Quote

"The first time I came upon a Bible in the bedside table of a hotel room in Canada, I burst into tears. I sent a contribution to the Gideons the very next day, with a note urging them to spread the range of their activity to all places where worn and weary travellers might lay down their heads, not just to hotel rooms, and that they should leave not only Bibles, but other sacred writings as well. I cannot think of a better way to spread the faith. No thundering from a pulpit, no condemnation from bad churches, no peer pressure, just a book of scripture quietly waiting to say hello, as gentle and powerful as a little girl's kiss on your cheek." - Yann Martel "Life of Pi"

Comments?

Peace.

There is hope!

Walked onto the bus today, the usual: look quickly to find a seat, and try not to touch any of those hand rails...it is coming into flu season ya know, yuck.
I'm sitting in my seat and you've got the usual conversations going on around you, "So hey, how much money you got to give to so and so..", "Man I could have punched that girl right in the face..."
"Mom, how long are we going to be on the bus?"
Ah, the bus...

Then it caught me totally off guard-- this guy who looks like he may be leaning on the side of a bully, walks up to a seat on the bus and proceeds to ask this young lady (probably his age or younger) who is sitting in the seat next to the one he would like to occupy.. and get this... he says "Excuse Miss would that be alright if I sat here?"
Of course she said yes BUT come on, it isn't every day bus talk that you hear some one being this kind! You usually get people who intentionally sit on the outside seat of the bus so that no one can sit in the one next to them...

It doesn't stop there..
When I was getting off the bus behind a family of three, we all passed through the back bus doors and then here's this polite guy again-- holding the door open so that it didn't by chance close on any one. Kind or what?
I suppose there is still hope for this world.
We learn by example don't we.

Ah yes, and this proves the statement "Don't judge a book by it's cover.."
A lesson learned.

Fight Fear

"The matter is difficult to put into words. For fear, real fear, such as shakes you to your foundation, such as you feel when you are brought face to face with your mortal end, nestles in your memory like a gangrene: it seeks to rot everything, even the words with which to speak of it. So you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don't, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you." -Yann Martel "Life of Pi"

Sort of like speaking things out so that they can be brought in the light instead of festering in the darkness...
Thoughts...

Good Grief!?!?!

During my morning rations I've been spending time listening to God.
One of the questions I was to ask the Lord was, "What in me causes you grief?" To tell the truth I really didn't want to ask the question because I was afraid to hear the answer. In that moment of meditating I felt a wall of resistance, to hear the answer, go up.
Right after I felt that wall in my heart I felt the Lord speak - it was gentle and kind - it was that very thing that grieved Him. The wall of resistance - being stiff necked.
What really helped me in the moment was how the Lord delivered the message. His words made me want to get rid of the wall. His presence, goodness and kindness is so disarming that I want and welcome His correction. His correction is often like taking a bath after swimming in the ocean. Cleansing. Refreshing. Good!
I found in that morning the goodness of hearing what causes Him grief.
Shalom
Elaine

Counting our blessings (and hits ...and visitors!)

Hey readers,
I'm writing this post due to the slim possibility that someone is actually interested in this blog's statistics...
If you visit often enough, you may have noticed that we recently added a counter at the bottom of the side menu on the right. Today we added a second counter. "But why?" I hear you ask!
Well the first counter logs the number of times this blog is viewed. I visit most days, so each time I visit this page, the counter goes up by 1. The other counter only logs each different visitor once. So even if I check back tomorrow, it will already know that i visited once, so the counter won't change again! (If you're REALLY curious to know how, the counter counts each unique IP address (computer ID) used to view the site. In other words, when I check this blog using my home computer it will add just 1 to the second counter, no matter how often I check back! However, if I use my work computer to check the blog, it will register another different visitor, as the computer ID is different. Make sense?).

I'm sure you were desperate to know all that. So by show of hands, who really cares? ;)

Favorite Moments....

Here are some of my favorite moments...
*Lying in my bed watching a movie on Caitlyn's portable DVD player surrounded by Cait, Hannah and Jacob.
*Sitting in the front room with all the lights out and several candles lit while Jacob, Hannah and Cait do many creative movements to worship music.
*Eating Derek's freshly baked cake.
*Walking on the beach in Florida with Ian.
*Reading my Bible on my comfy couch when the dawn is near with a cup of hot Chai.
*Worshipping at Recre8 with all my friends.
*Skiing down Blackcomb Mountain with Ian's parent's, Ian and all the kids.
*Chasing Jeremiah as he is stealing away with one of my papers squealing as he goes.
*Going to the symphony and listening to a group of violins sound like they are one.
*Eating Shabbat with family and friends and the kids saying the blessings.
*Hearing Jesus tell me that He's pleased with me.

And this is just a taste... there's more...
Shalom
e

Listen Up!!! They actually have some pearls...

If I had only known! If I had only known then what I know now...
I could have been saved so much in the way of sinning, damaging myself and hurting others. But I chose to do what I wanted and ignored the teachings. I ignored the years of my parent's investment of showing me the right way. I decided to do what was right in my own eyes and so often I ended up in one big mess.

