Curioius Question

How many people write blogs?
I wondered that today, so I did a quick Google search and discovered that there are around 152-173 million blogs out there as of three years ago.
And that there are over a million posts each day.

That's a lot of people who have something to say and want to be heard.

The Scale of Contentment

Sometimes I take pages to describe what I am thinking! 
Today I will use a picture to help.

There are a lot of things we can put on that scale to weigh it down.
Various circumstances come to mind. They can be pretty heavy at times. Things that cause us to be discontent.

But what is on the other side.
What can tip the scale to result in contentment?
What outweighs circumstances?

Paul in Philippians chapter 4 said he found the secret - it was Christ giving strength in all things.
The writer of Hebrews said we can be content because God will never leave or forsake us (Heb. 13:5)

The circumstances don't go away. We just tip the scales with what is on the other side.

I'm putting forth that we can rest the Character of God on the other side. The knowledge that God is our Friend. He walks with us through everything. That He is sovereign. That He is good and compassionate. That He sees more than we do and He's invested Himself in our lives.

I don't think circumstances need to make or break our contentment. We can be content despite the circumstances.
My goal is to get to know His character better, so on this journey of life,  my scales regularly have God's character outweighing circumstances.

A Better Way

I read a research study the other day. 
Two groups of people were each given some money.
Group A got to spend it on themselves any way they wanted. Group B had to give it away to anyone they wanted.
Who tested as being happier - Group A or Group B?

Today is the last day we will be parents of someone younger than a teen! 
So what is the reaction of said parents?
The Dad is giving his "Little girl" hugs at every possible occasion. "Oh, it's my 12 year old! It's the last day to give my 12 year old a hug!"
It puts a smile on her face. Especially when he said to expect him to do it at youth group tonight!
Unfortunately, we got freezing rain and youth gropu was cancelled!

The Mom? Well, she is just treasuring each precious moment. Pondering these things in her heart. Praying.

And in case you didn't guess, Scripture was correct in it's counsel. It is better to give than to receive.
Group B was happier.
So, next time someone is depressed and wants to go on a shopping therapy trip, tell them to give the money away instead.

I don't think we'll ask Anna-Lee to give her birthday gift away though just so she can be happier!


 

A Weekend with my Eldest

While my youngest was off galavanting to Belleville for a Bible Quizzing Tournament and to Mont Cascades skiing this weekend, I had the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with my eldest.
We had great fun playing some games of Quirkle, watching a couple of movies ("Time Changer" and "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"), and researching some new healthy recipes.
So nice to have time to do some things that have nothing to do with disability. All in all a great weekend.

A New Perspective on Prayer

I had an interesting experience the other day.
I was faced with a great opportunity in which I saw no way to make a reality.  

Instead of working my brain to a frazzle, I prayed with my prayer partner. When we finished praying, I got off the phone and still felt like trying to figure it all out myself. I still felt my brain was on the hamster wheel.
I could have kept praying. I could have kept it front and centre in my thoughts. I could have worried it to death.

Instead, I proclaimed who God is.
Lord, You are all wise. You are creative. You are God over all logistics. I TRUST You to figure this out. I TRUST Your wisdom. I TRUST whatever answer You give.

And guess what. I had an incredible and sudden inspiration. It was out of the box thinking. It was a God thoguht. And it worked! Opportunity is now reality!

The Inconvenient Prayer

We know it's a good thing to do. A priority even.
And yet aside from breath prayers throughout the day, grace at meals and good morning and good night prayers with the kids, dedicated prayer time is hard to do.

A friend and I started praying on an almost daily basis a few months ago, and yet once the immediate prayer need was no longer an issue, life once again got in the way and our daily phone calls started to taper off.

Yes, phone calls. That in itself was a revolution! it just doesn't work to alwasy be in physical proximity, so we began the phone prayer. And it worked - for a time.

Since Christmas, we have attempted to get back up and runring with our phone prayers. But it's hard!

We have come to the conclusion that prayer is often inconvenient.
So, we call it our "inconvenient prayer time," and we do it anyway.We phone even if it means we have 2 mintues. Even if it means we have other things to do. Even if we don't know if the other person is free. And if we receive the call and it is inconvenient, we pray anyway, because it is our "inconvenient prayer time."

It is a statement to all the powers and principalities that God is first. Prayer is important. Inconvenience is a given and God is worth the inconvenience!

Friday Night

When we were in Israel, we took some time to be still -  to just listen and look and experience.
Tonight I am doing the same here in my house.

Impressions of a Friday Night

• crazy jokes being read by 12 year olds
• contagious laughter
• Christian music
• colourful lights shining from the Christmas tree
• Dad concentrating on putting together a 1,000 piece puzzle
• the microwave humming warming up a bean bag to keep Dad warm
• the beeps of texts coming through arrainging logistics
• a cat's purr 
• the dog's tail wagging
• the cat drinking water
• tires crunching on snow
• the smell of a fragrant candle