Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Wayne - What's Your Story?

Jacey - What's Your Story?

What's Your Impact Story?





The difficulties we face in life can leave us marked with bitterness, frustration and anger, but we can choose to not let that be our story. We will all go through different types of challenges and pain in this life. We have a choice between letting our struggles make our hearts numb, hard and cold or warmer than ever before. We can choose faith, trust and forgiveness in the midst of the challenges that come our way and come out on the other side more compassionate, warm and loving than before. The choice is in our own hands.


In this present world it's impossible to live a pain-free life but we get to choose what will be the end result of our challenges: more love or anger, bitterness and hate. The other side of the coin is that this life is also filled with blessings. We also get to choose what our blessings will do to us. When we receive the favor of God we can either let it make us selfish, arrogant and entitled or humble and loving. Both the challenges and the blessings in life come with a test. Will we choose to let both our good times and hard times in life make us better or more self-centered and prideful?


The key to be able to flourish in this life despite challenges and pain is having a close relationship with God. The key to being able to live a very blessed life without becoming self-obsessed, entitled and arrogant is to know God intimately. If we live our lives without knowing God it is natural for us to become self-centered, entitled and full of pride. Everything we do (or choose not to do) in this life matters. Pastor Holly Wagner from Oasis Church in LA teaches a great message in this video and mentions 3 simple things we can do to make an impact during this life:

1.) Be yourself

2.) Be salt

3.) Be light

Monday, October 30, 2017

Are You Rushing Ahead of God?





Waiting seasons in life can be frustrating. When we have a clear vision of what we want to achieve, but it's not happening yet, it's easy rush ahead of God. It becomes much easier to wait once we realize that there is a purpose for every season in our lives. Waiting for our dreams to come true isn't always fun, but the growth that happens in a waiting season is very important. Each season in life will prepare us for what will come next, so if we rush ahead of God we will notice that things won't work out as we had hoped.


God's timing is perfect. If we choose to trust God we will notice that everything will fall into place according to His perfect timing. I have a limited view of reality, but God sees everything. I can only make wise choices when I choose to let God into the decision making process. God already knows my future and His plans for me are good. When I let God lead in my life I have peace. I know that God doesn't make any mistakes. Half of the time I don't know what the heck I'm doing in life, but God is never confused about the future. When I choose to follow God's plan for my life I know that He will lead me to exactly where I need to be.


The Proposal





"I met Alyssa on my friend's fridge."
JEFF

"He never stopped loving me. He waited for me."
ALYSSA


Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Fear Not





"If we can leave fear behind, we can really do anything."

Kristene Dimarco


Don't Be Afraid





When life piles up and you're feeling overcome
Stand still and believe, I won't let you drown
When a cry's in your throat, watching all the waves below
Lift your eyes to the sky and trust that I won't pass you by

Fear not
If I could say it any louder, I would
Fear not
If I could say it any louder, I would

Let me show you what I see
You can't dream too big for Me
So get up, get on your way
We've got things to do today



Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Healthy Eating





It's no wonder I'm a social media addict because these days you can find so much great stuff online! I use Youtube to listen to both music, sermons from my favorite pastors and to search for new recipes. "HealthyGrocery Girl" is one of my favorite Dieticians on Youtube who shares her healthy recipes on a regular basis on her channel. I love her "What I eat in a Day"-videos! The Citrus Chia Pudding Parfait from this video is my favorite healthy breakfast at the moment.


The Village


Last Weekend I took my yearly trip to my favorite museum in Toronto, Black Creek Village.


The Pioneer Village is so beautiful every year during October.


I like to stroll around the village looking at the homes and admiring the cozy home decor and architecture.


This home is one of my favorites in the village.


You can also visit Roblin's Mill and shops like the Shoe Maker or the Broom Maker in the village.


I like to learn fun facts from history, apparently most weddings were celebrated in homes during the mid-19th century. That must have made weddings a lot more affordable back then than they are today.


I love how cozy the home decor was during the 19th century. There was no plastic in the homes and all the furniture was handmade.


I also like to get inspired by how Minimalist the decor was in Middle Class homes back in the day, every piece of furniture and every possession was used a lot. Nothing was wasted.


