has done really great so far -No dead chickens and Zeke and Tito(my parents Dog) are best friends already. PTL

Answers to prayer:
- I want to tell you God cares about small details. Like the prayer for Zeke, in the last week God has answered so many that might seem small but are just what we needed.
- Someone to help Ben in a pinch at the Costco Pharmacy to get our malaria drugs -Thanks God. Then I found out they would cost more than we thought but minutes after finding this out and beginning to stress about the extra expense Ben walked in with a card from a friend with a beautiful encouragement in it and some $! I felt the arms of God wrap around me in that moment. Wow! Why do I always forget God's provision and faithfulness?
- Another item we needed at the last second at Rexal drug store, that they apparently never carry, they just happened to find in the back and sold it to us for 25 cents! I was praying right there at the counter as they were looking for it. God rocks!
- Zeke getting on with the animals
- All the preparations were completed before departing, only forgot a few items - that we have noticed so far. What a praise!

Prayer requests:
- That we will follow the spirit every day
- That we'll have a uneventful flight on Friday and that our luggage will make it too.
- That Zeke will get used to being a farm dog (outside all the time)

My feeling today - Sooo happy! -I just love the mountains, hasnt really registered yet that we leave for Asia on Friday.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful to God for
- Ben who is just sooo awesome!
- Ariel who is compassionate
- Seraya who loves to snuggle
- Joelle who is a good listener
- people groups who make the world interesting
- internet to communicate long distances
- health
- a calm and peace that surpasses understanding
- people who support and pray for us as we go to Asia
- all the people who have wished us a good trip
- sun
- 2 days till we leave
- people who invite my kids over
- my parents and their beautiful place

5 days till blast off

A 2 square km area with 40-80 thousand people living in it.
A refugee camp in Thailand, This is one of the places we will go to on our trip to Asia.

Answers to prayer
- We are now confirmed on our invitation to the refugee camp. Just got the email this morning
- Ben and I have felt unified

Prayer requests
- That God would prepare our hearts and minds for what is ahead.
- that nothing important will be forgotten
- Ben will be efficient in his school work. (He is no longer auditing the class)

My feeling today
- on top of the packing and cleaning and motivated, with a smidgen of worry that something important will be forgotten

Paints and chalk and stickers

So the good news is the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok reopened this week. The situation there has been looking a lot better this week than it did last week. We really praise the Lord for that. I check twitter for my instant news feed. Technology is so great.
We also praise the Lord for all the people that have supplied items for the children we are going to be with. I have a pile of stuff in my living room now. Paints and chalk and stickers and ball pumps and sketch books.... it is so awesome. I am excited to see what the kids will do and think of all these things, I am also a little nervous about doing the painting sessions with them. Will they understand me? Will I prepare to do the things they are interested in? These are things I pray the spirit will lead me in from now until then.

Answered prayers
- Bangkok is getting safer
- We have all the items we requested for the home

Prayer requests
- I'll be prepared for the painting session

How I'm feeling
- swinging between relaxed and stressed, excited

If it is the Lord's will

My feeling today - humble, challenged, joyful
Prayer request
- Pray that we will continue to make good decisions and that Ben and I would be unified in them.
- also pray that I'll be able to get all the things done in the next week and 1/2 that I need to do.
Answers to prayer - the stress of making some decisions has lifted and the Lord has given me some truth to focus on. I realized how I have been focusing on my will in this trip not the Lord's will. The Lord challenges me to hold it more loosely, with an open hand before him. I now want to say "We will go to Asia and do the things we've planned if it is the Lords will.... as James chapter 4 encourages.

Missons Trip

We are leaving June 11th on a family missions trip(Leaving for BC June 6) . If you have not received the trip plan and general info please leave me a message or contact me some way and if I know who you are I will send you the details. I am going to be using this blog to update on my feelings, stories, the plans and the prayer requests but for privacy in some areas I am going to leave out details, keep it general or change names and that kind of thing.

My feeling today - concern, anxious, wonder
prayer request - We have some decisions to make and I am feeling the stress and the unknown of it all, please pray that we follow the Spirit and not ourselves

My Bucket List

What's on your bucket list. What random, thrilling, simple yet meaning-rich things do you hope to do before you die? It's really a curious thing to me. A bucket list says a lot about a person. A few years ago I wrote my bucket list, just to see what I'd put down and see if I'd actually do any of it.

So you wanna know what's on my bucket list? .....

I can't give you the whole list but here are a few of the 50 things I have on my list right now that I want to do before I die. If not before I die then Ben tells me there's always the millenium.

1. Run a Marathon ----check -June 2008
2. Do an over night canoe trip
3. Take the kids on a missions trip --- soon
5. Skydive
6. Go to a Seeds of Hope children's home --- soon
10. Write a book
12. Sail a long distance
14. Read a book in one weekend ---check - December 2009 over Christmas
15. Learn an instrument
18. Sleep under the stars ----check - August 2009 at my parents
20. Climb the big tree in Campbell Valley park with the girls
21. Go fishing for crab
22. Learn to swing dance with Ben
25. Learn to weld
27. Build a tree fort with the girls -----check - June 2008 with my dad
28. Write a good song
29. Share my story with the women in our church ---- check -November 2008
30. live somewhere hot again
36. White water raft
37. Teach my girls how to snowboard
42. Live in community living
41. Home school
44. Hide treasure
47. Complete a university degree
48. Act in a play

What's on your list?

Silence

For a long time I blogged weekly, in some cases daily, then I hit a bloggers block. It's like a part of my brain just fell out... I am still waiting to get back my blogging brain.
I know a few things have been going on -partly I just don't know what to say and the more time that passes the more I lose confidence that I have something worth reading to write about, so I'm in the middle of this but I am sure I'll be back to writing when I find the words and confidence to write them, or have something interesting happen in my life.
I know some were wondering if I'd do a 28 day challenge again this year and I really wanted to but I just never felt the drive to do so. Sorry if I disappointed any.
Anyway, that's all for now,
Blessings

"Jesus Bubble" Living

How do we keep being captivated anew with radical faith in a "Jesus bubble", where Jesus is familiar and has always been there? How do you create an expectant faith filled atmosphere as we raise our kids?
When I was journaling through Mark I found this question surface.
I think when Jesus has been taught to us from childhood the thrill of what he does in our lives is mistaken for something small, and we loose the significance of it or because he so common we forget to see him and maybe sometimes we loose faith, or forget to have faith.
So since our home would be considered a Christian home, where Jesus is a big part of our everyday, I have been thinking about this. How do we keep Jesus fresh and vibrant in our little "bubble"? How have you tried to do this in your home?

