Memorable Christmas

This past Christmas's was one of the best ones I think. We had such a wonderful time with family and friends at the lake - we were totally blessed. The weather was good, the company was good, the quiet times were good, the food was good too. God is so good!!



It was the first Christmas that we spent all of Christmas there - it was such a blessing. We had our individual family gatherings before and after. My family has grown so much - we were able to get almost all of us in a photo together - except me cause I was takin the photo. :-) The kids just keep on growing and maturing each year. Roger's family is much smaller than mine but the kids are growing all the same - they're pretty precious when they're young like this - even if there hair is super long and hanging in their eyes, hey Brandon?? :-) They'll be all grown up and left home before we know it.


Christmas Eve was Brandon's birthday so we had friends over for cake. We played games and the kids went snowmobiling for a bit. That evening we walked to the church in town for the Christmas Eve service and then there were fireworks afterwards. I've never had fireworks on Christmas Eve before - that was neat. It was such a beautiful, mild evening, a great evening for a walk contemplating on the true meaning of Christmas - God sending His Son Jesus to earth as a baby, born in a stable and using angels proclaiming the Good News to lowly shephards, outcasts of that day, to take this New to all the world. WOW! What a God we serve. The kids camped out in the living room for the night, by the tree - something they'd never done before either. It was so great to be spending this Christmas at the lake. Another first for memories and family traditions in our own family. :-)

At another time, we had spend a night with the church family from Mont Nebo, we crashed their Christmas party. :-) But they forgave us. One Sunday, Pastor Bill welcomed all the new people but he looked at us and said, "You're not new anymore - now you're one of us." :-) That felt kinda nice. What was really great about this Christmas party was that the woman's home we were at, she knew Roger's family - Roger and his dad often farmed part of their land near Hepburn - her husband had passed away not too long ago and then her and her son finished this cabin at Big Shell. It was such a blessing talking to her, getting to know her family more and being with these good folks from Mont Nebo church. We just love church families, we can't get enough of them. :-)





On Christmas Day we had our own family Christmas and then our dear friends Peter & Helen came up with their kids for the day of sledding, snowmobiling and a wiener roast for lunch. I've never had an outdoor wiener roast on Christmas Day before - that was so cool! The guys got stuck really really bad out at the buffalo jump bowl close to Morin Lake and they really thought they'd have to leave the sled there until Spring - it took them nearly an hour to get out and it was getting dark. :-) But God was good and gave them the strength and power to get unstuck and brought them home for a Christmas chicken dinner. hmmmmmm. Copper was so funny - he couldn't get enough of running up and down the sledding hill with the kids when we were out by the lake. He'd just run and run....and chase that snowmobile, oh he would howl and chase that snowmobile. If we didn't let him outside, he's whine and whine to go out after that thing. :-)


Later in the week some of Roger's family came up for a few days and it was so good. We took them on a horse and sleigh ride through the frost covered land up there - that was just way cool!! Some of them had never had a sleigh ride before so that was great to be able to bless them in that way. We also went to see a super lights display at a home up the hill - that lady goes to a lot of work to bless others with a fantastic light display. It was a really good couple of days of laughter, movies, games, sledding, snowmobiling/giving rides to each other and talking. :-) Thank you God for special times with family.

















After the New Year, I brought up 7 kids - yah, I know I'm crazy at times :-) but it was really good. Roger came up later with some friends and we stayed the weekend yet. It's just so wonderful to be building great memories with our kids and our friends and family. In years to come, we'll look back with joy at the growing up years that our kids had - and we'll have oodles of photographs to go through to remember those by.





Here Copper is getting into trouble....again. He always got into my socks if they were laying around on the floor. If it wasn't the socks, then it was the mitts that were drying on the register, or the milk jugs - which were empty of course, but they are one of his most favorite toys. :-) He likes making Coke angry too - which doesn't take much - Coke growls everytime he sees him or walks by him - he's gettin to be an old grouch. :-)

Thank you God for this place, this lake home to build memories and to enjoy with family and friends. You have brought many people through our lives in this place and we are ever so grateful for every one of those precious precious people and these very precious memories.

Israel - November 08 ??

Have I ever wanted to tour the Holy Land?? Have I ever wanted to walk where Jesus walked?? Have I ever wondered what the sounds and smells would greet me in the Promised Land?? Would I like to stand on the shores of Galilee?? Have I ever wanted to see the Judean Hills or take a walk through the village of Cana?? Would I like to experience the historic city of Jerusalem?? Do I want my Bible reading to come alive as I visualize the areas that I am reading about?? Would I like to experience the lands of Israel, Jordan and Egypt??

