Tapping into the Well

This devotional I wrote in April of 2008.

What’s in a Thought?

Colossians 3:1-4 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Have you ever put much thought into a thought?  Where do thoughts come from?  How do our brains form words and then put those words into sentences?  Where do the ideas originate?  Have you ever considered how you come to believe what you do?  Not only are our thoughts composed of words, but pictures, music and emotions are also closely tied to our thoughts and beliefs.  Have you ever had a song stuck in your head; one that seems to get in there and won’t go away?   The song had to come from somewhere.  You likely heard it at some point, maybe a friend was humming the tune or you had the radio on the background and your brain picked it up without you even realising it.  Before you know it you’re humming, whistling or singing the same tune. 

Physiologically, in simple terms, a thought is nothing more than a series of electrical impulses in our brain, ordered in such a way as to bring understanding or a response.  So what causes the impulses to generate in the first place?  How is it that they come together and create understanding?  As with the song, the information first has to be fed into the brain.  We receive ideas and stimulus through a variety of ways.  God created our bodies in such a miraculous way as to continually receive input from the moment we’re born.  Through sight, sound, touch, taste and smell we take in information and our brains process this input. With time a baby learns what to do with the information she receives and within a few years is walking, talking and forming her own thoughts.  It all starts with input. 

What we put into our brains is ultimately what will come out.  How we speak, act and respond in our world is a direct result of the information we have received throughout our life.  Is it no wonder that our world is in the state it is when currently we are bombarded with negative messages through various media; TV, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet, just to name a few sources.  When we constantly listen to messages conveying doom and gloom, it should come as no surprise that depression and other mental disorders are at an all time high.  Have you ever noticed how many news broadcasts today end their shows with a 2 to 3 minute “feel good” type story?  Are they trying to make up for the last half-hour of harsh reality or do they truly understand the brain better than most, thinking “If we leave them feeling good, they’ll want to tune in again tomorrow.”

We would be wise to pay attention to what we’re feeding our brains. How much is negative, hurtful, depressing material?  How much is positive, uplifting, useful and edifying?  We need to be concerned about the health of our brains and the health of our thoughts.  Of course it’s unrealistic to think that we could, or even should, take in only positive, “safe” stimulus all the time.  Neither, should we be ignorant nor naive about our world and the state it is in.  We can, however, control what we choose to let in and what we don’t.  We also have the ability to be in control of, and be responsible for, what we do with the information we’ve taken in.  Do we allow the negative messages and images to dwell in our thoughts and drag us down? Do we brush it all off with indifference or are we spurned into action?  When taking in something positive do we share it with others, to feed their lives with healthy thoughts and experiences, or do we selfishly keep it all to ourselves?

Colossians 3:1-4 encourages us to set our hearts and minds on things above, or as the New Living Translation puts it, “Let heaven fill your thoughts,” and to let our thoughts be pleasing to God.  Yes, God knows our every thought before we even think it; good and bad alike.  Thankfully there’s forgiveness through Christ and we need not worry about condemnation because of our thoughts.  However, as we grow in our faith we need to work at controlling them and focusing them.  2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  Not always an easy thing to do but it does become easier, the more we practice it.  Other things that help are Bible reading, praying and spending time in worship.  When we do those things we’re letting heaven fill our thoughts; we’re focusing our minds on God and opening our hearts and our lives to His guidance and influence. 

We need to remember that what we feed into our minds, ends up in our hearts and will ultimately come out as words and actions.  Does your life reflect what you’ve been feeding your mind lately?   Think about it.

Psalm 19:14 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

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Two wrongs don’t make a right

I’ve always been a bit of a math and science wiz.  Those subjects were easy for me in school because they were based on logic.  There was a problem and there was an answer – period.  Nothing inbetween. 2+2 always equals 4.  Two negatives always make a positive.   There are no maybes or kinda sortas… yeah, but… ugh! It was either right or it was wrong.

English and Social Studies were a nightmare at times. There were very few absolute answers, a+b did not always equal c and I struggled with that. Early on I learned that the best way to make good grades in those subjects was to figure out exactly what the teacher wanted to hear and write that in the best way possible.  Teacher’s pets always scored highest in those classes.  With math and science you either knew the right answers or you didn’t and for me there was  a level of comfort in that.  If I got the answer wrong I could learn what I did wrong and make it right the next time.  With English, if the teacher didn’t like your paper, didn’t like your opinion, or just didn’t like you in some cases, you got a bad mark.  I could never quite figure out how to fix that, how to make it right.  So a lot of times I just didn’t try and even in that learned an interesting fact.  I was getting the same grades whether I put in 110% effort or 50% effort and beleive me, this was quite the revelation for a teenager bent on doing as little as possible!  That was until I entered my first year of university and got a whopping 30% on my first English paper.  Talk about a wake up call!

