While sitting at work, during the quiet times, I have read four small books on prevalent teen social/emotional issues by a group called "Mercy Ministries" They are simple, meant to be put in the hands of teens, but very much to the point and insightful...
Something big in the teen community now is "cutting" - where teens carve themselves up - especially girls, of course. Other major issues are eating disorders, abuse and addiction. As the author seeks to help young women understand spiritual concepts, she uses some good illustrations. One is the following:
Sin is a big, stone wall between you and your best friend. You can't talk through it..It was erected (in Adam) and by you stone by stone...
She talks of the "reaching out" of Philippians as being similar to a baby's reaching for something beyond its grasp, straining with all its might....I see this in both Cora and Will each time I see them - a good picture...
Vis a vis abuse, she talks of Christ's shame of the cross - that he bore our shame as well as our sin...She also talks of the "ungodly soul tie" formed between a perpetrator and his victim...
With eating disorders, she defines the driving force behind each one as:
Anorexia - being so busy counting calories etc., that you can't think about emotional issues
Bulimia-Purging emotion
Binge eating-externalizing, expressing inner chaos
She quotes a distraught young woman talking of her conversion"
I came to God in anger and defiance, throwing my trash can life at him and saying he could have it if he could do anything with it....It doesn't matter how you come to him, it matters THAT you come to him...
The author say, of course, how important it is that the women see themselves as new creatures, expressing it this way:
Paul was not a "recovering murderer", but a new creature; Peter was not a "recovering lier" but a new creature...
Good little books...
May they bless the shattered young girls that call us night and day...
..
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Last Friday we went to Maryanne's house and left for Victoria's wedding from there. As I came downstairs in my wedding finery, Emma said, "Mimi, you look like a beautiful princess"....Ha ha ha ha ha....How I love my grandchildren...Wrinkles, emerging jowls, jelly like consistency - and they love me just as I am...
On another note, I have been reading CS Lewis's sci-fi trilogy again. His understanding of Christian theology certainly has its problem areas. I think what I appreciate more than anything is his understanding of evil. I think because he moved in very elite Oxford-Cambridge circles, his knowledge of personal, conspiratorial, highly placed evil was up close and personal. I think he 'gets' the virtually demonic nature of evil people, especially the evil of those highly placed, like no one else. And he brings out the intersection of human and demonic evil so uniquely. I want to post on this topic on conspiracy soon, but have to wait for the time to do it properly.
My first week at Hopeline has come and gone. Sunday night I did just training. Monday I received many calls but most were dropped, disconnected for whatever reason - actually talked with just four people, and felt quite tense during and after. There is such a mix of technological and demanding interpersonal at one time. Yesterday was much better. and hope I continue to feel more and more that I know what i'm doing...I even handled a 'chat' call on my own!
Dad will be away in Atlanta the next couple of day, so I am here on my own again - but much to do...Calvert for prayer; Grace visiting, Alicia and her friend, Charessa for coffee tonight; church to clean; car to garage for new brakes; Jane Stewart for lunch; Aleris and Grandma perhaps tomorrow; Costco; trailer to clean up; I would love to get to Maryanne's....Whew!
Til next time!
On another note, I have been reading CS Lewis's sci-fi trilogy again. His understanding of Christian theology certainly has its problem areas. I think what I appreciate more than anything is his understanding of evil. I think because he moved in very elite Oxford-Cambridge circles, his knowledge of personal, conspiratorial, highly placed evil was up close and personal. I think he 'gets' the virtually demonic nature of evil people, especially the evil of those highly placed, like no one else. And he brings out the intersection of human and demonic evil so uniquely. I want to post on this topic on conspiracy soon, but have to wait for the time to do it properly.
My first week at Hopeline has come and gone. Sunday night I did just training. Monday I received many calls but most were dropped, disconnected for whatever reason - actually talked with just four people, and felt quite tense during and after. There is such a mix of technological and demanding interpersonal at one time. Yesterday was much better. and hope I continue to feel more and more that I know what i'm doing...I even handled a 'chat' call on my own!
Dad will be away in Atlanta the next couple of day, so I am here on my own again - but much to do...Calvert for prayer; Grace visiting, Alicia and her friend, Charessa for coffee tonight; church to clean; car to garage for new brakes; Jane Stewart for lunch; Aleris and Grandma perhaps tomorrow; Costco; trailer to clean up; I would love to get to Maryanne's....Whew!
Til next time!
Friday, May 14, 2010
We are at Maryanne's ready to go to Victoria's black-tie wedding and just hauled out Dad's beautiful Tommy Hilfiger(sp?) suit...It has a moth hole on the shoulder. What should we do?