In the Name of Creativity

"A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise." I read this on recipe site a while ago and now I can't remember where but I couldn't agree more, this is my view of cooking. It is what my mother instinctively taught me. I do few things exactly as I'm told actually. I like to be creative and try to do almost everything some way that maybe few people have ever done it. Things don't always go well though, for instance I came up with a really bad one the other night in the name of creativity, awful really. I was trying to make my own version of Kari Kari, which is a Filipino dish. I didn't have all the ingredients so as you can guess I either skipped them or added something similar, oh and I didn't follow the cooking instructions at all either. When it was all said and done I had a feeling it wasn't going to go well at the supper table that night. I contemplated not even serving it but I'd invested too much time, pride and ingredients to just toss it, so I looked at it more as a character building experience. My hunch-niggles where right, "what is this?", "It smells weird", "Is this all we're having?", "I'm not hungry." I forced the kids to eat it, I saw Ben grimace as he told me "It's OK....."(do you think he lied?), I Could barely stomach 1/2 my plate. Later that evening Ben said, "Can I just say one thing, can you not make that again." We laughed and I said "I know it smelled like dog food. I will never intentionally make that again."
Oh ya in the name of creativity I have made some pretty awful things, but I've also made some good ones I think.
Ok ok I have one more wipe-out story for you due to my over creativeness. Some of you will have witnessed this unfortunate birth of my imagination. In one of the first years when Ben and I came to this church I was in charge of something creative for the Purpose driven life and I created this huge globe, I think about 5 foot circumference, for the church stage. It was paper mache and tin foil. The skeleton of the globe was something like 6 hula hoops. Plus it had several directional arrows shooting out from its surface. Oh it was ugly, the tin foil kept falling off and I keep sticking it back on with a opened stapler or sticky tack, the arrows kept slinking lower and lower, some eventually pointed down and then fell off. Every Sunday it was up there I was so embarrassed by it but of course I kept those insecurities buried deep below my confident creators mask. I don't remember anyone ever saying anything to me about what they really though about it but I can only imagine how many other people have heard about it. Anyway I am laughing about it now because I feel like I was able to redeem myself with this last project that hangs on the wall. Besides why not laugh about it. If you remember it I am so sorry you had to endure it on stage all those weeks.
The trash heap is bigger because of me ;)

Best photo of the year

I also love what this photo captures - pure enjoyment of the moment, Joelle is captivated by the beauty and the fun of the huge flakes.
Thanks to all who played along.

2009 Best Photo Contest

I'm a little behind (6 days) but I know you still want to see them - the best photos of 2009(our kids) And you get to vote for your favorite.

January - The Attempt to Sleep in the Quinzee

February - It's a Krazee House Hold

March - Zoom Zoom

April - Happy Hat

May - Play Day

June - Old Fashioned Picnic

July - Aaaaa the Ocean Air

August - Sshhh... Attack

September - Abandoned Baby

October - First Snow

November - The Best Thing About a Twin is ...

December - The Happiest Days of our Lives

Mark 16

The end but not really the end. Jesus is raised. Jesus is alive.

V. 9-16 I decided the ending of Mark is not my favorite. The "added" portion just felt wrong. After reading and listening through Mark I feel like I have a sense of Mark as a writer and of course Jesus, his subject. These last verses didn't fit for me and there is doubt in my mind as to how serious to take them. That said verse 8 is a very strange place to end too.

I have been so thankful for the accountability journaling here has given me, but I have to admit it was a challenge some days, I don't think I would have been so faithful had I been doing it on my own.

Mark 15

Jesus innocent but treated like a criminal
Jesus on the cross for all to mock
Jesus willing to do God's will but asking "why?"
Jesus dies
Jesus' body is laid in a tomb and sealed

After listening to this chapter I feel sorry and then grateful and humbled by the way Jesus dies willing to do his fathers will, he dies so I can be free, so I can have wholeness and eternity, that should've been me, for my sins, he is my replacement, he sacrifices for me, for us, ....Jesus I thank you. I love you .... these pathetic English words just doesn't seem like enough.

Mark 14

Thanks to all those that have been following along in Mark, we're almost done. If you haven't been on in a while here is what I'm up to with this Mark thing. Click on these words to find out.

The first story in this chapter I always find so beautiful. I wish I could do that for Jesus. I find his acceptance of extravagance rather interesting because from my upbringing extravagance for Jesus has not been looked upon with kind eyes. Like those present at the pouring out of the perfume,is how I naturally feel like responding, "What?! Don't waste the money, don't spend money on fancy stuff for the church building or worship service, go practical and simple." yet I see Jesus here accepting this extravagant offering as an act of worship. I am now conflicted. I sometimes wish reading the bible made things easier to understand but in this case it makes things complicated, because Jesus lived such a sacrificial life for the poor and sick. What do you think? Should we be extravagant in order to better worship God, even if people look on saying, "Why this waste? It could have been sold and the money given to the poor." Or should we keep a small worship budget and spend more money on the poor?
Maybe the story no longer holds us to do as the woman did because Jesus says "...You will not always have me." Times changed.
Ya ... so the outcome of that was clear as mud. I love the bible, makes me think.

As i was reading the part about the Lord supper preparations I realized something I hadn't really thought of before. Jesus knew what the disciples would encounter(V.16). He did this with the donkey a few days ago too. Now I am a firm believer that Jesus was fully human and he gave up his godness when he came to earth, that would mean whatever he does on earth is possible for us as well with the holy spirit in us. This to me is fascinating that we can know the future if we need to. What do you think of that?

Mark 14:38 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak." This is a verse that I have memorized and recited many times. It is a powerful verse for me because it helps me keep my freedom. I know it would take a lot more words to really explain this but let me try. When I discovered where I was weak, where I was trapped in sin and then found freedom, I had some safe guards to place in my life and this verse was what led me to understand that it is more than pray, it is keeping watch. Watch for where the weak points were in my armor, where the enemy could try to take me captive again. Watch means to me to toss thoughts, small thoughts out of my mind as soon as they come in.... and of course pray. That is the short version. I love this verse.

