"We're gonna be good...."

Thank you all for commenting on my blog....I so appreciate it!
This picture is of me and the boys...taking a hike...
So we had them this past weekend....I like them a lot. They are creative and imaginative, always looking for something to build or invent. I love that.

We're able to take these guys to church with us on Sundays and when we go, we have to remind them of the appropriate behavior at church. Ya know...don't set things on fire or unplug the sound system (we DID have one kid do that one time!) and generally say 'please' and 'thank you', 'nice to meet you' is always a plus, too!

What gave me a great, hardy laugh was that one of the boys said, "We'll be REALLY good so we can make all the other parents there jealous that you have such good kids!" Have you ever heard of a kid say something like that!? I said, "Okay". I wasn't about to turn down that offer! But it got me thinking.....what if we (as Christians) all behaved so well to each other that we were able to make others jealous of the self-control, love and peace we had...not to mention our Father's pleasure? For example, sometimes when I work-out at the gym, I get into conversations about my job as a group home operator. Many people say, "WOW, you must have a lot of patience to do a job like that!?" And I reply, "NOT! Ask my mother about that! Patience is not MY natural virtue.....but I have to daily ask Jesus to give me patience and He does. When I try on my own, I always get frustrated!" Perhaps this is an open door to them getting jealous that I don't have to fight myself all the time to be patient, Jesus gives it to me! It has lead to some good conversations. But this is an area I really need help in.

But.....
So often we display the Christian culture as being one that dictates morals and fights against organizations, political parties and social clubs that do not hold those morals. But that's not what Jesus did. His love, compassion and peace is what drew even the "worst sinner" (even thought there isn't such a thing) to Himself. What if we started to focus on that instead of trying to "make a statement" or boycot a certain worldly product? The world doesn't hold our moral code or our Christian ideals....we shouldn't EXPECT them too, we should be teaching them to, but in love, compassion, grace, and in our own lives SELF- CONTROL! (I made that in CAPS because that's my toughest fruit of the Spirit....what's yours?)

Our behaviour should be a magnet to a world that has lost its purpose....people are hungry to see something different and something fully "good"...they are hungry for Jesus in us. Our love for Jesus causes us to desire to be righteous or good and to desire to see others come to a knowledge of Him, too. Those are the reasons for our "goodness" not because we want to look better and superior by having a better moral code. It's all filthy rags anyways (see Isaiah 64:6).

Proverbs 21:21 says, "He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity, and honor." That sounds good. That's enough to make the world look at us differently and ask us where we get our "life, prosperity, and honor"....from Jesus who, out of love, we pursue, to imitate Him and His righteousness. I gotta work on that. Lord Jesus, make me a pure and holy imitator of You, to bring others to You and to give You pleasure today, Amen.

Keep the comments coming! I love to read what you think! Thanks!

Lied to....a classic "who stole the cookie" tale.....

We made cookies for her class party this weekend...60 of them! On sticks. Fun times and quite a treat! We ate two a piece, too. It turned out to be a saddening experience, though a worthwhile one, too........

I don't think there is a worse feeling than the feeling you get when you've been lied to....and not just once, but MANY times.
"Did you have fun at your party?" I said.
"Oh, yeah! It was fun!" she said.
"Did you give out all your cookies?"
"Yeah."
"Are they all gone?"
"Yeah, we ate them all."
"Good! So we made enough, then!(long pause) ...Did you eat all your lunch?"
"Yeah."
"Carrots, too?"
"Yup."
"Good for you! I'm impressed!"

(Next morning, cleaning the bathroom with her I find cookie crumbs on floor in the corner)
"Uhmmmm, did you forget to tell me you had cookies left over from yesterday?"
"No. There weren't any left."
"oh? I see cookie crumbs all over the floor in here. Are you sure you didn't have ANY left over?"
"Well, maybe one. But only one."
"oh. Why did you lie about that last night?"
"I didn't."
"No? Oh..... I must've misunderstood you....are there anymore cookies left?"
"No." (guilty look and quick turn of the head)
"Okay, where are the cookies?" I say with some disappointment.
"There aren't anymore."
"So if I call your teacher at school and ask her if there were left over cookies from yesterday, she'd say no?"
"There were only a few left...."
"Only a few? How many? Where are they?"
"In there..."(pointing to her backpack).

