Lauren's Life

Pictures from the Great White North!

2009-12-23T10:08:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone-
It's good to be back! ...more on that later!
As some of you may already know, I was given the opportunity to travel to Yellowknife in November for work. I thought I would share some highlight pictures from the trip. It was an amazing chance to see a whole different part of Canada. God's creation never fails to take my breath away!

In His Love-

Everything is changing

2008-10-12T16:59:00.001-04:00

I’m a firm believer that God has a plan for our lives, which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering my favourite verse is Jeremiah 29:11. During so many rough times in my life I have clung to the fact that God has that perfect plan for me. However, lately that really hasn’t been helping. I’m looking at the hand of cards God has dealt me, and I feel like yelling “deal again, because these cards STINK!”. I don’t want this plan; I want to know Plan B, Plan C…Plan Z!!

I went home a few weeks ago to visit some friends, go on a few job interviews and take care of my parents’ house while they were in Vancouver. While I was there I met up with two of my friends, Heather and Tracy, for lunch at one of our favourite Kanata restaurants. We laughed so hard, and it felt so good! We got caught up on each others lives and went over all the old funny stories from when the three of us used to work together. I felt so good to laugh so much that my sides were hurting and at one point I actually had tears in my eyes! When I got into the car afterwards, I sat for a minute and realized that I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed that hard. It made me really sad, which I know may sound crazy- who gets sad over being happy?! It made me miss the “old days”, when I was happy with my life and everything was going well.

I don’t deal with change very well- I like everything to stay the same. This past year has been a constant reminder that everything in my life is changing. I feel like I’ve lost all my old church friends- out of the ten of us, I’m the last single, childless one. Whenever I see them I feel like I don’t fit in anymore; their lives and priorities are so different than mine. It’s hard to hear “Lauren, come hear about my great new job/hold my new baby/meet my gorgeous husband” when nothing is working out for me. I know, I sound immature right now!

If I could, I would snap my fingers and go back three years. I was so happy then- I had school, swimming, horses, jobs that I loved, friends that I could laugh with. I feel like I used to have everything, and I’m just sort of sinking right now. My grandmother said that everyone needs to fail at some point in life, but I’m not enjoying it. I got very used to being an honours student, varsity athlete, sports editor for the campus paper…I sat on committees, went to conferences, rescued cats (does anyone remember little Jack?)!!

I went out to the barn when I was home to say hi to some of my barn friends and see some of the horses, and as I walked down the aisles of the barn, it really hit me: everything is different now. The staff is almost completely different- most of us have moved away or gone on to other jobs. I used to know all the clients, and as I read the names on the stall doors I thought “I don’t even know who half these people are, and I’ve only been gone for four months!”. I guess the change had happened slowly over time, but it really hit me that day that people are moving on and growing up.

I think I could handle this better if for me moving on meant moving on to something better. Right now I’m struggling so much with work. My work in Muskoka got extended to the end of October, but it’s only volunteer work. It’s been a great experience (I’ll have to post pictures soon), but I’m ready to figure out what’s next. I’m applying to every job I can, and barely getting any interviews. I’ve been looking into going back to school and I’ve found a few programs I’m interested in, but without a (paying) job, I have no idea how I’m going to afford it.
I consider myself an optimist, which I would say is a result of my faith- that God will never give me more than I can handle and that He had a plan for me that will give me hope and a future. I like to smile and laugh and I just wish I felt like it more. I know in my heart it will all work out, but my head is having a hard time getting it.

Sick of waiting

2007-12-16T00:57:00.000-05:00

This week-end has been rough, and it’s only half over. I haven’t wanted to say anything because I hate complaining and sounding like a whiner, but for the past year I haven’t been feeling well, and these past six months have been the worst. I’m exhausted all the time, and I just don’t feel like myself. On Wednesday I went in to see my doctor again, and I got to endure the silence as she once again studied my chart. (By the way, “I don’t know what to tell you” is NOT the most reassuring thing to hear from a doctor!). So, I spent Wednesday afternoon having more blood samples taken.
My doctor’s office has a policy where they only call you if your test results are positive. On Friday I got home from work and there was a message for me from the doctor’s office asking me to call, but they had already closed up for the week-end when I called back. So, now I get to wait until Monday morning. I can’t wait that long! I JUST WANT TO KNOW!!! They tested for so many different things that I just want to know what they found- or if they found anything, or if they’re just calling to say “someone lost a glove-was it you?” or something equally trivial.
This has been stressing me out since I got the message- it’s all I can think about. The entire time the phone was ringing I found myself praying, and just asking God that it not be something serious. So, please pray that I can relax and actually get some sleep and be patient while I wait for Monday to come. I’m already exhausted- I don’t want to miss even more sleep, plus this is a big week-end for my swimmers as they’re at another meet and I need to keep my focus on them. (This is probably the first time in my life I’ve ever looked forward to the week-end being over!).

Staying Mum

2007-12-08T17:00:00.000-05:00

Lately I’ve been very discouraged about my blogging (as evidenced by my lack of posting anything!). There are countless times when I’ve sat down to try and write something and can’t find the words. Anyone who takes a look at my laptop contents will see easily thirty half-written attempts at posting something.
As I spoke about in my last post, my relationship with Christ has been going well- I’m lacking in zeal no more! My devotions have been great and I really feel like I’m creating a deeper relationship with God. (I still haven’t found a new church yet, but I’ve been praying and I’m optimistic that God will lead me to the right one). So what have I found so discouraging? I feel like I have nothing of value to share. I’ll read all my regular blogs and get so much out of them. Verses or sentiments that people write about really touch me, and there are so many times when something I read will prompt me to study my Bible even more. I’ll sit down to write something and feel like I have absolutely nothing to say back. Somehow it just grew easier to say nothing at all then something boring and irrelevant.
Last week-end I had brunch with a friend who is also a recent university grad. Our topic of conversation was how this is a very uncertain time in our lives, with so many decisions to make and no idea what path our decisions would lead us down. My friend made the comment “I wish you could predict life”. I couldn’t help but think of my favourite verse. Even though we can’t predict life, as Christians we DO know that God has a plan for our lives- a plan to prosper us and not harm us, a plan to give us hope and a future. That’s something to be thankful for and carry in our hearts, especially with so many of us facing uncertainties.

In His Love-

*L

Lacking in zeal no more!

2007-09-15T19:08:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I was invited to spend some time at a friend's house in the Muskokas. I declined because I was so busy, and I felt guilty taking off on a vacation when I hadn't made any plans for the fall yet. With two jobs (part-time, but better than nothing!) lined up, and the dark circles under my eyes growing by the day, I decided that maybe a vacation was in order. My birthday is tomorrow (Sunday), so I decided that this would be my treat to myself for my birthday!
And the outcome? It was the best birthday present EVER!! I spent all week boating, relaxing and eating homemade lasagna and chocolate cookies! There was even a Dairy Queen ice cream birthday cake! I took a lot of pictures but right now they're not loading, so hopefully I can figure out the problem and have them up in a day or two.
I brought my Bible and some devotional readings along with me, and I spent a lot of afternoons relaxing in the back of the boat reading. I honestly feel like my relationship with God is back on track, if not stronger than ever. While my Muskoka vacation was a good thing, my vacation from a relationship with God this past month has been a BAD thing. It feels so great to be back on track and refreshed.
I wish I could write more but my bags still need to be unpacked. I'll end with a verse that I read earlier on in the week and just really stuck with me all week:

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fevor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
- Romans 12:11-12

In His Love-

*L

Quick Update

2007-08-07T22:16:00.000-04:00

This past week has been a nightmare for me! I woke up Wednesday feeling absolutely awful. Any one else ever had a fever in the middle of a roasting hot summer? Not fun. After taking WAY too much time off of work to try and get better (and still really feeling not so good right now), I'm heading back to work tomorrow. I've been praying like crazy that I'll start to feel better, because I've got a lot of work coming up in both my jobs, and I've already lost almost a week's pay at each job as well.
So, that's why I haven't been posting again. THANK YOU for the prayers sent my way as I continue to struggle with forgiveness.

In His Healing Love-

*L

Forgiveness and Stuff

2007-07-29T22:01:00.000-04:00

To err is human, to forgive divine- how very, very true! Forgiveness has certainly proved to be very hard for me lately.
I’ve been struggling for a while with trying to forgive someone for something that they did to me. In my life, many people have hurt me or done something bad to me. Some have asked for forgiveness and/or apologized, and others haven’t bothered to do either, but I’ve always managed to forgive them. Conversely, I’ve also been the one to mess up, and I’ve been lucky enough to receive forgiveness.
To make a very long story short, years ago a member of a church I used to attend was caught talking about me in a not-so-positive way. This person wasn’t just a church member, but an elder, and a well-respected one. I swam for my university swim team for two seasons, until an injury forced me to retire. During my first year away at school, I joined this church, but with a heavy competition schedule, I was away competing an average of three week-ends a month. Whenever I was able to, I attended the Sunday meeting. I couldn’t go to the “College and Careers” group because they met on a Friday night, and I had practice Friday night and then again at 5:30 am on Saturday mornings.
A group of people who know me (including some family members) met this particular elder at a conference, and when they heard which church he was from, they asked him if he knew me. This is when the man started on a long and rambling speech about how I was a lackluster Christian, that my attendance was shabby at best, that I hadn’t shown any willingness to socialize with the other people my age and that he really didn’t want to be bothered with someone like me, who would only semi-commit themselves to attending church. Apparently, he also made a face like he was sucking on lemon when my name was first mentioned. Keep in mind, this was coming from my grandmother, so I’m sure she was softening the blow.
I never went back to that church (those who read my testimony last summer will remember that I didn’t go ANYWHERE for a while afterwards). About a year later, I saw this man in the grocery store, and I hid in the next aisle over until he left. To this day I’m so humiliated by what he said. It may sound immature to say that he hurt my feelings, but he did. I still feel tears welling up when I think about it. It frustrates me that he thought that about me, but what frustrates me the most is that he (or anyone else) never asked why I was hardly around. Now that I’m older, I can look back on the situation with better perspective than I could when I was eighteen and I realize now that I should have spoken to someone and explained my absence, and that I truly was doing the best I could. I guess hindsight really is 20/20.
The entire situation shook my faith. I don’t want to sound dramatic, but it really did shake me. I think I’ve done a good job so far of recovering, but for the past month it’s really been weighing on me. No matter how hard I try, I can’t forgive this person. It’s been YEARS, and I still feel so much anger when I think about it. I have a strong feeling the Lord has been putting this desire in my heart to forgive, but I just CAN’T. I want to, but I can’t- it still stings.
So, that’s what’s been happening with me this past month.

I read Matthew 7:1-5 this week, and I think it serves as such a great reminder that we shouldn’t judge others.

Struggling with forgiveness….

Love In Christ-

*L

An Interview with God

2007-06-15T20:32:00.000-04:00

I have a meeting with the director of my deparment next week to discuss if there any openings for me in the fall. To prepare for the meeting, I've been organizing my job portfolio. I found a copy of one of my old self-evaluations, outlining my strengths and weaknesses. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a job interview where I wasn’t asked this question. When I had my interview for my newspaper job, my editor even phrased the question as “and now the question we all knew what coming…what is your greatest weakness?”. I dread this question, because it’s such a weighted question- give the wrong answer and the job could go to someone else.
I couldn’t help but think about what would happen if we actually had to audition or interview to be Christians. What if we had to go one day to have a chat with God about why we should be saved? What are the strengths and weaknesses you would present to Him? I’ve picked two of each.

Strengths:
1) I’m very organized.
All my files are alphabetized, my closet is colour coordinated, when writing on my calendar or agenda I have a specific colour for each event (work, school stuff, fun stuff, reminders, etc), and everything has it’s spot. I’m not as rigid as I sound, and I won’t flip out if someone placed the “Bills” file between “school notes” and “taxes”, I just find that life flows so much better when everything is organized.
I like to organize my devotions. I keep a journal chronicling what I’ve read, any verses that really stuck out at me and any thoughts that I’ve been having. (Not only does this keep me on track with my devotions and readings, but it’s fun to flip through old journals from years ago!).
2) I’m very non-judgemental.
I hate it when people judge others, and I tend to very rarely judge people. As a result, I think that this makes me easy to talk to and confide in. Through working at the youth centre and coaching I’ve had a lot of great talks with kids who are going through problems, and even random classmates have confided to me in the past. I think as Christians it’s important for us to be accepting of others, and to not judge each other.

And now that I’ve made myself sound so wonderful (!!) ….

Weaknesses:
1) I always have a “full mouth”.
You know the expression “don’t bite off more than you can chew”? I usually don’t take on more than I can handle, but I am usually busy. At any given time I’ll be juggling participating in two different sports, hanging out with friends, a job (or two this summer!), classes and homework (not anymore!!), reading, writing, playing with my pets … finding the time to actually spend time with God, in prayer and in study, is often hard to do. (See, my organizational skills aren’t sounding quite so crazy anymore!).
2) I get tunnel-vision.
When I was still in school, most of my energy and focus went into class, my research and my job, and I didn’t work on anything else until these three were completely taken care of. Were those things important? Sure! But so are my friends, actually making a nutritious meal…and my relationship with Christ! Can I afford to take half an hour off each day to open my Bible? Yes, but sometimes it’s hard for me to do. I definitely need to work on not letting other important things slide.

While a relationship with Christ goes much deeper than organizing devotions, I still find it interesting how our individual differences can reflect where we fall short in our walk with God, and where we are strong. Luckily for us, God doesn’t care about our organizational skills or how busy we are, He loves us for who we are. He created us with our own individual strengths and weaknesses. That’s a bit of a re-assurance as I brace myself for that inevitable question next week.

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth".
- 2 Timothy 2:15

Love In Christ, from one very organized and very busy Christian-

*L

Vines and branches

2007-06-11T22:36:00.000-04:00

Isn’t it great when a Sunday message really stays in your thoughts? In church the other day, we studied John 15. In John 15:4, we are told to remain with Christ. In my opinion at least, part of remaining in Christ is spending quality time studying and reading His word, and spending time in prayer. How to have, and maintain, a steadfast relationship with Christ was on my mind all day today.
I’m very lucky because at both my jobs, I enjoy the people I work with. Working at the barn, I work with a group of friends that I’ve known for fifteen years now. We knew each other when we were crazy kids tearing around on equally crazy ponies, and we’ve stayed friends because not only do we have a passion in common, but because after spending so much time together for so many years, we know each other incredibly well, and we all have an emotional attachment. How do we all maintain our friendship? Well, working together automatically ensures we spend a lot of time together, but our lunch hours are filled with constant laughing and conversation, we go out for dinners all the time, and our favourite time of year: the annual Christmas party. We MAKE time for each other, because we VALUE each other.
Sitting on my desk is a picture of me with two of my closest friends: two girls I swam with for many years. It was taken at our last swim meet before we went off to compete for separate universities. I love the picture because you can see that all 3 of us are just about to laugh, and I’ve had so many great times with those girls that every time I look at the picture, no matter how stressed, sad or angry I am, I always laugh. How did we become such close friends? Once again, it goes deeper than just a shared passion for a sport. We always roomed together when we travelled, and we you travel as much as we did, that adds up to a lot of nights in hotel rooms with nothing to do but hang out and talk. Our friendship grew, and I still talk to the two girls all the time.
My friendships are one of the most important things to me. When I got home from work tonight, I talked to my best friend tonight on the phone for almost an hour. She’s leaving tomorrow morning to work out in Alberta for the rest of the summer, and we’ve never spent a summer apart before. After I hung up, I thought about how much time people invest in relationships.
If a husband came home one day and told his wife that they should only spend time together for one hour on Sundays, most people would probably say that the marriage was doomed. Yet, that’s all the time that some people give to spending time with the Lord.
I’ve always known that I have a relationship with Christ, for I never really thought of it in terms of MAINTAINING a real relationship.
In John 15, we are referred to as the branches and Christ as the vine. I read my Bible today sitting on my parents’ deck, which is decorated with a couple of potted plants. If I had cut off one of the branches from one of the plants, I’m sure it would be dead, or well on its way by now, but the plant itself would still be alive and blossoming. The vine takes care of its branches, sustaining it with the proper food and nutrients it needs to survive, but the vine doesn’t NEED each individual branch in order to survive. Just like a branch, we need to constant contact with our vine, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
- John 15:5

**Note: while none of these girls are Christians (except for my best friend, who is an incredibly strong Christian), they are all incredibly supportive of my lifestyle and choices.

