Catherine's God Blog

God of Wonders

2011-11-26T12:50:00.000-08:00

We welcomed Pastor George Ewald and his wife Karen at the Powell River Healing Rooms last night. They, along with Sharon, their youth pastor, ministered to a small crowd of people - as many as we could fit - sharing testimonies of the power and love of God and the miracles and changed lives they have seen as a result of the revival at their home church, Port Hardy Christian Fellowship. They also imparted gifts to us through words of knowledge and the laying on of hands, and once again, I was blessed beyond measure and amazed at the goodness of God.

The anointing on Pastor George is so powerful that even as I stood before him waiting for him to minister to me, I felt the presence and power of God so strong I had a hard time standing. And I received such comfort and encouragement, and a couple of powerful impartations for ministering in the power of God. I might share what I received in another post, but right now it feels too deep to put into words.

These are people who have submitted their lives completely to God and who continue to surrender their wills and their ideas about what revival should look like and how they need to minister. They are ordinary people who carry a powerful anointing for breakthrough, and their faith in God is so joyful it is contagious. They are like little children in their expectancy, and isn't that just what Jesus taught, that "to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 19:14)

The Port Hardy team are ministering at a local church tonight and I look forward to more of what God has in store for me, and for our community.

"Prepare the way of the Lord!"

The Gateway for God's Glory

2011-09-28T01:31:00.000-07:00

On Monday as I was worshipping and praying in the sanctuary of my church God showed me something I feel I need to share with others who are hungry and seeking after God. I guess you could say that I am a "seer" or that I have the gift of sight, because most often when I ask God if He has anything to say to me, I see an image or a vision. I rarely understand the image God gives me at first, but I ask Him to help me understand and He does.

This week what I saw was something celestial and active, like a portal or a black hole. It was huge and it seemed as though it was far out in deep space - the second heaven. I saw ribbons of light pouring, or being sucked down, into a bowl shaped structure with a flat bottom. The ribbons of light were like streams of molten gold that were drawn into the bowl from outer space and then poured down along its walls and across its bottom flowing into a hole in the middle of the bottom which acted like a drain, and becoming one stream of light which was being sucked down through space to the earth. It was so magnificent: the flowing golden ribbons, the colours, the contrast of dark and light, the beautiful shape of the magnificent portal, and the steady movement of the flow of molten light.

I asked the Lord why He was showing me this amazing thing, and He said He was trying to show me how my hunger, my desire for Him, brought His glory - the streams of light - down from the heavenly realms into the church sanctuary. We have been experiencing the manifest presence of God in our midst lately during our Sunday services. I know I'm not the only hungry one among us. What's happening feels like the beginning of revival, and I have been wondering what it is that we are doing that is causing the manifest presence of God down to dwell among us.

What the Lord was showing me is that our hunger, our desire, our longing for more of Him is a force which draws, or pulls His glory down onto our earthly plane. And as we continue to hunger after Him and long for His Presence and His glory, we draw down the power of heaven to earth, and as a result we will see our lives our churches and our communities transformed by the power and the glory of God. This vision helps me to understand the power that I see at work through the healing revivalists I've watched, like Nathan Morris. I understand now how the power of God came into those meetings at The Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival, because Nathan, and others, spent a lot of time hungering after God and asking Him to show them His glory. They were drawing God's radiant glory and His power to earth.

I wish I could draw or find an image that would do justice to the heavenly vision that I saw, but these at least give some idea. My prayer is that as you seek after God, as you hunger after Him, you will receive a revelation of His glory that will bring awe to your heart and ignite a passion in you to know Him more; it's that passion, that hunger that will draw the glory of heaven to earth in your life and church and community.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18

For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea

2011-08-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

I have been spending Monday mornings alone in the sanctuary of my church - Kelly Creek Community Church - in obedience to a "call" or assignment God gave me at the beginning of the summer. This time apart is my weekly offering to the Lord, and as I continue this practice, my experience and knowledge of Him is going deeper and deeper; this past Monday it went so deep that what I experienced is truly beyond words. I'm still experiencing it. It is a new "understanding" - although I don't fully understand - of the omnipresence of God, of the Holy Spirit, and of what it means to be "in Christ".

In Acts 17, as Paul was addressing the Athenians who had gathered in the Areopagus, he explained that the "unknown God" they had dedicated a popular shrine to was actually not remote, but very near (vs. 27). "In Him we live and move and have our being," (vs 28). I've always thought I understood the meaning of the apostle's words, but after what I experienced on Monday and continue to experience today, I know that I understand very little. I continually ask God to open the eyes of my heart and my understanding - my spiritual eyes - so that I can comprehend what it is that He is trying to show me, and what my experience means.

It is very human to want to understand. It's a comfortable place, a more secure place, to live with understanding, than it is to live in the mystery. So, realizing this, and although there is a deep longing and an unsettled-ness in my soul as a result of my recent experience of God, I am content to live with and to live in the mystery until such time as God makes my understanding complete.

Today as I sat in His presence, experiencing His closeness and His love, I began to weep with a sorrowful longing for my family, especially my sons and my closest sister, to be able to know the love and the closeness of God as I do. When you know Him intimately and sense Him so close to you - even though the understanding is lacking - all your worldly cares melt away. Nothing else matters.

I read Psalm 16 today and it speaks to my experience so beautifully. Perhaps David experienced God's presence and love as I have? "...in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

So, what was this experience I had on Monday?

As is my practice, I worshiped the Lord with music and using my flags; I prayed for Mike (our pastor) and the church and for a few individuals; I bowed down at the "altar" and prayed in my prayer language; and then I sat quietly and asked my Father in Heaven to speak to me. Usually He leads me to a passage of scripture or speaks words to me about a situation that then lead me into scripture, but not this time.

Instead of hearing words I became aware of a palpable presence, God's manifest presence in the church with me. I could feel it pressing on my skin. I could "see" it in my mind's eye. It was invisible "matter", it had substance and dimension and it filled up every inch of "empty space" between me and the walls and floors and furnishings of the sanctuary. There was no empty space, it was ALL filled with Him.

I wrote, "He bumps up against me - although of course He is in me and I am in Him. I realize that, although I don't always feel His presence, or "see" it, He is ALWAYS here - or there. He fills up everything. There is no "empty" space."

As I sought to understand the meaning of this experience, I turned to my Bible. Colossians 1:17 says that "in Him all things hold together." In The Message that verse reads:"He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment." This is a better explanation - at least it helps me a little. Then I asked God to help me my understanding, asking,"Is this for me, or for KCCC (our church)?" and He responded with these words:

"'Show me Your glory.' That's what you asked of Me. It is all around you. Open your eyes and see."

I reply, "It is like a sea, Father! As though we live in an ocean of Your presence and your glory! It surrounds us; we breathe it in! We take our life from it! It is available to all! The Kingdom of God is here! It surrounds us. Wherever I go I walk in it, - and in You!"

As I typed those words the words of Psalm 139 came to my mind:

5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

Thank You, Father! You love me! Oh how You love me!

I've been remembering my first experience of His glory. It was nine or ten years ago as I was my baptism in the church was approaching. I asked God to help me to prepare myself for this rite. I wanted to be spiritually, emotionally and even physically ready. But instead of giving me something to "do" to get ready, God began showering me with His presence and His love in such a powerful way that I could barely stand up under it. I wept and wept for days on end. It was so intense I could barely stand it, but it was so ecstatically beautiful that I couldn't bring myself to ask Him to stop.

He prepared me for the ritual of baptism by convincing me beyond a shadow of a doubt that He was with me and that He loved me. I wonder if perhaps He is preparing me for something that is to come?

"You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it."

Lord, who am I that I should be so highly favoured as to know You in this way?

PS: To learn the amazing properties and shape of Laminin, the protein which holds all of our bodies' cells together, watch this video. It is fascinating! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

Free Indeed!

2011-06-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

Jesus was talking about sin when he made this statement. What it means to me today is freedom from death and disease. He has healed me! He has rescued me from a death sentence that was pronounced over me last fall when I received a diagnosis of mantle cell lymphoma. The doctors told me there is no cure, that all they could do was give me more time if I followed their treatment regime.

That is why I have not posted for so many months. Many things have happened and God has shown up in so many amazing ways, but the journey seemed very personal, and the more people I invited into it, the more confusion and doubt I experienced in my faith walk. It wasn't anyone's fault, it was just that I was desperately seeking direction and wasn't able to hear clearly from my Father because of the fears and doubts I had. I was hoping someone else could tell me what to do, but no one could.

But right from the very beginning of this journey, God gave me encouragement. He spoke promises to me that I clung to - sometimes only with a grain of faith as small as a mustard seed - promises that He has upheld. I plan to share my journey of faith here in the coming weeks. There are so many tender mercies, so many amazing moments, so many big and small ways that God has demonstrated His compassion, His patience, His love, His power and His faithfulness in my life. And today I received the results of a recent CT scan: there is no sign of malignancy in my body!!!! Thank You, Jesus!!!! It amazes me that He did it all for me, that He set me free! Who am I that God should care about my life, about my feelings, about my needs and desires?

Oh, people! His word is true! His nature is good! The Bible says that God is love, and we see his love expressed through the Incarnation, Immanuel: God With Us, the Only Begotten Son of the Father - Jesus Christ.

If you are not walking with God, if you want to know His amazing grace and love too, come to Jesus. He is the way to God. In John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

If you are hurting and confused, if you find life hard to bear, come to Jesus. This is His invitation to you: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:28-30 from The Message)

If you are sick in your body, you can be made well. Have faith in The Healer. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." Mark 5:20-29;34

I can testify to the truth of all of these statements; I have experienced this supernatural reality - and so much more! And I promise that you will NEVER regret making the decision to come to Jesus and invite Him into your heart and your life. I did one day almost eleven years ago and I was changed forever in an instant and set free from a crippling addiction. I can't promise it will always be an easy road, in fact the Jesus walk can be quite challenging, but He knows what you need to flourish in this life, He knows where your heart and your body need healing. He came and died on the Cross and then rose to life again in order to overcome the powers of darkness, sin and death - in order to set you free. He longs to give you comfort and rest. He is good. He is gentle. He IS love. I pray that you will come to Jesus. You can trust in Him. He is waiting for you.

Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in...Revelation 3:20

Here is a simple prayer that will help you open the door to Him:
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for dying for me on the cross. I’m sorry for the things in my life that have been wrong. I now turn away from everything that I know is wrong and I now receive your gift of forgiveness. I put my trust in what you did on the cross for me. Please come and fill me with your Holy Spirit and give me the strength to lead the kind of life that deep down I’m longing to lead. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen

All Grace Abounding - Part 2

2010-08-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a life long habit to condemn myself for things I didn't do and even to apologize when someone points out my (perceived) shortcomings. It's only later that I realize, "Hey, wait a minute! I didn't do it! I had nothing to apologize for."

After writing my last post it slowly dawned on me that the reasons I am in debt have more to do with necessity than with frivolity. I'm making payments on a decent car I bought a couple of years ago to get me safely from Vancouver to the Fraser Valley and back a couple of days a week while I was ministering to women in the federal and provincial jails. The second year I had the car I had to spend $4,000 in car repairs. Then I made two trips to Ontario, six months apart, to be with my mother who was sick and who passed away during my second trip. And over the past few months I've often used my credit cards to buy groceries as my income dropped to less than half what it used to be. (Thankfully I started a job this weekend which will boost my income.)

Along the way I made a few frivolous purchases, music from iTunes and the occasional dinner out at a restaurant for my family members, but most of my debt load is not a result of frivolity. When I wrestle with whether or not I need an iPhone or some other electronic gadget that I feel I can't live without, I take it to God. And when I do, He cuts through the deception and shows me the truth. And, occasionally, after I've surrendered the desire - or the need - to Him, He gives me what I want. I had an iTouch given to me a few months ago by a friend who upgraded to an iPhone. I was so surprised! But it reminded me that God not only gives us what we need, but sometimes he even gives us what we want.

The dilemma in all of this for me is still the same: trust in God. If God is faithful to provide for my needs then why was the money not there when the need presented itself. If I'd waited on Him to provide for my airplane ticket home, would I have got there in time to spend time with my mom before she passed? I know, the answer is yes because I believe God wanted that for me, and also for my mom. I was the only person who could share the message of His love through the Cross of Christ with her.

More verses from the book of James come to mind. James 4:2 says, "You do not have, because you do not ask." I did ask, but maybe I didn't wait long enough. But probably, I didn't trust God to provide, or to get me there in time. And so I panicked and took matters into my own hands, charging ahead instead of waiting for Him to provide. Previous to the verse I quoted in my last post about being double minded, Paul writes, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord."

It's not that God withholds His blessings and provision out of spite or retribution - He loves to give good gifts to His children. It's just that we need to pray for what we need and want and then release that need or want into His hands. As long as we keep hanging onto it and trying to take care of our own needs, He will let us try, just as a gentle, loving Father would.

A very wise friend and dear brother in Christ who passed away several years ago once told me of an image the Lord had given Him to help him to let go and let God. God showed my friend a father and son on a beach trying to fly a kite. The little boy was independent and maybe a little stubborn too, and when his kite's string became entangled, he tried to fix it himself while holding onto the kite at the same time. The father came alongside the boy, ready to take the tangled mess of string from him and make it smooth and functional again, but the boy continued to struggle with it on his own until the string became hopelessly entangled. When he finally gave up and let go, reluctantly putting the knotted mass in the hands of his father, a miracle occurred. The string was restored to order and the boy was able to use it once again.

I miss my wise friend. He had such a gentle way of pointing me back to God. But my Father in Heaven is gentle and wise too, and He is waiting for me to give Him my tangled ball of string so that I can fly my kite freely and without any hassles.

God, You are my loving Father, and I release to You now all of the balls of string that I have been picking at and worrying about in the past few years. Please take them from me. I trust that You will restore them and return them to me transformed by Your miracle working power. Make me free to be and to do all that You would have me be and do. Help me to remember that it pleases You to give me the Kingdom. I ask it all in Jesus' Name.

All Grace Abounding

2010-07-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

Let me be a shadow in Your light

The lesson I always seem to be learning is to trust in God to provide for all of my needs. It's difficult in this day and age to wait for His provision; we have instant cash available to us night and day, at home or abroad. Even if our bank account is showing zeroes or a negative balance, which mine is at the moment, we can still rely on our credit cards or overdrafts to enable us to purchase what it is we think we need at any given moment.

I'm learning, at my ripe age, that if the cash isn't there, then the item I think I need is not actually something God is providing for me. It's wanting what God has not ordained for me that has landed me in a huge pile of stinking debt. It's time to bring my finances under God's rule.

A few weeks ago I sought God about this area of my life and asked Him to show me why my life was still unmanageable in the area of finances. Why am I constantly accumulating debt? I've been responsible about making large payments every month - when I can afford to - but my account balances are still continually climbing. God responded to my question with one word, and that word was quite a shock, "Double-minded." The shock of it was - it's true!

I trust God to provide for me, and yet I still want to occupy the driver's seat in this area of my life because I'm afraid of never having enough. I want to pay down my debt and be free of it, but then I find some worship music online that I've got to have, or I decide that I can't live without the latest technological gadget that's arrived on the scene and I battle long and hard with whether or not I should buy it. I want to live simply, and yet I continue to accumulate "things" that complicate my life and clutter it both physically and mentally, stealing away my time and my peace.

After I got over the initial shock, I repented before God for the sin of double-mindedness. Then I asked Him to help me to get on track and pay down my debts. I asked Him for the grace to be single-minded about this and it has helped. I've been tempted to buy some things that I haven't had the money for, but when I remember that if the cash isn't there it's not God's plan for me to have that thing, then I am able to let it go without feeling like I'm missing out. I have to continually ask for wisdom and grace in these matters.

What I know without a doubt, even from my own personal experience, is that God's plans for me are so much greater than anything I could ever dream up for myself. When I single-mindedly focus on discerning His will and obeying it, my life is so amazing! I have all that I need in the moment and I am led on adventures that I never imagined were possible.

As I sought God in my quiet time this morning and prayed again for His help and His grace concerning my finances, He gave me this verse of scripture which I want to commit to memory, meditate upon and proclaim aloud to myself:

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

Thank You, Father, that I can trust You to take care of all of my needs. I put my life, and my needs, into Your hands today, trusting that you are able, and willing, to make all grace abound to me.

Abundant grace! Who could ask for anything more!

Photo courtesy of my son, Jeremy Williams

jeremywilliams.ca

Beholding the Glory

2010-06-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

It's a funny thing about knowing Jesus, that the longer you know Him, the greater the longing to know more about Him becomes. It's a desperate, but exquisitely beautiful, hunger that drives you to try to get closer and closer; to search out the things of God in His Word; and to constantly seek His presence and strain to hear His voice. But there are some followers of Christ who have let their love for Jesus grow cold. They've lost the hunger and forgotten the joy and passion of "first love." Or maybe they never knew it, but when a person's love of Christ is "lukewarm," a spirit of religion can slowly begin to take root. The joy and passion of knowing Jesus, and the freedom available in Him, are slowly replaced by a hardhearted, self-righteous, bean-counting mentality that keeps a close watch on what others are doing and not doing, and feels justified to openly criticize. It's people like this who've earned the Christian church in North America the label "hypocrite".

God does not take this issue of love growing cold lightly. The first and greatest commandment, according to Jesus is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and throughout the Bible God calls His people to return to their first love. He doesn't like it when the things of the world distract us from loving Him with all we've got.

