Somebody's been messin' with the stone!!

I wish I was clever enough to be able to claim the above title as my own, but alas, I had to *borrow* it from a friend. She is clever enough to claim it as her own.

I finally went home for Easter. I haven't celebrated the resurrection Manitoulin-style since I left for University four years ago. That's a lot of time to miss the Island. And, of course, it's not the same as when we were kids because, quite frankly, none of us are kids anymore. But it was wonderful to decorate eggs, go to an Easter-themed church service, have a big dinner with the whole family and the grandparents, and wake up the next day to eat the previously-decorated eggs (well, we blew them out so we didn't actually have to wreck our lovely creations...).

Dave even got to decorate his first eggs. I'm a little disappointed that he didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of us did, but perhaps the nostalgia was lost in the never-having-decorated-them-as-kids...

We couldn't dress my little sister up as a bunny, nor did we hunt for eggs, but it was family. Lots of family.

I know this isn't the typical Easter passage, but I feel as if it's appropriate as a post-Easter passage. You know, after He has risen and you're trying to make sense of everything...

"Romans 12

A Living Sacrifice

¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Humble Service in the Body of Christ

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your^[a] faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,^[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Love in Action

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.^[c] Do not be conceited.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[d] says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”^[e]

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

On praying when things get rough.

Sometimes I don't know how to pray. I mean, I try, but the words won't come out. Or if they do, they aren't the right ones or are only half-hearted, or don't actually make that much sense. I find this is usually the case when I'm praying for something hard. Well, especially when I'm still in denial and having a hard time accepting it.

I don't particularly enjoy when my faith gets tested, and when someone basically tells me to either shrink down to stand behind my beliefs, no matter the cost. Quite frankly, I find it unnerving, scary even.

I've been thinking a lot about why I feel I don't fit in, why I feel like I'm at a crossroads between two places, and I'm one of the few who meets in the middle. But I realized, at the heart of any cross (whether it be a road, an X or a t), Christ is right in the middle. I don't feel as if we're young enough to belong to 'youth group' types, yet not mature enough to belong to the married club. I just don't quite fit. So I guess I'd better just keep digging right in the middle of that cross, deeper into Jesus.

It's amazing just how relevant the Bible really is. I opened to one book and found no less than five messages I needed to hear. And it wasn't as if I was searching high and low for them. They just... found me. When I needed them the most. But that's the way God works, he lets you find Him when you need Him most. Or, He just picks you up and carries you through it.

I don't love Justin Bieber. But I'm learning to respect him. Because of this. http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=76LGD7NX

My baby is waiting...

Remember yesterday's post about blogging and I being sometimes friends? Today we are friends.

Adoption is something that is huge in my heart. The joke in our families is that Dave and I will have a 'colourful brood' of children. I take personally the verse that says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:27) To my knowledge, noone in my family has been adopted, or has adopted a child. However, I still understand what it feels like to be adopted. While I am fortunate enough to still have both my parents, I have a a Godly father that has adopted me, no questions asked.

Social media and I have a troubled relationship. We are also sometimes friends, but more in the sense that we tolerate eachother. Today, we have been brought a little bit closer.

I happened to stumble across an organization called 147 Million Orphans. Because adoption is so deep in my heart, I felt called to check it out.

Here's a link to a couple videos: One by Third Day and the other about the organization.

http://www.147millionorphans.com/video_ep_42-1.html

I've spoken before about my feelings of longing for a child of my own- even if they really are only on loan from God. I'm not entirely sure why God has rooted adoption so deeply in my heart, but perhaps it has something to do with a beautiful little girl I babysat who was orginally from Haiti.

I don't know what God has planned, but I know whatever it is He'll make it happen. I tend to worry about money and timing and location, ect. etc. ect. I just have to keep trusting.

Sometimes Friends

Blogging and I are sometimes-friends. You know, the people you're only friends with when you actually see/talk to/ hear about them, and every other time they kind of fade into the background of your day?

That's the kind of relationship blogs and I have. I read them when I think of it, and write them when I feel like it. But it works. Blogging isn't a demanding friend.

We are the World

I woke up with the song 'We are the World' playing in my head. I didn't hear it anywhere, I just woke up with it. I played it first thing when I got to class this morning, and when my teacher questioned why I'd be playing a song like the above, I told him he shouldn't be that suprised that I would wake up with a song about changing the world. He told me he questions people who do public things like this, mainly because he questions where their hearts actually are. And it's so true. Last night at Bible study we debated over things that keep us from God, and what especially keeps us from sabbath. One of the things we discussed was finding joy in miracles- we tend to disbelieve them if it happens outside our 'rules.' On another note: here's some scary news about students and their dependance on technology. http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/04/06/technology-addiction-students.html http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=social+media+revolution+2&aq=1

I am praying for this child, and the Lord, one day, will grant me what I ask of Him.

I want a baby. A child of my own, one that isn't a niece or a nephew or a friend's child, but one that calls me mom and Dave dad. Every time someone else announces they're pregnant a little part of me breaks. I know it's not time, I know we shouldn't, but there's that desire there, and it's such a longing sometimes I wonder. I want little things, and a warm squishy body to wake me, and the first 'mama!' and finger-painted pictures on my fridge and to play in the mud without looking silly, and to not have everyone ask, 'when are you having a baby?' The Lord's timing is right, and perfect, and will coincide with 'my timing' (if that even exists) at one point.

To bide my time I write letters to our not-yet daughter. One day she'll read them. For now, I'll spoil my nieces and nephews with kisses and hugs and play dates and more laughter than either one of us know what to do with.

Encouragement Two Weeks Later

Religion is spelled: D-O

A Relationship with God is spelled: D-O-N-E From Brooke Premo at http://playing-grown-up.blogspot.com/