Inside was a brown bag stuffed full of about 20 cookies.....and her uneaten lunch I'd packed the morning before complete with carrots....it reeked and smelled of rotting ham. I was saddened.

We talked about how awful lying can be and hurtful it is to be lied to. We talked about the fact that if she had just told the truth about them at the very beginning, she could have spared being punished and if she had asked to take the cookies home to her family, I would've said 'yes'. But the cookies did not belong to her. They were a gift to her class. They would also cause her to get very sick if she had eaten all of them. She agreed that I needed to take away the cookies and throw away the lunch I'd made for her. Then we addressed the fact that when she tells me something that isn't true, the Holy Spirit often tells me....I know that she's telling a lie because there is something in my "gut" that says "there's something wrong here". We talked about the feelings we get when we lie and feel we have to keep something hidden. It feels bad. But when we tell the truth, it feels good and people feel comfortable playing and spending time with us. She understood.

The consequence? I now have to check her bag every time she comes to our house and when she leaves. No Nintendo. We were going to go swimming and to a strawberry patch, but she couldn't go. Lying is a big deal. She also had to write a note to her mom stating what happened and what the consequences were. We prayed and asked Jesus to forgive us because He knew about the lies long before I did and He was sad, too.

Throughout the day, I caught her in a few more lies. Little ones that don't seem to matter much, but they were still very disappointing. Each time we talked about the effect those lies had on my ability to trust her and enjoy her company. It hurts to be lied to.

I battled in my head whether I'd been too hard on her or whether I should have checked her bag the night before when I had a feeling that she wasn't telling the truth....then I thought about the MANY times I did the same thing when I was her age. I got in trouble a lot. When did I really get it that lying was extremely hurtful and that I never really got away with it anyway? There were many times when I'd say to our kids that we'd go do something or I would help them do something and I got distracted.....forgot. They interpreted that as me lying to them. Maybe I never really got it afterall. Then I was reading the passage below. I felt convicted.

Jeremiah 9:4-6
"Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me," declares the LORD."

How many times have I deceived...especially those close to me. It may not be with hurtful lies, but perhaps in not following through with something I told them I would....or perhaps not returning something promptly......or in the case with the kids, forgetting or "acting as though" I forgot in order to get out of doing something I didn't want to do. Do you ever do that? Maybe make up a story that you're busy when someone you don't particularly care for wants to have coffee with you? What strikes me is that the verse above says that "they have TAUGHT their tongues to lie". They have been conditioned. Practiced. That's a scary thought. Maybe I have conditioned myself to "forget" things that I need to follow through on..... I don't want to weary myself with sinning and I certainly do not want the kids we have here conditioning, teaching themselves to lie. Maybe I wasn't too hard on her afterall? Mmmm. Any thoughts?

FIGHTING MY FLESH!

Okay...Tim took this picture at Granville Island Pond.....I really like this picture....it's how I feel when I am struggling to fight temptation... like "AAAACK!!! Get these stinkin' pigeons flying at my face away from me!!" Notice the parents' hand in the left-hand corner? That's my Jesus leading me out of the chaos. Yes, this is how I feel today. Only the pigeons end up being children...I am embarrassed to say.

I sat as patiently as I could as one of our kids struggled to read through a book she's read a thousand times before...she insisted on "reading" it again....but I was losing patience....how many times can you read the word "which" and keep calling it "what"?? (I didn't say that out aloud, though) there were a lot of words like that.......And the constant following....I can't go pee without one of the kids following me into the bathroom and then calling my name over and over while I'm in there even after telling them I'd be in there for less than 3 minutes....they even timed me! "B!! B!!!" they say! I just wanna pee in peace! And the constant "When are we gonna have snack?" after I told them three times already and the answer hadn't changed. And the constant questions....the poor wiping skills after going to washroom...the forgetfulness of instructions given seconds ago....Oh, where's the sanity after a day in our group home!? SERENITY NOW! (Mind you, this is the norm and it doesn't always get me...but when it does...UGH, GULP, sigh.)

