Move it, move it!

I just attended an aerobics class today, my first one in many years. I'm not in great shape but I was able to keep up for most of it and afterward felt good in my body, albeit rather tired.

Genesis chapter one tells us that God created humanity in His image and its clear from the design of our bodies that God intended us to be creatures that move. I took up salsa dancing a few years ago and one of the things I like about it is the fact that it's energetic. You can get a good workout from a few hours on the dance floor and have a great time too!

I'm so glad that God designed us to be active and that getting active would make us feel good - that tells me that God loves pleasure and loves giving the capacity for pleasure to His creatures. That's one thing I've noticed about following Jesus - the more I get to know Him, the greater my appreciation and awe for Him and the greater my capacity to enjoy Him.

Here's a video of what the human body it capable of:
http://youtu.be/jfSp5nMgq5I

I Need Thee Every Hour

I arrived in Calgary last weekend with both anticipation and concern as to what lies in store. On the one hand, I recently came through a great time of seeing God direct my steps during my trip to Europe, and have had numerous things fall into place for this move to Calgary.

But on the other hand, I'm not entirely certain as to my job hunting. The temptation is to worry and fret against God. You know, it's a good thing to have uncertainty. I'm finding the uncertainty is pushing me towards God: to spending time with Him and remembering His promises of care and guidance, to worshipping Him for His great love and righteousness - and in this I enjoy peace and renewed trust in Him.

Without these question marks I'm facing regarding the kind of job I will find or where I will live, I would have less motivation for focusing on God. Although it's great to have times of rest and stability and certainty, I have found it's the times of difficulty, when I'm surrounded with the unknown, that I draw near to Him.

"Blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he has been approved he will receive the crown of life" (James 1:12).

The Blessing of a Great Big Book

I am three weeks into my "slackerdom"! I visited the retirment home where I worked and told everyone I was enjoying being "retired"! My time has been spent on sewing projects, Bible memorization, visiting friends and running errands.

With regards to my trip, I have reserved a storage unit for all my things - the company offers a complimentary moving truck which is such a blessing for someone who does not even have a car. My father arrives on the 27th to help me move which is just over a week away - guess I can start counting down now, eh?

My memory project is going well. I'm into Ephesians chapter five now. What a great book this is! Paul talks a great deal about God's choosing of us for His kingdom, making peace with us through Jesus Christ, revealing His purposes to us, rooting us in His love. God does all the heavy lifting on our behalf!

Paul also talks about how God gives us spiritual gifts to build us up and help us to have a strong foundation and not be "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine" (4:14). And He gives us a new nature so that we can live in "true righteousness and holiness" (4:24).

Of all the gods I could follow, I'm glad to belong to the One who has given a great big instruction manual for life! To have the whys and wherefores of life spelled out is such a blessing.

Something God has been impressing on me lately is the importance of being faithful in little things. Of not living life always "looking away to the future" and the potential "big works" God might have for me but focussing on being obedient and content in Him now. I'm getting better at living like that and I must say it's a peaceful, happy way to live. That "rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" is such a simple command but it really works in keeping me positive and righteous. Granted my life is pretty stress free at the moment but the temptation to complain is always close by regardless of circumstances. I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunity to test this verse thoroughly in the coming months!

One Week Down, a Bunch More to Go!

Well, it's been one week since I left my job. It's been good so far. I'm enjoying having extra time in the morning for devotions. I read my daily Oswald Chambers verse and commentary and then a Psalm. After some thought and prayer I work on my memory project. I've finished chapters one and two - it's gone well because they are familiar from previous memorizations. But I just don't know if I'll get to the end of the book by the end of the month. We'll see.

Next week I will be out of town for a few days visitng with a couple friends at their homes. I have a list of people I want to connect with before I leave so I've been calling and emailing around making dates!

Something that I've also enjoyed doing this week is sending notes to people. Just little encouragements and a verse, let them know I'm praying for them. I think we can all use a boost every now and then and who doesn't like an actual piece of snail mail in this day and age!

Three words that have been on my mind lately are "encourage", "edify" and "exhort". The idea of supporting people, building them up in their faith and urging them on to greater things resonates with me and I'd like to do that. I'm sure these thoughts are God's leading for me in helping me to see how to use my spiritual gifts. It's nice to discover a niche for myself.

