buried treasure

Lost, broken,
discarded
things,
found
and restored.

Exclamations
of surprise!
and delight
at the potential treasure
all around you.

Enthusiasm for the different, the odd, the weird.

Pack rat tendencies not withstanding the joy you found in restoration, reminds me of our Saviour, who like you, finds the lost, the broken and the discarded and makes them new, gives them purpose.

Jonathan, your body may be broken beyond human repair but I know and have rest and peace in that you are not lost. You are with the One who made you, who knows you, who delights in you.

I grieve somewhat selfishly, knowing that you are in a far better place.

I look forward to meeting you again in the Kingdom of our Sovereign Lord and King.

I miss you.

detail oriented

You know what is super cool about God? I've always bee quite fascinated with this. How he makes such little intricate things that work. I was out on a date with God today, just walking in the woods, and watching the butterflies. They are so small and delicate and yet, their wings work, their legs work, their antenna work! How cool is that!?
We humans, crash through the world taking the little tiny details for granted! The capillaries, the nerves, the skin cells, the tiny microfilaments that make our muscles work... We are entirely dependent on the little details that we don't even notice!
And not only did God create us and the entire universe from the tiny details on up, but He is fully on top of all the tiny details that make up our lives and how best to fit them together for our good!
I am so glad that my God is detail oriented!

oh! (light bulb)

Gen 1: 14-15
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so.

Do you know what I just realized. God made the stars for signs before he made people. He determined their course in the sky before we were made. He was already ready to point us to our Savior before we existed. That's how much He loves us. That's how much He's got our future under control.

Abraham, he had a lot of waiting to do, but he trusted God.

No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised. That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." But the words "it was counted to him" were not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Romans 4: 20-25

Let us be people of unwavering faith. Let us know:

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
Jeremiah 29: 11-14

When three days seems like a long time...

My Jesus,
How long those three days must have seemed to Your friends.
How awful and how empty.
Thank You that as we remember Your sacrifice, we have the benefit of knowing the outcome, of knowing Your victory. That we are not lost and confused and helpless.
We are not bereft, but reassured of Your power and Your majesty and Your glory.
Waiting can be a dark place Jesus. It is not so easy, as You know.
Thank You that You carry us as we wait on You.
Thank You that our hope is not here, but in You and in Your kingdom.
My soul is waiting on You, though it is hard, because my hope rests in You.
You are my salvation, You are my Rock of Strength, You are my refuge.
Thank You, Oh my God, that I can pour out my heart to You, that You hear my prayers and even when I do not see it, You are answering them.
Be with Your friends, be with those who are waiting on You.
Help us Lord to wait well, and bring You honor and glory.
Power and lovingkindness are Yours my God and my King.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done.
I love You.

Hearts' cries

My soul waits in silence for God only;
From Him is my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.

My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;
My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

Thanks David, for telling it like it is and keeping it real.
from Psalm 62:1-2, 5-8, Psalm 63:1-5

Supplication

My Lord, I know not what I ought to ask of Thee.
Thou and Thou alone knowest my needs.
Thou lovest me more than I am able to love Thee.
O Father, grant unto me, Thy servant, all which I cannot ask.
For a cross I dare not ask, nor for consolation;
I dare only to stand in Thy presence.
My heart is open to Thee.
Thou seest my needs of which I myself am unaware.
Behold and lift me up!
In Thy presence I stand,
awed and silenced by Thy will and Thy judgments,
into which my mind cannot penetrate.
To Thee I offer myself as a sacrifice.
No other desire is mine but to fulfill Thy will.
Teach me how to pray.
Do Thyself pray within me.
Amen.
Philaret - Metropolitan of Moscow - 1782-1867

What I never knew!

Ok, so my grandpa: Famous! You heard me.
The other day I was having lunch with my aunt and uncle, and we were talking about this fabulous but unseasonably warm weather when my aunt said,
"It's going to snow, it always snows around daddy's birthday"
Not having known this little tidbit, I asked why, and she answered that he had been born in a blizzard.
So here is the story. My great grandmother is having a rough go of it. Her husband died when she was 6 months pregnant, so her sister comes to move in with her during her confinement, which is lucky, since near the end of her pregnancy great-grandma gets the measles.
She's got a high fever, the doctor is out of town, and this massive blizzard starts raging... that's when she goes into labour! So she pushes through and grandpa is born with a mild case of the measles, PLUS due to the blizzard, the pipes have frozen, ergo no water!
My grandpas' first bath was in beer! I love it!
So great-grandma and grandpa had a bit of a tricky start, but they make it through, life goes on.
Fast forward a two decades and the war becomes pretty central. Grandpa goes off and mans a radar station in New Brunswick I think, and while he's out there he meets all kinds of people from all over. One day, he introduces himself, John James Irvine, and a young soldier looks at him and asks:
"What did you say your name was?"
Grandpa repeats himself, and the soldier with a bit of excitement says:
"There was a John James Irvine who was famous in our town for being born in a blizzard with the measles and washed in beer"
And grandpa says:
"That was me, nice to meet you"