The State of the Human Condition...

So today I forgot my cell phone at home and only realized it when I was halfway to school. I started to mentally panic because I didn't have time to turn around and get it. I was thinking....oh man what if I get stranded or something! Then I remembered a time not so long ago when I didn't have a cell phone and I drove around everywhere without one. A time where if you got stranded then you would just walk to someone's house and beg for some help or at least a phone call. So I pressed on to school without my cell phone and I did not get stranded. Boy things change fast!

Along the same lines as things changing fast....I just joined twitter. My Dad kept talking about joining so I joined and he still hasn't....I'll just keep nagging him until he does. So I like to tweet....hahaha! I am a facebook feen but I'm pretty clueless when it comes to Twitter...hopefully I can learn. All I know is I actually feel connected to famous people who I have never met before...it's really quite odd and maybe a little stalkerish, but isn't that why all these internet wonders like facebook and twitter are so popular....because people long and love to be connected with each other! I think it's fun.....and I think you should join twitter if you haven't because I really don't know a lot of people on there personally and it would be nice to have some actual twitter friends!

Happy tweeting to me and you (maybe)!

:) Darc

I think I'm going to try to start blogging a bit more....we'll see how it goes!
Today I worked for most of the day at the church on creative development for 2:52 Basics....this month's virtue is Conviction....check out my sweet bulletin board!



Thanks to the team for all their hard work yet again....so blessed to have great volunteers!

~Darc

Picture of the Week...

This picture was taken at the Port Elgin beach during my Paisley summer. I long for these summer days and they can't come soon enough!

Love Can

I recently heard the lyrics to a song called 'Love Can' by a band called Decemberadio. It's a powerful song and one that I've been listening to a lot. Check it out...

LOVE CAN

What can move a mountain from the place where it stands?
What can calm the greatest fear with a Touch from it's Hand?
What can turn an enemy to a brother and a friend?
There is only one thing I know
Love Can
Love Can

What can bring a miracle in a moment of need?
What can reach a fallen soul and put him back on his feet?
What can say that nothing is beyond it's hands?
There is only one thing I know
Yes I know

Chorus
That only love can heal your broken heart
When it's all said and done
And you've had enough
Only love can bring you off of your knees
And back on your feet

What can build a bridge between a Holy God and a sinful man?
I know there's only one thing only love can
What can help a lost soul find his way back home again?
There is only one thing I know
Yes, I know
Yes, I know

Chorus
That only love can heal your broken heart
When it's all said and done
And you've had enough
Only love can bring you off of your knees
And back on your feet


Only love can move a mountain
Only love can heal the broken
Only love can move a mountain
Only love can heal the broken
Only love can move a mountain
Only love can heal the broken

Sweet Dreams,
The Kindred Spirit

Walls

It’s funny how you can think one thing
And you think this other person is on the same page as you
But really,
it’s like night and day.
And when you figure it out,
the only word that comes to mind is ‘idiot’.

Perhaps it’s the story of everyone’s life at some point.
In the moment it doesn’t seem to matter.
It doesn’t seem to matter that others can relate.
All that matters is the sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.
Nothing can make it better and you somehow can’t escape it.
So, you let it run its course.
Eventually it passes, at least that is the hope.

It’s funny how the thing that can make you break your walls down,
can also make you build them sky high.
You build them so high and so strong,
so that pit feeling knows it’s never welcome to return.
Sometimes it doesn’t get the message.
Note to self: build higher, stronger walls.

One day when your walls are so high and so strong and you are alone,
you will wonder if building higher, stronger walls was the answer?
There might be a chance that the pit feeling was meant to be.
Could there be a lesson in the pit?
Perchance is the pit actually protection?
Why does protection have to hurt?
Too many unanswered questions.

As we grow and learn we never completely forget the pit.
Sometimes it returns in other faces,
but it’s still recognizable because we will never forget that feeling.
The feeling that laid the foundation for our walls.
And with fingers crossed you may have learned by now
that only two things break down the walls.
Love and Hope.
In all their many facets they, together can break down walls.
Or prevent you from building them in the first place.
Note to self: Resist the urge to build higher, stronger walls
or any wall at all for that matter.

Back to the 90's...