As an adult I now know better.  And while I still love working with absolutes, I’m learning to appreciate that this world doesn’t necessarily function on the same and relationships most definitely do not.  They can be extremely complicated at times… just like English and Social Studies.   You can try to figure people out, but what works for one person doesn’t always work for the next.  Sometimes people may not like the way you say things,  others may not agree with your opinions and others just plain don’t like you.  Ultimatley, however, we’re not here to please everyone anyway!  That was tough lesson for me.  Being a first born I’m naturally a people pleaser, but the older and more mature I get the less time and energy I spend on worrying about such foolish things.  If people like me, they like me, if they don’t, well I suppose that’s their loss.  I’m not gonna lose any sleep over it.

I’m also learning the value of admitting when I’m wrong and it’s amazing how that simple act can unarm people determined to argue.  I read an interesting quote the other day that’s been running through my brain.  I can’t remember the exact words, but it went something like this.  “There may be 1 way to do something right, but 100 ways to do it wrong.”  Now, in pondering this, I’ve realised that there are possibly two ways we can understand this quote.  We can realise that more often than not, we’re likely wrong in our ideas and opinions.  One can firmly beleive something in their heart and mind and be 100% committed to it, and still be 100% wrong.  Or maybe it’s saying that there are 100 ways to figure out the right solution to a problem in the wrong way.  I’m not really sure which meaning the author originally intended, but I’m sure we can all learn something from both interpretations.  Then again, maybe they’re both wrong.  🙂

In any case, I am realising and learning that no matter how much I love absolutes and perfect answers, this world is filled with anything but.  Two wrongs never make a right.  Nothing is ever black and white, rather a million shades of grey. One thing that’s come to help me cope with this is taking a little time at the end of each day to work on puzzles. Crosswords, logic puzzles, cryptograms, you name it, I love it.  In a funny way it helps my mind to calm down and relax; to break free from the abstractness of this world and focus in on something concrete. Something with definite answers.  They’re either right or wrong – and if I simply can’t figure it out… well… there’s always the answer page at the back of the book.

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Tapping into the Well…

Even though I wrote this devotional 2 years ago, it is surprisingly very applicable to my life today based on a few events of this past week.  It’s been comforting to read this again and be reminded of these things.  I pray that it will bless you as well.   

My Peace – originally written December 7th, 2007

I’ve been asking myself some fairly philosophical questions lately.  Maybe it’s the approaching Christmas season that has me pondering “world peace” and “joy for all mankind” and how we oddly seek to find these fleeting feelings within the happenings of the season.  Maybe it’s my extreme frustration with the dog-eat-dog world that we live in today – so contrary to what we really want.  I don’t understand it, but I do know that my philosophising has achieved something.  It’s helped me to dig down – way down – to the very roots of what I believe and what I value in life.  It has also helped me to fight past the anxiety and frustration that surfaces when I consider the horrendous state of our world; this place we so lovingly call “home” and yet treat so poorly.  As well as the messed up state of our lives and how we so easily try to hide it or cover it up with pretty decorations and toys.  I believe through all this I’ve managed to find an inner peace and what I believe to be truth; a solid foundation, buried beneath this hectic life of mine.

 This is what I’ve discovered…

All the pain, hurt, anger, wars and disease… everything wrong with this world has one root cause.  Sin.  When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, they condemned the entire human race to live lives of sin; lives of struggle, lives of pain, hurt and suffering.  From the moment we’re born to the moment we die; our time here on this earth is clouded by sin.

I also believe that no matter how hard we try.  No matter how good we are, (or think we are), there is nothing we can do to free ourselves from this sin.  And there is nothing we can do to free our world from this sin either.  As long as this world goes on, there will forever be war, disease, hatred and evil.  We cannot escape it.  We can try… oh, how we’ve already tried, and failed.  Millions are still starving, children are still dying, wars rage on and on.  It never ends.  It never has and it never will. 