Hhhmm....I've been kind of long-winded tonight! I guess that's what happens after a week (eep!) of not posting!

In His Love-

*L

My burdened soul found liberty

2007-06-04T00:45:00.000-04:00

With all the rain we’ve been getting lately, there’s mud everywhere, and Saturday afternoon at work, one of our trucks got stuck. As I stood there watching the mud splatter everywhere and the tires spin, I couldn’t help but think that is exactly what I’ve been feeling like lately- desperately trying to go somewhere, and getting nowhere.
I’ve been thinking a lot about spiritual happiness lately. When we’re young, other people help to control our walk with Christ- parents that take you to church every Sunday, Sunday School teachers who teach you, etc. But as we get older, the responsibility to maintain a relationship with Christ lays more and more on us. I’ll be honest: I’ve been avoiding that responsibility for a while now. After exams were done and I’d moved back home, I was hoping that the stress of school would finally wear off, and instead it’s just been transferred to stress about finding a permanent job, deciding what to do in September….and the list continues. Somewhere along the way, I started to let my devotions, readings and fellowship and time with other Christians slide. Making matters worse is the fact that my Bible group fell apart this summer because all the other members moved away. I try not to take it personally-haha. For those of you who don’t know, I attend a small assembly, and with hardly anyone else my age that attends, my Bible study group of fellow women in our twenties came to mean a lot to me.
After my uncharacteristic period of moping around wore off, I decided to make some changes, starting first with were I attend. Sitting on my desk beside me is a list of local churches, so I think I might spend the next few Sundays church hopping. This decision led to a whole new set of problems: my parents and grandparents attend my current assembly. In fact, we started going there because that’s where my parents took my sister and me when our former church fell apart. Apparently my decision to possibly change churches has upset my parents, who feel as though there will be hurt feelings all around if I leave.
This led me to two thoughts I’ve been pondering over: am I being selfish? And…. is it ok to be selfish when seeking fulfillment in Christ? I’m feeling a little stale, I miss the company of people my own age, and I think I’m ready for a change, even if it’s just for a little while. Seems simple enough, but I’ve been changing my mind every two seconds over what to do!
Now that I’ve finished rambling and complaining (nobody’s perfect right?!), I’ll close with sharing the chorus from one of my favourite hymns, “At Calvary”. We sang it at church on Sunday, and I was playing it on the piano this afternoon too: “Mercy there was great, and grace was free; Pardon there was multiplied to me; There my burdened soul found liberty, at Calvary”. The last part about the burdened soul really hit home for me, because lately my soul has definitely been burdened!

Love In Christ-

*L

Imagine

2007-05-22T21:45:00.000-04:00

John Lennon once asked the world to imagine if there was no Heaven. While Lennon believes that this is easy to do, it’s an image I’d rather not think of. As Christians, we know that Heaven exists, and I believe that I am going to Heaven because of God’s grace.
Grace is defined in my Bible’s dictionary as “Unmerited favour, unearned benefit, undeserved kindness. God’s amazing gift of forgiveness of sin and power to live with dignity in the present and hope for the future”. The concept of grace shows up many times in the Bible. One of the first verses I had to memorize in Sunday School was Ephesians 2: 8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast”.
I’m thankful every day for God’s grace, but every once in a while I’ll really stop to think about it, and the idea of His forgiveness and grace is always overwhelms me. When I think of how many times I have sinned against Him, doubted Him, turned my back on Him …talk about an unmerited favour and an undeserved kindness!

And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
- Romans 11:6

Later on in the song “Imagine”, John Lennon sings about all the people living for today. I’m all for seizing opportunities, taking chances and living each day as if it’s our last, but I much prefer to live life for my FOREVER with my Lord Jesus Christ, so that one day I can stand before Him and be proud of the life I’ve lived for Him.
We don’t need to imagine a world with a Heaven, because we already have one. I hope to see you all there!

The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Romans 5:20-21

Saved By His Grace-

*L

The Graduate!

2007-05-22T20:40:00.000-04:00

Two exciting envelopes came in the mail today. My grad pictures were delivered, and along with it came my official notice that my application to graduate was allowed....with Honours!!
Thank you to everyone who sent their congratulations when I posted earlier in the month that I had graduated, and a BIG thank you as well for all the prayers that were sent my way!

So, what's next for me? I still don't know yet-aahh! I've been accepted into some programs, and I'm still waiting to hear back from other programs...and a few job advertisements have caught my eye, so I'm just crossing my fingers, praying hard and waiting for God to reveal His plan to prosper me and not harm me!

In a comment in an earlier post (see how far behind I've gotten!?), "Hebrews 11:1" asked me where I worked for the summer, and that reminded me that I never really said what I was doing this summer. I'm actually working two jobs this summer. I'm going to back to the youth centre in Bells Corners (between Kanata and Ottawa) that I worked at last summer and I'm also working at a barn. I've worked there for years, but when I left for university I had to limit my work to the summer, and then when I started working at the youth centre I only filled in the odd shift at the barn. But, I've missed my friends and I missed the horses, so when I couldn't decide what job to take, I took them both! So far, I'm loving having both jobs, but I'm definitely sleeping soundly every night!

In His Love-

Just For You Terry!!

2007-05-14T22:01:00.000-04:00

As requested by Terry, here are some of my Tulip Festival pictures! I went a few days before it officially opened, so some of the flowers were still blooming. I got a lot of great shots, but I only had room to upload a few, so I tried to pick out some highlight ones:

Isn't His creation beautiful!?!

Today was my first day back at work, so I can already feel my eyes wanting to close .... I took two weeks off before going back to work, and I think I got a little too used to sleeping in!
This past week actually hasn't been much of a vacation. I'm been frustrated about a lot of things, so thanks for all your words of encouragement! I've still got work to do tonight for my second job, but if I have time before bed, I'll post more, and if not, hopefully tomorrow!!

In His Love-

*L

Happy to be back!

2007-05-01T23:55:00.000-04:00

A few days after my last posting, my Internet died, and with only two weeks left at school, I didn’t bother getting it fixed. I couldn’t believe how much I missed not only writing this blog, but reading everyone else’s!
So much has happened since the last time I wrote, but I’ll stick to the big news for now…I am now a university graduate!!! I wrote my last exam Thursday morning, and I practically skipped out of the room when I was done! I now have my Bachelor of Physical Education (BPHE), hopefully with honours (I find out once my final marks are in).
I just moved back home on Sunday, so half my stuff is still in boxes, so once I unpack my Bible, I'll have more to say!
Also, a great big THANK YOU to everyone who prayed for me this year. It was a very trying and stressful year (although very successful as well!), so all of your prayers are more appreciated than you know!

In His Love;

*L

Out enjoying God's creation!

2007-04-11T20:30:00.000-04:00

I got some pictures back from the hike I wrote about the last time I posted. Some of them were too big to scan (I used the panoromic view on my camera, but my scanner isn't that long!!). These are some of the highlight pictures:

The geese behind me in this picture were fighting moments before this was taken:

To give you an idea of how big this rock really is, I'm 5-foot-8 AND standing on another rock, and it's still taller than me:

I can't wait until the "muddy phase" of spring wears off and everything turns green!!

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Enjoying His beautiful creation-

So strong and so mighty

2007-04-01T21:42:00.000-04:00

I'm pleased to say that both my exam and my research presentation both went well! It's such a relief to have my research FINALLY done, and it frees up a ton of time for me.
With the rest of my exams looming ahead in a few short weeks, I should have spent the week-end working, but Saturday morning the sunny skies called me outside! It looks as though spring is here- all the snow is gone and the weather has been beautiful. A friend and I spent all Saturday afternoon hiking, it felt amazing to spend the day outside, soaking in the sun and enjoying God's beautiful creation! It reminded me of a song I used to sing all the time in Sunday School:
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty,
there's nothing my God cannot do.
The mountains are His, the valleys are His,
the stars are His handiwork too.
My God is so big, the so strong and so mighty,
there's nothing my God cannot do.

On the walk back home, I remarked to my friend about how much easier it is to study during the winter when it's cold and dark out, or on a rainy day when there isn't much to do outside. As guilty as I felt about taking the day off, I was having such a great time!
I was seriously considering going out for another hike when I woke up this morning, until I looked out the window and saw it was POURING rain out!! I had to laugh at the irony, seeing as I had just remarked yesterday about how it's easy to study when it's raining out. (And, I'm pleased to report, I got a lot done today!). I'd like to think of this week-end as a subtle reminder that while I need to relax, I also can't slack off too much!

"O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress"
- Isaiah 33:2

In His Love-
*L

Wish me luck...it's that time of year again!

2007-03-29T21:15:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow's a big day for me: I write my first exam (it's a lab exam, that's why it's a bit earlier than all my others) at 8:30 am, and then at 10:30 am I have my final research presentation. Needless to say, I'm a little stressed right now! I've been practicing my presentation so much I think poor little Jack has it memorized too!

"Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart".
- Psalm 119: 33-34

I'm heading back to work now, but PLEASE PRAY FOR ME FRIDAY MORNING!!!

Trusting In Him-

*L

Still Alive!!

2007-03-24T21:05:00.000-04:00

Has it really been two and a half weeks since I've last posted?!
For the past two weeks I've been travelling a lot to interviews for some summer jobs and a few internships for next year. Remember all the applications I was stressing myself out over in the fall? The good news is that I got called in for some interviews (prayers answered!), but the bad news is that this is "crunch time" for my school work, so I really couldn't afford to take almost two weeks off (prayers needed!).
I was hoping to get some posting done, but the few days I did spend at my apartment were filled with work, and apart from the few days I spent at my parents' house in Ottawa, I didn't have Internet access. The realization that I had a deadline for the paper with no Internet was quite a shock, but all's well that ends well!
When I got back today, I flipped my verse-a-day calendar to the right date and this was the verse:

"I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken".
- Psalms 16:8

I just got back from my last interview, so I'm off to play with Jack and unpack, but I promise it won't take me another two and a half weeks to return!

In His Love-

*L

Blessed Assurance

2007-03-06T15:52:00.000-05:00

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Saviour am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

- Franny J. Crosby

What A Week!

2007-03-06T00:54:00.000-05:00

In general, going to university is a time that most people credit as the point in their life when they were really able to research, learn and expand their knowledge. High school is a time to learn and repeat facts; university is a time to question the facts, research your ideas and create your own concepts. I’d have to say that for me, this has been true. I’ve always considered myself lucky because up until last Monday, not once have I had to defend my Christian views in class, or been taught anything that conflicts with them. I was warned by someone before I started my first year that if I wasn’t careful, university would change all my morals and beliefs. I don’t know if they were grossly exaggerating, or if I just got really lucky, but it hasn’t. (If nothing else, university is when I “re-found” God). In fact, my second year physiology professor actually dedicated an entire lecture on how the perfection of the human body and of human movement aid in explaining that God does exist.
Last Monday was my first day back after a week off, so I really wasn’t too thrilled to be back in class (forget the seven year itch- after four years, I’m ready to graduate and move on!). I was trying to listen to the lecture as best I could though, when something really caught my attention. The professor was talking about the Christian Crusades, and all of a sudden started off on a tangent about how the Crusades prove that the root of Christianity is evil, and how she doesn’t trust anyone with strong religious beliefs, and so on. People who knew I was a Christian started glancing over to see what my reaction would be. I’ll admit- I was panicked. Part of me wanted to jump right in and defend Christianity, another part of me really didn’t feel like starting a massive argument, and the yet another part of me was just hoping the professor would quickly move on. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and tried to contradict her. I don’t remember actually what she said back to me, but it basically meant “I’m right, you’re wrong, now stop talking”. The rant continued, to her equating some radical Christians to ALL Christians, to which I stepped in again, only to be shot down. Then, I remembered a lecture last month in which the very same prof chastised another student in the class for making a generalization about another religious group, and how wrong it was to equate a few radicals with the entire religion. I made this point, to which she really had nothing to come back to, so I figured the discussion was over. Not so. The prof simply switched tactics, and started talking about how ridiculous the resurrection of Christ is, but her facts were flat-out wrong. I stepped in again, trying to correct her. I said I obviously disagree with her stand, but that if she’s going to rant, she should at least have her facts right. I think I’ve been marked as the rebel student! The worst part was that this particular prof and I disagree on a lot, and have debated in the past. Usually though half the class is with me; plus, I’m not one to start a hot debate, just join in. This time though, I was standing all alone.
For the next few days, I was plagued with guilt over how I didn’t step in right away and defend my faith with immediate confidence, and that part of me just felt like sinking down into my chair and becoming invisible. I’m completely comfortable sharing my faith with people who want to know, but I’m not one of those people who are upfront about it. “Hi, my name is Lauren and I’m a Christian” is not usually how I introduce myself! I’m more of an “actions speak louder than words” person. I really felt like I’d let God down, but He was a funny way of providing for us.
Remember my friend Jordan? I wrote about him about a month ago. He’s the one who’s found a list on the Internet of reasons that supposedly disprove Christianity. He asked me to explain some of the points to him, and every once in a while I’ll get a phone call or an e-mail with a quick question. Poor Jordan had the misfortune of bumping into me while I was still fuming over Monday morning’s class. We were talking over one point on the list, which was a Bible verse that had been clearly taken out of context. I issued Jordan a two-part challenge: 1) even if you don’t believe, open your mind to the possibility. Trying to learn with a closed mind is a waste of time and 2) Don’t form an opinion until you’ve heard both sides.
I got a call over the week-end from Jordan saying he’d gone out and bought a Bible! I was shocked! I asked him how come, and apparently my challenge made sense and he’s decided that if Christianity isn’t for him, at least it will be a decision made after he’s explored it. He asked if we could get together sometime and talk about what he’s been reading. I said sure, but I could call up someone else older and a bit more experienced if he wanted. He said no, because he’s already talked to some other Christians, but he likes that I don’t “Bible-thump” and I understand his doubts. What a confidence booster after a very long and trying week!!! I’d been praying all week about how upset I was over not being aggressive in my stand, and all along God had a plan to use my own witnessing style. Life really is so much easier when we place it in His hands isn’t it?! So, now I’ve been praying that God gives me the right words to use and opens Jordan’s heart.
Isn’t it funny how we all have different traits and personalities, and God uses them all? God is great!
So, apparently I’m very long-winded tonight! I’ll end here with a quick prayer request: please pray for me, and for Jordan!

In His Love-

*L

Heart, Soul and Mind

2007-03-02T23:12:00.000-05:00

Finally, this week is over! And what a way for it to end- I woke up this morning, peered out the window and was greeted by the biggest snow storm this year. And, of course, I had to be at work by 7:30 am. Let me tell you, I was shaking my fist at Mother Nature!
This week has been so ridiculously insane. So much has happened, but right now I have a good book waiting for me (and it's not a textbook-woohoo!), a tea brewing and Jack is already curled up on a blanket on the couch, so I think I'll sit down this week-end and type more.
For now, though, I thought I would share two verses that have really stuck with me this week. I've tried to organize my daily devotions and readings in to a certain pattern, but sometimes the Lord has a funny way of slipping in a verse or two that I really needed to read or be reminded of!