OH YES YES YES!!!! That has been a desire of my heart since I was just a young girl. I can just picture all the pictures that I could take and have on my computer and in my photo albums and to show my children and grandchildren in years to come - if we are on this earth for that long. :-)

You know, God loves to grant us the desires of our heart when they align with His Will. First Bolivia in March 2006, it was such a desire of mine to go to Bolivia to see my friends who are missionaries, and also to find my dad's brother and sister on the Mennonite colonies there - he hadn't seen them in nearly 50 years. God is so good and He allowed that to happen for me. Now, it looks like He may grant another desire of my heart to go to the land of Israel. How my, how wonderful that would be.

We have a new pastor at our church and he leads tour groups to Israel once every couple of years. The questions that are above, are the questions he had put on a brochure he had created. So this November, he will be leading a group there. He's led 3 groups there so far and has been in Israel 4 times. So, the Good Lord willing, we will be going along with his group in November. I'm so excited!! I can't wait! I've been leading Bible studies for about 15 years now and have learned so much and have grown so much. Going to Israel would enhance those studies that I've done and the studies that I will continue doing so much. God has such wonderful plans in store for me yet - I can't wait to see what they all are. I keep telling my kids what great things God has planned for them in their future - plans to prosper and bless them, not to harm them - extraordinary plans for each of their lives. I feel deep in my heart that going to Israel is part of His plan for me in my life - if not now then sometime in the future. He loves to bless us with the desires of our heart - if they align with His Will. Amen???

Courage

I've known a woman for over 10 years and have always admired her and treasured her friendship. When we first met, she was not sure of the Christian faith and had not been taught to read her Bible. We have developed such an incredible friendship and have had such wonderful discussions about God/the Bible/angels/the virgin Mary/Jesus/the New Testament.....you name it, we talked about it. Sometimes we'd go for walks together and just talk and talk. Wow, did we ever grow and learn together. I've seen her children grow up into beautiful ones who love the Lord. She's raised her children in the way that "they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it" and has stood by her faith in very challenging times. She's rocked the boat when it comes to school politics and church traditions. I have learned so much from this woman. Her kids, like any other kids who love the Lord, have been challenged, tested, ridiculed or made fun of for their faith and have stood strong for God. Her family has challenged her for her faith as well and so have others in her life who are close to her. We all have at times. She has courage, this special friend of mine, much courage and she has taught it to her children. Recently, her daughter, who is in Grade 12, wrote a paper for a class assignment. This young girl is stunningly beautiful inside and out, a Grade A student and God has blessed her with many gifts and talents. My friend read this paper to me and it pulled at my heart so much, what a prayer, what a stand, to take for Christ. It completely speaks for the special youth of our day, the challenges that our youth, our teenagers who love the Lord and who yearn to stand for Him, what they go through each day - the struggles and challenges. She's given me permission to share this with you. Let it be a prayer for your children and for their children. This prayer is for all the youth in Canada, in our churches, in our schools. May it bless your heart but I pray that it will also spur you on to pray diligently for our youth, for our young women, to stand strong for Jesus and to remain pure during their young lives as women. God bless you!


"With the current spiritual state the world is in today, I believe that the gift I need most is courage. I need courage to combat the daily pressures placed upon me by an immoral society, pressures that I may not have been faced with had I been born in a simpler time. It is extremely difficult to maintain good moral values in a society tainted by drugs, alcohol, promiscuity and premarital sex. Not only am I pressured to exhibit these well-known traits of society, but I am also faced with pressures to hide or abandon my value system. I am constantly faced with rejection in various forms for standing up for what is right and true in the eyes of God. Values such as abstinence, modesty, truthfulness, patience and diligence are seen as "abnormal" or "uncool" in society and individuals who do not sport these values are faced with ridicule and rejection. Everyday I am faced with pressure from my peers as well as the media to be that "ideal" person. This "ideal" person is "cool" by society's standards, but does not exhibit good values in God's eyes. I need courage to stand up for what is right and refrain from becoming this "idealistic" person.

