Homeless Campers

We're on our first camping trip in Maine.  We noticed the other night three young people setting up late, they had two tents, some basic supplies but nothing extra.  Their camping spot was dark, they have no cooler and we drove by them today walking into town.

My son Jack noticed also how little they had.  Tonight is our last night here and we were going to have a fire.  Instead he asked if he could give them our firewood which he then took over to them.  I was touched by his concern for them and I went over and struck up a conversation.  I offered them my white twinkle lights so that they could see at night. I had wanted to give them the lights last night buy my husband said I was nuts!   Unfortunately, they don't have electric on their site so they are of no use.  I learned they have nothing much left to eat and they are homeless, hoping to get into somewhere in the next couple of weeks.  They have paid up for the next week but don't really know where they will get food from.

We will be helping them more in the morning, but it just makes me feel incredibly sad and no, the contrast in camping situations isn't lost on any of us tonight.

I Want Change...

The Bible’s basic narrative points to the restoration of the whole world, material and spiritual, as the aim of salvation. Christian churches, therefore, must work for justice and peace in their neighborhoods through service, even as they call individuals to conversion. Indifference to the poor and disadvantaged demonstrates a lack of understanding of grace and God’s free salvation. A church that grasps the gospel will be holistically faithful in both word (Bible teaching) and deed (acts of service).


Tim Keller - Redeemer Church

Distance in her Eyes.

There is a distance in her eyes

No bridge could ever span

A distance in her eyes

Between what was and is

Two different worlds

Collide within her soul

Fallen moment of heartbreak

Reflected, yet hidden

in the distance in her eyes

searching the invisible

restoration a forsaken hope

for the distance in her eyes

disclose the broken heart

searching for a time before

forlorn hope that all will mend

and be as before, sorrow

such sorrow found within

the distance in her eyes

Adrian Wait

The Layers

I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle
not to stray.

When I look behind,
as I am compelled to look
before I can gather strength
to proceed on my journey,
I see the milestones dwindling
toward the horizon
and the slow fires trailing
from the abandoned campsites,
over which scavenger angels
wheel on heavy wings.

Oh, I have made myself a tribe
out of my true affections,
and my tribe is scattered!
How shall the heart be reconciled
to its feast of losses?
In a rising wind
the manic dust of my friends,
those who fell along the way,
bitterly stings my face.
Yet I turn, I turn,
exulting somewhat,
with my will intact to go
wherever I need to go,
and every stone on the road
precious to me.

In my darkest night,
when the moon was covered
and I roamed through wreckage,
a nimbus-clouded voice
directed me:
"Live in the layers,
not on the litter."
Though I lack the art
to decipher it,
no doubt the next chapter
in my book of transformations
is already written.
I am not done with my changes.

 Stanley Kunitz (1905–2006)

Rob Bell

Below is a video from James White a theologian & apologist.  He has prepared this interesting video challenging Rob Bell and his Nooma #15 video which had bothered me the first time I saw it, and like him; the end in particular bothered me.  Like him or not, he asks good questions and does his research.

little bird

The little bird perched in the golden cage
knew not how to fly
her wings were clipped
not by scissors
but from neglect.

She had faded memories of days gone by
of flying free
the bright, shiny blue sky
the wind blowing thru her feathers
the warmth of sun
the renewing of rain

The trappings of love
the trappings of being needed
the weight of pleasing
caused her wings to sag
to fly no more.

Figuring Life Out - One Thousand Gifts

The Heidelberg Project

This video is inspirational! 

Weightless

I recently discovered Christa Wells an amazing musician!  I have been listening to the song  Weightless over & over!  Unless you've lived in a bunker for most of your life, you will appreciate her music.  You can hear the song by visiting her site (look for the nimbit player and scroll to the song). Listen and ponder the weightlessness of being forgiven!  If I was more techie, I might know how to put her song into this blog for you to listen to as you read the lyrics.  There are no videos to go with this song which would have made it easier to share.


Click here to listen  It is song #8  Scroll down the page till you find the little music player.



Weightless

Nothing scalds
like the memory of wrongs I did when I was young
how could I, how could I
I’m sorry


I see the eyes
of the ones that I so carelessly abused
how could I, how could I
I’m sorry


Well, I’ve carried this a long time
in a well hidden bundle on my back
but I’ve realized repentance is weightless
so I’ll leave my burden on the tracks


And then I face
the yesterdays that disappointed
misunderstood by a cruel world
and I’m angry


You might suppose
the years would close the curtains on a scene
from such a time, but this was mine to harbor


Well, I’ve carried this a long time
in a well-hidden bundle on my back
but I’ve realized forgiveness is weightless
so I’ll leave my burden on the tracks


Its gonna be like delivery that’s overdue and getting too heavy
Then suddenly, I’m weightless

I am

In the stillness I am
In the noise I am
In my sleep I am
In a crowd I am

Alone.