In Revelation 2, Jesus asks John to deliver a message to the Christians in Ephesus. Although by all appearances the Ephesian church seems to be doing everything right, Jesus says, "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first." He goes on to give the Ephesian church an ultimatum, either turn back to what you once were or lose your place in the Kingdom of Heaven. He knows that a people who have lost their first love for Him will not represent Him or serve Him as He desires they should.

I've been in the midst of churches who've lost their first love for one reason or another. One such church enjoyed an amazing time of revival that made it a place of healing and power; it impacted nations as many received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and were anointed to preach and minister. But even so, their love grew cold because they became complacent, believing that, because of the great move of God among them thirty years ago, they knew all there was to know about Him and didn't need to seek Him anymore. The hunger to go deeper, the longing to draw closer, slowly faded and was replaced by arrogance and pride and gossip and strife took hold of the people. The Holy Spirit was all but removed from this church for a time, but thankfully, they have turned and there is life among them again.

So what is the secret to staying in that place of first love? It's not easy to remain there, especially when those who've become jaded by familiarity and complacency scoff, and scorn, and even try to trip you up. You start to doubt and to wonder if maybe you really are foolish, or crazy. It takes focus, it takes work, and it takes help and encouragement to "abide" in Jesus' love. But I believe the "secret" lies in this simple but profound verse:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

It's when we behold His glory that we fall deeper and deeper in love with Jesus. It's when we are beholding His glory that we experience the awe and wonder we felt when we first met Him and were born again. It's while we are beholding His glory that we remember who He is, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the One who is above everything on earth and in heaven and under heaven, the Alpha and the Omega, the One through whom and for whom all things were made - the exact representation of the Father. And as we behold His glory with unveiled face - not running away or holding anything back - we are changed. As we continue to behold His glory we are slowly transformed into the SAME image, becoming more and more like Him. We do not fall back to our old comfortable ways or become complacent with what we have and what we have achieved. No, we continue moving closer to His holiness and majesty, always being made more like Him from one degree of glory to another.

I want to be awakened to Christ's glory every single day, to pursue precious glimpses of His glory in every waking moment. One experience of His glory just isn't enough for me. There are times when I need His grace to do this, times when sorrow or complacency and jadedness begin to set in. But as I continue to seek Him and to behold His glory - even in the very world around me - I find I can abide in that place of first love. And I find that the hunger and thirst for more of Him continues to grow stronger every day. It's this hunger and thirst - placed in me by God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit - that drive me to go deeper, to seek further, to keep longing to know more of Him and to be more like Him.

I read the latest newsletter from Threshold Ministries while taking a break from writing this post and was reminded that as a member of Threshold I am exhorted to:

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. (Romans 12:11)

Lord, I pray for those who think they know you but have lost their first love. They've forgotten what it means to be loved by You. They've lost the joy and the passion of knowing You. May they behold Your glory and be renewed. May they fall in love with you all over again. And, Lord, it's only by Your grace that we can abide in Your love. I ask that You would give me my daily portion of grace and revelation so that I can remain in Your love, beholding Your glory forever!

Waves of mercy, waves of grace

2010-06-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

Standing on the ocean shore this morning staring out to sea, I watched the waves lapping the shore as I talked to my Father. Each time I pray while I'm at the beach, I feel led to pray for God's mercy and grace, and His provision, to flow to me across time and space in waves, just as the waves of the sea continually flow towards me from some distant place which I cannot see.

I experienced God's power like a wave once, during a worship and prayer gathering at a Vineyard fellowship in the Maritimes. I was standing at the very back of the building and I sensed the surge of power coming towards me as the wave flowed from the front of the building all the way to the back. As it engulfed me I was almost knocked off my feet as the energy surged through me and swirled around me, traveling swiftly past me. I wish I could say that I knew what it was for or what it meant, but I don't. All I know is that I was dumbstruck with awe as I experienced yet another way in which the Spirit and the power of God moves.

So as I stood at the shore this morning praying, the tide, which was going out when I first arrived, began to turn and the waves began to lap up closer and closer to my feet. "It's coming...it's coming..." I prophesied with the reach of every wave, and then suddenly the lapping water began to flood the sand around my feet. "It's here!" I declared, as it began to move beyond me.

A move of God is coming. We are only beginning to experience it as it travels steadily towards us from across time and space. It is just starting to lap at our feet, and already people are rejoicing and seeing visions and being super-charged by the power of God, as they meet Jesus, the Christ, and as His Spirit begins to move on their hearts, and transform their lives and anoint them with fire. But this is just a foretaste of what is to come! There is MORE!

We must prepare ourselves to walk in the fullness of the power that is to come. We must make ourselves ready to be used of God when His waves of mercy and grace flood the land around us and surround us and sweep us off our feet. Are we ready for this surge of power? Are we willing to lay everything down to serve His Kingdom purposes on earth? To be caught up in His train and carried along with Him as He sweeps through our land? It's time to decide.

A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
   and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
   and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
   and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
(Isaiah 40:3-5)

...for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)

Let it be so, Lord!

Rabbi, let me recover my sight!

2010-06-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

I was reading the story of Blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10 the other day. It's a very familiar story about Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, who rightly addresses Jesus as he cries out to Him for help: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." It's evident by his address, and by his request, that He knew who Jesus truly was.

Because of Batimaeus' lowly status in the Jewish society of his day, the crowd tried to hush him. They deemed his need not important enough to trouble the Rabbi for, but Jesus heard his cries and told the crowd to call him. And then, as Bartimaeus stands before Jesus, He asks him, "What do you want me to do for you?" and Bartimaeus replies, "Rabbi, let me recover my sight!" (vs. 51)

In Chapter 10, Mark recounts several stories of people who think they see Jesus and know who He is, but who do not truly see. The first is a rich young man who is doing all he can to enter the Kingdom of God - according to the letter of the law. He's obeyed all of the commandments of God, and he comes and kneels at Jesus feet and asks, "Rabbi, what must I do to inherit eternal life." (vs. 17) And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." (vs. 21)

The young man leaves, crestfallen and filled with sorrow, for he had great possessions (vs. 22), and in his culture, his wealth represented God's blessing on his life. The rich young man recognized Jesus as a rabbi, a good teacher, and he may even have believed that Jesus was the Messiah, since he knelt in front of Him when he presented his question. But it seems likely that he was looking for more of a philosophical answer to his question, something that would "tickle his ears" and warm his soul. Or perhaps the young man was looking for a pat on the back from Jesus for his strict adherence to the law. Any other rabbi would have been very proud of the rich young man, but Jesus was no ordinary, worldly rabbi.

Then there is the story of Jesus' disciples, two brothers, who also thought they knew who Jesus was. They knew that He would be enthroned in heaven and they asked Jesus to give them the places of honour on either side of His throne.

Although all of these young men had a level of understanding of who Jesus was, each one is actually blind to the truth which only Blind Bartimaeus is able to see. Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of God. They all knew this, and yet they still did not truly see. Somehow what they knew about Jesus got in the way of their really knowing the truth. It's called "familiarity". And it was familiarity that prevented Jesus from being able to perform miracles in his hometown of Nazareth. The people among whom he'd grown up thought that they knew who He was and were unable to believe anything apart from what they already knew about Him. Probably there are many folks who profess to follow Christ who've attained a similar level of understanding of who Jesus is and assume that they already know all there is to know about Him. They have become "familiar" with Jesus. But there's so much more! The more we truly know about Him, the more we realize how much there still is for us to learn!

Jesus explained many times throughout the gospels that the Son of God did not come to be served but to serve. He does not call people to follow Him so that they can be exalted and given honour and wealth and respect. On the contrary, He calls His followers to take up their crosses and follow Him. To suffer humiliation and poverty and persecution and hatred, as He did! He calls us to let go of the security and status of wealth and possessions and trust only in God to provide for our needs. He calls us to lay down our need for honour and title and recognition among our contemporaries, and to humble ourselves and become servants to both God and men.

The character of Bartimaeus is one of abject poverty and desperation. Bartimaeus is not proud. He has no wealth, no possessions, and has not even a hope of being given honour and respect among his peers. He stands before Jesus with nothing but his need and his faith. I was in the same place ten years ago, and when I realized my need for Jesus and cried out to Him, He responded in such a powerful way, extravagantly pouring out His manifest love out upon me, that I was forever changed. He healed me and raised me up and gave me sight. Suddenly I saw the world through different eyes and I was so grateful and filled with love for Him that I would do anything and give everything I had or ever would have to serve Him.

Over the past ten years of being "taught" by the church and by religious educational institutions, the keenness of my "new born" sight has began to dull. It's become clouded, and the cares of the world and the desire (need) to accumulate wealth and possessions has brought about a slow decay. But as I study this text my heart cries out, "NO! This is not what I want!" I don't want some watered down version of the gospel of Christ that allows me to remain complacent in my comfort zone looking out at the pain and suffering in the world around me from a "high" place. I know that when I get entrenched in comfort and in security that comes from money and things, I lose my boldness and my effectiveness as an ambassador of Jesus Christ and I no longer care about the circumstances and lives of other people. I don't want to become "familiar" with Jesus, believing that I already know all there is to know about Him because the more I seek to know Him, the more I realize just how magnificent and vast and glorious He is and it only makes me long to know Him more!

When Jesus first came into my life I knew Him as the Son of God, the Light of the World. I knew that I had met a "cosmic" being, one for whom nothing was impossible. If He could get hold of me in spite of my stubbornness, He truly was capable of performing miracles - and He did. He brought me into the knowledge of the love of the Father, and knowing His love filled me up so full that I needed nothing else. Because His love for me changed me life and set me free, I wanted everyone who was hurting to know His love too.

Because of my love for Him I was so tuned in to the Father's heart that He would show me the ones He wanted to shower with His love. He would allow me to see into their hearts and show me the pain and the darkness in their lives, and that would give me a burning desire for them to know His love. He would tell me where to go and what to do and who to bless and what to say - and I would do it. If I was afraid, I would still do it! And lives were touched with the love of God because of my obedience and my boldness. He gave me the ability to see the spirit realm, to see angels as well as demons, and because of that sight, and my obedience to Him, a few people were released from harassment and bondage. It is for this reason we are commanded to love God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength - because when we do that we receive His heart for the lost and broken ones and He anoints us to heal and comfort and minister to them.

It's a tragedy that in North America, so many of us who call ourselves Christians do not really see Jesus and know who He truly is. Unless we have come before Him, filthy and dejected, poor and begging for mercy, nakedly admitting our need to Him, we have not truly encountered Him; we have not experienced His compassion, His healing love or His transforming resurrection power that changes us and circumstances in an instant. Humility and desperation are the keys that unlock the door to revelation and grace and free us from our worldly or religious mindsets so that we can see and know Jesus as He truly is.

Although Bartimaeus' clothes were filthy, his heart was pure. He came to Jesus with no agenda, with no pride, and with no ulterior motive. His desperate cry was for mercy, and His one desire was to recover his sight. That is my prayer today.

Lord, I long to return to that same passionate first love I had for You. I want to live and breathe and have my being in You; to obey Your every word like I used to. I release to You everything that hinders me from being pure of heart and fully surrendered to Your will. Even what little prestige and wealth and possessions I have, I give them all up for You. Forgive me for relying on the material things of this world for my security. Grant me the humility and wisdom of dear Bartimaeus; I come before you as he did, a dirty, tired old beggar. And just as he did, I cry out to You, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" "Rabbi, let me recover my sight!" I want to see you as you truly are!

Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. (Mark 10:52)

2010-04-29T03:35:00.000-07:00

This is a response I wrote to a Facebook post written by someone I love. He was angry that a caring but misguided Christian friend told him that unless he and his family believe in Christ they are all going to hell. The response is addressed to him and to those who posted comments that supported him and denigrated the good news and those who preach it.

I hope you all will read this even though it is a different point of view and written by a believer. I used to feel exactly like you do whenever someone brought up Jesus or quoted the Bible to me. It made me very angry. I felt they had no right.

I'm sorry someone mis-represented Christ - and Christ followers - to you. Jesus never condemned people - except the uber-religious ones called "the Pharisees and scribes". They were the Jewish leaders and teachers of religion and they were misrepresenting God to the people, making him out to be a nitpicking angry God, and that made Jesus very angry.

The Bible says that God doesn't want anyone to go to hell. He's not some divine ogre in the sky just waiting for us to make a wrong move. He loves us all no matter whether we believe in Jesus or not and whether we're good or not and he wants us to be with him. Remember The Father's Love Letter (http://www.fathersloveletter.com/)? Every word is from the Bible, it is truly God's love letter to us. But as much as he loves us, we all have a choice to make, and it has to do with whether or not we are going to follow God and believe in the one he sent.

I know it's hard to understand this, and I would have been very sceptical myself in the past, but I have met Jesus Christ. He is real, and he is alive, and I have come to know the LOVE of God through him. My life changed dramatically the moment I met Jesus. Fear is gone, and so is shame, and in their place I have freedom. That doesn't mean that I am perfect and never do anything wrong, or that I am never afraid, but I used to live in misery and hopelessness and fear all the time before I met him. Fear of dying, fear of making a mistake, fear of not having any money, and on and on. Knowing Jesus has given me hope, and joy, and peace, and a purpose, and I long every day for everyone I love to know the hope and the love and the joy and the freedom that I have found in him. Jesus called it "abundant life" or "life to the fullest". That's what he came for and that's what he offers every person who puts their faith in him. He came to set us free so that we could know God's love. And to know and feel the love of the God who created the universe is such an amazing thing! I feel safe in the world now no matter where I am because he is with me and he guides me and protects me. It's not religion, it's a relationship, and it's real. I wasn't scared into believing in Jesus, and I wasn't brainwashed into believing either; he met me where I was in my misery and fear and he healed me and set me free. And in that moment I felt the love of God pouring into me. It was a powerful experience that I will never forget. And because of it, I cannot deny him or allow him to be misrepresented.

I'm glad that you talk to Jesus. He hears you and he cares about the things that trouble you and that you care about - and he loves you. Keep talking to him. You don't have to go to church to know him. He will meet you right where you are. I know this because that's what happened to me. And because of that my love for him goes beyond duty or fear or dogma. My heart is full of gratitude for all that he's done for me and all that he continues to do. Seek him and you will find him.

I know that what I have shared may anger the folks who've posted here - if they got this far - but it's my experience. God is real. He loves me and he loves you too – and believe it or not he loves Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo too. And yes if they were to confess and ask God’s forgiveness and truly believe in Jesus they would receive his salvation. And that's good news for all of us since none of us is entirely good. The Bible says that God forgives everyone who asks for his forgiveness. I'm thankful that I am forgiven. Of course God wants us to be good, but being good doesn't necessarily qualify us for heaven.0

This is what Jesus said on this subject: "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed. By believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness."

For such a time as this...

2010-04-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

Three weeks have passed since I came to Powell River. It's like paradise here, so many beaches and seascapes and mountain vistas, and so much wildlife to see - eagles, loons, kingfishers, hummingbirds, seals, starfish, etc. I've met some amazing people here with whom I've of one heart and mind - in the unity of the Holy Spirit. They run and minister at the Powell River Healing Rooms, and they have a heart for the people of the community.

I had tea last week with Hazel who, along with her husband Bill, heads up the Healing Rooms ministry here and she asked me what the vision is that God has given me for Powell River. It turns out that she and Bill have an almost identical vision! They're just waiting for God to show them it's time to move on it. I was with them last night, and some other folks on the team as well, and Hazel said something that impacted me. She said it's one thing to have a vision and it's entirely another thing to actually do something about it.

I'm incredibly grateful that God has led me straight to a group of believers who are on fire for Jesus and passionate about reaching people with His love. I never imagined that it would happen so quickly, but He obviously has sent me here, as Hazel said, "for such a time as this."

Lord, I pray that you would help me to remain sensitive to the leading of your Holy Spirit, and that you would also give me the courage to act and to obey when you say, "Go." Please break my heart for the things that break your heart and let me see people as you see them. Use me as your representative to everyone I meet in this community. Move me to do what you want done, to say what you want to say, without hesitation or second guessing. Let me be your humble servant, your handmaiden - not just in words, but in deeds as well - just as Esther was, "for such a time as this."

God's paintbrush! Sunset over Willingdon Beach, Powell River.

It really was that red! I was with my son when he took this photo.

Your mission, should you choose it...

2010-03-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

In a few days I'm moving to a new community and starting a new phase of my journey with God. I'm heading to Powell River which is on the north end of the Sunshine Coast. It's a beautiful place, a real feast for the eyes, but the thing I like most is the quiet! I have a son and grandson living there so it will be nice to be close to them, but I also feel as though I'm being sent. I will be "tent making" - earning a living by working at a secular job that I believe is my next assignment from God - while praying, getting to know people and seeking God for direction. I'm excited! Your prayers would be gratefully appreciated.

(Photo by my son, Jeremy Williams)

God's Unfathomable Love

2010-01-12T17:06:00.000-08:00

Lately everything I've been reading and listening to is on the topic of the extravagant love of God. "The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus" by Brennan Manning - a book that has impacted me more than any other I've read so far - is one example. If you haven't read it yet, do yourself a favour. Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, The

A sermon by Baxter Kruger on Ephesians 1 is another example. It's a powerful and profound teaching that set my heart ablaze!

And then, yesterday, in the maximum security unit of a federal penitentiary for women I heard a powerful testimony that caused me to weep with joy Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Theand awe. I lead a weekly Bible study there and had a new woman join me this week. She was the only one on her unit that wanted to participate, and so it gave us an opportunity to get to know one another better. This woman had taken a life, and the day after her arrest and imprisonment, she knew that she was facing a long incarceration and that she didn't have the strength to endure it. So she prayed and asked God to come into her life and help her - and He did!

