What do you say?

What do you say when your five year old daughter asks,  "Mommy, why would people be happy and cheering that they killed that man?"

Do you try to explain the terror that people felt on September 11th?  The devastating loss of hundreds of innocent lives?  Do you make excuses that the man is evil and full of hatred? Do you explain that his whole mission in life was to create a "holy war" and to continue to take innocent lives?  Do you say that there are reasons?  Do you say they had to kill him or he might have killed someone we love?

What do you say when you know what Jesus said?

      "You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.'

 "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  

- Matthew 5:38-39

 

 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'

 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

- Matthew 5:43

"Father, forgive them,  for they do not know what they are doing."

- Jesus, on the cross

I am Lottie Moon

This weekend many churches across the Canadian National Baptist Convention will be collecting a special "Lottie Moon Christmas Offering".  It is an offering to help missionaries across the world share true hope to a hurting world.  Over 5500 International Missionaries are supported by this offering and they work in every conceivable field like evangelism, church planting, medicine, agriculture, community development, disaster relief, health education and tech support. Lottie Moon served for 39 years as a missionary to the people of China.  She loved those around her as Christ had loved her and when a famine hit the country she gave her food away to the many starving around her.  Her love and commitment to the Chinese people continues to be an example and an inspiration to us all. It is for this reason that giving to Lottie Moon Christmas Offering has become a tradition in our house that we look forward to every year.  Check out this video on Lottie's story and how others have followed in her footsteps.


I Am Lottie Moon from Rob Stevens on Vimeo.

On Earth As It Is In Heaven

A sunrise view from our trailer at Ryerson

Last week, we headed down to Normandale, Ontario.  Where is that?  Well, the closest large town of 16,000 inhabitants, is Simcoe.  We were attending Ryerson Family Camp which is my one of my favourite yearly events.  Six days of hanging out with the fam, meeting other families, starting each day off with worship and learning more about Jesus, on a beautiful site that over looks Lake Erie.  To top it off I don't have to cook!  Oh it is glorious!

As I reflect about what makes this week so special it has often been hard for me to put into words.  This year though I had two little living examples that made it quite clear.

The friendship started the first full day of camp.  We began to hear Trinity refer to one of the campers as, "MybuddyJames"  it sounded like all one word.  "Mom I need to find mybuddyjames."  or "Can we sit with mybuddyjames at dinner?"  "Mom, I have a problem.  You said I can go to the swings but mybuddyjames is at the sandpit.  I need to go there."

They were an unlikely pair but as the days passed their daily antics were not only an encouragement to me but a source of wonder.  James is about one year older than Trinity.  His mom worries about him because he often struggles in social situations, he doesn't get invited to many birthday parties or friend's houses and I would describe him as a spirited child.   His start in life was probably more difficult than any of us even know and much more difficult than this little boy can process.  He is now in a safe place with a family who loves him but trust seems like a big issue for James.  James loves soldiers, pretending to hunt for bad guys, room to run and playing in the sand.  He has the most beautiful smile.  Like Trinity it did not take me long to adore him.

Trinity on the other hand, loves to be a princess.  She loves girlie things, playing barbies and babies and having her sister do her hair.  She loves to have her finger nails and her toe nails painted, her favourite colour is pink and her favourite game is to pretend to play house.  Trinity is a very social.  She loves to meet new people and sees everyone as a friend and wants the whole world to get along.  Trinity has her bad days like everyone else but Trinity is very secure in the love we have for her and she is fearless.

James and Trinity sharing a snack

I have no idea how the friendship began but as the week wore on, Trinity was able to get James to participate in group activities.  "Come on James.",  she would say.  "I'll wait for you."  James for his part was able to get Trinity to eat meatballs.  "They have M&M's in them.  Just try one of mine."  All week I watched in wonder as these two little people, looked out for one and other.  Like the time that James heard that Trinity had had nightmares at night. "Don't worry", he said holding a stick in his hand.  "I'm here and I'll pop them!" or when she got stung by a bee and James announced that it wasn't going to happen again because he would shoot them with his water gun.  Trinity continually invited James to activities.  Again and again she would say to me,  "I have to wait for James so he knows it is not the same with out him."  

One night, as I was trying to get Trinity to bed, she said "Mommy tell me the story of the King Most High."  She loves this story and always acts like it is the first time she has heard it.  I told her about the King and the love He has for His people.  We talked about the fact that because she is a child of the King that makes her a princess of the King Most High.  It was at this point in the story that Trinity said.  "Oh I can't wait for tomorrow to tell James that he is a prince!"  Sure enough, the next day Trinity announced to James that he was a prince.  James didn't really get it and said "No, I am a soldier."  "Nope you are a Prince to the King Most High.", she concluded.   Later, she told me that James doesn't believe he is a prince.  Her and I decided that even if James doesn't believe it yet, we do and more importantly God believes in James.

