Tracy's Blog

A few weeks ago while I was spending time with God, I asked myself what was going on.  I was sensing a lack... a need.  I felt desperate for something.  Was is satisfaction? significant? security? discipline?  None of those quite fit.  Then I hit on it - rest.  I wanted "a break".  There was some unrest in me and I wanted it to end.  I knew where to turn - to God and His Word. I remembered a chorus I had sung in a church we visited a few years ago.  It impacted me greatly and has stuck with me since.  The words - "Find rest once more, O my soul.  For the Lord is good." -  went through my mind.  And then I remembered Jesus' words: Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Two phrases stood out...

"Why did I say that?"  This is what ran through my minds seconds after I said it.  We were talking about the need for both love and discernment in our Philippians Bible Study and I made a statement that love "is willing to do whatever it takes".  "But I don't believe that anymore," I thought to myself.  The conversation moved on and so did my thoughts.  It wasn't until later in the day that I returned to my questions about what love is willing to do. Let me rewind.  In my late 20's, I was convinced that loving others meant "doing whatever it takes" to help them.  Love is to be self-sacrificing and Jesus had said, " greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends " (John 15:13 NIV).   I assumed this meant if I just gave enough, things would get better.  And when they didn't, I grew anxious.  Somehow I knew I wasn't living the kind of love Jesus was talking about but I wasn't sur...

" I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. " Phil 1:3-6 Thanksgiving weekend has passed and I hope each of you were able to enjoy some time with others around a table.  Our table was small with two of our children away at university and my husband and father-in-law on a trip.  But Tim, my mother-in-law, and I enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner.  I believe that gratitude to God can be experienced whether we are with many others or a few.  It can even be experienced when we are alone! I like Apostle Paul's model of thanksgiving from Philippians 1.  First, we need to direct our thanksgiving to God.  It is from Him that all gifts come.  Second, we need to remember.  We need to reflect and think ...

I am so happy!  Yesterday I started a women's small group with friends in Selkirk.  A couple of the ladies were in the last small group I had here which ended three years ago and I have hardly seen them since.  It is surprising to me that I have lived in Manitoba long enough to have friends like that!  I am so grateful to God for this opportunity to fellowship, study Scripture, and pray together every Thursday morning.  We are studying Philippians so that will be the topic of my blog this fall. Let's jump in: Philippians 1:1-2 "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." There are two things that stood out to me from this greeting.  Identity and attitude. First, identity.    Paul and Timothy describe themselves as "servants of Christ Jesus" .  I don't know about fi...

The other day I was rushing out the door to an appointment when I looked at the list I had written of what I had hoped to get done in the hour before I needed to leave the house.  Only one of the items on the list was accomplished and I hadn't wasted any time.  What about the other 3 things?  "That's was a wish list..... not a to-do list!" I said to myself. The idea has stuck with me so I have been pondering it and talking with people about it over the last two days.  What I have realized is that I make wish lists instead of making realistic plans.  This has been a long-term chronic time management problem of mine.  My lists can get really long!  They are more lists of things I wished were done/completed than things I am willing or able to do in the time available.  Maybe I am hoping my life will be like a montage in a movie when days and weeks of work get completed by the end of a song!  But life isn't a movie and there is no sound track t...

Today is an unusual day for me.  I am preparing for a memorial event for a friend whose baby died before birth at 36 weeks.  I am thinking about children and the gift that they are.  No matter how long they live or how challenged we may be by them, Scripture tells us:  Children are a gift from the LORD (Psalm 127:3a). Children are also on my mind as I start to prepare for the work I do at my church in overseeing two of the Sunday morning Children & Worship classes.  There are so many details to take care of but it is worth it because they are worth it!  It is a privilege to be a part of helping children understand God's love and forgiveness offered to us through Jesus. In July, I had a wonderful time leading the Bible Discovery Station at a VBS in Selkirk.  I loved the opportunity to: - tell a 5 year old boy who Jesus is.  He had no idea.  He didn't know Christmas was Jesus' birthday. - encourage a pre-teen girl to start to look in...

Who are these people?  Well, they are two little guys that were made by Tim's group in Vacation Bible School this week.  The theme this year is "Maker Fun Factory: Created by God, Built for a Purpose" and each group had 3 minutes to create a person out of random craft supplies.  I like them because they are unique (even though all groups had the same supplies) and simple.  There is something humble about them and that is a virtue I am purposely trying to seek out right now. Humility hasn't always been on my radar.  As a child I don't think I even knew the definition of the word.  Maybe I would have said, "not proud".  Once I began to seek God more wholeheartedly as a young adult, I was confronted with these words of Scripture: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6) Well, I knew where I wanted to be in relation to God - a receiver of grace so I humility became a goal.  But I can't say that I was drawn to...