Author Archives: Notes of Joy

My First Marathon

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On Sunday, September 30, 2018 I did the 5K Run/Walk For The Cure Marathon for Breast Cancer. In August I randomly saw an advertisement for the run, pop up on my Facebook news feed and I told my mom that we should do it, and she said okay. It was just going to be the two of us. But I emailed our friend Lori and unrealistically asked her if she would like to do the run with us. I say unrealistically because she lives in Leduc which is an 8 hour drive to Regina. I wanted Lori to know she was invited even though/if she couldn’t come. She ended up emailing me back a few days later that the hotel was booked and she was coming, but that it was going to be a surprise for my mom. I also messaged my friend Emma who lives in Sylvan Lake which is 10 hours away if she wanted to come as well, and drive down with Lori and Ray. She said yes as well. Plans were working out great!! A week before Lori, Ray and Emma were to come down, Saskatchewan had a huge snow storm and I was starting to feel bad about inviting them to come because travel wasn’t recommended on the roads. But I knew the weather could change in a week, I knew God could change the weather within a week to make good driving conditions. It ended up being the best weekend we could have asked for!! Now, you’re probably wondering how we surprised my mom. Lori and I were texting while they were driving on the Saturday. Lori wanted my mom to be out of the house, but not too soon, so she wanted me to stall. My mom ended up doing a good job of stalling herself. To stall, I ended up pulling out a water pick that I had bought in Minot the week before, that I had no idea how to use. I told my mom we were going with my car because that’s what I wanted to do. Then when I was waiting for my mom, my dad told me he needed to re-tork my tires, which was another good way to stall. We ended up going to Victoria Square Mall. We were in Dollar Tree and spent so much time in there. I went from one aisle to the next, saying lets buy this, lets buy that. By this time Lori was in the mall and then next place we were going was Safeway. I kept looking around but didn’t see anyone. My mom and I went down aisle 7 and I had been looking for some cookies, and there was an employee in that aisle so my mom asked her if she had the cookies and I fully knew that Safeway didn’t carry the cookies, but anything to stall. The lady had no idea what we are taking about. So my mom gets out her phone and starts looking for a picture. And I’m still looking for Lori and Ray and Emma. And behold, here comes a lady in a safety vest walking down the aisle with a cart. She gets closer to my mom and keeps bumping into her and my mom doesn’t realize it’s Lori until Lori gets in her face and says hi.

My mom was completely surprised!! One of my mom’s first questions was where are you staying. So I told her Lori and Ray and staying in a hotel, and Emma is staying at Charlene’s house. And my mom said Emma’s here!? And then Emma came around the corner. (Emma ended up staying at my house) Then, the Safeway employee comes back and asked my mom if she found the picture on her phone yet, and I told her that I knew she didn’t have the cookies, but we needed to ask just to make a plan work. We then went back to my house and since my dad didn’t know anyone was coming either, he had dug all of the potatoes and carrots, so all 6 of us helped pick up the potatoes and carrots.

Here are some pictures from the Marathon. Many people have asked how it went. We had a blast!! We were some of the first people to cross the start line and some of the last people to cross the finish line. As we went along each kilometer felt like it was getting longer and longer. We were walking and my mom said that she thinks we missed the 3km mark because sometimes there were 2 paths we could choose. I agreed with her that we missed it. About 5-10 minutes later we came up to a sign and I thought it was going to say 4km but it was the 3km sign.

Lori brought lots of decorations to decorate ourselves with for the run. The socks, the hats, the beads, everything.

Me and Emma

Lori and I

My mom and I

The four of us getting ready to start.

The four of us at the finish line.

Here you can see what the hats say.

The back of our shirts say who we are running for.

We even made it on Global News!

All six of us. My Mom, my Dad, Me, Lori, Ray, and Emma.

When Lori and Ray got home in Leduc, it started snowing where they were. And when Emma got home in Sylvan Lake, it started showing where she was. And here in Regina, it snowed for pretty much the whole week after the marathon. The weather and roads could not have been anymore perfect for the weekend!

The weekend was so much fun, I hope to do something similar again soon!

Quotes From November

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Here are some quotes that I like and that I have recently seen:

Not all positive change feels positive in the beginning.