I was listening to this chapter through the Bible experience (which is the audio dramatized bible on MP3) it brought tears to my eyes and gave me chills. I am like peter sometimes, I am like Jesus accusers sometimes ....am I like Jesus sometimes? - not in this story.

Mark 13

Signs of the end of days- Any day it could be the end of all this, do you ever think of that? I don't normally think about it at all but as I read this it does make me wonder. The world seems to be falling apart, and I wonder, when I think of how long ago Jesus said these words, is it really going to happen? "At that time men will see the son of man coming in the clouds.. this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened....therefore keep watch... I say to everyone: 'watch!'" It has been so long since he said those words, what is God waiting for? .... I guess the part that makes me wonder and seems strange is when he says "this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened." Didn't they all die, we are all still here? What did he mean? .. I guess it's even silly to ask is the end going to come. Of course it is. Jesus said it is. I guess the real question is, am I ready and doing as he commanded in his final imperative of the chapter? "Watch!".

Mark 12

V. 15-17 Jesus has wise answers for the Pharisees and Herodians and he amazes many with the way he speaks to them.
V. 29-31 the most important commandments. Good to memorize and remind ourselves of daily.

Interesting there were no miracles in this chapter just teaching and answering the attacks of the Pharisees.

Mark 11

V. 11 "he looked around at everything but since it was late he went." It seems like a strange thing to mention. He doesn't give a speech he just observes. The "but" in there makes me think he wanted to do more that just observe, but time was not available to him.
V. 12-19 Jesus goes the next day when he has the time, and he seems ticked. He "gives it" to the fig tree on the way to the temple and then he "gives it" to the buyers and the sellers and the chief priests and teachers of the law.
V. 22-25 doubt is a crippling enemy and belief in God is powerful to change things.
V. 27-33 Jesus doesn't try to defend himself, he knows it would be wasted words, instead I think by the question he asks the teachers, he is trying to show them the error in their thinking.

What does this chapter say to me? - Don't let doubt in. and ...The image of God being human, again, seems to stand out to me from verse 11 where Jesus is constrained by time. God the age less, endless, creator of time is trapped by it, as he lives as a man among us. Truly amazing that he did this for us.

Happy New year everyone!

Mark 10

V.15 What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God like a little child?
V.23-31 Why is it hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven? I see Jesus is asking this man to sell everything. Do the rich really have to sell everything to enter heaven? Or maybe it's harder to simply trust in God when you have other things, like money, to give you security. And maybe that's why he tells him to sell everything because it is hindering him. Verse 27 seems to say it would be difficult for the poor too because it is impossible for people without God either way, which we know well because we are saved by grace alone. Then 29-30 goes on to say it is those that will sacrifice the comfort of family for the sake of the gospel that will receive eternal life. It is a little confusing but what I think Jesus is getting at is that people should not let anything hinder them from coming to the kingdom, not family or wealth or anything else, just come to God like a child and God makes salvation possible.
V.33-34 those words I imagine would have been difficult for Jesus to say, knowing it was about himself.
V. 43-45 This is a key verse in this book. In my opinion this is the heart of what Jesus has been saying and trying to do to this point.

One thing I have begun to notice is that Jesus was intentional about his teaching and healed only when called upon to do so. The stories earlier on where mostly healings, people came to him to be healed but didn't recognize the wealth beyond that that Jesus had to offer. Now in Chapter 10 it seems they are beginning to realize. 10:1 says it was his custom to teach them (it did not say heal their sick). The chapter with a healing because the blind man comes and asks for it. The Blind man calls Jesus "Rabbi" which means teacher. Jesus constantly heals because he has compassion on the people. I love Jesus.

Our 2009 Family Snapshot

In case you didn't get out Chritams letter, here are a few snippets from our life:
-We've been in Manitoba for more than 6 years now and it really feels like home. Sometimes people ask us "If you die now where would you be buried?" We say Manitoba, that's how I know we are home. That said we still miss the mountains and ocean and family we have in BC, especially now during the holidays.
- For summer holidays this year we went to BC with Jeff Krahn and kids, and Al and Martha Sawatzky and boys. While we were in the Rocky Mountain area we went to a lake way up in the mountains. It was an afternoon in time I wish could last forever, the sun was so warm, the lake was a wonderful turquoise colour, we were swimming and lounging on the dock with some awesome friends and then it started to rain, yes the sun was still shining and this was the best. The whole trip was a memorable adventure.
-Our family loves music. We have a lot of diversity in our music. Music is often combined with dancing at our house, that's how we keep fit :). Our favourite musical artist right now are: Krystal Meyers(Joelle), Hannah Montanna(Ariel), David Crowder(Cindy), Xavier Rudd (Ben), and Gummibar(Seraya)
-Ben really got into cyclocross(off road biking with a road bike) this year. He is part of a local group that call themselves ABES (Altona Biking EnthusistS) and I can tell you first hand he is very enthusiastic about biking, he has the kids hooked and is not giving up on trying to convince me to be a Babe of ABE. It has been a lot of fun cheering him on at races and see him so excited about it.
- We attended the Church Planting Congress in Calgary. We travelled with over 40 other people from our conference. It was amazing. We were encouraged once again to keep focused on the basics: Make followers of Jesus, reach out to our local community, and reach out to the ends of the earth.
-This year we saw more than ever that our little girls are growing up, the thought comes with a mixture of fear and excitement. The scary part is how they move to be so independent of us and look and act more like tweenagers than little girls. The exciting part is seeing them grow in their faith, read their bibles on their own with enthusiasm and begin to ask questions that matter and to be active in caring for the poor. Ariel read the whole book of Psalms this fall. Joelle and Seraya went on a unicef collecting drive all on their own in some cold weather. And now they are all getting enthusiastic about fundraising for drilling a well in a place that needs clean water, talk to Ariel if you also have an interest in this.

