The earth is filled with his glory (December thoughts)

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
    the whole earth is full of his glory.”
-Isaiah 6:3

I have a lot of thoughts. Everyone does, I suppose. Here is a collection of them.

Thought one: I need to intentionally create beautiful moments in my life.
The other day as I was at work, I peeked out the window and happened to notice the view. It was an incredible, peaceful crisp scene of the morning light over the Bay and Cape Blomidon. Just seeing the beauty of that panorama made my day a little bit better. It is easy for me to forget the beauty and glory in the world, on days when I am on my third cup of coffee, have sore feet and feel like the time I need to accomplish everything I need to do in the day exceeds the number of hours in the day.

But God has blessed me with some beautiful moments in this life lately, the sort of moments I am realizing I need to make sure I have more often. Like laying in a trailer in the old orchard, watching the stars with my sister. Like running with abandon through the new fresh snow. Like raising my voice to echo praises along with the grand piano and some good friends in a study hall (like a cathedral) in the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes these moments just happen, but often they do not. And I want to make sure they happen, because they help remind me of God's beauty and glory, which the whole earth is full of. 

Just a beautiful moment

Next thought: Worship is all over
You may have noticed, I really like worship music. I listen to it all the time and I love the sweet times that my friends and family spend in musical worship. We do it whenever we can: in my living room at home, with my dad on the guitar and my brother on the piano, or maybe in the woods behind the university, or perhaps just in various friends' rental units.  I love to raise my weak, occasionally off-key voice to join the instruments and the others singing. Someone plays the guitar, usually, and someone the keyboard if there is one, and the percussion, and once in a while there is a violin or something as well. But I do not know how to play any instruments (except for the bagpipes, sort of, but that's another story). And my voice is not really anything to write home about. So I wonder my place in all of it. But then I realized this wonderful truth: God is really big. And he is really good and really creative. And he created music and music is awesome and I love it. But he also created other things. Like language. And I think I can use language to worship him. Oh, you may have a guitar, or a drum with which you worship. Me, I have a pen. Worship to God is not limited to only music. It is so much more expansive than that. 

That being said, let's all just appreciate this song.

Penultimate thought: Rejoicing in hope
I have sung the song "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" every Advent season basically since forever. The chorus goes as follows: "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel/Shall come to thee, O Israel."
I was singing that and then I noticed something interesting: they are rejoicing before Emmanuel (the Messiah) even comes! It is an expectant rejoicing. 
And I had to ask myself: do I rejoice in expectation? Do I praise God for things he has promised but that have not yet occurred?

Final thought: Thirst

As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God. 
 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
-Psalm 42:1-2

Last night I was thirsty and then I drank some water and then I was amazed by the miracle of the satisfaction of thirst. Because when I am thirsty, all I want is water. Yes, I like coffee and wine and pineapple Fanta but nothing satisfies thirst like water does. It is precisely what I need and when I am thirsty, my favourite food is water. And then I was chatting with a friend about how cool it is that Jesus said he gave water that will cause us to never thirst. 

Nothing satisfies our soul-thirst quite like Jesus. There are things that come close (the pineapple Fantas of spirituality?) but they still leave us with thirst. Jesus satisfies our souls the way water satisfies our tongues. Do you think God specifically created things in the world to be analogies for eternity? Maybe everything is an analogy.

So, here is another song.

Freedom

And I heard the sound
of a great engine pounding
in the air, and a voice asking:
"Change or slavery?
Hardship or slavery?"
and voices answering:
"Slavery! Slavery!"
And I was afraid, loving
what I knew would be lost. 
-From "Song in a Year of Catastrophe" by Wendell Berry

A couple of weeks ago was Anti-Slavery Week at Acadia. Students raised money and awareness about modern-day slavery through various events, one of which was the showing of a film called Nefarious. This documentary is an honest, harrowing account of human trafficking all over the world. In one scene of the film, a man tells the story of three young girls who were rescued from prostitution in Cambodia. They were promised a safe home, an education, and a good future. You would choose this instead of a horrific life of being raped every night, wouldn't you? But they had to ask their parents for permission. Even when the parents were promised a microloan and job training so that they could have another source of income besides selling their children, they still refused. In the film, the man who is telling the story has tears on his cheeks as he tells of how he had to drive the children back to the place they were enslaved.

That was an extreme example. But how many times in our life do we choose slavery over freedom? How many times do we choose what is known over what is unknown, even when the unknown has the potential to be awesome?

As I think about what is next in my life, I need to remind myself to be ready to say "yes" to God, even if it is to something that is absolutely unknown. There are so many things that enslave me, things that I will choose even when presented with a better life. I am enslaved by money and by my ideas of what my future should be. I am enslaved in wondering what other people think of me. But Galatians 5:1 says "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

When given the choice between slavery and freedom, I pray that I will choose freedom. 