-S. C Lourie

Contentment is found in reaching the place that says “Even when I cannot understand, still I can trust God.”

-Alistair Begg

Faith is more powerful than government and nothing is more powerful than God.

-Donald Trump

Because true belonging only happens when we present out authentic, imprefect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.

-Brene Brown

Are you the kind of person, and is your church the kind of church, about which others in your community might say, “I dont share their beliefs, but I shudder to think about what this city would be like without them.

-Timothy Keller

Dont allow someone who has had their dreams killed, to kill yours.

-Unknown

If God Is with Me, Why Did This Happen? Part 2

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A few months ago I read an article that is called “If God is With Me, Why Did This Happen?” I did a blog post about it. If you would like to read it you can click here. This blog post will be going off of the link I shared above. If you would like to read the article you can click the link above and then there is a link to the article. In the article, Vaneetha who is the author, mentioned a book she wrote. The book is called “The Scars That Have Shaped Me”. It is an amazing book and I highly recommend that you read it. I will be talking about some parts of the book that stuck out to me. There is so much in the book and what I talk about will just be a brief snapshot of all that there is in the book.

Suffering is a strange, dark companion; but a companion, nonetheless. It’s an unwelcome visitor; but still, a visitor.

-Joni Eareckson Tada

When Scars Speak

John 20:19-20 says “Jesus came and stood among them and said to them ‘Peace Be With You.’ When he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord” Jesus didn’t need to have scars on his body, but He chose to keep his scars there so that the disciples could identify Him. His scars represent His love and our salvation. Just like Jesus had to die on the cross and His scars represent our Salvation by Him doing that, if we are open about our scars we have (physical or not physical scars) and what we have been through people will recognize us that way as well. In Christ, we are conquers of what we have been through, and we have been able to overcome it by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Illumination

Vaneetha wondered why she had to struggle her whole life. She flipped through her bible one day asking God why she has had a life of suffering and came across John 9:1-3 which says “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him.'” The disciples were focusing on the cause of the man’s disability, but Jesus spoke of the reason behind it. The reason this man was blind was not because Jesus was punishing him or even a random thing that had happened. This had been planned by God all along. This man was blind because the works of God would be displayed in him. Our suffering has a purpose: to bring glory to God.

God uses us to comfort one another with the comfort that we ourselves have received from God. It is both a privilege and a responsibility. And as we tell others of God’s faithfulness in the midst of trial, it reminds us afresh that God will never forsake us. Though we may walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will never walk alone.

-Vaneetha Randal Risner

God’s Presence Revealed

John 11:1-6 says “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha…. So the sisters sent to him, saying, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified though it.’ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” Jesus could have gone to heal Lazarus right away, He could have healed Lazarus from where we was in the moment, but if Jesus wouldn’t have let Lazarus die and then bring him back to life, Mary and Martha wouldn’t have had as strong of a faith in Jesus without suffering so that they needed to draw closer to Him in that time of desperation. Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus enough to let them suffer so they could experience His comfort. Jesus loved them enough so they could learn to walk by faith.

When Life Stops Making Sense

Scripture never mandates that we are to constantly act upbeat. God wants us to come to Him in truth and because of that, the Bible doesn’t whitewash the raw emotions of its writers as they cry out to God in anguish, fear and frustration when life ceases to makes sense. People like Jeremiah, Job, Habakkuk and David have all poured out their honest feelings of sadness and disappointment to God. Here are some examples, Jeremiah 15:18, Job 7:11-16, Habakkuk 1:2, Psalm 13:1-2 and Psalm 22:1-2. The Bible is honest so that means we can be honest as well. We can complain and cry knowing that God can handle anything. The Lord wants us to talk to Him, pour out our hearts and thoughts because He knows them already. We can experience joy after we have acknowledged our sorrows. Here are some examples, Psalm 13:6, Psalm 22:26, Habakkuk 3:17-18, Job 42:2 and Jeremiah 17:7.

Not Looking Back

Don’t look back on the past and assume it was perfect. The new road that you are on my be bumpy and twisty, but it is the path that God has chosen for you. Laura Story’s sister told her “I think the detour you are on is actually the road.” This new road is the only road worth taking. If we constantly look back at the old road, we will miss the great things we encounter on the new path.