Mark 9

V.4 Have you ever seen a dead person? Or a ghost? The disciples see Jesus converse with this 2 dead guys. It just seems so weird.
V. 15 Jesus is treated like a superstar, but he ignores it and goes straight to the issue at hand in verse 16.
V 19 Jesus is tired of their unbelief, they love his miracles so much but they lack faith and he is frustrated it seems, but he always has compassion.
V. 23 "Everything is possible for him who believes" Jesus says. I hear these words in my life too, and I echo with the boys father in verse 24 "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief." Jesus I need your help for so many things.
V. 30,31 Jesus takes his disciples on a retreat. Cool.
V. 35-37 Jesus teaches them again about what he has come to do, he teaches about serving one another. Pride and selfishness have defiantly been the disease of my life, I keep trying to get rid of it but it comes back or I find more of it in my life. Jesus has said a few times in Mark about the way to greatness, it's through being a servant to all, to become like a child. Jesus' kingdom is an upside down kingdom, the way up is down. I think this all means that we need, I need to be less selfish, more serving, more grateful, more generous, relinquish more of what I think is "rightfully" mine. Like I said riding myself of it will be a life long endeavor but I think I'm on the journey anyway.

Mark 8

V. 15, as I read this I wonder what does it mean, "be careful for the yeast of the pharisees." I know yeast is something that even if there is a little it can affect the who batch and once you add it to the dough, under the right conditions, it works all on it's own fermenting all the dough. The Pharisees have just asked for a sign and Jesus seems ticked with them. Maybe Jesus is warning them not to let the Pharisees influence and thinking work into their lives, not even a little. It seems the Pharisees were doubting Jesus' authority.

For the first time in reading the gospels I feel like I am seeing Jesus' healing ministry as a side show. Am I seeing something wrongly? Set me straight if I am. Jesus is healing people because he is so compassionate and can't stop from helping them when they have faith, it's just in him to love and give but it's not what he really came to do. I feel like I am seeing this because he constantly tells people to keep the healing a secret and then he asks his disciples in verse 27-30 "Who do you say I am?" as if he is really wondering if his true intent is coming through to them, but then he tells them to keep that a secret too.... I don't know ...

V. 34-38 gives us another picture of Jesus' intentions on earth, to be an example of a true servant of all.

While examining 34-38 of the chapter I ask myself these 3 questions
1. How do I see this working in my family right now? - Wow I don't see the servant that I should be, I do see boldness though.
2. What new possibilities are here? - A happier home, serving home, with more thankfulness.
3. What would happen if we took these words seriously? - Less hesitation in sharing our faith anywhere and everywhere, more people would know Jesus. We would focus less on gaining in this world and focus on serving and gaining in eternity.

Mark 7

V. 8 I wonder if Jesus might have this to say about some things we do?
V.24, 36, 37 Again Jesus is trying to be secretive. It is almost as if he is willingly doing the miracles because of his compassion but yet doesn't want to do them for some other reason. Just a thought here, maybe the people were all seeking him for the wrong reason, selfish motives, wanting to be amazed, wanting healing, not truth and understanding and maybe Jesus feels he is getting too much glory and he wants His father to get the glory instead.

1.What does the text say? - Jesus is healing people, Jesus opposes the pharisees who are following traditions that are nullifying the word of God.
2.What does it mean? - Jesus is more powerful than physical ailments, God cares about our physical well being, Jesus was a compassionate man, traditions need to be evaluated by scripture to see if it nullifies the word of God.
3. How will I respond? - Be more compassionate like Jesus and remember to ask for healing on mine and other ailments, evaluate my traditions(as best I can) in light of scripture.

Mark 6

For those of you that might be just joining me, I'll let you know, I am reading and journaling through Mark over the holidays and I'm hoping you'll join me in doing the same. I really appreciate the accountability.
I will be taking a 2 day blog break on the 25th and 26th, so you have time to catch up if you're behind.

My random thoughts on Mark 6
V.1-6 Faith is a big deal. These people in Jesus home town did not see him like others did and they lacked faith. To them Jesus was just too familiar, he'd just always been around, part of their life. And it seems that because of his familiarity to them he was nothing too special, and so they didn't have faith in him. As I am writing this I am noticing something similar between the people in Jesus home town and my experience from a Christan upbringing and this predominately Christian town. When one has grown up in a Christian home the freshness and excitement of Jesus is often missing, he's just always been there. I hear it all the time from young people when talking about their testimonies, "My testimony is boring, I grew-up in a Christian home, I asked Jesus into my heart when I was 3, I never did anything really bad.blah blah blah..." The realization of Jesus' power is missing, the realization and expectation of a miracle is missing. There is nothing wrong with knowing Jesus from child up but I guess the question is - How do we keep being captivated anew with radical faith in a "Jesus bubble", where Jesus is familiar and has always been there? How do you create an expectant faith filled atmosphere as we raise our kids? (I'll have to explore this father in a future blog post)
V. 34 Jesus has compassion on them. I love these words about Jesus.
V. 46 Jesus need to get with his father again and so he makes the time for it.
V. 48 Funny that Jesus was about to pass by them, wasn't he heading to them? Maybe he was playing a joke on them?
V. 56 "All who touched him were healed." Amazing, Jesus these stories are amazing, I want to see action like this in our time too. There are so many sick and hurting people in our day too, if we have faith can these events take place in our time? Are they happening? Where? How? Lord help me to have faith. Increase the healing in our day.

Mark 5

V. 17 Jesus was just too much for them to Handle, they were afraid of what they didn't understand about the situation, so they send him away. I wonder if sometimes we do the same, Jesus is doing something amazing but it is way to different or scary for us so we have a choice to distance ourselves from him or follow him one step at a time in faith.
V. 19-20 "Go home to your family and tell them." Jesus gives the man his mission, to reach him family and home town, as opposed to going to far and distant places. I think this is an encouragement for people who don't feel God's call to distant places, but to stay near their family and neighborhood to be the missionary right where they are.
V. 43 I wonder why Jesus didn't want anyone to know what happened? and I always find I interesting that despite his wishes the story ended up being written in the most popular book of all time(also God's own word), still being read 2000+ years after it happened. Obviously he didn't really want it to be secret forever.