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint.
- Isaiah 40:31

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
- Matthew 22:37

I remember memorizing Matthew 22:37 in Sunday School!

I hope everyone who is stuck in this storm stays safe!

In His Love;

*L

Fully Rely On God

2007-02-22T22:14:00.000-05:00

Remember the fad a few years ago when everyone wore WWJD bracelets? My sister used to wear one just like it, but it said FROG on it, which stood for "Fully Rely On God". I thought about this today as I was trying to get some work done.
Today I had to show my apartment to a girl who is interested in renting it next year. I was in the middle of taking her on the tour and talking on and on about all the great features of my apartment when it hit me: I won't be here next year. I've lived in this apartment for three years, and I absolutely love it. Growing up, I lived in a house with both my parents and my sister, and I lived in residence for a year, so this has been the first place that has been one hundred percent all mine. It's decorated just right, and it has a cozy and warm feel to it. It may be small, but it's home.
Panicking over my apartment was just the tip of the iceberg. It worries me that I still don't completely know what I'm doing come spring. I was talking to my best friend on the phone about this the other day, and she's going through the same thing. I quoted Jeremiah 29:11 yet again, and it's such a reassurance. I may be panicking, but God has a plan to prosper me and not harm me, to give me hope and a future. I need to keep reminding myself that God has a plan, and that's it's a perfect plan, and that I need to fully rely on Him. It sounds so easy, and yet sometimes it's so hard!

Yet another verse that I've been running through my head a lot today was a verse my best friend quoted on the phone:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6

Fully Relying On Him-

*L

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

2007-02-14T23:55:00.000-05:00

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day. In honour of the day, I decided to focus on love during my devotions today.
As I’ve written about before, a lot of my friends are married. Out of the ten girls that were in my Sunday School class growing up, I’m the only one not married or engaged. This means that I’ve been to my fair share of weddings. As traditional as cutting the cake and tossing the bouquet, 1 Corinthians has worked its way into many weddings. Out of the many quotes about love, I personally feel that Paul’s description is nearly perfect:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is
not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs. Love not does delight in evil, but
rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres.
- 1 Corinthians 13: 4-6

What many of us are unaware of, or don’t reflect upon often (for me personally), is that the Bible is filled with many other examples of love, scattered throughout both the Old and New Testament. Love for our friends, love for our fellow believers, love for our enemies, and love for Christ are only some of the many types of loves discussed. I’ve chosen a few verses that I came across today that really impacted me:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. – 1 John 4:7

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:12-13

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.- 1 John 4:16

Since there’s no significant other in my life, my Valentine this year has four legs, a tail, and weighs about ten pounds. Of course, I’m talking about Jack! We started off the day with a bang. He somehow managed to find a cinnamon heart and nearly chocked on it. I guess I’m a bad mom, because I was munching on some last night and I didn’t realize I had dropped one. Jack found the stray heart, and just as the words “Jack, NO! Don’t eat that!” came out of my mouth, he tried to swallow it and chaos broke out! Luckily, I got to him right away, and he really didn’t seem too flustered by the episode.
Part of the reason I love Jack so much is because of his unconditional love for me. He doesn’t care if I’m having a bad hair day, if I’m behind in class, if my articles for the paper are disastrous; he just loves me for me. My favourite non-Biblical quotation about love is from William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116: “Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds”. Someone once told me that only very lucky people can count more than five people who love them unconditionally. As a child of the Lord, I know that He will always love me, no matter what. There will be times where I will stumble, times when I don’t act as I should or when I sin, and yet He will always love me. That’s so much better than cinnamon hearts and chocolate! And for a girl who’s still looking for Mr. Right, it’s a great consolation on Valentine’s Day. Frankly, that’s a gift that’s worth celebrating not only every February 14, but every day!
We are all aware of Christ’s love for us. John 3:16 clearly states that for God so LOVED the world that he gave his only begotten son. He gave the ultimate gift, His son, so that we may have ever-lasting life. In comparison to this, He asks very little in return from us:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. – Deuteronomy 6:5

In Christian Love;

*L

Here’s my Valentine (clearly, he lives a stressful life!):

Always Say A Prayer

2007-02-12T20:10:00.000-05:00

My grandmother sent me this today:

Ever wonder about the abbreviation A.S.A.P.? Generally we think of it in terms of even more hurry and stress in our lives. Maybe if we think of this abbreviation in a different manner, we will begin to find a new way to deal with those rough days along the way. There's work to do, deadlines to meet. You've got no time to spare. But as you hurry and scurry, think of ASAP - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER. In the midst of family chaos, "Quality time" is rare. Do your best; let God do the rest. ASAP - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER. It may seem like your worries are more than you can bear. Slow down and take a breather. ASAP - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER. God knows how stressful life is; He wants to ease our cares. He'll respond to all your needs A.S.A.P. - ALWAYS SAY A PRAYER.

Just thought I would pass it on because it's definitely a great reminder!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Philippians 4:6

In His Love;

*L

Walk and Talk

2007-02-05T23:53:00.000-05:00

I can’t believe we are already into February! I knew I hadn’t posted here for a while, but I thought it was just a couple of days, not more than a week! Time has just been flying by lately.
At the end of last week I received a really encouraging letter from a woman that I met at the Women In Sport Conference I attended last week-end. We sat at the same table and we had talked about how easy it is to take on a lot of projects and next thing you know you’re swamped with work. At the end of her e-mail she said “make sure you remember to take some time off, my dear, and remember that there are only 24 hours in a day”. Unfortunately, it seems I didn’t really take her advice!
This morning one of my contributing journalists bumped in to me and asked if I had a few moments to go over some articles she’s working on for me. For the first time in my life I actually had to use the phrase “only if you can walk and talk”. I’m not a “walk and talk” person, I’m a “stop and chat” person! I felt so badly afterwards that I have so much going on right now that I don’t even have time to stop and help someone who I’m supposed to be guiding and helping.
Part of the reason things have been so busy lately is because our assistant editor and Arts & Entertainment editor at the paper both quit. All the editors get together to put the paper together, and with all the editors working it takes us hours. With an original editorial staff of only five, being down two made a big difference. After a week of working late into the night, we got the paper out though. At this point in the year, finding people to fill the vacant positions looks close to impossible.
I’ve been praying lately about finding a better paying summer job because I’m worried about making it through next year because every single teacher’s college application guide said that students will be so busy that it’s highly recommended that they not take on a part time job. If I were to take on the Arts and Entertainment section as well as Sports, it would be double the paycheque. Unfortunately, it would also be double the time commitment.
You know how they say that one of the keys to successfully attaining your goals is to verbalize your goal, that way it makes you more accountable? Well, that’s what I’m doing. I’m going to make myself take some time off (time to breathe and relax!), more time with my Bible, and more consistent posts! There, I’ve said it!
I’ll end on a good note: some of the first round rejection letters to teacher’s college have already gone out and so far, none of come for me!! We don’t officially find out until April, but it’s still nice to know that my applications are still being considered.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own.
- Matthew 6:34

In His Love;

*L

1 Peter 5:7

2007-01-28T18:23:00.000-05:00

What a week-end! As exhausted as I am from running all over the place, I feel so invigorated! It sounds crazy, I know, but I had the most productive week-end in a really long time. (Sadly, not work-wise...as I type this my to-do list is staring me in the face).
Reading back over my old posts, it started to become apparent just how frustrated and discouraged I've been lately. I've been praying so much lately for God to help me out and lift me up, and He definitely helped me take my first steps back to "normal me" these past few days.
This week I was offered two great opportunities. I represented my graduating class at a Women In Sport conference and was asked to cover a local hockey tournament for a paper. Unfortunately, they both fell on the same days. With a little bit of planning and tweaking, I was able to do both and I'm so happy I did!
Being at the conference was such an experience. I've been to conference aimed at young adults, but this was my very first "adult" conference. I sat in a room with many of my professors (all of whom I have the upmost respect for) and many other accomplished women, and it was such a new feeling to actually be taken seriously and to be considered one of the group. I had to present on incorporating physical activity in to the "work-life" balance, and I was shaking right before I went up! I said a quick prayer, and I know the Lord was standing there with me. It was kind of awkward lecturing TO my professors (as opposed to the other way around!). Friday night after the first meeting there was a cocktail reception, and I had the chance to network and meet women in all different fields in sport, and I really feel as though doors have been opened for me. It was also the first time that there wasn't a power difference between myself and my professors. I'm lucky because most of my profs are open and incredibly approachable, but I don't think I would ever swing by their office to chat about our favourite TV shows or our plans for the spring break! We were able to talk on such an equal level, and it was a chance for them to get to know me outside of being a student. If nothing else, the entire experience was a much needed confidence boost!
I love how I really feel God is looking out for me and keeping me under His wings!

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
- 1 Peter 5:7

In His Love;
*L

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY SIS!!!

2007-01-23T20:28:00.000-05:00

Today is my younger sister's birthday. She's turning 18, and it's so hard to believe my baby sister is that old!! We were talking on the phone today and she remarked that is just seems like yesterday we were biking around the neighbourhood, and now she's legally an adult and I'm in my twenties!
This is the most recent picture of my sister and I that I have with me. This is us at our grandparent's house after church in the spring of 2005:
And here we are growing up:

...getting ready to go biking: (you've got to love the fashion of the early 90's!)

...first day of kindergarten for me:
...until I was 13, I had a VERY pink room! My sister and I used to read together at night in my room:
... we were both flowergirls at a friend of the family's wedding:
... I still have that brown bear! (and I'm pretty sure my sister still has her white one!)

No one ever believes that we are sisters. We're often asked if one of us is adopted- I think it's the hair colour that throws everyone. The complete polar opposite hair colour may be the most obvious difference, but there are many more. In fact, I completely understand why people are shocked when they find out we're sisters. My sister is loud, bubbly, and one hundred percent a CITY GIRL whereas I am shy, quiet and a country girl. In fact, since our family only has one car and I worked longer hours, my sister would usually drop me off and pick me up at work at the barn. She flat out REFUSED to even get out of the car because of the mud, hay and horse smell. Her dream car is a red convertible; mine's a dark blue Ford F150 truck. I'm never seen without a book in my hand; she would die without her cell phone.

Isn't it incredible that God creates so many people, with so many different personalities, interests and appearances, and He loves us all?!? He loves and treasures each one of us.

In His love-

Trust and Obey...it's so simple!

2007-01-21T17:21:00.000-05:00

One of my all time favourite hymns is "Trust and Obey". I love it because it so clearly describes the way I want my life to be as Christian- a believer and follower of Christ. At the church I attended when I was growing up this hymn was sung a lot, but at my current church I hardly ever hear it.

Trust and Obey- John Sammis

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we''ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

"It is the Lord your God you must follow and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him".
- Deuteronomy 13:4

Have a safe and blessed week!

Trusting and Obeying Him-

*L

Yet another prayer request!

2007-01-15T18:27:00.000-05:00

Over the week-end, I received an interesting e-mail from my friend Jordan. We met in my first year of university, and we're not close friends, but we get together for coffee or to play squash sometimes. He's very adamant on his stand that God does not exist, and he knows my stand and that I'm a Christian. We respect each others stands, and the topic of religion doesn't usually come up. I've been praying for Jordan, of course, and lately every once in a while he'll ask a question. I'll answer it and he'll think it over, and usually that's the last I'll hear about it.
The e-mail that he sent me was a list that is circulating around the Internet. Some guy has written a list of 150 points that he feels disprove Christianity and the Bible. Jordan forwarded the list to me, with note saying that he'd read the list and was wondering if I would go over it and then discuss it with him. I was shocked, not only at the list, but at Jordan's openness to talk about it. I've only had the chance to read a few of the points, most of which are either uniformed or are taking a verse out of context.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
-Colossians 3:16-17

So, pray for me and pray for Jordan in the upcoming weeks!

Love In Him;

*L

Less worrying, more praying!

2007-01-08T20:49:00.000-05:00

For Christmas, my Aunt Mary (that's who I got my second name from!) gave me a desk calendar with a daily prayer on it. Since things have been so chaotic lately, and I'm still worried about what will happen after I graduate, today's prayer was especially reassuring:

"When Your purpose is revealed to me, Father, help me to accept my responsibility and do Your will. Amen".

It was such a great reminder that I should be spending less time worrying and more time PRAYING!!

Waiting to do His will-

*L

Minnows and the Value of Patience

2007-01-04T20:03:00.000-05:00

A friend and I have decided to do a small Bible study on some of the traits we feel are important as Christians. We met up a few days ago and discussed the importance of patience.
After our meeting, I thought about one day last summer when I took little Diane to the beach. The first few days that we chose to go it poured rain, so we kept having to postpone the trip. Finally a day came when it was beautiful and sunny out, so we packed up our bags, grabbed a towel and headed out to the beach. After a few hours of beach volleyball and tossing around a Frisbee, we decided to go swimming. Diane spotted some minnows swimming around in the shallow part of the water. She was bound and determined to catch one. Diane armed herself with pails, small plastic shovels, and eventually a Ziploc bag and set to work. I helped for a bit and then sat and enjoyed the rays of sun the Lord had provided us with! This was around eleven in the morning, and apart from a small lunch break, Diane diligently worked on catching a minnow until I had to drag her out of the water at four that afternoon.
At around three that afternoon, Diane still hadn’t caught anything. Three boys arrived at the beach with their babysitter and came bolting in to the water with their own pails. I was sure that all the running would have scared away any potential minnows for Diane to catch. Instead, one of the boys threw his pail in to the water, looked into it and said “Hey, I caught a minnow!!”. He’d been in the water no more than two minutes! Diane just looked at the boy, looked at me, mouthed the word “WHAT?!” and rolled her eyes. I couldn’t help it; I had to laugh. An hour later we still didn’t have any luck, but it was time to head home. (Well, actually, she caught one minnow but it was dead, so Diane decided that that didn’t count).
I think we’ve all had times like Diane, where we’ve worked really hard and been really patient, and then something fantastic happens to someone else really quickly. It can be so discouraging! But the Lord tells us to never be discouraged, for He had a plan. There are also many references throughout His Word, telling us to be patient. At a time when a lot of people are making resolutions for the new year, I took a look at my own ability to be patient. I can be incredibly patient with other people, but I have almost NO patience at all with myself!
My friend and I finished our study by reading the following verse:

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love”.
- Ephesians 4:2

In His Love;

*L

How Great Thou Art

2006-12-31T19:38:00.000-05:00

Today in church we sang one of my all time favourite hymns: How Great Thou Art. I know a lot of people like the newer songs, but I love the older hymns.
Here are the lyrics to How Great Thou Art:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art,
How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

The speaker today spoke about how our resolution for the year 2007 should be to glorify God in all we do. Let’s carry that message with us in to the new year, and remember how great He really is!

I’ve way over-scheduled myself over the Christmas break, and I’ve just been running all over the place, but luckily tomorrow is completely free for me, so I’ll have to sit down and write about what I’ve been up to!
Love In Him-

*L

The REAL meaning of Christmas

2006-12-27T20:27:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Mine definitely was. My family arrived around 1 o'clock, and stayed until around 11 ,and I don't think the conversation stopped the entire time!
My grandmother gave me a Christmas card with this on the front:

C- Counsellor
H- Healer
R- Redeemer
I- Immanuel
S- Shepherd
T- Truth
M- Messiah
A- Almighty
S- Saviour

I'm saving the card to bookmark the Christmas story in one of my old Bibles.
I'm off to make cookies for the barn Christmas party tomorrow evening, but if I don't burn the house down (haha) and I have time later tonight, I'll write up another post.
If not- may you all remember the real reason we are celebrating this holiday!

Lots of holiday love...