Proverbs cries out a message over and over again,
"Hear, my son/daughter, you father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching" (1:8)
"My son/daughter, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you..." (2:1)
"My son/daughter, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments." (3:1)
"Hear, O sons/daughters, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding..." (4:1)
Are you beginning to see a pattern.
I can remember, way back when, ignoring the teachings of my parents. I thought they just had different values than what I wanted. They really didn't understand me, my friends or what was going on. I failed to realize that their "values" were actually the formula for real "life" and they were God's values.
So now here I am a number of years later with my own kids reading Proverbs with the eyes of parent. Longing for my kids to hear - HEAR - the words of wisdom and let these words - THE WORD - be the path for their lives.
If you're one of those who believes that your own way is the right way heed the words of wisdom that are crying out to you. Don't turn your back on the wisdom of God for truly His way is LIFE!
Shalom
Elaine G

Give it up

Sorry it has been a bit since I have blogged...

A psalm of David, Psalm 41 says:

"All who hate me whisper about me,
imagining the worst for me.
"Whatever he has, it is fatal," they say.
"He will never get out of that bed!"
Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely,
the one who shared my food,
has turned against me."

Now, I don't know about you BUT I know if I was suffering in any way, my best friend would be one of the first to respond to the situation by helping me. Not in David's case..
Then I got to thinking...
We are, after all, called to live a sacrificial life, and if God calls us to give some thing up, or to let some one go, we will trust and obey, right?
Even if that did mean letting a best friend go to persue holiness.

Now that leads me to my question here:
What was/is the hardest thing that you have had to give up to walk closer with Jesus?

Peace to you.

Morning ponderings...

I've been reading - contemplating my way through Proverbs.
The other day the verse that captured me for the day was Prov. 4: 18-19.
"But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know over what they stumble."

I'm often awake at the dawn of the day and I am always quickened, awakened in my heart by the appearing of dawn's first light. It always seems to bring hope, joy and anticipation. I love that imagery as I think of the righteous. Wherever we go we bring the light of dawn in people's lives.
The more that we walk in this path - way of righteous the lighter - clearer our way gets. Things become more apparent - perhaps even tranparent. I think of the the song "I can see clearly now the rain has gone. I can see all obstacles in my way..." I think that's how it goes.
What spurs me on daily as I enter into very dark places and meet people who are surrounded in darkness is this image of me being infused with the light of the world. I am the light of the world.(Mt 5:14) So here I am - little old me - honored to be a dawning light in people's lives. As I enter in the men's prison cells I see light coming before them and lighting their darkness, offering hope. As I talk to people on the street I see the rays of the kingdom shining in their eyes offering them perspective and clarity.
This little light of mine I'm going to let it shine!!!
Shabbat Shalom.
Elaine G

A good question

There's a guy at the Centre where I work, who is a blessing and an encouragement to me. He's a client (resident) and lives a very simple life in a private room in the building. He's one of the most friendly people I've ever met and has a raw faith, which I find hugely encouraging. His name is Chris and he's loved and respected here in the Centre and out in the city, where he rides his tricycle around the streets to pass the time.
Chris once asked me to pray that his headache would go away, and then a few hours later was enthusiastically testifying to anyone that would listen that Jesus had healed him through prayer. How often do we ask for something in prayer and then forget to glorify God when we recieve it ...or worse still, credit it to "co-incidence" instead. Anyway, I love Chris and I know lots of the 614 London crew find him a blessing too.
Earlier today, he walked into my office, sat down and asked the question: "If I wear the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness, what's going to protect my legs?"
Simple question; tough answer! I took some time to explain that while the armour is very real, it's not literal in the way that he was expecting. He patiently listened as I talked a bit about the armour and how it protects us and helps us in our fight against spiritual darkness. In many ways, it was a very simple conversation and yet I was really challenged to think about how literally I take the words of Ephesians 6. Maybe it's too easy to pass it off as an analogy or a vague concept, instead of enthusiastically pursuing the need to "suit-up" and guard ourselves from (and fight against) spiritual attacks.
In an innocent way, Chris highlighted the danger of not protecting ourselves fully. If we protect our chest and head but leave our legs exposed, we could be in for trouble. The spiritual translation of that idea is very significant. If we only guard ourselves in a few areas of our life and leave ourselves exposed in other areas, it doesn't take a genius to figure out where the devil will attack first! Kinda like a trojan horse, he'll expose the weak and unprotected areas of our lives and tear the rest apart form the inside!
Thanks to Chris, I was reminded to guard my "legs"!

Intercessor's Update

"LORD, for a mighty revival we plead,
LORD, give us souls, LORD, give us souls;
Quicken our hearts by the Holy Ghost's power,
Pour out thy Spirit , a great, mighty shower,
Of sin the sinner convict, LORD, this hour,
LORD, give us souls; LORD, give us souls."
- Harry Davis (The Salvation Army Song Book)

Praise the Lord with us...

*Today is our first SWAT in quite a while!

*Dan White is back with us!

*Geoff has officially moved into his new apartment!

*We had new faces attend Knee Drill this week!

Please pray for...

..Pray that our cell continues to grow so we can multiply into more cells..

..Joshua to be completely healed of his asthma..

..Us to continue building on the friendships that we have a foundation for..

..SWAT is tonight at 7pm, pray that the right people would come and be changed..

..Justice for the oppressed..

..That the children of 614 would be influential in their schools and friend circles..

..Consistent painting contracts for Ian..

..That we would be faithful in our commitments..

..Intentional Fellowship with others..

..Right decisions to be made about the direction of 614 London..

..Increased faith and trust in the Lord to lead and provide for us..

..Those in the Centre of Hope and Ryan as he conistantly ministers there..

..My Permanent Residency papers.
Pray that the Canadian Officers would pass my papers through quickly!

Thank you for all of your prayers! They are much appreciated!
May the peace of God dwell in your hearts.

Jennifer Ivany
614 London