God did not turn her away or ignore her because of her sin. When she called out to Him, He lovingly came alongside her. And since that day she has been reading the Bible and worshipping Him and praying on a daily basis. She's had no evangelizing and no teaching except for a do-it-yourself Bible study she did in the holding jail she was at before. All on her own - and with the help of the Holy Spirit - she has grown in the Lord. She's like a beautiful flower that has been hidden from view until now; she's been transformed by the renewing of her mind! And she is my most advanced pupil because she's read through the Bible several times and been tutored by the Holy Spirit in the ways of God. She loves Him and trusts Him, and she told me that she has joy and peace in the midst of her circumstances - even when it comes to the care of her four children.

How amazing is that? How amazing is God's love?! What a powerful testimony to the mercy and grace of our loving Father in heaven. I was brought to tears as she shared her story with me and she told me that I was the first person who was able to understand what has happened to her. I am humbled by the privilege of being the first person to ever hear her testimony.

Thank You, Lord, for your amazing grace! Please bless my sister in Christ abundantly as she faithfully clings to You.

He leads me beside the still waters...

2009-11-24T11:53:00.001-08:00

We had a stormy week on the west coast with high winds and high tides wreaking havoc in many places. There was major flooding in some communities on Vancouver Island - prompting the government to impose a state of emergency in at least one community - and there were lots of power outages as trees were blown down. Logs littered the beaches in many areas as log booms were broken up strewn every which way by the waves.

While visiting my son (the photographer who took the photo above) and grandson on the northern Sunshine Coast last weekend, I spent the nights in a warm cozy bed in the loft in my son's beachfront cabin. The ceiling was just a few feet above me and it curved around the bed like a cocoon. It was awesome to listen to the sounds of the surf as great waves were hurled against the shore, and of the wind as it whipped through the trees and pushed against the walls of the cabin. One night I lay there trying to imagine what it must be like for the birds and the squirrels who live in the trees that were being tossed and shaken by the winds just a few feet from my bed. I felt so grateful that I could rest safe and warm and secure in my bed inside the loft - so secure that I was able to peacefully drift off to sleep while the tempest raged all around me.

I realized that this was a perfect illustration of what it means to be "in Christ". Though storms rage and terror reigns (H1N1 is the current scare) and the forces of death and destruction wreak havoc in the world all around us, in Christ we are safe and protected; cocooned in a peace that allows us to lay down our heads and sleep - secure in the knowledge that we live and move and have our being in the One through whom all things were created. We can rest in the Saviour, the Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who has all authority in heaven and here on earth. This realization gave me great comfort and it has continued to help me to enter into the rest of God whenever the tempest that rages around me threatens to overwhelm me. He is my fortress, my God in whom I trust.

Thank You Lord for Your love, Your peace, and Your protection. Help me to remain in Your love always.

I'D LEAVE 99...(An article I wrote for my church's newsletter on the theme of homecoming.)

2009-09-03T13:33:00.001-07:00

When I think of homecoming what comes to mind is sitting in my pastor's office for the first time nine years ago. I had begun to attend his church a few months before but usually slipped out before the service was over to avoid having to talk to anyone, so we'd never really spoken. At the time I was still filled with fear and shame; I felt that if people knew what my life was like they would not want me sitting on the pew with them. But on this day, the pastor had made a beeline for me before the service ended, asking if I would like to meet with him in his office. He'd probably noticed me weeping in the pew during the service as I did every time I attended a service. I didn't offer him much to go on that day. I wasn't ready to share the details, just that I was in recovery and had come back to church because I was working Step Two (Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity) in my program. I had attended church as a little girl and had loved Jesus and longed to know God like Joan of Arc and Saint Bernadette did, but I lost my faith and turned away from God when my father left our family for a woman he worked with - in spite of my fervent prayers. So as I was "coming to believe" I decided to go back to church since that was where I had known God as a child. As we sat in his office, my pastor began to prayerfully leaf through the used Study Bible he had offered to give me to take home. Then he stopped and began to read the passage from John 4 about the woman at the well in Samaria. He had no idea that what he was reading was a powerful word of knowledge for me. It was more than that, actually, I was stunned because the story of that woman was the story of my life. I didn't get the part about "living water" etc., at the time it was over my head spiritually, but as he continued to read I felt God saying to my heart, "Finally, you've come home!" In that moment I knew that I was where I was supposed to be, although it would be a while before I invited Jesus to come into my life. August 30 is the anniversary of the day that I was born again. I'm so grateful for God's infinite patience and loving compassion towards me. Like the Good Shepherd, Jesus came and rescued this lost lamb and carried me home. And I will forever love and serve Him.

He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9b

WHEN YOU SEEK ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART

2009-09-03T12:57:00.001-07:00

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. (2 Peter 1:3 MSG)

In the Old Testament times, the people of God needed the services of a priest to go to God on their behalf, and to hear from God for them as well. The first priest was Moses. When God invited the Israelites to come up the mountain to meet Him, they were too afraid; they were sure they would die. So they sent Moses instead. During the times of the tabernacle and the temple there was a room called The Holy of Holies where God's presence dwelled. It was hidden and protected by a thick curtain, and anyone who entered into that room was in danger of losing their lives; the manifest holiness of God would strike them dead because sin cannot stand in the presence of God's holiness. That's why on only one day each year, the high priest of Israel would enter the Holy of Holies to go before God and atone for the sins of all the people. Before he dared to enter, however, he would carefully perform several cleansing rituals and perform many different sacrifices and offerings in order to cleanse himself of his own sin. Then he had to perform more of the same for the sins of the people. If there was even a residue "uncleanness" left in him or on him, he would most surely die when he entered the Holy of Holies. That's why the other priests would tie a rope to his ankle, that way they could pull him out without risking their own lives to go in and retrieve his body.

Now, because of Jesus' death on the Cross, anyone who believes in Jesus Christ and confesses Him as Lord and Saviour can enter into the presence of God. That's because Jesus was the "once and for all" sacrifice for the sins of everyone in the world. By His death on the Cross He has made us all clean, His blood has washed away all of our sin – if we believe in Him – and we can now enter into the Holy of Holies without fear. That's why the great veil that curtained off the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem was torn in two the moment Jesus died. His death opened a way to the Father for everyone who believes.

Now we no longer need a priest to be our go-between, we can draw close to God and have a personal and intimate relationship with Him ourselves. While we still need leaders and mentors in our lives to teach and guide us, we cannot rely on someone else to bring us closer to God or to do the work of cultivating our relationship with God for us. We must take responsibility and take the time to do whatever it takes to draw closer to Him. If we take even just one baby step towards Him, God will make ten giant strides towards us. We may struggle, not knowing how to draw close, but if we ask for His help God will show us the way. If we don't know how to pray, we can ask Jesus just as the disciples did, and He will teach us. Everything we need to have an intimate and personal relationship with God is within our grasp, in fact, God is just waiting to give it, if we would only ask.

The ways that we approach God are: reading our Bibles; prayer (including listening for Him to speak); praising and worshipping Him by reciting a psalm or singing a hymn or a praise song; and sitting in silence expectantly waiting for Him. As we do these things with hearts that long to draw close to Him, He promises He will draw close to us.

The Message puts it beautifully:

So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet. (James 4:7-10)

God is waiting for you to seek Him. There is so much He longs to give you and to show you! You will never regret turning your will and your life over to His care.

PRAYER

Thank You, Jesus, that You died on the Cross so that I can enter into the Holy of Holies and experience the manifest presence of God. And thank You that because of You I have all I need to live a life that is pleasing to God. Lord, I want to know You more. Please open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Teach me how to seek You, how to pray to You and how to listen and hear Your voice as You speak to me. I commit my life to You now, in Jesus' Name.

HIS LOVE NEVER WEARIES

2009-07-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

There are moments throughout each day when our minds get carried away with the busy-ness and the circumstances of our lives and our thoughts are not on God. But no matter how often we forget Him, He never forgets or neglects us.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand.Psalm 139:17-18

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary…Isaiah 40:28

We cannot weary God’s love. The Bible tells us that God’s love endures forever, that it is changeless and infinite, and that nothing can separate us from His love – nothing! Although there are times when we may grieve His heart, His love never is never failing. Our Father in Heaven longs for us to turn to Him and know His love. His hands are full of blessings that He would so love to pour out on us.

We talk so often with others throughout the day, but so often we forget that God is longing to hear our voice. He has so much to tell us, if we would only listen. God is not a remote impervious power. He is a Person with feelings, and He desires intimacy with us. He made us in His own image, and so our own need and desire for intimacy and relationship is a characteristic we inherited from Him!

So often we trust only in those things we can see, but we should not allow the worldly mind set of “I’ll believe it when I see it” keep us from the heart knowledge of who God truly is - a Person who desires to be known by us. If we would only seek Him with all our hearts, and love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength, we would discover that He is as tangible to us as Jesus was to Thomas the day He appeared and said, “"Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side.”

Jesus did not grow weary of Thomas and his doubts. Instead He invited Him to discover the truth, that He was truly alive! Jesus said to Thomas, “Do not disbelieve, but believe." And during those times when God seems distant and aloof and our faith in His love begins to flag, God does not chastise us or abandon us. Instead He invites us to a deeper intimacy with Him. He longs for us to “taste and see” just how good and faithful He is. There are no limits to how much He loves us. The question is, will we open our hearts to Him and allow Him to show us?

I'm thankful that I have had several experiences of knowing God's love in a real and tangible way. One of them came during a time of great temptation for me. Jesus told me that He could hold me just the way I wanted to be held on a day when I almost sacrificed purity for affection and intimacy. I argued with Him because I had barriers of unbelief and skepticism that prevented me from just running into His arms. True to Himself and His character, Jesus was patient with me and invited me to give it a try, just as He did with Thomas. I will never forget what happened when I allowed Him to hold me as He said He would. It was one of the most intimate and excruciatingly beautiful moments I have had with anyone in all my life. Taste and see; the Lord IS good!

Lord, thank You for the reminders throughout Scripture that You love us with a passionate and everlasting love. Help us to remember that there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from Your love. And if we have any barriers in our lives or in our hearts that keep us from knowing the fullness of Your love and experiencing Your blessings, would You gently show us what they are so that we can offer them up to You and be free from everything that would hinder us from running into Your open arms. Help us to remember to show our love for you throughout each day, and teach us how we can bless your heart.

Changing the blog's name

2009-05-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

I've been reluctant to post items about my ministry with Partners in Hope and at the Fraser Valley Institution because the stories I want to tell involve real people whose anonymity is at stake. This ethical dilemna has caused me to neglect posting to my blog on a regular basis, and so I have decided to change its focus from what God is doing in the lives of other people to one that is more focused on what God, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, is teaching or showing me. If I keep it personal then the only person whose anonymity is at stake is myself.

God is doing amazing things around us every day, and I hope that He will remind and inspire me to share more of what I see Him doing around me in this forum.

May He bless you abundantly today.

Hope for the Hopeless

2009-05-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is an article I wrote recently for the St. Simon's Newsletter on the subject of the "Power of the Holy Spirit"

THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AT WORK

I see the power of God at work through the Holy Spirit as I allow Him to place me strategically where He wants me to be. Recently while I was at the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women (ACCW) with a group of W2 volunteers, I found myself with time left over before we were to leave. My self-focussed wish was to head out to my car and rest and listen to praise music while I waited for the other volunteers to finish; it had been a long day. Instead, I decided to offer myself and my time to God for His purposes and began to walk around the grounds praying and asking God to show me if there was someone He wanted me to reach out to. It often happens that women who are broken and searching will feel drawn to one or more of us and ask how they can arrange to have a W2 visitor too. These are almost always “divine appointments”!

So as I circled the prison grounds and prayed, a woman who was standing alone in a gazebo far from the main activity of the prison called out and asked me what we were doing there at ACCW. I stopped and told her that we visit women every other week and talk and listen and sometimes pray with them. She told me she wanted to sign up for a visitor so I explained how; then I told her that I had some time left if she wanted to have a visit right now. We sat down on the benches in the gazebo and she told me a little about herself. She told me that she was struggling with being back in jail this time and was dreading her sentencing hearing, which was coming up in a couple of days. She was afraid that she was going to be given a long sentence because of the charge that she was facing.

She told me that she felt ready, finally, to get clean and sober and live her life differently; she wants to be involved in her children’s lives again. I told her that God cared about her and about her relationship with her children, and that most of the women I meet at ACCW see their incarceration as God’s rescue from themselves and from their addictions. I suggested that perhaps God had rescued her too and had a plan to save her and help her to change her life around. She agreed; she told me that she had decided to sign up for some of the programs that are offered at ACCW like Emotions Management and addiction related courses. I shared a little bit about what God has done in my life and asked if I could pray for her. We spent time together in prayer for all of the things that were on her heart, and all that the Holy Spirit gave me to pray for her. She wept. I believe that God heard the cry of that woman’s broken heart that night, and that by the power and the leading of the Holy Spirit, He sent me to respond – only because I made myself available - so that He could minister His love to her.

I expect to hear the story of how He moved in answer to our prayers the next time I see her. It happens all the time; I’ve heard many women share with breathless excitement how God responded to our prayers during my last visit – He is good and He wants to demonstrate His love and His care to them. I pray that this desperate woman who’s found herself at the end of her own strength will apply to have a W2 visitor – maybe me - who can help to shine the light of hope and of God’s love into her life. I know that God will provide for her needs if she looks to Him. What an awesome privilege it is to be a small part of this God-given ministry of reconciliation through the work of M2W2.

In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.
2 Corinthians 5:19-20

For more information about the ministry of M2W2 click on the link to the right or go to http://www.m2w2.com/

The Hope and the Promise of Easter

2009-04-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Easter has a personal meaning for me that goes beyond its significance as a Holy Season of the church. Nine years ago on Palm Sunday I crossed the threshold of St. John’s Anglican Church in Duncan seeking to “come to believe” in that power greater than myself that could restore me to sanity and free me from the hold that addiction had on my life. I had known and loved the Lord as a child but that day my spirit was bankrupt and my heart was broken and despairing. I had no other hope, everything I had tried failed to bring healing or change.

I had hoped to slip into the church service unnoticed that morning, and to leave that way too, but the joyful Palm Sunday celebration was in full swing. I had a palm frond slapped into my hands and was instructed to go outside again and “process” into the church with the others, waving the palm frond and proclaiming, “Hosannah in the highest!” Amazingly, I did not drop the palm frond and run! Instead, like the rest of the people gathered, I waited out in the spring sunshine and then processed into the church as I was told.

I didn’t fully understand the religious significance of the procession at that time, but looking back I can see that this was actually a prophetic act for me. I didn’t know it that day, but I was returning home! I had begun the journey to the Cross; the journey from darkness into light; from despair to hope; from sin to righteousness; from death to life; and from shame to glory. Jesus’ mighty victory over the grave set me free from sin and death forever four months later when I invited Him into my heart and my life, and now I too am victorious over the grave. Jesus was willing to die for me! He loves me that much! “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.”(Psalm 139:6) I am humbled and filled with awe and wonder every time I think of it and I can’t think of it without weeping tears of gratitude. Thank You, Jesus!

I recently heard a beautiful, heart rending song called “The Day Before You,” by a young man named Matthew West. The words speak so simply and beautifully of the change that happened in my life nine years ago. I close with a couple of lines from the chorus: I can't wait, to wake up tomorrow, and find out this promise is true, I will never have to go back to, the day before you.

PS: The stunning picture was shot by my son, Jeremy - a very gifted photographer. Can you see the Cross?

Renewal

2009-01-31T23:24:00.000-08:00

An article for the St. Simon's NV Renewal Mission Newsletter

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 ESV

Because I became a Christian quite late in life I understand the transformation that happens “by the renewal of your mind”. Along my seeker’s journey I investigated many spiritual paths and philosophies, and accumulated many thoughts and beliefs that were not in line with God’s will for my life. In the early days of my walk with Christ I was not willing to lay down some of these beliefs, even when they were questioned by my spiritual elders. They made sense to me. However, as the life Christ grew within me - and especially after being baptized in the Holy Spirit - my thoughts and beliefs began to come more into alignment the Word of God. Not because of any argument or debate with members of my church, but because I was continually surrendering my life to God and being counselled by the Holy Spirit.

Seeking the renewal of the mind is crucial for every Christian whether we’ve grown up in the church or not. As sadly evidenced in the Anglican/Episcopal Church in North America, believers can be influenced and even led astray by ideas and beliefs that are not in line with God’s Word. Renewal is the work of the Holy Spirit who wants to continually come in and fill us up with the life of Christ, renewing our minds and giving us God’s perspective on life. Renewal enables us to discern the “good and acceptable and perfect” will of God so that we cannot be easily led astray by worldly ideas and ungodly philosophies. When we are truly aligned with God’s will and our thoughts line up with His Word, we no longer live in a way that conforms to the world. Our lives and relationships demonstrate that we are different, and the transformation is apparent to those around us. We become more concerned about the needs and lives of others and we become “fishers of men,” concerned with catching human fish for the Kingdom of God because we have and know God’s heart and God’s thoughts toward people. As the Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3:9, it is God’s desire that none should perish, but that all people should turn to Him.

I pray that St. Simon’s Renewal Mission 2009 will be a time of seeking the renewal of the mind that God, through the Holy Spirit, wants to bring. I pray that our hearts will be set ablaze with the love and the compassion of God’s own heart and that we would passionately seek opportunities to bring others into His presence so they may know His love. May we be transformed as individuals, and as a church, and may our hearts and attitudes become the same as Christ’s.

