A better day..

Some days are just tough. Yesterday was one of those for me. But I am happy to say that today has been much better. I have had time with cherished friends, I got some work done, I have talked to the insurance company and got the details figured out for getting my car fixed, got a long walk and a workout done,and I finished a couple of little errands that had been hanging over me.

One of the things that is central to my faith is the concept of hope. God promises us a better day. God promises us a best-day-ever that will never end. It is called Heaven, and Jesus told us he has prepared a place there for us.

Some days are tough, but God promises a better day. And that is something worth remembering.

So exhausted…

Not sure I have anything brilliant (or even mildly witty) to write tonite. I’m tired. Today has been a long day, and it ended with a fender bender. As I neared home, I was hit from behind by a van that had been hit from behind by a guy who just didn’t see the brake lights. Everyone was ok, and the cars can be repaired. I am thankful for that.

What followed was an hour and a half of waiting and wondering if I was going to be late for a meeting I had at the church. As it turns out, I had just enough time to park and rush over to the church before my meeting began. As it turns out, the meeting was short, and I am thankful for that, too.

There is much for which to be thankful. I need to remember that.

Still as I write this, what I feel is bone-deep exhaustion. So I am going to stop writing in a minute or two, and curl up on the couch. If you have a moment and a prayer to spare, I would love it if you lifted me up. You could pray that I get a good night’s sleep, and that I don’t have a bad case of whiplash out of this. Thanks in advance.

The Bean Ladies

So I discovered something exciting. I have posted before about my new found love of beans (black beans are my favorite).

They are just so versatile – you can use them in stew, soup, dips, salsa, chili, salads. They are high in protein and fibre. They are low in WW points. They fill you up and keep you feeling full. I was singing the praises of the bean even before I discovered that you can use them to make dessert.

I had heard about black bean brownies and was even considering making some from a recipe I had found online. Then one night my Mom called me to tell me she had the most amazing gluten-free dessert at a friend’s house. You guessed it – black bean brownies. Since my Mom is gluten intolerant, any new discovery of gluten free desserts is exciting to us.

Turns out her friend had been at the One of a Kind craft show and had come across this little business called The Bean Ladies. Even better – they have a store right here in Brampton. So while my folks were in town last week, we went to The Bean Ladies store. We sampled their gluten free muffins (yummy!), we tried a number of their roasted bean snacks (I especially enjoy Canadian Maple, eh? and Hot Chicks) and we bought a lot of their stuff.

Check them out – they have wonderful products. Right now I am completely obsessed with their roasted soy bean and roasted chick pea snacks. I have made the brownies and they are great, too (though I am going to experiment in my next batch to see if I can use less oil and substitute maple syrup for refined sugar). I have a mix for black bean salsa that I haven’t tried yet, but I am sure it will be great, just as all their other stuff has been.

I love new discoveries!

TGFKY

I didn’t misspell the title of this blog entry. That is, in fact, the name of our 20’s and 30’s group at the church. It stands for “The Group Formerly Known as Youth.” Though I think many do not remember what the acronym stands for. And I often have people saying things to me like “you know – that abdefghik group…the 20’s and 30’s thing”.

Nonetheless, I need to take a moment to blog about our group – I know I have done this before, but in case you don’t remember it, let me remind you. We meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. We have dinner and fellowship together, and then we have some sort of program or discussion. This year we have been working our way through Francis Chan’s BASIC series.

I am so impressed with the way that our conversations veer wildly off topic (seriously – we discussed relationships, why some marriages work, what our faith has to say about dreams, and what the apple in the story of Adam and Eve actually represents, all while discussing how to read the Bible), we also have a way of circling back around to the original topic. I am thankful for a place where we can discuss our faith honestly and openly and with a healthy dose of laughter. I am thankful that my ‘job’ on TGFKY nights is to sit and listen and occasionally throw my 2 cents in, but not to control the discussion or the program.

I love getting to do something in ministry that is so organic and so meaningful. I am thankful for “that abcdedfghijk group!”

Jesus is present with us as we meet and I am reminded why I love my church.

Workin’ it…

I took a Sabbath from blogging last night. The weekend was a little crazy, and last night I sat in front of my computer screen trying to come up with a blog topic. I was so tired, I couldn’t come up with anything. After 2o min of trying, I closed my laptop and went to bed. Woke up this morning and realized I had a topic, I had just forgotten it. Whoops. That topic has been stored away for future use.

Tonite I need to do a little physical-fitness bragging.  I was invited to an Outdoor Bootcamp by a friend. I could try it out for free (well, a food bank donation), and then drop in to any class at $10 a go. So tonite was my first experience with it and it was great. We did burpees (I’ve never done them before. UGH!!!), Superman burpees (super-duper UGH!!!), froggers, long jumps, pushups, ball pushups, ball passes (3kg ball), Ball slams (??? 3Kg ball on the ground, squat down, pick it up to over head, then slam it down to the ground), leg raises and heal touches (abs). I didn’t think it was so bad during class, but I’m still feeling the workout and it ended nearly an hour and a half ago. Killer and awesome!

I’m excited to have another weapon in my fitness arsenal. Also, I was excited to learn some new exercises and variations on exercises that I can incorporate into my Deck of Cards WOD. It was great to work out with others and to do it outside (didn’t hurt that today, though windy, was absolutely gorgeous).

