Thankfulness

So . . . it's Boxing Day!  

The day where everyone wakes up early (or even camps out at the mall) and lines up for "great, cheap, deals."  Yet, despite all the business at the shopping malls, something just doesn't feel right. 

Flashback to yesterday.  Christmas Day.  People all over the world celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  The one true hope for our world.  So why is it that the attitude and focus of so many people can change just after one day?  What happened that made our thoughts and focus change so quickly?

As I was reading my devotion on thankfulness this morning, a thought crossed my mind.  Here in Canada, we are so fortunate to have an abundance of blessings in our lives.  Our basic necessities are cared for, and the authorities are fair and just.  Canadians have rights and freedoms guaranteed to them.  As Christians, we can show our faith in God without being afraid or worried of being put in prison or killed.  Yet with everything we have, there is still a part of our hearts that is selfish, greedy, and ungrateful.

Naturally, all humans were born to be selfish.  It is a part of our imperfect human nature.  However, since God's provision and fingerprints are all over our lives, I think it is only right and pleasing in God's eyes that we are thankful for everything we have.

Now, I'm not saying that Boxing Day is a horrible way to wrap up the holiday season.  The point is, we should live a lifestyle of thankfulness towards God for His sacrifice and for everything He has given us.  

As the devotion says, "Continual thanks leads to a constant peace.  God's heart is good, and He is generous toward His children.  Make a choice to be thankful."

Holiday Spirit?

It's official - Christmas is coming, and so are the holidays!  The real question is, do I have the holiday spirit?  (The feeling of happiness and cheer accompanied by a certain holiday season) 

As many of you may know, this holiday season has a bittersweet taste to it.  It has been one year since my grandfather went to be with God.  All of this has brought a roller coaster of emotions resulting in both good and bad.  It pointed me towards my baptism, but it also resulted in months of ignorance and running away from God.  

Christmas time is sort of a reflection time for me.  Reflection of what happened in the year, and my goals for the upcoming year.  It is a time for me to listen to what God wants me to do with my life, and how He will accomplish it.  Christmas is a time for family and friends, warmth, hope, love, peace, and joy.  It's a time for celebration because of Jesus' birth and His sacrifice.  

Other than spending time with family, Christmas is a time to be thankful for what we have.  The snow usually gets pretty deep this time around the year, and we long for a feeling of lasting warmth. Enjoy the fireplace!

~Naomi

How do you usually spend your Christmas season? Any traditions your family has?  
Comment below! 

Testimony

On Sunday, I got baptized.  One of the most amazing moments in my life.  A public proclamation that I LOVE AND FOLLOW JESUS.  As usual, I was asked to share my testimony in front of the congregation.  So I did.  Here it is.

Testimony

I was born and raised in a Christian family, and have been going to church for as long as I can remember.  When I was three years old, I accepted Christ into my heart with the help of my mom.  This was significant because the day after, I was diagnosed with a minor heart condition.  Knowing I was a part of God's family brought comfort to my parents.  Soon, I went through surgery, and all was well.  After I accepted Christ, nothing really changed.  Although I was young, I still continued my sinful ways. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but that knowledge was always in the back of my head.  All of the knowledge I learned at church stayed in my head and I almost never applied anything I learned.  For the following years, I followed the same routine.

            In December 2006, our family moved to Edmonton to be closer to my grandparents.  I didn't understand why we had to leave all of our friends.  I wasn't really close to anybody on my dad's side of the family, and I didn't want to leave my comfort zone.  Unfortunately, I had no say in the decision.  My dad explained to me that we were following God's plan by relocating.  However, moving to Edmonton would later prove to have been a good choice. 

In 2011, I attended my first year of SYC.  As expected, it was life changing in more ways than one.  I realized the way I was living my life wasn't the way Jesus wanted me to.  The way I treated other people didn't align with what Jesus had taught in the Bible.  With the help of Esther, I re-dedicated my life to Christ.  This time, I was determined to make a change in my lifestyle.  I decided I needed to apply everything I had learned since I was little.  I started reading my Bible again and praying whole-heartedly.

Recently in the past year, death and heaven became a reality in my life.  My grandpa passed away last December, which resulted in a roller coaster of emotions.  One of those emotions was anger towards God.  I was angry at God for taking away my grandpa and not leaving me enough time with him.  I entered a very deep, dark place.  As a result of my guilt and anger, I stopped communicating with God.  Gradually, I stopped praying and reading my Bible. I fell away from the one thing that could save me.  Soon life became very chaotic for me and the people around me.  Along with hormonal changes, the next couple months were an extremely difficult experience.  Finally, I realized what I had been doing was wrong.  Speaking from experience, living a life without Jesus is impossible.   

