Moving With God

Baby steps of faith, hope and love

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Details: Written by: Alyssa; Category: Life; Published: 15 March 2011

I've had a post in my mind for the last week but never sat down to write it, and now Matt has the paper I wrote it out on earlier today because I also put a grocery list on the back, and he said he could pick the groceries up. SO you'll have to wait for that one.

It's been a good week! Some cleaning, some movie watching, a couple games of Settlers of Catan, I finally started the intro to my next (last!!!) paper, and Friday night the youth group went to a Raptors (basketball) game and watched them win! One of the players gave his testimony as part of a post-game program that Matt helped co-ordinate as part of his internship!

Also, the winter boots I bought in January are rocking my world as early-spring boots too! Muck-proof!

And Matt and I have a movie date tonight SOOO.... Life is good :)

Details: Written by: Alyssa; Category: Thoughts; Published: 09 March 2011

Matt had a hilarious encounter with a Christian woman at Starbucks the other day who told him that he should get a better car... because our current car makes Christians look bad!

I say hilarious because Matt thinks it's hilarious. I think this woman needs a Bible-smack to the jaw - I wonder how she thinks THAT would make Christians look, lol.

As you may or may not be able to see, our car's clear coat is missing in some places on the hood and roof, so our paint job is... uneven. And we have a couple dents here and there... most if not all of which came with the car. I think it's great because there is very little that could make our car look worse, so there's no pressure to keep it perfect - we can just enjoy it.

Details: Written by: Alyssa; Category: Thoughts; Published: 06 March 2011

I typed this up on my phone on Friday heading home from a friend's house. I read the book of Ezekiel this week! I don't think I ever read that whole book before... and I started into Daniel. The verse that moved me the most, that kind of culminated a bunch of thoughts from the last couple days was Daniel 5:23b, from Daniel's speech to the king who wants to know the meaning of the writing on the wall -

"You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored."

I am so moved by the depth of God's love, for me but also for much more than me, for his People, for the lost. His word drips with agony and passion; he wants to correct and draw in and enfold, but he will not force, and while the crucifixion is encapsulated in history, it is also ongoing in God's Spirit, yearning for people to be free and fulfilled, yearning to be recognized so that he can embrace, and outraged that so often people choose other things - success in a career, financial stability, beauty and popularity, "control" over our futures/choices. These things cannot see or hear; they do not respond to our devotion, our best efforts. God says, give ME those things - I not only see them, I desire them;I made you to fall deeply, satisfyingly, rapturously in love with me.

Details: Written by: Alyssa; Category: Life; Published: 28 February 2011

A very sweet lady at church the other week told me that I look like Kate Middleton, how nice :)
Then last week I was asked if I thought Anne Hathaway was pretty because I look like her.
When I was younger and Katie Holmes was on Dawson's Creek, I was told I look like her too!

So for funsies, here are some undeniably pretty brunettes!

Details: Written by: Alyssa; Category: Thoughts; Published: 27 February 2011

I was really grumpy by the end of church today. The short-form, condensed, non-ranting reason is that... I'm already saved. And I feel like the last six weeks have all been the same sermon from a different text: "Get saved! It will be so great and such a relief and you'll finally feel complete. I know it's hard and scary, but you really need to do it. Today. So yeah, get saved."

I am all for preaching salvation! But if all we ever do at church is "get saved" then we never really get past figuring who is in and who is out of the kingdom, who is to blame when our prayers don't get answered even if we say Father God and Hallelujah and Blood of Jesus seven times each in all our prayers. Because maybe it's somebody who has been a member for 40 years and everyone thinks they're a Christian, but they just aren't quite. Witch hunt.

Read more: Sunday Thoughts

Details: Written by: Alyssa; Category: Thoughts; Published: 24 February 2011

This recommendation is quick because I am going to start my outline for the LAST PAPER OF MY DEGREE. I really am.

But first, please read this book if you get a chance - I am about half way through, and I am not reading it for my course or anything - it was recommended to me by someone on the subway who saw me reading What's So Great About Christianity. I am enjoying this book VERY much, the tone is great, easy to read but not simplistic or preachy, just a straightforward explanation of what Christians believe and why they are not completely bonkers to hold the beliefs they do. I can't promise there is no altar call at the end because I haven't got to the end, but I encourage everybody to make the time for this book! I got my copy from the library, but it would be worth buying one day, and I will probably re-read it before I return it. If you ever do read it, please let me know so we can talk about it :)

Silly me, you will need to know the title and author of course! The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. Now, put it on hold at the library so it will be all ready and waiting for you the next time you go!

Details: Written by: Alyssa; Category: Life; Published: 22 February 2011

Matt and I had a fun trip up to Stirling overnight to visit Liscombe and just spend a day/night out of the city :) No pictures, so I'll keep the post short, but it was great to catch up with a couple friends and play games without worrying about work the next day or needing to rush home (we had a dogsitter). We played xbox connect (I scraped a couple knuckles on the ceiling trying to "throw a javelin" with my left hand instead of right) and learned Settlers of Katan (a strategic board game) and re-learned Rummoli. Fun times!

It was great to just pick up and drive a couple hours - we looove our car still! Oh, and we attempted a geocache, but failed - I'm not sure whether it's winter accessible or not. Matt didn't know where we were going because I wanted to surprise him, so I used the geocache to lure him out to Stirling... I think he caught on pretty quick, but it was lots of fun.

Details: Written by: Alyssa; Category: Life; Published: 18 February 2011

It almost feels like Spring in Toronto! It's a little more slushy than muddy, but the air is cool and refreshing, not icy and moisture-stripping. I have been enjoying it thoroughly.

Nothing much else to report - I gave my second-to-last class presentation of my BA last night, so that was a fun mini milestone.

Dear Spring,
If you want to just stick around even though it's early... that's alright with me.
Love,
Alyssa

Details: Written by: Alyssa; Category: Life; Published: 15 February 2011

True love is magically delicious! This year was mine and Matt's first married valentine's day together (last year he was in Nicaragua - oh plus!! The year before I was in Brazil. We're so international!). You may imagine that we dreamed up exceedingly romantic plans, but you would be wrong. We're going out for dinner on Thursday (when we won't need to rush, and won't need to worry about getting a reservation). Last night we put away laundry, grocery shopped, and read to relax. Of course, you should never shop for groceries hungry, and neither of us felt like cooking, so we had Lucky Charms for dinner before heading out :)

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