Daughters of the King

Girls weekend: Friday night

2007-06-18T18:14:00.001-04:00

The DoK Girls weekend went great! We had a wonderful time getting to know some new friends, doing fun stuff and talking about God in our lives.

Friday night we started off with some get-to-know you games:

Here the girls had to build a contraption that would keep an egg from breaking when it was dropped from a second story window.

The girls enjoyed the beautiful scenery: especially the frogs!!

We had a bonfire and ate hot dogs and marshmallows... and s'mores!! Delicious.

The sleepover was great fun, although I heard there was some snoring going on... :)

Girls weekend: Saturday

2007-06-18T13:21:00.001-04:00

We started off Saturday with a talk about why should we follow Christ? The girls had some alone time to meditate on Luke 9:23-25 and to think about what does it mean for me to follow Christ?

Then, as a group, we learned a little about how to worship by serving and helped out Dayspring by cleaning windows! The girls did a great job.

After cleaning the windows we went for a much-deserved swim! Although the sun wasn't out, and the water was a little chilly, we still had a blast.

Lunch was delicious subs, fruit, rice crispies and notice the home-made salsa on the table!
In the afternoon we did manicures, more swimming and lots of just hanging out.

Marie brought some beads and taught us to make prayer chains: each bead represents someone to pray for.

For supper we were treated to a delicious banquet and served by two handsome, dashing young men! (Jamie and Nat) we had veggies and dip, caesar salad with homemade croutons and real bacon, then followed by delicious spaghetti and meatballs with rhubarb cake and ice cream for dessert. Oh and rhubarb punch. The girls said it was their favorite part of the weekend. It's nice to get pampered :)A huge THANK YOU to Naomi, Marie, Deja and our cook Rhonda who helped out during the weekend. It couldn't have happened without you! Thanks for a great weekend. Let's do it again!

Girls' weekend

2007-05-27T16:04:00.000-04:00

GIRLS WEEKEND!!

Where? Dayspring Ministry Center

When? June 15th between 6-7 pm to June 16th at 9 pm.

Who? All girls 13 and over interested in getting to know God and other girls!

What? Girl time, fun, worship, praying, talks, friends, sleepover... (think DoK session from Camp Medley!)

Email me for the list of what-to-bring.

See you there!

Marie-Hélène

Example of the faith: Corrie Ten Boom

2006-11-02T12:47:00.000-05:00

Corrie Ten Boom was about 50 years old when WWII hit Holland. With her father and sister, she began to secretly hide Jews in their house to help them escape extermination by the Nazis.
They were reported by a 'friend' and carted off to jail. Corrie and her sister Betsie were transferred 3 times to different concentration camps, and finally to the notorious women's extermination camp, Ravensbruck. 96,000 women died at this camp during the war, one of which was Corrie's sister Betsie.
Corrie and Betsie went through living hell at the concentration camp, working long hours of hard labour, living in filth and lice with little food. But despite the awful conditions, their spirits rose above their physical circumstances and they constantly looked for opportunities to share God's love from their mini Bible that they had smuggled in. God used these two powerfully to bring light into one of the darkest places in history. She tells the story of these times in her book "The Hiding Place".
Corrie was released by 'fluke' only a week before all the other women in her unit were murdered. She then opened several homes and camps for survivors of the war to go and find healing and peace. God then called her to travel and tell the story of the power of love and forgiveness for our enemies. This part of her story is in "Tramp for the Lord".

Corrie Ten Boom was a normal human being who lived in a very difficult time. She was not perfect, and had many struggles, but God used her powerfully to bring healing to many. Her message of forgiveness, which she lived in forgiving her Nazi captors, was a powerful one that brought freedom to many people who were bound by unforgiveness. We can learn much from her experiences. Her books are very inspiring and I highly recommend them! :)

Examples of the faith: Hudson Taylor

2006-10-05T16:44:00.000-04:00

'The Biography of James Hudson Taylor'
Late 1800s.

The story of how one young man, burdened by the lost millions of China, obeyed the Great Commission and went to China. Despite the fact that he didn't have a financial support base back home, he relied on God daily to provide for his every need. The book is filled with his journal entries and letters he wrote home that describe his years of pioneering missions work in China. The harrowing, lonely first years, the years of plowing the ground, and the years of sending the workers and reaping the harvest. Hudson Taylor founded the "China Inland Mission", later renamed the "Overseas Missions Fellowship", which is now a world-wide missions organization, busy making disciples in many nations.