(I will happily forward the brochure for the upcoming Renewal Mission March 20-22, 2009 at St. Simon's Church NV and Harvest City Church to anyone who is interested. Just send me an email to request it.)

The Hope of Glory

2008-11-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a "jail" day. I spent the afternoon at Fraser Valley Institution doing my weekly Bible study in the maximum security unit and then had a meeting with the chaplain and the inmates on the chaplaincy committee. We're planning to show the movie The Nativity one evening next month for all of the women incarcerated there.

In the evening I went to the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women for my bi-weekly visits with several of the inmates through M2W2 (see link for more info). As always it was a blessing and always God showed up. I met with three women, one I've been visiting for six months now, and two that I have only visited once before. Each visit was amazing and each woman was amazing too; every one of them is a follower of Christ. Some people find it difficult to believe that anyone who knows Christ could end up serving jail time, but most of the women I've met in the penitentiaries have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. They may not be walking with Him, but they know Him. Part of my "assignment" is to point them back to God and encourage them to pray and read their Bibles every day. During each visit I pray with them and God is always faithful to answer our prayers and to demonstrate His love and His care in amazing ways that let them know that He truly is there for them.

I've seen big changes in L since I first met her six months ago. At that time her thinking was still "stinking"; she was still caught up in the insanity and denial of addiction and she did not possess much wisdom for making healthy decisions pertaining to her future. However, as she's turned her life over to God more and more, her mind is being renewed. Last night she told me that she prayed and surrendered her life and all of her circumstances to God. Yay! And very soon she will be going to trial and may be released into the care of the kind and loving staff at Teen Challenge. Praise God!

D is another story. She's going to be released very soon as well. Her release will probably be conditional - she will have to go into treatment for drug addiction. That's good and proper, but she wants to be able to live at home and do her treatment through a day program. That would probably set her up to fail since she will be returning home to a partner who is a drug dealer. That's what I mean by the insanity and denial of addiction. D hasn't got enough clean time and hasn't strengthened her relationship with God enough to have had a change of heart and mind. She wants to stay clean and sober, but her desire is not strong enough to resist the temptations that are going to be all around her if she tries to do her treatment while living at home. I pray that God will guide her to the right treatment facility - she was talking about a very good Christian one - where she can recover in safety and protection, away from the influence of the drug culture.

Then there's A. She's a ray of light - Christ's light - but doesn't know it yet, although there is hope in her heart. She's been about as far down and as far out as you can go in addiction. The ravages of street life still show in her face and on her body, but there is also a beauty and an intelligence that shines through. During her last relapse, God gave her several visions of hell that were so real. She says it is horrible beyond anything we could ever imagine. These visions have helped her; she wants to walk with God and I believe that He has a wonderful plan to use her for His Kingdom purposes. She has gifts and abilities that He can use to rescue others from the brink of hell, and her brightness and intelligence will help her to learn quickly all that He wants to teach her.

It amazes me how God uses broken down "worthless" people (like me) to work out His plan of salvation. And I'm so thankful that He sends me to encourage women who find themselves cast out, and thrown on the garbage heap of society. There is a "poverty of spirit" present in these women that causes them to be open to God, and that allows God's power to come to bear in their circumstances: "Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven".

Thankfully, God looks beyond what we see with our eyes and values those who seem to have no use or no worth according to our wordly standards. A verse from When It's All Been Said and Done, a song that Robin Mark recorded, comes to my mind as I write this and I'll close with its lyrics. But first I ask you to please pray for these three women and for all the other valuable souls who find themselves in prison today. God loves each one of them and has a plan for each of their lives. May they come to know His love in all the fullness of its power to heal and transform lives. Thank you.

Lord, Your mercy is so great
That You look beyond our weakness
And find purest gold in miry clay
turning sinners into saints

PEACE!

2008-11-18T13:24:00.001-08:00

Peace is a word we often use as a greeting or as a closing in our letters and our conversations. When I was a young hippie wannabe, I heard that word a lot. Now as a Christian I read it in the bible and say it numerous times every day, most often in my prayers for other people. What is it about peace that causes us to desire it and to pray for it for ourselves and for others?

According to the dictionary, the word peace means: the cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension; freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, obsession, etc.; a state of tranquillity or serenity. Peace is a state of rest - of true rest, not just bodily rest but of "soul rest"; and it is state of rest or tranquility that every one of us longs for.

From my experience, lasting peace is found only in God. One of the names used for Jesus in the Bible is Prince of Peace, and on the night He was born the "heavenly host" proclaimed and rejoiced that peace had come to the earth. Jesus truly is the Prince of Peace but His experience of life on earth was anything but peaceful. He endured suffering and humiliation and torture and death on a cross, but He did it all so that we who choose to follow Him could have peace. Peace of mind. Peace of heart. Freedom from fear, anger, worry, strife. Those of us who know Jesus and are "in Christ" can dwell in this state of tranquility and rest "that transcends all understanding" every day because He overcome the world and won that peace for us. That doesn't mean that we don't experience difficulties in our lives but that even in the midst of our difficulties we can have and experience peace.

I'm thankful that today peace reigns in the Women of Hope house because the Prince of Peace dwells and reigns in every heart here. Thank You, Jesus, that you loved us enought to pay the price to set us free from sin and fear and strife. Thank You for Your peace that passes all understanding.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 20:27

Lockdown

2008-10-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

My weekly Bible study in the maximum security unit at Fraser Valley Institution for women, and the launch of our monthly "Spiritual Cinema" evenings featuring the movie "Jesus," have been interrupted and postponed this week because of several lockdowns that have happened at the prison. To say there is "unrest" among the inmates is to put it lightly. I only receive as much information as I need to so I don't exactly know what the cause of the upheaval is, but I would be grateful if you would join me in prayer for the women and the staff at this federal institution. May God's peace reign in that place and in the hearts of every person there.

Of Love and Unity

2008-10-23T13:36:00.001-07:00

(an article for St. Simon's Newsletter)

While on retreat for several days recently, I was blessed to come upon the book Revelation of Love which is an account of the visions and the spiritual writings of Julian of Norwich, a young, devout Christian woman who shut herself up in two small rooms adjacent to a church for several years in order to experience and communicate with God. As the title suggests, Julian relates her revelations of God’s intimate and extravagant love for us, and since I was feeling spiritually dry and desperately hungry to draw closer to God, the book was like water to my soul.

Julian makes clear to the reader that she was not given these visions and revelations because she was more loved by God than anyone else; she insists that these communications were given for the benefit of the whole Body of Christ. From what I read, the following sentences impacted me most:

When I look to myself as a single individual, then I am nothing. But all my hope comes from being united in one love with all my fellow Christians. For on this unity the life of all that shall be saved depends.

That last sentence hit me like a spiritual thunder bolt; the life of all that shall be saved depends on the church being united in love! I was immediately convicted and moved to repent and then to passionately intercede on behalf of the church in Canada. From a human perspective unity may seem quite hopeless at this time in church history, but thankfully our thoughts are not God’s thoughts. Jesus’ last passionate prayer before going to the Cross was that we would be ONE as He and the Father are ONE. The unity of the church was His priority in those last moments with His Father.

If unity in the church is so important to God that it was the last prayer Jesus prayed before going to His death, I believe that as Jesus did we too should pray fervently and passionately for unity in the Body of Christ in our nation and worldwide. As we abide in Jesus, we become more like Him. As we love God with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength, as Jesus instructed us to do, we sense God’s heart and know His thoughts, and He gives us all the grace and power we need to do whatever He is calling us to do – even becoming “united in one love with all (our) fellow Christians”.

Julian of Norwich took all her hope from this unity in love; I believe we must do the same. Romans 8 tells us that God’s plan is for all of creation to be set free from bondage and decay and to come into glory at the revealing of the “sons of God”. That means it’s going to happen and from that we can take our hope! As a single individual I am nothing, but, together, the sons of God can change the world! Hallelujah!

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
2 Peter 1: 3-7

Captain Catherine Morris

Church Army Canada

All Heaven Rejoices

2008-10-23T13:35:00.001-07:00

It is such a privilege to be in a position of trust and confidence in the hearts and lives of the women who live at the Women of Hope house. Most of us, staff and residents included, have been wounded over the years and have lived outside of God's care and protection as a result. But, the good news is that no matter far we stray and no matter how long we resist His gentle persuasions of mercy and grace, God never gives up on us. As Revelation 3:20 states, Jesus is at the door, knocking. He doesn't just show up one time and one time only, He patiently waits for us to come to that place where we are ready to reach out to Him and open the door an allow Him in.

Recently, Sarah, who's lived at the house for about 10 months opened the door and invited Jesus in. It's a miracle, really! She had many ideas and beliefs that conflicted with what the gospels teach us about who Jesus is and what He has done, and because of old wounds she found it difficult to trust. But gradually God, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit - and perhaps with the help of the DVD version of the Gospel of John (incredible word for word interpretation featuring Henry Ian Cusick who brilliantly portrays Jesus) - she is learning to trust and has set aside her need to understand with her mind and become a woman of faith, believing with her heart. Already there is a pronounced change in her countenance and in her relationships with herself, with God and to others.

Witnessing the power of God at work healing and transforming Sarah comforts and inspires me to greater faith as well. I remember all that He's done for me and in me, which is good because lately I seem to be focussed on the "un-transformed" parts of me instead of on the transformed ones. While some changes are immediate when we invite Jesus to come in, there is also a gradual process of healing and change as well. Paul instructs his converts in Philippians 2:12-13, to work out their salvation with fear and trembling "for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Thankfully, as Paul teaches, we have God to help us and to guide us as we work out our salvation. It is He who heals us and transforms us, though we have work to do too.

God is good all the time and I'm so blessed to be able to witness to His goodness towards me and in the lives of others. "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" Revelation 5:13

Constraint and English comedy troupes

2008-09-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

I think it was the episode of Black Adder where his fanatical Puritanical Christian aunt and uncle come to visit Edmund on the very night he is hosting a drinking contest, interrupting a night of great debauchery. Or was it a scene in Monty Python's movie The Life of Brian? Anyhow, I remember a comedic scene from some show or movie where the phrase: "The love of Christ constrains us" (2 Corinthians 5:14) was being repeated over and over again by fanatical Christians. I also remember laughing in agreement at how stupid they seemed. But now that I actually know the love of Christ, I think I could probably repeat that phrase over and over myself with conviction and not find it humorous - except for the memory of the silliness I witnessed on television.

It is knowing Christ's love that has brought about an amazing transformation in me that only my family and my former church family in Duncan BC have truly witnessed. And since I came to know Christ's love 8 years and one month ago, I can say in all honesty, that His love constrains (controls) me. In a previous post I spoke about God's love and how I would do anything for Him because He loves me. So I suppose this post is a little redundant because being constrained by Christ's love means that in almost everything I do and in every decision I make, I consider how my actions will affect my relationship with Jesus Christ and God, my Father. And I consider how they will affect others as well, but mainly because I know that God cares deeply about how I treat other people who are beloved by Him.

I remember a conversation with a friend in recovery who had discovered the power and the reason Jesus spoke of the first and greatest commandment "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." What my friend discovered was that when he obeyed this commandment to love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, he was able to stay clean and sober without any effort at all. God did for him what he could not do for himself. And, when he loved God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength, he found that it was much easier for him to love his neighbour as he loved himself - which is the second greatest commandment which sums up all the other commandments God has given us. This is what it means to be constrained by Christ's love.

1 John 4:19 says, "We love because He first loved us," and this is the truth. I could not love Jesus until I came to know His love for me. But now that I know His love for me and how extravagant and unconditional it is, I love Him with all my heart. I don't need to earn His love, and in fact there's nothing I could do to earn it. I just need to receive it. And when I say that His love constrains me, it's not because of guilt or a desire to earn brownie points with God so I can make it into heaven, it's because it is my heart's desire to please Him and to bless Him and to serve Him. When someone accepts and loves you just as you are, you want to please that person, not because you need to earn their love, but because you want to bless them in some way because of how they've blessed you. And you want to be like them, too. Their love blesses you so much that you want to be able to love like they do. That's what it's like knowing Jesus, and being constrained by His love. He does not try to control us, but His love for us enables us to control ourselves. What a magnificent God I serve!

And one of the scribes...asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of all?" Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:28-31

Jail time

2008-09-25T16:37:00.000-07:00

Since January 2007 I have been the Chaplain’s Assistant at the Fraser Valley Institution (FVI) for women in Abbotsford. Each Sunday afternoon I drive to Abbotsford to assist the chaplain, Rev. Wendy Murchy, with the prison’s chapel services. The main service is held in the sanctuary at 2 o’clock for the women in the medium and minimum security areas of the prison. There is a service in the maximum security unit each Sunday as well - sometimes we have to hold several if the women who choose to attend are not allowed to fraternize. Attendance varies each week but we see between 5 and 15 women in the main service and 1 to 4 in the services in the maximum security unit. When Wendy is away on holiday or out of town on business, I lead the services in her stead.

In January 2008 Wendy requested that I take over the Monday afternoon Bible Study she was doing with some prisoners in the maximum security unit. Leading this study has been a great blessing to me the two women who regularly attend this meeting are very hungry for God. Their participation in our study is “all in” and God has used our discussion and prayer times to demonstrate his love and his care, and to bring healing and strength when it is needed. I have been privileged to hear the stories of these women and to see the hand of God – and His love – in their lives. It humbles and inspires me to hear about the miraculous ways that He’s moved in answer to our prayers, even moving on the hearts of the “powers that be” within the prison sometimes to grant privileges that would have been impossible without Him. An example is that the women have been allowed to meet together each evening to pray and study the Bible together, even though they are on separate “ranges” which normally are not allowed to mix.

During our prayer times together, Wendy and I, and the women in my Bible Study, have been sensing that God wants to move in power inside the prison. In response, Wendy has formed a Chaplaincy Committee which meets on a bi-weekly basis. The committee includes Wendy, myself, as a representative of the community outside the prison, and a number of inmates who have demonstrated leadership qualities and a commitment to living the “new life” even outside of the chapel – which is challenging because of peer pressure. The mission of the committee is “to identify, address and support the spiritual needs of the women at FVI”.

On September 14th the Chaplaincy Committee held its first one day retreat on the prison grounds using the house where inmates’ family visits take place. The retreat was a time of team building, of spiritual strengthening, and of brainstorming ways that we can bless and impact the lives of the women confined to the institution – and the staff as well. The inmates came up with some wonderful ideas for events we can hold and ways that we can reach out to the other women in the institution, and some of these will be instituted within the next month. We certainly gained spiritual strength and unity through our time together as the Holy Spirit came down as we worshipped together before departing. One of the women exclaimed, “I feel the Holy Spirit!” and we could see it all over her as she was pink and rosy and shiny all over! Thank You, Lord, for manifesting the sense of Your Presence among us and for affirming us in our work among the inmates and staff of FVI. I would be very grateful for your prayers for our committee. We believe that God has a plan to draw inmates as well as the staff of the prison into relationship with Him and we want to hear from Him.

The song the women who attend chapel love to sing most is "Freedom", is based on 2 Corinthians 3:17: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. They know the true freedom that is available to them through faith in Jesus Christ. We hope to help others who are incarcerated to experience it too.

Reflections on God's love

2008-09-19T23:58:00.000-07:00

I remember the day it dawned on me, about 6 months into my recovery journey, that "no thing" was more important in life than the relationships I have with my family and with God. That revelation brought about a grieving process - with loud sobbing and blubberng - that lasted the entire day as I realized how over and over again throughout the years I had deliberately turned away from the people who love me - and from God's love. I was terrified of intimacy because I believed the lie that I was not trustworthy or responsible. God showed me how empty and sterile my life had been, and how often I'd hurt the people who loved me - especially my kids - because of my selfishness and my fears. It was devastating to realize this but it had a huge impact on me that changed me forever. I still have to work hard at being comfortable with intimacy and closeness, but it's too important for me not to try.

What brought me to that point in my life was that I had had a personal revelation of God's love for me just a few weeks before on the day I gave my life to Jesus. God poured His love into me and Jesus' presence with me was so real that I exclaimed to myself in surprise, "Jesus is alive!" The fact that Jesus stayed with me for three days after that, giving me courage to share my Step One history with my recovery group (which was like a confession of all the shameful things I had ever done in my addiction) and forgiving me, and showing me the world as He sees it, including all the turmoil and woundedness in people, gave me unmistakable evidence that I was treasured, loved and chosen by the God who had created the universe.

Knowing that God loves me this way is what motivates me to do good and to try to be a good person. I'm not trying to earn my way into heaven with good deeds. I just want to please my Poppa who loves me, and when I do things that defile myself or hurt others my heart grieves because I know that there is nothing that is hidden from Him. I would do anything for Him and go anywhere He sends me because I love Him so much and am so grateful for His love for me. I want everyone who is hurting and feeling rejected to know His love too and that is why I do what I do. If, somehow, I can introduce them to Jesus then they too can know how precious they are to their Father in Heaven and be transformed by His love. This is the mission that I have been given as a beloved child of God.

Jesus tried to teach the religious leaders of his day, that God cares more about what's inside of us, in our hearts, than about what we do or how we look on the outside. There are many people who practice piety; they go around like "white washed sepulchres" trying to look good and to do good, but you can sense that inside they're really rotten and hateful. Jesus instructed jpeople like this, the Pharisees, to go and learn the meaning of "'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." He cared more about how they responded to the poor and the downtrodden than about their empty offerings and religious practices. He also told them that he didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners. What a great God! He didn't send the Messiah to save those who make a show of being holy and righteous! He sent His One and Only Son to call sinners - the embarrasments, the ignored, the outcasts, the unsaintly - into an intimate relationship with Him! What an amazing God! What extravagant love and incredible mercy!