So after I rant, you know what comes to mind?
"Get over yourself, Bethany! You know the needs of these kids. You know where they come from and you know that you could be the only person in their life who knows the truth of who they really are. They are not a "behaviour-challenged child, developmentally delayed, FAS, OCD, or ADHD"--they are a precious gift from God...a God who desperately wants them to rest in Him, who sees them without flaw. What are you complaining about?" Bethany eats a good helping of humble pie. Not so tasty. Repentence not so glamorous. But then I lose patience with myself...realizing that I love these kids and that my humanity and flesh take over too often. Then I pray that tomorrow I'll be better....more patient, more Christ-like, more gracious......I hate my flesh. Then I remember Colossians 1:10-12, which says:

"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."

I soo want to live a life worthy of the Lord.....I want to bear fruit while listening to an 8 year-old read the word "which" as "what" 50 billion times.....I want her to bear fruit by an example that I set that's pleasing to the Lord....I want to be strengthened by His glorious might as I pee and hear my name called so that when I answer, my voice is filled with patience and grace and not annoyance and rejection.....I want to joyfully give thanks daily for these kids, their lives, and their strengths and weaknesses and even when I fail, Colossians says that "HE HAS QUALIFIED ME (and you) TO SHARE IN THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS!!" That is SOOO stinkin' humbling. I should start acting like it. I am so glad tomorrow is a new day. Forgive me, Lord and give me strength to exemplify you to YOUR kids. Amen.

God's concern in the little things....

I've been struggling to find or get some inspiration for another post and I noticed that I have been pretty lax in my daily time with Jesus. DUH! You know the drill...you get busy and distracted...you work long hours and suddenly you're missing your best friend. That was me this morning. Even though I've been a bit distant, Jesus still made His presence known through the craziness.

Every week, Tim and I ask Jesus to give us some creative ideas for the work week. When you've done this group home job for as long as we have (which hasn't been too long), going to places like Science World, the Aquarium, and the bowling alley become tiresome, boring and extremely costly. The kids also become spoiled, mouthy and just plain ungrateful. So we have been cutting back on the big outings and doing cheap things.

With school ending and the kids getting excited for summer, we were anticipating a crazy kid schedule and some extreme hyperactivity....Yup...that's what happened. But God was so faithful. On Friday, the girls, Tim, and I played "Pictionary" on the bathroom mirror with "Windowwriters" (a must for every parent struggling to keep markers OFF the walls!).... great fun and a time waster with some educational flares! Then on Saturday, we went for a LONG drive to a strawberry patch and picked 18 pounds of strawberries! Then we ate them! (oooh the bellyache!) And then we went to dear Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Bob's house and played in their cool townhouse park!! The day went by so fast and the kids were so distracted and excited that they didn't have time to even think about being naughty! That was a God-thing.

THEN the boys came. They are our hardest group. We were concerned as they didn't have very good weeks at home and we were in a place of disciplining them....ouch. Our hardest day with them is Sunday....but God was faithful again!

The boys kept asking me for money or if they could 'borrow' money (which would easily turn to taking money) so they could go buy toys...a big no-no in our job 'cuz these guys have WAY too many toys and it's never enough. But I told them they could EARN the money if they thought of a creative way of making it. They looked at me dumbfounded. I told them to set up an "iced tea stand" or something. Their eyes lit up!! No joke...I didn't think they'd take me seriously, but they were all over that! They asked if I would make the iced tea and what else they needed and they went right to work!

Thirty minutes later, they were taping signs down the street, setting up a table in the yard, and loading up the cooler with iced tea, ice cream sandwiches, and handi-snacks. All the while, they were arguing and fighting with each other like an old married couple. We ignored them. It was pure bliss. :p The picture above is the unmanned version of their stand.
Then they got their first customers. One iced tea and one ice cream sandwich. The boys were on cloud nine! Then they got a moving van! Five ice cream sandwiches! I was thanking the Lord for successfully keeping the boys occupied with something that required them to cooperate with each other! AWESOME!

