A Savior, Which is Christ the Lord! (and Personal Update!)

Lately there has been so excitement in our lives that I can hardly stand it!! I thought I'd just give a little update about our lives, and share a few Christmas thoughts. The past few months have been absolutely crazy and amazing for us! My husband is now completely done his classes and in a few short days will be done final exams for the last time! What an amazing feeling! He has done 6 years of post secondary school, and it is finally coming to an end. My husband is in a very tough professional college, and has worked extremely hard to get this far!! I am so proud of him! He studies sooo hard--about 15 hours a day for the past few weeks. Of course, I would be proud of him no matter what. I am sooo blessed to have such a wonderful husband. He's so smart, so loving, so kind, and so much fun to live with! He can figure out how to do just about anything! I love him more and more every day and we have a terrific marriage! Even though many people thought that us marrying young was a bad idea, I am SOO glad we did, and I wouldn't change it for anything! I had a lot of growing up to do (and still do!) our first year of marriage, but we have learned so many things, and things have been absolutely wonderful the past couple years as we learn to not be so selfish.

Another exciting thing is that we will be moving (again!) soon much closer to family and friends. We have moved SO many times in the past few years, but eventually we will settle down ( I think). I really don't enjoy the process of moving but am learning to just go with the flow. We just rented a really cute little house that is almost cottage-like, and I can't wait to move in soon! By next spring my husband will have completed his internships and be officially done. The Lord has already provided him a job for when he is done, which we are so thankful for! We have a really busy few weeks coming up as we are going on a holiday to a warm and tropical place with my husband's family. Then we are heading on a trip with my family to visit some relatives I rarely see. Then we will be busy packing and moving!

I feel extremely blessed to have a husband who wants me to stay home instead of working outside the home full time. I cannot describe how wonderful it has been to be able to be home helping him study, cooking, and cleaning. When I was working full time we ate out soo much and ate so many hot dogs and mac n' cheese. We haven't had hot dogs in months and save a lot of money by not eating out near as much. Plus our home is just a lot happier, relaxed, and cleaner. I have so much to learn yet about managing a home, but I am learning bit by bit everyday. I have enjoyed learning how to make pies, bake bread, and roast chicken. The one day I made a meal of roast chicken, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, cabbage salad, and apple pie for the first time. Wow, was it a lot of work, but so worth it! Anyways, that's about all for my personal update. Just one more personal thing--My health hasn't been great for the past 5 weeks or so. Nothing too serious, but just generally not feeling well for the past while. I have been to the doctor a few times for checkups and bloodwork, and they can't seem to find anything wrong with me, which is good. It is very off and on, and I think I am on the up and up now (maybe it was just a weird virus), but if you think of it, you can pray for me. My body has been acting a little weird lately.

Okay, so it is the "Christmas season", as people call it, and I just had a few thoughts about it lately. My husband and I don't make a huge hullabaloo out of the season by decorating or anything, which some people think is crazy. in fact we don't have a single decoration up and I haven't started doing the little Christmas shopping I have to do. We tend to enjoy being simple and reflecting and rejoicing that the Lord Jesus came to save us and is coming again soon! Our hearts should be rejoicing year-round that our Savior came to earth, but this time of year does serve as a great opportunity to share with others. One thing that is especially nice about this time of year is that we get to spend lots of time with family, many who are not saved. It provides a wonderful opportunity to talk about "spiritual things" and to share the good news of the gospel. Please pray we will have opportunities to share with our extended family this Christmas season.

During the Christmas season, we tend to focus on the Lord Jesus coming as a little baby, while forgetting why He came. For unto us is born this day in the City of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. This is the reason why He came to earth—to be our Saviour, to “give His life as a ransom for many,” as the Gospel of Mark tells us. It is truly amazing that the God who created the universe loved us so much to come to the earth as the Lord Jesus Christ, fully God and fully human, to offer Himself as a sinless sacrifice by shedding His blood on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. His sacrifice was proven to be the sufficient once-and-for-all payment for sins when He victoriously rose back to life on the third day! This is good news to those who repent of their sins and receive Him by faith as Saviour and Lord.

