inspiration to worship

I've been so overwhelmed by the beauty of fall....what an inspiration to worship!!!

continued blessings

Reasons I loved teaching sixth grade in Honduras:
- My students loved me in obvious ways (for example, I received encouragement notes and student artwork and many affectionate words)
- My students loved to hug me and play sports with me
- I could invite students over to my apartment to make pizza
- I could spend time with my students’ families
- I could stand outside at recess and be warm / hot almost all year long!
- I could mentor and encourage my students and get to know them very well!
- My role in their faith formation was very foundational

Reasons I love teaching in Canada:
- My students can reason at even deeper levels
- I can expect more from my students behaviourally and academically
- I am held very accountable in my teaching (standards galore, but it stretches you positively)
- I can still spend time with my students’ families and can communicate with the families much more naturally
- I can experience the four seasons
- I have a large in helping students live our their faith and see it “with new eyes”
- I can mentor and guide students through a sometimes difficult time of life

I am sure there are many more positive things for each, but I wanted to quickly reflect on the blessings in both situations!

happy first day of autumn!

~~~shiver~~~

Shiver.
This morning it was 6.9 C when I got up.
Shiver shiver.
Fall has suddenly come - very quickly!
Shiver.
Good bye skirts and sandals,
hello sweaters.
Until May?!!
Oh Canada.
Shiver.

the arm of the LORD

This is a "God-timing" thing for SURE!

Lately, I have been reading through the stories in 2 Chronicles / 2 Kings for my devotions. This morning I read 2 Chr 32, describing King Hezekiah's faith in the LORD despite the advance of the mighty army of Assyria.
I was especially struck by verses 7 and 8, which encourage the Israelites to be courageous and to trust in the LORD because His power is greater than that of Assyria.

Then for church tonight, we read parts of 2 Chronicles 31-32. The text was verse 8, and the message focused on how the real strength of believers is not measured by human power but by the presense of the LORD.

THEN when I arrived home and checked email, I had a prayer request. On the bottom of the email was (you guessed it) 2 Chronicles:8. Wow! God thing for sure! I think I am supposed to be learning this lesson quickly....
...that my strength and our strength as believers is in our heavenly Father!
...that our source of confidnece doesn't seem that impressive to the world and we may/will be mocked for it, but that it is a sure foundation.
...that God is with us!
...that we must be holy in an unholy world.

So then, I leave with you those verses from 2 Chronicles 32 and recommend that you read the whole chapter! :)

7 ' "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. 8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said. '

creation reflects the Creator!

URGENCY

Today I was blessed to be reminded of the URGENCY of the Kingdom of God. Based on Luke 16 (especially the second half), our pastor preached a challenging message about true righteousness. It is so easy to become like the Pharisees, living with a "check-list" kind of righteousness....but it is so wrong.

We don't like to admit it and we act like it isn't true on the surface, but it is easy...
- to lose social consciousness and become self-centered
- to strive after earthly comforts
- to include God in our earthly kingdom as a security blanket, rather than seeking the Kingdom of GOD first and foremost!
Again, we don't admit it...but we often don't look deep enough into our sinful humanity.

We need to see the picture of Christ, reaching out to the needy and loving without limit.
Christ, love become flesh.
We must repent of our self-centeredness and rely on the Lord to give us eyes to see and hands to serve.

So go, serve the Lord with great gusto and energy....
Be faithful to what God puts in your path!
The Kingdom of God is at hand!

PS - I haven't read John Piper's Don't Waste your Life, but I plan to...and some friends say it is along this topic in case you're interested...

¡¡¡ Increíble !!!

So much has entered my brain in the past week it is absolutely incredible! I have met my new "school family" (as in, fellow teachers), tried to learn all the school rules and procedures, done a tonne of work on my courses (with seemingly mountains still to do), etc. Thankfully my Hamilton buddies came to visit Thursday night to help me laugh and relax! :)

I'm very excited about this year and all of the opportunities that will arise! I'm especially excited to be working with the people that I do!

Out of ten staff members (yep, we're small!):
- one moved from BRITISH COLUMBIA
- one is from the U.S.A.
- one immigrated from HUNGARY (last January) and can speak HUNGARIAN
- one is from FINLAND (not sure when she came)
- one is ITALIAN and has lived in QUEBEC for a while and is fluent in FRENCH
- one (me) lived in HONDURAS for three years and can get by with SPANISH
- one has IRISH background
- and the other three are incredibly nice and are our official CANADIAN ONTARIO reps. Pretty cool, eh?

I love the culturally diverse backgrounds - it just adds so much depth and varied perspectives. Apart from that, though, they are really encouraging and supportive Christians. I really look forward to growing together as a staff this year as we serve each other and our students! :)