A life well lived is like the perfect risotto...

I'm a slow learner. I'm also impatient. Mix those two qualities together and it can get ugly. But lately God's been teaching me that sometimes the best things in life, the most valuable lessons learned, take patience. Faithfulness. A willingness to stick it out in order to see something simply divine.

Life's a lot like the perfect risotto actually. I'm a huge fan of this scrumptious Italian dish, and order it in every Italian restaurant I visit. But it has taken me a while to perfect it from scratch at home. Not because it's hard, but because it requires something I lack. Patience.

Risotto isn't something you throw together quickly, nor is it something you can guess at, fake or compromise with. The perfect risotto, takes precision, focus, strength, and patience. Just like life. We can't muddle our way through and expect great rewards in the end. We can't take huge chances, live spontaneously and give up when the going gets rough, and still find success and happiness. No, life is messy.

I'm grateful that the head chef of my life is the Author, Perfector, and Finisher of my faith. I'm thankful that the One writing my journey is patient, precise, and wise. Through Him I'm learning to patiently tend to the journey He's blessed me with. To rest in the stillness and rely on His strength to carry me through when I get tired. It's an uphill battle at times, but in the end what I hope others see is a full-bodied life that reflects the tender care of it's maker.

A life well lived is like the perfect risotto: full of flavour from the journey, confident in it's completion, and comforting in it's simplicity.

(White Wine Risotto with Pan Seared Scallops a la Shari!)

All You Need is Love?

Last year around Valentine's day I wrote a post called "All You Need is Love?". I've thought a lot about this since, and was reminded about it again today in something I was writing for work.

This Christmas, I was reminded of a simple but powerful truth through my three-year-old nephew. As my extended family gathered around the dinner table one night and prepared to say grace, my nephew confidently asked if he could be the one to pray. With a quick glance around the table at the amused smiles on the faces of the grandparents, uncles and aunties, my sister-in-law consented and then quickly added, "but don't forget to thank Jesus for the food OK?" He nodded his head in agreement, squeezed his eyes tightly shut, and lifted his little face toward heaven:

"Dear Jesus," he said passionately, "how I love you!"

While what followed next was completely unintelligible to most us around the table, it was the way he chose to open his prayer that intrigued me. It amazed me that in one small opening statement, my three year old nephew grasped the simple truth that so many adults fail to understand. The truth that all that matters in life is loving the One who created us.

Back in 1991, during a conversation with some friends, the question of knowing God’s will came up. In response, one of the guys in the group said that he believed the answer was summed up in the greatest commandment - "to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul." (Matthew 22:37) Going on he explained that if you truly love God with all that you have, everything else would fall into place.

I have thought about that conversation a lot through the years, and was again reminded of it upon hearing my nephew’s heart-felt prayer. Loving God doesn't suddenly mean you’ll have all the answers to life. Nor does it mean that the journey will be easy. Instead, loving or delighting (Psalm 37:4) ourselves in the Lord means focusing so much on Him that we see nothing else. Loving the Lord with all our hearts, minds and souls means finding pure joy and peace in His presence. And as we do this our plans and desires for our life gradually align with His own. What He wants for us becomes what we want.

My three-year-old nephew may not yet fully understand what loving God with all his heart, mind and soul means, but his simple “how I love you” prayer is 100% on the mark. Loving God fully, completely, and passionately with eyes tightly shut as we hang on for the ride of our lives means that all our needs – including the food we so often forget to thank Him for – will be met. He alone should be our desire, our delight and our love. All we need is an all consuming love for Him, and everything else will fall into place.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:34-40)

To Blog or Not to Blog

I came across a great article on Focus on the Family's website today, that made me think more critically about why I blog. I could certainly relate to many of the sentiments in the piece!

As I attempt to focus this year on being more disciplined in all areas of life, I never really thought of my "blogging life" until I read this article. Great food for thought as I move forward this year.

Couldn't Have Said it Better...

I've thought a lot about my role as a pastor's wife, but never really could put my thoughts into words. Fortunately, I came across a blog that said it for me! Check it out: The Role of the Pastor's Wife....

A great read...

I've recently become "addicted" to reading a blog written by a friend and her husband. At the suggestion of a friend of theirs, they started a "He Said/She Said" blog with daily posts on everything from 80's fashion, advent, microwaves and more. Each they both weigh in with their perspectives on the chosen topic, leaving the reader pondering their poignant thoughts or laughing hysterically at the "mars and venus" approaches to the most mundane of things.

Check out their blog entry for January 3rd on Cereal. It's well worth the read.

2008: A Year of Discipline

My husband and I have a little tradition that started a few years ago. Being the reflective type, my husband usually spends the days leading up to a new year, thinking back on the year past, and deciding what goals and dreams he has for the new year. As I listened to him share his thoughts one year, it occurred to me that many of his goals had a theme. Thus birthed a different kind of "new years resolution" for us, to pick a word that best sums up what we want to acheive, practice, learn, etc. in the new year.

This year our theme is: Discipline. It is our desire to focus more on being more disciplined in all areas of life. To work harder on our spiritual disciplines (prayer, worship, study). To learn discipline in the areas of our physical lives (exercise, diet, stress, sleep). To practice emotional discipline - learning to better control our anger or impatience (for example). Even to focus on relational discipline (the practice of setting aside time to deepen friendships, build intimacy, etc.).

There can be joy in the journey of living a more disciplined life. Thus we/I commit 2008 to be a year of discipline as I hone my skills, deepen my faith, fall more in love with my husband, and improve myself in all areas. Let the discipline begin...

