Romans 8

This evening we had our first youth life group night (which is basically a small group) for the youth.  I had the girls in my group write letters to God reflecting on where they are in their relationship with Him now and where they would like to be by the end of the school year/what they would like God to do in their lives this year.  For paper I had quickly grabbed an old notebook and while flipping through it noticed that it was my old notebook from YWAM--and I found a letter that I had written to God. So cool. 

Being a visionary, I tend to see what can be and then get frustrated when what I know is possible doesn't happen.  Tonight when I got home from Life Group I found myself in that slump so I pulled out the letter I found and saw a sermon I had written on Romans 8 tucked in behind it. It's the sermon I got to preach on the island of Sicily (which I still think is the coolest thing ever to have had the opportunity to preach where the apostle Paul preached.)

As I was reading through my sermon notes a couple things stood out to me:

A) When life does not meet our expectations it can be hard to recognize God's love for us--but God's love is not conditional on our circumstances or how we feel. He love us. The Creator of the universe loves us personally! 

B) Regardless of our circumstances and feelings, are we honoring God as God? Do we recognize that He has a plan--that He knows what He is doing? We need to get our eyes off of ourselves and our circumstances and back on Him. 

I found this to be a good reminder to me tonight. I don't know if anyone reads this anymore, but if you do happen to read this and you find yourself struggling with the realities of life, remember that nothing can separate you from the love of God. God is greater than your circumstances.  Fix your gaze on Him. Seek Him and let Him be God.  Find rest, peace, and joy in His love. 

Happy autumn!

A Year of Provision

Happy 2015!

A number of years ago I was challenged to prophetically name each year. Near the end of 2014, I was standing outside a cafe late at night asking God what He would have me name 2014. The word that stuck in my head was PROVISION. So I wrote it down, prayed into it, and thought of a number if ways in which it would be nice to see God's provision. Why is it God likes to do things different then I think He will? 

In reflecting in this past year I realize that it was truly marked by God's supernatural provision.  While I away, God provided food that I could eat in each of the countries I visited. I came home from YWAM with no money and no job yet God provided. He provided an opportunity for me to spend a week in Cuba with my whole family. He provided a good job. When my job was only a two month contract, He provided an apartment sublet. When my job became full-time He provided a place for me to stay for a couple months until I could figure out what I was doing. He also provided a condo for me and furniture to put in it. I am amazed by God's goodness and provision in my life this year. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! 

This next year I think will look very differently. We will see what doors God opens and what doors He closes.

May you have a blessed new year.

Time for change

I thought it was time to post an update. I am writing this sitting on the porch of my parents cottage at Braeside camp. We have had this cottage since I was five and today I am trying enjoy the last Saturday that I will have here, as the cottage has been sold. This place has been a place of refuge for me--a place where I come to refocus on God. It is also where I felt God first call me to be a missionary. It is not easy to let go of it. This only marks one portion of the change going on in my life right now.

Somehow the past four and a half months since I have been home in Canada have flown away. The past couple months have marked a major transition in my life. I have decided that it is time to stick around for the next little while. I now have a great job in Mississauga. It's not what I was initially looking for, but I can see God's hand in providing it. Meanwhile I am in the process if looking for a place to live in the city. 

It's a strange feeling looking transition in the face. Sometime it's exciting, but at times it's very difficult. For me, I feel like I am starting a whole new chapter in my life. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement!

The view from our cottage porch:

Hugs worth a million dollars!

Awhile ago I had an encounter with a lady who lives on the streets in the Veronica's area. I saw her and felt like I should give her my apple so I tried, but she got mad at me and ran away. Another day Johanna also tried to give her something and she threw it back at her. We have has this woman on our hearts since then--so much so that we had a day if prayer and fasting for her. The same day most of our group was praying, Johanna and I felt like we needed to be out in the streets. This day I waved and the lady waved back. It was amazing as she usually runs away from us. So later that day we tried again and said bonjour and waved. Since then I have waved and said bonjour and then yesterday I tried talking with her further but it didn't go so well. Maggie had on her heart the passage in the Bible about not calling unclean what God had made clean when praying for this woman-- and from appearances this woman would not be my first choice to hug, but God has given us a heart for her and told us to hug her. So tonight we went down to the Veronica's to find her. It was AMAZING! We had a conversation with her and we were able to show her through hugs that she is valuable and precious to God and we even got to pray with her. It was a miracle! To see her face light up and see her smile was an amazing goodbye present. I wouldn't exchange that hug for anything. Thank you Jesus for your incredible love!