You Can Make A Difference





We are all here to make a difference during our lives on Earth, but it's easy to get distracted and focus on things that don't matter. One thing that can distract us from making a difference is getting stuck in comparison. When we start to compare our lives to how our friends are living we end up with problems like envy, jealousy, discontentment and lack of gratitude. We also lose focus from our own calling in life because we are so focused on what other people are doing or aren't doing. The only way we can make a difference with our lives is by staying focused on running our own race in life.


We know we are stuck in comparison when we are working hard trying to prove ourselves, trying to show others that we are good enough. If we get consumed with proving our own worth we will have no time or energy leftover to make a difference with our lives. We already have great worth, because we were all Made by God, we can stop competing and trying to show the world that we matter and have worth. Once we finally understand how loved we are by God we become aware of our own worth, and there is no need to prove anything to anyone any longer.


We run hard after beauty, power, status, titles at work, money and prestige because deep on the inside we aren't sure if we are good enough, so we want to impress people so bad. Once we know our God-given worth we are free to focus our time and energy on making a difference, rather than trying to prove ourselves.


When we want to make a difference there are a few things that we need to understand to be successful. Pastor April Carter from Together Church mentions three things in her message that all Difference Makers have in common:
1) Difference Makers aren't double minded, they are resolute in their thinking.
2) Difference Makers don't make excuses, they seize every opportunity.
3) Difference Makers don't get loud, they get involved.



Thursday, October 19, 2017

Let Go and Enjoy Today




Early mornings and Quiet Time has become one of my favorite parts of the day. I like to get up a little earlier than usual, light a candle in the darkness and read my Bible and pray for half an hour each morning. It's easy to underestimate the power of having a daily Quiet Time each morning. My friend told me she never used to do it regularly before she had three kids and she became desperate for God's peace and strength in her life.

My Quiet Time always gives me joy, peace and strength for what lays a head that day. Spending time in God's presence each morning changes my approach and attitude toward everything I will face that day. I go through each day with a different type of awareness, it becomes easier to see the lesson God is teaching me in every blessing and every struggle that I face. Once you know God you quickly realize that there is no such thing as random events, every situation that comes my way can teach me something. Every blessing and every difficulty is an opportunity for me to grow in character and holiness. I'm fully aware that there are a lot of areas in my soul where I still need to grow. That's what life is for, growth.

This morning I was reading Numbers 32 during my Quiet Time. What stood out to me in this passage was how important courage is in life. I could use some more courage in my life. I have a highly sensitive personality which is a gift in many ways. The downside is that my personality also causes me to get easily overwhelmed. When I get overwhelmed and fearful in life all I want to do is flee. It takes courage to stay and fight when all I want to do is run away.




Numbers 32 talks about how when God called the Israelites to finally enter their promised land they got fearful and didn’t want to do what God was calling them to do. They were fearful and started to discourage each other which led to everyone choosing to disobey God. Among all the fearful Israelites were two young men who had courage; Caleb and Joshua. Caleb and Joshua were ready to follow God’s plan for their lives wholeheartedly. Fear and discouragement can keep us from so many good things in our lives.

The only way I can do what God calls me to do is if I choose to encourage myself. My courage will quickly run out if I start to discourage myself. The Israelites discouraged each other and quickly everyone became afraid. Courage doesn’t always appear by itself, I must stir it up inside my soul through encouragement. When I end up discouraging myself I usually tell myself lines like these: “This will never work, I know I’m going to fail, I might as well not even try. It’s safer that way. I don’t want to take any risks.” 

Everything changes when I start to fight my fear rather than follow my fear. When I choose to fight against my fear I encourage myself with lines like these: “It makes sense that you are afraid, but don’t let the enemy keep you from your calling in life. You might fail, but God never fails. God will redeem all the mistakes you will end up making during the process. Follow God and He will take care of the rest, His plans for you are good. This won’t work without God, you’re right about that, but with God anything is possible.”