That is why I am so in love with Him: Jesus came to me when I was feeling dirty and ashamed, and believed I was unworthy of love - especially God's. I had defiled myself and rebelled against God almost all of my life, and yet He came and poured his love into me and chose to stand beside me to strengthen me and protect me and love me. I lay down my life for this kind of love; there is nothing that could ever compare to knowing the tender loving care and mercy of God. And I throw myself on the Cross because I know that I am a wretched sinner redeemed by grace, by the love and the sacrifice of Jesus who laid down His life for us. Thank You Lord that you died for me.

Then turning toward the woman (Jesus) said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little."
Luke 7:44-47

I'm a believer...not a trace of doubt in my mind

2008-06-19T13:03:00.001-07:00

There's a Christian cliche that I've been told that we're not to use anymore because it no longer holds any meaning for people. It's "Jesus is the answer." Maybe it's outdated and has lost its relevance because nobody's asking the question, but it's the truth! Jesus IS the answer! He's everything we need, everything we ever wanted, everything we hoped for. Everything we ever felt we needed - but never got - from other people can be found in Jesus Christ.

He is the answer to all of our problems today (another true cliche). He heals us from the pain and wounds of the past. He can transform our lives, lifting us out of despair and hopelessness to a new life - right here on earth! It is Jesus who gives our lives meaning; it's in Him that we find our purpose. It's through Him that we can love and help and bless other people. As we walk with Him, He restores our broken relationships and reunites us with estranged family members. He provides us with everything we need to live - if we will seek His Kingdom above all else. Most of all, He is the love of our lives, our "soul-mate", the one we've been searching for all of our lives and in all the wrong places.

The other day as I was praying my heart was breaking for all the people I know who desperately need Jesus; who long to be known for who they are, to be loved and appreciated just as they are, to find meaning and to know their purpose in life, to find refuge and safety in this harsh self-centered world. I cried a few tears of frustration because it's really so simple: JESUS IS THE ANSWER! I know that each one of us must seek and discover Him for ourselves, but why is it so hard for us to believe?. I searched and sought down so many paths and in so many ways before I finally surrendered my life and came to believe in Jesus, and it was only out of desperation that I chose to do it. But for days after I finally did, I couldn't stop laughing out loud at myself. "It's so simple!" I kept exclaiming to myself. "It's so simple! All I had to do was believe!"

In the Gospel of John (NIV) Jesus uses the word "believe" more than 40 times. In John 6:29 Jesus says, "This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent." Six verses later He says, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst." What Jesus means by never being hungry or thirsty again is that, if we do what God wants us to do and believe in His Son - the one he has sent - then we will be satified. We will feel fulfilled, and we will stop searching in all the wrong places to fill the emptiness and the longings in us. I know this because it's been my experience; my life was changed and my heart-hunger was filled the moment I gave my life to Him.

Only Jesus can fill the emptiness we feel inside; only Jesus can satisfy the longings that we have to be known and loved for who we are. Only Jesus can give our lives meaning and purpose. And only Jesus can save us from spending eternity without God. Do you want to live throughout eternity feeling lost and empty and unloved and unfulfilled? You don't have to. You can know satisfaction and fulfillment, love and meaning and purpose right here and now. Only believe! Jesus is the answer.

"Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in..." Revelation 3:20

No greater love...

2008-06-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

I thank God for His grace, and His love, and His patience with me as I continue to learn to let people in, to get to know me just as I am. It's taken me a year of living in community here at the Women of Hope house to get here, but it's beginning to happen.

I was so blessed on my birthday when each of the women shared what they appreciate me - it's a birthday tradition here and everyone who has a birthday here has to endure it. Well, that's how I used to feel about it - that it was something I had to endure, because I wasn't able to receive appreciation and love, or to truly believe the words that were spoken about me. This year I was tempted to go to that place of steeling myself to endure the words of appreciation as Elsie initiated the sharing, but the Holy Spirit convicted me that those thoughts and feelings were prideful, and that if I chose to go there I would be sinning against God and against my sisters. So I chose to humble myself and stay emotionally present instead, and I was incredibly blessed by the love that I received.

God has blessed me by bringing me here to the Women of Hope house and I am finally able to acknowledge and to receive that blessing. In a recent session with one of the women of the house, we were studying a chapter in The Purpose Driven Life which stated that the reason we are here on earth is to learn to love. I was convicted that it is also for this reason that God has placed me here in this community. I need to learn to love, to give love as well as to receive it. This has been an area of great wounding, fear and pain for me in my past life, but since I've given my life to Him, God has lavished His love on me and has been healing me through the power of the Cross of Jesus Christ. I pray that I might be "perfected" in love so that I would never again ignore or do harm to another person because of my pride, and that I might focus less on my own needs and desires and instead choose to lay down my life and my desires for the love of my brothers and my sisters.

The women who live at the house have been experiencing some struggles with addiction and other distractions as they draw closer to the Lord and His love. Please pray for an encounter with the living Christ for each one of them. It was the revealation that Jesus is alive and a personal experience of His love for me that transformed my life. And please pray for the leaders too, that we would have wisdom and discernment and will follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as we minister to each of the women who live here. The leadership team is Elsie, myself, Mun Hee and Winnie, a Church Army student who is doing a summer placement here with us. The women of the house are: Kelly, Andrea, Jen & baby Sierra, Sarah, and joining us soon, Camille.

Thanks for reading this, and for praying for us. May God bless you richly.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 ESV

Ready or Not Here I Come!

2008-05-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

(An article I wrote for the St. Simon's North Vancouver Pentecost Newsletter)

The Day of Pentecost was not just a random phenomenon that resulted from the fervent prayers of the apostles, it was an event planned by God ahead of time and prophesied by Jesus (Acts 1:4,5). God had a purpose for sending the Holy Spirit and when the resurrected Christ appeared to them, He told His disciples what that purpose was: “when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."(Acts 1:7-8 MSG)

Could Jesus’ followers have accomplished this commission without having been visited in power by the Holy Spirit? The book of Acts contains numerous accounts of miracles, healing, deliverance and conversion performed by the apostles of the early church, and of the often treacherous journeys they made throughout the known world as they spread the gospel of love and planted churches. The Holy Spirit guided, directed and taught them through dreams and visions; filled their mouths with words; and worked in power to perform miracles through them. These miracles, signs and wonders gave glory to God and changed the lives of those who witnessed them.

Are you hungry, as I am, to see God move in the lives of the people around you; to be able to witness to people about the power and love of God and have signs and wonders following? Do you long to see captives set free, and hearts and lives transformed in an instant by the hand of God? Me too! The people of the early church were hungry too. They met and prayed together for hours every day. If we want to be used by God in a powerful way, we need to make ourselves available to Him. We need to surrender our lives and exchange our worldly priorities for God’s Kingdom purposes. In Luke 12 Jesus tells a parable about servants who are prepared and waiting for their master’s return. If we want to be used mightily by God we need to be watchful and ready so that when God sends the Holy Spirit we are available to be used as His vessels to do whatever He commands.

Before He ascended to heaven, the resurrected Christ told his followers: "And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." (Mark 16:17-18) This power is available to all who believe! It’s not just for apostles, preachers, or revivalists, and it wasn’t meant just for the founding members of the early church. Jesus said these signs will accompany those who believe. Do you believe? Me too. So where are the signs? And how come when we do see them we doubt the credibility of the believers whom they accompany? Is it because of unbelief?

If we truly believed in Jesus we would believe His sayings as well. When I sought God about where He stood on the issue of blessing homosexual unions in the church, He said to me, “If my Word is true, it’s all true.” So if God’s Word is true, then the sayings of Jesus that have been recorded for us to read two millennia later are true too. Let’s believe them! And let’s set aside our personal priorities for God’s Kingdom purposes so that we can truly be His witnesses and see people everywhere turning to Him.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)

A year has passed...

2008-03-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to those of you who continue to pray for us - even when I neglect my blog! I can't believe it's already been a year since I came to Vancouver to live and to work with Partners in Hope.

Things are very busy around the Women of Hope house these days. We have a full house now since Rita, and Jen and her 8 month old daughter Sierra, came to live with us few a weeks ago. What a joy to have a baby in our midst! She is a delight! It is a blessing to watch the measure of wisdom and love with which Jen cares for her baby daughter.

God continues to draw the women into fellowship with Him by “cords of kindness and bands of love” (Hosea 11), and they are growing in their realization of who He is and who they are in His eyes. Please pray for “good soil” as we continue to plant the seeds of the gospel of love and salvation into their hearts. Being willing to hear and to learn is the key as we try to teach and to minister, and I am blessed by the willingness and the trust the women demonstrate.

Rita has made great progress as she allows the truth of God’s Word to penetrate her heart and practices taking her thoughts captive into obedience to Christ.Kelly, Andrea and Sarah continue to grow and blossom. It is an amazing process to witness the transformation that is taking place in them. Kelly was confirmed a few weeks ago, alongside a woman who used to live at Women of Hope and a man who's been a friend of Partners in Hope for years

Elsie is taking some much needed time off this week. Please pray that she will be able to get some much needed rest and relaxation. Also, your prayers for all of us as we learn to adjust to one another’s habits and behaviour, and learn to love one another, would be a blessing. Prayers for God’s protection and peace would also be appreciated.

I am blessed to have a safe car to drive to Abbotsford twice a week for the prison ministry I'm involved with at Fraser Valley Institution for women. Chapel is going very well, we had twelve women last week, which is wonderful, and the Bible Study in the maximum security unit is alive and intense because of the hunger in the hearts of the women who are in attendance each Monday. God meets them each week in their place of need. We are working through “The Purpose Driven Life” and although it is wonderfully rich (and for the most part scriptural) material, it is very challenging to teach to women who are incarcerated and have difficulty believing that God could have a purpose for their lives. I challenge them to believe and to stand on the truth of God’s Word, and already I see changes in the way that they live together and behave inside the prison walls. I will be filling in for the chaplain for several Sundays during April. Your prayers for us would be greatly appreciated.

May the Lord bless you richly as you love and serve Him.

In Christ,
Catherine

Women of Hope

2007-12-15T22:22:00.000-08:00

Today has been a welcome breather from the busyness of our ministry's preparations for Christmas. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, we've had a new resident come to stay with us. She's just been released from the provincial prison on a conditional sentence, and although the transition from jail has been quite overwhelming for her - especially because of the controlled chaos around the house these days - she's been doing very well.

Please pray for her, she is a sweet girl but is very much in need of healing. And please pray for me as I learn to set boundaries and be firm but loving as the leader here at the house. There are issues and outside relationships this woman brings with her that could affect all of us and cause us some anxiety.

In January we will welcome another woman into the house and then all of our rooms will be filled for the first time in months. I anticipate many challenges as she adjusts to having structure and accountability in place.

Thanks so much for praying for us and may your hearts be filled with the wonder and joy that the Christmas season inspires.

Blessings

Christmas Cheer

2007-12-10T23:48:00.000-08:00

Tonight was our W2 Christmas party at the provincial women's institution and a great time was had by all! We made up 150 plates of food and set up the prison gymnasium with 150 chairs. Elsie led us in singing Christmas songs and carols, and told a few jokes, and the women recited some beautiful poems of thanks and sang some songs for us.

They loved their Christmas bags so much that many of them opened all the gifts inside before they even left the gym to go back to their units. Elsie told them about all the many folks who are involved in making up these bags - from a group of women in Ontario (Elsie's mom's friends) who shop throughout the year for gift items and then ship them out to us, to Elsie's mother who buys the material and sews up every one of the 700 bags, to the many folks who come to the house to help us wrap up all of the items that go into the bags. She reminded the women that they are not forgotten about at Christmas time, that there are people who care about them, even though they will never meet most of them face to face.

I had a chance to visit with all four of the women I've been seeing; they'll all be gone before my next visit as they are all being released at the end of the month or early in January. Please pray that Letticia, Denise, Lindsay and Kim will all remain clean and sober and be able to get on with their lives and resume their relationships with their children and families, and that they will never again see the inside of a jail. Every one of them knows the Lord, but my prayer is that they will give their lives into His hands.

Also, please pray for Lisa and her baby girl Jordan. Lisa is fighting to keep her baby with her when she is moved to the federal institution next month and there's a good chance she'll be able to do it, but there's just as good a chance that she won't. Both mom and baby are looking radiant and healthy. I pray that the prison staff will recognize the importance of keeping the baby with her mom.

Blessings!

Jesus' Little Elves

2007-12-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

A week ago Vancouver looked like a winter wonderland. We had a huge dump of snow. But it's all gone now and today we have sunshine! That's rare in these parts this time of year.

The Women of Hope house is a beehive of activity these days as we are busy preparing for Christmas. For the past couple of weeks we have had crews of helpers coming in on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings - and whenever we can get them working - to help us wrap the thousands of items that will be going into the 700 Christmas gift bags we will be giving out in the next couple of weeks. Tonight the first bunch will be going out to the women at Alouette Correctional Centre. Elsie and I are members of M2W2 which is a Christian organization that matches prisoners with a visitor and also promotes and facilitates restorative justice in order to bring healing and reconciliation to prisoners and their victims. The women love our parties, and they also love receiving the Christmas gift bags which are loaded! For many of them it's the only Christmas present they will receive. Tomorrow night we will be doing the same again at Homestead, a women's treatment centre run by Salvation Army.

Other folks that will receive a gift bag are those that attend our Christian Twelve Step meetings, many of them men who are in treatment for addictions at the Union Gospel Mission, and folks who join us for our Sunday dinners at the house, Immanuel Church (our church plant), and drop-in times at the Salvation Army Community Services building nearby. But, I am most excited about going carolling on Christmas Eve in the downtown east side area of Vancouver; that's the area known as skid row. We will be sharing the love of Jesus and giving out Christmas gift bags to the people who live on the streets down there, most of whom are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. Our hearts' desire and our prayer is that receiving these gift bags will remind folks who need to know, that there is a God who loves them and cares about their lives. He cared enough to send His Only Son to become one of us, so that He could save us from the darkness.

Please pray, especially for the folks on the streets, that they will see the Light shining out of the darkness, and that, if nothing else, a seed of hope will be planted in their hearts.

Sweet little Jesus boy..we didn't know who you were

2007-11-27T12:49:00.000-08:00

I'm already excited about Christmas this year, and have been for weeks! I've been listening to Christmas music since the end of October, and have felt the anticipation and wonder of the birth of our Lord so deeply that I'm daily crying tears of joy. What's happened to me? I used to hate Christmas! I used to hate hearing Christmas music in November and seeing premature tv commercials and store displays that bombarded us with the message that Christmas is coming. Now, although I still don't like commercials designed to push us into a shopping frenzy, I love Christmas!

I'm so grateful that I know the true meaning of Christmas now. My heart is filled with love, joy and gratitude because of what our Saviour has done for us. To think that He would come into this world as a helpless baby born to poor parents who didn't even have a bed to lay Him in, and that He would subject Himself - as a man - to the anger and hatred and evil that is in men's hearts. This anger, hatred and evil was what killed Him, and it was trying to take Him out from the very day of His birth. We witness it in the motive and actions of King Herod who had his soldiers kill every boy child under two years old in order to try to kill Jesus.

My prayer this Christmas is that the light of the truth of God's mercy and love would shine through the story of His Son's birth into the hearts of hurting and lost people. May more and more people hear the story of Jesus' birth this Christmas and come to know the freedom and the joy of knowing Him as their Saviour. Oh God, let Your glory shine! Let your faithful love be known. Let the heavenly hosts declare the Saviour's birth for all to hear and see this Christmas season.

The Wonder-ful Story of Christmas

2007-11-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

This Christmas we will all read or hear once again, the old familiar stories of Jesus’ conception and birth. Some of us have read the nativity story every Christmas throughout our lives; for others it may still be a fairly new experience. But the wonderful thing about scripture is that no matter how many times we may have read or heard a passage, God, through His Holy Spirit, always wants to speak to us in a fresh way and to reveal to us something new that we didn’t see or hear before.

This will be my seventh Advent and Christmas season in the Lord, and as advent approaches, I am reading and rereading the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke with an open and expectant heart. Advent is a wonderful time of anticipation as we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world as a baby. It’s also a time of looking forward to His coming again. But what I love most about advent is that each year we have the opportunity to invite Christ to come into our hearts and our lives in a new and deeper way. That is my prayer as I read the nativity stories. I feel a sense of excitement and wonder and my heart swells with love for the Baby Jesus, our Lord, and with joy at His coming into the world. I also feel a sense of admiration for the woman who bore Him and raised Him, and for the man who was used by God to protect her and the newborn Christ child.

Why did God choose Mary and Joseph above all other people to be the earthly parents of His One and Only Son? From a human perspective there was nothing special or extraordinary about either of them; they were poor and simple people. It’s obvious that God looked on the hearts (1Samuel 16:7) of both Mary and Joseph and favored them greatly (Luke 1:28). From the text we can assume that some of the character qualities He saw in them were faith, righteousness, obedience, vision, and most of all humility.