BIG NEWS

Hi friends,
I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 22.
It is my birthday!
Congratulations must go to my mother for giving birth to me. I feel like I should be giving a gift for HER on my birthday, instead of the other way around. I mean, I certainly have a lot to thank her for.
But I am very blessed because I have more than my birthday to celebrate.

A while ago I came across a contest on Facebook to win a missions trip to Cameroon with OneBook. I asked my brother if he wanted to enter the contest, since I know he's always wanted to go to Africa. But he did not want to enter it and so I did. My friends and family ended up being extremely supportive. On the day that the voting of the contest ended, there was a tight race for votes between me and another competitor. The contest ended at one in the morning and I went to bed at  8:30 that night because I work very early. I decided to leave the contest in God's hands. What I did not know is that many of my friends were staying up late and following the contest closely, and asking their friends to vote for me!

To cut to the chase, the winner of the contest was announced today, and it is me.

I will be joining national Bible translators from all over the world in Cameroon in March and will be doing communications: essentially what I am doing on this blog- Through various media, I will spread the news of what God is doing. 

I am constantly astounded at where God takes us. Who would have thought I would be travelling to Africa twice in one year?? And I will not have to pay at all. Wow.

Here is a quote from Jim Palmer's Divine Nobodies, the book I am reading at the moment. It describes my life right now:  "He is what I`m looking for. The risks are worth it. I can't control or predict God, but I trust him enough to allow this journey of knowing him to take me wherever it may lead, even if I don't know where that is until I get there."

Of hobbits and trusting in God

A few weeks ago, my roommates and I hosted a potluck and the theme was "Hobbits." We made rabbit stew, friends brought "lembas bread", mushrooms, and ale, and we listened to the soundtrack of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. It was a nerdy and enjoyable evening. Throughout the evening, the following quote from the Fellowship of the Ring came to my mind. It's something Bilbo Baggins said to Frodo.

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

 

The road outside my front door...

And of course it's a poignant quote because Frodo does step onto the road, and he ends up being swept off into the most incredible adventure in literature. The thing is, the Lord of the Rings is about more than just Frodo. It's about a battle between good and evil. And Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship are not particularly heroic. They are simply courageous enough to fulfill their purpose in this battle.

I think following Jesus is kind of like that too. When you start following Jesus, you don't really know where you'll be swept off to. But there's always adventure. And we need to be courageous enough to step onto the road, to trust God to use us in this adventure. 

Lately I have been thinking about trusting God. I was able to catch a bit of the Nova Scotia Inter-Varsity retreat this past weekend and there was some teaching about Genesis. The story of chapters 1-3 of Genesis is heartbreaking. First God creates the world and it's perfect. Unblemished. And he creates two people and they have perfect community with each other and with God. And did I mention they live in a beautiful garden? Except there's this one thing: God sets limits. He says they can eat from any tree in the garden except for one. Later, a serpent comes along and basically says "Did God really say that?" Well, the people eat from the tree, and they die. Here's the thing about this story: the people ate from the tree because they doubted God. They did not trust that he had their best interest at heart. And since then, people have had a tough time trusting God. I certainly do. But God knows me even better than I know myself. He knows what is best for me. But sometimes what I think is best for me conflicts with what God thinks is best, and I am ashamed to say I often go with what I think is best. Like the story in Genesis, it does not end well.

So here I am, trying to be swept off onto this road of following Jesus, and trusting God to take me on this wonderful adventure.

I sing this song as a prayer:"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders."

And right now, I am getting to learn how to trust God a lot more. Like planning a 24-hour of prayer event on campus. Like entering a contest to go to Cameroon (Vote for me here if you haven't already. Thanks!). Like trying to figure out what to do next year. Oh, it's a dangerous business, going out my door.

Things I haven't always been thankful for

This is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada which generally means a long weekend and a lot of food with the family. And in church we make sure to especially thank God. However, today I was not able to make it to church because I was working. That is one negative aspect of my job. There are also many positive aspects. It turns out most things are like that: there are good and bad sides of anything.
So, here are some things that I am thankful for, because there is so much good in them. Sometimes I am tempted to look only at the negative side of these things and have an ungrateful attitude about them. But actually there is so much good! Without further ado... the list of things I have not always been thankful for.

Being in Nova Scotia: Growing up here, I did not really appreciate it. But after being away from the Maritimes during the past two summers, I return to Nova Scotia thankful to call this place home. I suspect I will have to leave here soon and since being back I have really appreciated it, despite some frustrations from
"reverse culture shock" (like being stunned and overwhelmed in the middle of Superstore). At the moment, it seems like I may not be in Nova Scotia this time next year. I think God has really blessed me with some amazing and quintessentially Nova Scotian experiences that I will be able to remember when I am far away. I never want to live in a place and wish I am somewhere else. Maybe when I was a kid I wished that at times but now I am just thankful. Click on the photo and read the caption to see some of the ways I have gotten to enjoy my beautiful province this fall so far!

