This is what we live for

So I was watching the game last night (what else would any respectable Canadian being doing!?!?! hehe) and the banners hanging from the ceiling caught my eye. They boldly proclaimed:

 

THIS WHAT WE LIVE FOR

It really got me thinking. Of course, the stereotypical Canadian life revolves around hockey, snow and saying "eh" but has it gotten so far that we would willingly claim that hockey is our purpose? Our life IS hockey? It seems rather a sad thing to live for and seeing these proud banners hanging in the Canucks home arena seemed rather ironic as they have never won the Cup, but I suppose you can live for something even if you don't always win at it. However, I have to ask what the consequences are? It seems to me that you are only setting yourself up for disappointment if your life revolves around something so inconsequential as a sport. 

Yet, we all have these useless idols don't we. We all proudly wave our banner declaring that we live for something fantastic. Whether that be wealth or family, a job or a holiday, our country or ourselves, world peace or world domination. We all have a passion that consumes us. We were built to live for something and we strain to find something worthy of our lives. The sad thing is, nothing is worthy of such devotion save One. How dare we worship the creation when the Creator has revealed Himself to us, a personal God who has made Himself accessible to mankind; a Saviour who gave everything according to His plan and His glory, that we might be redeemed. 

"For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth...all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" Colossians 1: 16-17

So THIS is what we should be living for! He is the only thing worthy and the only reason we even have for living. Yet it is easy to forget and get distracted by the things of this world. And so I pray that you and I "may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" Colossians 1:10.

What do you live for?

A little bit of heaven

It's been far to long since I have been to the ocean!
Too long since I have felt that watery fresh breeze on my face;

too long since I have smelt that salty air;

too long since I have heard the harmony of waves lapping the shore, seagulls shrieking off pitch and the sea water gurgling over the rocks as it drains into the receding ocean.

I've so missed picking my way over warm, dried stones, the treacherous seaweed cloaked pebbles, and the spiny barnacle-encrusted rocks;

I've ached to squish my toes in the wet sand and splash through the shallow pools.

Most of all, I've missed the quiet, the peace, the tranquility and wide open space of the empty beach, the wild free waters and clear expanse of blue sky.

One short hour on the beach last Thursday was all I needed to resurrect the old love I have of this magnificent part of God's creation. A few minutes on my own, just me and the waves, was all it took for me to be filled with such joy and peace. I was struck by the simple beauty of it all. The early afternoon sun struck the waters at a perfect angle, causing an array of diamond-like glitters and I know I will never see more beautiful stones than the ones shimmering on the seaside that day.

The quiet music of the gentle waves was more soothing to my ears than a world class symphony. It is so clear to me that man has attempted to create beauty and has succeeded to a degree, using God's creation in magnificent ways: cutting diamonds to sparkle to perfection, inventing intricate melodies to entertain thousands...but our attempts are merely that - attempts. God has perfected beauty. How awesome would it be to see the world as it was originally created! How often do we really think about the fact that this amazing, awe-inspiring world is the result of destruction!??! The catastrophe of a worldwide flood, sent to judge mankind resulted in this magnificence! How anyone can look at the world around them, experience true beauty, and not see God, is inconceivable to me! Truly they "suppress the truth in unrighteousness...For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:18b, 20).

And THIS is spring

I'm sorry Jackson Hole, you're beautiful but THIS is what I have been missing! SPRING: Blue skies! Warm sun! Green grass! FLOWERS!!! Birds!! I love my Fraser Hole!!!

Our lovely apple blosoms

Rhodos budding

Apple blossoms and blue sky!!!

New leaves on the holly tree

A personal favorite: lilacs

Last of the tulips in the front yard

Yep, even the dandelions were a welcome sight!

I was dragged from my bed this morning and literally went from covers one minute to clothes and in the car 10 minutes later...had to join my sis and Mom for a walk of course! It was rather enjoyable to be out in the sunny morning air with all the birds chirping and the cheery people out and about. I just can't get over how green everything is. I don't even mind that it rained ALL DAY yesterday because it makes everything so fresh and beautiful the next day. As hard as it is being away from my Jackson home, I do so love it here as well.

Of ghost cars, beads and bears

Traveling with my sisters is always an interesting and hilarious experience. A quick jaunt up to Kelowna and back this weekend was no exception! That's right, just two days after I returned from Jackson, we're packing up the car and heading out (much to my mother's dismay).

The excitement started just outside of hope with a sudden decrease of speed from the cars in front of us. Soon we are travelling in a pack and Nel strains to see ahead and hypothesizes (correctly), "I bet that's a ghost car right up there, that silver one?" So ya...here we are, forced to travel at the agonizing speed of 100kph (who wants to drive the speed limit???) and you can tell everyone is getting antsy. We pass by several exists and he still won't leave!! THEN two semi trucks pull on right in front of him and he is stuck at about 98kph...which is even worse in a way because no one wants to pass him! As our turn comes up, we start climbing a hill so he is pushed even slower so we anxiously make our way past him and laugh as everyone zooms quickly out of sight. First adventure over.