So what makes Ryerson so special?  I think it is the community that is created.  It is the way in which we are reminded by those around us that God believes in us even when we have trouble believing in ourselves.  It is the way that God knits hearts together, as people come to worship Him, learn more about Him, serve one and other and experience the life of camp together.  It is an example of what the Kingdom here on earth should be.

Hello My Name Is.....

Recently, I attended our Canadian National Baptist Convention.  It was a fantastic week which our whole family loved.  One of the events was a luncheon for Pastor's wives, which was truly a blessing for lots of reasons but one in particular was that at the lunch I received a book. This book was a bible study for minister's wives written by minister's wives so while I was away at the cottage last week I decided to take some time and discover what the authors had to say.

One of the exercises that caught my attention and has put my brain into overdrive was to write in my journal, "Hello my Name is Kimberley" and then to write Who Kimberley is.  The only rule was that in explaining who I am I was not allowed to use the words wife, mother, sister, daughter or what I do for a living or an occupation.  Seemed simple enough.  Well, it wasn't simple and I had real trouble.  I realize that I often define myself by who I am to those around me.  The problem with this is that life is full of different seasons and what I do will changes during my life time.  About five years ago I sold a business that I had spent ten years building in order to stay home with my kids.  Although I loved being at home for them I had a real hard time adjusting to my new life.  Looking back I can see that in my mind, my worth was all wrapped in the success of how I ran my business.  I had defined myself by something that would not last.

Five years later in doing this exercise I realized I was doing it again.  The first things that came to my mind when I think of who is Kimberley, is that I am a pastor's wife and a mother and a daughter to fantastic parents.  I am really blessed to be all of these things but I realize if my worth is all wrapped up in who I am to others and if these roles change, how does that affect my worth?  Do I use my husband's job description, my kids and my parents to hide the real me?  And who is that real me and how do I define her when a I strip away everything else?

Yikes... tough questions for which I had no quick fix answers.  This exercise prompted me to have some really frank conversations with myself and to dig into scripture to see who God says I am.  I want to define myself as the women God created me to be because I know God will last and He doesn't change.  So who do I think He created me to be?  I spent a lot of time meditating on Acts 4:13 which reasonated with me as my life verse years and years ago.  So recognizing that I am always a work in progress and that much of my head knowledge still needs to be transformed fully into my heart, this is who I with Christ's help am striving to be.

"Hello my name is Kimberley. I am a women who strives to live a life in which those around will recognize that I have spent time with Jesus."

It has been a good exercise.  So if you were asked to define yourself without using the roles you currently have in life what would your name tag look like?

Week # 4 - Weddings and Our Other Usual Craziness

Life in our zoo is never what you might call dull. With the schedule of our own immediate family comes the usual craziness of school, bible quizzing, church, swimming lessons, worship practice etc, etc. This week was extra special as we celebrated a wedding. Jason's brother Brandon and his fiance Nathalie were married in a beautiful ceremony surrounded by family and friends. It was four days of events and we loved every minute of it. We were very excited on Friday to meet some of Nathalie's family that we have heard so much about. Saturday was the rehearsal on Toronto Island and we had a wonderful day meeting more family and some of their friends. Sunday was the big event in which our entire clan was involved. Jason was officiating the ceremony in both French and English, Daniel and Caroline were ushers, Trinity was the flower girl, Liam was the ring bearer and I sang during the ceremony with Jason's dad. It was truly a family celebration and there were many tears of happiness and joy.

It was during the final event on Monday, a post wedding homemade brunch, that I was reminded about something I have learning during our Thirty Days of Almost Nothing experiment. What I have loved best about this month is the clarity that it has brought as a reminder of what is important. When it is all said and done what will we remember? What will be remembered? What will matter? What really is important?

As I spent a moment at Brandon's and Nathalie's townhouse reflecting on the wedding ceremony I paused at a new tradition that Nathalie taught us. Nathalie was born in Switzerland and one of the wedding customs that she brought was for the wedding rings. Every guest was asked to bring a yard of yarn (it is usually ribbon but Nat loves to knit) to the wedding. As we sat during the ceremony we were asked to greet the person next to us and attach our yarn to their yarn. This being completed each side of the guests were all connected by bright beautiful yarn like a tapestry of the bride and groom's life.  Jason then explained that since we were all an important part of Nathalie's and Brandon's life we were going to pass the rings over each string of yarn. As guests passed each ring, he asked us to say a prayer or blessing for the couple. Since the rings represented Nathalie's and Brandon's commitment to each other he challenged us each to think about our commitment to them and their marriage. How would we as individuals support and under gird not only their marriage but their lives. As I looked around the room I saw people who loved this bride and groom touching the rings for a brief moment as they slid along the yarn and I could see that many of them paused, heads bowed with tears which told stories of love and commitment. As the rings came to me, Matthew 22: 36-39 flooded my heart.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself."

Jesus said that out of all the things in the bible, what was really important boiled down to two things: love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.  If our devotion to Jesus and his commandments isn't producing these two things, we've missed the entire point. 