So how, you may ask, can I find peace, hope and stability in that type of thinking?  Have I simply given up?  Resigned to the sadistic fact that my life will be doomed to pain and suffering.  Definitely not!  For I know that the sin that holds this world captive, no longer holds my heart or my soul captive.  A price was paid to redeem my life from sin and evil.  Jesus Christ came into this world, God in the form of a little baby, one without sin, one who was perfect; flawless. And he came to offer himself as a sacrifice for our messed up lives.  He was the one and only way to save the world from its condemned state, in sin.  A price had to be paid, God’s law required it and Jesus was that payment.  His blood was shed so we could be forgiven; his body, broken, to give us freedom.  The sin of our lives is cancelled and we’re no longer slaves to that power if we just accept in our hearts the amazing gift of his life and death.  

My sin, the evil present in my life and all the hurt and pain that I’ve caused and will, unfortunately, continue to cause, has already been taken care of.  The price has been paid.  My debt is cancelled and I know, without a doubt, that my Father in heaven will one day welcome me with open arms.  Now that’s what brings me true joy; inner joy.

But I also know that while I live here on this earth I’ll never be perfect.  I am still affected by sin.  It’s simply impossible for any of us to achieve perfection, so why waste our time worrying and stressing and striving for it?  I’ve taken a step back and I’m starting to look at life through new lenses.  My hope, my peace, my joy; it comes from knowing that no matter what happens to me here on this earth, no matter what this life has to offer, I can simply be who God made me to be.  I don’t have to be perfect. I can live the life I was meant to live and rest in the fact that His perfect love, peace and joy will sustain me through it all – no matter what comes my way.  And yes, one day, I will truly be free!

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Tapping into the Well…

Over the past 2 years I’ve written a number of devotionals for my in-laws website.  I’d like to share some of those writings with you, so every Saturday I’ll be tapping into that well and posting something I wrote a while ago. 

This particualr one was originally written on July 16, 2007  and it’s titled,

The Garden of My Life

I’ve never been much of a gardener.  I’ve never had a green thumb, or any other finger for that matter.  Yet God is teaching me something about life and he has chosen the image of a garden to help me understand it. 

 This all stems from years of frustration and struggle in an attempt to develop close friendships and failing.  You see, there’s this pattern in my life of finding and losing close friends.  Typically, when I find someone that I really connect with, within a year either they move or I move, or in some way the relationship comes to an end.  Unfortunately, I’m not very good at keeping up with long distance friendships either. Repeatedly this has happened throughout my life and I’ve become, at times, very disheartened and weary in trying to form new relationships.  For a short time, I even gave up on trying to seek out new friends.  I was simply tired of experiencing the pain that came with ending those relationships and I wasn’t ready to put forth the effort in keeping the ones that I had. 

So this year, my goal has been to work on relationships and friendships in my life.  At the time I made that goal things seemed fairly stable and I thought this would be a safe goal to have.  I started reaching out again, seeking opportunities to get together with others.  Having people over, going for coffee, spending time visiting… it was all going really well.  My confidence was beginning to build again.  Then, as the patterns of my life seem to dictate, God led us to move out of Calgary.  I honestly didn’t expect this at all, so I was left feeling frustrated and a little confused.

I’ve been talking to God about it; explaining my end of things… like he doesn’t know it all, already.  I guess the biggest question is why he would lead me to start working on friendships and relationships this year if he knew we were going to be moving anyway?  I didn’t understand that.  Then the image of garden started forming in my mind – each piece playing a part in my life. 

I’ve heard many gardening phrases before; “Grow where you are planted”, and “Friends are the flowers in the garden of life”, or “If friends were flowers, I’d pick you.”, but only recently have I truly made the connection between gardening and my life. 

A seed = self

Where to start?  With a seed.  Me.  What kind of seed am I?  What plant would I become?  Only God knows this.  As the Divine Gardener, he knows what each seed is, what kind of plant it will become, what fruit it will bear, and what purpose it will serve.  My God knows everything about me and therefore he knows just the right spot to plant me.  He knows how much sun and how much shade I should have.  He knows the best type of soil for me and how often I should be watered.  He also knows when to prune and how much to cut back.   My gardener will always take the very best care of me, and help me to flourish.

Soil and Roots = family

Sometimes that means I need to be transplanted; moved to a bigger pot, or better garden with different soil.  There are times in our lives when we have grown as much as we can in the place where we live and God will move us to a new place, where we’ll have new experiences and be fed in new ways.  But no matter where I go the one thing that always comes with me are my roots.  My family.  I’m connected to them, wherever I go.  They give me nourishment and support.  They keep me strong when I feel weak.  I’m so blessed to have good, strong, healthy roots!

