Stop this Train!

Busy Busy! So life is still flying. I often feel like I don't have enough hours in a day to get stuff done. Constantly doing laundry on the fly. Emptying the dishwasher while I wait for the straightening iron. Cleaning the bathroom while waiting for my food to warm up. Chatting with a friend while cleaning up the kitchen or cooking...you get the picture. :)

This weekend was a busy one, but also really good. Friday night I went to a play with a friend and out for coffee after.

Saturday I went to a wedding and also for coffee with some girls from work between the reception and the dance. We went to Jonny's Java and had a great time. I think we may have scared some of the other people away, but oh well. The dance was fun. I loved watching all the girls from work dance. I didn't get up and dance, but it was great fun to watch. The live band was pretty good too.

Sunday Mom and I went to the city in the afternoon and then we stopped in at Tim and Val's for supper and a movie. It was great to hang out with them and their awesome animals. I love their pets. So fun. :)

Tonight I've gotta get over to Bible Quizzing. This is the last week I think. They have their last meet this weekend. Would love to go to the meet, but I am in Winnipeg for Thursday and Friday this week. Training..yay. :) Going for Sushi on Friday night with a girlfriend from work though so that should be good!

Well, life is good. I'm enjoying it most of the time. Haven't had a lot of energy to go running lately though. :( I was thinking of going today, but it wasn't very nice out. I'm getting spoiled by the nice weather we've had this spring.

This is the last week with the F11 crew in the basement. "F11" you ask? It's our team name, because the escape key for the banking system is F11. We use it a lot in our clean-up. :) We have an appreciation lunch and wind-up tomorrow at Gingerwood Lane. Looking forward to that!

I'm looking forward to being out of the basement, but it'll be bittersweet as well saying goodbye to my new friends.

But I'm going to embrace the next part of this work year. We have a busy summer ahead!

That's all for now. Till next time...

He sees you where you are

There are times when we all feel like we're excluded from the life skipping by outside ourselves. Moments when we feel alone, misunderstood and unimportant..completely invisible.

But You're right here. You're the center of my world and Your love is unexplainable, but I know You see me where I am.

Your right hand has got a hold on me and Your grace, each day it sets me free 'cause You're right here.

Some days life seems to pass us by. We're living too fast and we're dying inside. Our purpose in life gets lost in the worries. Perspective is gone.

But You're right here. You're the center of my world and Your love is unexplainable, but I know You see me where I am

Your right hand has got a hold on me and Your grace, each day it sets me free 'cause You're right here

My understanding is not understanding at all. My strength is weak, but in weakness Your strength will prevail! If I look to you, if I trust in You, You'll lift me up above it all!

There are times in our life when we see people fall. You give us grace to reach out in love and show them that

You're right here. You're the center of the world and Your love is unexplainable, but I know You see me where I am

Your right hand has got a hold on me and Your grace, each day it sets me free' cause You're right here

One Little Heartbeat

Just listening to a song and thinking of all my friends who are Moms. This song is for you!

One Heartbeat at a Time

You're up all night with a screaming baby
You run all day at the speed of life
And every day you feel a little bit less
Like the beautiful woman you are

So you fall into bed when you run out of hours
And you wonder if anything worth doing got done
Oh, maybe you just don't know
Or maybe you've forgotten

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

With every "I know you can do it"
Every tear that you kiss away
So many little things that seem to go unnoticed
They're just like the drops of rain over time
They become a river

And you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
How you're changing the world
You're changing the world

You, you are changing the world
One little heartbeat at a time
Making history with every touch and every smile
Oh, you, you may not see it now
But I believe that time will tell
How you, you are changing the world
Oh, I believe that you
You are changing the world
One little heartbeat
At a time

And you're changing the world

You guys are awesome! Keep up the great work raising our next generation!

Fun and Games

What a great weekend. Now it's back to work..

Saturday I woke up at a decent time and managed to get quite a bit done. Washed the car, cleaned up the yard, renewed insurance and drivers..

Yesterday I had a great time of worship with the church family. I went for a nice long bike ride in the afternoon which I am feeling today. :) In the evening the family was at Mom and Dad's for a BBQ. It was beautiful outside and we spent some time sitting outside and enjoying the sun. Well, I guess I was sitting while the others were playing frisbee. ;)

After a delicious supper, we played a good ol' game of monopoly. Comtois home rules..that says it all. I wasn't able to land on any unowned property and so I played the entire game without property, but still managed to survive till we called it quits and I even tripled my money..don't ask me how that works.. :)

And that's how my weekend went. I hope you all have had a great weekend and I wish you a wonderful work week!

Just one more thought and request. My Dad is heading off for 3 weeks with trans world radio and will be all over the world. Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Johannesburg. Please pray for him as he travels and for my Mom as she's home without him. Thanx!

