point of view

This is a rather belated New Year's post, but I've been thinking about it for a while so I thought I would still go ahead and post it. For 2016 I chose to think on the word "Faithfulness", to try to keep in front of me how the Lord has been faithful to me and what I have in front of me to be faithful with. As I look back on my thoughts from last January I am humbled by the abundant grace and kindness the Lord has shown to me. To be honest, I entered 2016 with a predominant feeling of dread. How, I wondered, was I to soldier on through the limitations and difficulties of the life God has given me? I wasn't finding much to anticipate with any sense of joy, but I knew that the Lord would lead me and give me enough to survive whatever He had in store. And He was faithful. Faithful in the midst of a crazy work schedule + class + regular pain from a year-long dental issue that ended in oral surgery = more exhaustion than I've ever had to walk through, f...

...yup I am that type.  I like that our family has random traditions like having an appetizer/finger food dinner while we open gifts, I like that my home church keeps the Dutch tradition of singing "Glory to God" after the annual Christmas program (we don't sing it in Dutch though, we're good Canadians that way) ...I have my own silly tradition of putting up a "tree" that consists of a couple fake branches in a vase and always has to be topped with a bow, rather than a star...  I guess it's the remembering part that I like about traditions.  I had a hard time remembering what I did last year for New Year's, but when we keep up our little traditions they bring back memories for me.  The tradition of choosing a word for the year helps me to remember in a different way. I guess it's a moment of looking back and looking for some particular way the Lord has led me and is teaching me.  Click on the "one word" label at the bottom of this post ...

I'm sure most of us have heard it at one point or another.  You're talking to someone who loves you dearly and is trying to comfort you after a plan or dream has fallen through.  You are disappointed, and they say, "God has something so much better in store for you!"  They are right, but somehow it's not comforting.  You might have wanted to say, "I don't CARE!  I don't want a better plan, I want this one!"  Sometimes God's sovereignty can feel like a cruel joke.  Certainly it's more comforting to know that an awful struggle is a gift from a loving God, rather than an uncontrolled catastrophe with the power to destroy us, but still I find myself looking in confusion to my Father and in my hurt crying out, "Really?  Why this?"  In times like this it can be easy to become angry with God for not letting us have it our way. A few evenings ago I was with two friends and the conversation turned to the past year, of the t...

when you think you've figured it out, take just a little longer there's no prize for quickest prescription. How many time have you thought through these thoughts? Again? Now turn, spin, cast "for every look at yourself take ten looks at Him" you will drown in puzzle pieces, immobilized by this inner monologue unless you let Him in tip that head back in His words the pieces settle into place navel-gazing only trips you and you are not alone this furious wrestling inside takes on meaning only when you see your surroundings horizontal and vertical For He is Author Conceiver  Weaver Creator Planner Lover and sometimes you do need to ask the silly questions. Because you are only really alive when you learn how to love learn how you're loved Because you need to come to the end of yourself to be free There is a fairly recent trend that goes along with or replaces new year's resolutions by chose one word ...