Pious

"It is tragic to see how the religious sentiment of the West has become so individualized that concepts such as "a contrite heart," have come to refer only to the personal experiences of guilt and willingness to do penance for it. The awareness of our impurity in thoughts, words and deeds can indeed put us in a remorseful mood and create in us the hope for a forgiving gesture. But if the catastrophical events of our days, the wars, mass murders, unbridled violence, crowded prisons, torture chambers, the hunger and the illness of millions of people and he unnamable misery of a major part of the human race is safely kept outside the solitude of our hearts, our contrition remains no more than a pious emotion. "


— Henri J.M. Nouwen (Reaching Out)

“The whole problem with the world is that fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts"

Bertrand Russell

Patience

Oswald Chambers writes:


Patience is more than endurance. A saint’s life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of the archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says, ‘I cannot stand anymore.’ God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God’s hands.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Colossians 3:12).

Some favourite photos....Just thought I'd add in some photos of those I love and adore!

my ever sarcastic, speaks his mind, whether you wanted his advice or not, husband!

This was our first night meeting Alli & Shane.  That day will always be precious to my family.

Alli & Shane

My beautiful sister, mum & ella as a wee baby!

My youngest brother Boyd with ella as a baby.


Connor, Meaghan, Jack, Sam & Ben


my dad in his old red ford truck!


Ella looking so beautiful in her little coat from Sweden (thanks Linda) wearing her pretty fairisle hat.

My kids looking so young...

Ella wearing her cloth diapers...she was sooo cuddly!

Here she is crawling around in her big cloth diapered bum!

Ben & Sam at the company picnic a few years ago.

Sam looking sooo cute waiting around to play baseball.

Our new kitty Callum.

Jack & ella drinking hot chocolate by the fire.

Jack may years ago now brushing his teeth.


Martha's Birthday



Ella with tea in her cheeks



Sharon's 50th



Ben out witting Shane!



Alli's Birthday!

Weeding My Garden!

There is something about weeding your garden that allows your mind and your spirit to wander into deeper places.  The simplicity of weeding is what makes it so profound.  I used to sneak to my old church and weed the garden.  Either on the nights we would meet to pray...all 3 or 4 of us or when I would take Ella and her friend over to play on the swings.  I always felt I was doing something more profound than just weeding, I was removing strongholds on our church.

So strangely enough, this past spring and summer I stopped weeding my own garden!  I had given up on some things in my life thinking it was better to let it down than to continue to struggle.  Weeding which can be quite the mundane task, always gave me peace, gave me pleasure, allowed me to warfare against the enemy which steals in, robbing us of our peace, our faith, our family unit, whatever you may hold precious.

At a recent prayer meeting with an amazing group of people....I realized the significance of my despair. The place where we met was a place where love and nurturing was evident all around.  It said welcome and it also said I take care of my land!   When I had proclaimed "I didn't care anymore" it allowed a breech, a foxhole, a rathole to enter into my territory, my land! 

Today I reclaimed my land!!!!  I took back some ground by yanking out some nasty weeds out of my garden.  Even though, others may not care, even though all around me negativity may mutter...I will stand my ground as a child of God!  I am picking up my sword, putting on my armour and protecting my ground, my family, those I love near and afar!

Horizons

Patience

"A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us."

— Henri J.M. Nouwen

image jenniferferraro.com

Isn't it Funny...

How you can find yourself in situations that at one time you would never have been able to deal with, but you do deal with it & grow stronger, tougher & gentler all at the same time.

How the word humble & humbled can take on new meaning, again & again.

How being alone can mean being lonely in a crowd yet never fully alone because your conversing with God all the way through it.

How beautiful people are...especially children!  Children are truly GIFTS from God!  Open vessels wanting only to be filled with love, encouragement, guidance, & acceptance.

Religion today is not transforming people; rather it is being transformed by the people. It is not raising the moral level of society; it is descending to society's own level, and congratulating itself that it has scored a victory because society is smilingly accepting its surrender.


... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)

Friend

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares."


— Henri J.M. Nouwen (The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey)