I wish... I REALLY wish sometimes that when God decides to turn up the heat to burn off more of the copious dross in my life, that there would be a quick heads up... maybe a brief whiff of smoke that would grab my attention. I have many memories as a kid of my parents when they thought they smelled smoke. ANY whiff of smoke and they were on HIGH ALERT. Every nook and cranny would be searched and every door opened looking for the danger, looking for any sign of the possible fire. With one notable instance, their scrutiny never netted any drama.
If I choose to take God at His word, then I know that HE is constantly moving me in the direction of deeper obedience and passion for Him.
I have a deep seated belief that given a moment like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that I would be happy to walk into the fiery furnace. When the challenge is obviously ahead of me. You can see the flame, feel the heat, and take a moment to trust in God... easy, right?
God doesn't usually do this in my life (or I am not attuned to the smokey precursor of the furnace). I find myself in the midst of a circumstance of mild discomfort.... I handle it. It seems that only when the walls of my life are crashing around me, do I think to look around and see if I am already in the midst of the furnace.
(I am well aware that I mixed the metaphor here with the purifying heat of God's love, and the fiery furnace... its my blog... get your own! )
My beliefs support the idea of "HE who started a good work will be faithful to complete it Contrast this with the idea that EVERYTHING is God testing us and trying us. Although I am still working out the theology, I realize by removing the idea that EVERYTHING is God testing us, can result in being less situationally aware. It leaves my sense of smell dulled- I am not actively looking for a test or pitfall and sometimes I miss the signs.
Sure there is peace in knowing that the smoke detectors will go off and so I can sleep at night without worry, but it isn't good when your first realization of a problem is that the kitchen is full of smoke and the mice who live under the sink have already abandoned ship!
My heart's desire is to know when God is at work. I want to be better at seeing the purifying circumstances sooner in the timeline of challenge. I want to be so in tune with God that I don't have to wait to feel the heat- but that I hear the whisper from the Father to the Son "OK, turn up the heat JUST a bit, there is much I want to do in Laura".
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Announcement
I have an announcement to make......
I'm alllll done.....
If you are addicted to your crackberry/iPhone/whaatever other gadget you use for EVERYTHING in your life...... I am NO longer going to feel badly for sending you an email that MIGHT wake you up because you haven't disconnected your work email from your personal phone.
I am NO LONGER going to sympathize with the natural consequences if you don't set good boundaries and can't say no so are over tired....
Please don't cry on my shoulder if you cannot balance your work and life so that you can leave your desk for lunch and then are hungry in the middle of the afternoon... I won't leave MY work to go and get you an energy drink that is not going to help you.
For all you work-a-holics who complain about having no social life... FRANKLY.. YOU AREN'T SOOOO important that it cannot wait until tomorrow....
I am not sure what is happening to our society when we wear lack of sleep, or skipped meals as a badge of honour or commitment to the cause...
So, I am going to interact with technology the way it was meant to be interacted with- ON MY TERMS. I will not apologize for turning off my cell phone for one hour on my DAY OFF to go to church. I will NOT feel badly that I was at lunch when your lack of planning resulted in fake drama.
If that doesn't fit your idea of what should be.... im sorr.... no wait... acutally I'm not!
If you have any concerns about the above....... send me an email... I'll get back to you tomorrow.
I'm alllll done.....
If you are addicted to your crackberry/iPhone/whaatever other gadget you use for EVERYTHING in your life...... I am NO longer going to feel badly for sending you an email that MIGHT wake you up because you haven't disconnected your work email from your personal phone.
I am NO LONGER going to sympathize with the natural consequences if you don't set good boundaries and can't say no so are over tired....
Please don't cry on my shoulder if you cannot balance your work and life so that you can leave your desk for lunch and then are hungry in the middle of the afternoon... I won't leave MY work to go and get you an energy drink that is not going to help you.
For all you work-a-holics who complain about having no social life... FRANKLY.. YOU AREN'T SOOOO important that it cannot wait until tomorrow....
I am not sure what is happening to our society when we wear lack of sleep, or skipped meals as a badge of honour or commitment to the cause...
