Window Into My Reality

Matthew 25: 14-30 (New King James Version) "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.' His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of you...

Purpose. I've often wondered what my purpose in life is. Just the other day Justin and I were talking about his life, about how I would be devestated if he were to die. He is a daredevil, especially in a vehicle, and has probably cheated death more than I would care to listen to. He's almost given me a heart attack or two! In his defence, he is a young man with a need for speed. I just hope the cops catch him before the Grim Reaper does! Don't tell him I said that. He has often said, especially early in our relationship, that he would be surprised if he lived to see 25. Well, he turns 24 in March, so we're almost there. I was taken back a little by something he said. I had asked him a question, about wanting to live. And he replied, "What's the point?" This disturbed me more than a little, mostly because I didn't know how to explain my feelings on the matter so that he would understand. Verbally I'm not always very eloquent with my words...

...but no one can tell! I had this wierd dream recently, that I can seem to shake. I was driving by my old church, and cars lined the sides of the street. I knew it was the night of one of their big services, so even though there weren't any lights on, I decided to stop in anyway. I went inside the lights were all on! Nothing was shining out of the windows. Out of the crowd there, only one person spoke to me...good old Kenny...he'd show the Love of God to his worst enemy, he's just that kind of guy. The thing I can't shake, is that the lights were all on, but no one outside the church could tell. The bible talks about not hiding your light, like putting a bucket over a candle. Basically you shouldn't do it. How else can people see it?!?! Too many Christians have hidden their light...some by their deeds, others by their holier than thou attitude, others by fear (political correctness). I can't say that this is a message toward any one church or person. ...

A few weeks ago, Justin and I were given free tickets to a hockey game. It was very cool and fun, the first for either one of us. Here are some thoughts I 've had since then. The last church that I went to, the praise and worship leader was a good one for encouraging the congregation to get hyped up during worship by saying loosely - How many times do we hoot and holler and get excited for or favorite team, but we can't even raise our hands in worship? I've been guilty of saying the same thing. And I think it's time we rethink this idea. It is very easy to go to a sporting event and get swept up in the excitement of the game. The rest of the people know all the rules and what is going on, and that kind of true excitement is contagious. The same could be true of worship. This could be good or bad, depending. The hockey game that I went to was enjoyable. I had never been to a live sporting event before, so that right there was exciting. Neither Justin or I are very knowle...

Yes Jean-Luc, The Visitation is a favorite book of mine. While it is fiction and not Gospel...there's a lot of Gospel truth in the book. The scene: a hardware store, a few days after the angel sitings have started and the crucifix started weeping. The players: Travis Jordan and the owner, Matt Kiley. Matt was a Vietnam vet who came home paralyzed. Of course, people were urging him to go down to the Catholic church to touch the crucifix to be healed of his disability. Matt's a little disgruntled with it all. "Like all I have to do is look up at that crucifix and believe, and that'll do it." A little later on, he says to Trav - "Funny. I made some friends at the VA hospital, I've met some other folks in wheelchairs, and we got along fine. They never told me to go down and look at some crucifix or wash in some special kind of water or say some kind of magic prayer words. It's always the walkers who know what you need." Now - do not get me wrong. I b...

I'm presently reading The Visitation by Frank Peretti. Again. I've lost count of how many times I've read this book over the years since I bought it. Had to have been...yeah, not sure. It was released in 1999, but I know I didn't get it until it had been out a while. Overall I'm a fan of Peretti's writing...although there have been a couple I got so into that I couldn't go to sleep with the lights out afterwards! This one isn't one of those, although I'm definitely into the book. Each time I read it, I discover something new....understand bits and pieces better. I've been putting this reading off for a while. Can't really explain why. My eye had fallen on it a few times since unpacking my books at the beginning of June...but no, I had to read three other series first [for the curious: Firebird Trilogy, Prairie Winds Trilogy, Legends of the Guardian-King series] But when I was placing the last book on the shelf, I went ahead and grabbed Visi...

I was looking through an old journal last week, and couldn't help but notice how hung up I used to be on my dreams. I dunno, maybe it was my 'dream journal' for all I can remember now. Do I believe that God can and does speak to people [me] through their dreams? Absolutely! The dream I have below is an example of that...and one worth remembering as far as I'm concerned. Something I've found as I've been going through old emails. It's dated Sept. 19, 2006. I dreamt about Jesus this morning. About what it might have been like to fellowship at a meal with Him. I know that it wasn't like the bible times, but He and His disciples where sitting around a picnic table at the shore...there was a bonfire going. Some of the people around the table were His disciples from then...some were people I knew from today. I remember peaking around the corner...watching the fun and listening to the laughter...being jealous because Mary Magdalen was out there...and then Jesus...

So, the Glory Girls are meeting for prayer again! Yay! This is twice now, in just a couple weeks. It was so good to be together again. At one point in our prayer, the other four laid their hands on me...and someone had their hand lightly touching my stomach...and I felt this low rumbling fire ignite in my belly. That's the best way I can describe it...fire...and it was a living fire...which I guess is why I described it as 'rumbling'...because it wasn't a physical rumbling...it was this churning deep in my spirit that had been lit. Relit? Anyway, it was a goooooood feeling. I haven't felt the Holy Spirit like that in a loooooooooooong time. When I thought they were done, or had at least paused, I asked who had had their hand there...and I asked her to do it again, and to pray some more b/c of what I had felt. And she did...and....all I heard was "Let it burn." Not from any of them, or even my own thoughts...this Still Small Voice belonged to God. So, I jus...