I like the story from 21-43. One of the reasons I like it is because it shows a day in the life of Jesus more than other stories seem to. Jesus is on the way to one miracle and another one "happens" on the way. I thought "happens" was a strange word to use for a miracle but it was the best word I could think of because from everyone but the woman and God's eyes it just suddenly happens. This day in the life of Jesus is filled with 2 kinds of people, those with faith and those without faith. Each persons experience with Jesus hinged on if they had faith or not. Because of faith Jairus got his daughter back, the woman stopped bleeding and was freed from her suffering, Peter, James and John got to witness an amazing miracle. because of their lack of faith the others had fear and sorrow, others ignored them, Jesus ignored them and left them out of the amazing things he was about to do, they did not witness a miracle or experience one themselves.
After reading this story I feel challenged to have faith, reminded to just believe Jesus will do what he says he can do and will be who he says he will be.

Mark 4

V. 2,34 he taught them(all the people) many things by parable and he only tells his disciples the meanings of the parables. The rest of the people had to figure it out. I don't really understand why he does this, it doesn't seem fair.
V. 40 It seems that Jesus expected brave and bold things from the disciples. Maybe with the fact that they had the inside scoop on the parables Jesus also expected more of them on account of it. Actually I think that is what V.24 and 25 says.
V. 41 I love this questions, I can feel the awe in it. " Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" I read this stories of Jesus and I get so excited. Let's be honest we don't always "feel" it, I mean "feeling" like Jesus really did this, sometimes it's just a story, but the closer I get to know him the more I really believe and "feel" it. It's a powerful thing to know it's reality. Jesus instantly calmed the storm. Anything seems possible.... I am in awe of You Jesus.

2 questions I ask myself
1. What do I see in this chapter that is already at work in my life? - I see good soil in my life (V.20) where truth is producing good fruit. I see being a disciple of Jesus is enlightening(V.34), I just wish sometimes he was here in person.
2. What new possibilities are found here? - Blessings of more understanding will be found as I use the knowledge/understanding I already have(V.24). Great and wondrous things will happen when I have faith and am not afraid (V.40), like the calming of the storm.

Mark 3

Jesus is not so interested in keeping a list of rules, he has his Fathers business in mind, which in this first story(v.1-6) includes Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath, which was considered work by the rule keepers. Jesus is concerned about reconciling the world to right not keeping rules, even to the point of taking great risks(the pharisees are now plotting to kill him because he does this) As I read this I wonder am I willing to take great risks to do the work of reconciliation? Risk like Jesus did?.... Lord make me willing to do your will no matter what it might do to my "image".

What questions do I have after reading this chapter?
V. 12 Why did Jesus not want the evil spirits to say who he was?
V. 14 Did Jesus only give power to preach and authority of demons to the apostles? Or was that also given to other believers?
V. 29 What does eternal sin mean?
V. 34, 35 Does biological family really mean nothing to Jesus?

* For those in the Young Moms Bible Study that are following along here, I just want to make a note about the lists of questions we gave you, feel free to deviate from those questions, as you can see I don't follow them. I actually have found it difficult to follow them. The point is to find what works for you and do it and learn from scripture.

Mark 2

The first story(v1-12) is Jesus healing the man who was lowered through the roof. The part that has caught my attention is the miracle of forgiven sins. We often see the physical healing as, "wow-Amazing" but take the forgiveness miracle for granted, at least I do. I know forgiveness. I've experienced that a lot but physical healing not so much, only a few times in my life have I specifically identified my healing as a miracle. We, or I should say I, need to be more wowed over forgiveness because they are equal miracles.

Jesus a friend of sinners, Jesus not for the ones who think they're religious(v.13-17).
1. What does this say to our world? - Jesus is for them.
2. What does this say to our country? - Jesus is for them.
3. What does this say to our community? - Jesus is for them.
4. What does this say to our congregation? - Jesus is for us and we need to move out from our 4 walls and 101 self-serving programs to be Jesus to our world, country and community.
5. What does this say to our family? - Jesus is for them
6. What does this say to me? - Jesus is for me and I need to remember to extend grace and that Jesus is good news for sinners and I need to be their friends too.

Mark 1

Journaling Mark 1
As I read the chapter my mind didn't settle on just one story or passage but several points that stand out.
I notice it is interesting that Jesus is tempted(v.12) and yet in James 1 says God can not be tempted. Not a discrepancy, I don't think, it just shows me Jesus was able to be tempted because he was fully human, which I feel brings Jesus closer to really knowing and understanding what I go through. Oh Jesus you know what I go though, your strength will be my strength.
Verse 35 seems to highlight, Jesus gets up early to pray in solitude. He's getting his fathers priorities for the day..... Jesus I want to be like you... I don't know how often Jesus does that, it doesn't say, we always assume it was daily maybe it was weekly maybe monthly does it really matter? I know my day goes in a wonderful way when I can get up in the house while it's still calm and quiet and have some solitude with my heavenly father, to get his priorities. Jesus thanks for teaching us how it's done.

1 What is the question to which the text responds?
- Was Jesus really tempted like us? Does Jesus need to get direction from God? What does Jesus do to get directions from God?
2 What do these passages say to you about relating to others?
- I will know the fathers priorities in relating to others when I spend time with him in a quiet place like Jesus did.

Christmas Break Challenge

I want to give you the same challenge as we gave in our Young Moms Bible Study for the Christmas break.
Some of you might be like me, when routine changes I need something different to keep me focused on Studying and learning from God's word, or I do nothing at all.

The challenge is to read one chapter a day in Mark and journal. There are 16 chapters, so since there are 21 days we actually have 5 free days. (which I know is 3 weeks, when Christmas break is only 2 weeks, but that is how long we have until out Bible Study meets again)

So the challenge is read a chapter and journal your thought and answer some application questions of the text. Like-

What does this say to our world?
What does this say to our family?
What does this say to our community?
What does this say to our congregation?
What does this say to me?

or

What does the text say?
What does the text mean?
Ho will I respond?

or other questions you think are important to the chapter.

So I'm going to do this here through my blog, I'm going to journal my thoughts on each chapter and I'd love for those of you who are taking up the challenge to join me by adding your thoughts, comments and questions for each chapter.

Tribute to Ben Sawatzky

For those of you who knew Ben Sawatzky, who dies this past weekend, go to Ben's blog and comment about what he meant to you. Tomorrow Tuesday Dec. 15 at 2:00pm is Ben's Funeral.

