Monday, 9 January 2012

Other Inspirations: Hymns

I have always enjoyed quotes and song lyrics...and it works even better if I love the tune of the song.
A couple of years ago my church sang this song, and it has since become a deep encouragement to me because I adore the words and the tune! But the tune was written by my pastor, so it can only be replicated by a few of the leaders at church so we haven't sung it in the past few months....but be encouraged by the words today.


HIMSELF
     by A. B. Simpson
Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord;
Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word.
Once His gifts I wanted, Now the Giver own;
Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.

Once 'twas painful trying, Now 'tis perfect trust;
Once a half salvation, Now the uttermost.
Once 'twas ceaseless holding, Now He holds me fast;
Once 'twas constant drifting, Now my anchor's cast.

Once 'twas busy planning, Now 'tis trustful prayer;
Once 'twas anxious caring, Now He has the care.
Once 'twas what I wanted, Now what Jesus says;
Once 'twas constant asking, Now 'tis ceaseless praise.

Once it was my working, His it hence shall be;
Once I tried to use Him, Now He uses me.
Once the power I wanted, Now the Mighty One;
Once for self I labored, Now for Him alone.

Once I hoped in Jesus, Now I know He's mine;
Once my lamps were dying, Now they brightly shine.
Once for death I waited, Now His coming hail;
And my hopes are anchored, Safe within the vail.

*the bold are significant ones to me in this moment, it always seems to change each time I read this.*

Friday, 6 January 2012

Other inspirations....

“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less. ”
―
Timothy Keller
One of the most inspirational people I have ever (not) met is Dr. Tim Keller. I have spent hours this month listening to sermons and one that I listened to (twice---once as I fell asleep and then again when I was more awake) this afternoon is blessed-self-forgetfulness !!!There is a reason I needed to listen to it twice, its because as another pastor once said "single people are the most selfish of all". I have realized more and more since being in a relationship how easy it is for me to look at myself and see myself through the eyes of someone else and just feel utterly disappointed with how I am. I really do. And then when I listen to Tim's sermons, they always remind me (as well as other sweet friends/family's echoing thoughts) that "its not about me"....
ok I need to let that sink in....
.....but I do love that quote....it's not about thinking that I am a horrible person, or even the opposite...to rationalize my behaviour away and say, oh...maybe I am not that bad compared to someone else....
its simply.....
thinking of self.....less.

So.....another resolution would be for me to think of myself less, and in turn...
think of others more.

Wednesday, 4 January 2012

Another resolution

Well I also want to start making healthy delicious meals for me (and Dan!). I really do love to make yummy food, but last month was a pretty dry month for me financially and I find that everytime I WANT to make something it requires me to buy a million ingredients....so that gets kinda pricey. I found another really sweet blog ( http://www.skinnytaste.com/ ) and there are tons of tasty recipes on it and today I made this one (pumpkin banana nut bread)....so.....let me tell you how it turned out:
  • I don't have a picture, but I'll try to describe how it looked...I made 2 loaves and they were very thin and tiny
  • It smelled delicious, but not overwhelmingly delicious
  • It tasted pretty good, but definitely had that "i'm fat free" flavour to it, so I would recommend a yummy topping or butter....unless you push through and just try to enjoy the fat-free-ness of it!
  • I would rate it a 3 out of 5 but it definitely was worth the try!
I am also trying to memorize verses this year....I have this one pasted on my bulletin board and I have mostly memorized it but I think it will be a goal of mine this year to really meditate and reflect on it and hopefully it will sink and and help me live a richer and happier daily life.
1 Timothy 6:11
...but you, (Erin), belong to God: so run from all those evil things, and follow what is right and good. Pursue a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

PS. Still reading my book ( The Centurion's Wife)....there's a wedding happening...that's all I'll say about that...

Monday, 2 January 2012

New Year's Resolutions

I decided to start a blog, not necessarily about ALL my resolutions, but about one in particular.
I adore reading and I want to find a way to be really intentional about my reading and tell a bit about why and what the books I read meant to me over this year. I am not going to say that I want to read a book a month or anything like that but maybe just prepare a way to share some of my ideas with anyone who wants to hear about them. I don't really like opening my blogs up to the whole wide world....but maybe I will! haha!

Anyways.

Book #1: The Centurion's Wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke
Genre: Christian Fiction
Thoughts so far: Well......let me start with a tradition in my family. Mom always leaves a wrapped book by our pillows on Christmas morning that we can open (and when we were little, it was supposed to occupy us so everyone could sleep in peace a bit longer) so this year Mom gave me this book. I haven't really read tons of  Christian fiction lately, but I have loved all of Francine Rivers books and believe me, I read my fair share of J-Oke books in my lifetime.....But I will say....I am really enjoying this book so far. I won't give too much of the plot away, but its definitely centered on the centurion who Jesus healed his servant boy without needing to be near him (cf: Matthew 8:5-10,13) I love reading the history and context of this story and even the entire idea of the culture in that time period....

I'll say more when I finish!

I hope someone starts posting comments and adding ideas of good books to read this year....