When God called to them through His angel, both Joseph and Mary believed Him and obeyed. Although the text doesn’t tell us much about their thought processes, they must have considered the cost. Mary’s untimely pregnancy would have raised an outcry among their family members. They would certainly have been the subject of gossip, scorn, and perhaps even ridicule among their neighbors. Yet, for both Mary and Joseph, their reputation and what others thought of them was not the main concern. Although they were unable to understand what God was going to do through this strange and seemingly scandalous plan, they chose to obey God and to trust Him. Their hearts were completely surrendered to God and to His will for their lives. Mary’s response to the message the angel brought was, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” Luke 1:38 (KJV)

We would do well to imitate the character qualities of Mary and Joseph, for we too have been given the life of Jesus Christ, the One and Only Son of God, to carry within us, to nurture and to raise up to maturity. And, like Mary and Joseph, God has a plan to use each one of us. But if, as the world teaches us, we are always looking out for our own interests, we render ourselves unusable and ineffective for God’s Kingdom purposes. I love the way Rick Warren starts his book “The Purpose Driven Life”. The first line is short and shocking - “It’s not about you.” It shocks us because we are so used to thinking of ourselves first, and our motive for reading the book may be self-centered. The question that’s uppermost in our minds is often, “What’s in it for me?” or perhaps it is, “What can I do for God?” Neither Mary nor Joseph asked these questions. Their first thought was not for themselves.

Philippians 2:4-11 tells us what our heart attitude should be: that of Christ’s. If we were to live our lives with this heart attitude; if we were to imitate Mary and Joseph, being filled with faith and humbled by the majesty of God; if we were to wait and watch for the Lord to direct us and respond to His guidance with obedience instead of taking the initiative ourselves, He would be able to use us in amazing ways to reach those who are still lost. This is His plan and His purpose for every one of us: to be used by Him to reach out to the lost. It was His plan and His purpose for Mary and for Joseph. Although they could never have imagined the impact their obedience would have on the rest of the world throughout history, they did understand that it wasn’t about them. They were in the habit of praising and glorifying the Living God, and The Magnificat, or Mary’s Song, gives witness to this (Luke 1:46-55). As we behold God in all His glory and majesty, we are humbled. The more we time we spend beholding the glory and majesty of God, the more we want to worship and to praise Him and the more we want to serve Him and obey Him; our lives are transformed into Christlikeness (Philippians 2:4-11), and people will be drawn to us because we reflect His glory in an ever increasing degree (2 Corinthians 3:18).

As we journey through this advent season, we can make a commitment to behold and experience the majesty and glory of God anew; and as we do, the life of Christ with which we have been impregnated will grow within us. When we humble ourselves before God and allow His Spirit to work in our lives; when we obey Him and trust Him even when we don’t understand what He is doing, God will use us to advance His Kingdom here on earth. He will send people to us, just as He sent the shepherds to Mary, Joseph and the Christ child, and like the shepherds, they too will be encouraged and transformed by the life of Christ in us.

The story of Jesus’ birth fills us with wonder each year because it is so astonishing. To think that God would send His One and Only Son into the world to be born to poor and lowly parents and then laid in a manger for His bed! To think that the people God sent His angelic host to proclaim the news of Christ’s birth to were poor shepherds – the lowest of the low - watching over their flocks on the hills around Bethlehem! Because of His action through these events, it’s obvious that God sent His Son into the world for the sake of those who are poor and despised by the rest of the world; that He loves and blesses and even uses those who are humble and lowly. In His Sermon on the Mount, the first thing Jesus teaches is that the poor in spirit are blessed of God because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them. This is the story of the first Christmas. It was for people who know their “humble estate”, as Mary’s Song calls it, that God sent His Son into the world, and it was people of humble estate that God chose to birth Him and raise Him to manhood.

What an awesome God we have! May we remember daily to surrender our wills and our lives to Him and to give Him all of our worship; may we always remember that it’s not about us; and may we all be filled with wonder at the glory, the majesty, and the goodness of our Father in Heaven and His perfect plan to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" Luke 2:14 ESV

(This is an article I wrote for our church Christmas newsletter.)

Praise report

2007-10-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

Last night was my biweekly visit to Alouette Correctional Centre for Women. The women I have been visiting in the past few months have all been released and so I began new friendships with a couple of women who have requested a visitor through W2 (Woman to Woman, see link for M2W2). As always it was truly a blessing to get to know them better. They are both women I have spoken to in the past when I've been visiting other women, and one of them I have prayed with before.

It's so amazing how God works. With every relationship I have formed through my prison visits I sense that it is God's plan to bring us together. I am able to see where God is working in their hearts and lives and, by His grace, to speak words of encouragement. Of course, the reason I am there is to point the way to the One and Only who can heal them and comfort them, and transform and redeem their lives. What a privilege to represent Him there in that place! Although many of the women feel undeserving because of the crimes and the behaviour that put eventually landed them in prison, I know that God passionately loves every single one of them! He sent His only Son to die on the cross in order that they could be forgiven and set free.

And thankfully some do get set free and manage to stay free. As I was talking to one of my new friends last night, she gave me some news about Denise, a woman I was visiting over the spring and summer months who was released a couple of months ago. As I wrote in an earlier blog post, I gave her my contact information and encouraged her to stay in touch but she hasn't done that yet. However, according to the news I heard last night, Denise has managed to stay free! She's still clean and sober! Praise God! I know that she has Christian friends and relatives and that she was planning to go back to a spiritually alive church family when she returned to her home town. Thank God she hasn't been sidetracked by the lures of the enemy or the unhealthy relationships of the past. God has a wonderful plan for her life and I'm so happy that she is continuing to walk in it.

Thanks to all those who lifted Denise up in prayer. I know that it is only by the power of God that Denise has been able to stay on the paths of righteousness and all of your prayers have helped to give her strength.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
Psalm 40:2

Hallelujah!!! Our God is great!

Peace like a river

2007-08-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

I'm so thankful that although Elsie, the director of Partners in Hope, is away on holiday this week, all's quiet on the western front. It's been a busy time as I've had to lead a couple of meetings in her place, but it's not more than I can handle. The last time she went away one of the girls relapsed and another went awol. As Elsie said it was a "trial by fire" for my first time being in charge of it all.

It's so exciting to see what God is doing in the heart and life of Kelly, our new resident. She really "gets it" and is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. It's a beautiful thing to see. Her heart's desire is to follow Jesus, and I can see that He has big plans for her. Andrea is doing well. Still somewhat resistant to the "Christian thing" but I see changes in her too. She has such a good heart, and she loves people fiercely. Mabel has been working several jobs, and although that's a good thing, she is not getting much rest as one of them is a night shift. Mun Hee is a blessing as always, and God is doing a wonderful work in her heart - and in mine too.

God is so good, and I am so grateful for His love, His protection, and most of all, His peace.

Thanks to all those who are praying for us. I would be especially grateful for your prayers for my sister Heather tonight.

Shalom

God's grace

2007-08-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

It's always amazing to me to see just how very much God loves us. Even when we stray from Him - even in the midst of our worst sin - He is always there, waiting with open arms to embrace us the moment we turn back to Him.

In my work at the Women of Hope recovery house I am privileged to witness the grace and the love of God every day in the lives of the women who come here to live and to heal and to grow. My prayer for them - and for all of us here - is that God would open our eyes to see the grace He is pouring out on us today, His caring and His provision in our lives. When I turned away from self-pity and became able to have an "attitude of gratitude" for the things that I had instead of focussing on all of the things I didn't have, my life was changed and my recovery from sexual addiction became established on solid ground.

Grace is not earned, it can only be received. It is God's love and blessings poured out freely on us every day, even though we have done nothing to earn it. There is nothing we can ever do to earn it; but in order to experience it we must open ourselves to receive it. When we choose to see God as a punishing, condemning God, we close ourselves off from His grace.

The Bible says "God is love". That is truly the essence of His character and His relationship to His creation. 1 Corinthians 13 says that love does not keep a record of wrongs, and John 3:17 says that God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jesus came to rescue us - not to punish or condemn us - and He willingly died a torturous death on a cross in order to demonstrate God's love to us. Even those who tortured and crucified Jesus are not outside of God's love; even as Jesus was dying on the cross He forgave them so that they too could receive God's grace.

There is no one and never will be anyone who could love us more than God loves us. If you are believing the lie that God is just waiting to pounce on you and punish you for the wrong things you've done, I pray that you will open your heart to the truth and receive God's free gift of grace today.

At the end of the Bible, Jesus extends an invitation to us; it is open to every person, but this invitation was extended to the Church - to those who think they know Jesus and believe they already possess all that they need. I pray that whether we feel "poor in spirit" or not, all of us, with humble hearts, will respond to His invitation and invite Him to come into our hearts and our lives today. Only by opening our hearts to receive Him and His grace, will we inherit the Kingdom of God.

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends." Revelation 3:20

PS: Please pray for Connie. She is not able to receive God's grace at the present time. Through a prophetic word in church on Sunday God set before her life and death. He said that He is calling her to "choose life" (see Deuteronomy 30), but she is so lost in self-pity, and so focussed on self-will that she is unable even to realize the significance of the decision that God has set before her. Her situation is very serious and I believe that her life hangs in the balance. Page 62 in the AA Big Book, the chapter called How It Works, speaks so accurately about the spiritual state that Connie is in at the moment. If she refuses to let go of her self-will and thereby refuses to "choose life" as God would have her do, I despair that she will be by default literally be choosing death (Romans 6:16). For now, thank God, she is safe from harm and back in the hospital again.

Update: Connie has been released from the hospital and is on her way to a shelter where she will have help available to her through social workers and psychiatrists - if she wants to receive it. We plan to stay in touch and invite her to join in our social and spiritual gatherings as often as possible, but at the moment she is very angry with us.

Blessings and thanks so much for your prayers!
Catherine

Ayden and Jeremy at Playland

2007-08-02T00:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so this is a shameless Grandma move and I make no apologies. Since I can't show you the pictures in my wallet I'm posting this picture of my son Jeremy and my grandson Ayden who is six years old. Incredible resemblance huh?

I was in prison and you came to visit me

2007-07-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

Visited Alouette Correctional Centre for Women last night with about ten other women from W2 (Woman to Woman, a restorative justice ministry). What a blessing it is to represent the Son of God in that place!

Denise, one of the women I have been visiting for a few months, is being released next week and I'm happy to report that she's ready! I've watched her grow in Jesus by leaps and bounds, and have witnessed the renewing of her mind as well. She reads her Bible, does a devotional study, and prays to God every day. She will be living in a Christian house for women for the first few months.

Last night she was peaceful and full of hope for the future. I know that God's hand is on her and that if she stays close to Him He will lead her along the path that He has chosen for her - and I believe her calling is to minister to other women. It was amazing to witness how the other women are drawn to her, and how loving and compassionate she is towards even the rudest and most hardened of them. Even those who violate her space and bully her, she is able to view with compassion and she has learned to deal with each violation with wisdom and mercy.

Recently several women from her home town joined her at the institution and they are amazed at how much she's changed. One of them told me what she used to be like and about the differences she sees in her now. They are drawn to her now because of the life, beauty and peace of Jesus living in her. When I prayed for her at the end of our visit, several women who know Denise came and kneeled down or sat beside her and put their hands on both of us. It was an amazing moment, and God touched each one of them. They brushed away tears afterward because they felt the love and the presence of God as we prayed.

Each time I visit Denise, she relates to me stories of how God has answered the prayers we pray when we are together. This week the most amazing answer to prayer was that one of the worst bullies at ACCW, who was continually persecuting Denise, has begun attending chapel services with her on Sundays and her heart is being softened! Our prayer for this woman two weeks ago was that God would turn her heart to Him so that she could receive the healing she needs, and come to know His love. Thank You Lord that You answered our prayer with a miracle!

Would you please pray for Denise as she leaves the prison and returns to her old stomping grounds. There will be many temptations and the devil will try to convince her that she hasn't changed - he's already been trying that through her dreams. My prayer is that she will remain in Jesus' love as He tells us to do in John 15. If she can just hold on to Him and His love, I know that she'll be allright. Also, if you would pray for Devon, the young mom, and her son. Devon is becoming discouraged and for the first time I see the beginnings of hardening happening in her heart, probably because of her father's recent rejection of her. Also, her baby has an ear infection and he's been very cranky lately.

Father please heal Devon's baby's ear infection and help her to trust that You love her and will never leave her. And please shelter Denise under Your wing as she goes out into the world again. Thank You for the miracles You've done in her and for the miracles You've shown her while she was in prison. Strengthen her heart and build up her faith, surround her with godly people who can encourage her and support her, and lead her in Your paths of righteousness. I pray in Jesus' Name.

Our daily bread

2007-07-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

It's been amazing to watch how God provides for the day to day and ministry expenses of the Partners in Hope Recovery Society. Last week Elsie, our director, was wondering how "on earth" we were going to make the mortgage payment this month. I offered to give her the $250 I got from St. John's Duncan to go towards my own financial support, but she wouldn't take it. She told me to give it to Church Army for my support, that she trusted God to bring in the money we needed for the mortgage. Then last week as the payment came due, some money came in through donations which covered the mortgage payment for another month. Elsie was amazed, but she told me that this scenario has been played out on a monthly basis since she started this ministry twelve years ago.

Then, last Friday afternoon, she discovered that the neck of her guitar was irreparably broken. She was a little ticked off and discouraged, but decided to go ahead and put out $150 to buy a used one from a downtown eastside pawn shop that is closing out. She needed a guitar that evening to practice music for Sunday's services at St. Simon's and Immanuel. When she arrived at music practice Friday evening, the woman who was playing keyboards told her that she had just received a small unexpected windfall and that the Lord had impressed on her heart to donate $150 of it to Elsie and her ministry! God is so cool!

Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:25-34 that we should focus on God and the things of His Kingdom, and not become distracted by the needs we have from day to day, even the basic needs such as food and clothing. He exhorts us to trust God to provide what we need each day.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink...Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ...So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ...But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

The famous "one day at a time" principle taught by Alcoholics Anonymous comes from this same passage: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

It's a beautiful thing to be able to live each day without worry, resting in the knowledge that what Jesus said in Matthew 6 is true, and that the promises of God are unfailing. Of course, we have to do our part - letting go of our worries and focussing on Him instead of what we need - in order to see His promises come true. That's the hard part, until you begin to witness His hand as He blesses and provides. The good news is that we can trust Him; He is worthy of our trust.

Oh, and if you're looking for the pot at the end of the rainbow, I think you might be disappointed...

Jesus in jail

2007-07-23T00:56:00.000-07:00

Thankfully, and in answer to our prayers, there's been a change in the number of women attending Sunday chapel at the Fraser Valley Institution; six last week and four this week. It's wonderful to see the chapel at least partly filled with women, and to be able to worship together with them; they love to sing. Today the power and the knowledge of the Lord's presence softened hard hearts - even to the point of tears and sniffles - as Wendy, the chaplain, led us in worship and preached the Word and I led us in a time of prayer.

One of the women I was with one-on-one a couple of months ago when I led chapel in Wendy's absense has moved from the maximum security unit to the general population. It's amazing to see how radiant she is as she grows in the knowledge of God's love for her - thanks to the chaplain's patient and anointed ministry. She has softened incredibly and her smile stretches from one ear to the other. It's such a blessing to be greeted each week by a huge bear hug as she tells me how happy she is to see me. What a change from a couple of months ago when she sat in chapel, sullen and non-responsive except to express sarcasm or anger. I'm thankful that through the ministry of the Holy Spirit God allowed me to see past her self-protective defences to her heart. It's so amazing to see the transformation that occurs when people who are lost and hurting give their lives into God's hands.

For the past two Sundays I've been able to witness Wendy's ministry to the women in the the maximum security unit, and even the segregation unit. The issues she deals with are often difficult to resolve, except through prayer, as they can result from the obsessive needs of women whose psyches have been twisted by abuse, violence and addiction. The good news is that God is there and He's working, patiently drawing these women into relationship to Himself through Jesus. Today I had a conversation with one of the guards who is kind and merciful, while still remaining firmly in control. She sees the hearts of the women and has compassion for them. I'd like to be more like her, actually. Unmistakably in control, yet maintaining a gentle, kind, open heart, and a sense of humour the same time.

I am thankful to those of you who've been praying for me, and I'm happy to report that both here at the house, as well as in the prisons, I am finally beginning to feel more confident and able to assume the authority that comes with my role and position. Of course I'm a work in progress, and there is still much that the Lord wants to do in me. But, it's truly a testament to God's transforming power that I have remained willing to persevere through the difficult times. In the past (BC: before Christ) I would have quit when things got hard, believing that it wasn't meant to be. Now I know that all I need to do is surrender my life and my circumstances to God, and to trust and obey Him. Like the song says, there's no other way - and the beauty is, it's just that simple.

Oswald Chambers speaks eloquently to this subject in the November 14 devotional reading from My Utmost For His Highest: When once God's Redemption comes to the point of obedience in a human soul, it always creates. If I obey Jesus Christ, the Redemption of God will rush through me to other lives, because behind the deed of obedience is the Reality of Almighty God.

May we walk in faith always, trusting that our Heavenly Father, Almighty God, is in control, and obeying His guidance so that His redemption can rush through us to bear much fruit by redeeming the lives of those around us.

Fragrance

2007-07-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

Song of Songs 1:3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out.

I went out for a walk around the neighbourhood this evening. It's a beautiful, warm, peaceful summer evening. We had some rain earlier today and so the air smells fresh and clean, but there was also the heavy, beautiful scent of roses in the air. It was captivating, and I couldn't help but thank God and give Him praise for creating such a beautiful and fragrant plant as the rose.

