She needs you now...but you don't seem to have the time

It's seems as of late that God has given me a glimpse of "the real world". This past week my "bible school bubble" was seriously popped! I sat in between 2 men on the skytrain who were verbally abusing and threatening an innocent man for simply "looking at them". Their words were....degrading, scarring.....appalling. The anger they hurled them with was senseless, but in their eyes completely justified. My heart was racing and all I wanted was to be back on my safe, comfortable, and kind bible college campus. How pathetic. I sat there completely mortified, shocked and heart broken at how easily these 2 men ripped this other man, who had done nothing wrong, to pieces. I wanted to scream "can't we just be nice to each other, is that too much to ask?!"

We live in a world that is overrun by evil and sin and where kindness is getting rarer and rarer. Everyone has a story, a hardship, wounds that haven't fully healed and mistakes they wish they hadn't made. No matter how big or small, rich or poor, addicted or sober, black or white, healthy or sick, old or young...every single person has value and was created in the image of Jesus Christ.  We need to love one another, encourage one another, care for one another, take time to get to know one another and we need to be nice to one another. That seems so cheesy and juvenile, but it's so important, especially for those who call themselves a Christian.


This week take time to encourage the people you usually pass over, get to know someone for the sole purpose of getting to know them, and for goodness sake be nice to everyone you meet! It's so rare and you just never know how God will use it! 

How 21kms changed my life.

It's 7:30pm and I am not the same person I was when I got up 13 hours ago, let alone when I began training 12 weeks ago. I signed up for a Marathon that was way over my head. I am not a runner, I barely like to walk very far, but when this request came up in my Facebook events, God gripped my heart and dared me to do it. What started out as a fundraiser for women in Uganda quickly became a test of commitment, endurance and obedience. I can list countless resolutions and endeavours that I've started out strong on and in the end they just fizzled away and were left unachieved. This was my chance to change my own history and at the same time transform the lives of women across the globe. 

I woke up this morning determined to run for those who couldn't run for themselves. Those whom no one was standing up for, those who had been abused, rejected, disrespected, violated and are daily living with the consequences of other people's actions. They have suffered a lifetime, the least I could do was suffer for a day.

The Marathon was gruelling and I wanted to give up so many times, but I just kept putting one foot, slowly, in front of the other and eventually that led to the finish line. 

I finished a 21km marathon - thats huge! But the best part of it was that with each step I broke every lie that the enemy has ever told me like "you can't do this", "you will never achieve what you set your mind too", "you always give up", and "your dreams are too big".  This day will forever remain etched in my mind as the day I believed in myself and through Christ's strength accomplished what, to me, was the impossible.  Nothing is too big for God to accomplish through His children and I am so excited that I am finally understanding that!

What is your dream? What is holding you back from accomplishing the impossible? When is the last time you set your heart on a task that was way beyond you and would take divine intervention to complete? 

Don't let lies hold you back! In the hands & will of your Saviour you are capable of far more than you can imagine. I firmly believe that God has destined each one of us for greatness and its just a matter of us being willing and open to whatever he puts in our paths! 

Before I sign off I want to give a huge shout out to my friend Joryli who was my running partner today. She is such an incredible woman of God who is full of encouragement, strength and such a sweet sweet spirit. She could've finished the marathon way ahead of time but instead she stuck it out with me and saw me through to the end.  She is such an amazing friend and I am so thankful for her!

Heres to many more "impossibles" being conquered.

Wake on up from your slumber, baby, open up your eyes.

It's the first big rainfall of the end of summer/ beginning of fall season and I kind of like it. I mean I don't appreciate arriving at school completely soggy but theres something about the rain that brings calm to the craziness of life. It's as if life slows down and suddenly theres no need to rush around. When the sun is out there are so many things to do and places to go, but when the rain comes we usually just want to stay inside and read a book while curled up in an oversized blanket. The rain gives me time to think, spend quality time with the Lord and thus my spirit and heart are refreshed.

I need to slow down, I need to reassess my priorities, what is truly important in this season of life, and I most definitely need to place God back into the centre of it all.

I need to be less, He needs to be more....this life is not about me - none of this is about me..

This season is different and stretching but at the same time it's not as hard as I thought it would be. This is a good place to be, for now.

It's not about me, it's not about me, it's not about me.

Upon September's arrival, I quickly realized that a new season was upon me. I've transitioned from season to season many times but something about this one is different. I have been graciously given new responsibilities that come with a lot of unknowns and I am required  to stretch past who I am and step up into a place I've never been.  Deep down, I love this.  Moving forward, taking territory and completing tasks that seem impossible is ingrained in the very fibre of my being. I love walking into a new opportunity totally scared, because it leaves me depending solely upon Christ. But for some reason this season hit me like a ton of bricks and has left me in a pile of panic, anxiety and unrest.

Things are starting to become lighter as I learn to take it day by day, and I am thankful to have friends who speak into my life at the perfect times, reminding me of God's truths.
A few days ago I read an article by Christine Caine and it perfectly describes where I am at and is exactly what I needed to hear. Here is an excerpt from it:

"I have found that each new endeavor and initiative I undertake requires me to stretch further than I ever have before, in order to grow into a place that I have never been before.
Stretching is often painful until it becomes normal and comfortable. It is a process and requires initial levels of extreme discomfort. But I have found if I simply persevere, breathe through the pain, and trust God, that the circumstances I am faced with help me to become who I need to be in order to do what I have been called to do; I invariably come through the other side enlarged and able.Changing the world requires from us more than where we are right now. We have to remember that as we embrace the stretch, we cannot snap. The goal is to increase in increments, take the next step, and get comfortable with that stretch...and then take the next one."

Here we go.