Another fact that encourages me to follow God’s call on my life is knowing that there is no other way. The Israelites choice wasn’t between doing life their own way or doing life God’s way. God was the one in charge, and sooner or later they would have to bow to His leadership. The choice that the Israelites had was between obeying God or disobeying and walking in the wilderness for the rest of their lives. That might sound like very few choices, but it’s often what’s needed for us to finally make the right decision in life.

When there’s something in my life that I don’t want to do I usually try all other options first, before I finally decide to do the right thing. Obedience isn’t comfortable, which is why it makes sense that we often avoid it. When I was 17-years old my parents told me I needed to go to driving school. I didn’t want to do it and told them I didn’t really need a driver’s license that much. My parents told me I didn’t have that choice, I was going to driving school whether I liked the idea or not. Driving school was very uncomfortable, scary and at times overwhelming for me but I did it! Today I have my driver’s license and I know that unless my Mom&Dad had done their job as parents I would not have my license today. We don’t always like what our parents tell us to do but loving parents have the child’s best interest at heart. I’m so grateful for everything my wonderful parents have taught me about life, their love is what made me who I am today.

I will not always like what God calls me to do in life, but I can trust that he has my best interest at heart. Young kids can never understand why their parents want them to do certain things, but there is always a reason. Sometimes we have to wait until we are older to understand why our loving parents did what they did. I find that it’s the same way with God. I won’t always understand why God says “No” to certain things I want and “Yes” to other things that I don’t want, but there is always a reason. 

Seven years ago I was passionate about finding a job in Vancouver but God kept saying “No”. I was very frustrated with all the doors that God kept closing in front of me. God gave me a job in Toronto instead and one month after I arrived in Toronto I met the love of my life. I won’t always understand what God is up to in my life, but I can trust that He is working in all things for my good. God’s plan is always better than my plans. It’s freeing to let go and trust God. The more I get to know God, the easier it becomes to trust Him. The more I trust Him, the less I worry. I can let go and enjoy today, because I know that God holds my tomorrow.


Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Jordan Rogers





Addiction
Repentance
Mentorship
Freedom



Rest





"Our ability to enjoy life and find time for our souls to rest is directly related to our trust in God. We often strive because we think we are necessary to God's plans. However, God does not need us, but chooses to be in relationship with us and use us for His purpose. And He built us finite, limited, and unable to work well without rest.

Create a vision of rest for yourself and your family. Write out a plan for regular patterns of rest and trust." 

Jennie Allen, in her book "Proven"


Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Peace





Peace may feel far away, but it doesn’t have to. Discover three things that may be disturbing your peace.


Monday, October 16, 2017

Pieces





Your love's not fractured
It's not a troubled mind
It isn't anxious
It's not the restless kind
Your love's not passive
It's never disengaged
It's always present
It hangs on every word we say
Love keeps its promises
It keeps its word
It honors what's sacred
'Cause its vows are good
Your love's not broken
It's not insecure
Your love's not selfish
Your love is pure

You don't give Your heart in pieces
You don't hide Yourself to tease us



Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Life Right Now


Sometimes my husband and I go out to eat on our Date Night, other times I make a homemade vegan pasta carbonara and we have Date Night at home. Pasta, a glass of red wine and Pumpkin spice kettle corn for dessert equals an awesome Date Night in my world!


July and October are my favorite months of the year! I love enjoying the beauty of nature and going for bike rides in October. This is one of my favorite places to take a break in the middle of my workout and just enjoy the peace and quiet for a little while.


Going for an evening walk along the beach is another hobby of mine that I treasure in October.


October also means that I get to enjoy Pumpkin Spice Muffins as a sweet snack every week.


In between my sweet snacks I eat boring but healthy snacks like crackers with roasted garlic hummus dip.


On a rainy and cold Fall weekend I love staying indoors in my favorite home clothes; sweatpants and my husband's t-shirt. I light candles around the house and enjoy reading books or Home Decor magazines. Life is good!


I'm on a Diet




It’s the week after Thanksgiving and I’m currently on a diet. I took some time to reflect last week and concluded that I need to go on a diet, a social media- and Netflix-diet. Social media and Netflix bring joy to my life but I need to control the number of hours I spend staring at a screen. When I was 12-years old it was easy to avoid watching too much TV or spending a lot of time online. The internet used to cost a lot of money per hour back then and my favorite TV shows only came on once a week. I had to wait a whole week before I could watch another episode of my favorite shows. Today we have constant access to a never-ending stream of entertainment, which makes it easy to spend too much time looking at a screen.

