The Life of Love

Monday, August 15, 2016

"Faith is not an event, it's a journey."

I was listening to this sermon from Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia last week called "Root Remedy" and thought about how God always offers me a solution to every problem. Pastor Chad Veach talked about how we often try to solve problems with temporary fixes in life but when we find Jesus we find a solution for the root of our problems. It sounds weird to be honest, that Jesus would be the answer to my financial problems and that Jesus would be the answer to my struggle with eating disorders, but it's true.

When I became a Christian nine years ago I thought that this event would give me answers to all my spiritual questions in life and nothing more than that. I had no idea what I was about to experience. Jesus became more than the answer to my spiritual questions, he became the solution for every single problem I had. I had been struggling with body image issues for years and been on the border to developing eating disorders for a long time, but as I grew in my relationship with God I was able to make peace with my body. I started to realize that God had made me exactly like this for a reason and still I walked around thinking thoughts like "I wish my body was more like this and less like that." I finally started to see myself the way God sees me, as a beautiful and unique daughter of His and not as an object who needs to look a certain way to be worthy of love and acceptance.

Another thing I used to struggle with was fear and worry. I was one of those people who could get worried about almost anything and let fear consume my mind and steal my joy and peace. I'm also a control freak, and controlling things was my way of trying to feel safe. I thought that I had to be in control and make everything perfect to be okay, but instead I found out that it was when I finally decided to give up control and trust God than I found a peace and security in life that I had never felt before. I know that my life is in the hands of God and he's got me. There will be moments when my trust in him waivers of course, usually when I get distracted and start to focus on everything else but God. In times like that I have to remind myself to get back to focusing on God and remember that He is in control and I am not.

The amazing thing with God's character is that he always has more for us. When we think that this is it, this is how good life is going to get, God has more for us. When I think "I'm always going to have these issues" God has more for me. God says: "No, I've got more for you, I can offer you a whole new life!" Just when you think that your marriage is over, just when you think that you can't take it another day, just when you think that your business is going to fail, just when you think it's the end Jesus shows up and says: "I've got more for you, more than you could ask for, more than you could ever imagine."

A Slow Weekend

Last weekend we had a dinner party at our house on Saturday and on Sunday we offered to babysit a little baby boy that we know. It was a lot of fun, but this weekend the introvert in me wanted to take it easy and do as little as possible.

On Saturday they promised rain in Toronto so I decided to take a morning walk before the thunderstorms would start rolling in. The same minute that I stepped out on my front porch the rain started pouring down, I was forced to stay indoors. I decided to treat myself to a new magazine instead, plus some chocolate, a muffin and a homemade latte, so that I could enjoy the rainy day.

On Sunday the weather was warm and sunny again so we decided to spend most of the day at the beach. There are only three more weeks left before Labor Day and the start of fall. I want to make the most out of what’s left of summer!

Thursday, August 11, 2016

#bodygoals

Stephanie Zerwas gives an interesting TED talk about how social media affects how we view our bodies. Stephanie is a clinical psychologist and an expert on the genetics of eating disorders and body image in the age of social media.

We find ourselves in the middle of a big "social experiment" called social media at the moment, but it's easy to forget to question this new lifestyle. Every now and then I try to ask myself questions like: "What parts of my life has gotten better and what parts has gotten worse after I started using social media?", "Do I need to establish some new personal boundaries on social media to feel better about my life and the world around me?"

We need something to base our decisions on so I find it helpful that more and more researchers are choosing to look into how social media affects our view of ourselves and others. Stephanie Zerwas shares some of the findings from her own research in this video.

Another Heat Warning

Today they have issued another Heat Warning in Toronto, at the moment it's humid and +33 degrees outside. It was the month of August when I first arrived in Canada six years ago and I remember how much I would complain about the heat in the beginning. Nowadays I start to feel cold if it gets cooler than +24 degrees outside. It's funny how much we can adapt to almost any surroundings. :)

We have a UFO in Toronto, the City Hall building.

One thing I love about Toronto is the very colorful taxi cars, the bright colors make me happy, especially on a grey winter day.

You can tell it's tourist season, and I'm one of them, although I'm more of a "long-term tourist" in the city. :)

I love hanging out down by the waterfront in Toronto on a weekday evening during summer. I'm so glad this city is built right beside the lake.

On a hot day you have to drink a lot, I think I had 1 iced latte and 2 lemonades in one day when I took these pictures last week. Of course you could just drink water, but lemonade is so much more interesting than water. :)

Everybody wants to hang out by the waterfront. Another thing I love about Toronto is that this is a very multicultural city.

Many people seem to like going sailing after work, since there are so many sailboats in this picture.

I'm so glad I ended up in this city, although I never planned to move to Toronto. I wanted to move to the West Coast but I'm so glad I couldn't find a job there, otherwise I would never have come to Toronto and I would never have met my husband. Thank God for closed doors in life! :)