Flowers = friends

It seems that wherever God has chosen to plant me, there have always been other flowers and plants growing there alongside me.  My friends.  I’ve learned over time that some of these are annuals and some are perennials.  Some friendships last a short time, maybe just a season, and others grow and flourish for many years.  Some are even like bulbs, going dormant for a time and then blooming again in the spring.  Like flowers, friends keep our gardens interesting and beautiful. 

Weeds = negative relationships

Unfortunately, as with any garden, our lives will find the occasional weed creeping in.  At first they look like little flowers beginning to grow, but soon we realise that they are taking more than they give and no pretty flowers develop.  These are negative relationships that can harm us and take the joy out of our life.  It’s not easy, and no one likes doing it, but these weeds have to come out.  The sooner the better, because big weeds often have bigger roots in our lives and are much harder to pull out if we let them grow too long.

 Fruit = blessing others

Overtime, we should see fruit growing in our lives; evidence of God’s work within us.  What kind of fruit we produce depends on what kind of seed we are.  An apple seed can never produce watermelons, and shouldn’t try to!  I’ve learned that part of life is discovering what type of plant you are what kind of fruit you are meant to produce.  If we submit to God’s will and allow him to till our soil, transplant when necessary, prune, feed and water us all at the right time – HIS time, we WILL produce fruit.  And what purpose does the fruit in our lives serve?  To bless others – our family, friends, neighbours or whomever God brings into our lives; to feed and nourish them or simply bring enjoyment into their life. 

My Garden

In my life, I’ve lived in places where the soil was very rocky and tough.  I didn’t have too many other plants growing alongside me.  Those were lonely times for me, and I was thankful that I had strong roots.  There have also been times where the soil’s been rich and good, yet God has chosen those times to prune me.  That hurts too, but I know good will eventually come of it.  I have had relationships that have lasted only months and one in particular that has held strong for years.  Each one of those relationships is a beautiful flower in my memory.  I’ve also had a few weeds in my life that needed to be pulled.  Those were some of the hardest times I’ve gone through, but it was necessary, and I knew good would eventually come of it. 

My garden is a continual work of art.  Flowers will come and go.  New ones will be blooming as old ones die off.  Weeds will sprout and need to be pulled.  I will continue to take love and nourishment from my gardener and allow him to tend to my life every day.  My garden is a beautiful place to be.  My life is a beautiful life to live.   

 

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I know I’m loved… do you?

This may sound strange to some, but I love my job. I look forward to going to work every day and even miss it a little when I have a day off. Yes, I am blessed! I do closed captioning for a local Christian TV station and I type up a variety of shows. Not the live ones though – I can type fast, but not that fast! The shows I work on are all pre-taped so I don’t actually have to type as fast as people talk, thankfully!

Every once in a while a show comes across my desk that really hits home. Some of the messages impact my heart in ways that are hard to explain, but I have to admit they change me. On Tuesday, I typed up one of those shows.

The pastor bringing the message was comparing two disciples, Peter and John; both very different characters. Simon Peter was the outspoken one, aggressive and full of passion. He said he’d defend Jesus to the end and proved this when he sliced off the right ear of the high priest’s servant as they came to arrest Christ in the garden. (John 18:10-11) Peter swore that he’d rather die than deny his Lord, yet he realised he had failed when he heard the rooster crow the next morning. (Matthew 26:75) It’s true, Peter loved Jesus, but that love was misguided, driven by something that ultimately caused more harm than good.

The Apostle John, on the other hand, while he and his brother were given the nickname “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus himself, has been portrayed in art, throughout the ages, as small and gentle, almost feminine like. Of course this is the artist’s interpretation of John, but I do believe it fits with his character. It’s likely that he was the youngest of the disciples, some claiming him to possibly be 16 or 17 years old when he walked with Christ. Yes, it is believed he may have had a bit of a temper, but he doesn’t come across as the alpha male type that we see in Peter. Christ, while hanging on the cross, asks John to take Mary, his mother, into his home. (John 19:25-27) So while he may not have been outspoken, he was with Jesus to the very end and four times in scripture John is noted as the “disciple whom Jesus loved.”

 This brought up something rather interesting. The pastor noted that this ‘special’ title that John has only appears within the Gospel of John. Could this be a sign of arrogance on John’s part? To declare himself as the one Jesus loved, within the pages of his own writing? Was he holding himself in higher regard than the other disciples? Surely not.

