Today...

Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts. A person is the product of his thoughts. I want to be happy and hopeful. Therefore, I will have thoughts that are happy and hopeful. I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances. I will avoid negativism and gossip. Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark. Today I will make a difference.

I will be grateful for the twenty-four hours that are before me. Time is a precious commodity. I refuse to allow what little time I have to be contaminated by self-pity, anxiety, or boredom. I will face this day with the joy of a child and the courage of a giant. I will drink each minute as though it is my last. When tomorrow comes, today will be gone forever. While it is here, I will use it for loving and giving. Today I will make a difference.

I will not let past failures haunt me. Even though my life is scarred with mistakes, I refuse to rummage through my trash heap of failures. I will admit them. I will correct them. I will press on. Victoriously. No failure is fatal. It’s OK to stumble… . I will get up. It’s OK to fail… . I will rise again. Today I will make a difference.

I will spend time with those I love. My spouse, my children, my family. A man can own the world but be poor for the lack of love. A man can own nothing and yet be wealthy in relationships. Today I will spend at least five minutes with the significant people in my world. Five quality minutes of talking or hugging or thanking or listening. Five undiluted minutes with my family and friends.
Today I will make a difference.

--Max Lucado: 'Shaped By God'

I have blessed with a network of close friends. I don't think I can overestimate the importance and significance of having people whom you can trust and depend upon night or day, rain or shine. It's like being in the midst of a battle and knowing you are flanked on the sides by support and encouragement. They uphold you in prayer and provide a refuge. May I never take them for granted and always thank God for them. Today I will tell them the difference they have made in my life.

The Antidote

"...I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?" --Tom Hanks in 'Castaway'

I attended the funeral of my Grandmother today. She was 90 years old. We had to bury her next to my sister. There was something not right about a 90 year old and 29 year old being buried next to each other. I loved my Grandmother but she had a lived a good, long life. It was actually called a "Service of Celebration" and it was. The hardest part was visiting Angela...Of all that has happened in my life, that is something I will never understand; The Bible says "O death where is your sting?" It is still there. As Christians, we still get stung, the only difference is that we have the antidote in Jesus Christ. But for a season, the sting hurts and it swells up and feels painful. We're just waiting for the antidote. We don't know when we'll get it, but we know we'll survive; we just have to wait in faith.

There's a city prepared, o'er the valley of death
And its glories may never be told
There the sun never sets and the leaves never fade
In that beautiful city of gold.

There the King our Redeemer, the Lord whom we love
All the faithful with rapture behold
There the righteous forever shine like the stars
In that beautiful city of gold.

Prayer of Obedience

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road through I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

--Thomas Merton: Thoughts in Solitude

You don't lose, if you don't quit

I went for a walk this morning on a trail, I used to go on as a child. I would often find a secluded place and sit for hours just talking with God and telling Him about my day and how I was doing. As I got older, the trips got shorter and eventually stopped. Since coming home a month ago, I have found myself making those trips again and it seems I look forward to them more every morning. Sometimes, I lose track of time and hours will pass, other times I cannot seem to focus on God or find the right words to express myself. Regardless, I always sense He is glad I came. I thank Him for those quiet times when peace that is past all understanding encompasses me and He gives me the strength for another day.

"In the world you'll have trouble. But cheer up! I have overcome the world." -John 16:33

Lord, I don't know where all this is going
Or how it all works out
Lead me to peace that is past understanding
A peace beyond all doubt

You are the God of tomorrow
Turning the darkness to dawn
Lifting the hopeless with hope to go on
You are the rock of all salvation

Oh, Lord, you are the author
Redeeming what's been done
You hold us in the present
And all that is to come

-Lord (I Don't Know) ~ Newsboys

Praise Him

In this time,
I know I need to be more broken
Then I find, I feel this passion grow
To face all that’s been lost
It’s not too late to give control now
I don’t know why I wait
You’re always calling me

Tonight, I will take my cross
Tonight, I will count this cost
Tonight, I will realize to take hold of this very moment

In this time, you draw me by these words You’ve spoken
I feel inside, this never-ending hope
I’ve placed all that I trust in knowing one day I will see You
The only thing worth holding onto is holding onto me

I will take this moment, and feel that it’s closer
And I kneel to show You this desperate heart of mine

-Jeremy Camp: Tonight

For someone as musically inept as myself, music has played a major role in who I am. Whether it's listening to a CD like above and praying the words or being in a concert hall listening to the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. There is something about the essence of music which taps into my soul. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, the Bible mentions music quite often as a means of worshipping God and entering into His presence. I guess I should be thankful that He allows even the musically-challenged to appreciate the wonder of music!

