Category Archives: Christian Living

Wonder: 4 links + an assignment

It was almost a year ago at Write! Canada that God challenged me to open my eyes and see with wonder–a lesson I too quickly forgot! He’s been reminding me again, and it’s finally time to read my copy of Margaret Feinberg’s Wonderstruck that’s been waiting since Christmas. Part of the reminder came through some blog posts that I encourage you to read if you’re at all in need of a wonder-attitude-enthusiasm infusion.

At Hello God, Welcome to My Classroom, Linden Barrick muses on how rarely we encounter something special that brightens our spirits, when there are special touches in every day. [Read Where is My Enthusiasm]

Jon Rouse encourages us to learn to live each day aware of God’s presence and of the good things around us. [Read Life So Aware]

At Magellan Life Coaching, Reba J. Hoffman looks beyond the “glass half-empty or half-full” and urges us to enjoy the water. [Read Drink What’s There]

And author Grace Fox calls us to see again with childlike wonder. [Read Rediscovering the Wonder of Creation]

Those were the four links. Here’s the assignment:

Take a minute, or two, or three… what do you see in this photo? Really see? Yes, there’s a dandelion, and weed or no, it’s kind of pretty. See the delicate white blossoms on what’s probably another weed? Take a look at the grass (and weed leaves!) How many different types of leaves are there? How many different shades of green?

There is wonder all around us, my friends. The universe is practically dripping with it. Wonder and the glory of God. May He open our eyes to see and our hearts to receive. Have a wonder-full day!

Songs of Home

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Before Canadian East Coast music hit the national/international scene, we locals had been enjoying it for years. I remember sitting in a small auditorium, feeling the power of the audience singing along to “We Are an Island.”

The song is Cape Breton Island’s unofficial anthem. Cape Breton is a large, beautiful island on the north-eastern tip of Nova Scotia, and many of its sons and daughters have “gone down the road” to find employment. Like the other Atlantic Canadians, they’ve taken their music with them.

Singing along, caught up in the longing for home even though I was home, I found myself wishing for my own musical links. Yes, Nova Scotia has its own unofficial anthems but lovely as they are, they don’t resonate that way with me. And I’m blessed to be still living in my native province.

Songs of home implies the love and longing for a place we can’t yet be. Like the East Coast music to a displaced Maritimer or Newfoundlander. Like the songs the Israelites sang in the Babylonian captivity.

Not that I ever wanted to be exiled or homesick! But when you listen to the songs, there’s a sense of unity, of belonging. A sense of something bigger than the individual.

Years later, I know I’ve found my songs of home, and they’re everything I thought they’d be.

I’ve stood in crowds of concertgoers, united in our longing for God, singing worship songs led by the Newsboys, Robin Mark, Steven Curtis Chapman, David Crowder. I’ve stood in smaller congregations on Sunday mornings, singing songs of home led by worship teams or solo musicians. And I’ve sung along to my mp3 player when only God was listening.

What are some of your songs of home?

A Song on Good Friday

4 Links to Get us Motivated

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Can we make a difference? Sometimes the task looks too big. Here are four posts I’ve found really helpful:

When the requirements look like more than we can possibly meet, Bobbi Junior reminds us that God doesn’t ask for perfection–He asks for obedience. Read Obedience versus Excellence.

At Chatting at the Sky, Emily Freeman identifies one thing we’re waiting for (and why it’s time to stop). Follow the link to see what’s holding us back.

At Hearing the Heartbeat, Carolyn Watts writes: “Most things that matter are way too big for little me. But it’s not my job to make them happen.” What is our job? Read the full post: When it’s Hard to Get Going.

Sometimes it’s not that task is so huge, it’s the number of things calling for our attention. For those times, Mary Waind at Beech Croft Tales has some good words on Focus.

Celebrating Encouragement

Rational Worship

Hurtful Names, Hope-filled Names

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Sticks and stones can break our bones, but name-calling and negative labels hurt us too. Australian novelist Paula Vince has an excellent post about this: To get rid of the reproach of Egypt.

In crawling out from under hurtful labels, I want to step into my identity as one who is shepherded by the Lord Jesus Christ, secure in His love, provision and care.

I don’t need any label other than the new name He will give me at the end. Or so I thought.

“You are a worshipper.”

When I heard those words, they fit. Well, they described what I want to grow into.

People have called me plenty of good things since my schooldays, but those words never stuck.