I was born in the late 80's, meaning my childhood took place in the 90's. Recently I've re-discovered my love for one christian rock group in particular....Petra. I grew up listening to these guys and I have so many wonderful memories of rocking out to them in the car with my Dad. I've been listening to one of their albums, my favourite one, entitled 'Beyond Belief' a lot lately. The words to the songs on this cd are full of amazing truths spoken or sung in a powerful way. I just wanted to share the lyrics to one of their songs with you. It's called 'Seen and Not Heard' and I hope you'll take a moment to think about what they're saying.

Seen And Not Heard

Too many black sheep in the family
Too many stones from a house of glass
They've heard the story, they've heard the lines
But talk is too cheap to change their minds
They want to see some vital signs
Convictions - in the way we live
Convictions - not a narrative
Actions speak a little louder than words

(Chorus)
Seen and not heard, seen and not heard
Sometimes God's children should be seen and not heard
There's too much talk and not enough walk
Sometimes God's children should be seen and not heard

Delayed reaction to hostility
Brings us into reality
Cause when we answer in our defense
They can see through the false pretense
They want to see some evidence
Commitment - no more alibis
Commitment - not a compromise
Actions speak a little louder than words
Let your light so shine in all you do
With an answer near when they come to you

Don't let your mouth start talkin'
Until your feet start walkin'


Perhaps you too may want to re-discover the 80's and 90's!!!!

Yours truly,
The Kindred Spirit

Laughter

It all happened at once.
It came like a freezing cold breeze on a hot day.
Laughter and tears, they both came.
Some laughed for the wait was over.
Some cried because it all seemed ridiculous.
Bitterness didn’t seem right, but it was there.
Sinicism was all too natural.
Yet it was not a bad thing.

For some, it was a reminder of loneliness.
For others it brought opportunity.
Some questioned it.
Time?
Motivation?
Opportunity?
Love?
Real Love?

Some knew better.
The struggle will come.
Life goes on.
What then for you?
Is it the adventure you’ve always wanted?
Perhaps.
For some there could be more.
It seems heavy but it won’t always be this way.

It all happened at once.
It will all be over at once.
For others, the wait is the lesson.
The lesson answers the questions.
Time, motivation, opportunity, love.
Real love will bring you.

The wait is the struggle.
The struggle must be worth it.
I trust.
I hope.
It will come.
The adventure begins here.
Now.

Sinicism must be ignored.
Bitterness fought.
Loneliness overcome.

The opportunity is the breeze.
In that the lesson,
and the struggle.
The wait won’t last forever.
Then, it will be time.
And there will be laughter.

What is left?

I think I have become a cynic. I don’t really know how this happened. All I know is I came back to Wainfleet after 3 months away and somehow I was different. I can’t really figure it out; I just see things differently. I find myself thinking things I never thought before. I used to be this feeling driven person and now I’m not so much anymore. I prayed for a long time that my faith would not be based on my feelings; perhaps this is the answer to those prayers? I find myself questioning whether people have “spiritual experiences” because God is really speaking to them or because other people have manipulated a “feel good” experience and so because they feel something then it must be God. I believe God uses our feelings and I believe that we can experience wonderful highs because we met with God in a profound way. However, feelings come and go; they sway like the wind. I know from first hand experience, anyone who knows me real well can testify.

Lately I have begun to break things apart. If we did not have the feeling then would we be left with something concrete? I’m a pastor’s kid and I really love it, most of the time. The problem with being a P.K. who is actually interested in the church is I think about things too much. I question people’s motives and reasoning behind them. I think about what people say and actually consider whether it’s biblical or not. I go home from a Christian event and discuss and think about what the real point of whatever happened was. I think about what a person who doesn’t know Jesus would think if they were to walk into a room. One time I went to this Christian event where the people started confessing the sins of our generation out loud (this was ok) but then people started to get a little freaky, I had been a Christian for a long time and I was super freaked out. All I could think about was what would someone who doesn’t know Jesus think if they walked into this room right now.

I think about bible times. I wonder if they were able to manipulate a feel good experience like we do now? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not feeling bashing here…..I just wonder if we are raising people up to be Christians who only know how to function when everything feels good and who only think God speaks to them through their feelings?

Have you ever been somewhere where God made his presence so known and there was no doubt, no questions, just God. I was at a conference a while ago and I heard a guy speak, he was funny and really knew how to get the crowd going. At the end of his talk he showed this video and narrated through it. It was a story about a man, but the realization was that the story being told was everyone’s story. I don’t think there was anyone in that room, Christian or not, who didn’t know that God was present in that room. I don’t think there was anyone in that room who didn’t realize that despite the crap in this world, the crap in their lives and any uncertainties they had, that God somehow loves them. It was one of those experiences where my heart and my mind met. I felt God’s presence and I knew it too. It wasn’t that guy on that stage; it was Jesus in the room. You can’t manipulate that.

