Continued update for Claire

Well this week (Week 4), I have hit a bit of a lull.  I know it is only Tuesday – but I missed my 1 hour swim training and going to swim training always sets my week off on a good start.  I was feeling discouraged this morning.  I was going to write this blog post to remind myself why I’m doing this and that I want to do this!  I opened up my blog and didn’t feel like writing. 

Then I saw my shirt.  My Tread on Trafficking shirt I ordered when I started this.  It came in the mail on Friday.  I was excited to see it this morning and even though it is a bit snug (hopefully the exercise should help with that!) I put it on right away.  And I remembered that my freedom to be able to exercise or not exercise is a real gift.  It is a freedom that the kids caught in slavery do not have.  And I want to keep using my freedom to make a difference in their lives.  Please join me in that, if you haven’t already.  You can make a donation to Love146 here:

Donate Here

WEEK TWO

Monday May 9 – 1 hour swim training

Thursday May 12 – 30 min Ashtanga yoga

Friday May 13 – 30 min bike

Saturday May 14 – 1 hour walk

TOTAL WEEK TWO – 3 hours

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WEEK THREE

Monday May 16 – 45 min yoga; 1 hour swim training

Wednesday May 18 – 30 min yoga

Friday May 20 – 30 min bike

TOTAL WEEK THREE:  2 hrs 45min

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TOTAL SO FAR – 8 hours 25 minutes

 

Claire’s work for Love

Thanks for checking in on the Love146 tread on trafficking project!

A couple of people have asked what exactly Love146 directs their resources toward.  Great question!  Here are two links that explain their two main focuses: prevention and aftercare

prevention

aftercare

I kicked off my exercise hours to raise money for Love146 with a lovely walk followed by freeze tag with my family.  I told Josiah that by going on this walk, we were bringing attention to our family and friends about kids who are stuck in bad situations that need a lot of help.  I told him that every time we go for a walk we’ll write it down on the computer and help raise money for those kids.  As soon as we got home he said, ‘don’t forget to put this walk on the computer so our friends and family will know to give more money to help those kids.’ 

3 hours was quite an increase to me in the area of exercise because I had been doing a whopping 0 hours/ week before this.  Sore arms, sore legs, happy heart!

Remember if you want to donate along the way you can visit our team page here

Or you can give at the end of June by donating a certain amount/hours we put into it.

My pledge hours for the 1st week of May:
Monday May 2 ; 30 min walk with family; 1 hour swim training

Tuesday May 3; 20 min yoga; 20 min bike

Friday May 6; 30 min bike

a grand total of 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Thank you for helping make a difference in the lives of young children around the world!

 

LOVE 146 TREAD ON TRAFFICKING

HI!

I assume you stopped by because you want to know how our campaign to raise money and awareness for LOVE 146 is going.  This site will be where we keep you posted on how many hours we are logging each week in exercise so that you can keep track of how much you will be donating to LOVE 146.

For me, this is an area of need I have ignored for a long time because I’ve been too afraid to look into how to help.  I feel sick thinking of all the kids trapped in sex slavery and so I avoid the topic.  In the past year I’ve realized that ignoring it is not the response I want to have.  I want to get behind great organizations that are fighting it and giving kids their lives back.  www.love146.org is one of those great organizations.

I am pledging 3 hours of exercise/week for the next two months to raise money for love 146 to go along with their “Tread on Trafficking” campaign.  For me some of that time will be on my own (swimming, running, yoga) and some of the time is going to be walking with my kids.  While I won’t go into detail with my kids, they will know that they are raising money for kids who need a lot of extra help by walking with me.

I hope that this will inspire you to contribute to the cause in some way or another.

If you want to donate on behalf of our team, you can go here.

Peace & love,

Claire

 

Love

I know it’s a little quick for a new verse to ponder, but I saw this one and couldn’t resist.  I’ve been reading through Luke as I desire to learn what it means to follow Jesus.  I will share two verses, but the second verse is what I will meditate on for the week.  Please, if you have any thoughts as you look at this verse, won’t you share them here?

“35 Love your enemies!  Do good to them.  Lend to them without expecting to be repaid.  Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.    36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” Luke 6:35,36

Some of the things Jesus says are wild.  Really wild.  I mean can you imagine lending to friends without expecting to be repaid?  He says, lend to your enemies without expecting to be repaid. What the??

If  I want to be like Jesus, who shows us what God – our heavenly Father is like, this tells me that I must be kind and compassionate to the unthankful and the wicked.  Wow.  wow. wow.  I am not always very good at being kind to the non-wicked.  What a wild kind of kingdom Jesus is proclaiming.

Anyone want to join this wild love revolution with me?

 

1 Corinthians 13

I know we’ve spent time on these verses before, well maybe before the start of this blog, I’m not sure.  But meditating on the wisdom I desire from the last section, as well as some really convicting reading has made me think about saturating myself in these words on love once again.  If you feel so inclined, please join me.

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude .  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.” 1 Cor 13:4-8

 

A Prayer.