I knew Ben because he was almost always at the coffee table at church when I was there, he'd have already made coffee and was waiting for others to arrive. We really took him for granted. He always brought food. I remember when Marv found out he had diabetes and the other pastors where watching their weight he started bringing fruit instead of sweets because it was what you guys would eat. One things for sure, Ben won't be lonely anymore, but we'll be missing him.

Funny - from my kids

Some day my kids are going to hate me for having a blog, but they make me laugh, I can't help but tell you about them.

Some of the things that make me laugh are the words my children mix up, or what they think is being said is not what really is being said. So funny what they say

My kids have all honestly said these

Tomatoes for Potatoes (they still get them mixed up) "Tomatoes and gravy."
crotches for crutches (We didn't correct his one for a while it was too funny)
6 white boomers sung as 6 white bloomers (from the Australian Christmas tune)
grill cheese are girl cheese at our house (the burnt ones are boy cheese)
"O Tannenbaum" sung distinctly as "oh tiny bum" (that was definitely sung for me ;P)
french immersion was french inversion (this took a while to correct, lol)
annoying and ignoring always getting mixed (One pestering the other in the back seat, "Mommy, she's ignoring me!")
pimple for Pupil (heard this one today)

A Baby in Another World

Today you are going to read my dream diary. I actually don't have one but I've often thought I should keep one, I dream every night and often when I tell them to Ben he is sure I have the strangest ones. Be warned my dreams can be disturbing to some.

I was at a gathering and I was in the kitchen I think, then I turned to find a baby in a cradle, the baby was a new born and had not been feed since it's birth, it had been laid in the cradle and abandoned. The baby was still alive but was turning blue from hunger. I brought it to my breast and what do you know, I had milk for it... lots of milk. The babies face began changing from blue to a beautiful blend of African and White skin, the baby was happy and so was I. I was bonding with the baby now and I was pleased when the unknown biological mother said "You can have it". The gathering continued and I let others hold my baby. At some point while the baby was elsewhere I discovered it was time to feed again -a nursing mother can just tell. But the baby was not around so I poured my milk(yes I mean poured) into an ice cream pail but it was watery almost all water, my mom was there I was calling for her to get a second container because there was so much. Then it was over, the dog barged into the bedroom chasing the cat; beautiful baby, watering milk, gathering, all disappeared into another world, a distant time.

Not sure why I wanted to share that with you.
Some might say "Too much information!" and I say oh well, that's just the way my blog is, that's just the way I am :P.
I found something odd and wonderful about it.

Exploring meaning

There was a good question raised last week in a comment and today I want to explore the answer. As I was blogging the things that stood out to me from the Church Planting Congress I found myself often using the phrase "Alerting people to the reign of God" a phrase I learned at the conference.

Here is the question,"Tell me more about 'the Reign of God'? What does that mean?"

Mike Frost was the one who got me hooked on this phrase -" Alerting people around us to the reign of God." The way I see it, here are some other ways I could say this - Show people the way of God's Kingdom - Be Jesus where we go.
Matt 10:7-9 Jesus tells his disciples "As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."
And in Ephesians 1 Paul also tells of what we Alert people to " our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ..he chose us in him before the creation of the world ...he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ ...his glorious grace, which he has freely given us ... redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, ...he made known to us the mystery of his will ....to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."

When we who know the freedom, salvation, grace, forgiveness, peace, love, purpose, supernatural go out from our safe homes and places of gathering(ie.church) we may be the only Jesus that pre-Christians ever see. So we need to speak about what Jesus Kingdom brings and we need to let our lives show it.

I love the example that was giving of this; when we go to the theater there is always a trailer for a new movie coming out. Well our lives need to be a trailer for the kingdom. The full length movie is coming in the end of time but until then our lives show glimpses of what is to come, We need to be true representatives for the kingdom. We need to live lives that make people want to be there, lives that point people to Jesus.

So the "Reign of God" is evident in all his wonderfulness that we see happen and all that we know he has promised.

That is how I would explain it. Anyone have thoughts to add or questions?

#7 The people

This is the last post of a weeks worth of blogging about what I learned/gained at Renov8 the Church planting Congress in Calgary.
I saved the best for last. The best thing in all this was the relationships that got built and the people I met face to face. This is one thing the Internet can not do as much as we try.
- I meet a couple with 6 boys, 2 of which were 4 month old twins. We only talked for 20 minutes, and likely will never talk again but in that time a bond is created. They are heading to Medicine Hat in Spring, Lord willing, to plant a church. I was blessed by meeting them.
- Sitting around a table with complete strangers, many of which are way out of my league in knowledge and practice of faith, but yet you know me I got right into the discussions regardless. I liked that discussion a lot, we talked about how to add to our numbers daily those who are being saved.
- Having a FUN late at night at Denny's
- Getting to know the EMMCers that came from Ontario and Belize and Mexico.
- The conversations on that long bus ride, some 16 hours I think, getting to know people from all over the province that care about God's mission for the church.
- I made a lot of friends, I'd like to list all the friends I made but I won't, afraid I'd miss some:)
- Plus Ben and I got to do all this together.

Thanks to all those involved in getting us there.

#6 Friend of Sinners

Last session by Mike Frost - The number one non-negotiable in church planting is - Jesus is our reference point.
Jesus is the root and example of all we do, yes it's true what you learned at age 3 in Sunday School, the answer to all questions is "JESUS". Oh and in case you're wondering this is not just for labeled "church planters", I think we can safely say Jesus is the reference point for all of his disciples. Kinda a no brainer...right? .... but wait, read on.
Jesus was a friend of "sinners" and "Holy people" didn't like him very much.
I think the reason this point about Jesus being our reference point is so important is because we have this thing switched around, we the disciples of Jesus, too often, have become people-pleasers to the "holy people" and we have alienate ourselves from "sinners". The total opposite of what Jesus did. Why is this? I think one reason is we are afraid of looking bad, looking like a "sinner" to the other "holy people". The whole way we have identified ourselves as different from the worldly has often been associated to who we hang with and where we hang. We have this mental list of where it's "Ok" for Christians to be and where it's not and we judge people and forget- Jesus would have been in the Bar too.
So when we think of reaching people with grace and truth we have to be like Jesus, and not let the fear of what it might look like stop us from bringing the kingdom into places that "sinners" gather. Besides let's get over it, we're all sinners.

