it's all about attitude

yesterday i had the opportunity to be an irate customer but God used it for Himself. i bought a bed & desk at ikea, choked down the price, and after i went through the checkout looked at my bill. the bed was on sale for 25% off but the clerk hadn't given me the sale price. i pointed it out to her and she gave me the credit and rang the sale up again. the sale goes through instantly but the credit doesn't so the second charge wasn't approved because i was now over limit. she apologized and called the supervisor over. he spent the next 1/2 hour calling the visa centre, the bank, the visa centre again, the bank again. at first i was getting impatient, i wanted to be on my way home before rush hour started. as i could feel the impatience hitting me a God thing happened. i started thinking about a video i'd seen the night before talking about how blessed we are. i started thinking how it really wasn't such a big deal and before i knew it i was smiling and laughing. the supervisor was apologizing profusely and after a lengthy time he called another supervisor over to see how they could resolve the problem as the bank / visa said they couldn't do anything. had i been impatient it would have made me miserable and added to the discomfort the supervisor was already feeling. then the sales clerk came over and apologized again. when i thought of all their apologies i had a thought they might give me a discount coupon or something. instead i got something better. i got that good feeling that you get when you brighten someone else's day.

that wasn't as a result of my nature. i was ready to be impatient. that was a result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He changed my attitude from going to be miserable to choosing to - here i was going to say choosing to be in a good mood. i didn't choose it - it was His work in me. thank You Lord.

God's in the small stuff too

do we only look for God in the big things. or do we find Him in the very small, everyday things. for the past 2 months i have been using the plastic knife, fork and spoon from the plane. yesterday the knife broke, this morning the spoon broke, this weekend i'm moving and will have regular utensils. God gives me what i need, for as long as i need it.

suffering produces character

If you find yourself in a time of suffering, now is the time to press into God. Let your roots grow deeper. Whenever there is a famine, tree roots are forced to drive deeper into the soil to find water. These times are designed to create such a deep-rooted faith that our natures will be changed forever.

boy do i know a lot of characters.

piano for sale

$800 and you pay to move it. otherwise it's going to toew's music store where they will charge $1100. need to move it soon - if not sold in a week it's going to toew's.

it's a yamaha, in mint condition and it's played regularly and i'm told it's smooth.

if you're interested send me your email and i'll email you a picture of it. i can't get the picture in the blog.

wow! what a revelation

sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. God puts us into "the shadow of His hand" (isaiah 49.2) until we learn to hear Him. pay attention when God puts you into darkness, and keep your mouth closed while you are there. are you in the dark right now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? if so then remain quiet. if you open your mouth in the dark, you will speak while in the wrong mood - darkness is the time to listen. don't talk to other people about it. don't read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. if you talk to other people you cannot hear what God is saying. when you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light. (from my utmost)

in the time of My favour I will say to those in darkness, 'be free' isaiah 49 (from God)

i can't count the number of time i've been in darkness. talked to a lot of people, read a lot of books.

in hindsight i know it was only in the time of the Lord's favour that i was delivered from the darkness.

Four places I have been:
1. Costa Rica
2. Nicaragua
3. Panama
4. Mexico

Four places I would like to go:
1. middle east
2. Africa
3. the Amazon
4. anywhere in central america

Four jobs I have done;
1. secreatary
2. receptionist
3. dispatcher
4. hairdressers assistant

four places i've lived:
1. costa rica
2. vancouver
3. new westminster
4. burnaby

four things i like to do:
1. worship
2. travel
3. dance
4. read

Four things I detest;
1. hedonism
2. materialism
3. lewd music videos
4. pornography

Four things I love:
1. worship
2. sunshine
3. plants
4. puppies

Four foods I love;
1. chocolate
2. coffee
3. avocados
4. black beans

Four people I would like to meet;
1. Jesus
2. my dad
3. peter
4. sponsored kids

here's the link

https://www1.worldvision.ca/CampaignsSecDM2.nsf/Niger05-En?OpenForm&id=03161734

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX

The HDI measures achievements in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and adjusted real income http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/ (united nations report sept 2005)(to me that translates as the richest and poorest nations in the world.) just think what we, as the 5th richest nation in the world, could do to help the poorest nations in the world. if you're not sure check out the link at the bottom.