Hudson Taylor's appeal to the Christians in England:

“I want you to pray daily that God will direct us as to which provinces we should attempt, and how. We have the almighty God with us; the all-wise Counsellor to guide; the indwelling Spirit to give efficacy to the preached Word. Ask for me more simple trust in Him, and boldness to attempt great things. Try to get friends to promise and seriously endeavour to pray daily about the opening up of new provinces to the Gospel. Christ must speedily be proclaimed in them: how and by whom we must ask Him. “ pg 332 Bio.

What struck me was this man's insatiable thirst for closeness with Christ. It was his intense prayer life and quiet, faithful persistence to obey the call of God that enabled thousands to hear the good news for the first time. An amazing testimony to the power of God.

Reading this book has made me desire a new closeness with God that can only be found through earnest prayer and study of the Word. Somehow I feel that there are things I've never experienced, but only talked about...

www.ca.omf.org

Examples of the faith: Richard Wurmbrand

2006-09-11T21:45:00.000-04:00

Reading about great men and women of God in history has become a new passion for me. My faith and lifestyle have been continually challenged as I read their stories filled with hardships, but balanced with rock-solid faith. God has kept their stories alive to keep us unsatisfied with our own walk, and to attest to the power we have in Christ

"And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so to fear death. " Rev. 12:11

'Tortured for Christ'.
1960s

Written by Richard Wurmbrand, a pastor who spent 14 years in prison in Communist Romania. He has written several books describing these horrifying years: 'If Prison Walls could Speak', 'God's Underground Church'. They are extrememly sobering to read, as we have no concept of any kind of persecution. Christians in Communist countries were systematically beaten, tortured, brainwashed, while living in dirty, cold cells with watery soup to eat, and no hope for release.

Would you still stand for Jesus in these conditions?

Read about men who have, and let God work in your heart.

What a privilege we have to worship our God openly in our Western countries! How can we as the Free church help our persecuted brothers and sisters? You will probably be surprised as to how many countries still actively persecute christians.
Wurmbrand's sole goal since his release has been to wake up the free Western churches to the atrocities happening to the church in anti-christian countries. He started the world-wide organization Voice of the Martyrs. VOM's ministry is geared to bring the believers in the West to their knees in prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters. This organization also provides many opportunities to support these persecuted christians and their families. Check out their website, and read some of the stories firsthand. You can receive their quarterly newsletter for free.

www.persecution.net

His dream

2006-06-27T07:56:00.000-04:00

Nov. 21st 2005

I dream myself too close to the goal
Closer I dare not go
For fear that I would chase it
Further than my dream would stay

Dream may you stay as such
Pure, mysterious, untouched
That I may see you from afar
Big, beautiful, sweet spot of my heart

Oh that someday I would stop
and look! With no warning
Nor any work of mine
Here I stand amidst this dream
Bigger, more beautiful than seemed it
from afar, before me, around me
And while I did not know it
behind me did my dream unfold
in all its fullness

I am whole, now having seen
a glimpse of the heavenly plan
My dream was not just once
but was always, through my life
pieces, by my Creator wrought
for His glory alone did I walk
in and through my Dream

His Dream

Getting married is definitely a part of this dream. I see only pieces of it from far away: music, dance, arts, people, friends, discipleship... it's all vague but becoming clearer. One day I will look around and find myself inside this dream and find that I've always been there, being prepared or just living it. Ultimately the dream is the will of God, and if I'm in it there is no beginning or end, it's a continuation of a dream that never ends.

Ladies-in-waiting

2006-06-19T14:07:00.000-04:00

12 days from now I will Mrs. James Morell. Oh man.

When I was 13 years old I prayed, "God please help me find my man and get married young." And here I am, not even 20 and half and getting married to the most wonderful man I could imagine. God is so good.

If you haven't all read Karen's blog about waiting for her guy, go read it now.

www.beautiful-day-for-a-f riend.blogspot.com

I was inspired by the beautiful way that she described in such detail this nameless guy that she's waiting for. Yeah Karen! We all have lists of every quality that we'd like in our dream guy. I made my first one when I was about 15 and have added to it ever since. Here it is, unedited. By the way, in my journals I referred to my future husband as my 'FH'.

