Ordinary Miracle

Each Day is a gift.

Someone said, "Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed." (Last Child in the Woods, Page 292- A great read, if you're looking for something to pick up).

So, of course, I am sending you to another song. This is Srah McLachlan's song, "Ordinary Miracle" and it reminds me of Tamara because she always views life with radical amazement. Her and I joke that if people ever hear us talk, they must chuckle to themselves, simply because of the fact that we use the word "beauty" so often when we converse. We aren't overdoing it at all. The thing is she is a rare gem who is able to see the remarkable things in life. These radical moments capture her and often move her to tears and I find that beautiful. She inspires me.

So here you have it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urv7tyeJ7qE

This is one of the best places I have ever been to- Sabang Beach, Palau Weh, Sumatra, Indonesia. I would love to go there with you one day Tamara so we could soak up the sun and take in every beautiful moment in a place that is dear to my heart. Trip when I finish school?

Let's go!

growing growing

Growing, Growing, Growing

At first glance, you may wonder why I have posted these Pictures. What are these things anyway? This must stem out of spending time with a landscaper. These are cypress trees- cupressus. If you are willing to, you can learn something new everyday. But many times we must put ourselves in a position to be able to see. This is not an advertisement or anything of that sort, but rather a compliation of several thoughts that are best depicted through these pictures of growing trees. Let me try to first explain the title.

After reflecting on this past year, I feel like everything in my life is growing. I explained to Donny that my eyes are growing in order to allow me to see more and my heart is expanding, and larger than it has ever been. God is enabling me to see more and to gain wisdom and insight from others. God is calling me to something bigger than myself and using people, circumstances and experiences to enliven each day.

I was drawn to this first picture because it illustrates that God's hands are holding us. What happens if we spend time with the Father? Healing, joy, comfort, rest, peace (just to name a few).

Next, I chose this picture of the small trees growing together. It shows community. Being together is better than being alone. May our love for one another be genuine and may we honour one another (Romans 12:9). The Scriptures call us to grow in the knowledge of God. (Colosians 1:10, 2 Peter 3:18)This means to not just know about God, but to literally step into more of who God is and to scout out his attributes.

I've been asking the question, "Why do people come into our lives?" I've been trying to answer it in a few ways: Firstly, I believe we can learn from everyone we meet. Sometimes we have to look at what this person can teach us and how their life experiences can give us insight. I've also been thinking about how each person conributes to our own life experience. Finally I've been thinking that if each person bears the image of God, he/she must somehow direct us closer to God, revealing something about His character (ie. creativity, intellect, logic, the list goes on...). Do you have any other ideas that I didn't include? I could learn from you.

Finally, I included this last picture to show how big the cypresses are growing (all together, too!). I am including two excerpts from emails. Perhaps I should set the stage a little bit here. I realized after reading this post that it didn't make sense without a brief prologue. D and I have become walking partners. We often reflect on life and wrestle with some of life's big issues that we face and are working through. As I learned in science class today, we are constantly, de-constructing and then re-constructing our understanding of the world around us. We went for a walk the other day (to my favorite place, I must add) and this is a short message from D about his thoughts about that day. "...The best part of the lesson was when we got to the top of the hill at the end of the walk [and] you turned around and said, 'Look How Beautiful This Is' and I said, 'all I see was a farmer's field and I would get hay fever in the summer.' You saw beauty and I saw only grass. Look at what I missed (The beauty that God made). What a lesson you taught me. A person could not buy that lesson, you had to be there. "

[now look at me, trying to tell you about it although you weren't there!]

What he said was truly beautiful, and touched me deeply. We just don't know the impact we have sometimes, especially in the small moments. But the beauty is there. I wish we could capture the beautiful moments in a jar. My life has been increased by having D involved in it. In an attempt to let him know how much he has impacted me (for the good), and I'll try to capture just a few things he has taught me over the last year. He has taught me

~to listen

~ the value of being there for someone through thick and thin

~ the value of taking time to wrestle with things and carefully consider one's words, decisions and actions

~ the need to hear others speak honestly and that sometimes the truth is hard to accept

~ the value of words through spoken and written encouragement and affirmation

~the value of being real. Often times, people are too afraid to be real, probably because they have seldom seen other people expose themselves emotionally and do not know what it means to trust. There is real beauty, however, when we act out of trust instead of fear.

It's amazing which Tall Trees God puts in our lives- Which people we will grow with and grow beside. Sometimes we come across the most interesting Tall Trees, "unlikely friends" but truly Kindred Spirits who are meant to share part of the same stretch of land with us. Let's not be afraid to grow with one another.

New Year

Happy [almost] New Year!