I spoke to Connie on the phone today. She's still in the hospital, and today she seems to be doing better. I believe that this is the next step in the healing process for her, not only psychologically, but physically as well. While she is there, the doctors are addressing physical problems and damage to her body that she's been living with for some time now, and wasn't able to address while she was living on the streets and active in her addiction. Please continue to pray for her as she is no longer willing to work her recovery. She believes that she's already learned everything to learn and it didn't help her. But, obviously, if she knew it all already, she would be able to keep from relapsing after three months.

Andrea is doing well. Although she's a reluctant disciple, there is a willingness to learn and to ask questions, and today I was able to see progress and growth in her interactions with me during our study session.

We will be welcoming another woman into the house at the beginning of next month. There's always a little (or a lot) of tension when this happens as we get to know the new person and get used to having another person occupying space here.

I'm still thankful to be here. Elsie, Mun Hee and I had a prayer meeting this morning. We want to make time to pray more so that we are bathed in the glory of God's presence, and able to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. Please pray for us, that we would be able to find and make the time to do this; the busy-ness of everything there is to do at the house, as well as the meetings and outreach that we do, often robs us of being able to spend time in God's presence.

Thank you for reading this, and for praying. May the Lord bless you in all goodness and fill you with His peace that passes all understanding.

Catherine

Power in the rest

2007-07-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

God is so good, and He knows what's best for us. And when we give Him permission to be in control of our lives, He works all things for good. That's what He's done in the situation with Connie. She didn't go to Belkin House. The hospital had her assessed by a psychiatrist before they released her, and as a result, she is spending a few weeks in hospital so that her mental health issues can be addressed and she can be stabilized on medication. I believe that this is the next step in her recovery - and God knew this is what she needed now in order to be able to go forward in her healing and recovery from addiction.

Andrea is doing well. She's discovering her gifts and, in spite of the resistance of her "flesh", drawing closer to Jesus, as He continues to draw her closer to Himself. She is a sweet girl.

I am feeling exhausted today. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are always very busy here because of all of the different things that we do - outreach, food co-op, meetings, etc. - and I guess that, added to the stress of last weekend, it's all caught up with me. I hope to be able to rest today and remain quiet, hopefully to have some solitude. I know that all I need is some time to rest in the arms of my Father; and to drink deeply of the Living Waters.

I'm grateful that I can trust God in all circumstances, to bring about the best result for everyone involved, and also to bring healing and comfort and strength to those in need. My God is a good God, and my Daddy is a loving Daddy.

All's quiet on the western front

2007-07-02T23:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your prayers for those of us at the Women of Hope house. Things have settled down. Andrea is safe and doing fine; she will be returning to us very early tomorrow morning. I'm actually thankful to God that she wasn't here last night to witness Connie's erratic behaviour because it was a very difficult and stressful few hours.

Earlier today I learned that Connie was going to be going to Belkin House, a wonderful Salvation Army shelter and a place of refuge and healing for those who are seeking recovery from drug addiction. We love Connie and want to stay involved in her life and recovery, and we want her to come back to us too, but she'll have to have 30 days of continuous sobriety before she can do that. I pray that she will avail herself of the counselling and discipleship opportunities that are available at Belkin House.

Mabel's fine, and Mun Hee and I are tired but grateful. I feel blessed and am thanking God for giving us His peace. I'm also thankful that He gives courage, wisdom and strength in times of trouble. Praise You, Father!

In Christ,
Catherine

Testing

2007-07-02T00:57:00.001-07:00

Please keep us all at the Women of Hope house in your prayers. It has been a very difficult and stressful weekend, and Connie is in a full blown relapse. She was awol all weekend, but tonight after she returned I had to call 911 because of her behaviour which was threatening the safety of the rest of the women here at the house. I'm so sad that she's returned to her old ways and I pray that she will return to the bosom of the Lord quickly. Andrea, who is fairly new, is also struggling right now and has broken the rules. I don't know what is going to happen with her. She's gone too and I have a feeling that she may not come back. Elsie's away and so Mun Hee and I are dealing with all of the chaos and crises the best we can. I feel ill equipped, but God is giving strength and guidance, and, thankfully, even peace. Thank You, Father.

And as for good news, I had the privilege of seeing a gospel performance by Jim Byrnes, and also the Blind Boys of Alabama, last night. The Blind Boys were one of the featured acts at the Vancouver Jazz Festival and the coolest thing about the concert was that every song carried the message of the good news about Jesus Christ! Thousands of people heard it! The Blind Boys aren't shy about talking about their faith either.

God is on His throne. Hallelujah!

The invisibles

2007-06-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

We have another new face around the Women of Hope house. Andrea has come to live with us. Your prayers for Andrea, and for me as I minister to her, would be gratefully appreciated. She has a different background, and therefore also has different needs than many of the women we have discipled in the past.

My role within the house is changing as I take on more of the responsibility of managing it and discipling the women. I am grateful to have Elsie's guidance and mentoring in the process. She is supporting and encouraging me every step of the way, and also giving valuable feedback. Even when she points out my shortcomings, she does it in such a way that it doesn't feel like criticism, in fact, I feel blessed. I guess that's what it means to speak the truth in love.

We are continuing to go out in teams as we deliver the food to the food co-op members on Friday afternoons. I drove and blessed last Friday, and my first team were husband and wife missionaries-in-training who have come all the way from Korea to be eqipped for cross cultural service at Gateway in Langley(http://www.gatewaytraining.org/). Our delivery route was the skid row and China Town areas of downtown Vancouver. This couple from Korea were amazed and appalled at the poverty and depravity on Vancouver's streets as we drove through the old downtown core. There is nothing in Korea that prepared them for what they saw: dirty, aging, homeless men pushing shopping carts full of their meagre belongings along the sidewalks; women whose bodies are nothing but skin and bone because they are too caught up in drug addiction to care about food; drug addicte3d prostitutes in outlandish get-ups and garish make-up trying to look alluring to passersby; and young men and women sleeping on the streets covered up with blankets and sleeping bags. This couple was so outraged at what they saw that it caused me to realize just how hardened and desensitized our North American hearts have become towards the marginalized and "throw-away" citizens of our culture. Although they are there on the streets every single day for all to see, somehow they've become invisible to most of us. We don't want to see them; their problems seem too overwhelming for us and so we choose not to care. The Korean couple told me that in their country anyone who is caught with an elicit drug, even a marijuana joint, will serve a long jail sentence. They cannot understand how our government can let people drink and do drugs and sell them openly on the streets.

My second delivery run was a long one, and our "swamper" was Stanley, a mentally handicapped man who is one of our food co-op members. Elsie told him that his job was to carry the boxes, and so he valiantly carried every single box, even though some of them caused him to huff and puff - especially since we sometimes had to park a fair distance from some of the buildings we delivered to. Stanley opted out on the last delivery; he was too tired to carry one more box. It was a real blessing to have him along, and as we went into the buildings and greeted the various food co-op members, they were generally very happy to see Stanley and the rest of us. We didn't do any praying on this run, but we blessed a lot of people and got a praise report from one lady that I had prayed with on a previous run. God had come in and healed some of the grief she was experiencing after her sister's untimely death.

Connie is doing very well. Although going to school on a full-time basis is exhausting for her as she adjusts to her new schedule, she his hanging in there. She's learning to deal with disappointments and with the normal ups and downs of life without wanting to resort to addictive behaviour to comfort herself and zone out. I give praise and glory to God for all that He is doing in her life; a few short months ago she was among the ranks of those who are homeless and drug addicted in Abbotsford. Your continuing prayers for her are coveted. Please pray for Mun Hee, as well. She's our resident Korean missionary, and she is having a tough time lately.

Thanks for reading this and for praying for us may the Lord bless you abundantly!

Elsie and Jana, Connie and Mun Hee

Answers to prayer

2007-06-04T00:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week, and tomorrow another one begins. There are lots of changes happening around the house. There are women moving out and others moving in.

Thank you to those who have been praying for us. Connie, who has 80 days clean now, begins the New Start program tomorrow. It's a program for upgrading education and skills and for helping women to become more employable. She's excited but nervous. It's been a long time since she went to school, and it's a huge step up from being on the streets just 2 and a half months ago. It's a wonder to see all that God is doing in her in such a short time. She's truly being transformed.

Elsie and I interviewed a couple of women who were interested in coming to live at the house. Neither of them are Christians yet, but the evidence of God's hand on their lives was so obvious. They felt drawn to our program because it is Christ-centered - although neither of them realized that's what the draw was. One woman was very fragile emotionally, having just left a very violent and abusive partner. Her life story was filled with trauma and abuse. She realized, as Elsie and I did, that our house is not the right place for her. She needs a place that is quieter and more secure. But we had a powerful prayer time with her and she told us she wanted to come to church with us, and today she did just that! I pray that she will continue to draw close to God. The other woman had an entirely different story to tell; she comes from a life of privilege and wealth. She has recently been released from prison, and will be coming to join us at the house some time this week. She'll fit in well, I think. I look forward to getting to know her better.

I had the privilege of praying for a few of our food co-op patrons on Friday as we delivered orders. One was a man with arthritis, another a lady who has recently lost several friends and family members, and another was a native lady whose son is serving a sentence in a federal institution for a crime he didn't commit. I love being able to bless people and to lift their needs up to God in this way, and I trust that He will respond by answering. He loves to reveal His care to people who are lost and hurting.

And speaking of answers to prayer, Connie and Mun Hee and I went to visit Connie's brother in hospital last week. He was very ill. He is a homeless drug addict who lives in the skid row area of Vancouver. He has AIDS and was sick with a severe bacterial pneumonia. He was eager to have us pray for him, and as we did, even he could feel the power of God move in response to our prayers. Today we had news that he is better and has been moved out of the ICU. Thank You Lord that You hear and answer prayer.

Alberta bound

2007-05-28T23:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I was (Alberta bound) on Friday. I spent the weekend in Calgary with some colleagues from Church Army, some of whom I hadn't met before. We attended a wonderful retreat put on by Equipping Evangelists (http://www.equippingevangelists.com/). Our National Director Bruce Smith (standing in front of the tree) is on the leadership team for E2. It was a time of coming together to support and encourage one another and to affirm our calling to lead others into an intimate relationship with our loving Father in heaven through Jesus Christ, and to exhort and equip the Church to reach the lost. I came home feeling strengthened, encouraged and affirmed.

The best part about the weekend was the fellowship. There was lots of laughter, especially during the times when the Church Army folks met for meals and fellowship. I count myself very blessed to be part of this wonderful group of people called Church Army and I'm so thankful that God has called me to be one of them.

Well isn't that special!

2007-05-22T14:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks so much to those of you who've been praying for me. I am blessed! God has provided in a huge way, and has answered prayer.

The financial deficit I mentioned in an earlier post has been met by a gracious and wonderful child of God. I am not in the red to Church Army any more! Thank You, Lord! And thank you - and you know who you are - from the bottom of my heart!

God has also been at work changing and equipping me. He's making me able to do the work that I've been called to do, and He's also filling me with the strength and the confidence that I need to assume the role I've been assigned. Thank You, Lord!

Anybody remember this precious face? I preached a sermon on pride, one of the seven deadly sins, last Sunday at Immanuel, our street church. I used Church Lady to illustrate and characterize spiritual pride. If you're as old as I am you'll remember Church Lady, Dana Carvey's caricature from Saturday Night Live. Of course, God used my sermon preparation to teach me through His Word and through my circumstances and experiences of the past couple of weeks. He made me aware of the prideful thoughts, feelings and ways that still exist in me. They were hard to spot because they were disguised as humility: feelings of inadequacy. Not so pretty. But, I know from working the Twelve Steps of A. A. that when God shows me a character defect (Step 6), it means that He wants to remove it from me (Step 7). But the key is to humble myself before Him, and ask Him to do it for me. I can't change my ways on my own. That's why Jesus had to die on the Cross, so I would have the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit to help me.

Step 6: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Step 7: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

Lord, I humbly ask you to remove these shortcomings that have to do with pride, in Jesus' Name.

Oh, and I pray that the Lord will keep the people of His Church from becoming proud and haughty and hypocritical like Church Lady! The reason some of us found her so funny in the 80's is because, sadly, there is some truth to Dana Carvey's portrayal.

Blessings, and thank you for your prayers!

Yet another new face

2007-05-11T00:18:00.000-07:00

We've been joined by another woman who has come to live a the Women of Hope house. Since the rooms are already full, she has to sleep on the pull-out bed in the downstairs gathering room and that doesn't give her a lot of privacy. Please pray for Laura, and for the rest of us as we adjust to having a new member of the family and also to many more changes. One or more of us is leaving at the end of the month.

Blessings and thanks!

Another blessed day

2007-05-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

It was another blessed day, and during the chapel service I led at the Fraser Valley Institution, God gave me the privilege of sharing one on one with a woman who's currently serving time in the segregation unit. The songs we sang and the message I had written were all just for her today, and only God could have engineered that. Instead of standing and preaching to her, I sat down across from her and shared some of the highlights of my message. It was based on Daniel 3, the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and applied pretty nicely to her circumstances. I asked her to share a time when she had experienced a miraculous rescue that she knew could only have been God, and she told me about a terrifying hostage taking where she was the hostage and was sure that she would be killed because based on the past actions of her captors. She was released, but not unharmed. She showed me the knife scars on her neck, which she will carry for the rest of her life, and told me that she knew even then that it had to have been God who preserved her life.

She's serving a life sentence at FVI, and she cried when she told me that it's a miracle she's even alive - not just because of the hostage incident, but many other things she's experienced in her life as well. She said she doesn't understand why God would preserve her life, and I told her that, even though she may not be able to see it now, God has a plan for her life; and also, that with God all things are possible and if it's God's will, she may one day receive a pardon and be given her freedom.

One of the songs she requested during the service today is "Freedom", a song written by Mike Larson from Abbotsford. She loves to sing that song, and at the end of our time together I reminded her of the lyrics and said her that even if she never does walk free from the penitentiary, she can still find freedom even inside its walls. It's a kind of freedom that she can't even imagine right now, but it's far better than the freedom of being on the outside. I pray that she will come to know that freedom. I ended our time together by praying Paul's prayer for the fullness of the knowledge of God in Ephesians 3 over her.

Since she's in a federal prison I don't feel that I can share her real name, but would you join me in praying for this young woman? I'll call her Stacy. God will know who you mean, I'm sure.

Thanks to those of you who prayed prayer for me. I was able to play guitar without too many nerves and fumbled fewer chords today. But most of all I was able to feel a confidence and strength I haven't felt before in there. God was with me.

Blessings and love from your sister in Christ...

If you're tired and thirsty, there is freedom...

A party in heaven

2007-05-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well, Kerry's courage and determination brought him here to us on Friday afternoon, even if he was six hours late.

After spending the morning helping to put together the orders, I went out on the food co-op deliveries as the "blesser" (there was also a driver and a "swamper" to carry the boxes on each run). I got to bless people by greeting them and introducing our team and by offering prayer to those who shared a health problem or a need with us. It blessed me to be able to share God with folks in this way. I laid hands one fellow who has terrible burns all over his body as a result of a house fire that nearly killed him. He was very open to prayer and I continue to pray for his healing, and for the others we met, too.

When we got back from our second delivery run after 4 p.m., Kerry was sitting on the back deck smoking a cigarette. He looked exhausted and said he'd gone to 557 W. 21st Ave instead of E. 21st Ave and so his walk was made even longer than it had to be. But he was happy to be here, even though the place looked only a little familiar and he didn't remember most of the people - even Elsie.

He told me about some things that were happening to him that he's been wondering about, and some were good and some not so good. From what he was saying I knew that he has been hearing his Heavenly Father's voice again, especially since the voice had blessed him and encouraged him by telling him that he is a man of courage. But he wasn't able to trust that it was really God because he has also been experiencing a serious spiritual attack that has filled him with a great deal of fear. I reminded him again of what he'd shared with me - about God being his Father and how He'd been guiding him and protecting him - and explained that God speaks words of encouragement and love. That, although He may correct us (and He's done so with Kerry), He never belittles or condemns us. I told Kerry that in order for him to have the full assurance that he was under God's protection, he needed to invite Jesus to come into his life.

I briefly shared the gospel of Jesus Christ and explained that because of His death and resurrection, Jesus now reigns over everything - even the spiritual realms - and when we invite Him in we come under God's protection. Then I asked if he wanted to invite Jesus to come into his life and be his personal Saviour. He said yes! So we prayed the prayer together and then I prayed over him asking the Lord to protect Kerry and give him the assurance that he is a beloved child of the Almighty and Living God. When we were finished praying, Kerry's eyes looked much clearer and he smiled brightly. The fear was gone. Hallelujah!!! Praise the Lord!!! I pray that Kerry will be able to realize the Truth, that there is a God who loves him and watches over him, and that he can call on the Name of Jesus whenever he is in trouble.

Lord, thank You that You love Kerry, and that his well-being matters to You. Thank You that You sent Your only beloved Son to die for him. I pray that Kerry will come into the fullness of the knowledge of Your love through the work of the Holy Spirit. Please continue to watch over him, and protect him from the evil one. May he feel the safety of your wings as You hover over him, shielding him from harm. I ask this in Jesus' Name.

Ephesians 6:12

2007-05-03T23:44:00.000-07:00

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

God demonstrated His faithfulness again today. I had a very tough time this morning during a teaching and discipleship session. Because I'm new, my authority is being challenged by the women at every turn. It was heavy going because of the spiritual warfare. It's interesting that that was our topic today, the battle between the sinful nature and the Life of the Spirit within us. The key is choice, and God has given us the Holy Spirit so that we have the power to choose wisely and what is right. I chose not to fight and argue, but to remain peaceable, although to some people, and one of the women present, that makes me appear weak.