This was my pivotal moment.  This realization made me stop my ignorance of God.  This is the reason why I am standing here right now.

Re-post from "Your Life is All About Love" by Holley Gerth

This world tells us the path to success is lined with signs like…

Be bigger. Try harder. Do more.

But that path is nothing more than a treadmill that will wear out our hearts and lead us nowhere. Trust me, I’ve tried it.

So what path are we called to instead?

Walk in the way of love. Eph. 5:2

Love is the biggest dream, the grandest goal, the most glorious way to spend your one precious existence.

So what does that mean today?

Simply get up and say, “God, today I want to love you, other and myself. Please show me how.”

Then take a small step, and another and another.

That’s all.

Love is enough for this one day.

And it’s enough for your one life.

Walk on, friend.
http://holleygerth.com/your-life-is-all-about-love/

Forgiveness

Forgiveness.  

What a powerful word.  

Only eleven letters, yet I find it is one of the hardest things for me to do.  When people wrong me, I want to do something to them so that they will know what it feels like.  Maybe I do this in hopes that it will heal the wound that they made.  However, we all know that it does quite the opposite.

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.

Psalms 103:7-18 tells me something different.  It tells me of God's love and abounding grace.  How He doesn't hold any grudges, how He has compassion, and how His everlasting love stretches millions of miles in all directions and still never ends.  We were made to be like God, therefore, we should try to forgive.  As hard as it sounds, it truly is the right thing to do, and is what God would want us to do too.  

Whatever the situation is, FORGIVENESS is the key.  

There's that other word, made of seven letters - REVENGE.  I'll admit, I'm always tempted to go with that second one.  Take matters into my own hands.  Give the other person "justice".  But it's the wrong thing to do.  Really, it is, because at the end of the day, vengeance belongs to God.  And only Him.  Absolutely, positively, no one else.  

At the end of time, God will be the one and only JUDGE.  He will DELIVER the punishment.  We will all be judged.  So just leave it up to Him.  He always knows what he's doing, and always will.  All we have to do is TRUST and OBEY.

Because God forgives us, I too, will try to forgive.  It sets me free.  He sets us free to forgive and love others.  He intentionally forgives us and starts us anew.  

All it takes is a prayer.

Here's a video about an incredible story of forgiveness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz3tkHv5sbg

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm103:8-18&version=NIV    

School, School, School...

School...

So... School has started for a couple months.  As I embarked on my journey to begin Grade 9, I realized how nervous I was for high school.  Those two words put together make a terrifying combination.  There are so many uncertainties about this year and the next.  Thousands of questions race around in my head.  

Which high school should I go to?  Which program should I take?  Should I continue taking Spanish?  What will high school be like?  Is it scary?  Will I make any friends?  How will I get to school?  

Thank goodness I'm not in grade 12.  YET.  Because then all those university questions would be pounding in my head.  And those questions wouldn't be just from me.  They'd be from almost every single considerate person I knew.  

Choosing high schools is definitely nerve racking.  But, thank goodness I've narrowed it down to a couple options.  The thing that is affecting my decision the most is where God wants me to go.  Lately, I've been more conscious of God's plan for my life instead of my own plan.  I want to commit my life to Him.  Therefore, my high school will definitely be affecting the way I will live my life.  Prayer is definitely what I'm doing, and reading the Bible too.  Listening to God and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit requires deep concentration.  

Trusting in Him to guide me to the right decision.  Praying faithfully.  Listening attentively.  

These are all part of living the Christian Life. 

Thunderstorm Thoughts

Here's the deal: There was a thunderstorm.
It was 12 AM.  I had a nightmare.  I was scared.  I think of the people I know in heaven.  Then, I feel sad.  I guess you could say "down in spirits" or "melancholy".  The point is, I miss them.  A lot.

Psalm 16
I started flipping through my study Bible again... Concordance/Subject Guide.  Out of curiosity, I looked under the title of "DEATH".  The thing is, grief is tough.  Death itself is scary, and getting over it is unimaginably hard.  You always think or feel of the things you "COULD HAVE"  or "SHOULD HAVE" done while they (the person) was still on earth.  While they were with you physically, we tend to find ourselves taking the simplest yet most important things for granted.