Clockwise from top left: apple-picking in Port Williams, hiking at Cape Chignecto, wine-tasting at Luckett Vineyards, picnicking in East Noel and mud-sliding in Wolfville

  
Acadia Christian Fellowship: This one deserves a bullet-point all on its own. One of my favourite things about being back in Wolfville is getting to be a part of the lovely community that is ACF. I have to admit, I have not always been thankful for ACF. I have always loved it and everyone in it but there was a time when the responsibility of leading what seemed to be a failing group became a very heavy burden. But I am thankful that now ACF is not a burden, but a joy. That is just the kind of thing Jesus specializes in :)
Again, click on the photo to see a larger version and see some of the ways ACF has been a joy this year.

Clockwise from top left: Tim tam slam, making care packages, worshipping on the waterfront and a Bible study party

Working as a waitress: A lot of times the first question we ask people is "What do you do?" and so I guess often we define and label each other by our jobs. Well, my job is a waitress. And to be honest, when people ask me what I do I sometimes feel a little embarrassed or ashamed because somewhere inside me I have this idea that I can do better. But the thing is, this is reminding me first of all to not define people by what they do for a living. So I am very thankful for that. Also, being a waitress, one of those "invisible people" jobs (that is, a job where ideally I am to be unnoticed and forgotten, simply someone to make the dining experience more smooth and pleasurable), makes me notice "invisible people" more: the cashier at the grocery store, the barista at JustUs, and so on. This is good.

Being single: For a long time I was not thankful for this. But somewhere along the way I realized I quite like it. It seems like in our society being single is seen as less desirable as being in a relationship. Our society sees romantic love as the fulfillment of all our desires. But I am realizing this is not true because I am happy being single. I think I would be happy being in a relationship, too, but the fact is, having a significant other is not the thing that brings me joy. Jesus is the real joy-giver! And right now I am enjoying the single life in all its freedom and unique adventures.

Thanks for reading that, friends. So often things that seem bad turn out to be actually good. Happy [Canadian] Thanksgiving!

A Thankful Heart

Today is Tuesday, and late on a Tuesday now,which means it is not a Monday. I've meant to update a blog on Mondays but that did not happen this week.
It did not happen because I got a job!
I have a thankful heart that I only was jobless for two weeks. In this small town I have just begun a full-time job within walking distance of my house. What an answer to prayer! I feel so blessed. I am now learning how to serve Jesus with my job which is cool and also hard.

I am seeing other answers to prayer around. Like when I was running out of money I found a large quantity of money in my purse that was in another currency that I forgot to exchange back to Canadian dollars. WOO. There is always enough.

I have a thankful heart when I buy tomatoes at the Farmer's Market from a Mennonite lady. I mean, can we all agree that that is awesome?
Or when one of my housemates bakes.

I think I just really like food.

I have a thankful heart when I think of all the people I have met. Last Wednesday I was able to attend the weekly morning prayer meeting we have on campus. It happens at 7:30 every morning which is quite early for university students. In the past usually around three or four people would be there. Last week there were eleven of us gathered in intercessory prayer for our university. And many of them were new students! I am reminded that God is doing incredible things here. He never stops creating.

And I have a thankful heart when I think about the "Mud Creek" town in which I live

I also have a thankful heart when I think about the things I am learning about identity.After living in Mozambique for a while, I learned that my identity does not come from my culture. And after graduating from university and now working at a job that does not require any economics knowledge, I am learning that my identity does not come from my vocation.

Every person will see a different side of me. The people in Mozambique may see me as a white person; the people I serve at work may see me as a coffee-pouring-machine; the people with whom I play frisbee may see me as some girl with whom they play frisbee. They don't know my story. They don't know I broke my collar bone when I was about five years old when my brother tackled me. They don't know that I like to dance in my living room when I'm home alone. They only see the teensy part of me they see.

But I hope when they see-- when you see-- whichever teensy part of me you see, you see Christ. Because that is the most important thing. Because Jesus Christ sees all sides of me, the quirky, the fun, and the despicable, and He ferociously loves me regardless. My identity is in Him.

Home again

So I am back in Canada!
I am happy to be home and the whole summer feels like a dream. But it really happened, and it really happened to me.
Now I am a bit lost. I don't know what to expect for the future and that is scary, but I am learning to trust God.

The first week home has been pretty life-giving, though. The first day I was home I got to have an impromptu dance party to this song in our living room. I just noticed it has over 90 million views on Youtube so I guess I am a bit out of touch but it was fun to dance with my siblings.

Then on the weekend we made a little trip to the Parrsboro side of the Fundy shore where we got to relax with a game of dominoes at a cottage and also hike some of Cape Chignecto.

Cape Chignecto