when actually

it's almost two in the morning!

i went to the bank today. set up an automatic savings plan, applied for my first credit card, walked away feeling productive. yeah, all i can say is finally. so, finally.

you know its funny. since that day i prayed over michelle, God and spirituality has come up in conversation more than 3 times. she mentioned feeling more peaceful since telling him what she needs. she sent me a website with The Lords Prayer, and i sent her james 1. i like james 1. after our office unfortunately did not win the $40 million 6/49 jackpot, she made a comment about us being the only 2 in the office who said we'd still go to work for the sake of the company, and apparently we're the only ones who should deserve to win anything anyways. well i think God has a reason for everything. the company would have gone under if everyone left. that is so true, and we were the only ones who said we would stay. you know what that is? values. and you know we'll be the rich ones at the end of it because we're more focused on keeping relationships (or something like that). yeah, because God will provide no matter what happens. mmhmmmm..he sure does... and really, if i ever won $2 million, i'd find it harder to trust God. yeah, exactly. that's how i see it, too.

so it's been pretty cool. i was telling nathan today how i don't think michelle is the only reason why im working at first national. but i believe God wants to use us wherever we are, and good relationships are key to really showing Christ's love to others. so we need to make sure that every relationship we have is nurtured at every opportunity. i could have gone off on a "Christ died a sacrificial death to redeem me so i have chosen to submit my entire life to him" tangent, but that's not what it's about. certainly, there comes a point when the complete explanation of salvation comes into play, but on a day to day basis, my focus is on solely connecting. i'm not a fan of bullhorn evangelism.

now. i'm excited for this weekend. going to the glenbow tomorrow with my family (never been a huge fan on the way to museums but once we're there it usually gets interesting) and then to a banquet at the church. church on sunday should be good, a man from tijuana who helps organize our mission trips came up for a weekend conference and he'll be speaking at Awaken. he's a really good speaker... inspirational.

hmmmm... i like chiantis. nathan got sick tonight so i half slept-half finished watching the interpreter with his family, and then came home to my roommate watching the family man with her friends and a chocolate donut from timmies -- half of which i ate, even though i refused a donut offered to me at nathan's. mmmm balancing whole wheat pasta with extra fatty goodness.

it is more than half past two now and consequently my contacts have become glued to my eyes. subsequently, my grammar has become unglued.

goodnight :)

moments for god's glory

For almost my whole life I've struggled with how to hear God speak and to discern between his voice, the world's voice, and the voice I want to be his. This has been something I've wanted to secure in my life, but I realize there is no absolute formula on how to hear God.

This past tuesday I almost audibly heard God and was able to discern his voice. While finishing up the last set of faxes for the day at my office, God told me to go pray over one of the women who was stressing about her surgery the next day. She was getting her tubes tied, and even as a late-thirty year old, she was still unsure if it was the right thing to do. So God told me to go pray. It was clear and I understood, but it still caught me off guard. Let me explain. I work in an office of about 20 people, and as far as I know, I am the only Christian. Since I started work here last January, I haven't been very spiritually forward with my coworkers about my faith... maybe due to intimidation as I'm the youngest here, but also because of my struggle with trusting God to open opportunities. Anyways, this particular woman is moreso into New Age than anything else, and so when God spoke to me about praying over her, I was almost surprised at the obvious opportunity to just love her.
I didn't want it to be awkward praying around other people. So God confirmed what I had to do when everyone left our part of the office but me and her... go figure. Well here goes.. I felt vulnerable. Why? I was told to lead this woman into the presence of God. Okay fine. I put my hand on her shoulder and asked if I could pray for her. Sure. Do you mind? No, not at all. Okay. Dear God, I want to pray for Michelle right now. I pray over her decision about tomorrow, that you would clarify what she needs to do. Please fill her with your grace, give her peace about the right decision, and I pray she wouldn't regret whatever she does in the end. I pray these things in your name, Amen.

Wow, was she crying? I grabbed my coat and purse, and went back to give her a hug. I couldn't believe she teared up. Had my prayer really touched her so much?

She emailed me wednesday morning thanking me for my prayer. It had helped and she knows she is doing the right thing now. I had made her day.

I had made her day?

Okay so she was blessed by it. Did I know I would be so blessed by something so simple like listening to God? A moment of selflessness turned into a moment for God's glory.

Thanks for making your voice so clear, Father... for making the opportunity so simple I couldn't NOT do it. Help me to follow your lead almost automatically, without losing the emotion or the vision or the passion.

if you haven't seen these

...you should.

Jesus Videos

they really are fun. don't worry kids, jesus isn't really like this :)

sorry i haven't been so up on the blogging yet this month... it is 11:26 pm and i am excessively tired. i almost fell asleep standing up at work today while turning folder files into elastic files and then into computer files and finally into 'shipped to toronto' files. see i knew you'd fall asleep too. my hands are dry. dry hands... wet heart? well i'd hope so! goodnight.