Children

I love children for a number of reasons, and a big one is that they provide me with lots of stories to share, some funny, others ridiculous, and many random...

I was babysitting three kids, all under the age of ten, and they had a trampoline in their backyard. I was supervising the two boys (ages 4 and 6) jumping on the trampoline when I heard a loud CRASH come from the kitchen. I turned my back for less than a minute to see that the girl (8) had dropped a pan on the floor while the 4 year old boy had been bounced off the trampoline by his older brother. As I picked the youngest boy off the ground and assessed his condition, the older boy ran out of the yard around the house to the front yard where I soon found him jumping and screaming on top of the family van. At this time, while I was trying to convince the boy to get down, a woman walked by with her dog and the first thing out of my mouth was, "I'm just babysitting! He's not my kid!"

Christmas season was fast approaching and, as I was organizing the toys on the shelf at work, there was a particularly enthusiastic little girl shopping with her mom. As soon as the little girl entered the toy aisle she gasped loudly and began exclaiming "OH MY GOSH!" followed by "LOOK MOM! IT'S A (insert names of various toys sold at Canadian Tire here)" This went on for about 5 minutes.

A little boy was carrying a bike horn in his hand and squeezing it over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. I think he and his parents are deaf.

Some twins I know played hairdresser one time and one of the girls ended up with shorter hair than she wanted. When I told her it looked nice she snapped at me and said, "No it's CUT OFF!"

One of the high school students that participates in drama for the kids at church on Sunday morning had just finished one of his scenes and a little 7 year old girl beside me told me, "His voice is sooo adorable!"

When I was 4 I had a friend over (also 4) and it was early spring and we were playing in my backyard. Before I know it my 2 year old brother is butt-naked in the kiddie pool (which had nothing but a tiny mud puddle in it). I ran and reported the scene to my mother with tears streaming down my face and when she asked my brother what he was doing he promptly replied, "I'm smimming!"

I asked a 5 year old boy to tell me a joke. He thought really hard about it for a few seconds and then his eyes lit up and he said, "JOKE!"

A 9-year-old girl I was babysitting wanted me to paint her nails. She first had me "try out" the colours she liked on my nails and then proceeded to have me paint the same multicoloured pattern on her own nails. Then she smiled and said, "Now we're twins!"

I was sitting on the floor watching a number of children play together when all of the sudden I hear, "Oh it didn't work that good." A couple of 7 year old girls were standing behind me with an open lip gloss container and they were looking at me with concerned looks on their faces. "It didn't make your hair pretty!" One of the girls blurted out. It took a few washes for me to get the light pink sparkly sticky substance out of my hair.

Those stories are the only ones I can think of at the moment but having babysat and worked with the kids at church for so many years, I can't help but love them!

Refocus

These past two weeks have been difficult. I've done a lot of stupid things. Even while knowing that God is everything that I need and that He knows what is best, I have once again inched my way toward the line of worldliness. But God has had mercy on me once again. Extremely thankful that He will never let me go, I repented and have been working to refocus.

I am loved by the Creator of the universe, and I would dare to think about throwing it all away for the "love" of man?
May God help me to never think that way again.

My Dad told me an analogy about three pop cans: The first one is perfect, never opened, not damaged in any way, whole. The second is as if it is about to burst, both top and bottom pushed to the limit. The third has exploded completely, crushed beyond repair. Some Christians have learned what it means to be content, to know that God is their everything, and they rest in that. Others are desperately clinging onto things of this world, desires of the flesh, and are finding themselves under increasing pressure. And still others have collapsed under the pressure and have given up on God altogether.

These past couple of months I know that I have been the second pop can and I want so desperately to be the first pop can. I want to be confident in the Lord and humbly living out what I believe. But I recognize that this is impossible without the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. I need to learn to listen and obey. To come out of the cold, dark, unloving freezer of the world and humbly allow God to thaw me out and reshape me in His loving arms.

And so I pray...

Holy Spirit, living Breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Bring the presence of the risen Lord
To renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see;
Give me passion for Your purity.
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.

Holy Spirit, come abide within;
May Your joy be seen in all I do--
Love enough to cover ev'ry sin
In each thought and deed and attitude,
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
Gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my striving into works of grace.
Breath of God, show Christ in all I do.

Holy Spirit, from creation's birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show Your power once again on earth;
Cause Your church to hunger for Your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise.
Lead us on the road of sacrifice
That in unity the face of Christ
Will be clear for all the world to see.

- Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

Dear Friend

I have to admit that the day I met you I was unsure of...well...anything and everything about you really. I did not know you and I did not interact with you much but I knew that I liked you. I still do by the way...