No Wasted Days

CBC is going to be airing an show called "No Opportunity Wasted" later on this year. Regardless of what the show is about, the name itself caught my attention. How many opportunities have I wasted in sharing my faith and reaching out to someone in need? We seem to treat days as a cheap commodity. Depending on our mood and circumstances, we often waste the day because it is either boring or uneventful. My Dad always used to say, "nothing is boring, there are only boring people."

Charles Swindoll in his book 'The Strength of Character' writes:

"When life seems like a jungle of difficulties and disappointments, when times are hard and people are demanding, never forget that life is special. All of life. The pleasurable days as well as the painful ones. The Wednesdays as well as the weekends. The holidays as well as the days after. Every single day is a special day..."

Even when we have 'one of those days' we must never consider it a lost day. God has placed something or someone in that day which will bring glory to Him. I guess a lot of times, we have tunnel vision and can only see what is directy in front of us. Hence, we miss out on opportunites all around us. I pray He would remove my blinders and enable me to see all that any given day has in store.

-Not one fleeting moment of life goes by without God's knowing exactly where we are, what we're doing, and how we're feeling.

Memories

I found these pictures on my computer when I was cleaning it up. I didn't know I had them. A picture certainly does capture a moment in time. These were taken in Salmonier Nature Park just a couple months before Angela's tragic accident. None of us knew than it would be the last trip we'd take together. Looking at pictures from the past and seeing the joy & contentment, you wonder if you'll ever recapture it. When moments when you were on top of the world suddenly come crashing down, you wonder when it will end and if you'll ever be the same again. The truth is, you won't. The past is now part of your story and is forever etched in your timeline. So where do we go?

In 1 Corinthians 15:19, Paul saids "if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." Basically, If Christ's resurrection is a hoax than we are wasting our time; I am wasting my time right now writing this.

Scientist & mathematician Blaise Pascal offered up this little 'proof' while struggling with faith. "Faith is a cosmic wager. You face uncertainty either way. If you cast your lot with God and are proved wrong, you forgo certain pleasures and selfish rewards in this life and then, at death, fade into nothingness. On the other hand, if you choose against God and are proved wrong, you face an eternity of regret." After weighing the odds, Pascal decided it was better in every way to believe in something that isn't than to disbelieve in something that is.

If this life is all there is, than I may never be restored. I will carry with me the pain & sorrow and accept it as part of my story which give or take will last 70-80 years. But when I look at thse pictures, I see as Paul did a poor reflection as in a mirror of better things to come. When moments of contentment will be moments no more but rather eternity.

I cannot no more deny the existance of God & Christ's resurrection than I can deny my own existance. Whatever trials I face may not be fair or just in any way but if I will allow God to use them to develop my character and draw me closer to Him; I will surely be able to say when my story ends and I see Him that He indeed does all things good in His time.

Back from Beyond

Our God is a God of restoration. No matter what happens, He is a constant in a world of inconsistency.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." -Hebrews 13:8

"The Lord will never desert his people or abandon those who belong to Him." -Psalm 94:14

"I trust the mercy of God forever and ever. I will give thanks to you forever for what you have done. In the presence of godly people, I will wait with hope in your good name." -Psalm 52:8-9

Idle words? I recently had a conversation with a friend who shared the story of a young man who had lost the only family he had. He was officially all alone...his world had hit rock bottom and than some. To share "feel-good" scripture verses with that individual would not only be ridiculous but utter nonsense. I asked my friend what he said to this individual and the response was simple yet insightful. "Absolutely nothing." Simply being there to listen and show true empathy and Christ's love. When we or others are going through dark periods, we as Christians are not called to come to the rescue with all the answers. Because quite frankly we don't have them. I have found through my own personal losses that these scripture verses only mean something after we have been through the waters and not drowned. It is then you can read them through tearful eyes and bowed knees and marvel at the goodness and faithfulness of a loving Saviour who won't let go even when you want to.

I can see no greater way of spreading the gospel of Christ than to being empathetic and compassionate towards those around us. It was a lesson that was taught to me on my Missions Trip to Germany and reverberates even stronger today.