Praying For just Enough

In 1 Kings 17, there is the story of the widow, Zarephath. Every day she is given just enough oil and flour, but no more. She simply has to trust that the Lord will provide for her and her son or she will starve. She has utter dependence on God, and this is a beautiful example of how God provides for us. Just like the widow, we have to trust God that he will provide us with enough, for each day. Whether that is enough food, or strength or etc, you can fill in the blank. In the kingdom of God, dependence is always better than self-sufficiency. Self-suffiency can lead to pride and selfishness. Dependence can lead to humility and intamicy with the Lord. Dependence will yield good fruit from our lives. When you depend on the Lord, He will give you what is best for you.

The greatest good suffering can do for me is to increase my capacity for God.

-Joni Eareckson Tada

Rain for a Reason

Joel 2:23 says “Rejoice in the Lord your God! For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness”. When you see God’s perspective of your trials, you will look at them very differently. You will see what they are producing in you, how they are shaping you, and how they bring glory to God. Through trials you can see God’s faithfulness.

Choose Your Focus

How we view our life is dependant on what we choose to focus on. Some angles it could look like a mess, but from a completely opposite angle it could look beautiful, but you have to the willing to look past the obvious.

Enough?

What if your inner most longings are never met? And what if your nightmares come true? If none of your aspirations happen, your health fails, etc, is God enough?

Happily Ever After

Randy Alcorn says “‘They all lived happily ever after’ is not merely a fairy tale. It’s the blood-bought promise of God for all who trust the gospel.” God’s blood-bought promise for those who trust in the gospel is that we will live happily ever after in heaven. This is an astounding assurance and a glorious future.

Continue to trust God through it all!

Quotes From October

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Here are some quotes that I like and that I have recently seen.

If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan, but never the goal.

-Unknown

Worry is a conversation you have with yourself about things you cannot change. Prayer is a conversation you have with God about things He can change.

-Unknown

If you’re not suffering, find someone who is, and make their life a little easier.

-Joni Eareckson Tada

Storms make trees deeper their roots.

-Unknown

Life has a way of testing our anchors and tempting us to drift. Nevertheless, if our anchors are correctly placed in the rock of our Redeemer, they will hold no matter the force of the wind, the strength of the tide, or the height of the waves.

-Dieter F Uchtdorf

Small steps in the right direction are better than big ones in the wrong direction.

-Unknown

One of the most important things I’ve learned in life is to ignore most of what people say. I watch what they do instead.

-Amanda Patterson

My Trip to Minot in September 2018

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From September 14, 2018 to September 17, 2018 my mom and I went to Minot.

We didn’t end up doing a lot of stuff in Minot since we were only there for two full days.

One highlight from Minot was we went to the Dakota Territory Air Museum. There were so many neat planes, as well as other things to see there. I highly recommend going there if you are in Minot.

There are only 6 of these in the entire world.

My other highlight when we were in Minot was seeing The Coloingsworth Family. That was the original reason why we went to Minot. The Collingsworths are southern Gospel singers, that travel all over the US and Canada, and some other countrys as well and share the gospel though music. They are a very talented family.

Kim is one of my favourite pianists.

I had a great time in Minot and I can’t wait to go back again.

Always Rejoicing

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are some of the things I am thankful for:

-I am a Christian and the Christian people in my life.

-my gift of music

-kindness of others

-family, and friends who like like family (they know who they are)

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:4 says “Rejoice in the Lord Always.”

As Christians it is possible to be thankful every day of the year, other then just when thanksgiving is marked on the calendar.

We are called to be thankful in every season. We will always have many reasons to be grateful to God. We can rejoice and be thankful at all times. We are called to praise Him during the calm season of our lives, and during the seasons of storms.

Whether everything is calm or whether you’re going through a storm. There’s always something to be thankful for.

-Unknown

Trusting God enables us to remain hopeful, joyful, and thankful no matter what we are going through.

Genesis 50:20 says “But as for you, you meant it for evil against me; but God meant it for good”
So when life is going exactly the way you want it to, praise God. When life seems to be completely falling apart, even though it will be hard, still praise Him.

Here are 10 things as Christian we can be thankful for 365 days a year.