I have counted how many hours I spend online per week and have decided that I need to cut that number in half. I don’t spend that much time on one form of social media, but when you add up the time I spend on all different types of social media it becomes a lot of hours per week. I write a blog, read other people’s blogs, watch Netflix, follow people on Youtube, Instagram, Facebook etc.

Life is short. I want to make sure that I spend enough time in my life on loving God and loving people, not on staying updated on what everyone is doing on social media. Real love still happens in real life. I will continue to enjoy the benefits of Netflix and social media, but hopefully I will be able to spend less hours on these things from now on. Cutting my social media and Netflix intake in half will be a challenge for me, but I’m looking forward to having more time leftover for face to face conversations with friends and family. Jennie Allen’s words from her book “Proven” inspired my social media- and Netflix-diet:

Friends, what if abundant joy, bliss, wonder and pleasure were ours, but we just kept missing those things because we’re either trying to work our way to God or numbing ourselves with fleeting entertainment?
I am learning to pick up books that show me more of Jesus, instead of turning on Netflix. I am learning to call friends over for chili instead of surfing Facebook. I am learning to look my kids in the eyes instead of stare at my phone. Our family is choosing to eat outside and laugh and have game nights and I am learning that the rhythms of gracious living are sacred and pleasing to Jesus. I want to enjoy God’s gifts but never give them too much power in my life. I want to see that Jesus is better, better than any cheap substitute I may crave.”

Jennie Allen, in her book Proven


Tuesday, October 10, 2017

We Are All Lovesick

Sex and Romance




God created sex to be good, but do we really believe that? In this honest and biblical look at sex and intimacy, Pastor Levi Lusko of Fresh Life Church encourages us to view it as God always intended.


Friday, October 6, 2017

Take Courage





Sing praise my soul
Find strength in joy
Let His Words lead you on
Do not forget
His great faithfulness
He'll finish all He's begun

So take courage my heart
Stay steadfast my soul
He's in the waiting
He's in the waiting
Hold onto your hope
As your triumph unfolds
He's never failing
He's never failing



Wednesday, October 4, 2017

We are all so different, but our purpose is the same





We all want to know what's the purpose of our lives. We will all be called to different things, one person might be called to help others as a nurse and another person might be called to be a pastor etc. But one thing we all have in common, God calls every single person who has been saved to tell others about Him. When I first realized that the Bible clearly teaches that every Christian's responsibility is to tell others about God I thought to myself: "Noooo, I don't want to do that!"

There is no quicker way to become very unpopular than to start telling others about Jesus. God loves every single person on this Earth and he wants every person on this Earth to know and experience his love. That's great news, but the only problem is that people do not want to hear about it. Talking about God is a quick way to commit social suicide.

So, for the first few years after I had become a Christian I didn't talk much about my faith with anyone. I didn't want to mention God to others out of fear of being viewed as weird. But as the years went by I got to experience more and more of God's love, kindness, peace, joy, blessing and favor in my life and it became impossible to stay silent. I slowly realized that if I would continue to be silent about God it would be the most selfish thing I could do in this life.

I never knew God as a child and today I do, how could I keep that incredible gift a secret? If I won 50 million dollars in the lottery and didn't share any of that money with others I would be very selfish. Knowing God is like winning 50 billion dollars in the lottery, how could I not share that great gift with others? But this doesn't change the fact that it's difficult to be a Christian, people will think you are crazy, weird and stupid for having faith in God, there is no getting around that fact. But the more I experience God's great love for me the more evident it becomes that I can not care about what other people think of me.

One day, maybe in about 60 years from now (or sooner), my life will be over and I will meet God. On that day, I want to be able to tell God this: "I did everything I could to let others know how much you love them. I didn't shy away from telling them about how much you long to have a close and personal relationship with each one of them. I didn't waste my life on living for myself, for my own pleasure and comfort." That's my story. That's why I started to write this blog about God a few years ago. Sujo John has his own story, but his story is much more dramatic than mine.