Exiting my 20s with a bang!

After our leaders came back from La Gomera they met with each of us and asked us what we want to see happen for the last couple weeks of our DTS. I said that I would really like to exit my 20s with a bang...

Near our first flat here there was a cafe where we hung out frequently for coffee and wifi. The ladies that work at this cafe have really been on our hearts and one girl from our team had it on her heart that we need to invite one of the ladies to our flat for dinner. She came tonight and brought her best friend with her. As they were leaving we asked if we could pray for them. Her friend could not stretch out her right hand. She showed us and then we prayed or her. In front of our eyes we watched as she stretched out her hand without pain and was completely healed. It was so awesome and an amazing testimony that Jesus still heals today. Praise Jesus!

Now it's time to go to the Veronica's and pray for more people. Wahoo! 

He must increase and I must decrease

During our lecture phase we had a week on discipleship where we talked about what it costs to follow Jesus. We were asked what rights we were willing to give up... Food, family, entertainment, etc... The past two weeks we have had a lesson in what it means to give up some if our "rights". We started by spending a couple nights sleeping in a moldy church and then progressed to camping in the mountains, which was absolutely beautiful, but it was cold and rained almost constantly. It is a miracle that none of us got really sick. Each day we learned to  gather and cut firewood, cook our meals on the fire, and hike up the mountain a ways to wash our dishes or use the washroom. There were outdoor showers but it was too cold to shower so we went a week without a shower. I really enjoyed the camping experience. It had it's challenges but it was good and taught our team to really work together. Then we moved back to the moldy church for a couple of days. We were grateful to a least have access to a shower and feel the sun again. We felt like God wanted us to go minister to hippies in Valle San Rey and one of the friends we made on Tenerife has a small shack here where we were supposed to stay. On Sunday he was supposed to meet us to give us the key except he never showed so we waited for him until Tuesday and then decided to just go anyways. And so our faith journey began. 

Before we left we prayed and asked God to provide a place for us to sleep. Some people were praying for a nice apartment but I felt like praying that God would position us in a place where we could have the greatest impact for Him regardless of how nice it was. Little did I know how God would answer my prayer.  We got the swimming pool the one person prayed for but it came in the form of the sea instead. When we arrived in Valle Gran Rey the place where we parked the car ended up being the main gathering spot right. It was a God thing. After talking with people we learned that we could sleep at a nudest beach just down the road. According to the law you can technically sleep on that beach but you just can't camp there or set up a tent or anything. So we have been calling this beach home since Tuesday. There was a bad wind storm which cleared out most of the nudests until today--which was nice for us but made sleeping a challenge. The cool thing has been that it has given us an opportunity to connect more with some of the hippees and get a taste of their life as a lot of them also live there. Simple things like a toilet, a bed to sleep on, a shelter from the wind, rain, and sun, a chair to sit on, easy access to drinking water, etc... All have become luxuries which I am looking forward to experiencing again. It has been a challenge this week operating with not much sleep and still having a grateful attitude. I am sleeping in an amazing place but I am really looking forward to going back to Tenerife next week. Jesus said that, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matt. 8:20) we have been experiencing a taste of what Jesus was talking about. The question remains: Are we really willing to pay the cost to really follow Jesus? 

It has been cool to see how God answered my prayer even though it was mot the answer I would have chosen. It has been a cool experience and I know God is doing something here. My heart goes out to the hippees and druggies that we meet each night. I know God has a purpose and plan for them. This place is all about being open to all spiritual stuff which makes it hard to share the Gospel but I believe that God is doing a work in their hearts. 

Next week our leaders are going to stay here and continue ministering to them while the rest of us return to Tenerife. I will be leading the team during their absence. Please pray for wisdom for me.

Some photos:

The rain cloud in the mountain at our campsite.

Our campsite.

The view from our campsite in the mountains. I hiked down there to the nearest village (1 hour hike down) to the nearest grocery store.

Drying our laundry in a park while staying at the church.

One of the places where I have slept at the beach (we kept changing it each night).

Sunset!

Blessings!

Psalm 19

Heaven is declaring god's glory; the sky is proclaiming his handiwork....Psalm 19:1

There is nothing quite like watching the sun peek over the mountains in the morning while meditating on God's awesomeness!