I will post some reflections from the last year when I have a chance to gather some thoughts and sit down to write. I should probably start a new journal. I loved it when I kept a journal for a couple of months this past year.

I thought I would post a few pictures of a local place I have fallen in love with. I love my daily walks and there's something about the Mission Bridge that intrigues me. Maybe there is a lot of symbolism involved with Bridges. Whatever it is, I love the Mission Bridge and the picturesque lanscape that surrounds it.

Merry Christmas!

This is one of my favorite spots. I went for 3 walks here this past week. This is my Fraser Valley- My home. Isn't it spectacular? I can bring you for a walk here sometime if you want to take it in for yourself!




Psalm 24:1 "The Earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it."

eye-contact

Been thinking about a lot of stuff lately. But one of the main things I've been captivated with is continually "coming" to the Father. I was inspired this week! Revelation 22 talks about how we call out to God to "come" to us and he calls to us to "come" to him. Isn't that beautiful? Think, the bride and the groom are both calling one another to themselves. It even says that the deep parts of us call out to God. "Come Lord Jesus Come" and he responds and says "I am coming!" Until that time we can still commune with Him. I've been reminded to realign myself with God. That means that I pause to be still and inquire of the Father's heart to see where he would prompt me. What do you want me to do? What would you have me say? God, what is your heart in this situation? I want to keep my eyes focused on Jesus so as to stay in his will. I want to keep checking in with my Father, but I've been reminded that you have to learn how to maintain eye contact with someone else. To be honest, sometimes it's doesn't come naturally. I hope he doesn't mind if I share this with "the world" here on my blog, but I wanted to share an example of simply walking with Christ and taking the posture of looking to him in all situations.



On Saturday I had my work Christmas party and J joined me for it and the thing from the evening that stuck out the most was that he suggested that we pray for the people before we go to the party. I thought, "wow, we need to keep that kind of eye-contact with the Father throughout the day to be able to listen to his promptings and to be in prayer for those around us." It was actually a great privilege to be able to pray for the poeple who were hosting us and I tell you all this because I want this to become more and more of my way of thinking. I remember when I was in Cambodia and my friend D said that we need to always be in communion with the Father, in every conversation and every situation so we can hear what we need to do at that moment. This was the case when the children were coming up to us and begging for money and trying to sell us things. It took a lot of asking the Father how he wanted us to respond in each situation. I pray that we would more and more become people who seek God's face throughout the day. I think both of us were pausing throughout the evening to inquire of the Father's heart and what he wanted us to do and then follow his Spirit's leading. Although we were there to be served, our prayer was that we would serve those around us. We were in a situation with people who are very educated but do not have a relationship with God. Our prayer is for them to encounter God's love. Praise God that he is a God who is relentlessly pursuing people.



J has reminded me that we have a high calling in this world as those who love Christ. Our calling is to intentionally keep eye-contact with the father and to be willing to listen to the Spirit's leading. We really want to bring Christ into all avenues we go; however, we realize that God is so concerned about each person's heart that there is not a one-size fits all type of thing we can do to show poeple who Christ is. That's why we desire to seek the Father in every situation, asking if/how he wants us to respond in a given situation. Does someone need a word of encouragement? Does someone have a physical need I can meet? Can I pray for someone? I believe that the Kingdom of God is at hand, it says this in God's word, and we have the Holy Spirit with us always. In the last week, J has been so intentional about looking to God and discerning what the Lord would have him do. It's been an amazing thing to hear him describe how the Lord has called him to be bold in sharing his faith with others and really giving God glory by telling the testimony of God at work in his life. Sometimes we are called to speak, and sometimes we aren't. However, since God is most concerned with the heart, he cares most deeply about our desire to maintain eye-contact with him. All of this stems out of us receiving Christ's love and allowing it to affect how we live our lives. Without Christ's love at work in our lives, we are nothing. Grace reminded me of this:

"We all cannot do great things, but we can do small things with great love." Mother Teresa

I think that the small things we do with great love are the things that count as great things. Without them... we may have missed the point.

Thanks for reminding me of my calling to love God and love others. You guys inspire me!

angel

We feel like we met an Angel yesterday. An old man (92 years old!!!) walked up to us in the park and started a conversation with us. He just appeared out of nowhere and we could tell he had lived a rich life. Supposedly he was like the trees on Lord of the Rings. He told us a couple of jokes, and they were just so fitting for us! It's like he knew us!

hEbrEws 13:2 "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it."

peace

* This is often how I like to think of spending time with God. Resting!

"Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6 & 7 www.youtube.com/watch?v=okTKMaVrSYY&feature=realted

[I was just introduced to Jason Upton's music yesterday! so peaceful.
I hope you enjoy it and can just rest in God and allow him to speak to you.]