#5 Wagdi Iskander

There can't have been a soul in the auditorium that was not captivated by Wagdi Iskander's testimony and challenge. In my opinion he was the most moving and challenging presenter of the week.
I was trying to summarize his testimony(struggling to do so)so instead I found this written about him which will give you an idea of his story.(read the full article here)

Iskander grew up in northern Sudan,.. Although he was not a devout Muslim in his youth, he said he harboured bitterness toward Christians, especially one Muslim convert who shared Christ with him.

"I used to hate him," Iskander said. "But he cared about me and showed me the love of Christ." ... After Iskander completed his university degree and began working as an accountant in Khartoum, his friend continued witnessing to him.

"I was looking for forgiveness, but I didn't know where to find forgiveness," Iskander says. "But when my friend showed me the love of Christ, I found forgiveness and became a Christian." As a result, he was estranged from his family; some family members think he is dead. He also spent more than three months in prison. Although he was released, two of his friends imprisoned in the same jail were killed.

He challenged us to reach out to Muslims, in fact he is so passionate for the church to grow among his people that he has resigned his life, even to martyrdom, to advance the mission of God. He said he'd die for the church! It was a very powerful ending. Many people could not exit the sanctuary, they remained in their seats, searching their hearts for even a shred of courage that Wagdi portrayed.

We are planning on getting the Audio recording of this session for the church library, so if any local readers have an interest in hearing this session for yourself check the EMMC Library some time in the near future.

#4 After all this was a church planting congress

If you've been following my blog this week you'll know where I'm heading again today. I am sharing things I learned from the Church Planting Congress in Calgary, which was put on by Church planting Canada. The funny thing is, you may or may not have noticed, Considering the topic, I haven't actually said anything about church planting, well not specifically anyway. There are a few reasons for this, firstly, the congress was mostly focused on Church Planting in an urban setting(I found that hard to connect with, but I could connect it to my existing church and community involvement). Secondly, this conference blew my mind open as to what church planting is all about, so church plant talk doesn't look like it used to. The phrase was said -We used to know what church planting looked like, we Just took what worked well in one community and replicated it all over the place, but now it's different. To reach people we have to be relevant to their neighborhood. So the things I have learned may not look like church plant talk but they are... or so I've learned - this is all very new to me. There was a concentrated focus on being sent into your neighborhood as opposed to being sent to a new location, which of course was pretty much the only way I thought about church planting before the congress. This is not to say that going out to a new location is not needed, I'm just saying they didn't talk about it a lot. My mind was opened to how I can be a church planter right here and how I can use these things I've learned to enhance the church I belong to. One phrase I will leave you with today is Again from Mike Frost "We're not in the business of planting churches.(how ironic) We're not in the business of expanding our denomination. The Goal of Christian Mission is to Alert people to the reign of God." "God is the sent and the sending one and there is no such thing as an unsent Christian. Your mission is not inward."

I hope you could follow my ramblings today.

#3 Brain Numbing Risk Averse Society

Some friends of mine from the Build a Village team are heading to El Salvador in a few days to stand in solidarity with their friends who have lost nearly everything in a recent disaster. When they told me about the risks and danger involved in this trip I was telling them not to go, "You are unwise. Use your head. Be safe" But they were certain God had called them no matter what the risks and dangers. The day after saying this to them I was sitting in a safe cushioned seat at the renov8 Church planting Congress, again listening to Juliet Kilpin. And she says "Fear is rapidly affecting the church." She was saying that God is not about safety he is about his mission, alerting people to his reign. Fear was a poison I had been letting in especially in this area of blessing my friend to enter the danger zone. ... I had forgotten. We live in a "brain numbing risk averse society", Juliet said and this is resonated with me because it is something I have long been ranting against. Society is becoming too dictating on the safety issue, too safe and too afraid to let us take risks, so much that it is slowly rendering us ineffective in God's mission and leaving us terrified to try anything new or different. I had been objecting to societies suffocating risk aversion yet unknowingly becoming part of encouraging it, which was made obvious as I let my fears rule my words for my friends going into El Salvador. You may not go to El Salvador or move far from your community but I want to encourage you, go out, take the risks, don't let fear stop you from reaching out with God's mission. That is what I was reminded of and will endeavor to live out. Even if we return in body bags let's go where God calls us.
Are you willing?

#2 Has the church become too important?

One thing from Juliet Kilpin:
She was bold - "Sell your church building."

Her point is that we get too caught up in thinking that "church" only happens in the building and what happens in the building has to be restricted to certain activities. She points out that if we are limited by the building then that will hinder God's mission for the church(the body of Christ).
It was talked about that real church is in the community of believers sent to do God's mission, alerting people to the reign of God. Church can happen anywhere, on a school ground, a youth center, my home or yours, the restaurant for lunch, seniors center, the bar, the park, any place that God's people live and speak out God's mission and this can happen in multiple ways that reach the heart of a target group of people.
It seems so often that we Christians enjoy the safety and security of our building and don't get out in the trenches of life with people enough.
Did she really mean it(sell your church)? I think she did. I know it's not right for all but what is right is to rethink our church building use and how active we are outside it's four walls.

Do you think Juliet is crazy?

Renov8

Just got back from 'Renov8' a gathering of church leaders learning to advance our understanding of church and our passion to be missional -- a Church Planting congress. It was a fabulous event, I was overloaded, inspired, crushed, energized, exhausted, challenged, opened, pulled deeper into Jesus and sent out. If you are a regular reader of my blog you know I do not like long posts, though in this case I am tempted to just write all my thoughts out in one splatter, quotes of Mike frost and Wagdi Iskander, plans that bubble in my head, and challenges I want to share ..... but No won't do it, I think I will try something different, for one week I am going to blog everyday something that stood out.

#1 Alerting people around us to the reign of God
Mike Frost was a very intriguing speaker, he says the goal of Christian Mission is to alert people to the reign of God, and he says it seems for too long Christians have reduced christian mission to evangelism, but it is more we must go out like Jesus proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Announcing it and demonstrating it.
If I asked you(my Christian readers), what is your mission in life, what would you say? Is your mission grounded in God?

kids no flushy

Are you one of those parents that complains about your kids not flushing the toilet? You nag your kids day in and day out, but nothing changes?
I am a creative thinker and this spreads into our parenting too. You sometimes just have to find different ways to get through to the kids
Here is one I did recently. You might wanna try it, but don't tell them it was my idea.