Then three hours passed. No customers. They were getting antsy....and annoying, but still claiming they wanted to be out there. Good for them. Perseverance! In the end, they earned $7 total that they were able to split. The day was done and Tim and I were blessed. He just sat on the lawn making sure they were okay and I tended to the garden and made dinner. One of the best Sundays with these boys EVER!

Jesus always has the best ideas. Without them, I know our weekend wouldn't have gone as smooth. He cares about the littlest need and shows His love in small ways, too! And so I pray...
Psalm 40:5
"Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare."
Thank you, Lord for a great weekend at work!

Dad's are always "ice-creamers".....HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

So this picture is fuzzy...I know, but with today being Father's Day and all, I thought it would be appreciated anyway......
So I was thinking about my dad today...as most of us are being it is Father's Day and all....and like this father here, my dad was always the one who gave us the sweets. :p You could always count on dad to give us the stuff mom didn't want us to have whether it was junk food or items my brother and I just "had to have". I liked that...didn't we all!? I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, too! Maybe it wasn't your dad, but SOMEONE in your family was like this! Right?
But let me give you one instance(though there were many) when my dad really blessed my brother and me with "sweet stuff".

It was Halloween about 1986...I think. My brother and I weren't into going "trick-or-treating" because of what it represented and my parents were wise to tell us what Halloween was 'really' about at a young age. But that year, my brother and I were feeling left out. We turned off all the lights and watched movies with mom...which was always fun. Dad was on his way home from work. I'm sure I was whining about wanting to just go to the neighbors' house to at least get a few pieces of candy and I'm sure my brother was just itching to get to his friend's house to eat some of his candy (his best friend at the time kept Halloween candy for YEARS! GROSS!). Mom was strong, though. Nope, not gonna go out. I think she may have made us cookies, though. Thanks, mom....but this story isn't about you. ;)

Then dad came home......He walked in the door, not knowing our Halloween "sorrows" and had four GIANT plastic grocery bags filled to the brim with candy! No joke! My brother and I got two bags apiece...FULL of candy. All sorts of candy...."Baby Ruth", "Butterfingers", "M & Ms", "Milky Way".....you name it, it was there. It was nuts! And yes, there were some of those in there, too! The best part was the look on my mom's face. :) But that was my dad. He couldn't bear to see his kids go without regardless of the situation. Thanks, Dad.

No, he's not perfect, but one thing I really know about my dad is that he does ALL he can to make sure that we know we're loved by him and his greatest desire is to represent Jesus to my brother and me. He represented our Heavenly Father with every word of encouragement he gave as my brother played baseball and basketball, as he pursued his academics and most of all, as he pursued the Lord. He represented our Heavenly Father with every "you can do it, Bethany", as I practiced to be the best saxophonist and felt the disappointment of losing. When I won, he represented Jesus with the "I'm proud of you and I'd love you even if you got last place". He represented Jesus as he encouraged me to write more, pursue art (even though "you can't make a living at it" as I've heard some fathers say!), and he showed no fear when I said my dream was to "live in a shack with a sharpei dog under a bridge in Scotland and play saxophone"! And when I said I wanted to live overseas and build orphanages and see children healed, happy, and walking with Jesus, he cried. That's my dad. He's shown me Jesus. Thanks, dad.
So, dad...I'm proud of YOU and I know that when it's all been said and done, his heavenly Father will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, James McClellan" . You have given amazing 'treasures' to your son and me here on earth, so I know you have TONS of treasures stored up in Heaven. I love you, Dad and Happy Father's Day!
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21

Growing hurts.....

Thank you for commenting on that last post...I was so blessed to receive messages from some of the dearest people in my life. That blessed me. Thanks.
I took this picture last night totally in awe of God's faithfulness in my garden. I usually only plant perennials because I really don't like to see what little money I can use toward gardening flushed down the toilet with flowers that never come back...I like knowing that the plant will come back. And so...I wait for spring, hoping that the flowers that appeared last year, will come up this year.....
I have several plants (like a Passion Flower, which I'll write a post about later...it's that COOL!) that keep me guessing whether they survived the winter storms or if they gave up and died. This year, because of the crazy weather we've been having, was no exception. This year actually seemed the worst!