Things I would like my FH to be

1. On fire for God
2. Loving towards his family
3. Same general direction as me for the future
4. A servant, humble heart
5. Handsome enough for me to be physically attracted
6. Open for new things/Adventurous
7. SENSITIVE
8. French speaking
9. A good communicator, especially of his own thoughts and feelings.
10. A musician of some kind
11. Our families must be close/my parents must know him well
12. Not afraid to DANCE for God
13. Work for me like Jacob worked for Rachel, treat me like that.
14. A gentleman
15. connected somehow to gymnastics

Honestly, when I wrote that, I was like 'Ok God, there's a challenge for you!' I had second thoughts and almost took some of the things off because I thought it was too picky. After I wrote that, as I met guys in whom I appreciated different qualities, I would add to the list. Things like leadership, an evangelistic heart, someone who will invest into other's lives... Picky as it was, (you all know what I'm going to say...) Jamie is all of those things. His mom was even a national level gymnastics judge for years! He had every quality, and in these past 3 years he's grown into so many more that I never though of but appreciate so much.
He was definitely worth waiting for.

My handsome hunk and I at Nat and Naomi's wedding

Hands up for whoever wants to get married one day. Ok hands up for those who are willing to wait until the right time and the right man come along. YEAH big cheer!!!! It's really difficult, but I know a lot of you girls that read this are commited to waiting (in more ways than just keeping sex for marriage) for your future husband.

I encourage you to set yourself apart, wait. Make yourself a list, and add to it as you go. And don't settle for anything less!! Take all that time and thought and energy that would go into a relationship with a guy and invest it into people around you, your family, your girlfriends, people who have needs... actively seek to invest into your community. That's when you'll find, when you're not even looking, a guy who is also outward focused, and you'll have all kinds of other healthy, wholesome relationships!

Above all, we girls need to be wholely dependent on Jesus for ALL our emotional needs. That is a huge key because no human, not even the most amazing guy in the world (not even Jamie!) can fulfill all of those needs. Jesus wants to be first in our hearts.

Wait, dear ladies, and don't just sit there but "hussle while you wait" and be useful to God's kingdom in this season of singleness so you can serve Him in greater fullness when He brings you your Prince Charming. :)

PS Allow me to re-recommend the book 'Authentic Beauty' (see link on the side) it's really a great book.

Dance classes

2006-05-29T15:59:00.000-04:00

Jamie and I have just finished taking ballroom dance classes. We loved it!! It is so much fun and I think every couple should do it together. Just ask Jamie, he thought he'd have to suffer through it but ended up loving every minute we danced together! We had so much fun that our faces would hurt from smiling too much. :)
We learned the foxtrot, the cha-cha, the waltz (which is more complicated than just 1-2-3, 1-2-3) and even some swing moves!

In fact, we love it so much that we dance whenever we can!

Ballroom dancing: 10 out of 10 and highly recommended!

My maman: the Photo-grapher

2006-05-29T15:39:00.000-04:00

Fantabulous tulips

A beginning of spring

Sunset... who knows where...

Zorra: our adorable rottweiler

My mom is the one who has taught me to look for and appreciate small, beautiful things in life.
A bird on a branch, a peculiar rock on the ground, unique flowers and random trees... All of God's creation has got to have something fascinating and beautiful in it.
Merci Maman.

Juggling...

2006-05-24T11:50:00.000-04:00

Talk about changing seaons... Nature isn't the only thing changing from winter to summer! The dryness and impatience is gone, replaced by fresh water and fullness of life. I praise you God for your faithfulness! I'm in this in-between stage where I'm out of the dry field, running down the beach towards the water ready to throw myself in. Woohoo!!

I am currently juggling wedding planning (my own), planning to MC Nat and Nome's wedding, and organizing the next 3 weeks for the outreach team. Life is good, my friends, good and full.

Song in my head:

Whisper to me
words that make my heart burn
Give unto me
Water for which my soul yearns

I will awaken the dawn
Praise like a fountain
cascades down

I will love You like
I did at first
Earthen vessels fail to quench
this thirst

From the womb of dawn
I will come
And give a worship that
befits the Son

I'll make Your praise glorious

I wish you could hear the music as you read... Sing it loud!

I'll make
Your Praise
GLORIOUS!!