10 Years Ago Today

Ten years ago, surrounded by friends and family, two voices said "I do." Ten years ago today, two hands reached out and clung to one another. Ten years ago today, two rings were exchanged as a symbol of love and devotion. Ten years ago today, two people from two very different walks of life joined together to begin a journey together.

Ten years ago today...... I married my hero.

This Christmas, Choose Love

Love is a choice. Never before have those words meant more to me than they do this holiday season. Christmas is a natural time of year to reflect on love, joy, peace, hope, etc., but this year – as never before – I’ve been reflecting on the truth that love is really a choice.

Over 2000 years ago a love story was born through Mary and Joseph. Aside from what the Bible says about their engagement, we know nothing about the interaction between them. Given the time period, however, it’s safe to assume that their marriage was an arranged marriage. Arranged by their families, but ultimately arranged by God. Unknown to their fathers, who likely agreed upon the union, and unknown to Mary and Joseph themselves, God had a plan bigger than anyone could have dreamed. A plan that required two very special people who made the choice to love.

The minute their plan to marry was interrupted by an unexpected pregnancy, both Mary and Joseph faced a difficult decision. The choice to love in the face of overwhelming odds, impossible conditions and unheard of circumstances, or the choice to turn their backs on their commitment to each other and to God. Fortunately for the world, they chose love. Love for God. Love for the unimaginable miracle they were being called to be a part of. Love for a marriage commitment that would face challenges no one could possibly fathom. Love for a child that would draw them together in a way they could have never planned. They chose love, despite the hardship they knew they would face. The chose love, even when love was likely the furthest thing from their minds at the time.

As I reflect on this powerful love story, my thoughts drift to my own love journey. As the year draws to a close, my husband and I celebrate a milestone anniversary --- 10 years. 10 years of learning, through tears and laughter, that love truly is a choice. A daily choice. Right from the get-go our relationship was an intentional choice. Though we didn’t go through anything like what Mary and Joseph faced, we did endure challenges the minute we agreed to marry. And for the past 10 years we have had to choose love daily, even when it would have been easier to thrown in the towel.

This Christmas, as you reflect on God’s love choice for us in sending His Son to save us, I challenge you to spend some time thinking about the love choice God is calling you to make. It may be the love choice to follow Him to places that don’t make sense. It may be the love choice to love a spouse that has grown distant, or a child that has chosen to rebell. Or it may be the love choice to care for a stranger that desperately needs to see the love of God through you. What ever the challenge before you, this Christmas choose love, and watch what love can do. Choose love, because love chose you.

Anticipation

I love Christmas. This is due in large part to a plethora of wonderful holiday memories from my childhood. But of all my Christmas memories, there is one that stands out among the rest.

When I was about 5 or 6, I believed in Santa with all my heart. My beloved grandpa loved Christmas too, and got right into my anticipation of Santa and all that the holidays mean for a child. As we drove home on a snowy Christmas eve, I remember clearly his excitement as he looked out the car window and exclaimed “Joey, I see Santa!” Determined to see Santa too I quickly turned in my seat to peer out the rear window, hoping to see him too. “Where Grandpa? Where!?!?”, I remember screaming. He assured me that he had seen him, and I spent the rest of the drive home glued to the window. I knew that if my grandpa had seen him he must be real, and I was desperate for a glimpse.

A few years later I came to the realization, as all children eventually do, that Santa wasn’t real. But that truth did nothing to spoil the memory of that special moment between my grandpa and I. My beloved gramps was merely enjoying helping his favourite granddaughter (his only granddaughter) get into the spirit of the holidays! If anything I loved him more for helping me create that special memory!

Almost 30 years later, however, I am even more grateful for a completely different kind of anticipation instilled in me by my grandpa and others who have made their mark on my life. But this time my anticipation is for someone more real, more remarkable, and more amazing than any story of Santa Claus. Thanks to the faith instilled in me by my parents and grandparents, I now sit in anticipation of Jesus return. And while I will spend time this holiday season enjoying the stories and songs of Santa, I will celebrate the birth of my Saviour and Lord, and look out my window with anticipation at the promise that He is coming someday soon!

Bubble Wrap Faith

Today we did an odd thing at work. We played with bubble wrap. We jumped on it. We rolled in it. We lined the entrance to our office doors with it. But mostly we laughed. Bubble wrap has a way of making you do that.

It made me think a little about how much fun children have with the simplest of things. A box. A spoon and a shiny pot. A light switch. And, yes, bubble wrap. But something happens to us as we grow older, and somewhere along the way we lose the ability to find joy in little things.

The same is true with our faith. Somewhere between 5 and 35 we lose our child-like, innocent, “My God can do anything” faith. We stop believing in the impossible. We lose some of the awe and wonder we once had about God. We stop praying for the bugs, our toys, and the imaginary friends we love. We stop learning and exploring. And we stop dreaming. Somewhere along the way we forget that He created fun, loves to be adored, gave us dreams, and simply wants us to believe. Not to question, analyze or compare, but simply to believe.

In my quest to celebrate life, savour the moments and enjoy the little things, today’s experience has added a new element to my quest. I am now determined to enjoy a faith that trusts more, and questions less. A faith that is wide-eyed with wonder. I long for a bubble-wrapped faith.

(Reader – take a break and enjoy some bubble-wrap at http://www.chatiran.com/postcard/bubble-wrap.php)