Now as the years went by and we conversed a bit more I discovered that you were vaguely familiar with my best friend, but not completely convinced about Him. This knowledge caused me to struggle. In fact I've since struggled with my emotions and have been earnestly pleading with God in prayer about you. 

I am consistently reminded that there are very few things that I can do to encourage you towards one day choosing to be best friends with my best friend too. 

What is it about my best friend that scares you? Is He too demanding, too unaccepting, too complicated? Well, to tell you the truth, He is all of those things and more, but you must know the reasons why He is the way He is. 

My best friend is Jesus Christ, and He is Lord of my life.

He is too demanding in a sense because we as mere humans can never live up to His standards on our own. 

He is too unaccepting for us because we are sinners and He, being holy, cannot stand the presence of sin.

He is too complicated because He is God, and we cannot possibly understand everything about Him.

And yet He is also NOT too demanding, too unaccepting, or too complicated. How?

We deserve to die for breaking God's laws but instead Jesus died in our place and made a way for us to someday be in heaven with Him. So Jesus is not too demanding because, with His power, we are capable of following all of His commands. He is not too unaccepting because anyone and everyone who repents of their sin and chooses to follow Christ will be saved from eternal punishment and welcomed into heaven and given eternal life. He is also not too complicated because He has revealed to us everything we need to know in the Bible. 

I know that I cannot convince you to believe in any of this, my friend, but I hope that you would consider a few things...

Do you think I'm smart? If so, do you think I would waste my time being a Christian and trying to convince you to be one too if I did not KNOW the truth?

Also, do you think that going to church is sketchy because it might cause you to consider becoming a Christian? And what would be wrong with that?

Finally, do you trust me enough that I would not try and get you involved in something that would be more harmful than beneficial to you?

I understand the fear that you have about the changes that God requires you to make in your life should you choose to follow Him. I will be honest that it is not an easy choice to make, and it is not an easy life to live by any means. My friendship with you speaks volumes to this as you have poked fun at my beliefs on a number of occasions. But yet the loving care that I have for you has only increased over time because I know that eternal life is worth the extra effort. 

I know that you do not enjoy my discussing these matters with you at this point but I hope that someday you would come to church and/or at least explore the truth for your sake. I continue to intercede for you in prayer, whether you want me to or not, because I am stubborn and care too much about you and want you in heaven with me.

Your friend, 

Jessica

I Like Sushi

Now that is quite the understatement because I LOVE sushi! I maybe eat it only four or five times a year but it is a treat every time. Today I went with a few of my close friends to I Like Sushi, a place that serves sushi and also has a large Chinese buffet. Great food in general. You can see the delicious morsels of sushi displayed below...

Now when you arrive at an all-you-can-eat sushi place such as I Like Sushi, it helps to be familiar with what you are ordering and how much you and your friends can eat because if you do not finish everything you order, you pay for the leftovers on top of the base rate. This particular time my friends and I ordered way too much (this is not the first time this has happened either) and my stomach seemed to get more and more angry at me as more sushi rolls appeared on the table. By the time we all felt absolutely stuffed to the max, there were just a few little pieces of sushi left and we were tempted to do this...

But we didn't. Congrats to my friends for eating so much sushi! We got more than double of what we payed for for sure :). Despite feeling like a bloated tonne of bricks, I still LOVE sushi. 

A Noteworthy Prayer

The following is a prayer of a man named Moses, known as the man of God. I call this a noteworthy prayer because of the contents. See how deeply Moses knew God and how he describes the relationship between God and his servants (Moses included)...

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You return man to dust and say, 'Return, O children of man!'

For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.

For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed.

You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh.

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?

So teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.

Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!" - Psalm 90

As I read this I noted a few things:

- Moses first acknowledges God as Lord and "our dwelling place in all generations" which displays his understanding that God is omnipresent or everywhere all at once.

- He then talks about how God has no beginning and no end and is our Maker who is in control of what happens to us and when.

- Moses also reveals that God is all-knowing, and he knows all the wrong that we've ever done. Nothing is kept secret from Him. It is true that not many people consider the power of God or his anger towards sin.

- Moses pleads with God to help us to be wise in our days here on earth and to have pity on those who would be servants of God. We suffer because of sin and we should long for the joy and gladness that only comes from God as he has offered forgiveness to us without price.

- The last few lines in this prayer of Moses discuss the work of God and our work here on earth. The work should be synonymous all for the glory of God.

In summary, I make this prayer my own as I begin another year of school. I want the work of my hands to be what God would have me do. I want to make every day of my life count, gaining wisdom from the truth of God's Word every morning as I live. I want to know the way that God feels when I sin against him so that I may hate my sin enough to turn from it. Most of all I want to see the power of God, I want him to return in all of his glory soon. May my Lord strengthen me as I seek to do his will.