1. Our salvation and everlasting life in heaven! (John 3:16)

2. The forgiveness of our ALL our sins! (Psalm 103:12)

3. God’s unconditional love for us! (Romans 8:38-39)

4. God’s promises being yes and amen! (2 Corinthians 1:20)

5. Radical deliverance from addictions and freedom from bondage! (John 8:36)

6. The loved ones God has blessed us with! (Psalm 68:6)

7. The places we are able to call our homes and being supplied all that we need! (Philippians 4:19)

8. The fact that we were chosen by God before the foundations of the world! (John 15:16)

9. God’s presence, direct access, protection and faithfulness to answer our prayers. (Hebrews 4:6)

10. God’s comfort, perfect peace, Holy Spirit, Son Jesus Christ and unchanging, infallible Word! (John 1:1)

I encourage you to make these next 12 months at time of thanksgiving, not only today. Let’s be people that seek the Lord, and run the race God has for us with endurance until we cross the finish line.

Quotes From September

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Here are some quotes that I Like and that I have recently seen:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

-Melody Beattie

The grass may look greener on the other side but it still has to be mowed

-Unknown

If we have a lot of shame that we carry around inside of us, it’s going to overflow accidentally onto the people around us. If we’re filled with love, then that’s what’s going to overflow.

-Dr. Kelly Flanagan

People are made to be loved and things are made to be used. The confusion in the world is that people are being used and things are being loved.

-Unknown

I stopped venting and started praying cause I don’t need sympathy. I need strength.

-Unknown

JOurneY

It is in the journey

-Unknown

Not everything that can be faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed that is not faced.

-James Baldwin

August Quotes

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Here are some quotes that I like and that I have recently seen:

People with humility don’t think less of themselves, they think of themselves less and appreciate others more.

-Tricia Goyer

If you are persistent, you will get it. If you are consistent, you will keep it.

-Unknown

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel beautiful and be attractive to certain people, but it’s also important to recognize that you don’t owe thinness or beauty to anyone. That isn’t your job … You have so much more to offer the world than how you look.

-Daniell Koepke

Two conflicting forces cannot exist in one human heart. When doubt reigns, faith cannot abide. Where hatred rules, love is crowded out. Where selfishness rules, there love cannot dwell. When worry is present, trust cannot crowd its way in.

-Billy Graham

True forgiveness is when you can say, “Thank you for that experience.”

-Oprah Winfrey

Your greatest message will be spoken by your life, not your lips.

-Steven Furtick

There are two ways to have enough: One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.

-G.K. Chesterton

The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.

-Paulo Coelho

My Trip to Red Deer and Sylvan Lake in July 2018

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From July 11-16 I went to Red Deer for the Canadian Gospel Music Celebration. I also went to Sylvan Lake for the day to see my friend Emma.

July 11, we drove to Red Deer. For those of you who don’t know. Regina is a 9 hour drive to Red Deer which takes up all of the day.

July 12, in the morning we went to Kennedy’s Parables, and I was able to get a new piano book. The Canadian Gospel Music Celebration started at 6pm. For the 2nd part of the 1st half Dr David Jeremiah spoke. That was so cool. He spoke on David and Goliath. A quote that I liked that he said was “The story of David and Goliath teaches us to fight our battles head on.” Before and after he spoke there was singing from multiple different groups.

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On July 13, I got together with my friend Emma from Sylvan Lake. We went to a music store and drove around Red Deer. We then drove to Sylvan Lake where she lives. We went minigolfing. We went to the beach to look around. We also went to her house. For lunch we went to Lokal. If you are in Sylvan Lake I would highly recommend you go there for a meal.

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Emma is so dear to my heart.

We went back to Emma’s house, and then we went back to Red Deer, and her mom came with us for the Canadian Gospel Music Celebration. I was able to meet the Season 1 Winner of Amazing Race Canada, Tim Hague Sr. There were also numerous groups that were singing.

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On July 14, in the morning we went to chapel, and heard 11th hour sing. In the afternoon we went to a hymn sing. I had never been to a hymn sing before and it was something I greatly enjoyed. There were many groups that sung that night as well, and the Canadian Gospel Music Celebration ended with all the groups doing another hymn sing together. After the Canadian Gospel Music Celebration was over we went with our friends Lori and Ray from Leduc to Dennys. I stayed with them in February 2018 for 10 days. And that is where I met Emma.