In His Name-

*L

What happened to Christmas spirit?

2006-12-24T20:57:00.000-05:00

I’m back in Ottawa for Christmas, and it has been a crazy past two days! Christmas dinner is being held at our house this year, so my parents have been frantically preparing food and cleaning the house. My attempt to help my mom cook just ended with me being in the way, so I ended up running errands.
There’s no a speck of snow in sight, so it looks like it’s going to be a green Christmas. I heard on the news that the lack of snow is causing a decrease in the Christmas cheer people feel, and donations to charities are down. I definitely experienced that today. While running errands, at two different stores people completely cut me off in line. One woman actually cut right in front of me as I was about to put my purchases on the counter. I couldn’t believe it! Usually in Kanata we’re pretty friendly, but people would crash right in to me and not even say anything. Then, when I was in the parking lot, a man driving an SUV backed out of a spot, hit the car parked behind him and just took off! Didn’t even stop to see if the car he hit was ok, and there was a significant CRUNCH when he hit. There was a couple getting into their van close to my spot, and I overheard the wife say “can you believe that guy?” and the husband say “I know, so much for Christmas spirit”. I just couldn’t wait for all the madness to be over!
Of course, it was just as crazy at home. There wasn’t anything left for me to do, so to get out of the way I went hiking for a few hours on some trails close to my house. People were out walking their dogs and taking kids for a hike, and every single person I passed on the trail greeted me with a “Merry Christmas!”. So, maybe the Christmas spirit is still alive!

“And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn”.
- Luke 2: 7

~Merry Christmas~

Celebrating His birth-

*L

Two Envelopes

2006-12-22T23:56:00.000-05:00

I love to get mail. Well, not all mail- the bills I can live without. Thursday morning when I went to check my mail, I found two envelopes. One contained a cheque from a bursary I had applied for a long time ago (sometime in the summer I think) that I had completely forgotten about. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it will definitely help replace the dent in my account from all the application expenses. I’ve been praying a lot of my finances, and the Lord answered my prayers!
The second enveloped contained my invitation the annual Christmas party that all of the “barn girls” have every year. I’ve grown up with these girls; I’ve known most of them since I was six years old. There are about twenty of us (yes, twenty!), and we all hung out at the barn as kids, and now that we’re older, most of us work there as a part time job. With university, marriage and jobs, a lot of us have left, but we all still stay in touch. We usually get together in smaller groups, because it’s so hard to always organize get-togethers when there’s so many of us. However, every Christmas for as long as I can remember, we’ve all gotten together. It’s the one time every year that we’re all at the same place at the same time (except for horse shows or sometimes on week-ends at the barn), and it’s always one of my favourite things to do at Christmas. I’m so excited; I’ve missed all those girls so much! Someone will always pull out pictures from our younger days (always good for a laugh or two!), plus there’s nothing better than being surrounded by your best friends, especially at Christmas time.

God is great!

~Merry Christmas~

In His Love;

*L

One more week!!

2006-12-18T22:34:00.000-05:00

I can’t believe how quickly December is flying by! I was shocked (and slightly embarrassed!) when I checked my last post and realized it was almost a week ago.
My exam last Wednesday went really well. It was the exam I was the most worried about, so it was a major relief to have it done. Since I had such a long break between exams, I studied all day Thursday and Friday, and took some time off this past week-end to hang out with my friend Jaimie. We used to swim together and lived together in residence in first year, but we really haven’t hung out a lot lately.
In our first year, the big trend (and our unofficial floor theme) was to collect lists. We had all kinds of lists: “what they never told you about university”, “you know you’re a student when…”, “signs you’re Canadian”, “you know you were born in the 80’s when…” and so on. Jaimie collected them all at the end of the year, and we were going over them and choosing all the ones that applied to us. It was so funny how our lives can be made in to lists that apply to so many other people.
If someone made a list “Signs you’re a Christian”, I wonder how many I’d be able to tick off. What qualities would be on the list? If someone else were to look at the list and think of you, what qualities would they chose for you? Just something to think about in the upcoming week.

Hope everyone has finished their Christmas shopping. I haven’t, and I’m already dreading hitting the mall to finish it up. Can you believe we celebrate the birth of our Lord in one week!?!

Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”.
- John 14:6

~Merry Christmas~

*L

Exam Fever

2006-12-12T23:52:00.000-05:00

Usually the vibe at the library is very amicable, but all sense of decency goes out the window December 1, when the dreaded “Exam Fever” hits. The popular saying “all’s fair in love and war” should be altered to say “all’s fair in love, war and exams”. You snooze, you lose- the best tables, books and computers are taken at early hours that most university students haven’t been awake for since high school. Luckily for me, having my own apartment means I always have a quiet place to study during exams, so I haven’t had to endure the madness since I lived on campus in first year. Unfortunately, I needed to look up some research papers not available in the online catalogue, so I had to brave the madness this morning. Just as I nabbed the one last reference computer, some guy walked in who apparently was there for the same reason I was. Out of all the people using the reference computers, he chose me to hover behind. I can’t stand people who hover and constantly read over your shoulder- it drives me up the wall! It actually makes it harder for me to work because I keep focusing on how annoying it is someone is reading over my shoulder that I can’t focus on my work. Poor guy, his tactics were backfiring!
On the walk back home, I was still steaming over “Hovering Boy” when I realized that sometimes someone always looking over your shoulder isn’t a bad thing. God is always looking over us, keeping us safe and in His loving arms. Now THAT is something that doesn’t annoy me!

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
- Isaiah 41:10

I have an exam tomorrow afternoon, so keep me in your prayers!

In His Loving Arms-

*L

A Season of Loss, A Lifetime of Forgiveness

2006-12-09T02:49:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I went shopping at a second hand bookstore and came home with quite the loot. Showing an uncharacteristic restraint, I managed to ignore the stack while I was studying, but today (and by today I mean Friday, because I’m posting after midnight!) I took the afternoon off from reading textbooks and decided to read for fun. A while ago I heard about a book called “A Season of Loss, A Lifetime of Forgiveness”, and I've been wanting to read it ever since, so I was excited when I found a copy at the store. It was such a great book- it tells the story of late NHL-er Dan Snyder and how his family was able to come to terms with his death.
The book really made me think about the power of forgiveness. I think that forgiving someone for something that they’ve done is a really hard thing to do. Looking back at the bad things people have done to me, I’m not too bad with the forgiveness part, but I’m bad at the forgetting part. I can only truly “forgive and forget” with my very close friends.
There’s a comedy movie that my friends and I love to watch, and one of the main characters is a rock star who has no talent what so ever. She writes a song about forgiveness, and the main chorus line is “Forgiveness- it’s more than saying sorry”. Truly forgiving someone is more than just saying “it’s OK”. I’ll be praying that I’ll be able to show people forgiveness. It amazes me that the Lord will always forgive me. We are so lucky that the Lord forgives us, time and time again.

I just looked at the clock and I didn’t realize that it was so late, so I’m going to cut this short!

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you”.
- Matthew 6:14

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”.
- Ephesians 4:32

In His Love;

*L

Making the Time

2006-12-05T22:01:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I was studying at the kitchen table and Jack decided he needed attention. He weaved in and out of the table legs meowing, but I just ignored him and kept working. Finally, he got sick of begging, and went for a much more obvious approach: he jumped up on the table, knocked the pen out of my hand and plunked himself down on my notes. He looked so cute and I haven’t had the time to play with him lately, so I took a break and we played with his toys for a while. That reminded me again of how easy it is to forget about the important things and how easy it is to over-schedule. Sure, playing with my cat versus studying for an exam is a no-brainer. There’s another kind of studying that I sometimes don’t make time for- my Bible. It seems that every time I start cutting down the time I spend on my devotions and readings, the Lord always manages to send a gentle reminder.
I finished studying the chapter I was on and then grabbed my Bible. Jack cuddled up with me and we made the time to study my Bible. It was such a nice break; I hardly spent any time studying my Bible yesterday, and I missed it. The day felt weird without it.
So, how do you make time for the Lord? I guess I have to thank Jack for the subtle reminder that I’ve been neglecting some things lately! Although I have a feeling the Lord might have been behind that one.
As for my presentation last Friday: it went remarkably well. My voice came back somewhat, but luckily the room was big enough that we needed to a microphone, so that helped. I usually don’t get nervous doing public speaking, but I was shaking when the person before me was talking. I just closed my eyes and prayed like crazy, and I really felt like the Lord was giving me strength as I spoke. (And I had even more luck, because I managed to escape relatively unscathed when I had to defend my research with questions from peers and the board of professors!).
I can all things through Christ who strengthens me
– Phillipians 4:13

In Him-

*L

Hard Times

2006-11-30T20:41:00.000-05:00

A lot of things have polar opposites- there’s the obvious North and South Pole, but there’s also black and white, warm and cold, up and down, ying and yang, happy and sad. But does that mean that for every good moment there is a bad moment too? Lately I’ve been thinking about the hard things we go through in life. I’ve had really good moments in life, but also some really bad moments.
For the past few days I’ve been studying from the book of Job. Job is described as being blameless and pure, a man who fears God and shuns evil. He has to go through many trials- losing his wealth and family, painful sores. Yet he never blames God or curses Him. That made me think about how I handle bad things in my life. It’s odd that during deaths of family members, choosing a university and a program that hardly anyone supported or wanted for me, an injury that resulted in me losing my swim career and chance at a national spot and almost losing a semester of school in the process- big, life changing moments, I’ve relied on God. Even during my teen years when I tried to walk away from God, I still knew in my heart He would sustain me and watch over me. But last week my faith was weakened over something much smaller. I guess “the rest of my life” isn’t small, but what I saw as a bad thing was really a blessing. I’m finishing a degree, and I have so many options and exciting things ahead of me. When I should have seen that the Lord has provided me with many paths to take, I chose to see and focus on the negative. So, it is my prayer lately that I keep the same faith that Job had.
Following the theme of opposites, I have good news and bad news. The good (no, fantastic!!) news is that….my applications are done!! Done, done, done, in the mail, done!! I mailed them yesterday, and I felt like I just floated out of the post office! It was such a relief to have them all done and not have to worry about finishing them anymore. Now I just have to worry about the results-haha!
This week has definitely been the busiest of the year. Due to the fact that we all overload on our courses, the exams for my program are scheduled a week early, giving us time to properly study for our elective exams. So, this week I’ve written three exams in four days, with my last one this afternoon. Then, tomorrow morning I have my thesis presentation. Three and half years of work is culminating in one presentation tomorrow, and I am SO nervous! So, here’s the bad news: I woke up yesterday with an awful cold, and I’ve completely lost my voice. In about fourteen hours I have to stand in front of all my classmates, the head of my program and a panel of professors to discuss the implementation of mandatory physical education in schools, and I can’t talk!! I’ve been drinking tea and honey like crazy and doing every trick I can think of, so hopefully I’ll wake up in the morning with my voice back, loud and clear.

Job’s friend Eliphaz talks in Chapter 5 about the faithfulness of God. He says:

“He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. He bestows rain on the earth; He sends water upon the countryside. The lowly He sets on high, those who mourn are lifted to safety”.
- Job 5:8-11

Trusting in the Lord’s faithfulness-

*L

Waiting patiently can be so hard!

2006-11-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

Doesn’t it just make it worse when everyone around you is having fantastic luck when nothing right is happening for you? That’s been my past week.
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but lately I’ve had the attitude of “who cares?”. I’m being honest on this blog, even if it paints me in a bad light. I’m usually a very organized, responsible person- the kind that gets their homework done and finishes assignments days in advance. Definitely Type A, and a textbook-definition eldest child. Lately…not so much. Last Friday I found myself sitting in class, staring out the window half the time and the other half of the time I sat their thinking “who cares?? I mean really- in the grand scheme of things, it is crucial that I learn about long term athlete development?”. For the first time in my life, I actually don’t care, and to be honest, it scares me. This is new, unfamiliar territory for me.
I’m also panicking over my future. My typical Type A self used to have it all planned out. I knew exactly what I wanted, and had my entire life plan mapped out. Now, it’s just a bunch of murkiness. I have about the next 24 hours planned, and that’s it. Teacher’s college applications are so stressful I think they’ve taken about ten years off my life. Plus, after paying for them I have officially emptied out every last penny in my savings. Then, I found out yesterday that the number of applicants admitted has dropped. One school dropped their admittance from 800 to 150. So, not only am I completely broke, but my chances of getting in have been slashed dramatically.
I’m really starting to wonder if my whole degree is worth it. This summer at the youth centre, I organized a basketball league. I’m a terrible basketball player, but I would always warm up with the kids and shoot baskets with them. The janitor at the centre one day was helping me with my free throws, and he made a comment about how women needed men to teach them about sports, to which I replied “you do realize you’re talking to a female human kinetics student”, to which he replied “yea, but no one will hire you, because you’re a female in a male business”. I thought he was just being a jerk, so I ignored him. Later that summer, I organized a mini-NHL tournament, and the kids picked their favourite teams, and the programmers at the centre were the general managers of the teams. One of the girls at the centre one day told me “hey Lauren, you’re the first female NHL GM!”. I was telling this story to two male friends the other day, and they told me that that would never happen in real life because a female would never be hired by a pro-sports team. We got in to this major debate over this, and I think I came out on the losing end of that argument. My dream job, my reason for picking my degree in the first place, was to work for a pro-sports team. This just made me feel more frustrated and confused.
For some odd reason, I’m one of the only ones in my group of friends to go to university. Some went to college, others didn’t pursue post-secondary education. Most of them are married or engaged, they all have real full-time jobs and are so much farther ahead in their lives. My friend Erin is getting married this summer, has an amazing job with an amazing salary, and just bought a house. A HOUSE!! I don’t even have enough money to make rent to the end of the year. I just feel as though the past four years aren’t really doing anything for me.
Right about now I just want to scream to God, “alright, I know you have a plan for me, but I’m sick of waiting! Just show me the way. Make it clear, let me know it’s all going to work out!”. I sound like such a spoiled brat, complaining over stupid things, most of them trivial in the grand scheme of things. But, this is where I’m at right now, and I’m going to be honest, even if it’s ugly. Besides, it makes me feel better to type it all out.

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him”
- Psalms 37:7

Waiting patiently for my Lord-

*L

E.E. Cummings has it right!

2006-11-16T21:51:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a class called "Gerontology and Exercise", and today's lab portion was done in the pool. We'd just finished a project about class and exercise planning, so we were putting our skills to use by trying out our aquatic program. The class is mostly comprised of girls, and every single girl, except for two, showed up in (I kid you not) scimpy bikinis. The only to who didn't ? Mal and I; the two Christian girls in the group. It was like a game of "spot the Christian". It was an exercise class!!! What were they thinking?!?!
Sorry if this sounds whiny, but lately I've been really frustrated. I've actually been taking a lot of criticism this week about taking a stand, or being a "good girl", and it's just starting to wear on me.
I've got a stack of reading to get to, so I've unfortunately got to cut this short. PRAY for me, because this has been a trying week!

"To be nobody but yourself- in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting".
- E.E. Cummings

We are so lucky to have to Lord on our side in this fight!

