Live Out Loud - Adventures of a mom

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run  in such a way as to get the prize.   25  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown  that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  26  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly;  I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  27  No, I strike a blow to my body  and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 I am an Olympics fanatic.  I am definitely not the 'sporty' type, but I love to watch sports.  So, as you may have guessed, every second I find I turn on the TV or my computer to find out what is happening at the London 2012 Olympics. Funny enough, several thoughts come to mind this time as I watch.  I am reminded and challenged to ponder about the simil...

When you think of people who made an impression in your life, do you recall anything from your childhood?  Whether it is some positive or negative experience, I think most if not all of us have memories of moments people made an impact on us as a child. I still remember the day my Sunday School teacher showed up on our apartment door in Peru and asked my mom if she would allow me to go to the next door Christian bookstore with her. I still remember the day my Youth Counsellor in Peru took me to a completely foreign neighbourhood with me as she helped share the Jesus Film to a group of people from that neighbourhood.  I still remember mom and dad freaking out afterwards because we were late coming back (and this is pre-cell phone era) and had to call our pastor to go 'look' for us. I still remember the couple of nights other Sunday School teachers, with my parents' approval, took me to their homes to spend the night with them. These are the things I remember -- they ...

I am Canadian. It feels really good to be able to say that. I have not always been able to say "I am ......" (fill in any country).  I had spent part of my childhood in Hong Kong and part of it in Peru.  But I was neither Chinese nor Peruvian.  For the first few years of my life I held a British National Overseas Passport yet I had no free passage to the UK.  I had a permanent resident card from Hong Kong yet the place was as foreign to me as Africa.  I had a resident card from Peru but that was not enough to qualify me as Peruvian. Why should you care?  - You may ask. I bet most of you asking that question have never felt displaced.  You were born into a country that gave you rights and freedoms and for better or for worse your identity was/is tied to that country. It's only when you don't have it that you learn to cherish what you do not have. I became Canadian November 17, 2004.  I still remember the day.  I still remember th...

Today I attended a mom's conference.  The speaker was Helen Lee, from the book " the Missional mom ".  I think the book 'found' me while I was looking for books about missional life, to add to our missions ministry in our church.  When I first found the book online and read the first chapter (free), I could not put it down.  God used the book to redefine what motherhood ought to be for me, and perhaps to many like me.  So when my girlfriend told me we had confirmed Helen to be our conference speaker, I was elated. I knew God was going to do something amazing today - I just didn't know what.  But for the last couple of weeks I've been struggling.  I've been struggling with focus and purpose ... again.  I felt a little lost and was feeling sorry for myself.  I felt like a failure in many ways.  I was feeling constantly like there was a cloud of sadness covering me. So my prayer to God in the days approaching the conference was simp...