So, I am going to interact with technology the way it was meant to be interacted with- ON MY TERMS. I will not apologize for turning off my cell phone for one hour on my DAY OFF to go to church. I will NOT feel badly that I was at lunch when your lack of planning resulted in fake drama.
If that doesn't fit your idea of what should be.... im sorr.... no wait... acutally I'm not!
If you have any concerns about the above....... send me an email... I'll get back to you tomorrow.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Counting .....
There is so much about our world that is focussed on counting... we count the minutes, the successes and the money. We count anniversaries and we countdown to big events.
Today as we mark the 10th anniversary I sat surrounded by Military personnel and we were encouraged to count. We were encouraged to thnk of the people connected to us directly who were impacted by the events on 9/11. It took me a moment to think... no one I know was killed or injured or involved nor their families that I know of.. so I thought that I didn't have anyone... and I realized that everyone I was in church with this am was profoundly impacted by the events of that day.
And so I began to count....
16 Students who were in my class that day and will be forever part of MY 9/11 story, I am proud of the adults that they are becoming in this strange world that we live in.
2 friends dead- combat injuries
1 friend paralyzed from the neck down - combat injuries
21 Coffins that I have stood while they begin their journey home. Although I never met any of them, I have become a part of thier history... granted a tiny afterthought, but I am one more person who will carry the memory of thier lives with me for the rest of mine.
But then the faces of others who I have had the privilege to know over the time who have seen things that no one should ever see, and those who have watched thier friends go home in a coffin. I have known those who have to literally pick up the pieces after an event.
And so what is the cost?
the events of 9/11 have created a new world for all of us. Ironically those we remember today are the only ones who will never remember this post-9/11 world we live in.
My Bible says that EVERYTHING the enemy intends for evil, God has the opportunity to redeem. While I am remembering the losses, I am also remembering the positives... the people from all over the world, the new friends, and the deeper faith that our world has delivered to my doorstep as a direct result of what happened on 9/11.
Today, people all over the world will be counting, mothers from all nations will be counting empty places at tables, brothers are injured, sisters are changed for life.
What price have you paid?
Today as we mark the 10th anniversary I sat surrounded by Military personnel and we were encouraged to count. We were encouraged to thnk of the people connected to us directly who were impacted by the events on 9/11. It took me a moment to think... no one I know was killed or injured or involved nor their families that I know of.. so I thought that I didn't have anyone... and I realized that everyone I was in church with this am was profoundly impacted by the events of that day.
And so I began to count....
16 Students who were in my class that day and will be forever part of MY 9/11 story, I am proud of the adults that they are becoming in this strange world that we live in.
2 friends dead- combat injuries
1 friend paralyzed from the neck down - combat injuries
21 Coffins that I have stood while they begin their journey home. Although I never met any of them, I have become a part of thier history... granted a tiny afterthought, but I am one more person who will carry the memory of thier lives with me for the rest of mine.
But then the faces of others who I have had the privilege to know over the time who have seen things that no one should ever see, and those who have watched thier friends go home in a coffin. I have known those who have to literally pick up the pieces after an event.
And so what is the cost?
the events of 9/11 have created a new world for all of us. Ironically those we remember today are the only ones who will never remember this post-9/11 world we live in.
My Bible says that EVERYTHING the enemy intends for evil, God has the opportunity to redeem. While I am remembering the losses, I am also remembering the positives... the people from all over the world, the new friends, and the deeper faith that our world has delivered to my doorstep as a direct result of what happened on 9/11.
Today, people all over the world will be counting, mothers from all nations will be counting empty places at tables, brothers are injured, sisters are changed for life.
What price have you paid?
Thursday, September 08, 2011
The Other Side of the Story
Living in an environment where I am surrounded by people from different nations and job descriptions so many of my pre-conceived notions have been challenged. I have been reminded over and over that my persepctive is not the only one. And in that realization I have also been shown in new ways the negative effects that our actions can have on others without even realizing it.
We have a tendancy in our western philosophy to see things the way we see them and not scratch beneath the surface, but spend time discussing world history with someone from Russia, or Belgium or the UK, and you realize that what we think of as 'ancient' history (1-200 years) is recent memory to others. I have a friend who lives in a home that was built before Canadian Confederation and it itsn't even an historically protected home because it is too "NEW".