Cracking the Dating Code

2006-05-18T14:03:00.000-04:00

Out of my previous post have come a couple of conversations that have prompted me to write on this next subject: dating, which is the approach our society has taken to guy/girl relationships. Having been through 2 years and nearly 9 months of it myself, and now looking forward to finally being married, I wanted to share some reflections with you.

I don't like dating.

I don't like having to watch how much time I spend with Jamie, and whether or not we're alone and have to continually monitor how our physical relationship is doing. I don't like seeing him even as much as I do and having to say goodbye, because I want to be with him all the time!

I love the time I've spent with Jamie, but I don't like the concept of dating. There were many times when I wondered, there must have been another way that God intentioned for a guy and girl to meet, fall in love and get married. A way where you don't have to stress about physical temptation or get burned by succumbing to it, and where there isn't that pattern of getting together with someone, then breaking up, again and again and again!
Think of your friends, and how many girlfriends or boyfriends they've had, and how hurt they've been when the relationship broke up. Where does this desperation for companionship come from?? Are we handling it in the right way? This is a deep issue that is really hard to discuss on a blog...

Sometimes I think there must have been some beauty and truth in the way they did weddings thousands of years ago. Two sets of parents got together and decided that their children would be betrothed, and when they were of age, they got married, often without ever meeting. Then they would start their life together, get to know one another physically after the wedding, which to some seems unthinkable. But guess what: they stuck it out. Compared to today's, the rate of divorce back then is hardly worth mentioning.

I'm not saying that we should go back to that extreme, but I am saying that the dating pattern we've set for ourselves today does not seem to be bringing glory to God, or us the fulfillment we seek.

Let's put our heads together. What are your thoughts?

Jepthah's daughter: Intense purity

2006-05-07T14:46:00.000-04:00

I was reading this passage in the Old Testament not long ago, and I was struck by the purity in Jepthah's daughter. Read this passage before I continue. (Jepthah has just defeated the Ammonites)

When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter--his only child--ran out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. "My daughter!" he cried out. "My heart is breaking! What a tragedy that you came out to greet me. For I have made a vow to the Lord and cannot take it back."

And she said, "Father, you have made a promise to the Lord. You must do to me what you have promised, for the Lord has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites. But first let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin."