Some of that was my insecurity, not being able to receive compliments. Some was self-knowledge. Like every other person on the planet, I know the darkness that lives in me with the light.

“You are kind.” No, but God is growing kindness in me.

“You are honest.” No, but God is growing honesty in me.

“You are a worshipper.”

Well, I’m not yet, not completely. Not like I want to be. But I can receive that as an affirmation, an encouragement and perhaps a signpost. God is growing worship in me.

How about you? The next time someone identifies good in you, instead of thinking how far short you fall from perfection in that area, can you recognize a spark of the good? Instead of denial and defeat, can you speak hope for what God is growing?

Photo credit: Janet Sketchley

[Linked to Wednesday’s Word. This first appeared as a guest post on Grace Fox’s blog, Daring. Deep. Devoted.]

Perspective

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There’s something about a new year that can get us thinking. Here are six good posts that helped me start with a healthy perspective:

At Life So Aware, Jon Rouse encourages us to keep a positive outlook. (Read Perception)

At Beech Croft Tales, Mary Waind points out that our attitudes and expectations have a lot to do with the way we respond or react to others. (Read No Offence Intended)

At Under the Cover of Prayer, Cherry Warrick asks, What is the Size of Our Prayers?

At Other Food: daily devos, Violet Nesdoly gives three practical tips on how to embrace the new year “with a Caleb-like faith.” (Read A Caleb Spirit)

Bobbi Junior asks “When stuff happens in my life, do I let it take precedence, or do I weigh it in light of all the other things going on…” (Read Top of the Priority List)

And at Captured by God, Jenny shares an example of how to choose to believe God’s perspective instead of our own natural feelings. (Read Spirit of Joy)

Will we see the scarred pavement, muddy marks and old leaves, or will we see the heart?

Piercing the Gloom

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After an evening struggling with discouragement, I woke the next morning from a dream about outnumbered soldiers in a battle where miracles were the only thing keeping them safe, where the final defenses were nearly breached but where victory may have happened at the end. And where the stakes were higher than the soldiers’ lives—where God had a higher purpose.

Lying in bed, thinking about my dream, I got a song: the Newsboys’ “Never Surrender, Never Say Die.”

Then my morning reading included this verse:

As soon as I pray, you answer me;
you encourage me by giving me strength.
Psalm 138:3, NLT*

Wow… I’d been praying for help, for focus and encouragement. I’d been doing my feeble best to keep my thoughts God-centered in the gloom.

This verse tells me God heard. And He answered as soon as I prayed. Not that I experienced the answer then, but I wonder how much easier the night would have been if I’d counted the prayer answered as soon as I prayed it—if I’d begun to thank Him for what He was in the process of doing, instead of waiting until I saw for myself.

Encouraged? Yes. Challenged? Yes. Thank You, God, and please help me be ready for next time.

∞

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cookies and Mangers

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Perfection… the bar was set pretty low, I thought. I was making Christmas cookies. I don’t bother with fancy-decorated ones, but when I roll them out and cut the little shapes, I do like them to be intact and to look like they should.

The cookies weren’t cooperating. Some tore, but mostly they just clung to the countertop when I tried to lift them to the baking sheet, compressing their crisp shapes into long, thin caricatures.

All I wanted was to bake something nice for my family, and suddenly I was dealing with a “take every thought captive and don’t feel sorry for yourself” moment.

The moment passed, the cookies went in the oven, and look what came out. Don’t say God doesn’t have a sense of humour. Would it have mattered if they’d gone on the tray perfectly?

Can you tell what they’re supposed to be? Guess I didn’t get the recipe quite right — they swelled up and lost their sharp edges. If you squint a bit, you can find trees, stars and teapots.

But it got me thinking about how we want everything perfect. And about how messy, dusty, smelly and just plain unsuitable the Bethlehem stable was as the birthplace of the Saviour of the world.

Some suggest the stable was a blessing to Mary and Joseph, a haven from the noise, overcrowding and general mayhem of the guestrooms. Maybe so. It definitely made the shepherds’ visit easier. But it was hardly “perfect”.

Look at what was perfect, though: the timing, the fulfillment of the Bethlehem prophecy, the willing mother and surrogate father, God Himself in human form. The symbolism: the Divine in a humble, earthly mess.

So maybe the lesson from my cookies is to discern which elements need my best efforts at excellence and which are “optional extras”. And to trust God’s perfect working even when I don’t meet my own expectations.

The One Whose Plans Are Always Perfect (oldthingsrnew.wordpress.com)

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