So in the midst of shattered paradigms I have begun to listen more intently to the other side of stories.
I know why I choose not to be in relationships with non-Christians, and I understand the motivations that lead me on that path, and yet, to hear from a man who has fallen deeply in love with a Christian woman for as much as she would let him, only to be devastated by the realization that his not being a Christian disqualified him from her love.... and then to hear him express the concern that perhaps this was a reflection of how God would treat him....
And my heart shattered along with my safe thinking about this topic.
Recently, I was out with a male friend. Although tall, and handsome, his body type is not the Big Beefy 'normal' that exists in my workplace. That type which says don't mess with me on my way to the gym.......I call them the Beefys. We came across a group of the Beefys and stopped to chat. As we walked away, my friend expressed how sometimes being around those Beefys gives him a complex, and how it makes him feel like abandoning all assurances of his worth in Christ.
And My heart shattered.
Here is the reality.... Ladies... who doesn't like the idea of a big beefy man next to you, looking like he could take on the world on your behalf? These Beefys that we encountered also tend to be "A-Type" personalities.... so likely as not to have a funny story or a veiled reference to something that they aren't supposed to talk about.... and I am putty in their hands.....
Yes, I admit it, when they come around I tend to twitter and giggle just like the other girls, because frankly I have a bit of a complex that guys this "cool" would never normally be my friend!
And Yet... as we walked away and I heard my dear friend express his insecurityin the face of the Beefys.. I realized something...
I would trade the chance to be friends with all the Beefys in the universe and feel like I look cool.... for this friend of mine who has proven to be kind, gentle, generous in sprit and wealth. He is constant and polite, caring and LOVES Jesus.
There were no words to say in that moment. Everything that I could think of simply felt like empty words in the face of my interaction with the Beefys. Actions speak louder than words...
I realized tonight that with everything there is another side of the story. I want to be more aware of the people around me and the way that my actions reflect the love of God to them.
We have a tendancy in our western philosophy to see things the way we see them and not scratch beneath the surface, but spend time discussing world history with someone from Russia, or Belgium or the UK, and you realize that what we think of as 'ancient' history (1-200 years) is recent memory to others. I have a friend who lives in a home that was built before Canadian Confederation and it itsn't even an historically protected home because it is too "NEW".
So in the midst of shattered paradigms I have begun to listen more intently to the other side of stories.
I know why I choose not to be in relationships with non-Christians, and I understand the motivations that lead me on that path, and yet, to hear from a man who has fallen deeply in love with a Christian woman for as much as she would let him, only to be devastated by the realization that his not being a Christian disqualified him from her love.... and then to hear him express the concern that perhaps this was a reflection of how God would treat him....
And my heart shattered along with my safe thinking about this topic.
Recently, I was out with a male friend. Although tall, and handsome, his body type is not the Big Beefy 'normal' that exists in my workplace. That type which says don't mess with me on my way to the gym.......I call them the Beefys. We came across a group of the Beefys and stopped to chat. As we walked away, my friend expressed how sometimes being around those Beefys gives him a complex, and how it makes him feel like abandoning all assurances of his worth in Christ.
And My heart shattered.
Here is the reality.... Ladies... who doesn't like the idea of a big beefy man next to you, looking like he could take on the world on your behalf? These Beefys that we encountered also tend to be "A-Type" personalities.... so likely as not to have a funny story or a veiled reference to something that they aren't supposed to talk about.... and I am putty in their hands.....
Yes, I admit it, when they come around I tend to twitter and giggle just like the other girls, because frankly I have a bit of a complex that guys this "cool" would never normally be my friend!
And Yet... as we walked away and I heard my dear friend express his insecurityin the face of the Beefys.. I realized something...
I would trade the chance to be friends with all the Beefys in the universe and feel like I look cool.... for this friend of mine who has proven to be kind, gentle, generous in sprit and wealth. He is constant and polite, caring and LOVES Jesus.
There were no words to say in that moment. Everything that I could think of simply felt like empty words in the face of my interaction with the Beefys. Actions speak louder than words...
I realized tonight that with everything there is another side of the story. I want to be more aware of the people around me and the way that my actions reflect the love of God to them.
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