Sujo John's Story:

Newly arrived in America from their home in Calcutta, India, Sujo John and his wife Mary found work in 2001 with offices in New York's, World Trade Center-Sujo on the 81st floor in the North Tower, Mary on the 71st floor of the South Tower. By September of that year they had settled into a good life and by then were expecting their first child. Yet Sujo was not content. He wanted to know that he was being used for a purpose, not just chasing success. When terrorists hijacked planes and rammed them into the World Trade Center towers on 9/11/2001, his life story was altered.


Monday, October 2, 2017

My Beauty, Relationships and Career is what makes me valuable?





As little children we quickly pick up on what the culture around us values. Our culture teaches us that we will find ultimate happiness and fulfillment in many things that can never truly satisfy our souls. Three of the most popular places we tend to misplace our identity in is our beauty, our relationship status and our careers.

Movies, Women's magazines, social media etc. all send us the same message: "The more beautiful you are the more valuable, fulfilled and happy you will be." When we believe this lie we end up obsessing about how we look. We feel insecure about our appearance and spend a lot of time, effort and money on trying to look more beautiful. But many of the most beautiful people in this world have opened up about how insecure and unfulfilled they felt even as they worked as models or were considered one of the most beautiful people in the world. Our culture teaches us that we need to look a certain way to be happy and fulfilled. God tells us in the Bible that we look exactly the way he intended for us to look. We are all unique, beautiful and of great worth, because we are all made by God himself, He designed us.


Our relationship status is another popular place where we tend to misplace our identity. Look at any movie and you will notice that we are taught that romantic love is what will give us ultimate happiness and fulfillment in life. God teaches us something different, he teaches us that it's only in knowing Him that we can find ultimate happiness and fulfillment. God is perfect and He will never fail me in this life, but my husband will, because he is human. I love my husband and he brings a lot of joy to my life, but he is able to do that mainly because I don't expect him to have God's role in my life.


Romantic relationships become miserable when we expect our significant other to do for us what only God himself can do. God alone is the only one who will love you no matter what, God alone is the only one who will always be there for you to help, listen and care for you. No human-being will ever be able to love you perfectly and unconditionally, only God can do that. If I believe that my relationship status is connected to my worth and value as a woman I will also be discontent with being single and create an unhealthy expectation in my heart that once I'm in a romantic relationship then I will finally be happy and fulfilled. Nope, that's not how it goes. I will never be happy or fulfilled in a romantic relationship if I wasn't already happy and fulfilled as a single lady.


The third place where we tend to misplace our identity is in our careers. When we believe that our careers are connected to our worth and value as a woman we become very focused on achievements and get anxious/stressed when we are not achieving at top level. We were all created by God to do good works, but or work is not what gives us our worth and value as a person. God does not value a woman who works as a CEO any higher than an old retired lady who doesn't work.


We are all called by God to love Him and to love other people. God isn't impressed by how much we achieve, what title we have at work or how much power we have. Sometimes you can see a small child who is more caring and loving to others than some important business owner who has become focused on selfish ambition. Our careers can (and should) be used to love and serve God&people with, but our achievements will never give us more worth in God's eyes. There is nothing we can do for God to love us more, and there is nothing we can do that would make God love us less. God's love for me and you is always completely unconditional and freely given, you could never earn it.


Why are millennials so stressed?





Today we live in a world that offers us more choices than ever before in history. That's great, but it can also be overwhelming. Allison Osborn talks about why it's important for us to know who we are, so that we can learn to prioritize in life. Our time and energy is limited, which is why we can't do everything we want to do. Once we have figured out what's most important to us in life we can create a schedule and a lifestyle that is based on those values.


When we live according to our values we will be able to say "no" to all other options that don't line up with our values. We become stressed in life when we don't know who we are, which leads us to try to do it all, which then leads us to become overworked, overwhelmed and exhausted. A schedule that is too full always points to a problem on a deeper level. Once we know who we are, what our gifts and talents are, what our responsibilities are, what we were created to do, we can easily say no to what we were not created to do.


How most of us define love totally wrong