Well, let me tell you what happened!.....I went out a few weeks ago and scattered throughout the garden were buds and new growth....ALL OVER. I was FILLED with hope and very thankful to God for another year of a healthy garden....I only fertilize, weed, and prune....but God is the One that makes them grow, 'cuz hey, He created them in the first place! But as they grew and got new buds, flowers and leaves.....THE APHIDS came....and then THE ANTS, then THE WHITE FLIES......then, the most evil of them all....THE EARWIG infested my growing, healthy garden with their pesky eggs and sap-sucking, leaf-eating pincher mouths! I WAS SOOO MAD! I thought I had controlled them with all the "natural" pesticides....but they were trying to devour everything. I prayed and slightly panicked...I fingered through every plant smashing the pests between my thumb and first finger...."SQUASH"! bug guts all over and I must say, I found it very satisfying. :)
Then something hit me....the bugs didn't get all my flowers....they were still flowering....some of them were growing insanely out of control! Some of the flowers were HUGE, too! Then I felt a nudge from the Lord saying that "Bethany, when things grow, they will be under attack....but despite the attacks, I make them grow and bear fruit. Expect the harsh winters and the pests, but fight them,AND I have already overcome them and have shown you I've overcome them with the abundance of fruit seen."
I was sooo blessed! It was another reminder of how He cares for us, His very own. We all know that when we are growing and God is on the move in our lives, our advesary, the devil, seeks to destroy us and sends his pesky pests to keep us from bearing fruit and sharing that fruit with others.
For example, I have felt sick ALL THE TIME this year, from salmonella, to IBS, to the colds and flus.....and while I have been fighting those attacks ('cuz that's what they are!) with the antihistamine and trying to eat foods that don't irritate the symptoms, I know that the most effective way to fight these attacks is through prayer and perseverance....spending time with my Jesus, my Healer and my Friend. I see the devil trying to debilitate me through these sicknesses, but my Healer gives me strength to fight and strength to continue to bear fruit despite. Hey, my fruit may be dripping with runny snot boogers, but it's still good fruit! The Lord just gives it a good washing! ;p (Sorry to gross you out!) John 15:3-5 says, "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." THIS IS SOO TRUE! I cannot WILL my plants to grow and I certainly cannot make the seeds germinate and push the ground out of the way for its leaves, I can't choose the color of the flower or make the fruit healthy....it is the faithfulness of God and the feeding on His Word that makes me grow (and I think it has a lot to do with the success of my REAL garden, too!)
This is my prayer and the cry of my heart...Psalm 1:2-3 says, " But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." AND Psalm 92:12-15 -The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him." Oh, if only my garden in the front yard would last THIS long! :) Thanks for reading!

Sometimes Angels ride bicycles!

Thanks for the comments, friends! They are much appreciated!
Tim took this photo a while ago and it reminded me of a recent "Jesus Sighting". :)
I was talking to a good friend of mine on the phone the other day while she was taking a VERY long walk on a VERY long trail. She was sharing some difficulties she's been having with a relationship. We were crying together and talking about the faithfulness of God no matter what circumstances we come across and that Jesus is also praying to God on our behalf. We began to pray that God would reveal His purposes through the difficulty and that He would be glorified regardless of the outcome. We asked the Lord to encourage her daily and to remind her that He would be with her along the way as she deals with the process of reconciliation. It was heavy and wonderful all at the same time.
And then something happened. She asked me to "Hang on a moment" because some guy on a bike was approaching her. I asked her if she knew the guy and she said she'd never seen him before. I was a bit nervous, so I listened close......

The guy rode up to her and said, "I noticed you've been crying and you've been walking a long time....I just wanted to say that everything's going to be okay and I bought you these.....oh, and by the way, you have great hair!" Then he rode off.