Love In Christ;

*L

Confessions

2006-11-11T23:11:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make- I have an addiction to Post-It notes. I can’t get through a day without using them. I use them to write little reminders to myself, post favourite quotes on my mirror, write questions on my class notes so I won’t forget them, leave people notes, bookmark pages, leave reminders on my calendar and day planner…they’re everywhere! I have a collection of Post-It notes: big ones, medium sized ones, little ones, standard yellow, neon, pastel coloured, flower shaped, heart shaped, standard square shaped. It’s definitely becoming an addiction. I even get a little giddy when I see a new design or colour in the store.
Sadly, I spread the addiction, and my friend Ellen fell prey. When we used to go to the same church we would leave each other Post-It notes in our devotion notes and Bibles. Sometimes we would find them right away, sometimes we wouldn’t find the notes for weeks or months. They were always fun to read, and I think I’ve kept every one Ellen left for me. Ellen and I haven’t seen each other in years, but every once in a while I’ll stumble across an old Post-It. The other day I was flipping through the Bible I used when I was younger, and I found one of those notes. It was a simple note that Ellen had left- in the middle of the Post-It were the words: “Put God in the centre, and everything will come together”.
Here’s my second confession of the night: life for me has been pretty crazy lately, so I’m guilty of not putting God “in the centre” as much as I should. I’ve let my deadlines, applications and studying overtake my life. The newspaper, my future after graduation and my school work are all very important. They deserve my time, effort and dedication. But so does my Heavenly Saviour!! I have to admit, I felt more than a little guilty after reading Ellen’s note. That made me think more about how easy it is to slide God down our priority list.
The first draft of my teacher’s college applications are done (finally!), my reference letters have all been sent out, most of my articles are done for the paper, and I spent the whole day making study notes. Why is it so easy for me to get all of those things done, but my Bible sits unopened and my devotion book has no entry for today in it?
Guess where I’m headed now? I’m spending the rest of the night with the best textbook of all- the textbook for life that the Lord has given us!

“He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken”.
- Psalms 62:8

Love In Christ-

*L

Application anxiety

2006-11-07T23:02:00.000-05:00

So, it's official: if I ever hear the word "application"again, I'm going to be sick! Journalism applications, teacher's college applications, internship applications...and when it couldn't get any worse, I had a meeting with my academic advisor yesterday, and guess what she gave me? My application to graduate! AH!!
I guess when it rains, it pours, because this week is insane. Essays due, applications times a million (a hyperbole here and there never hurt anyone!), labs due, a looming deadline at the paper, and one of my friends is going through a really rough time right now, so I'm trying to make time for her too.
So...please pray for me!! I'll pull myself away from applications in a day or two to actually write a better entry! I have to say one thing- I don't know what I'd do without the power of prayer, because I've been praying like crazy lately!

Love In Christ-

*L

Marvelling at God's creation

2006-11-03T20:29:00.000-05:00

I snapped these pictures last fall on my way to class. My apartment is really close to campus, and I walk along a path everyday and this is the view I get to see:

Every day that I walk the path I always think about how amazing God's creation is!
Now that winter is closer and closer, and it's getting colder, I thought it would be neat to share some pictures of nicer weather!

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
- Psalms 139:9-10

Seventeen

2006-11-01T17:11:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up, one of my favourite songs was about a girl who was seventeen and thought she had her life planned out. The song focused on how naïve the girl was, and how when she would grow up she would realize how silly she was when she was seventeen. When I was in my teens I never realized how true the song was. When I was seventeen I definitely thought I had everything figured out- I wanted to work for a sports team or be a writer. Because of my late birthday I was seventeen when I started university, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do after my four years were up. Well, I’m in my fourth year and in my twenties, so even though logic would predict that I should have “it all planned out”, I’m just starting to realize that I really, really don’t.
This afternoon I sat down with all my applications for all my options after this year is over, and it suddenly hit me that I have absolutely no clue which option I want the most. I’ve always been incredibly organized and had everything planned and mapped out, and now I don’t.
I knew from the time I was little I wanted to be one thing- a vet. As much as I love cats and dogs, I wanted to do large animals, and eventually open my own farm and practice. That fell through (which is a long story, which I’ll save for another day). When I was fourteen I started to help coaching the younger kids on my swim team, and when I was sixteen I got promoted and got my own group, then when I came to university I got hired to coach here for the city team. I completely fell in love with coaching and teaching, and most of my jobs have involved one of the two. I’ve worked my way up through the ranks and I’ve been working on my national coaching levels, and I really love it. I’m not coaching this year, and it’s incredible how much I miss it.
Now, switch over to my other career option- journalism. Ever since I was little I’ve loved reading, and that led to a love of writing. I’ve written my whole life, and was the editor of my high school newspaper. After a lot of hard work, I got the job this year of sports editor for my campus paper. Even though I’ve done a lot of writing in the past, this is the first time I’ve been paid to do it. The job’s been challenging, but in a good way, and with every article I get more and more comfortable with the job. Earlier this week I received an e-mail asking if I would interested in covering a story about a presentation the GM of the Peterborough Petes is making on campus later this week, and I jumped at the opportunity. This will be my biggest story yet, so I’m excited! I can definitely see myself doing this for the rest of my life.
Sitting beside the two big piles of applications to teachers college and journalism school is a mish-mash of applications for other random programs. I decided to get my degree in Human Kinetics so I could eventually work as a physical trainer for a pro sports team, and even though I somewhat changed my mind, I’m still applying just to see what happens. So, right now I have no clue which path I want to take. Now more than ever I’m so happy that one day I stumbled across Jeremiah 29:11. Even though I, for the first time in my life, have no idea what’s happening next, I know the Lord has everything all planned out. All I need to do is pray and trust.
I know I’ve been rambling, but I just had to write this all out, in the hopes it would help clear things up! I just re-read what I wrote, and I actually do have my life together, but I just think today was one of those overwhelming days. Oh, to be seventeen again!

“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not harm you; plans to give you hope and a future”.
- Jeremiah 29:11

Trusting in Him-

*L

A constant friend

2006-10-28T00:24:00.000-04:00

Even though I'm posting after midnight, I'll admit to procrastinating tonight, and I'll consider this Friday's post!

I was flipping through channels (all three that I get!) today when I came across an interview with Mary J. Blige. I've heard her music a lot, but I never really knew a lot about her, so I listened to the show. She was talking about how she overcame addiction and found the Lord. The most interesting part was when she talked about how none of her friends understood her faith, and a lot of them mocked her, and for a while she was without any friends at all until she was able to find fellowship with other Christians. When the interviewer asked her if this was hard, she quoted Job 33:4: "The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life". Hearing her speak so candidly about how hard it was to go from non-believer to believer was really neat to listen to.
I thought more about how so many friends don't understand our beliefs, and so I did some research in the Bible and found:
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother".
- Proverbs 18:24

How lucky we are that in good times and in bad, the Lord is always at our side.

It's getting late so I'm headed off to bed, but since I'm incredibly far behind in my blog readings, I'll do that tomorrow!

Love In Christ-

*L

I'm still alive!

2006-10-25T18:36:00.000-04:00

Well, I've crawled out from the woodwork and am ready to post again! Apparently my sister has declared a monopoly on the one and only computer that we have at home. (I guess that's what happens when you leave home!). I've only had time to do a quick check on my e-mails, but my sister just left to go babysitting, so I've seized my moment of opportunity.
Today is my last day of real "vacation". I've got interviews booked solid tomorrow, and a deadline for the paper on Friday, so it's back to work for me tomorrow. Apart from getting together with some friends on Saturday night for the hockey game, I've been anti-social for the past few days. I've spent my time lounging around and reading (not a textbook, which is a welcome change!). Oh well, I suppose everyone deserves a break here and there!
Sunday I went to my church here at home, and it was nice to be back. A local missionary spoke, and it reminded me of how important it is for us to pray for all the missionaries and the work they're doing. For about a year now my grandmother has been sick, but up until then we used to have a family tradition where she would make a big lunch after church and we would spend the afternoon talking and discussing any new events in our lives. This past Sunday was the first time we've had a chance to do that in a year. I was so thankful that she was feeling well enough, because that was the only Sunday I'm going to be home until Christmas.

I'm taking the midnight bus back to school tonight, so I've got to run and pack up (it just feels like I was packing to come home- time goes by too quickly!).

Love In Christ;

*L

Picture from the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer!

2006-10-25T18:27:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of myself with Diane, one of the girls I worked with this summer. I completely forgot I had this picture until I cleaned out my inbox today and found it from the summer. This was the day I took her to get her face painted, and she picked a butterfly. It was a really hot day (this was back in July), so after a full day of running around and playing on the play structures, her beautiful butterfly had melted into a red glob!
Funny story...when it was Diane's turn to have her face done, the woman working the booth asked me "so, what would your daughter like to have done?". I don't think I look old enough to have a daughter, especially a ten year old!

You can take the girl out of the barn...

2006-10-20T23:30:00.000-04:00

One of my barn friends sent me this picture today. My friend Natalie got married last summer, and all of the "barn girls" went (we've all been friends since we were six). After the ceremony there was an hour and a half for cocktails. Instead of cocktails, the barn girls all headed into the barn (Natalie got married on the grounds of a farm, which may sound odd but was actually beautiful). There are all these hilarious pictures of us in a barn in our dressy clothes. I had to laugh at this one of me because it's so typical! The goat was adorable. Since we're all riders we spent the most time with the horses, but I came back to this little guy a couple of times. (You can take the girl out of the barn, but you can't take the barn out of the girl!).

Well, there's one of the few pictures of me that I like. I'll try to find others (as requested!!).

*L

It's finally Friday!!

2006-10-20T23:22:00.000-04:00

What a crazy week! Of course, during Midterm week, the girl across the hall decided to download movies and videos, and since we share an Internet connection, everything was slowed down. I was trying to get to my notes (a lot of my courses have a lot of material online), but it was almost impossible with the slow connection. I tried to post on Blogger Wednesday night, but after twenty minutes the page was still loading, so I just waved the white flag and gave up! After spending way too much time in the computer lab at school, I'm glad to finally be back on my trusty laptop.
I've still got a lot to do before heading home for the week-end so I have to cut this short, but I just thought I'd post something small because I haven't been on here in a while. I should be able to get an Internet connection at home, so I'll try to post something better later.

Love In Christ;

*L

Closed-loop vs. Open-loop

2006-10-15T19:21:00.000-04:00

As a Human Kinetics major, I’ve spent the past four years studying the human body. As a senior, my courses this year deal with very specific topics of the body and motion. I’m taking one course called “Motor Learning and Control”, and it’s all about how we learn and how muscle systems adapt to learning. Next week is the unofficial midterm week, so I spent the week-end studying. Today I was reading over my text, and I focused on the chapter about control patterns. In class we briefly discussed open- and closed-control loops, but the text went in to the much greater detail. To give a brief definition, an open-control loop is a thought pattern where your body doesn’t have to think about what it’s doing, and your brain doesn’t receive any feedback; a closed-control loop occurs when you actively have to think about every motion, and you consciously receive feedback. That really made me think, not only about the midterm, but about how there are “open-control loop Christians” and “closed-control loop Christians”. I know some people who are “open-control loop Christians”; they just sort of go through the motions, not really thinking about their walk with the Lord. In fact, I was even one for a while (anyone who’s read my testimony will know that!). Thankfully, I found my way back and I’m now very much a “closed-loop control Christian!”.
It really amazes me how the Lord works. I’ve been looking in to taking a course on the book of Mark, so today for my devotions I read through some passages from Mark to prepare me for the course if I end up taking it. I found this passage: “These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.” (Mark 7:6-7). That’s exactly what I was thinking about earlier today!

Philippians 4:4 says “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”.

Have a safe week, and remember to rejoice in the Lord!

Rejoicing in Him-

*L

Jack's kitten pictures

2006-10-13T16:19:00.000-04:00

He slept so much when he was a baby!Here you can see his runny nose and watery eyes...
He's starting to look like a normal kitten, but still really tiny!

Isn't he just the cutest thing?? I feel like a proud Mom!

"Love thy neighbour"...easier said than done

2006-10-10T22:04:00.000-04:00

Last night I was looking forward to going to bed early, drinking a relaxing tea and reading a book- the perfect way to wind down after a long week-end. Sadly, my perfect evening came to an end when I was brushing my teeth.
Remember my problems with the girl across the hall? One of the things that drives me nuts is that she'll go away for days at a time and leave food out. I've always been paranoid that she'll attract rats or something and that they will find their way over to my place. We each have our separate apartments, but both of our back doors connects to a small landing that connects to the bathroom we share. I was standing in the bathroom with the door open brushing my teeth and minding my own business, when all of a sudden I see a mouse slide out from under the door leading to her apartment, scurry across the landing, and shimmy its way under my door. Every front door in the building is like any regular front door, but the connecting back doors are like a bedroom door- slightly off the ground. The mouse had more than enough room to easily slide under the door. It took me a few seconds to actually comprehend what had happened! Then I had a sinking feeling in my stomach- my two cats were in the apartment.
I have my own cat back at my parent's house, but here at school my landlord takes in the cats that no one else wants from the Humane Society, and during the school year I take care of two of them. One of them is developmentally delayed, so I wasn't worried about him catching the mouse. The other one is a hunter. I really didn't feel like dealing with a mouse corpse, or worse yet a half-dead mouse, so I ran in to my room to save the mouse. The mouse was hiding underneath my dresser and Gigi (one of the cats) had her paw as far in as it could go. The mouse ended up being chased back into the other apartment. Today I made a trip to Canadian Tire and bought a mouse trap (the humane ones, of course) in case he decides to come back. I also had another chat about leaving food out with the girl across the hall, but once again that conversation didn't go well.
It wasn't the mouse that made it an unpleasant event. I love mice and everything in the mouse family- I rescued two hamsters two years ago when their owner was going to flush them down the toilet (which makes me angry every time I think about it). I horseback ride, and worked at the barn for years(I still cover the occasional shift when I can), so mice are a fact of life for me! Mice belong in barns; with all the hay, horse food and country living, it's like a mouse haven. My building should NOT be a mouse haven. It annoyed me to no end that I've been saying all year that leaving food out would attract mice, and it did! I'm a clean person, so I don't want to deal with this when it's not because of me.
There, it felt so much better to vent and get that off my chest!
Leviticus 19:17-18 says :
"Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbour frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself".
Well, let's just say that's easier said than done! I guess that will have to be my mission for the week. Keep praying for me as I try to love the girl across the hall!

Off to check on my mouse traps...

Love In Christ;

*L

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-10-08T18:54:00.000-04:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Hopefully everyone is enjoying their turkey dinners. I ended up not going home for Thanksgiving this year, but staying at school to work on my studies and the newspaper. This is the first holiday ever that I’ve spent away from my family, so it was a little sad. I called home tonight and talked with everyone, so it made it a little easier.
I’ve had these two poems since I was in high school, and I read them every Thanksgiving. It really makes me appreciate what I have. I don’t know who wrote them, so if anyone knows, let me know! Enjoy:

I Am Thankful For…
…the mess to clean up after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.
…the taxes I pay because it means that I'm employed.
…the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have enough to eat.
…my shadow who watches me work because it means I am out in the sunshine.
…the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking.
…all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech.
...that lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means that I can hear.
…the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.
…the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.
…my huge heating bill because it means that I am warm.
…weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day because it means that I have been productive.
…the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I am alive.

Be Thankful
Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.If you did, what would there be to look forward to?Be thankful when you don't know something,for it gives you the opportunity to learn.Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.Be thankful for your limitations,because they give you opportunities for improvement.Be thankful for each new challenge,because it will build your strength and character.Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.Be thankful when you're tired and weary,because it means you've made a difference.It's easy to be thankful for the good things.A life of rich fulfillment comes to those whoare also thankful for the setbacks.Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,and they can become your blessings.
-Author unknown.

It’s a tradition at my house that every Thanksgiving we go around the table and say what we are thankful for. Last year I said “I’m thankful for my family, good food and good company”. This year I think I’d say the same thing, but adding on “and I’m thankful for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for everyone who supports me in my walk with Him”. May you all have a great Thanksgiving, and eat some extra turkey for me!

Thankful to be in His loving arms-
*L

P.S. In the spirit of my week-end, if I were to add anything to the first poem, it would be “ I’m thankful for homework, because it means I am getting an education”. I’ll have to keep that in mind as I go back to tackling the books!