 The pastor admitted that he used to think that way, until he realised that it didn’t exactly fit with John’s character. Perhaps it wasn’t arrogance that caused him to say those words, but rather a deep revelation of what Jesus had done and who he had done it for. He was awakened to the fact that Jesus loved him, John, son of Zebedee, so much that he gave up his very life so that John could live in heaven for eternity. (John 3:16) His spiritual eyes were opened and he understood this amazing love that Christ had for him, and for everyone!

Sometimes in life we can become outspoken, aggressive and even arrogant in our faith. I know I have. We proclaim how much we love Jesus; we defend his honour and are even willing to fight for him, but when we do that I believe our faith and our love are driven by something other than Christ. Perhaps by our own need to be right, or a need to get noticed. Maybe we’re trying to show others what great Christians we are or possibly even trying to prove our love to God himself. But honestly, I think by doing that we’re setting ourselves up for failure. We’ll likely end up looking like the hypocrites we are, just as Peter did… and still, Christ loves us.

We need to have the same revelation the Apostle John did; when he finally knew that Jesus loved him – personally. Christ died for him to atone for his sinful nature and because of that, he knew he was loved. You must understand that even if you had been the only person on earth, Christ still would have done what he did! He would have died for you, just as you are, in your sinful nature. Any actions you now take or words that you say will no longer be an attempt to prove that you are worthy of this love, but rather an outflow of the love that he’s already given to you and placed within you.

Yes, Jesus loves you!

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The Home Stretch

It’s been a few years since I set this particular goal for myself.  I don’t remember the exact date, but I know it’s been a while and I’m only now beginning to see the end.   Originally it was a one year plan – to read the entire Bible in one year.  Not front to back, but following a specific plan that included reading two passages out of Old Testament and two out of the New Testament.  Each day was a mix of the Law, the Psalms, Proverbs or Prophets, the Gospels and the Letters. 

How hard could that be, I thought?  Well a few years later, I’m realising that my original goal was pretty lofty, but I didn’t give up.  I think part of my struggle came from my desire to not just read the scriptures, but to ponder, question, underline, study and meditate on everything I read.  I wasn’t just going to read it for reading’s sake.  I was digging in to learn more about life, more about God and, in turn, more about myself.  Without that, I have to agree, the Bible isn’t the most engaging read. 

Mid way through Leviticus I fell behind in my Old Testament readings.  I was easily able to keep up with everything else, but I have to confess that the law really bogged me down.  Digging through all those Levitical rules became a challenge so I left them for a later time, jumping ahead past Numbers and Deuteronomy into more interesting stuff.

Now I find myself having finished everything else and all that remains to this challenge is Numbers and Deuteronomy.  Yes, I finally did finish Leviticus (the Israelites rule book for worship) and through it had a change of attitude.  I approached the book through the pages of the New Testament and tried to find ways to compare the old methods of worship to our own today, or, better yet, how Christ would have us worship today.  Far too often we fall short in this area, but I won’t go there right now.

My new goal – to have the last two books read by the end of this year – 2009. I have just under 2 months to accomplish this goal.  My reward will be something I’ve been thinking about getting for a while and will assist me in my next challenge – a chronological Bible that goes through the scriptures, book by book, chapter by chapter and even verse by verse at times, in the exact order that the events happened.  This one I’ll read cover to cover and who knows, maybe I’ll even be able to do it in a year!  But if I can’t, that’s okay too.  I figure as long as I’m digging in there, learning and growing, even just a tiny bit each day, then I’m on the right track.

I also wanted to share something I read today, out of a passage in Numbers.  The Priestly Blessing.  Numbers 6:24-26 NLT

“May the LORD bless you and protect you; may the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you; may the LORD show you his favour and give you peace.”

I find that passage so comforting.  I have to admit that in any worship service I attend, God’s blessing is always one of my favourite parts.  I close my eyes, open my hands and heart and simply receive.  I picture God putting his hand on my head and offering me his protection, his grace, his favour and his peace.  It’s something I then carry with me throughout my week and try to pass along to those I meet. 

May he do the same for you today. God bless!

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In Awe of the Sandwich Generation.

Funeral plans are being made.  Family members are making their way here.  The date and time are set.

Saturday afternoon – 2pm. 

My mom and her sister, Gayle, are handling it all – and quite well I might add!  Somedays I wonder where they get their super human powers from.  Those two are a force to be reckoned with when they’ve got their mind set on something.  For the past 5, 6, 7 years they’ve done a wonderful job taking care of Nana, and juggling us and our kids (their grandkids) all at the same time.  The sandwich generation, I believe it’s called. 