My commitment to Brandon and Nathalie is two fold. I will continue to love God with all I have and because of that life changing, redeeming, indescribable love, I will love, pray and be there for them as individuals and for them as a couple whatever the future may hold.

When celebrations end and life begins to creep in again who will you be making commitments to? Who are you loving as Jesus commanded? As you go out into the world this week, I pray my friends that you will not be distracted by this life but you will be focused on what Jesus considered important and what truly matters.

For more thoughts on Weddings and our Thirty Days of Almost Nothing check out Jason's weekly blog at Pop Culture Devotions. Just a reminder that tomorrow is free recipe Friday. I am not sure what it will be yet but there will be something posted!

Endings and New Adventures

Well, September is here. It is hard to believe that summer is officially over. With the end of summer came an end to another chapter in our life. Justine who has been living with us for over a year was placed back with her birth father. We have many special memories that we have shared together and she will always be in our hearts. We have watched Justine grow and flourish over her year with us and we trust that God will continue to protect her and draw her to Himself. As a mom, you always want to protect your kids and to be able to be there for them when they need you and when you can't your heart breaks. Although Justine was not officially our child, she was in my heart. No matter what, I feel blessed that the Lord gave her to us for the time that He did. Thank-you to all of our family and friends who loved her along with us. Please keep her in your prayers. It was tough for us all to say good bye when she left so we took some time this past week to get away to the McGibbon cottage.

What a week! It was beautiful and warm and we spent most of our time in our bathing suits on the beach. The kids had a great time. We started homeschooling all the kids this summer so they were excited to have the first official week of school off. Well almost off...Jason taught Daniel, Caroline and Liam each how to build a fire and gave them lessons in the canoe. Yes, another generation of pyromaniacs has been born. Apparently, this is a tradition from Jason's mom side of the family passed down from Great Uncle Joe to Uncle Brad to Jason and now to his children. Oh well, I will just focus on the fact that if they ever get lost in the bush they can keep themselves warm. Trinity enjoyed the canoeing lessons as she got to ride in the boat while they were practicing. I sat on the beach, laughed at the kids, cried a few times, prayed lots, watched beautiful sunrises and sunsets and started to think about the new adventures this fall will bring.

We are all excited about the adventure of home schooling. We got a great start this summer and we are looking forward to continuing this Monday. Even Trinity will be going to "mommy's school" as she calls it. Although I must admit she did ask if Caroline could be her teacher instead of me! I have been learning a lot especially about what my kids like to read (and not read) and some of their own perceived strengths and weaknesses. I love spending the time with them and even teaching math and french is not so bad! With Liam's appointments that are coming up and his surgery this will help us keep the family together during a time that has been stressful. So although we have had a rough time as of late we are looking forward to the future and the new adventures that are around the corner.

Our Pastor (Jim) delivered a message today which he entitled, "Joy in the Midst of Chaos". It was a great message that hit me right where I am. So as I look to the weeks ahead and the uncertainty that it brings I also look forward to discovering the joy that only Jesus can bring in circumstances like these.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down oat the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12:2

Kairos - Where are you sharing your hope?

"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

1 Peter 3:15

Yesterday, I was making cookies. Lots and lots of chocolate chip cookies. As I have mentioned before I am trying to live a more healthy lifestyle and lots of chocolate chip cookies is not on the menu! As I baked cookies the door bell kept ringing and friends from our congregation kept arriving with armloads of more cookies! Pretty soon my kitchen counters were full of boxes and boxes of cookies and the yummy smell of freshly backed goods filled the air. So why I am putting myself through this torture? My father-in-law Gerry inspires me.

He leaves tomorrow to share the hope that he has with inmates in a prison. I can't think of a place that would be more void of hope than a prison. Gerry will spend the next four days with a Kairos team giving himself away to shine some light into this very dark place. He will share with them how Christ changed his life, how he has has been forever changed and how they too can have that kind of hope. You see hope commits us to action that connects with God's promises. Hope acts on the conviction that God will complete the work that He has begun even when the appearances, especially when the appearances oppose it. Gerry and his friends will share cookies with these inmates and they will share the hope of Christ. This is a hope-determined action. It is a participation in the future that God is bringing into being. It it listening to what God says and responding despite what society or anyone else thinks.

On Karios' website http://www.kairosprisonministries.ca/index.shtml they have some testimonies. Here are just two that hit home for me.

Steve: “I was lost...without hope ... no guide, no friend, I have found the path to freedom, hope with vision, guidance toward happiness and more kindness, love and fellowship than I have ever seen.”

Art: “I’m glad I got caught, because if I had not been caught and sentenced and sent to this place, I might never have met Jesus Christ on this weekend, never have known God was real.”

The act of bringing hundreds of dozens of cookies to a prison and sharing hope over coffee may not seem to be a spectacular act in our worldly view but when I read the testimonies above I am awed by the deliberate act of hope for Christ that will occur this weekend and I am inspired at the example that my father-in-law sets for us all. I can't wait to hear about what God accomplishes. Where will you share your hope this weekend?