• "Things" --> Objects, tangible stuff . . .
• "People" --> The important people in your life.  The ones you love or did at one point                    in your life.  Your role models. Brothers and Sisters you know from                            church. Family.  Good friends.     

It's quite hard to imagine that in the blink of an eye, in a snap of a finger, those people that you care about could be deteriorated to almost NOTHING.  Whether it is physically, emotionally, or spiritually.  Their soul, their character, and their personality.  The little things about them that made them who they were.  *SNAP* They could be physically dead.  A fatal accident.  Cancer.  A horrible disease/sickness.

That's physical death.  Their body is gone; their heart no longer pumps.  I get the chills just thinking about it.

Psalms 16 (written by King David) presents something different.  A hope and a future in the afterlife.  YOUR SOUL.  The type of person you are, your character/personality, and your hobbies.  Who you really are on the inside.  Your heart.  Verse 10 says ". . . because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, . . ." .  There IS a future.   The people that have "passed away" are still, in a way, 'alive'!

This kind of 'life' is different than physical aliveness.  [I'm alive and well, because your spirit lives within me . . . because, you died and rose again! Amazing love! How can it be? That you my King should die for me . . ."] (-Amazing Love by Chris Tomlin) 

The thing is, God sent His One and Only Son to die for us.  Jesus' death, His sacrificed life paid the hefty "price" for ALL of our sins.  Had we lived the way we do now, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have known Jesus, God, or Christianity at all!  Man, I don't even know what people were doing in China during Jesus' time, and I'm pretty sure Canada wasn't even discovered!  It is because of Jesus that we can look forward to going to an awesome, happy, joyful place once our stay on Earth is done.  HEAVEN.  

Those six letters mean the world to me.  Now, I know deep down in my heart there are several people waiting for me up there.  Boy, am I ever excited.  To be able to see them again, to be able to spend time with them, to see them happy.  No more pain or sadness.  THAT is what I look forward to.  And, if we think about it that way, grief doesn't seem too big to overcome.  The word "Death" and the feeling that comes with it doesn't have such a huge effect.

With the help of Jesus, we can overcome these depressing feelings.  By holding His hand, our pain and sorrow becomes replaced with happiness and hope.  Walking the journey of life with Jesus may not always be easy, but it will definitely be worth it in the end.
          

Spring is Here!

Finally!  All the snow has melted and there is green grass everywhere!

Now that spring is here, what do you have planned?  I'll definitely be doing some gardening as well as several picnics and long walks in the sunset.

Comment below your favorite spring activities!

Count your blessings

Oh, how we ALL wish it was like this outside!
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 Yeah, but no... it's like this ß



Anybody else feeling the winter blues?? The months of January and February are the most depressing times of the year.  C'mon - it's grey and cold outside.  Who else wouldn't be depressed?  

BUT -- instead of being all pessimistic and stuff... why don't we focus on the happier things?  Count your blessings!

1. We have a loving family that cares and supports us.
2. We have a church community that cares and supports us. 
3. We have a roof to live under and a bed to sleep on.
4. Our parents have jobs/we have jobs to make sure we have food on the table, as well as other things that add to our quality of life.

If you think about it, that's all we really need.  Other things like technology may add to how "happy" we are, but at the end of the day - what REALLY matters most?  Our happiness doesn't have to depend on the circumstances around us.  If we focus on God and what He did for us, it will make our problems and the things that make us melancholy seem a lot smaller.

When we focus on the small, happier things instead of being pessimistic and melancholy, we will all start to feel better - you, and the people around you.

Try it! 

So . . .  BE HAPPY!

Feel free to comment below any of your experiences . . . or how you overcame those winter blues! 

Losing someone dear to your heart

Mourning the Loss of a Loved One  

Life happens.  It's whether you choose to accept it or not.

Every day, people around the world lose somebody they love.

It hurts

People express their grief in different ways.  Some feel sad and cry.  Some feel angry.  Some feel guilty.  It's what you do with those feelings that is important.

It is okay to mourn the loss of somebody you love.  Just don't mope about it.  There is a time to feel sad, and there is a time to feel happy.  There is a time for everything.  It is God's timing.

We have to understand that everything that happens to our life is part of God's big plan for us. We won't know what His plan is, nobody does.  But, we must learn to accept what happened and move on.  It may not be easy, but with God's help, we will pull through difficult times. Sometimes, it will take a couple months.  Other times, it will take longer.

What's important is that you keep a good relationship with God and that you hold his hand during the tough times, and the good ones.