We have considered putting a poppy on the shoulder and saying this is a traditional Canadian wedding custom...At the end of the wedding, as the couple leaves, we detach the poppy and throw it at the couple.
What do you think?
We have considered putting a poppy on the shoulder and saying this is a traditional Canadian wedding custom...At the end of the wedding, as the couple leaves, we detach the poppy and throw it at the couple.
What do you think?
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Adam
This is a letter Andrew received from a man, now forty, who many, many years ago - as a five-seven year old, or so, lived underneath us with his mom and brother in our first Toronto apartment. Andrew was then four? Tim a baby. He found Andrew on Facebook.
Dear Challies Family,
I have wanted to reconnect with you for many years now. While I, like most of us, have wanted to reconnect for the sake of sharing good memories, my purpose for reconnecting was renewed in the summer of 1996. That was the day I became a follower of Jesus Christ. So, quite simply I wanted to say:
Thank-you for your presence in my life! Perhaps I could have said it more poetically. Ray Bolyz in his song, "Thank You for Giving to the Lord", wrote earlier the words that elaborate on the feeling of my heart:
Thank you for giving to the Lord,
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord,
I am so glad you gave.
You gave to the Lord simply by being present in our lives. You were present by participating in our lives while allowing us to participate in yours all the while demonstrating the presence of Christ.
Only now, through spiritual eyes can I fully appreciate your presence in my life. As well, John and Barbara, as a parent I now better appreciate the efforts you must have taken to raise a Christian family with God's help. I see now how the presence of Christ was demonstrated in so many ways. I would like to name a few:
Your lifestyle seemed refreshingly different from some of our other friends and family. I often remember walking into your apartment and sensing spaciousness and a sense that went beyond cleanliness - there was a strong fragrance of purity. This sense was reflected not only in the decor of your home, which was later matched in your house near Bayview, but was evident in how you conducted yourselves at home. The time spent at your home was time well spent. It was re-creational in the truest sense of the word.
A moment for Andrew: I so enjoyed spending time with him. Often we would hang out in his room listening to the song, "Leaving on a Jetplane" on his record player. I would often enjoy watching him draw countless circles and listen to his profound insights. He was a sage at an early age! Then came the train set and the entire bedroom was transformed into a miniature train station. John tenderly showed us how to play with the station.
Tenderness was part of your presence and personality. You demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit in many different situations. Two I can remember most clearly.
Once at the cottage you brought us to, Barbara, you allowed me the privilege of watering the forest lawn. You warned me NOT to spray anyone and I promised not to. Somehow, however, I missed my intended target and splashed water on you as you were sitting down. You reprimanded me gently. That was it. No yelling or punishment. I was impressed!
The second episode involved some punishment. For some reason, while talking with Andrew at the corner of Palmerston and Vermont, I had pushed Andrew off his trike and quickly ran home to avoid the consequences of leaving my friend behind on the ground. Minutes late, you appeared at our door asking to speak to my mother. You recounted what happened and you then suggested some appropriate punishments. I was quite impressed by the list and to this day I have never forgotten them. The list included" going to bed (with or without supper -I can't remember), doing some chores (or something like that) and most remarkable, having a bath! This was the most intriguing list of suggestions for a bad boy - all of them were beneficial yet served to get the point across. I felt remorseful but relieved at your response to my actions, Barbara.
Finally your love for us was obvious not only in how you livingly brought us into your home, shared the fruit of the Spirit with us, but also how I felt this love from your family, and could "read it between the lines" of our time together. This is harder to explain with any particular example, except I just felt your love for my family and me.
This was maybe the most important quality for my family and me. My mom, Cathy, was most of the time a single mom and while I had the opportunity to visit my dad on occasion, my younger brother, Damian, had a more difficult relationship with his dad, who left our home when he was about three.
I want to share more about the moments spent with your family and their impact on the present but I will leave that for another letter. I really wanted to share these words with you:
Thank you for your presence in my life!
Thank you for your presence in my life!
Thank you for your presence in my life!
Hallelujah!
Amen.
Love in Christ,
Adam
You know I am not passing this on to vaunt ourselves. I am way past that...I am just amazed at the wonder of a little boy who saw everything, "sensed" everything and stored it away until God activated it to convert him. A gift beyond words for me. I feel like I have found Nancy's son...
And, I think, Adam is a pastor. He is in Tim's fellowship group, I believe....