Front page!

2006-10-05T21:50:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here in the computer lab on campus writing this. My poor little laptop has died again, and has been sleeping over in the tech room for the past two days (which is why I once again haven't been posting). Fingers crossed it gets fixed by tomorrow so I'll have it for the Thanksgiving week-end.
Today definitely had it's ups and downs. I'm one of those people that hates to fight with other people and I usually put up with a lot- it takes a lot to make me lose it. The girl that lives across the hall from me has been making my life difficult for the past year, and today she just took things way too far and I lost it. I really hate stupid people! So, now I have that situation to deal with.
I feel awful about venting about my across-the-hall issue, because it seems like lately everyone has been having a hard time. The other night I stayed up really late talking to a friend from back home about some issues she's going through, and then another one of my friends up here has been going through some things to. She actually is a "Sunday Christian", so our conversations have touched on religion. I'm praying that the Lord will help me say the right things. Please pray for Nat and Elaine.
On the good news side: the campus newspaper came out today and the feature story on the men's soccer team I was working on made...front page, above the fold!!!! I had no idea that was going to happen until I got to the office this morning, and it was definitely a welcome surprise!
Well, it's getting late and the game is over, which means it's time for me to head home. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more of the good news and less of the bad news (and hopefully I'll be typing this on my own laptop!).

The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
- Psalms 145:14

Love In Christ;
*L

Jars of Clay

2006-10-02T21:48:00.000-04:00

Today, after classes and newspaper work, I decided to tackle some housecleaning. Floors, bathroom, mirrors- all have suffered lately due to my hectic life. (I'm proud to say that right now they sparkle!). I'm definitely a person that has to listen to music while they're doing something (expect reading- I need complete silence for that). Nothing good was on the radio and my regular CD collection has been getting boring, so I decided to rummage around in my older CD's to find something. I ended up putting on an old "Jars of Clay" album that I bought when I around twelve. Billy Graham came to Ottawa and I went with my friend Melanie. Michael W. Smith and Jars of Clay performed and we ended up buying both CD's.
I did my daily readings after cleaning, and I decided to look up the verse that Jars Of Clay got their name from:

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us".
- 2 Corinthians 4:7

That made me think of another verse concerning clay:

"Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand".
- Isaiah 64:8

For something as simply and mundane as clay, it certainly creates some interesting analogies!

In His Love-

*L

Bad news and good luck!

2006-09-29T23:34:00.000-04:00

I think I can officially be crowned the Queen of Bad Luck. Right after my vow of getting back to posting on a regular basis, I decided to sit down and do some more work. I clicked on an icon and...nothing. I clicked on the icon again...once again, nothing. Forty eight hours later, after frantically hunting down someone who knew what they were doing, my precious laptop has been saved. Something to do with refragging and reformatting; it was over my head!
Now for the good, or should I say AMAZING, news...I have a job!! Not just any job either- a newspaper job!!!! I am the new Sports Editor for the campus newspaper. My name in print- a dream come true! How great the Lord is! I'll fill in all the details tomorrow; right now I've got to run and start writing up articles before I forget details. I'm on a deadline! That sounds so great to say :)

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
- Phillipians 4:13

May the Lord keep you safe this week-end-

*L

"booklet Bible" vs. the real Bible

2006-09-26T23:38:00.000-04:00

Well, if I was computer-savy enough to know how, I'd be putting a very long row of sheepish/embarrassed smiley faces for not posting in ages. Friday I was determined to get all my work done so I could relax all week-end, which is why I didn't end up posting. Then I spent the whole week-end doing absolutely nothing. I watched TV, went for a walk, read my Bible...and didn't crack open a textbook once! I don't know what came over me; I just had two incredibly lazy days. My brain really wasn't working too well, so each time I tried to write something to post, everything that I wrote sounded awful. But I'm back, so I'll try to get back to posting on a more consistent basis.

Monday morning I joined my classmates in a flurry of typing and printing as the official teacher's college application package was released. 39 pages- my poor printer had to take a break halfway through printing it! Of course it's all written in tiny print, so reading it is taking hours. It's so frustrating to read because every little detail is crucial. We've all been wandering around with the booklet in our hands, reading frantically every chance we get. One of my classmates remarked today that the booklet will be her Bible for the next two months. Even though we all laughed and agreed, I couldn't help but think in my head that I don't want my booklet to be my Bible. Sure, it's important to me and I know I'll be spending hours flipping through it in the coming months, but what I want my life to depend on is the Lord and his Word. That's the book I want to make sure to read everyday, and that's the book I want to base my life on. Plus, I'm lucky that it's a much more interesting read than paragraphs and paragraphs about admission averages, profiles and deadlines. The real Bible speaks of only one admission requirement: asking the Lord into our hearts. As I stress over my teacher's college deadlines, I can reassure myself by thinking that I've already met the most important requirement!

I've already used this verse before, but I think it applies to today too:

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
- Psalms 119:105

Love In Christ;
*L

Letters and guidance

2006-09-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

Today I came home from a long day of classes to a very sweet surprise! My birthday card from my grandmother was sitting outside my door. I love getting mail (but not bills!). So much of my communication is done in e-mail now, so getting a letter in the mail is always such a great surprise. Even better was the surprise inside (a cheque way over my usual birthday amount) enough to cover a month’s rent! It may not seem like a huge amount, but for a student it’s an enormous relief. Remember all my job and money worries? This goes a long way in helping! Thank you Nanny and thank you Lord for providing.
Even better though was the letter that my grandmother had enclosed. We’ve always been close, and she’s been a significant influence on my life and my walk with the Lord. I’ve told her all about the problems I’ve been having lately. Here’s a section from the letter:

“…by the time you receive my letter these problems may be straightened out; I hope so! Never mind, I am a strong believer that God allows these disappointments for our good. Think of Joseph who was sold to the Midianete traders and who afterwards could say to his brother ‘You meant it for evil but God meant it for good’. Not only that occasion, but later Joseph was innocently accused of wrongdoing and thrown in jail, however this too worked for his good. So don’t be downhearted or discouraged, things will eventually turn out for the best”.

I really realize how blessed I am to have someone like my grandmother here to guide me. I’m lucky too that the Lord is always here to guide me. The Bible says in the first part of Isaiah 58:11 that “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame”.

Love In Christ;

*L

My two birthdays

2006-09-17T22:11:00.000-04:00

When I was younger I used to get so excited for my birthday. I'd have a countdown which started a month beforehand and the night before I'd never be able to sleep. My past few birthdays have been met with a grudging acceptance- I'm getting older. Each year brings more and more responsibilities and expectations. When you turn five or six, the only expectation of you is that you have proper manners and are well-behaved. By fifteen or sixteen, you're expected to be mature enough to drive a car, have your future more or less mapped out (those university application deadlines are looming!), and at eighteen you're officially considered an adult. Saturday was my 21rst birthday, and of course with it came even more changes and responsibilities- 21 is the cut-off age for me to be on my parents' health insurance and now my car insurance changes too. Gone are the carefree days of wearing a party hat and eating cupcakes every September 16th!
I realize how very blessed I am because I'm lucky my birthday is cause for another celebration- the fact that every year my birthday is not just a marker of another year, but also cause for celebration that I actually have 2 birthdays. In church whenever some has a birthday we also sing about how "born again means salvation; how many have you?" in reference to how the day you accepted the Lord in to your heart is also a "birthday". This birthday I can honestly say that when my friends toasted me at dinner, I not only toasted to my 21rst birthday but also to the fact that I have a second birthday, one that guarantees me everlasting and eternal life!

Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for you.
- 1 Peter 1:3-4

Have a great week!

*L

You'll be strong because He walks with you

2006-09-14T21:48:00.000-04:00

Ever had one of those conversations that leave you shaking your head and wondering what just happened? I had one of those yesterday with my former boss from the club. I was leaving my lab class yesterday with my friend Jaimie and realized my boss was walking about 30 feet in front of us. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with the whole situation of me not coaching anymore, so I told Jaimie I was going to walk around the back of the building and meet her at the front. I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but it was at the end of a long day and I just wanted to go home, not deal with the coaching .... fiasco, for lack of a better word! The plan totally backfired though, because when I went to meet Jaimie at the front, my boss was standing there talking to her! Long story short, he asked me to come back as a supply coach, and of course I said yes because I loved that job. Then, he started to talk about how my assistant from last year (who has replaced me this year) might not be doing a good job and how he plans on being stricter this year, and the new coach might not last the year so I should be prepared to possibly come back. So of course, my immediate reaction is to think "well, if you think you're going to demote him, why not just hire me back now?". It was such a random, confusing conversation!

Last night I continued to pray about everything and I started to think about how no matter how many confusing, frustrating and random conversations we can have during the day, there's always a perfect conversation with our Lord, ready for us at anytime. It reminds me of a song I used to sing in Sunday School:

Have you talked to God above
Told Him that you need a friend to love
Pray in Jesus name believing
That God answers prayer
Have you told Him of your cares and woes
Every tiny little fear He knows
You can know He'll always hear and
He can know your thoughts
On a lofty mountain peak, He's there
In a shadow by the stream, He's there
Anywhere on earth you go
He's been there from the start
Find the answer in His word, it's true
You'll be strong because He walks with you
By His faithfulness He'll change you too
God answers prayer

I haven't sung that in ages; I can't believe I still know the words!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Philippians 4:6

Love In Christ;

*L

Praying and paddling

2006-09-11T21:04:00.000-04:00

I'm back from my camping trip! It was...interesting, to say the least! We left Friday morning and just as we got in the water these dark (almost black) clouds appeared in the horizon. About an hour later we were caught in the worst storm I've ever seen. It was raining so hard we couldn't even see ahead of us and had to paddle with our heads down. Since we're up in Northern Ontario, the shore was all rock cliffs and there was nowhere for us to pull the canoes off the water. Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, it started to hail and lighting came crashing down. We were stuck on the water for about ten more minutes until we could find a spot to pull up. Obviously everyone was really scared and I just paddled and prayed the whole time. It was just as we were getting out of our boats that I noticed another girl in the group (a friend of a friend who was invited to come along) was praying out loud. While we were waiting out the storm I had a nice long talk with her and I'm happy to say I've made a new Christian friend! We found out we actually have a class together this semester, so were going to work on projects together. The rest of the trip wasn't too bad; freezing cold, but nothing that a fire and a few marshmallows couldn't cure!
When I got back from the trip I found out for sure that I'm not coaching this year, so the job hunt continues. I've been praying like mad for something, however it's so great to know the Lord already has my future plans all mapped out!
After four days of canoeing and portaging, I'm exhausted, so it's bed time for Lauren! In closing, the one thing that I stuck out to me over the trip was just how majestic the scenery was. Mallory (the girl I met on the trip) reminded me of this verse:

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, and your right hand will hold me fast.
- Psalms 139:9-10

God bless-

*L

Answered prayers and camping!

2006-09-07T22:12:00.000-04:00

What an interesting day! God really does answer prayer. I went out for dinner last night with some friends and noticed that the restaurant (which is only a 10 minute walk from my house) is hiring. Then, when I went to buy a paper today, I noticed that the convenience store (on the same street I live on!) is hiring as well. Then, after class today, I picked up the student newspaper and noticed that they are hiring too! Three jobs, two within walking distance and one on campus! On Monday I'm going to sit down and apply for all three, so until then I'll be praying like crazy. I'm the most excited about the newspaper one because I'm thinking of going into journalism, so not only would it be a source of income, but an amazing experience as well!
The reason I'm waiting until Monday is because this week-end I'm going camping! It's was a last minute idea by one of my friends, and it should be fun, weather-permitting (it's supposed to rain!). I'm looking forward to camping because it hopefully will be a nice mini-vacation before school gets really busy.

In the past few days I have really seen God at work in my life, answering my prayers, so I have chosen this verse as the verse of the day:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who ask receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
-Matthew 7:7-8

In His Love;

*L

Christians and Pumpkins

2006-09-05T22:36:00.000-04:00

I got an e-mail forward today that I'd like to share with everyone!

A woman was asked by a co-worker, "what is it like to be a Christian?". The woman replied, "It is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in and washes all the dirt off of you. Then he cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, anger, harshness, greed, intolerance, impatience, selfishness, fear, pain, etc., and then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see and rejoice. A light containing the Fruits of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. (Galatians 5:22).

God bless;

*L

Jobs and Jeremiah 29:11

2006-09-04T22:53:00.000-04:00

I've alternated between praying and repeating Jeremiah 29:11 to myself all day. After a busy morning of organizing my apartment, I chatted to some people from the club I coached for last year. Apparently lower enrolment has made them considering downsizing, which leaves me with no job. Needless to say, this has been worrying me ever since I found out. I loved my coaching job, so I would be devastated if I didn't have it anymore. Plus, as a student...the income is much needed. I've been praying and praying and trusting in the Lord that this will work out. I know the Lord will watch over me and provide, but I know I'm going to worry until I find out the final decision.
That bad news totally overshadowed the rest of the fun I've been having. It's been really great to see everyone at school again. One more day until school though! My plans for my last day of freedom include...cleaning the bathroom, last minute changes to my class schedule, desperately trying to get ahold of my boss to see if I still have a boss, and (hopefully not) looking for a new job. Exciting day! I'm meeting my friend Val for coffee, so I have that to look forward to!
Sigh- just when I thought I had it all under control, I realize I'm nowhere near organized. "For I know the plans I have for you...."; what a reassurance!!

After lunch today I took some time out of my day to continue my readings, and I found one of my old favourites:

With man, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
- Matthew 19:26

Love In Christ-

*L

Lost, but now am found

2006-09-03T22:16:00.000-04:00

I'm back at school now! I've spent the past few days packing and moving back, so with a computer all packed up and no Internet access, I had no way of posting! I actually really missed it.
Friday was my designated "errand day". Between a trip to Tim Hortons, a haircut, seeing some friends, buying last minute things and having a big dinner with my family, I realized that at some point I'd lost one of my earrings. It wasn't a very valuable one, but I'd had the pair for so long that they had some sentimental value. I'm assuming I lost it when I was getting my hair cut, but so far nothing has turned up. I was sad about losing my earring, but I couldn't help but think of the song Amazing Grace. More specifically, " Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,That saved a wretch like me....I once was lost but now am found,Was blind, but now, I see". Instead of focusing on a lost earring, I should have been focusing and remembering that our Lord will always find us, no matter how lost we are! (I still hope the earring shows up though!).
I usually make "new school year" resolutions, as opposed to New Year's resolutions, and so today when I unpacked my Bible I went through to find some verses to help me out throughout the year and this year's resolutions, and I found this one:

The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness.
- 1 Samuel 26:33

It's been a hectic last few days, so I'm going to get to bed early and rest up for a big day of unpacking and organizing.
It's so reassuring to know that the Lord will always be there, and He will reward our faithfulness!