The next hilarious happenstance occurred on the drive home. We stopped at Merritt to switch drivers and get coffee at Tim Hortons ( FINALLY after about 2 months! I needed some Timmies!). So we walk in the door and Danae turns, flamboyantly gesturing and says something (I missed it due to what happened next) and her new bracelet flies off her wrist, hits the wall...and breaks! Beads go flying EVERYWHERE and for about 10-15 seconds we stand there completely frozen as these beads ping off of lights, windows, tables, chairs, the floor...everyone turns and stares in shock. As the bouncing settles to the floor, I smile, wave and say a small, "hi..." We laugh as we scurry around picking up the beads, chatting with the people. Some thought it was ice, some thought the glass had shattered. It was pretty amusing. I assured them that we just wanted to make an entrance and well, it was kinda fun to make everyone laugh. We were still laughing our heads off as we got in the car and drove off.

The final leg of the journey consisted of driving through spooky clouds of fog, obnoxious singing and dancing and finally a BEAR SIGHTING! Danae had been wanting to see a bear since Jackson so we were all very excited to see this little guy up on the hill. Unfortunately we went by too quickly to get a picture but it was all very exciting any ways and Danae was quite pleased.

Oh, another fun little tidbit. We had iffy weather the whole trip but it only really started pouring...as we enter Abbotsford. Yay...how I love this town. haha

29 Pieces

I don't know what a broken heart feels like
But I bet it feels something like this
There is a stretching, a tearing
With every mile we drive
Farther and farther
How much can one heart take?

Sick and teary-eyed, I stare out the window
Wishing back times gone by
As my heart slowly rips into 29 pieces
As even slower I say goodbye
Each person so much a part of me
Each one taking that part away with them
And there's 29 pieces spread over the nation
Spread over the continent
Spread over the world
Perhaps never to be seen again

And as my heart aches with the pain of leaving you
And as the tears stream down my cheeks
I realize that we are still connected
Dozens of memories bind each piece

29 strands of laughter and tears
29 ropes of hugs and high-fives
29 bridges of love so deep,
Bridges that I can stand secure on
A family bond that cannot be broken
Experiences never forgotten
An infinite God that holds us together
What am I really afraid of?

It dawns in my mind that each of those precious 29 pieces,
The fragments of my heart I've given away,
Has been replaced with a piece of each of you
A piece I will cherish and never lose
And one day in the future, we will be together
Never again to part ways or cry
We will sing again, laugh again, with joy everlasting
All of us, the 29 pieces of my heart

Find your inner woman 14: the Astrophysicist

uuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

maybe not...

Maybe someday I will be able to flippantly say, "I wrote a computer program to graph fractals, oh and I had to teach the computer to compute imaginary numbers"...

...but I rather doubt it.

Perhaps I will write a paper called "Anisotropic Synchrony Convention"...


...highly unlikely.


There is a slight chance I could debate someone so well that they would be terrified to ever debate me again...


...but only if God blesses me with that ability. 


Having Dr. Jason Lisle as a professor this last week was definitely a huge blessing and an amazing experience to learn and just soak up as much as this genius could give us. I am so glad that God has blessed him with such intelligence and is using him in such amazing ways. It inspires me even more to use my own gifts for God's glory - though they aren't quite PHD worthy. 


So I wish you all the best of luck in discovering THIS inner woman - unfortunately, I'm pretty certain she doesn't exist in me. :)

Reflections: Sunrise, sunset

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

It's officially one week until graduation. 

Last night, I was lying in bed, not sleeping, thinking too much. I cried.

It seems fitting that this year should end the way it began - with tears. 

Reflecting back on the beginning, it is unbelievable what God has done in my life this year. Take a trip with me, back to August 2010...

It's not like I was going to a foreign country, I mean, ya it's the US, but growing up 10 minutes from the Washington border, it's not much different from home. Perhaps, it was the four day trip, stretching out mile after mile, that made it seem as if I was pretty much leaving the solar system. I remember staring out the window those long hours on the road, seeing the landscape change, feeling like I was making a huge mistake as my heart kept squeezing and I felt more and more sick. Watching my family drive away, down that long dirt road on Aug. 26 was the worst moment of my life (little did I know it was really the beginning of the best year of my life!). I felt completely alone, abandoned and scared. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to stay and there was no way I was going to quit but it was a huge thing for me. I remember Jen was there to give me a hug and Jessica came out and hugged me too. I spent that first day gulping for air as if trying to stay above the flood waters of my own tears. The first week wasn't much better, I felt so unknown, if that makes any sense. I was quiet, reserved, just trying to keep from bursting into tears in my insecurity. I would get through each day, slowly opening up, like a reluctant flower in the spring (...well, spring where I come from...there seems to be a lack of that generally natural phenomenon in this area...). I would barely eat because I was so emotional (that changed fast enough). It was a few days before I could go without crying at night, just because I felt so alone and insecure.

Looking back on that girl at the beginning of the year, I barely recognize her. I understand her though, and it's odd because I can almost feel those same emotions again as I think back on them. I've always been an emotional person - like REALLY emotional. This can show itself in being super dramatic, outgoing, giggly, passionate...or it can be expressed in anger, tears or extreme quietness...Perhaps some day I will level out (which will probably make life easier for everyone). Anyways, at the symbolic "sunset" of my year here, I can only look back on those days with appreciation for what God has done and how He totally pulled me through. I always knew He would and that is the only reason I could even think of coming here. I would go through those hard days over and over again to experience the blessing I have had this year at JHBC. Jackson has become like a second home to me, these people have become my family and it hurts too  much to think of leaving them. I may see them again, but it will never be like this. These 9 months were a gift from God which I will never forget and will never cease to praise Him for.

Time for the next season...