We have dog as most of you know and he is large, ok he's not only large but he's hairy, lots of fur around his chin and mouth area. Since he is so big, when the toilet lid is open it is the perfect bowl height for him to quench his thirst in. Even though he has his own water bowl right next to the toilet, for some reason the savage beast prefers the toilet water. Not such a big deal maybe if that water was constantly fresh and in a clean toilet bowl. But that's not at our house. Now for any mother(or father for that matter) who has spent the last decade of his or her life working at ways to keep the house somewhat clean and fresh smelling, like I have, would agree that when toilet odor walks into the room you are comfortably lounging in, it's enough to make you crack. Crack down on the problem.
The problem
- kids no flushy
- kids no put lid down
- dog does as dogs do(very disgusting creatures)
- dog drink poo water
- dog fur near mouth soaked in smelly water
- dog drip water all over house
- poo smell wafting through the house
- mom smells it
- mom sees dog with wet face
- mom not going to nag again
- mom has fresh idea
....and so I got up from my spot, grabbed a paper, a marker, and some strong tape. I wrote a note and marched to the bathroom with no announcement of my actions.

Fast forward 1 hour-- Seraya went dashing to the bathroom, hand in position to prevent leakage, she paused to investigate my vandalism of the toilet, while dancing the pee dance. In dismay she looked at me with disbelief "but,..but,... mom!"

The note read:

Do you need a Jillian?

I want to tell you why I love the show "The Biggest Loser" If you don't know this show it is another reality show that takes up peoples real time(like mine and Ben's), with other peoples "real" lives. :).... Hey but Ben and I have had so much fun together watching a few episodes, plus I've got an insight from it. (If you don't like the show I may have just dropped a few rating points -but oh well)
On the show there are people who are obese - really,really over weight- and they want to loose weight but have lost the power to do it on their own. There are two trainers on this show who motivate them to exercise. Their names are Bob and Jillian. Jillian in particular is very firm with them ... that might be putting it little mild - She's mean. She'll work them until they cry, want to give up or throw up. She is totally insane all over them. I think the first impression you might get of Jillian is that she is really awful, but then you see how the show contestants start to change and actually go back for more of her. They want her to push them, they need her to whip them into shape because otherwise they wouldn't do it. This got me thinking about something, with my spiritual growth. I try so hard on my own to change things that I want to change but I don't, I come up with excuses and believe them. I feel like I need a Jillian to help motivate me to change those things I just am too lazy to change. If I had a Jillian on my back yelling at me and not letting me excuse my way out, time and time again, I think I would change. I also want to be a Jillian, I want to help people get real and affective in their faith and be right with God.
I've been a mentor to others and had mentors since Bible school and they've all been good and helped me grow but nothing like a Jillian, I think us Christians are just too nice to each other sometimes, we keep sympathizing with each others struggles, which of coarse is good but somehow in a loving way can't we get into each others space and face and maybe get ticked off enough to move from our comfort zones. I wonder how I would really respond to a tough mentor?
Now you know the only way Jillian has any credibility on the show is because she is in really good shape, right? I guess that is why it is so hard to be the one to get into some one's face on spiritual matters, because we ourselves have to be credible, walking the talk.
Face to face it's hard to be tough, besides some people would not appreciate this approach so maybe I won't go all "Jillian" on you in person but in this blog I can. It's really up to you if you come and read, and no one has to take it personally. :)
Question for you:
Do you sometimes wish you had someone who cared enough about your spiritual growth that they would get in your face on some issues?

Honest + Open = Vulnerable + Free

Why? Why do I open up my life on the world wide web? Why open up to anyone at all? Is there a difference in how open one should be, blogging or in person? What kind of openness, vulnerability or transparency is appropriate or acceptable on a blog?
or Maybe if you don't have a blog, how vulnerable or transparent should you be with others?

I find it funny that I have a blog were I talk about personal things, things that leave me vulnerable. Why? Why on earth would I tell you, strangers and friends alike, all this stuff about me and my life? Then I sometimes wonder, Where do I get off thinking people actually care about my writings? Do I really have anything worth while to say? --- don't answer that! I guess you are the only ones who know the answers to why you read but for me, why do I write my stories here for the world to read? Why am I honest about what's in my life? I started thinking about this when I had someone tell me that they would never share openly on the Internet, they just read other peoples comments on facebook and blogs, but they don't let people know where they are at; not their strengths or their weaknesses. I felt sorry for this person because the best thing, the most freeing thing, I have ever done in my life is to share my greatest weaknesses openly. I think being real and honest about life is very freeing and it does leave you vulnerable at times, but I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not and wear a mask. For me blogging is part of this, it helps me feel free.
But that said I still don't write everything here.. **a grateful sigh is heard across the land**
This is how I decide what to write, I either am going about my day and I have a thought or an experience that I instantly know I need to blog or I know it's time to blog so I sit down, start writing until something worth posting comes to the surface. Not everything I want to say do I write ***another grateful sigh is heard across the land**
So I blog and that's for me .... Some of you don't, so why do you choose to be open and vulnerable with people in real life? Or why are you not open with people?(if you'll share) And some of you do blog, what about you? Why do you do it?
How vulnerable are you? Have you found that being real, becoming unmasked is freeing?

Christmas on the Brain

I don't know if you've started thinking about Christmas yet, but it has been on my mind a little these days. We are trying to think creatively about our gift giving this year, gifts that don't add to the commercialization of Jesus Birth, and this takes a little more time than going with the allotted cash up to the nearest mega store just so there'll be "stuff" under the tree. Last year we found this site called Advent Conspiracy, their slogan is "Christmas can [still] change the world", and change it for the better, not the worse. Maybe your kids are like mine; I know my kids say the meaning of Christmas is Jesus and that that is why we celebrate but why then is it that they have already begun making their wish lists, wouldn't this show that subconsciously they have learned the meaning of Christmas is "more for me"? When did Christmas change to this and how do we change it back? These are some of the things Advent Conspiracy helps people work through. Check it out if you also want to change Christmas.
Advent Conspiracy links:
Advent Conspiracy
rethinking christmas