So what does one do when half of the sandwich is gone?  I know for my mom it will definitely be a change of pace.  She’s a go, go, go type of person – always full of life and energy. Will this slow her down?  I doubt it.  But I wonder what she’ll fill her time with now.  I’m sure she has something in mind.  

I can’t help but look ahead 20 years.  Will I be in her shoes?  Taking care of aging parents and helping my kids with their kids.  Will I become part of the sandwich too?  If so, I can only hope that I’ll do near as good a job as my mom and my aunt have done.  They’ve been amazing examples to us!  I know many times they’ve unselfishly laid down things that they’ve wanted to do, or needed, in order to take care of Nana or help us out.  Their love for us all is tangible! Oh how I pray that I haven’t taken any of that for granted.  If I have, I’m so sorry. 

I know I’ll never be able to repay my mom for all the love and care she’s provided for me and my family… I don’t even have enough words to spell it out.   I suppose the best thing to say is this…

I love you mom. ♥

 

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No more sorrow, no more pain.

Grief is a strange thing.  Something I, fortunatley, haven’t had to deal with much in my life, yet as I walk through it now, I’m trying to figure out this paradoxical mix of joy and sorrow.  So many emotions vying for their turn to grip my heart.  It all started yesterday afternoon…

The call finally came.

We’d been expecting it for quite some time now.  The fact is, Nana was old, frail and ready to go.  Some wondered why she was hanging on so long.  Ninety-eight years she had; nearly a century!  And yet, I can’t help but let the tears fall.

I struggle with losing her even though I know she’s much happier now.  After all, she’s free!  Now she can see, hear, walk and dance again.  A new, glorious body is her’s to enjoy.  No more sorrow, no more pain!  So why am I so sad? Is it a selfish thing?  Am I sad for me; for my loss?  I still have memories of her.  Of the fun times – like when she used to take me to Bingo and we’d pick up a loaf of fresh bread at the bakery on the way home.  I have memories of roast beef dinner at her house –  if she served tomates with it she’d always let us kids put sugar on them. Mom never let us do that!  For a real treat she’d make chocolate pudding for dessert, from scratch!  Yes… so many happy memories.  It’s almost like she’s here, but she’s not.  Confusing, I know.

Maybe I’m struggling because I’m her namesake.  With her gone there are no more Lucretia’s in the family.  I’m the last one – I stand alone.   Without any daughters of my own I’m afraid this family name, passed down through the generations, will now stop with me.  For now, I am the last one and I find that fact unsettling.

The next week will be one of ups and downs, I’m sure of that. I suppose I’ll just continue riding this rollercoaster of emotion knowing that one day the hills and valleys will smooth out and life will move on.  She will always be missed and right now I’m trying hard not to be selfish and wish she were still here.  I rejoice in the fact that she’s dancing with the Saviour.  I’m happy for her, almost wishing, wanting, not for her to be here but somehow for me to be there.  I would love to see the beautiful smile on her face, hear the laughter in her voice,  to watch her skip and run and twirl.  But most of all… I would love to join in the dance! 

I love you Nana! ♥

Give Jesus a big HUG for me, okay?

See you real soon…

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A deeper meaning…

Well, I did it.  I finally started my blog. 

I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. I do love to write and share thoughts and ideas.  I suppose I just wasn’t sure if anyone would be interseted in reading them.  Maybe not… but that’s okay too.  Writing and journaling  is as much for me as it is for others and I hope using this format will keep me motivated to write and stay accountable to all those who may possibly be interesting in reading what I have to say.

You may be wondering about the name… Seven White Tulips.  Yes, there is a deeper meaning behind it.  In the Biblical sense, the number seven is the number of completeness or perfection.  White is the colour of purity, peace and forgivness.  Tulips represent perfect love and forgiveness.  These three things, together, in my heart and mind represent Christ.  He offered up his life as a complete, perfect and pure sacrifice for the forgiveness of all my sin… for the sin of the whole world, actually. 

You see, I’m a Christian – but not in the ‘religious’ sense.  I like to think of myself as a Christ follower.  I strive to live as He lived – a life of love, sacrifice, service and grace.  Living a life of worship that will ultimtely bring glory to Him.  Of course I’m far from being perfect and I’ve come to realise that it’s not about being perfect at all… it’s about loving and forgiving and embracing those who are stumbling through this life,  just as I am. 

Will you join me on this journey?

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