Tonight I started to read the verses Tammy had highlighted.  Some days are days that really drum up the yearning and desire for wisdom.  Today was that kind of day.  I found myself asking Jesus for help, direction, wisdom.  And then I remember these verses.  So after children were in bed (for the second time…Eden!) I sat down with a hot drink and the Word.  I read these verses and found no answers.  Well, not the “hand it to you on a silver platter” kind of answers anyway.  Not the “quick fix” answers we so often demand.  Instead I found a call to get to know wisdom.  Nothing I desire can compare with her.  She will guide me down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying.  Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.

I realized, impatiently, that I wasn’t just going to sit down, read these verses,  and “get” wisdom.  A little disappointed, I went back to see what Tammy had written about the verses – hoping for some insight.  That’s when I noticed the two words Tammy put before she wrote out the Scripture:  A Prayer.

yes.

A prayer.

So this is my prayer, that I would find Wisdom and become acquainted with her.

No, no, no…better yet, that I become a lover in wild pursuit of her,  satisfied and full of joy.

 

Grace

“Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” Eph 4:26,27

Strong, but true words.

Josiah and I had a bit of a heated run in before bed time tonight.  We also had a beautiful time of reconciliation and these verses were flooding my mind.  I’m always amazed how the words of Scripture I am marinating on find ways of coming to life and incarnating themselves in my story.

Anger gives a foothold to the devil.  Wow, I’m sure tons has been written somewhere on this topic.  Think of what happens when you are angry.  For me, I start to create all sorts of false, over-exaggerated conclusions and judgments.  “He NEVER listens, We suck as parents, she is such a ****, I can’t stand him…” and so on and so on.  These thoughts may not last long, but they come and they whisper into our hearts and our minds.  Tell me those judgements and thoughts don’t give the devil a foothold to rob and divide.

Or what about our action in our anger.  “In your anger, do not sin”. What about the methods of control I try to use when I am angry, the manipulation or the unkind words.  Not only does that injure someone, giving the devil a foothold in their life for him to fester lies from the pain in their hearts,  but it also gives him a foothold in my life as I experience guilt and tell myself lies about my own personhood.

As Josiah and I sinned in our anger tonight we gave the devil an oppotunity to bring damage to our relationship and our souls.  I am thankful however, for the opportunity we had to reconcile, to forgive and to give our anger away before we shut our eyes on the day.  As we lay snuggling we each confessed our angry sins to one another and forgave each other.  I loved praying with my little boy for forgiveness and freedom from our sins.  I loved how sincere he was and how quickly and easily he wanted to re-connect with me.  What a picture of how quickly I should turn to God – desiring our connection to not be lost, and trusting his certain love for me.

I also love in these verses how it gives us something else to do with our mouths instead of sin in our anger.  Just as Tammy mentioned that these verses tell us instead of stealing, we should use our hands to make and give – they give an alternative to angry mouth sin as well.  “Don’t use foul or abusive language.  Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them…Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour.  Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

I just love how God doesn’t just say “Don’t” but how he also gives a replacement “Do“.

good. helpful. encouragment. kind. tenderhearted. forgiving.

It sucks to have heated moments with the loved ones in our lives, but it feels so good to love and be loved deeply enough to forgive one another, just as in fact we have been forgiven by God.

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Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don’t make a fist
Take this mouth
So quick to criticize
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss

 

Carrying On…

So I was thinking we should carry on with the following verses, which like the former are not totally filled with “fridge magnet” quotes.  But, I got so much out of simmering on the last few verses, even though there were some tougher words in it, that I thought we could probably benefit from marinating on these words too.  Well, that’s silly, of course we can!

From Ephesians 4

²⁵Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

²⁹Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

 

Nights Like This.

It’s nights like this, when I screw up, when I really ‘eff’ up, as a person but particularly as a wife and mother that I cringe.  Dragging my kids through my own junk, displaying some of my worst ever behaviour in front of them, I feel ashamed.  The disgust I hold towards myself tonight is so intense that I feel writing about it publicly is so personal, too personal, embarrassing.  And yet, I have to wonder if I’m not alone.  Maybe there are one or two others out there who can relate to feeling the dirt of their sin sticking so grossly to their skin.

I heard the Spirit tonight in the midst of all this.  I heard Him whisper, “leave the old ways, let the spirit change you.”  Do you know what I said?  I said, “no!”  I held onto my pride and my anger and I dug in.  I said, “I don’t want to! Why should I?”  I can tell you now, and I probably should have been able to tell you then, that the wreckage left in the wake of that choice would be unbearable.

How gentle his invitation was, how urgent, how loving.  Heart retching, I wish I could rewind and yield.

Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

²⁵What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ’s body we’re all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.   Ephesians 4 (The Message)

Thank God for his grace, which I am so utterly unworthy of, and without which I would be ruined.

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on a side note this is not the third post I mentioned on my personal blog.

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Life

Spring Tree – by Josiah

“…you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. ²³Let the Spirit change your way of thinking ²⁴and make you into a new person…” Eph 4