HDI rank - High human development
1 Norway 2 Iceland 3 Australia 4 Luxembourg
5 *** CANADA *** (what's considered the poverty level for canada? $25,000? we live in a rich nation, free from war, with enough food and clean water, health care and education.)
6 Sweden 7 Switzerland 8 Ireland 9 Belgium
10 United States 11 Japan 12 Netherlands
13 Finland 14 Denmark 15 United Kingdom 16 France
17 Austria 18 Italy 19 New Zealand 20 Germany
21 Spain 22 HongKong,China(SAR) 23 Israel 24 Greece
25 Singapore 26 Slovenia 27 Portugal 28 Korea,Rep.of
29 Cyprus 30 Barbados 31 Czech Republic 32 Malta
33 Brunei Darussalam 34 Argentina 35 Hungary 36 Poland
37 Chile 38 Estonia 39 Lithuania 40 Qatar
41 United Arab Emirates 42 Slovakia 43 Bahrain 44 Kuwait
45 Croatia 46 Uruguay 47 Costa Rica 48 Latvia
49 Saint Kitts and Nevis 50 Bahamas 51 Seychelles 52 Cuba
53 Mexico 54 Tonga 55 Bulgaria 56 Panama
57 Trinidad and Tobago

HDI rank - Medium human development
58 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 59 Macedonia,TFYR
60 Antigua and Barbuda 61 Malaysia 62 Russian Federation
63 Brazil 64 Romania 65 Mauritius 66 Grenada 67 Belarus
68 Bosnia and Herzegovina 69 Colombia 70 Dominica 71 Oman
72 Albania 73 Thailand 74 Samoa (Western) 75 Venezuela
76 Saint Lucia 77 Saudi Arabia 78 Ukraine 79 Peru
80 Kazakhstan 81 Lebanon 82 Ecuador 83 Armenia
84 Philippines 85 China 86 Suriname
87 Saint Vincent & the Grenadines 88 Paraguay 89 Tunisia
90 Jordan 91 Belize 92 Fiji 93 Sri Lanka
94 Turkey 95 Dominican Republic 96 Maldives 97 Turkmenistan
98 Jamaica 99 Iran, IslamicRep.of 100 Georgia
101 Azerbaijan 102 Occupied Palestinian Territories
103 Algeria 104 El Salvador 105 Cape Verde
106 Syrian Arab Republic 107 Guyana 108 Viet Nam
109 Kyrgyzstan 110 Indonesia 111 Uzbekistan 112 Nicaragua
113 Bolivia 114 Mongolia 115 Moldova,Rep.of 116 Honduras
117 Guatemala 118 Vanuatu 119 Egypt 120 South Africa
121 Equatorial Guinea 122 Tajikistan 123 Gabon 124 Morocco
125 Namibia 126 São Tomé and Principe 127 India
128 Solomon Islands 129 Myanmar 130 Cambodia 131 Botswana
132 Comoros 133 LaoPeople’sDem.Rep. 134 Bhutan 135 Pakistan
136 Nepal 137 Papua New Guinea 138 Ghana 139 Bangladesh
140 Timor-Leste 141 Sudan 142 Congo 143 Togo 144 Uganda
145 Zimbabwe

HDI rank - Low human development
146 Madagascar 147 Swaziland 148 Cameroon 149 Lesotho
150 Djibouti 151 Yemen 152 Mauritania 153 Haiti 154 Kenya
155 Gambia 156 Guinea 157 Senegal 158 Nigeria 159 Rwanda
160 Angola 161 Eritrea 162 Benin 163 Côte d’Ivoire
164 Tanzania,U.Rep.of 165 Malawi 166 Zambia 167 Congo,Dem.Rep.ofthe
168 Mozambique 169 Burundi 170 Ethiopia 171 Central African Republic
172 Guinea-Bissau 173 Chad 174 Mali 175 Burkina Faso
176 Sierra Leone
177 NIGER (earnings less than $1 a day - less than $365 a year)

lottery tickets

birthday / valentine's / christmas cards... we sign them 'with love'

the next time you want to give someone a lottery ticket in their card, enclose a gift card in their name instead... feeding a child... 'with love'

valentines's - a time of love

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/default.stm
go to this site and watch the video "How the gift of a goat has helped one Rwandan community" and see how a 15 year old girl has made a difference. Ethical gifts to the developing world enjoyed bumper sales over Christmas, with Oxfam taking 5,000 orders a day. Teenager Eleanor Paish, who bought a goat, was invited to Rwanda to see how the gifts have helped communities."