I am already having a difficult time standing up for what is right because I have been faced with rejection on many occasions. I am not faced with physical harm or death, but rejection even in its mildest forms is painful and can cut a person deeply. I know that I must remain close to God and to the values that are right in his eyes even when it is hard. As I graduate and begin university, I know that standing up for the truth will only get harder. Thus, I need courage now so that I can stand up for what is right no matter what pressures I am faced with in the future. Courage will significantly impact my life by enabling me to stand by my values right now, in university, in my career and in all my future endeavors. I truly desire to be blessed by God with a courage that allows me to stand up for what is right without succumbing to the immoral behavior that is horrifically prevalent in the world today. I want the courage to stand up proudly as a follower of Jesus without faltering, even though it might result in rejection, abuse or even death."

Written Feb. 26/08 in Saskatchewan.



Oh God, may this young woman be blessed for having such a heart and a prayer for You. May this be the prayers of us as well Lord, that we would stand strong for You no matter what. No matter what the ridicule is from family and friends, from spouses, teachers or parents. May we stand strong for TRUTH and Your Word - because we know that those things endure forever. Thank you God for the heart of this young woman - bless her Father, bless her for voicing her heart in such a way that it stands as an example for all the young women in her generation. May this prayer continue on in the next generation and may it also touch the hearts of women in the generation of her mother's. Lord that this would be the prayer of all women in Canada, in the world. Don't stop this here - take it to the ends of the earth. As you tell us in Your Word, the Bible, "so be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord Your God is with you wherever you go." Oh that we would hang onto that Father, that we would pass that on to our children and to their children. That we would never tire of teaching those around us of You and that we would have the courage to stand strong in our faith, in You Jesus, no matter what comes before us. Thank You God for hearing our prayers - we know You will answer. In the precious, everlasting name of Jesus, Your Son who died for our sins and who rose again and is now living in heaven preparing a place for us, Amen.

Brandon's Memorial Weekend

We had been at the lake this past weekend when the kids had their week off school. It was great to be out there and to spend time with each other and with friends. Brandon now has his Learner's license and so he's been driving a bit. When we got there, I had him make tracks in the driveway cause there was quite a bit of snow and we wanted to walk where the snow wasn't so deep. So, he was driving up and down the driveway, and oops, went over too far and got stuck. At least it happened in the driveway and not on the road in the ditch. :-) The deer traffic in our back yard was just incredible - they were beautiful to watch.

Kyrstin and her friend Amy had great imaginations and were pretending to be scientists. It was fun to watch them make their experiments. It's neat when they have such creative ideas to pass their time rather than sitting in front of a tube.

Copper, a beagle, the new addition to our family since November, was so funny, he just loved running beside the snowmobile while we gave rides to the kids and drove around the lake. Sometimes, one of the kids would sit in the saucer and hold onto him while he ran down the street - he just pulled them along like a sled dog. :-) It was hilarious!! He loves running up and down the hill chasing the kids while their sledding. He just can't get enough - and he hardly gets tired. I wonder what would happen if we let him into the bush chasing a deer or a rabbit - we'd probably not see him again for a long time. :-) Oh did he love watching the deer out the window with Roger and wanting to go after them too - he was so funny. Other times he would just be bored and lay upside down in his kennel.

The kids were just begging to go sledding down this huge hill which was down the road from town. We did! They had fun although Kyrstin got plowed pretty good so we had to take her into the clinic at Shellbrook and get her checked out to make sure she hadn't broken anything. Fortunately she just got a huge bruise on her butt!

After a great week, I decide to let him drive partway home and he was taking the curve a little too fast and ooooops, slid into the snowbank on our street at the corner. :-) Our neighbor drove by on his snowmobile and saw so he got his truck to pull us out. Then another friend walked by with her kid and saw too - Oh how humb

ling it is learning how to drive. He was very quick to remind me that he hadn't hit a deer yet, which his mom has done and his dad; he hasn't driven into a huge hitch on a guy's truck and had to sit in the backseat of a police car - which his mom has done; - we'll just wait to see what his driving experiences will lead to yet. :-) He's very lucky we didn't get far enough into the ditch to hit that huge rock!!!

L.I.F.E. (Living in Faithful Evangelism) Groups - Bible Study Groups

This is part of my dear family - my brothers and sisters in Christ - God has brought us together to walk through difficult and joyful times of life with. I treasure these people with all my heart. Yes, I treasure Roger too - he's missing from the photo cause he had to go pick up the girls from gymnastics. Brandon took this photograph for us. Ever since Roger and I started going to Cornerstone, we've always been part of an evening Bible study group and have just loved it. So many wonderful people have come through our lives as we've lived and grown together in the Lord.