May you enjoy spending time with friends and family this Christmas season and take time to consider why the Lord Jesus came to earth two thousand years ago. How blessed we are to be living in these last days, anticipating the Lord's soon return not as a baby this time, but as the mighty King!!

(Due to the busyness of the next month for us, I probably won't be blogging much until we settle into our new home. Lord-willing I will be back to blogging in a month or two.)

Leisure Options? Yikes!

Hate to be so negative again....

I just got my free publication showing leisure activities/classes available in my area, so I gave it a flip to check out the current prices for going swimming, skating, etc. To my surprise, or non-surprise I should say, this publication seemed more like a world religions 101 textbook than a leisure book designed to promote fitness and activity.

Reiki, Taosism, yoga, and Buddhism, and even a "history of Christianity" class. Hmm.... the "history of Christianity" class is taught by the same folks who host the sacred ground yoga, bellydancing, and meditation class that openly claims to be based on "Buddhist psychology". Plus, it is hosted by an Anglican church claiming to be an "arts and spirit centre" (?). Wowsers. I wonder what kind of "christianity" will be taught there?

And...I think it's fair to say that yoga has invaded my neck of the woods according to this "leisure" publication.

...chair yoga, aqua yoga, fitness yoga, bellydancing yoga, preschool childminding yoga, sacred ground yoga, specialty yoga, laughter yoga, dance yoga, yoga fusion, flow yoga, mom and baby yoga, abilities yoga, yoga and ballroom dance, yoga for men, yoga for runners, prenatal yoga, gentle yoga, and on and on it goes.

I kid you not, I did not even come close to listing all the yoga types or classes available in my area according to this little magazine I got in the mail just recently. Well I don't want to rewrite again what has already been written, so here are a few related posts about why yoga is not simply stretching and why Christians should not participate.

Here http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/new-age/NA1101W1.htm

Good article and many relevant links here


Okay so here was a bit of a shocker found in this publication, although not much shocks me these days. An ad in the leisure publication invites those interested in taoism to sign up for classes and information....where?? at the church... just down the road from us. Huh??? Okay okay, so the church is of the apostate "united" kind and has even made the local news for its animal blessing services aka bring your pet to church day, so not too shocking after all. But still.

* A bit of a side note *

I find it somewhat interesting that the only protestant church hosting any of the leisure activities (that I noticed anyway-I only did just skim the thing) was my former church that we left about a year or so ago. No, no, it is not hosting yoga, bellydancing, or anything like that, thankfully. Just some "creative" playtimes (??), services for preschoolers and preschooler moms, and teen drop in times. Perhaps not too harmless. I am fairly sure from my previous attendance there that the intent behind these things is to draw people into the church in hopes of them becoming saved. Same reason they hosted a giant Grey Cup party one year, decorated the sanctuary, and projected the game onto the big projection screen (the party in the church made the local news). Same reason they host a Halloween party with the community association. By the grace of our God, some may very well end up hearing the gospel message this way, by making Christian friends who will share the Good News with them eventually. I just kinda sorta wish that churches would spend more time "equipping the sheep rather than entertaining the goats" as I heard once from someone. When the sheep get a watered down message at church, you can't really expect them to be able to present the clear gospel message to their friends.

Don't want to be too too critical, but I noticed with the decrease in biblical preaching and teaching came increased worldliness, decreased focus on eternity, almost zero prophecy teaching, watered down gospel message, increased marketing strategies and diagrams, and yes.... increased attendance (which does not necessarily mean an increase in believers). Just goes to prove that marketing strategies in the church do work...if you want to fill seats., that is.

Haven't been there since we left, and I know there are several biblically sound people there still. I hope and pray some are still hearing the gospel message and growing in godliness. But I keep hearing of more and more of those biblically sound people finding a different church who, after meeting with pastors and elders to discuss their concerns, are secretly labeled as divisive and legalistic. You stick around a little longer and maybe try talking to a few more people. But eventually you get the feeling that you are no longer welcome. Happened to us and has happened to many.

So, I know this was negative again. Next once will be more positive, I promise.