EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS!!

Many of you who read my blog will know that I am in the process of preparing to go to Ukraine as a full-time missionary, focusing on ministering particularly to the needs of the orphans there.

I moved to BC in October to live with my parents while I am raising my support, and there have been many changes, some easier than others, but God is ALWAYS FAITHFUL!

I have some debts from the car that I left behind in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and so I have been prayerfully seeking a job that would enable me to take care of those financial obligations and set some savings aside as well. It has taken some time, but Praise the Lord, I have a full-time job starting on Monday! I will be working alongside another Christian and so I am praying for grace to bring Christ's light into that place.

Financial support is beginning to come in and I have a strong prayer team behind me...I also have had some contacts which I am trusting will lead to opportunities to share about this ministry that God has laid on my heart and that He is preparing me for. I am excited to see how God continues to surprise me with His provision and grace!!
    - DEC. 4 - I have an opportunity to share some photos from my trip this summer and about the ministry we were a part of.
    - DEC. 11 - I have been given time to share in the morning worship service about this ministry with the church family here in Ashcroft.

This is so NOT about me, and I am very grateful for the circumstances God has allowed to remind me of this. As long as I am obedient and completely trusting, I know that He will accomplish His good plans, and it is wonderful to know the peace of being in His perfect will.

GIVING THANKS...

   Just before I left Thunder Bay, a friend gave me a book to read...it's called ONE THOUSAND BLESSINGS, by Ann Voskamp. It is a different writing style than I am used to, so it took me a little while to get into the book, but once I did, the truths that it contained gave me a new perspective, or lens, to see life through, one that has completely changed the way I interact with day-to-day life.

   And just as she did, so I began a "One Thousand Blessings" dare of my own...to write down 1000 blessings -- even the things that might not at first glance seem like a blessing. I'm more than halfway there, and every day I find myself giving thanks for God's gracious hand in EVERYTHING.

   It really is a change in perspective, and it is the beginning of true joy -- to give thanks. I want to share with you just a few insights from the book that have impacted me and I hope that they speak to you in some way as well...

Is the height of my chara joy dependent on the depths of my eucharisteo thanks?

As long as thanks is possible, then joy is always possible. Joy is always possible. The holy grail of joy is not in some exotic location or some emotional mountain peak experience. The joy wonder could be here! Here, in the messy, piercing ache of now, joy might be - unbelievably - possible! The only place we need see before we die is this place of seeing God, here and now.

Charis. Grace.

Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving.

Chara. Joy.

Sozo means salvation. It means true wellness, complete wholeness. To live sozo is to live the full life. Jesus came that we might live life to the full; He came to give us sozo. And when did the leper receive sozo - the saving to the full, whole life? When he returned and gave thanks.

Our very saving is associated with our gratitude. If our fall was the non-eucharisteo, the ingratitude, then salvation must be intimately related to eucharisteo, the giving of thanks. Jesus counts thanksgiving as integral in a faith that saves.

We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if not with thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is the manifestation of our Yes! to His grace. Thanksgiving - giving thanks in everything - prepares the way that God might show us His fullest salvation in Christ.

She quotes from Alexander Schememan:

"Now, in the Bible a name...reveals the very essence of a thing, or rather its essence as God's gift...To name a thing is to manifest the meaning and value God gave it, to know it as coming from God and to know its place and function within the cosmos created by God. To name a thing, in other words, is to bless God for it and in it."

And then she writes her own thoughts:

In naming that which is right before me, that which I'd otherwise miss, the invisible becomes visible. I name. And I know the face I face. God's! God is in the details; God is in the moment. God is in all that blurs by in a life - even hurts in a life.

This act of naming grace moments...moves beyond the shopping list variety of prayer and into the other side. And I see it now for what this really is, this dare to write down one thousand things I love. It really is a dare to name all the ways that God loves me. The true Love Dare. To move into His presence and listen to His love unending and know the grace uncontainable. This is the vault of the miracles.

Jesus embraces the not enough...He gives thanks...and there is more than enough! Eucharisteo always precedes the miracle. And who doesn't need a miracle like that every day? The real problem in life is never a lack of time. The real problem of life - in my life - is lack of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving creates abundance; and the miracle of multiplying happens when I give thanks - take the just one loaf, say it is enough, and give thanks - and He miraculously makes it more than enough.

Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings on me!!!

MY GOOD, HIS GLORY

On Wednesday, September 28th, I was finally ready to embark on my cross-country journey...

The car was packed, and I had shared many wonderful times with friends before I left my home in Thunder Bay. I had no idea what awaited me that day, or how the particular Scripture I read and meditated on that morning would be just exactly what I needed.

I had filled up with gas and then begun driving out of the city...it had only been about 20-25 minutes, when at the intersection of Hwy 102 and Mapleward Road my car died! There was a gas station on the right hand side, so I pulled off and stopped. After trying unsuccessfully to start the car, I called my mechanic (who was at his shop) and he said that he would take a look at it if I could get it there. I then called the tow truck and my friends with whom I had stayed the last few nights -- all these phone calls were courtesy of the kind man who operates the gas station -- and within 1 hour the car was at my mechanic's auto shop.

It wasn't long before we discovered that it would be a costly repair to fix the car, which was already leaking oil pretty badly. I called my dad and he recommended that I rent a vehicle to make the trip out west, since I wasn't planning on keeping the car once I arrived in BC anyway. This turned out to be quite a bit more expensive than I desired, but really my only option, since I really needed to get on the road. And God even provided a surprise monetary gift to help with the expense -- He is SO good!!

Here I am with the 1997 Chrysler Intrepid all packed full the night before I left:

Here is the 2011 Ford EDGE that I rented from Enterprise for the trip to BC:

The trip went very well...I drove from Thunder Bay, Ontario to Elm Creek, Manitoba in 9 hours and didn't encounter any wildlife, nor did I sense exhaustion until I reached my destination - PRAISE THE LORD! On Friday, Sept. 30 my mom arrived in Winnipeg by plane and then we drove for the next 3 days together, arriving in Ashcroft, BC on Monday around 4:30 pm. The rental vehicle was very nice, except that the seats were not comfortable on our backs.

After getting settled in my new "temporary" home, on Thursday I opened up my devotional journal and read what I had written down on the morning I left Thunder Bay as I meditated on Psalm 73...

I love how Asaph ends this psalm:

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all your works.

Sometimes we need to come to the end of ourselves to realize that God is our strength and our portion.

Lord, may it be true in my heart that I desire nothing on earth besides You.

I agree with Asaph that it is good to draw near to God - we see the short-sightedness of our vision and the goodness and faithfulness of the one in whom we've put our trust. And the reason why we've put our trust in Him is so that we can declare all of HIS works, not ours.

Lord, help me to see Your hand in everything, and to declare Your works even when it doesn't make sense to me. Thank You that You do not forsake Your own and that You care about all that concerns us. May I trust You more and more each day.

It is NOT a coincidence that I was reflecting on God's goodness in the midst of circumstances we cannot understand on the day where my travel plans would need to be adjusted...and it didn't take long for me to see just how good God was in all that transpired that day --

- my car died (literally) in front of a gas station, not on the highway in the middle of nowhere
- my mechanic was at his shop early that morning and was able to tell me what was wrong
- the car rental company went the extra mile to help me out with the unexpected expense
- God provided some extra funds to help with the trip
- I had safe travel the entire time and a reliable car to drive

As children of our loving Heavenly Father, we know that all of the things we experience are for our good and His glory, because He has promised to "never leave or forsake us" and that "He will complete the work that He started in us."