God bless;

*L

My Testimony- Part Two

2006-08-30T23:16:00.000-04:00

I left home to go to university. I graduated from grade twelve the year Ontario dropped grade thirteen, and since I have a fall birthday, I left home at the age of seventeen. This is so young to be all alone in a brand new city! My aunt knew an elder of a church in my new city, so she got in contact with him and he and his family would give me rides to church. Now, I need to backtrack a bit to link the two ideas. I’ve loved swimming since I was six years old and always found success in it. I moved through the ranks quickly, and by my last year of high school was good enough to be considered for varsity teams. I found a university that had the program I wanted, and a nationally-recognized varsity team. I was so thrilled that I could swim the practices and even beat out a few of the team vets. The day of my first practice I could hardly eat or focus on my classes because I was so nervous and excited. It may look good to be on a team who has a history of producing Olympic swimmers, but the view behind the scenes was interesting. The pressure of having to perform all week in practice and then drag your tired body through week-ends and week-ends of meets is exhausting, and people do crazy things to win. Our team initiation was brutal, and it got worse from there. I had never seen anything like this before- drug use, casual sex, gossiping, rumor-spreading, the list goes on. Somehow, this didn’t scare me away from the team, and I stuck with it and worked hard, and ended up really improving. On that team, the faster you got, the more you were hated, and the slower you got, the more people liked you. I found myself alienated very quickly, and by the end of the season I had only two friends, who both swam different events than me, so we had no real reason to view each other as the enemy. The pressure to win apparently got to some people, because there was definite use of illegal drugs, and abuse of legal ones. If an athlete tests positive for drugs, the entire team loses their accomplishments for the year, so it was a risky gamble for everyone involved.
Ok, here’s the link to my two points. Being on the team meant I was traveling on average three out of every four week-ends, which meant I could only go to the Sunday service once a month. Every Friday that I wasn’t on the road I went to the youth group as well, but I always had to leave early. Their youth group went really late, so I would leave in time to be in bed so I could go to the 5am swim practice. Fast forward to Easter of that year, where this particular elder and my grandmother found themselves at the same Easter Conference. My grandmother asked how I was doing, and this elder launched into a speech about how my attendance was erratic, my lack of enthusiasm to being a productive member of the church was shocking, and that I didn’t really seem in to going to church. He said this to my own grandmother! I definitely had a lot of explaining to do, and the story quickly spread through my whole family. I was beyond humiliated. I’m a big believer in the fact that there are two sides to every story, and it still makes me so angry that that elder didn’t once bother to ask me about my attendance or “lack of enthusiam” but just assumed that because I wasn’t there every Sunday that I didn’t care. I was young, alone, going under from the stress of school and swimming and I really needed a church, and I really felt that I was let down. I’ve never gone back to that church, and part of me felt like writing a letter, but my name is already mud there, so I don’t feel like making it worse. The Christian Fellowship on campus is strongly populated with people from that church, and they made it clear that I wasn’t welcome there either.
Once burnt, twice shy…it’s too bad they don’t have a saying about “twice burnt”. Maybe four times shy? Either way, I’d had it with church and being a Christian. My second year of university was uneventful. I went to class, swam a lot, studied a lot, and that was about it. God wasn’t a part of it at all, I don’t think I opened my Bible once and certainly never once talked about my beliefs. The one thing I never wavered on was my belief that there is a God and that he sent his Son to die for our sins. I had the beliefs, I just didn’t live the life of a believer. This is the part of many testimonies that would get really exciting, but mine doesn’t. Nothing really happened that year; I was just at a standstill. Not only was my walk as a Christian on hold, but I was still surrounded by the awful atmosphere of the team. Without my beliefs to hold me fast, and being in a "toxic environment" every day, I was well on my way to spiralling out of control.
Third year was better for me. A lot of my friends were in to clubbing and getting drunk and I wasn’t, so I ended up spending a lot of nights home alone. My two Christian friends didn’t really act the part. They were getting drunk all the time, failing classes, swearing, doing drugs. I found myself getting angry at them for being so stupid, and I had to admit to myself that I really didn’t fit in with the non-Christian crowd. The Lord was planting in my heart that I had to come back to Him, but I was reluctant. As the year went on, the feeling in my gut came harder and harder to ignore. I knew what the right thing to do was, it just took a few months to admit it freely. One night, after a particularly long day of dealing with friends, I opened my Bible and read a few passages. It took me a while, but I was finally back to where I knew I belonged.
Right now I feel as though I’ve more or less got my act together. I’ve got an amazing support group in my church, I’ve got a list of new churches to try out at school, and through my daily studies I’ve really grown in my walk with the Lord. I’m still searching for a group of Christian friends, but I trust in the Lord that that will happen. I’m still plagues though by the feeling that I’m a weak Christian. Why did I let the actions of other people affect my walk with Christ? I should have been stronger than that. As I get older, I want to feel myself wanting to have a stronger role in the church, and I’ve really been considering teaching at a Christian school. As the saying goes, God works in mysterious ways, so maybe I’m supposed to use my experiences to help others? Who knows (expect the Lord, of course!). The one thing I do know is that despite all the bad stuff that happened, I’m so glad that I ended up in the arms of our Creator!

So…that’s my testimony. It’s long, so I tried to edit as much as I could (hope I didn’t bore anyone!). My journey (at least, that’s what I consider it as) to living the life of a believer took a few detours, but only now am I realizing that it has a silver lining. It gave me a much better perspective to the life of someone who doesn’t believe in the Lord, and I’m sure the day will come when that will come in handy!

“For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life”
-John 3:16

My Testimony- Part One

2006-08-28T22:29:00.000-04:00

I have heard many testimonies. A few speakers have come to share their testimonies at church, and when I was younger and spent my summers at Bible Camp, there was always a night for people to voluntarily share their testimonies. These testimonies were always so interesting and never failed to include obstacles such as drug use, parents who opposed religion, homelessness, addiction…and the list continues. What I consider my obstacles to living a life for God are so small in comparison, so I would never share mine. People have asked me how I got saved, but I would always give the Reader’s Digest version until now.
I was lucky to have been born into a Christian family, and one that is well-known in my area. There was never any question to the fact that I would grow up with Christian values and morals. The summer right before grade two (I’m a fall baby, so I was still six) my church at the time decided to have a week-long camp. It was there that I heard the story of how God sent His son to earth to save us from our transgressions and that we had to let Him into our hearts. I remember thinking about it all week and that Friday feeling like I couldn’t wait any longer and I had to ask the Lord into my heart NOW. I sat in the field in front the church and prayed. I was so happy and I told my parents right away and wrote the date down in my Bible.
If only it were that simple. I wish the story would end there, but it doesn’t. I think a testimony ends when a person can say that not only did they ask the Lord into their hearts, but that they began to live the life of a born-again Christian. The next few years of my life were uneventful. I went to church every Sunday, went to AWANA every Thursday night, and spent the week memorizing my verses. I had some amazing Christian friends and everything was just peachy. In the days before religion was taken out of the schools, in grade four I brought in my AWANA book and vest and shared with the class what I believed.
The year I was twelve was the year I can pinpoint as the year I started to grow-up and stopped being a child. My paternal grandfather died at the end of grade seven and he wasn’t saved, and I can remember vividly my parents trying to explain to my sister and me why he wasn’t going to Heaven. Up until that point, I think I had naively assumed everyone I loved was joining me in Heaven. That had a big impact on me about the importance of sharing the love of our Lord. That same year, a new family joined our congregation, and I immediately became best friends with the daughter closest in age to me (who I shall refer to as “E”). E and I shared a love of horses, books (I think we read “Love Comes Softly” so many times the cover fell off) and, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ. We did EVERYTHING together and would even write letters to each other on the days we had to spend apart and sign them “your horse pal in Christ”. Looking back now, I realize that I was so concerned with my friendship, swim practice and horses that I was blissfully unaware of tensions rising in the church. E’s family had some very different views than what we were used to, and slowly they began to turn members of the chapel against one another. Long story short, there was a huge split in the church that resulted in half the members of the congregation leaving. My family was one of the ones that left. Since my family “sided against” E’s family, our friendship was over. I was too young at the time to really understand what was happening, but in hindsight, I can see that this was a fundamental moment for me. My family had a hard time finding a church we liked as much as our old one, so we sort of floated for a year. This left me with no solid church and no real fellowship at a time when I was getting ready to enter high school. High school is always such a big change, and having a solid Christian background is so essential for a Christian to manage to stay afloat. The split in my old church left me with a lot of bitterness towards the church, and I honestly thought that if Christianity involved back-stabbing, gossiping, tearing friendships apart and changing important beliefs, then I wanted none of it. I already got enough of that at school. I kept going to church because that was what was expected of me from my family, but my heart was completely out of it.
Things started to turn around when I was in grade eleven. My family finally found a permanent church, the one my mom grew up in and my grandmother still attended. We hadn’t originally considered it because it’s a fairly long drive from our house. My grandmother began to teach my sister and I, and I slowly started to warm up again to the idea of loving being a Christian and wanting to follow the Lord, and let Him lead my life. Not completely, but it was a start. The only negative side to our new church was that my sister and I were the only two around each other’s age. We’re three years apart, and I’m the older one, so it was really hard for me to find Christian friends. At this time, my only Christian friend was my best friend, Chelsea, but she didn’t go to the same church as me.

...Part Two to come soon!

Preventing "truth decay"

2006-08-28T20:15:00.000-04:00

Driving out to the barn today, I passed the church that has the big sign out in front (I wrote about one of them about a week ago). Today, the sign said: "Prevent truth decay and brush up on the Word of God". Haha- not an amazing pun, but it definitely made me laugh and it definitely is true!

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path
- Psalms 119:105

I've been such a procrastinator lately and haven't posted my (long ago) promised testimony! My plan for the night is to return all my phone calls before it gets too late, make a cup of tea, STOP PROCRASTINATING and get it done! It's really long, which worried me at first, but the more I wrote, the more I realized that when I became saved I really didn't become a committed Christian, and that makes for one long story! I'll try to keep it as concise as I can without taking out too many details.

May we all remember to prevent "truth decay"-

*L

Frank Outlaw and 2 Peter

2006-08-27T17:41:00.000-04:00

I always find it amazing how the Lord always knows what is in my heart. Today the reading during the hymns was from Matthew 8, the chapter I read last night! Then, the speaker referenced Ephesians 6 (so did last week’s speaker, which is kind of funny!). I just wrote a post this week about how I want my feet “fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” and the speaker today talked for a while on that exact section of the verse.
I’ve been feeling so overwhelmed lately about how much I still have to know and learn and that I’ve been such a distant Christian. I’ve been really praying about this lately and the Lord has definitely heard my prayers, because the message was about the importance of equipping ourselves with knowledge. Part of the message was that gaining knowledge takes time and we have the let the Lord direct our paths and trust Him to help us learn. It was such a fantastic message, and very reassuring. I had an amazing talk with the speaker afterwards too and he gave me some great passages to look up.
I absolutely love quotes, especially motivational ones, and I have a book where I write down all my favourites (I also have one for my verses) and I was reminded of one of my favourites today in church:

Watch your thoughts; they become your words. Watch your words; they become your actions. Watch your actions; they become your habits. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character for it will become your destiny.
- Frank Outlaw

I was reminded of this quote when we read from 2 Peter today, and this verse was read:

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
- 2 Peter 1:5-7

Even though these two quotes give different advice, I just love the way that they have similar styles, and that I can apply them both to my life.

Now that I’ve taken the time to sit back and recognize the blessings and direction that the Lord has given me and my life, I’m amazed at the way all my needs are met!

In His Love;

*L

Saying good-bye to summer!

2006-08-26T17:24:00.000-04:00

Last night was my last night of work at the centre. It was sad; I’m really going to miss everyone when I go back to school! To mark the end of another summer the entire staff went out last night for dinner. We are split up in different centers all around the city, so it was fun having everyone together again!
Tonight we’ve got company coming for dinner so my family has spent the day getting ready. I worked last night, then had the dinner (which went late into the evening) and now I’ve got to help get ready for supper, so I feel as though I’ve been neglecting my devotions.
This afternoon I took my cat to the vet. He was so bad! He hates it when he has to go though, and I really don’t blame him! He got a clean bill of health, except he might have a thyroid condition so we have to take him back for blood tests. Since he turned 10 this year, he’s now considered geriatric, which makes me sad- it feels like I just got him! The appointment before us ran late because the woman had to put down her cat so she was crying and it made me cry! This is exactly why I gave up on being a vet- I can’t handle pets dying. Blood, surgery…none of that bothers me; putting down a pet, I think I’d be crying harder than the owners!
For my daily verse, I’m going to return to Matthew (the book I’ve been studying):

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’”.
- Matthew 4:4

Definitely something to think about in the week to come!

Hope you all have a safe and fun-filled week-end-

*L

Apples and Post-Its

2006-08-24T23:26:00.000-04:00

A few years ago there was an e-mail forward that circulated around and found its way into my inbox. It was a story about how women are like apples. The basic idea of the story is that the best apples are at the top of the tree, and only the best men will patiently climb the tree to get to the best "apples", and the lazy ones will simply take the ones within reach. The goal behind the story was to make women feel better about themselves and not to feel badly about not having a man. (I tried to find a copy of the e-mail to post, but I can't find my copy!). I was thinking about this when I was at work. As luck would have it, one of the girls at work this summer was the girl my first boyfriend dated after me. She's absolutely GORGEOUS, and she intimidates me (I've always been really intimidated by women that guys oogle- silly isn't it?!?). I found out today that she's actually a model, and all I could think of was "oh great, your first boyfriend moved on to a model!". This was about five years ago, so I don't even think she's made the connection.
When Chelsea and I were out for breakfast, one of the things we discussed was the lack of support and resources for women our age (and maybe older too? I don't know; I've never really asked!) who are struggling in their relationship with the Lord. I know when I was a teen I really needed more than what was available. I've been searching in vain for a good devotional book. One of the things I've always to start was a youth group for teen girls to talk about a whole pile of issues and to get Christian direction on them.
These two thoughts led me to stray away from the book of Matthew for today's devotion and look into verses on women in the Bible. I found a verse that I wished I'd found and memorized when I was young:

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised"
- Proverbs 31:30

I'm writing this verse on a Post-It and sticking it to my mirror!

In His love;

*L

Buried in paperwork!

2006-08-23T23:31:00.000-04:00

It's funny how, in a world that relies so much on computers, we still have so much paperwork! Yesterday there was an incident in the centre and I ended up having to kick a kid out. He came back today with the intention of creating chaos, and definitely suceeded. I now have a ridiculous amount of forms to fill in (City policy!). Plus, I got some forms from the university in the mail, and I've got to fill out forms about my immunizations (one of my courses involves working in the physical therapy unit of the hospital, so we all have to be properly immunized). I'm sitting here looking at a very daunting pile of papers, and I'm not really sure where to start!
As a result of all the commotion at the centre, I ended up working a lot later than I was supposed to, so it looks like a late night for me. I was hoping to post more tonight, but I don't think I'll have time.
In my own private studies, I've been reading from Matthew. Today I studied chapter 6, and found a verse that definitely applies to me, especially after today!

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
- Matthew 6:34

How lucky we are to have the Lord to lean on in good times and bad!

*L

Pity party- table of one!

2006-08-22T20:48:00.000-04:00

Today got off to an interesting start. I slept in today, so around 10 I went to get the mail in my pj’s (the mailbox is right outside the front door). As I was grabbing the mail, out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walk past. The person stopped, and then I heard someone say “Lauren?”. “Oh no” was my only thought. It was a guy I went to elementary and high school with, and we’ve bumped in to each other a few times since then, but I haven’t seen him in a year. He was out walking his dog, and looked very good (he been working out!). Likes to be active? Check. Likes animals? Check. Nice and funny? Check. Christian? No really sure (all this engagement stuff has gone to my head!). I was IN MY PJ’S!!!! I was so embarrassed! He was really good about it though (I mean, we’ve went to school together for eight years, so I’m sure he’s seen me do my fair share of stupid things). I got his new number, so I’m hoping we can get together and catch up before I go back to school. I’m still embarrassed though; I can feel myself blushing as I think about it!
After reading over yesterday’s post, I realized that I sound like such a whiner! I felt worse when I was reminded about how some people have no choice but to scavenge in dumpsters (there was an entry on David Fisher’s blog on this topic). Sigh- hasn’t that ever happened to anyone? When you feel like everything is falling apart and then you realize just how lucky you really have it?
I categorize my favourite verses in a book my grandmother gave me, so I think I’m going to start a new category and call it “pity party”, and include my verse for today:

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
- Matthew 10:29-31

Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, instead of posting another whiny post, I’ll re-read this verse and remember that the Lord loves me, so much that he knows the number of hairs on my head!