Oh, and I've started work on some sewing tasks. Today I went to Fabricland and of course found some nice material to play with! This is what I created today:

Do Difficult Things

I am officially unemployed now. Today is my first day of slackerdom and so far so good. I went for a walk first thing in time to enjoy the beautiful colours of the sunrise. I had some tea and a biscuit - cookie to you but I need to get used to English English now eh! I went to the Forks and bought some shoes. And I started work on a new dress made from a sari I brought back from India in '08.

I have the entire month of March to myself. My father is driving out during the last week to help me pack and put my things into storage and we'll drive home to Thunder Bay on Thursday 31 March. That will give me a nice long visit with my parents before I fly to London on April 14.

I've been praying that I will not waste this month off work that I have. I do want to be productive and have a list of things to get done, many of which involve spending time with friends since I'm going to be gone for a while.

In church yesterday Pastor Todd preached on the topic of prayer. As Christians we can get complacent about our relationship with God and stop reaching for excellence and start thinking that we've gone as far as we can in the faith. Todd encouraged us to "do difficult things" because when we attempt things that are difficult we find that there is always more to know about Jesus and more excellence of character that can be had.

So this month I want to try something hard and that is memorization. I memorized a lot of scripture as a child but got out of it as an adult. But our minds cannot be renewed and our character shaped without God's word so it's important for us to "hide God's word in our heart." My goal for March is to memorize the book of Ephesians. I already have a good start on chapter one but there are six chapters in total so it will be hard. That's something you can pray about for me if you are so inclined!

Ok, time to get out of here - ta ta for now.

The Sweet Smell of Rejection

I have struggled in life with the idea of mattering. Has my life mattered? Has it had an impact? Has it contributed to God's kingdom in any meaningful way?

I have usually figured the answer was "no" or "not much". My idea of something that matters is something big like praying with a person to receive Christ. But what God has been teaching me is that He works mostly through little things. "A word in season, how good it is!" says the Proverb and that kind of thing - a word of encouragement, a small act of kindness - is what matters and is what God uses to build His kingdom.

I have toyed with the idea of becoming a college professor for a long time and last year things finally felt like they were in place and so I decided to apply to graduate school for a PhD in Theology. It felt right and I was confident that I would be accepted. I started calculating my financial assets and looking into scholarships and bursaries and preparing mentally for another big move.

When the letter came I was nervous to open it but I was not prepared for the word "unfortunately". I was not accepted? "How can this be? The timing is finally right. I'm ready to go. Wasn't this God's plan for me?"

It was a bit of a shock for me and I had a good cry. But God had been preparing me for that letdown. I had a time of worship later that day and instead of feeling devastated and confused when that door firmly shut in my face, I felt like a whole new world of possibilities was openingi up for me.

Shortly thereafter I went for lunch with one of my references, a professor of mine from seminary and I shared my reaction with him. At a function about a year later I saw him again and he said that he had told what I had shared to students as an example of the attitude to have when choosing a career. I was so enocuraged by that. I had figured my little episode was just something for me to grow from and here God intended to use it to help Christian young people in their journeys.

I need to stop underestimating God. He can use anything for His glory including things that hurt or don't make sense at the time. My job is to trust and obey and leave the rest to Him. It makes for a more interesting and peaceful journey.

The Upside of Sin

When Paul writes in Romans chapter seven about doing what he doesn't want to do and not doing what he does want to, I relate. That chapter isn't about some carnal Christian - Paul was writing about himself. He was writing about the tension of being "redeemed but not quite" - as Christians we stand before God the Father clothed in Christ's righteousness but while we are still in the body we are still subject to the weakness of the flesh.

Sometimes that tension is maddening to me. This week I found myself struggling with the burden of the sin nature but because I am fallen, my frustrations got twisted and turned around and I got angry with God. "What's the point? Why do You let this go on? Your ways are stupid!" etc. etc.

That's a big reason why God doesn't restore a sinless nature in us while we are here on planet Earth - to keep us humble. I carried on with my anger all this week but eventually I had to get down on my knees and confess it as sin and ask for forgiveness. In the end, sin keeps me from getting a big head from all the intimacy with God and knowledge of spiritual truths. No matter how far along the path to maturity I go, I don't have anything to brag about because I'm thisclose to falling headlong into some rebellious nonsense.