Knowledge, wonder and mystery

Those of you who know me fairly well may also know that I have been an avid reader since I knew how to read. I grew up listening to my parents read to me and loving it. I was home schooled from grade 4-12 and thrived on learning through reading. I worked at the town library from age 14-18. I love books. I love trivia. People who talk to me may hear my love for useless trivia and can become annoyed by it..sorry. :) I love Jeopardy and trivial pursuit. As a family we used to play a game called The Bible Game, which was a trivia game based on bible knowledge. I loved that game! I love knowing things. I am fascinated by how things work, by the intricacies of nature, by the way people think and why they think the way they do. I love to figure things out for myself. Logic is my friend.

So now you may understand when I tell you that it bothers me to have a book on my bookshelf that I have never read. Today I was looking for a good read. Something different. I came across a book that I had forgotten about. It was given to me by the church as a graduation gift. My Dad wrote these words on the title page inside: To Beth, You are God's treasured possession. Remember your identity and calling. Remember the purpose of life. Remember your resources in Christ. 1 Peter 2:1-10 which reads:

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy

So now that I found this book again I am going to read it and treasure it. It's called "A Quiet Knowing" by Gigi Graham with Ruth Bell Graham

The phrase "A Quiet Knowing" speaks of our assurance in Christ. Our knowledge of eternal life and our knowing that everything is under the control and in the loving hands of our Heavenly Father.

Yes, I love trivia, and weird and wonderful knowledge. I love that there are always new things to learn and figure out. New people to get to know and understand where they are coming from. Life is full of sweet mysteries, but the one knowledge that is of utmost importance is knowing God. God will never get old, we will never fully comprehend Him. All the more reason to delve into what we can know of Him, which he has revealed to us through His word. I will never get tired of His word!

Love life! and look for those sweet mysteries!

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you'll never cease to grow. Anthony J. D'Angelo

intricate planned beautiful

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20

When was the last time you looked at something in God's creation and were completely in awe? A couple weeks ago I bought the Planet Earth series that BBC put out a few years ago. I really enjoy watching nature shows and learning about the different plants and creatures God has made. Of course BBC has put an evolution spin on everything, but I just filter that out and am completely amazed by the imagination that God had to put into each creature he made. I love spring and seeing new life.

I was raking leaves yesterday and there were so many ladybugs under the leaves. So fun. :) I loved seeing how the grass was turning green and a couple of my plants are starting to sprout.

Anyway..just wanted to share my feeling of joy about spring and especially about the wonderful God we have and the absolute care he puts into everything he's made. He doesn't make mistakes and he knows exactly what he's doing.

Rest in that!

Perseverance

So life is still passing by at the speed of light. Not a lot is new right now. Thought that I would have become accustomed to the work I am doing now, but it seems that this work is of a nature that you cannot become used to. :) That is a good thing, because I always have something to do and a challenge to keep me from getting bored, but it's also really tiring.

I've been managing to keep up with friends and family, but running and memorizing has taken a slide.

A couple of weeks ago I had fun going to a couple of "Reinstate" concerts. The guys are so good at playing together and they keep on getting better! It is so fun to watch them! If you have opportunity to go to a concert, I strongly suggest you go!

Easter came and went this past weekend. It was really good to be with family and celebrate Christ, our life's purpose. I was asked to switch with someone for special music and ended up playing on Sunday. I managed to find a song that I played with a couple of girls in Austria 3 years ago. It's called "Sing to Jesus" by Fernando Ortega. Really beautiful song! It was fun to learn it again.

I decided it was high time I finished memorizing chapter one of Philippians today.

Philippians 1:18-30

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved-and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Paul is such an amazing letter writer! I love reading this. It draws me in to where he's at and how he's feeling as he's writing this letter. He is in jail and suffering for Christ. He's still concerned for the churches he's planted and wants to hear that they are growing and being encouraged.

How many of us would be that selfless? He knows that it would be so much better and easier if he would just die and go home to be with the Lord, but he knows that for the sake of the church he will go on living a life of sacrifice for Christ to further his kingdom. You can see Paul's humanity in this letter and his longing for rest, but he has chosen to give Christ's life in him the upper hand.

How much of my life is based on me? on what I want? Am I portraying Christ's love the way I should be? It is so easy to forget that everything I do should be in the interest of others to the glory of Christ. How do I overcome self and give Christ's life in me the upper hand? I believe that it is only by spending time with God and being in communication with Him throughout the day that will allow me to be in tune with His purpose for me.

Here's a song that I was listening to last night that touched my heart again.

Face of Love by Sanctus Real

I've seen your face on stained glass, in colored lights
In pictures of you looking to the sky
You've been portrayed a thousand different ways
But my heart can see you better than my eyes
'Cause it's love that paints the portrait of your life

The face of love
The face of love
You look more like love every day

I've read your words in the pages of your life
And I've imagined what you were like
I may not know the shape of your face
But I can feel your heart changing mine
And your love still proves that you're alive

You are the face that changed the whole world
No one too lost for you to love
No one too low for you to serve
So give us the grace to change the world
No one too lost for me to love
No one too low for me to serve

Let us see... let us be your face