In His Love-

*L

The pleasantness of friends

2006-08-21T22:40:00.000-04:00

Friends truly are a blessing! Breakfast (which ended around 1, so I guess it can’t really be limited to just breakfast) was more than a success!
I’m the first person to admit that I am not the perfect Christian; I’m human, I falter, and I sin. I freely admit to that. But thinking it in my head and actually saying it out loud are two VERY different things. Today was the first chance for me in a while to just let it all out and know that the person sitting across from me may disagree but never judge. I got so much off my chest, and was so relieved to hear that my best friend felt the same and was in the same place! As I get older and older, I really realize the importance of fellowship more and more.
As for the rest of the day, I just don’t even know where to begin. When I’m at school and I’m feeling overwhelmed, my own personal coping mechanism is just to wrap myself on my fleece blanket and lie on my bed for five minutes and think of nothing (preferable while cuddling with a cat!). Today would qualify as a “fleece blanket day”. The co-worker (previously referred to as CW) was going through all the stuff being thrown out by the teachers (our centre is based in a school) and stumbled across a child’s prayer book. Obviously religious material is no longer allowed in schools, which is how the book found its way into the trash. Then came the hour long rant from CW about how stupid everything was, and mocking it insistently, all the while knowing he was in the presence of a Christian. I’m so bad at confrontations so I did my best to stop it, but I really hate the way that I couldn’t take this amazing stand and be able to deflect all the comments. I just felt like I was standing there repeating the same things over and over. I don’t think I would have listened to me if I were in his place. I need my fleece blanket! Why oh why did I leave it at school?
I guess my mantra for the day will be “focus on the good”; I had a great five hour (yes, we like to talk!) breakfast with Chelsea, and I managed to speak up somewhat about my beliefs, which is a big step for me. But still, it’s frustrating.

THANKS CHELSEA for the love and support today…my daily verse goes out to you!

Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.
- Proverbs 27:9

God bless-

*L

designer belts vs. belts of truth

2006-08-20T22:57:00.000-04:00

Yet another Lord's day comes to an end. It's so hard to believe that the summer is coming to a close!
Today in church the speaker made a joke about how he was in such a rush this morning that he had forgotten to put on a belt, but that he was happy he was always wearing his belt of truth. That statement popped back into my head as I put away my clean laundry and sorted my clothes. I suppose I'm what some may call a "fashion freak"- I absolutely love it. It's my amateur passion. I'm embarrassed to admit that I recently saw "The Devil Wears Prada" and was able to identify all the clothes and their designers. My passion for clothes definitely balance out my passion for sports, and keep me from being labelled a tomboy (although I'm thinking the pj's I wear to a 5am practice aren't going to be sweeping the runways anytime soon!). My biggest weakness are shoes, and many will argue that I have a few too many pairs. My feet will (hopefully!) always be fitted with shoes, but will they always be "fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace"? I know that nothing is for sure, but by the grace of God I'm hoping so. Wearing the belt of truth will always be better than wearing any belt that I could find in a store.
This afternoon I sat down and began to write out my testimony, and it's taking much longer than I anticipated. I always thought my testimony was pretty short and sweet (and slightly boring), but it turns out it's longer than I originally thought! Tomorrow morning I have a breakfast date with Chelsea, and then I work until late, but hopefully it will be done in a day or two so I can post it.

Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- Ephesians 6:13-17

May we all remember to wear our belts of truth-

*L

Countdown to classes!

2006-08-19T22:16:00.000-04:00

Well, the chaos before classes has officially begun! I got an e-mail from the school saying that one of my classes (one of the mandatory ones, of course) has been moved to a new time, which interferes with an elective. All of the other electives which I can take require me to switch around even more classes. It's a vicious never-ending circle! I'm going to make this short, so I can switch around some more classes before my Internet connection dies again. (Of course, it would have to happen at a crucial time of the year).
The basketball tournament was an over-all success. Our centre entered two teams, and they each won one game and lost another. A few kids have some issues with anger and self-control (one kid actually tried to set the building on fire and another was kicked out last year for stabbing someone- no joke, these families need our prayers), and I was very proud of them for handling both their victories and defeats very well. We took them out for a treat afterwards, which was almost as fun as the tournament itself! Diane came to cheer our teams on, and I took her to get her face painted. A good friend of mine works at another centre in the area and her centre entered a team. We had a few minutes alone, so it was good to catch up with her.
On another positive note, my best friend has come back from her trip, so we have a breakfast date on Monday. We both have so much to talk about, and we both are in big need of each other's support, so I'm actually looking forward to Monday!
Well, I'm off to work on the disaster that is my class schedule, but hopefully with any luck I'll be able to post something of actual substance later tonight.
Since I mentioned before that my devotions don't usual involve my three "favourite" books, I decided to spend some time reading through them today, and I found yet another "green" verse that I love:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
- Proverbs 3:5-6

In Christ;

*L

Psalms, Proverbs and Isaiah

2006-08-18T00:13:00.000-04:00

Finally, I managed to get on to the Internet! Are computers really supposed to make our lives easier? Tonight, the Internet kept going up and down, and then sites wouldn't load...and then I just got so frustrated that I walked away, which I why I'm posting so late! I'm assuming that since it's just after midnight that this will show Friday's date, but I'm considering this Thursday's post. Speaking of computers, apparently there is a re-call on my laptop because people have been reporting that the battery will randomly go up in flames. It reminded me of the story from the Bible of the burning bush. One minute you're typing away, or walking past a bush, and the next minute it's up in flames! Although I suppose I can't classify my burning laptop as a religious experience of any sort!
I was flipping through my Bible today, and I couldn't help but take note of the fact that it appears most of my favourite verses fall in three books: Psalms, Proverbs and Isaiah. I've really been relying on verses from these books lately, and I find myself quoting them in my head. I guess it's natural to have parts of the Bible which apply more to you than others. I hesitate to say that the verses in these three books are more "important", because every word in the Lord's Word is important. I have verses underlined in green (for those who missed that post: all my favourites are in green) throughout the Bible, so I'm not limiting myself to a studying just a small section. In fact, my devotions don't take me to those three books very often. When I was younger, I loved hearing stories from the New Testament, which we studied from a lot in Sunday School. Now that I'm getting older, and in a place in my life where people constantly question my beliefs and I'm struggling to keep a stand, verses of encouragement are always a relief to read. Has anyone else ever felt pulled to a certain section of the Bible, or a book in particular? I have no clue if I'm unique in this or not!
The basketball tournament is tomorrow, so I'm praying like crazy it goes well. The kids were practicing all night tonight!

For my daily verse, I read over a lot of my highlighted verses from the three books, and I've picked this one:

He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
- Psalms 62:6

God bless;

*L

A spinster at 21?!?!

2006-08-17T00:06:00.000-04:00

The past 48 hours have been crazy! Work has been good, but hectic. We're taking the kids to a basketball tournament on Friday, so I'm praying that that goes well. For the past two mornings before work, I've been researching schools for after I graduate from my undergrad, and a few look promising. Some ever have a strong Christian Fellowship, which I'm starting to realize in going to be very important.
Lately, a lot of my friends have been getting married. Every single person in my old youth group at school (long story!) is married, and they're all my age, some even younger. Sunday at church there was a special speaker, so members from other congregations in the area came, and a lot of the girls I went to Bible Camp with when I was young were there- all married or engaged. The whole day I heard "I'm so-and-so, and this is my husband/fiance Bob". I'm thinking in my head "I'm Lauren, and ... it's just me!". Don't get me wrong, I'm happy they're happy and married to great guys. It's just slighty depressing that at 21 I'm already a "spinster" (it's a good thing I like cats!). All the good guys are being snatched up! Ok, I just realized I sound really superficial and flighty worrying about this. It's just an observation! My best friend and I were talking about this tonight, and about how few Christian guys there are, and apparently they're all married! Is it so hard to find a Christian guy, preferably one who likes sports, animals and is funny? I usually don't obsess about things like this; I mean, yes I want to get married, but I'm only almost 21 (one more month!), so by the time I graduate and get a career started, I'm going to be left with the weird old guy that sits in the back pew. Haha, I'll be Mrs. Backpew. Now that I've made myself sound really needy (none of us are perfect), I'll just say that getting married is something that I, like every other little girl, wanted, so it just made me a little sad that I'm kind of being left in the dust in that area.
Now, a more serious note, and a cute story. One of the girls (Diane) at the centre is having a hard time making friends with the other girls, so I try to hang out with her as much as I can. I never talk about my faith at work unless I'm asked because I feel that work is the place to live by example, and because there are so many kids from different backgrounds there. Diane and I were making a village out of sand in the playground today, and out of nowhere she looked at me and said "you know Lauren, I don't believe in God". I treaded VERY carefully on this topic, and after a while we just sort of switched subjects. By the time we finished our village, the sun was going down and she watched the sunset and then said "although the sky is very pretty right now, so it would be nice to know it was God doing that for us". (On side note, it made me smile when I saw the pictures of sunsets on David Fisher's blog, and then again on Terry's!) Amen to that! If only we could see the world through the eyes of a child once in a while.

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
- Isaiah 40:31

God bless-

*L

It's called doing the RIGHT thing for a reason!

2006-08-14T23:47:00.000-04:00

Was it Mark Twain who said that you can live off a compliment for a month? A month seems like a long time, but today I got a compliment that should keep me smiling for a few days at least. I work at a youth drop-in centre for children from low-income households, and part of our job description includes being a role model and a positive influence in the community (that fact was said over and over at our job trainings!). My co-worker and I have very different views on what this means, which has become evident over the past two weeks. A TV was donated to our centre, so from time to time we let the kids watch a movie or play Nintendo. My co-worker (I'll refer to him as CW!) brought in South Park two weeks ago for them to watch. I, up until that point, had never seen it, although I had heard some kids when I was in high school quoting it, and it sounded stupid. CW reassured me that it was all fine and dandy, and he put it on. About five minuted into it, I was beyond offended. The show was full of racial slurs, derogatory terms, insults to women, and (this is when they took it WAY too far), they made jokes about Christopher Reeve and Michael Jackson/child abuse. I turned it off, and my first fight with CW started up. I believe that this isn't just a Christian vs. non-Christian disagreement, but just common sense! Jokes about any of the before mentioned topics are not appropriate anywhere, at any time, especially at a youth centre filled with 10-13 year olds! CW kept trying to put it on, and I keep turning it off. I tried to have logical talks with him about it, but when I was getting nowhere I talked to my boss. She completely agreed with me and was happy I told her, and I am happy to report that there has been no more South Park at our centre!
So, today we each had a meeting with our boss and the co-ordinators to discuss our most recent employee evaluation. In my comments: "you are a responsible, mature leader, and your judgment skills are an asset to the kids and the community". Now, I hate people who brag, so I wasn't even going to talk about this at all, but I changed my mind because I think I deserve to be happy about this! I took a stand for what is right, which is something I've always struggled with, and it paid off! YEAH:) I've been praying about this my whole life, and the Lord truly does answer prayer. In the grand scheme of things this is small, but everyone has to start somewhere. It is such a great reassurance to know that the Lord is watching over and guiding me as I try to figure it all out.

In keeping with the theme of doing what is right, my daily verse is:

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love and in purity.
- 1 Timothy 4:12

In all the times I've been to a youth group (whether at my own in high school or visiting a friend's) I've never heard anyone speak on this verse, but I think it's so important for all of us, even those who don't qualify as "young" anymore!

On a completely un-related note, my cat has decided that there is no better place in the world to scratch than my mom's couch. The poor guy is now banished to the basement when no one is home. Poor little guy. Anyone know how to break this habit? He has his own scratching post, and more toys than a spoiled child. I go back to school in a few weeks, and I'll feel even more guilty than I usually do leaving him if I know he's spending his days in the basement.

In Christ;

*L

No eye has seen, no ear has heard

2006-08-13T21:52:00.000-04:00

Today, as it is Sunday, was a church day. The message today was on being united as believers, and the importance of fellowship. I truly believe that the best earthly support system for a Christian comes from friends. I know I am very lucky to have been blessed with a best friend who is a solid Christian. Together we have had many amazing talks, and I have really felt our relationship with each other grow through Christ, and our respective relationships with Christ have also grown. I know that one of my biggest hurdles at school is a lack of a solid group of Christians. In my first year I made friends with some girls who claimed to be Christians, but one got trapped up in the boozing world that is "residence life" and the other one is what I refer to as a "Sunday Christian". Monday through Saturday she acts very much like a non-believer, yet every Sunday is in the church right beside me. During a lunch together last year, I tried to tip-toe around the subject of her behaviour, to which she replied "I know, but that's the great thing about going to church- I feel so much better about all that when I leave. It's like I've been forgiven". God blesses us with many people in our lives who are willing to help us with our relationship with Christ, and there are days when I get very discouraged that I have an apparent lack. I believe that God will provide, and that He knows what is in my heart, so I have faith. I ask for prayers for my best friend (Chelsea), for my two friends at school, and for myself.

Also today, as I flipped through my Bible, I noticed an awful lot of green! Black and red are the standard colours of a Bible, so I'm sure many of you may be wondering what green is doing in there! I'm for sure a Type A person, so I love to colour-coordinate everything. A few years back I decided that every verse that I read that impacted me, or truly spoke to me, would be highlighted or underlined in green. I read over a few "green verses" while I waited for the meeting to start, and I found one that I think I'll make my verse for the day:

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him".
- 1 Corinthians 2:9

I picked this verse today because it was welcome thing to read after all my worries about staying a strong Christian, especially in environments that I find myself in that are not very supportive of my choice.

May you all have a safe week, and remember that God has great plans for all of us who love Him!

In Christ;

*L

Handing over the reins

2006-08-12T21:25:00.000-04:00

Today was actually interesting. My day started out with a trip out to visit the horses I'm taking care of this summer. As a side note, I was upset over the fact that I couldn't afford to ride this summer (anyone who knows the sport will be able to tell you it's a no-go on a student budget!) until a friend of a friend knew someone who was looking for someone knowledgable to look after and help train her horses (and one pony!). The best part? It was for free! Yet another example of how the Lord provides. Anyways, back to the point. I usually don't read a lot of signs while I drive, but today as I drove through the small town the barn is located in, I found myself glancing at the occasional sign. The one outside the church read "Hand over the reins, because God reigns". I laughed, because it was a pun involving riding, which I was on my way to do. Once I was out riding though, my mind wandered back to this statement, and I realized that it is indeed very true (and can even be applied to both Jeremiah 29:11 and the story about me being upset over horses). We need to stop trying to control our lives and give God the ultimate control. After all, life is much better if we let God in and give our lives over to Him.
I got an e-mail today from my best friend, who's been having a hard time with her boyfriend. She recently decided that they should break up, and long story short, he's not in agreement with her decision. My best friend is the nicest person I know, and one of the strongest Christians, and so I know this has been hard on her. She has asked for my prayers for her situation. In an attempt to help encourage her, I looked through my Bible and found a verse that I really love, and I think I'll end with it today!

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble".
- Psalm 46:1

I know that the Lord is my refuge and my strength, and I will happily hands the reins over to Him!

God bless-

*L

My intro!

2006-08-11T19:42:00.000-04:00

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future' ".
- Jeremiah 29:11, NIV

For a long time in my life, I wandered, constantly questioning my beliefs and who I was. Luckily, one day I stumbled across this verse. Although, I guess if I look back now, it wasn't luck, but the grace of our Lord that led me to this verse. Knowing that the Lord has a plan for my life has been a reassurance of enormous proportions, and it is my hope that all of you will know this too. For everyone out there, I suggest posting this verse up somewhere as a daily reminder that we are in the safe, caring hands of our Creator.

God bless-

*L