Perhaps this is my own beef. These past few months have been kind of difficult. Things haven’t been like I thought they would and I’ve been discouraged and lonely and disappointed. I think I was disappointed that God wouldn’t give me a quick fix and make everything wonderful. I think I’ve started to realize that I have trouble functioning when things don’t feel good. I think I expect that God should make me feel good, like a puppet, He should act on my command. It’s quite ridiculous really. Perhaps it’s because I have grown up in the church and somehow come to think that if I don’t have the feel good experiences all the time then somehow God is mad or distant. Lies….Lies…..Lies. I hear it…..but I still can’t fully grasp it. I think I need time. I need time to teach myself this truth. Perhaps it’s a point of maturity…..when all of a sudden you realize that life is not a fairy tale and I was not created in order that God would serve me….it’s really vice versa. This is the point where my faith becomes more about truth and what I know rather than what I feel. Feelings do have a place but not the only place. Things even out. Perhaps the words in the bible are so profound and life giving and powerful that God would choose to speak to me through them and somehow it would fill me more than a feel good experience ever could because when you take away the feelings, what is left? I think it’s a good question, perhaps a good tool to get one to think more critically about things?

What is left?

I need to learn a new way.

This is going to be hard.

So I Wait Upon You Lord....

It's hard to believe that the summer is over and fall is here and with that comes school, a new ministry season and the departure of my best friend to Haiti. I had a wonderful summer working at Christian Horizons. It was full of learning and growing and being stretched and laughing and crying and meeting so many wonderful people. I don’t think I am able to describe with words what the Lord has been doing in my heart and life this summer but perhaps these things will reveal themselves in my writing in time, I’m not sure. I strongly believe that my capacity to love and care has been stretched. I think that the way I look at things is a little different now.

My theme verse this summer was Ephesians 3:20…

Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.

I thought of these words often during my summer days. Jesus is able to accomplish INFINITELY more than we would ever DARE to ask or hope. Sometimes I think we don’t ask God for certain things in fear of disappointment. This verse says that he can do more than we would ever even dare to ask or hope. I think this verse reveals that God has surprises in store for us. The things I hope for are things that I love and often desire in the deepest of places. Most people will never know these hopes, but God knows. I like living in the reality that God has wonderful surprises for me.

This summer was one of those wonderful surprises. I would have never guessed that the Lord would bring me to a small, unknown town called Paisley and open my heart to a new world of people. It was just good and I am so thankful.

The summer was great but I'm ready to be home now for a while. I'm ready to be fully present and engaged in things here in Wainfleet.

My best friend, Diana, left yesterday morning for Haiti, for a year. To say the least, it was a rough day. I feel like a piece of me went on that plane to Haiti and now I'm not quite sure what to do. It's a type of grief that I have never experienced before. I have always been the one to go away on adventures and leave my family and friends behind. I have never been the one on the other side. I don't like this side very much. It's quite difficult. I know that the Lord wants Diana in Haiti, I know that this is what's best. I am so excited for her and what this year will do in her life. I'm just trying to figure out what to do now. Diana is the person that is always there. We spend so much time together just talking about everything. We are brutally honest with one another and have one of those 'real' relationships, the kind that you don't find with many people. The realness is when you can be completely honest about where you're at. Di is the person who I call up and say do you just want to get together, I don't know what we'll do but let's just hang out. We discuss books, things we're struggling with, our dreams about where we'll live, who we'll marry, where we'll work, what kind of cars we'll drive and the list goes on. We pray together, laugh together, cry together and so even though we can still email and phone one another it's still hard because she's not here. I never knew I could have a friend like this.....to have a friendship like this one has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. Please pray for my kindred spirit Diana as she embarks on this new journey. I have put her blog in my favourite links so you can keep updated with her.





This brings me to now.....as I sit here and write with a bit of a heavy heart. I am praying that the Lord would put new and fresh things in my life for this time and that I would be open to these things. I guess it will just take a bit to readjust but I know the Lord is faithful in all these things and that he may just have a few surprises up His sleeve for me.

So I will wait in anticipation.

Sweet Dreams,
The Kindred Spirit