"You may go," Jephthah said. And he let her go away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children. When she returned home, her father kept his vow, and she died a virgin. So it has become a custom in Israel for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah's daughter.

~~~

Wow, it amazes me how someone would treasure their purity so much as to be willing to die without compromising it. She mourned 2 whole months because she would never marry or have children and then willingly submitted herself as a pure sacrifice. What would you have done in her shoes? Run away? Gone out and lose your virginity to the first guy you find? Our world doesn't make it easy for us to value our purity. But it is possible if we follow Jepthah's daughter's example and guard it fiercely.

I'm going to write from my heart, even though it's personal.

Jamie and I have come through quite a journey with the whole physical temptation thing. We decided we weren't going to have sex until we were married, so we had to fix some firm boundaries that we've kept to this day, such as keeping our clothes on. But we somehow managed to get around them and still arouse one another, which is when we realized it's not just about not having sex, it's about living in purity. We've had to go on "lock-down" several times, which means that we limited it to hugs and short kisses. When we got engaged, the initial response was to be more physical, but we realized right away that it wasn't good at all and that in fact, the opposite needed to happen or we'd go crazy. So now we're on lock-down and very much looking forward to 53 days from now. It's been hard, but the sacrifice every time to hold back has been worth what will surely be sublime.

I know it might be shocking for some to read this, but I believe that so many fall into sexual sin and get burned by it because we don't talk about it. I think we need to talk to each other about our stories and our struggles so that we can encourage and build one another up.
If anyone would like to talk about this more, you can email me or we can get together.

A couple great books on this subject are "Every Young Woman's Battle" by Shannon Ethridge and "Authentic Beauty" by Leslie Ludy (see link on the side)

A day in the life of the City Market...

2006-04-25T20:36:00.000-04:00

8:30 a.m. I arrive, put my apron and take my post at Baleman's Produce, at the top of the City Market. Now I stand around and wait for someone to come buy something. At this time of day, usually a single banana. About 25 cents. Meanwhile my bosses Rob and Belinda continue to put out the fruits and veggies that have been hibernating overnight in the cooler.

8:35 a.m. Crazy old Alphonse arrives to buy his two bananas for the day.

9:00 a.m. I'm still standing around, not much happening. So I straighten the apples, make sure they're asthetically appealing, try to kill some of the big, fat flies sitting in the grapes, or see if any tomatoes have exploded overnight.

10 a.m. My co-worker arrives, usually Sarah but sometimes Courtney. Then I move down to the lower cash, which is where we sell the non-produce stuff: home-made jams and jellies, maple products, eggs, milk and canned goods like water chestnuts.

11 a.m. Sometimes, around this time an odd lady will show up and buy about 35-40$ worth of walnuts, chestnuts and brazil nuts for, that's right, her squirrels. Once she brought Belinda a picture of one of her squirrels eating a nut with a little word bubble saying 'Thanks auntie B!"

12:30 p.m. Woohoo my lunch break! Sometimes Jamie comes to meet me, and on Wednesdays we have Pineapple Club with the girls.

1:00 p.m. Amidst the chaos that is highschool kids on their lunchbreak, the guy with the moustache comes and buys his daily dose of two red delicious apples. Usually about 1.04$, sometimes a little over.

1:30 p.m. Look at the clock and marvel: Wow it's been 5 hours since I got here. My feet hurt a little and I wish I could take a nap.

2:00 p.m. Dead as a door-nail. Around now I'll eat the chocolate bar that the candy man gave me this morning. Old John who comes by and gives us a chocolate bar, every morning, without fail.

2:30 ish The Adonis-ape-like man with the luxurious long hair comes to buy is one liter of skim milk and one liter of chocolate milk. No bag, always exact change.

3:00 p.m. Still dead, so I'll bag some potatoes, or dulse, or beans.

4:00 p.m. Only a half-hour left! It starts to pick up as people get out of work and need last minute quick meals.

4:30 p.m. On the dot I zip off my apron and I'm outta here! My feet are killing me but as soon as I leave that strip of concrete they don't bother me anymore. I usually go visit with my good buds Martha, who works at Jeremiah's to my left, and Karen, who works at the Wild Carrot to my right. It's nice to have friends in the market.

So that's a typical day, a snapshot of a few of the quirky, precious people I interact with at the market. This is the 3rd year I've worked here and I believe that God has placed me at this little stand for a purpose. I've learned so much about serving people while working here. I see everyone from the street bums who come in to sell us their change, to the Mr. Irving himself who sometimes buys jumbo eggs. It's been an experience in coming to love Saint John as well, getting to know the different faces and flavors of our city. I'm so excited to be living uptown next fall and to be right in there with these people.

Relationships

2006-04-18T19:13:00.000-04:00

I came to a conclusion not long ago that relationships are the most important thing here on earth. To love God and to love one another are really the greatest commandements. Basically everything we do, subconsciously or not, is to invest and build up our relationships, whether it's in a healthy way, or in a not so healthy way. We work, so we can make more money, so we can provide for our family, and therefore have a happy relationship with them. We buy nice things for ourselves so that we'll be pretty and attractive and therefore have a nice guy to have a relationship with. We exercise and eat well for the same reasons. People starve themselves so that people will like them, which means, to that person, 'improving' those relationships. People sleep around because they are starved for relationship.

So if my life is about relationship, how should I live it in consequence? I'm learning how important it is to just spend time. Just be together. It's so hard in this crazy, performance-oriented world. I don't know about you but it's so easy for me to become so consumed with what I'm doing or should be doing rather than what I'm being, and who I'm being with. What does it matter what I DO if I've no one to enjoy and share life with?