And I am amazed that somehow, in the past year of journeying towards greater physical health, working my body hard like this has become a form of worship. I am, during a workout, aware of my body and the things it can do. I am aware that it is a gift from God, and one that, sadly, I have abused for much of my life. I am aware that as I work out, I am treating this gift well, pushing it to its limits, making it better and stronger. I am aware that during a workout I am valuing the gift given to me by my Loving Father. It is amazing to me that something as seemingly mundane as a workout can also become a deeply spiritual exercise (pardon the pun).

It is finished…

It has been a really busy week for me. After some time off at the beginning of the week, I have found myself rushing from one thing to the next. Today was the busiest and tomorrow will be no different. Of course, this is also a week when I am preaching. It never fails, right? (I shouldn’t complain. My friends who are not Associate Ministers face this every single week…where as, I only have to feel the sermon-crunch one-out-of-every-four.)

I got home late this evening and wanted to just go to bed, but instead I spent some time online, chatting with a friend. We ended the conversation about 20 minutes ago and I had decided to go to bed and deal with the sermon (which really only needed a read-through and a final thought after the work I put into it last night) early tomorrow morning.

But I am so pleased to say that I didn’t do that. Instead, I took a moment to run through the sermon and amazingly (the Grace of God at work, people!!) my final thought presented itself almost immediately. So now, the sermon is finished and I am thankful. It is a privilege to preach God’s word to those who belong to or are seeking for His Kingdom.

It is finished! AMEN!

Small blessings…

The other morning I woke up to find that the furnace in my house was not heating. It was COLD in my house.

Koski and I went out for our walk and when we got home, it hadn’t warmed up at all. So we called the furnace company. They promised to send a tech over between 10am and 2pm and I sat down to wait.

It was a long wait…and I got so cold I was in pain. It got me thinking. I am so blessed to have something as seemingly simple as a warm house. I don’t think about it most of the time. I just come in from outside and the heat is here. If I am cold, I turn the heat up. If I am warm, I turn the heat down. The furnace responds to the thermostat and most of the time I don’t even notice it coming on.

For some of our foodbank clients and for many others in the city of Brampton, that is not the case. Maybe they don’t have a house to live in, maybe they are constantly on the verge of losing their home, or maybe they are constantly worried about whether they will be able to pay the heat bill.

Sometimes I just need to stop and be thankful for the things that are easy to miss. The things that I find it easy to take for granted.

It turned out that the problem with the furnace was a small part that was easily replaced. An hour later I was back to being warm and comfortable in my house. And because the church has a service contract with the furnace company, it didn’t cost anything extra.

I have so very much for which to give thanks.

Healing Power

At the end of each cycle of our Alpha-and-other-courses on Wednesday nights, we have a healing service. It is the strangest thing – it is just a simple little service. My order of service was hand written with the call to worship written in tiny, probably-only-legible-by-me writing at the top of a sheet of paper that had been torn in half. It’s not slick and professional and produced. In many ways it has less planning and effort put into it than any Sunday service.

And yet it is the most powerful thing. I am always amazed at how exhausted I am afterwards and I can only chalk it up to the fact that I have been in the presence of the risen Lord and He has been at work.

I am astounded at the people who come to this service. I love that some of them walk up to me and say “you know what I need prayer about, Rebekah” and others tell me their story for the first time. I love the honesty of the prayer requests. You know – there is just something great about someone saying plainly what their pain is. It is actually kind of cool when someone says – for example – I’ve been constipated and its very painful. There is no artfulness about that, it’s just honest. And that makes it beautiful.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. In James we read: ” The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (James 5:16b, NLT)

Sometimes I am just amazed at the how much honor there is in my vocation. I am honored to have been part of this service, once again.

 

A little break…

Easter is an interesting time for ordained clergy. On the one hand it is one of the highlights of our year as we remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and have extra opportunities to worship with our folks and help them draw close to God. On the other hand…it can be really tricky to balance the “doing” with the “being.” By that I mean that it is is easy to get so busy with what needs to happen (extra services mean extra responsibilities!) that you forget to actually experience the love of God and the holiness of Holy Week.

So part of my Easter practice is to take a couple of days off afterwards. I tend to get out of town (read: visit the folks!) and just spend some time resting and thinking and reading and breathing. I had intended to blog while out of town, but I kept falling asleep before I could blog at night! I guess I just needed the rest.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter. I hope the magnitude of God’s love and selflessness of Christ’s sacrifice touched your heart anew.

 

A Saturday night party…

For some, it would seem exceedingly strange that my church had a party tonite. It is Easter Saturday. The long dark, hopeless day that the disciples spent in hiding after Jesus’ crucifixion. Before the Resurrection, before the story began to make sense. For many it may be a time to spend in quiet contemplation.

And I can understand how that might be deeply meaningful for some. In the past few years, my Easter Saturdays have often been spent quietly. Thinking about what I will say on Sunday morning, how to share the good news in a way that is fresh and new. But I have to admit, it was kind of a beautiful thing to gather at the table with friends to smile and laugh and tease. To tell stories and eat good food together.

Because Jesus Christ is risen. And even though the official celebration comes tomorrow, the fact is that this is true every day. There will never be another Saturday like the ones the disciples spent, that first Easter. There will never be another day when we have to wonder whether Jesus was just a man…whether it was all in vain, all his preaching and miracles and talk of the Kingdom.

He is alive. He is alive. He is ALIVE!!

And in my books, that is reason for a party every day of the week.