Ya know what he bought her? A BIG bouquet of flowers. What timing!!! God is sooo good! And to comment on her hair!? She's got AWESOME curly, fiery red hair....it really IS great hair.
Hearing the conversation take place, I was stunned. Stunned that God heard our prayers right then and there and had grace for us both! Not only was she blessed, but I was, too! We both knew it was a "Jesus Sighting" and that God was showing His faithfulness once again. WHOA! We had a BIG laugh and then got weepy again. She was convinced, once again, that Jesus cared where she was at. That's huge.
Psalm 118 reveals the merciful, faithful character of God when it repeats over and over, "His love endures forever". Regardless of outer circumstances and the hurt that others cause, "His love endures forever" and He shows it to us, sometimes through strangers! Read Psalm 118 and bask in His faithfulness!
And with the Holy Spirit praying for us daily, too, how can we not know that God is with us wherever we go and whatever we encounter!?
Romans 8: 25-27 says, "But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."
With the Holy Spirit interceding for us as we pray, we should be LOOKING for "Jesus Sightings"....I betcha there are a lot of potential "Sightings" that we fail to recognize....Has Jesus been sighted in your present circumstances? Mmmmm.

"Whose YOUR daddy?"

This is a picture of my neice from long ago...it reminded me of a scene I witnessed today on Granville Island. Tim and I took one of our boys from our group home to the Kids Market to play in the giant playplace (ya know the ones at McDonald's...the ones with the colored plastic balls you used to steal when you were in Junior High 'cuz you thought it was cool...?). Well, this one is bigger and costs a bit to get into.
Anyways, Tim and I sat at the bottom of the "tower of fun" watching our 8 year-old boy throw plastic balls at small children in the playplace...very entertaining. ;)
But something caught my eye.....there was a toddler climbing up the netting, jumping in the balls, sliding through small and narrow openings with everything she had. She was giggling and screaming with glee, her curly pigtails swishing around as she turned around every other second to see if her dad was still behind her.....did you catch that? HER DAD WAS IN THE PLAYPLACE! He was not a small and limber guy either....he wasn't some young guy or some athlete, but he was sliding and jumping and climbing through the place as though it didn't matter that every other kid couldn't get by his giant frame and that he could barely fit through the narrow child-size, no TODDLER-SIZE, openings! I was sooo impressed! The guy was totally into it and the little girl couldn't have been more pleased.

As I watched, I could tell with my "adult eyes" that he was growing weary...you know, the giant sighs, slower moving dives, trouble getting up....the signs. But the little girl just kept going, always checking to see if he was still behind her and when she slid through the small openings and it took her daddy a little longer, she would turn around and SCREAM! Seriously, SCREAM! She'd say, "DADDY!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!" And he would say (very patiently, I might add), "I'm right here, honey, Daddy's coming". I thought, "What a trooper!". My kid didn't want me to come in with him. I was a little glad for that, though.
Then the little girl would get bumped by one of the other kids (probably MY kid) and start to cry saying she wanted to get out and her daddy would say, "It's okay, you can stay, you'll be fine, just get up again" and she'd be off for another round. And then there were times when she's totally take a spill and he would scoop her up and carry her to the next level of the tower. I was blessed.
It reminded me of how God treats us, our Heavenly Father, our Daddy. He's always beside us and when we turn around, He's got our back. And, unlike this dad, He never tires! When we get beaten up by the bullies, He encourages us to stay in the game, brush ourselves off and get up again. When we TOTALLY screw up or fall, He sacrifices Himself and His comfort to bring us to the next level. Cool.
Psalm 17:8 says, "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings". King David (who wrote the Psalms) was like this little girl. She knew that no one loved her like her daddy and no one could protect her like he could. She knew just where to turn and even when she didn't feel like she needed him, she constantly looked behind her to catch his eye and he was always there....showing her that she was the "apple of his eye". I love that.
When the little girl stumbled, she wanted her daddy there and must have learned a thing or two from King David! He writes in Psalm 55:22 says "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." And just like our Lord, her daddy picked her up and put her right back in the game. I am and you are the "apple of His eye"! Our Daddy's coming!!!
Thanks for reading! I love your comments....

I'm an alien.....?

