Mission: PURGE!

Two or three times a year I experience an irrepressible urge to purge! Closets, drawers, cupboards... if it can hold stuff, it's in my sights! And I'm ruthless. If I don't like it, use it, want it... it goes! That could mean it goes in the trash, the recycling, the Red Cross donation bin or... gasp... the re-gifting pile! No, I have no shame in that. And honestly, I'm not ungrateful. I'm just not a stuff person; I hate to dust and I'm very practical. So better that than throw out a perfectly good something that someone else would enjoy, right? For me, the best gifts are generally the ones I can use... dishes, cookware, sheets (100% cotton with a high thread count!), an iTunes gift card... but I would take an all-expenses-paid vacation to any sun destination! 

So, another large bag of stuff for the garbage. Two small bags for the Red Cross. Nothing for the re-gifting pile this time. And more space in my closets, drawers and cupboards. One of these days I'm going to run out of stuff to purge. Every time I do this, it makes me think about how I spend my money. And that, in turn, makes me think twice when I'm in the mall and contemplating a purchase. Do I really want or need it? Will I get bored with it in a month or two? Is it an impulse purchase? Most of the time, I walk away without the item. Honestly, I can't even think of an instance when I've been sorry that I walked away. I can think of a few things that I wish I had walked away from, though.

All in all, a very productive day. Now, if only my sink weren't full of dirty dishes... !

Sun Stand Still

Ever feel like your prayers don't even hit the ceiling sometimes? That God just isn't listening? I think we all feel that way at times. But the truth is, God hears every cry of our heart. Even when we don't realize He's listening... and responding.

Have you ever thought about how much power there is in prayer? It's uncontainable! It's mind-boggling! And it's right there at your finger tips 24/7! But how do you pray with boldness... with audacity? The expectation that God will not only hear, but that He will move in unbelievable ways? I'm still learning. But I've seen the evidence of it.

I'm excited to read Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick (Lead Pastor, Elevation Church, Matthew, NC). I just perused the preview of the first chapter. I can't wait for September so I can read the whole thing! I need to learn how to pray to effect change in my life and my world! If this book is anything like his sermons, I expect great insight and to be challenged to take my faith and prayers to a whole new level!


             www.sunstandstill.org

There is a God

I don't know about you, but my awareness of God is almost constant... in the little things of life like birds singing and grass growing... to the bigger things like sunsets, the Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains... and everything in between from relationships to work to the daily occurances of life and who I am.

Most of the time, I take His existence for granted. I just know He's there. This afternoon, a friend of mine played a song for me called "There is a God" by Trent Willmon. What a beautiful song! And I was reminded over and over again as the song played how evident God's presence is in every day life, especially as the Creator.

Maybe you don't think about God much at all. Or maybe you don't think He even exists. What do you think? I really would like to know. I don't write to impose my beliefs on you or to debate them, but simply to understand why you believe the way you do.

Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

When David said in Psalm 139:14, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well," he was SO right! Not that I ever doubted it, but I discovered that in a whole new way this week!

And it all starts right here...

Yup! My feet! I had my first reflexology treatment this week and man, was it amazing! Each foot has more than 7,000 nerve endings that connect to every part of your body. And believe me, I felt twinges in places I never thought would have had any connection to my feet! Don't believe me? Robyn (the reflexologist) knew things about my current state of health - and the past - that there's no way she could have otherwise known... such as the lymph node at the back of my jaw on the left is (perpetually) clogged... something I've known for months as a result of lymph drainage treatments. Is that incredible or what?!

My feet loved me for it. My neck not so much... seems the feet and the neck are connected, too, and I've got perpetually tight muscles in my neck. But overall, it was a fabulous experience that I plan to repeat. Just $60 for a 90 minute session, which includes a wonderful aromatic foot bath, reflexology treatment and a foot massage at the end... all in the comfort of my own home! What more could a girl's feet ask for?!

Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere!

First, let me say I wish I'd had the foresight to take a picture of the mess I'm about to describe, but I was too worried about cleaning up to think of it!!

If you've ever seen TV shows or movies where someone puts way too much detergent in the washing machine and the suds overflow everywhere and thought, "That would never happen in real life," THINK AGAIN!!

It all started on Saturday when I got groceries, even though I was so tired I could have fallen asleep on the spot. I buy all-natural detergents and the labels all look very similar. So, tired as I was, I picked up a jug of what I "thought" was dishwasher detergent, took it home and put it away without looking any closer.

So, tonight, I loaded up the dishwasher, suffering from a wicked headache and still not paying attention to the jug. Why would I, though, when I thought I'd purchased dishwasher detergent?! Now, the dishwasher is running and sounding a little funny, but I figured it was just because I had a headache. WRONG!! All of a sudden, I saw suds flowing liberally out of the dishwasher and all over the floor!! I opened up the dishwasher and all I could see was a mountain of suds. There was nothing to do but let the dishwasher finish its cycle and sop up suds upon suds upon suds!! Right now, it's on rinse #3... and I'm still not sure that's going to do it.

The moral of the story? Make sure you're awake when you purchase detergent!

Ultimate Adventure!

I had the best day yesterday! Along with three of my co-workers, I took part in the Ultimate Adventure in support of Bryony House (a women's shelter in Halifax). What more can you ask for... a ton of fun AND supporting a great cause at the same time!

GLOBAL GEEKS: Jane Wong, Allan Rowe, me & Adam Kidney

The Ultimate Adventure consisted of 10 pitstops with challenges and a scavenger hunt. But in order to find the pitstops, you had to figure out the clues. We spent almost 6 hours driving around Metro to the pitstops and picking up items for the scavenger hunt (i.e. a lobster trap, my grade 1 report card, a camping toilet and leather chaps to name but a few!). Some of the challenges were easier than others. At one we played Deal or No Deal. At another we had to don firefighters' gear (boots, pants, coat and helmet), tie a bow know, carry a 200lb dummy around a series of pylons and use the hose to knock over a pilon BEHIND a board! We did that one in 3:12 - and got a bonus for doing it in less than 5 minutes! The worst one was the ultimate food challenge... we ended up having to eat raw rhubarb, raw garlic, hot peppers and some sort of fish. YUCK!!!!

At our last pitstop, we had to find a way to put a chalk mark as high on the wall as possible. We could use anything we collected from the scavenger hunt. So, we attached the chalk to the umbrella (don't ask how, but we did) and Adam (who I've come to find out is afraid of heights) climbed on Allan's shoulders and we made the 14' mark!!

So, all in all, a fabulous day! Congrats to the RCMP Cruisers for winning the Ultimate Adventure! I'm totally doing this again next year!!

Talk Less, Think More

Talk less. Think more. Wise words from a wise man. Words I need to take more seriously. That's what I took away from the message at church this morning. How often do my lips flap before my brain registers the warning, "STOP!!!!"

If I want people to take me seriously in my faith - especially those who don't know Jesus - I really need to consider the message I'm sending with my words. Not so much the words I'm saying, but the meaning behind them, you know? Are my words painting someone in a bad light? Am I leaving someone with a negative impression of my church, my faith or, heaven forbid, Jesus? Are my words building up or tearing down? Is there any real value in what I'm saying - or would I be better off holding my tongue?

So yeah, I'm going to try really hard this week to talk less - and make the words I use count for something.

As for the think more part, if I'm focusing on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely whatever is admirable (Philippians 4:8)," how much more valuable would be the words that escape my lips? And how much greater would be my peace of mind? Again, to quote a very wise man, "What you think, you are."

What do you think?

PS... That very wise man is Pastor Les Somers of StoneRidge Fellowship... check out today's message at www.StoneRidgeFellowship.com.