I've shared some wonderful experiences with the most wonderful people. They are what have made my life and all its experiences amazing. My family, most of all, Jamie, my friends, close by and some far away, even acquaintances have contributed so much to the fullness of my life. What would I do without people to love??

Here are some great friends of mine!

My family about 10 years ago!!

Jamie and I when we first started dating

With my outreach team in Paris last year. What wonderful
relationships came out of that trip!

Pineapple Club: great girl time

A ramble or two

2006-04-18T12:43:00.000-04:00

So I haven't written in awhile, and it's partly because I don't really know what this blog's about. All I want to do is write what I'm thinking. I'd like whoever reads this to be able to share what they think as well. It seems like I'm always thinking, learning things and processing and I imagine many of you out there must be too. So what are you thinking about?

Here are a few things I've been pondering lately:

1. Getting married
2. A dream being birthed in me
3. What to do with my life?
4. Relationships, how to maintain them, why do they change...
5. What is my reality?
6....

So where do I start? I'll tell you about reality because the rest come out of there.
I've been trying to figure out what or where is the place I am living in. The state of mind I guess you could call it. Questions like should I live in function of the immediate, what I see right in front of me, what I think and need right now, or try to go bigger? Just how many things can I take in at once? Yes I know that my friend is having a hard time over here, and that there is a crisis in Israel and that teenage pregnancy is a big issue in my city, but can I live with all those things weighing in on me? Where is the balance in being aware of what's going on and being concerned and praying for it, but not weighed down with things I can't change? How far can I stretch my sphere of thought and yet still be in the mind frame where I am present and useful?
I want to have a biblical worldview. Oh God show me how.

I can see how people get stuck in a rut of everyday living so easily. Just from one thing to the next, with no real goal. It's easy to just look forward to the next weekend or the next change. I think God has a plan for every season of life and the hard part is being in touch with Him over what that is and how to live in it fully.

Journalling helps me, being creative, talking with people helps me to process and keep my brain where it should be.

The meaning of love.

2006-03-30T20:18:00.001-05:00

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God--for God is love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world.

Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us. We love each other as a result of his loving us first.

If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? And God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too.

1 John 4 : 7-21

Such is the meaning of love. *ahem* I mean life.

Coming to believe

2006-03-17T22:09:00.000-05:00

What is the belief system of the world? Find ways to better yourself, your mind, your body... How to feel good and be happier, more successful in life.

Do you ever think that the world, the universe, is bigger than our selfish selves? Ever wonder why the heck we're here, is there a God, why is the world so big and could it really be all for us and about us? Such huge questions seem to come up often in my thoughts lately. It's kind of exhausting really, my brain can't quite handle it.

One thing I've figured out, and I don't know where you're at, is that life on earth is basically pointless. Nothing will last after we die. Really, think about it. Once you're dead, you don't benefit from any money you've made or how successful you've been. As far as we know, whether we've been 'happy' or 'fulfilled' doesn't really figure once we're dead. So what's worth living for?

My favorite book of the Bible lately has been Ecclesiastes. (I highly recommend reading it)

All the author talks about is life being meaningless. Is there a end to this meaninglessness? (what a crazy word...) For 12 solid chapters the author rants about life having no point. He concludes by saying

"Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man."

What do you think of that?

To live for myself is pointless. Ultimately, whatever I gain here on earth will not last when I die. I don't understand eternity, or whatever comes once we're dead, but the only thing bigger than death and time and me is God. To live for God who is in eternity is so meaningful, even if I don't understand it because I can't see past my earthly life.
Wow this is deep and my brain hurts.

For me, to be able to live for God, I needed to figure out whether or not there was a God. You can't go very far without making a choice on that one! To me it's no longer a question as to whether or not God exists, it's now an established fact. Creation, fire, water, air, the eco-system, my self-healing, emotion-feeling and brain-thinking body have all served to confirm that there is indeed a God. After that I needed to plow through and figure out why I believe Jesus to be the Son of God; because of the Bible. Ok why do I believe the Bible to be Truth? Do I believe it to be full and absolute Truth in its entirety? Why? If I am here on earth, what is the reason in consequence of all this?

It's a long process, but I encourage you to dig even deeper than this. Figure out for yourself why you believe in God, do you want to live for Him and why, what is your purpose in life...? A good trick is to write everything down for future times when you doubt. These are all beliefs that need to be solid in your life before you can move on.

So much to think about.

My first post!!

2006-03-16T08:37:00.001-05:00

So here I am, having succumbed to the world of 'web-logs'. Not for any desire to spend more time on the computer, but rather to have personal contact with those with whom I would have more chance of conversing with through a blog, rather than in person over a cup of tea. I understand that internet is much more accessible than the far-away sticks of French village --->
So as we come together here, I hope that we'll be able to chat, ask and answer each other's questions, and encourage one another as we try to follow Christ every day. Hopefully something will get posted once a week.
Maybe I'll see you around, posting a comment here and there, but remember this is only virtual tea. Whenever we have the chance let's get together for some real tea. :)