Sorry about the photo...I started this entry at my parents' house and this is all they had to upload from their computer and I am finishing it in Canada....but it DOES have some relevance to what I wanted to talk about today.....AND it IS a funny picture....actually, I don't really know how I feel about it....I wish things were THIS light and happy....
So this whole idea of Patriotism has got me thinking. I love the U.S. and I love Canada...I love the Dominican Republic, too. I am a US citizen and I reside permanently in Canada. I have always been aware of the strong patriotic feelings displayed in the US and have grown up with the false security it manufactures, but in Canada, putting up Canadian flags outside every home even on their "independence day" (Canada Day) is an oddity. Pictures of Servicemen in their uniforms on the front page of the newspaper is an oddity....pride in the military and in Canada's history is unusual...at least for this Vancouverite.....Mmmm.
Even as an United States-woman, I feel a teensy-bit barfy at the insane patriotism of my home country. Then I was drinking a Starbucks in my US neighborhood looking at all the 'patriotic' decor of the season...the leftovers from Memorial Day, the setting up for Flag Day and Independence Day. I spied a quote on my culturally current Starbucks cup...it said, "Our Species' survival depends on how fast we embrace the moral shift from "patriot" to "global citizen." (Chris Anderson- Curator of TED, a conference of leading thinkers in technology, entertainment and design.) I nearly spit out my coffee....how did this "unpatriotic" cup get into the US of A? And then something hit me......
Ephesians 2 talks about being aliens to this world and that we have our citizenship in Heaven when we have made Christ our Lord and Saviour....we are "fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" and as the song goes..."This world is not my home, I'm just a-passing through...my treasures are laid up for me somewhere beyond the blue" (that's the Southern Baptist version...look it up!).....and we are to store up treasures in Heaven.......... Hebrews 11:13-16 is one of my favorite passages because it reminds me that I am and will continue to live in a state of uncomfortable unsettlement because I am searching for a "country whose foundation is the Lord God". That's Heaven. Please do not misunderstand...patriotism is good (as long as it is not laced with arrogance) and it serves to encourage and build up (as long as it doesn't puff-up and divide). I like it. BUT......
What if Christians and Jesus lovers were patriotic for their true home.....Heaven. What if we had a "Salvation Day" or what if we made flags of Heaven (what would THOSE look like?) and hung those from our homes on earth instead of our flags showing our boundaries-"I am American and you are Canadian"....what if we had a day set aside to celebrate the fact that Jesus is preparing a place for us called Heaven where there are no immigration limitations or financial burdens to become a citizen or take refugee status...?? Just a committed and loving relationship with Jesus Christ secures your spot. Heaven is my home and though I have trouble being patriotic for any nation here on earth 'cuz I struggle to understand the boundaries man has made...I long to go to my true home and I'm proud to say where my true citizenship lies. And I don't think Mr. Anderson has it right either...I don't want to be a "global citizen"....too generic and a bit far out there for me. :)
Food for though, though....thank you everyone for the comments..I really appreciate them and they are such an encouragment. You are a blessing more than your know! More to come..........

Jesus always wears white....?

Allow me to veer off the "heart talk" for a minute or two as something hit me today......

So I was braiding one of our girls' hair today before school and she says, "Have you seen the Da Vinci Code?" Surprised that this would be an interest of our eleven year-old, I said, "Uhm, no, we're waiting for the DVD to come out, why?" She said that she wanted to see it and that she heard that it was made for the Catholic Church. I kinda laughed....Mmmm.