Dear Challies Family,
I have wanted to reconnect with you for many years now. While I, like most of us, have wanted to reconnect for the sake of sharing good memories, my purpose for reconnecting was renewed in the summer of 1996. That was the day I became a follower of Jesus Christ. So, quite simply I wanted to say:
Thank-you for your presence in my life! Perhaps I could have said it more poetically. Ray Bolyz in his song, "Thank You for Giving to the Lord", wrote earlier the words that elaborate on the feeling of my heart:
Thank you for giving to the Lord,
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord,
I am so glad you gave.
You gave to the Lord simply by being present in our lives. You were present by participating in our lives while allowing us to participate in yours all the while demonstrating the presence of Christ.
Only now, through spiritual eyes can I fully appreciate your presence in my life. As well, John and Barbara, as a parent I now better appreciate the efforts you must have taken to raise a Christian family with God's help. I see now how the presence of Christ was demonstrated in so many ways. I would like to name a few:
Your lifestyle seemed refreshingly different from some of our other friends and family. I often remember walking into your apartment and sensing spaciousness and a sense that went beyond cleanliness - there was a strong fragrance of purity. This sense was reflected not only in the decor of your home, which was later matched in your house near Bayview, but was evident in how you conducted yourselves at home. The time spent at your home was time well spent. It was re-creational in the truest sense of the word.
A moment for Andrew: I so enjoyed spending time with him. Often we would hang out in his room listening to the song, "Leaving on a Jetplane" on his record player. I would often enjoy watching him draw countless circles and listen to his profound insights. He was a sage at an early age! Then came the train set and the entire bedroom was transformed into a miniature train station. John tenderly showed us how to play with the station.
Tenderness was part of your presence and personality. You demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit in many different situations. Two I can remember most clearly.
Once at the cottage you brought us to, Barbara, you allowed me the privilege of watering the forest lawn. You warned me NOT to spray anyone and I promised not to. Somehow, however, I missed my intended target and splashed water on you as you were sitting down. You reprimanded me gently. That was it. No yelling or punishment. I was impressed!
The second episode involved some punishment. For some reason, while talking with Andrew at the corner of Palmerston and Vermont, I had pushed Andrew off his trike and quickly ran home to avoid the consequences of leaving my friend behind on the ground. Minutes late, you appeared at our door asking to speak to my mother. You recounted what happened and you then suggested some appropriate punishments. I was quite impressed by the list and to this day I have never forgotten them. The list included" going to bed (with or without supper -I can't remember), doing some chores (or something like that) and most remarkable, having a bath! This was the most intriguing list of suggestions for a bad boy - all of them were beneficial yet served to get the point across. I felt remorseful but relieved at your response to my actions, Barbara.
Finally your love for us was obvious not only in how you livingly brought us into your home, shared the fruit of the Spirit with us, but also how I felt this love from your family, and could "read it between the lines" of our time together. This is harder to explain with any particular example, except I just felt your love for my family and me.
This was maybe the most important quality for my family and me. My mom, Cathy, was most of the time a single mom and while I had the opportunity to visit my dad on occasion, my younger brother, Damian, had a more difficult relationship with his dad, who left our home when he was about three.
I want to share more about the moments spent with your family and their impact on the present but I will leave that for another letter. I really wanted to share these words with you:
Thank you for your presence in my life!
Thank you for your presence in my life!
Thank you for your presence in my life!
Hallelujah!
Amen.
Love in Christ,
Adam
You know I am not passing this on to vaunt ourselves. I am way past that...I am just amazed at the wonder of a little boy who saw everything, "sensed" everything and stored it away until God activated it to convert him. A gift beyond words for me. I feel like I have found Nancy's son...
And, I think, Adam is a pastor. He is in Tim's fellowship group, I believe....
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Boy, life is busy...How can it be so with just Dad and me in the house? Well, I guess I can figure that out...
One God to spend time with
One husband to care for
Two sons to stay in touch with
Three daughters to listen to
One daughter-in-law to chat with
Eleven grandchildren to love
Several friends to contact regularly
One Sunday School class to teach
Exercise in lieu of health care
One house to clean
One church to clean
One trailer park to organize
One budget to balance
Six blogs to read daily
Two political sites to read daily
One book to complete
And, God willing, twenty hours of work with Hopeline coming up soon
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One meaningful life, and I thank God for it!
One God to spend time with
One husband to care for
Two sons to stay in touch with
Three daughters to listen to
One daughter-in-law to chat with
Eleven grandchildren to love
Several friends to contact regularly
One Sunday School class to teach
Exercise in lieu of health care
One house to clean
One church to clean
One trailer park to organize
One budget to balance
Six blogs to read daily
Two political sites to read daily
One book to complete
And, God willing, twenty hours of work with Hopeline coming up soon
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One meaningful life, and I thank God for it!
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