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Not a picture from Red Deer. But Lori is so dear to my heart.

On July 15, we went home. A 9 hour drive again. But we stopped in Davidson at the biggest coffee cup and coffee pot in the world.

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I’m so thankful that these two ladies are in my life!

If God Is with Me, Why Did This Happen? Part 1

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I recently read an article called If God Is with Me, Why Did This Happen? It was written by Vaneetha Rendall Risner. In the article she mentions the many things that have happened to her. Just to name a few, she was a polio survivor and constantly in and out of the hospital, her son died, and her husband left her. And as I write this I have just put her book on hold at the library that is mentioned at the end of the article.

I will discuss the parts of this article that stand out to me.

“If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13).

Gideon asked the question thousands of years ago, and we have been asking it ever since. Haven’t we all asked that question secretly, if not out loud, at some point in suffering?

A lot of times the people in the bible are our heros, but they are just like us. They want to know why God is causing them hard times in their life, just like why we want to know why God causes us to go through hard times.

Why did this Happen?

I wondered why hard things happened when a loving God was supposedly in control. When people told me that God loved me, I thought, If God loves me, then why did this happen to me?

But when I was 16, God in his mercy answered that lifelong question through John 9. His answer was simple and direct: “that the works of God might be displayed” (John 9:3). And with that revelation, my world shifted.

Vaneetha had wondered her whole life why God allowed her to go through hardships, and at 16 God answer her question.

If we go through hardships with our eyes on God and not turning away from Him, the works of God will be displayed in our life for all to see. But if we complain, people will see that as well. If the works of God are displayed for all to see, doesn’t/shouldn’t that change our view on how we walk through life/trials?

One Little Word

I took comfort in the truth that God was with me and could use my suffering to demonstrate his glory, but when new struggles surfaced, sometimes I would return to that familiar question: If the Lord is with me, then why did all this happen?

Those questions must have delighted Satan. Satan turns truth into doubt with that little word: if. Satan’s temptation of Jesus began with the words “If you are the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3).

God is always with us, but when new difficulties come up we can sometimes forget that, and start using that word of “if”. By why do we use that word?

The Lord IS With You

Satan tempts us in the same way. When our prayers seemingly go unanswered, Satan wants us to mistrust God and question his promises. Satan wants us to doubt God’s goodness and demand proof of his love, inciting us to ask, “If God loves me, then why am I suffering?” Or as Gideon asked, “If the Lord is with us, then why has this happened?”

If the Lord is with us? If God loves me? Those statements should never have an “if” before them. God’s presence and love are guaranteed to those in Christ. When Satan tempts us to question God’s character, we must stand firmly on the truth of Scripture.

In Christ we know that God is always with us. Jesus says, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He will never fail us or forsake us.

We use the word “if” because Satan is trying to get us to doubt that God is always with us. There are so many references in Scripture that says that God will never leave us, so even though Satan tries to get us to doubt God, if we know scripture there will be no need to doubt God.

Recieving Trials With Faith

With this new perspective, believing by faith that my trials are given out of love, I can deliberately look for the good that God is bringing from my suffering.

Sometimes the good is hard to see. And the little I do see can feel insignificant in comparison to the pain I’m enduring. It is then that I must remind myself that my afflictions are producing “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). And God has a purpose in each of them.

While we may not learn the specific purpose behind each struggle, we do know that God uses suffering to increase our dependence on him. To deepen our faith and draw us closer to him. To refine our character, to prepare us for ministry, to comfort others with the comfort we’ve received.

The good can be extremely hard to see. And sometimes we may never find the specific reason why God causes us pain, but we just have to continue to trust Him.

God Doesn’t Love Suffering

God doesn’t love your suffering. He loves you. He will walk with you through the darkest valleys and will never ever leave you.

When God brings trials into your life, don’t question his love or turn away. God is doing something breathtaking in you, for you, and through you. Because the Lord is with you, and because the Lord loves you, everything that happens to you is filled with divine purpose. Every trial you endure has passed through God’s loving hands.

Just keep trusting God through it all!