I told her that the movie was not necessarily a film supporting the church and was a poor representation of the Catholic and Christian faiths. She asked, "Why do they talk about Jesus, then?" I said that there are many religions and entertainment writers that talk about Jesus, but that doesn't mean they KNOW Jesus or are even referring to the RIGHT Jesus. She looked a little satisfied and asked, "Is Jesus in the movie?" I thought..."Interesting.....I wonder what she's heard?!" So I asked her..."What do you think?" She said that He probably wasn't in it, but He would have to be wearing white! I chuckled. "If there is a Jesus in the film, it would have to be played by an actor....why white?" I asked. She said, "Because Jesus is ALWAYS in white...that's how we know it's Him!...DUH!" I had to laugh at the "DUH" part. I then told her that Jesus was a carpenter and asked if she knew any construction workers.....did they always wear white while they were working? She shook her head. I asked her what she thought they wear....she said, "dirty clothes?" I smiled.
Yeah, carpenters wear clothes they can get dirty.....Jesus was probably dirty often....smelly, sweaty and Isaiah 53 :2 says that there was nothing desirable about His looks, either. She was shocked! So did Jesus always wear white? Our girl was convinced that He could wear whatever He wanted.
Striking that a child could recognize the sanctity of Jesus...the fact that He is set apart from all others and yet have very little concept of the fact that He came to earth fully human. I struggle with that, too. Yeah, His heart was pure like a white garment, but His appearance had to have been rough. The Bible tells us so.

I don't know about you, but I CANNOT STAND B.O. It's AWFUL! BUT.....Jesus may have had intense B.O.....He may have been sweaty most of the time...what about bad teeth, bad breath, dirty clothing most of the time.....HE COULD HAVE!! If I had a chance to visit Jesus' era when He was on earth and He wasn't wearing white and smelling of the flowers He created, would I recognize Him? Would I want to be around Him if He was 3 feet away from me strutting the stench of B.O. so bad my nosehairs fell out? Mmmm. Humbling thought. Would I still desire Him? Kids have a funny way of bringing me to my knees. I think I need to evaluate the assumptions I have about my Jesus and remember that God sent His only Son, Jesus, to MY level when He came to earth because He wanted to spend time with me and my rancid stench. Wow. I feel a bit of grace coming for B.O.!! Mmmm.

Hidden beauty....my heart?

My Grandma commented on the last post....that blessed me! I didn't even know that she was technologically in the know! Cool. Thanks, Grandma!
Last post we were discussing what it looks like to guard our heart....we have been told to guard our heart because it is the "wellspring of life". It involves our spirit, our emotions, our soul...it is multi-faceted.
So why this picture? Well, the house is actually only a few blocks away from us and Tim took this picture because the house seemed so out of place in busy, city-scaped Vancouver. It almost looks like we're way out in the country, eh?
It reminded me of the way I sometimes see myself...grungy, out of place, broken-down, and needing a BIG makeover. My 'windows' are broken, my 'paint's' peeling, and I just generally need to be put out of my misery....BULLDOZED! But in this house I saw character....history....unfinished business......some hidden glory...I liked it. And it hit me....that's how Jesus sees me. I can just imagine the many memories inside the outer walls. Oh, if walls could talk, I'd sooooo wanna hang out in this house! ;p I bet there's hardwood floors and the attic's full of dust, perhaps there are some heirlooms of past owners.....maybe even things hidden in the walls! Who knows!?
But Jesus sees my insides....the innermost being.....the inside walls....He sees my heart and its character, my history covered in His blood, forgiveness....He sees the incredible plan He has for me and calls me precious.....and one day I'll walk in His glory.....Mmmm. Like last posts' Proverbs 4 passage, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life", I am beginning to understand why it is so important to guard my heart...it is so precious to the One who created it. My outsides might look rough, but Proverbs doesn't tell me to guard my physical form....my brown hair, my peachy skin, or even my stalky limbs, it says to "guard my heart". THAT'S what is precious.
I heard on the news the other day that a man in Vancouver poured gas around his ex-girlfriend's house and when in the act, was caught by her. The man took off after lighting the blaze and the girlfriend did not choose to put out the growing fire with a nearby hose, protecting the outer core of the house and any unsightly damage, but she ran as fast as she could INSIDE the house to grab her sleeping children and any important belongings and race them out of harm's way. The fire department was able to save the majority of her home, but based on her immediate reactions, the physical appearance of her home was not her concern, it was what the house contained, what it guarded....
My shell contains my heart and my heart belongs to the Lord Jesus and He shares His presence with me there....it is so precious to Him. I am just beginning to grasp the importance of a guarded heart. Thanks for reading....let me know your thoughts. I am still learning about this heart stuff..... more to come......