Gifts

I was given a book a couple weeks ago by a good friend of mine titled "One thousand gifts" by Ann Voskamp. I won't delve into the details of this book, but I've only read through one third of it, and I have feeling already that it will make it onto my "recommended reading" list. The author's premise essentially is that true joy and fulfillment comes from being thankful for and appreciating the things around us in the moment we have right now. There's more to it than that of course, but it inspired me to do the same. I often find myself continually looking forward to the next step, not being satisfied and thankful for the present or seeing the beauty in the present. So, I'm hoping that on this trip I'll be able to see those little things that make the moment unique and let those things define this trip rather than the hurry of "doing" or "seeing" as much as possible.

So, to start....

1. Morning tea in the sky

2. Watching the sun peak up over the horizon

3. Viewing clouds from the top

4. Private bathrooms in an airport that include their own sink!

5. Children with accents

6. Bright red flowers in the middle of winter

7. A warm bed after a rainy, blustery day outside

8. A security agent who says off-handedly, as my bible falls out of my backpack, "So, you're a believer?" as I'm madly trying to repack my belongings while the people behind roll their eyes.

9. A camera to capture unique moments...Like this. Not something you would see in Canada. And I got to ride it home tonight.

And the rest of my pictures you can see on facebook because blogspot won't load any more pictures, so hopefully there will be some more tomorrow!

Striving or Satisfied

As we start a new year I wanted to share some of the thoughts Christ has put on my heart over the last couple days. At this moment I am so thankful to have had several days of peaceful relaxation without obligation. It's given me the freedom to spend some moments alone thinking about this past year and what's to come. Of course, in usual "Becky-style" I was looking for ways to fill my time yesterday with social activities and having a little "pity party" for myself when that didn't happen. Unbeknownst to me, the Lord was really just arranging for me to have some uninterrupted time alone with Him. And it turned into a beautiful day of reminiscing on the way He brought through a difficult year and how He has been trying to draw me closer to himself. Through my time yesterday, He revealed a few things and gave a couple promises that I wanted to share.

I wonder if sometimes I approach my relationship with Christ with the wrong perspective. He has given me His Word to show me what He is like. And yet I have been reading it so that I can learn how to change myself, be a "better Christian", be "more spiritual", be more successful. I have been approaching God's Word as if it's a self-help book. I have been trying to produce the fruits of the Spirit in my life through my own will power and discipline. And then I wonder why I feel so frustruated. I forget that God gave His Word to reveal Christ to us, who truly IS The Word Himself. When I sit back and read the Word with the view of trying to get to know the one who loves me unconditionally, it completely changes things.

For example James 3:17 says, "The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."
The wisdom from above is all these things because Christ is all these things. He is pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy etc. When I think about the fact that the one I love is all these things, I am filled with joy that He is also the one who has promised, "I will never leave you or forsake you", and that "Your eyes shall see the King in His beauty."

True joy comes from appreciation of how amazing Christ is and not from trying to be a better person. And yet as we appreciate Christ a transformation does happen. Romans 12:11 promises that transformation occurs through "the renewing of your minds." As we behold the beauty of Christ, He transforms us not through any effort of our own, but completely by His Spirit.

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but as our sufficiency is of Christ." 11 Cor.3:5.

"Beholding is the means by which transformation happens." (John Piper)

So as 2012 unfolds, my hope is to learn to daily appreciate Christ and be "satisfied when I awake with His likeness." Psalm 17:15, allowing Him to do the work of refining me to become the person He intended me to be.

Welcome to my thoughts for 2012. I hope that this will be a place that is open, honest and honoring to Christ. The inspiration for the title came from Proverbs 19:23, "The fear of the Lord tends to life, and he that has it shall abide satisfied."

I welcome any comments or reponses to what I have posted. I hope you will find it helpful and through reading you will be encouraged to press towards a closer relationship with Christ. If you do not know what it means to have a relationship with Christ or peace with God please contact me with any questions and I can point you in the right direction or send you a Bible.