christmas - a time of giving. what about the rest of the year?

how much are you spending for valentines? for one day to show someone how much you love them. what about for the same amount of money you could buy a piglet, or 2 rabbits or 2 ducks to help feed a whole family or seed packets and tools to enable them to grow their own food and/or earn income... or if you were really doing it up big with a night on the town you could buy a goat for the same amount... now that would be love.

matthew 25:35 for I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.

if a 15 year old girl, still in school, can make a difference... you can too... if you love enough.

i dare you

I heard a story about a small church that was having a reunion. A former member who attended the celebration had become a millionaire. When he testified about how God had blessed him over the years, he related an incident from his childhood. He said that when he earned his first dollar as a boy, he decided to keep it for the rest of his life. But then a guest missionary preached about the urgent need on the mission field. He struggled about giving his dollar. "The Lord won, however," the man said. Then, with a sense of pride he added, "I put my treasured dollar in the offering basket. And I am convinced that the reason God has blessed me so much is that when I was a little boy I gave Him everything I possessed." The congregation was awestruck by the testimony—until a little old lady in front piped up, "I dare you to do it again!" from our daily bread feb 3/06.

from bbc news "Before Christmas I asked Zambia's finance minister, Peter Ngandu Magande, who is to blame for the poverty of so many of his countrymen.

He wrote: "Poverty . . . Most times is the perception of other people who decide to give a tag of poverty to another person . . . Only two days ago, someone in Europe defined me as being poor because I receive a monthly salary of $1,400 against his $5,000".

$1400 a month is poor by some standards but $1.00 a day is extreme poverty by anyone's standards and yet most of the world's population live like this daily.

check out bbc news on other countries and learn about poverty. we, one of the wealthiest nations, know nothing about real poverty.

Dominic Nkhata, 29 and his wife Patricia, 27 are a young Zambian couple with a two-year-old daughter. Dominic works as a factory hand while Patricia is a housewife. The couple are also responsible for four orphans, the children of Dominic's deceased sisters. The family live in two rooms in one of Lusaka's poorer neighbourhoods, a shanty town called Garden Compound, about five kilometres outside Lusaka city, and are typical of the millions of Africans who live on less than a dollar a day.

can you imagine trying to feed 7 people on less than $1 a day? oh did i forget to mention that most of their income goes to pay rent. or that they are dying of aids so they will leave 5 young children to care for themselves.

what are you doing to end poverty? are you doing enough? are you doing anything?

or are you buying another new cd, a new set of dishes or towels or decorations to go with the new paint job?

what do you perceive as poverty? your $3,000 a month, $2,000 a month. it's true the more you have the more you will spend. have you ever thought of spending it on someone other than yourself?

do you already sponsor a child somewhere? or two? if you can do one you can do two. if you can do two you can do three.

what would you give to have clean drinking water? food to eat?

can you not find it in your heart to deny yourself one new cd a month or one timmie's or starbucks coffee a day and send it to support a family in africa or india that is literally starving to death.

i dare you.

you are so not worthy

I love you so much I gave my son's life for you.

ok so who are you going to believe. if you're a christian you have to believe the 2nd one because it's God telling you how much He loves you. right out of the bible - john 3:16.

how many of us had / have parents or other people in our lives telling us we weren't worthy.

well we're not, not in and of ourselves. it's only because God loves us so much that we become worthy. He gave us His Holy Spirit to live in us so how can we say we're not worthy. He made us co-heirs with His only Son Jesus, so how can we say we're not worthy.

so there's the truth - that's from God. and there's the lie - that we know is from satan because he is the father of lies.

who are you going to believe?

believe it - you are worthy. you are a precious, worthy, child of God.