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (Eph.6:10)
I felt rattled and shell-shocked after the session, but as soon as I came into my room and sat down and gave it to God, I felt His strength and His peace filling me. I also felt His approval, like He was proud of me, or saying to me, "Well done!". I had to struggle for a while to hang on to the peace and strength and the knowledge that God is for me, because the devil tried to convince me that things are never going to get better and I should quit. "Not gonna go there." That's what I used to say to myself when I struggled with unhealthy thoughts while I was in the early months of my recovery, and before I knew Jesus. Now I can take every thought captive into obedience to Christ.

God's done an amazing work in me. Most of my life, when things got tough I didn't get tougher - I quit; I gave up. If it was hard, then I thought it wasn't meant to be. But now, because I have faith in God, and because I know His love and faithfulness, I am determined to see things through no matter how hard they get - unless He releases me to move on. I know that I'm learning and growing through these experiences. He's building my character and teaching me to rely on Him alone. He's making me stronger too. I'm grateful that I have Elsie's support as well. She's a blessing, and an incredible role model for me too.

We had a wonderful Christian Twelve Step meeting tonight at Mission Possible in the skid row area of Vancouver. The worship was powerful and the people really get into it. God was present was in our midst. He's such a great God. I can truly say that I am blessed to be here, in spite of the difficulties.

Please pray for us, especially for Lisa who is having a difficult time adjusting to being with us here. Thanks so much for reading this and for praying. God bless you.

PS: Please pray for Kerry too, as we contacted the place where he is living, and his condition is more serioius than I thought. But I know that God is with him; I pray that he remembers to pray and lift his cares and his condition up to God.

Miracles, signs and wonders

2007-05-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe you had to be there...but God showed up in a couple of really cool ways today. First of all, I was out running errands with Mun Hee in another part of town when we happened to come upon Kerry (not his real name), a young man who recently joined our food co-op. He was sitting at a table outside a coffee shop. This guy is amazing. Two and a half years ago he had an accident that killed him instantly and if it weren't for God's intervention, he'd have stayed that way - dead, I mean. I believe it's a miracle that an ambulance crew just happened to be driving along that highway. They witnessed the accident and immediately came to his rescue and saved his life. His body and his brain were very badly damaged, but Kerry has such a strong will to live and such fierce determination - and of course God's power was at work too - that he has regained his ability to talk and to walk (with the help of a cane) - and walk he does! He walks all over Vancouver. When he found out about our food co-op he walked all the way from where he is living to the Women of Hope house to pick up his food order, and then he carried it all the way home with him, about 25 city blocks or more! (We've since given him a little cart with wheels that he can use to transport the food.) The next week he showed up early to help us package up the food and he continued to come for a few weeks, but he didn't show up last week. We wondered where he was.

On Easter Sunday while we were eating supper together after Immanuel, our street church, Kerry told me the story of his accident. He also shared how God has become his Father, and how He speaks to him and corrects him, and protects him and guides him. He doesn't consider himself a Christian and he doesn't go to church, but he told me that, because of all that He has done for him, he surrendered his life to God last fall. His story and his witness were such an inspiration to me that I wept that night while I lay in bed. I thanked God for demonstrating to Kerry - and to me through Kelly's testimony - His faithfulness, His kindness and tender loving care.

So, today, when we saw him outside the coffee shop he didn't remember us. I introduced myself and Mun Hee and asked him if he remembered Partners in Hope and the food co-op. He said he didn't. He explained that he'd had a terrible grand mal seizure recently and it wiped out a lot of his memory. I asked him if he still wanted to be part of the food co-op and he said yes, so I sat down to write out the contact information for him. Then I asked him if he remembered that he had an intimate relationship with God. He said he didn't, and so I reminded him of all that he had told me about God and how He guided him and watched over him. He listened with an expression of wonder on his face and then he thanked me and told me how inspiring it was and how he'd wondered about God and whether he knew Him. I asked him if Mun Hee and I could pray for him and he said, "If that's not too much to ask." Too much to ask?! Wow, it was a privilege!

It's so inspiring to see the way that God works in people's lives and how He cares so deeply for each one of us! I had work to do at the house today; I didn't plan on going out at all, but I'm so glad that when Mun Hee asked me to take her shopping I said yes. It's absolutely amazing how God put us together with Kerry. He knew that Kerry needed to be reminded that he has a Father in Heaven who loves him and is with him.

Will you join me in praying for Kerry? I pray that he will remember to come to the house on Friday to fellowship with us as we package the co-op food and share a meal together. I believe that the Lord brought Kerry to us for a reason. He needs fellowship and discipling. He needs friends who love him. His family live far away and there's estrangement there too. Thank you Father for bringing Kerry to us, and thank You that You are so faithful and so kind and so loving. Please restore Kerry's memories of all that You've done for him in the past. Surround him with a sense of Your presence with him and fill him with the knowledge of Your love. Lord, I plead Your protection over Kerry, over his mind and over his health, and I thank you for his determination and his courage. Please heal all the broken places in his body and his soul and repair the damage that was done to his brain by the accident as well as the seizure. Bless him abundantly - and I know that You do. I ask all this in Jesus' Name.

The other cool thing God did today was respond to my prayers for our laptop computer. I had to do some work to prepare for the two recovery meetings we have coming up this week (we use a digital projector to put up the study and the songs) but I wasn't able to get it done because the monitor on the laptop remained black each time I started it up. I restarted the computer several times and then put it away for a while, but each time I came back and tried again the monitor wouldn't light up. So I closed it again and asked Lorna and Connie to agree with me in prayer that God would fix whatever was wrong with the laptop. Then I laid hands on it and prayed and when I opened up it up again, the monitor lit up! Hallelujah!

Thank You Lord for Your amazing Love and Faithfulness! I love You!

Here's a cool satellite photo. You can find out where it is by opening Google Maps and entering this location: 43°38'43.00"N 115°59'33.50"W. Click on "Hybrid" you'll see the satellite image.

Pomp and circumstance

2007-04-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

Vancouver's Trout Lake Park
It's been a wild week here at the Women of Hope house. We've gone from prayer to laughter to tears to anger to peace to fear to joy...and on it goes. Please keep us in your prayers, especially Connie and Lisa who are having some difficulties adjusting to life here and to living life together under the same roof. The enemy would love to convince them to leave or to relapse.

I'm so happy to be here that I thank God every night when I go to bed. Even though there are difficulties and challenges that come with living in community, and even though I am busy from morning through till late at night most days, I am excited. I know that God is going to grow me in ways I probably can't even imagine. The plan is for me to take over more and more of the responsiblity of managing the house and discipling the women. I'd be very grateful for your prayers; I am a person who does not have a strong administrative gift and so there are many challenges as I try to organize my time and to remember the weekly house routines and the duties I am expected to perform.

I am becoming niew aware of just how self-centered I still am and how little time I spend thinking of the needs of others. Lord, help me to learn to put others' needs before my own. Thank God for Elsie, our director, and her patience. She's an incredible woman of God and to be honest I can't even aspire to be like her. She accomplishes so much in one day it seems humanly impossible - and she does it all with an attitude of love and grace. She always has time for those who come needing a hug or a chat, and she deals with every emergency that comes up (and there's one every day here) without getting into a flap about it or feeling frustrated and resentful that her sermon preparation time is being stolen - yet again.

I read somewhere recently about the incredible power of two made one. It was a passage about how when we have Christ with us and in us, we can accomplish things that would normally be impossible. I guess there's a lot more of me that needs to be killed - crucified with Christ. William Booth, the founder of Salvation Army said that a person's usefulness to God was equivalent to the measure of his/her surrender. Lord, I surrender all that I am and ever will be to You. Help me to be more like Jesus in every way. I ask this in Jesus' Name.

New face

2007-04-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

We have a new face around the Women of Hope house. Lisa has come to live with us. So far she is fitting in very nicely, and she is devoted to God. Lisa has some health issues such as asthma and depression. Would you lift her up in prayer, along with the rest of us? (Connie, Mabel, Mun Hee, Lorna, Elsie, Lisa and me!) Thanks!

Here's a photo I took today while walking in our neighbourhood. There's a spring storm in the sky in the background.
And here's a beauty that was taken by my son Jeremy who is a photographer (www.jeremywilliams.ca). You can see some freighters in English Bay and the North Shore Mountains in the background. Oh, the splendour of spring and the extravagance of God's creativity! Once my love affair with the spring flowers and their colours wears off I'll have to try to remember to take some pictures of the house and its occupants.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Freedom

2007-04-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

Not surprisingly, the most popular song of praise among the women who attend chapel services at the federal prison is "Freedom" by Michael Larson (an Abbotsford resident actually). If they had the choice we would sing that song every Sunday - and that's pretty much the case. Today I drove to Abbotsford to lead the chapel service because the chaplain took some time off for a much needed rest. I prepared a message and picked songs and practiced them, among them was "Freedom" (thanks to those who prayed for me). Only one woman, Alice, attended the service today, but it was worth driving out there just for her. She loves to sing praises to the Lord and she wanted to hear my message, so I preached it just for her. Then we spent some time praying together. Alice suffers with terrible lower back pain that causes her to have to walk with two canes. The pain is so bad that it actually wakes her up at night. On top of the back pain and its crippling effects, she recently had a terrible bout of flu as well. She told me about how she is learning to come against the pain and the sickness in her body through prayer and by reading the Word of God. One night she woke up in terrible pain at 3:30 a.m. and decided that instead of giving in to the pain she would read her Bible. She fell asleep after reading a while and slept like a baby until 9 a.m.; her scripture reading took her focus off the pain and filled her with the peace that passes all understanding.

Would you lift Alice and her back problem up to the Lord in prayer with me? I laid hands on her back today and asked Jesus to place His hand of healing on her. I asked Him for a miracle. It would bring Alice joy and hope to know the healing touch of Jesus while she is in prison, and I believe that He will respond because He loves to show His love and care to those who seek Him. Will you agree with me in prayer? This is my prayer for Alice tonight:

I pray that the eyes of (her) heart may be enlightened, so that (she) will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:18-20)

Lord, I pray that You would demonstrate the greatness of Your power in Alice's life - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead - as you bring healing to her back and to her emotions. Help her to rest in You, even though her future and her parole date are uncertain at this particular time. I pray that her heart will be enlightened so that she will know the hope of Your calling and the riches of Your glorious inheritance. Please fill her with Your peace and give her favour with the parole board. Thank You that You live in her and that her life is in You. I pray in Jesus' Name.

Blessed

2007-04-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. (Ps. 84:2 NASB)

Psalm 84 speaks to my heart today. I feel as though I am rejoicing with all of creation as the city of Vancouver displays the splendour and beauty of spring. I took the photo above during a walk in the neighbourhood today. The sun is shining and the birds are singing and frolicking in the trees that are putting forth blossoms and new leaves. The daffodils and tulips are filling the landscape with a myriad of vivid colours and the grass is growing. It's a great day to be alive and dwelling in the house of the Lord!

How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah. (vs.4)

I'm feeling blessed to be a part of this growing ministry called Partners In Hope. We are going to be expanding and opening a second residence for the women who are moving towards independence. I will remain here in the first house which will be the "entry level" house, and the job of managing this house and discipling the women who come to live here is being given to me. We have another "missionary" working here now, Mun Hi, from Korea. She is a sweet natured woman who models servanthood and the second greatest commandment, to "love others as you love yourself", for all of us. There will be a new resident arriving at the house in a few days. Things are always moving and changing here; that's one of the things I like about being here.

For those of you who have been praying for Connie, she is doing amazingly well. She continues to grow in her relationship with the Lord and is becoming more and more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit as He guides her and teaches her and corrects her. She has finished her personal study of Romans and is planning to study the letter to the Ephesians next. She struggles occasionally with submitting to authority - that's true of every recovering addict, including myself sometimes - but all in all she's making amazing progress and is filled with gratitude that the Lord has rescued her and brought her here to the Women of Hope house. She talks regularly about being surrounded by "godly women" and what a difference it has made in her life and recovery journey.

The food co-op workday and delivery day was yesterday. We have people from all over the city coming to help us, and most of them are people we minister to through the food co-op, Immanuel Church (our street church) or the Christian Twelve Step recovery meetings we hold in the skid row area of Vancouver. It's wonderful to work shoulder to shoulder with them, to eat a meal with them and to share laughter, conversation and prayer.

Thanks for continuing to pray for us. I would be especially grateful if you would lift up my personal finances. I am still responsible for raising my own support. I pay room and board here at the house and do not receive any sort of stipend; I am considered a missionary. My funding has fallen off recently and at the present time I am indebted to Church Army. I trust with all my heart that God will make up the deficit and provide for all of my needs. He's certainly proved His faithfulness to me in the past and I have no worries or doubts He will continue to be faithful in the future.

May you be blessed today!

O LORD of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You! (vs. 12)

God's hand

2007-04-11T00:11:00.000-07:00

It's so wonderful to see God's hand at work among us! Today I had to go and pick up some personal items from a Vancouver homeless shelter for a woman who has recently been incarcerated at one of the prisons we visit and as I was telling the staff who I was and why I was there I heard a woman shout my name. I turned and there was Rose, a girl from Abbotsford whom I had befriended and ministered to while I was there. She's recently located to Vancouver and is staying at the shelter. This was truly a case of God bringing us together because just five days ago, from the window of one of the Partners in Hope vans, Connie (who is also from Abbotsford and is now staying at the Women of Hope house with us) saw Rose on the street in the skid row area. I wondered how on earth we would ever be able to get in touch with her, but God had a plan! It's pretty amazing that in a city the size of Vancouver I would stumble upon her five days after Connie told me she'd seen her on the streets. Thank You, Lord! I invited Rose to come and visit the house, and I hope that she will make it for our weekly Sunday dinner so that we can get her connected to the help that she needs and bring her into the "family" circle where she can receive the love and support she needs.

Connie is doing so well! Thanks to everyone who's been praying for her. She really "gets it" now, and the Holy Spirit is at work helping her to understand with her heart the Bible passages she reads. Besides all the Step work and Bible study and discipleship we are doing with her at the house, all on her own she has begun a study of the book of Romans! She's a curious and intelligent woman and God's hand is evident in her life and recovery journey. I'm convinced that He's going to raise her up and send her out to help others. That's her heart's desire.

Prayers for Rose and Connie - and me! - would be greatly appreciated.

In Christ,
Catherine

Easter and new life

2007-04-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Thank God for Easter and for new life and new beginnings. It's been a harsh winter in many ways, most of them not related to the weather. But as always, God is faithful, and although I've had to surrender my need to understand many things lately, I fully trust that He will work all things for the good of those who love Him.

I'm excited and blessed to be a member of the Partners in Hope team. There is so much work to be done and there are so many opportunities to minister to so many people! I'm also grateful for the support and love of the women who have welcomed me into community with them at the Women of Hope house. I felt that God's timing in placing me among them was, as always, perfect. He knew that I would need to be surrounded and supported and lifted up.

The move from Abbotsford to Vancouver is finally complete, although I still travel back and forth at least twice a week, once to minister at the Fraser Valley Institution (the regional federal penitentiary for women), working with the chaplain and assisting with the chapel services. She is trusting me to lead the next service on my own. Prayers would be appreciated, especially in regard to leading worship with my guitar. I'm a little nervous about that.

It would take too much time to go into all the types of ministry I'm involved with through Partners in Hope, but you can read about them by going to http://partnersinhoperecovery.com/. And in the upcoming weeks I hope to continue to write updates and praise reports about what God is doing among us. There are already so many stories!

I'll be sending out a snailmail newsletter soon. If you're not already on the mailing list but would like to be, please contact me at catherine.morris@churcharmy.com and send me your mailing address. Thanks to those who continue to hold me in prayer. I am forever grateful for your ministry to me.

May the joy and the power of Easter bless us all for many weeks to come.

Catherine

PS: I accidentally deleted my other blog, so this new one is another new beginning. The old has gone the new has come! It will take me some time to get this one set up with links etc., but while it's under construction I will continue to post updates. Thanks so much and may the Lord bless you for taking the time to come here and read what I share.

In loving memory of Carole

2007-04-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

L-R: Debbie, Carole, Catherine at Chilliwack River summer 2005

It's difficult to write about this sad news in an email and send it out to all my prayer partners and so I've chosen to share in on my blog instead. I'm so thankful for your prayers for Carole; it saddens me to share that she took her life on March 24th. Carole was suffering from severe depression and she reached a point where she just could not bear the pain any longer. I'm thankful for the assurance that Carole is with the Lord now, and that she finally has the peace that she was seeking.

I'm grateful to God for Carole's friendship and feel privileged to have known her, even if just for a season. Carole was a gifted intercessor and a blessing to everyone who knew her. She was always eager and faithful to lift up to God the worries and concerns of her many friends and family members, and when she gave a word of knowledge you could trust that it was trustworthy and true. Carole loved the women, and the men, on the streets of Abbotsford, and would take them out for a meal or to buy a new pair of shoes whenever they approached her for help. She would often be seen standing praying with one of them on the street, reminding them of God's great love for them and His plan for their lives. Her hearty laughter and her hugs will be sorely missed by many people who knew her.

The saddest thing about Carole's passing is that her children and grandchildren have to go on without her. Would you join me in praying for Carole's children, Jonathan and Andrea and their families. Thank you.

Lord, I lift up Carole's children and grandchildren up to You. I pray that You would enfold them in Your loving embrace, that You would comfort them and give them Your assurance that Carole is safe in Your presence now. Fill them with Your peace, Your courage and Your strength and bless them and protect them always. I ask this in Jesus' Name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."