We come together and we talk, pray, laugh, and cry too, and study God's Word with. In these photos we're having a dessert and finger food potluck just before Christmas. It's so good just to get together and fellowship. We've gotten to know so many people through church and our community through groups like this - so many wonderful people have walked through our lives in these groups. What an important and exciting part of church life. If I didn't have groups like this, or Ladies Bible study groups, I'd find it very difficult - they've both always been such a huge part of my life/of our lives - it'd be super tough to live without them. :-)


The following is a report that I wrote up for an annual church book that gets printed each year with reports from all the different committees in it - it gives everyone a heads up as to what has been happening in our church all year and what each individual committee looks after.


Since L.I.F.E. groups/Bible study groups began so many years ago in our church, Roger and I have always been a part of one, it has always been a huge part of our lives. We've always enjoyed the fellowship, laughter and the learning of God's Word together with other believers. We've always believed strongly in the gathering together as believers to share our lives together - whether in joy, laughter, sorrow or hardship. Fellowship has always been an important aspect of our walk with God and in our marriage. It has strengthened us and it has taught us so many things of being part of the family of God. We learn and glean so much from each other and we share a bond with the people of God that can not possibly happen just on a Sunday morning each week. When there's laughter, we laugh together; when there's sorrow, we cry together; when there's pain, we carry each other's burdens together in prayer; when there's joy, oh how blessed it is to share that joy together. God never meant for any of us to travel this life alone, He's blessed us with people, with fellow believers to share the journey together with us all, to uplift and encourage each other.

Hebrews 10:25 says " Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

I'd say that this is the theme verse for Cornerstone L.I.F.E. Groups. We are not to give up meeting together. God wants for us to have the fulfilling fellowship with other believers. It has been such an incredible blessing in our lives. We have walked with others through the joys of baptism, graduation, reunions, weddings, birth of children or grandchildren, job promotions, and many other celebrations of life. We have gathered strength from each other as we've walked through and prayed through the sorrows and hardships of this life; death of a child, sicknesses and diseases, death of a spouse or loved one, children moving away or not following the Lord, chronic pain/illness, financial difficulties, the challenges of dealing with aging parents...and many others. Other times we've shared such laughter together that our guts hurt, especially when Pastor Russ Reid had to eat baby food blindfolded at a baby shower. :-) What a blessing it is to be part of the body of Christ.

In Fall 2007, Roger & I accepted the invitation from Cornerstone Church to become L.I.F.E. Group Co-ordinators. After being a part of Bible study groups for so many years, it felt very natural for us to become leaders at church in this area. We have been and we know we will be so blessed by accepting this call from God. We have learned so much already and we've only just begun this role. We were only in this role for a month when The Truth Project vision stirred in our hearts, in my husband's heart. I knew that was what God was calling us to bring to our church and to our communities. After attending the conference in November, we knew even more, that this was where God was leading us. Confirmation after confirmation has now gotten us to leading 85 believers in 5 different groups through this series, both in our church and in our community; leading them so that in turn, they can then lead others through the Truths of God's Word. When we receive teaching and truths from God, we are not to keep it to ourselves but to tell others about it and to share the Good News. "Go ye therefore into all the world" and to me that means into all our communities and homes too. In the homes is where transparency and lasting relationships often take place - a great place for Bible study groups and sharing a bond with each other through Christ. In John 8 verse 31b & 32, Jesus is speaking to the Jews who believed Him, and "Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." This is what the Truth Project is all about - setting the captives free - we are being held captive by many lies that our culture is feeding us and Jesus wants us to be set free. God wants us to live in freedom, not capitivity. When we are in God's Word, praying and acting on what we believe through Christ, we will be set free. When we learn and grow together through Bible study and prayer, we will be blessed.

We are excited with what God is doing in our church, in His church. We wait in expectation as we witness Him transforming hearts and renewing minds to become more like Christ's.
Serving Him,
Lisa & Roger Braun

Breakforth 2008

At the end of January, Roger & I had attended Breakforth 2008 in Edmonton with a bunch of other great people from our church. It was absolutely fantastic!! I don't know of any other place that you can worship God together with over 10,000 believers and choose from over 150 speakers to hear or workshops to go to. It was an incredible blessed time! I had been once about 5 years ago but this was the first time Roger and attended. He was very impressed! It was really a total God-thing that we went. Usually I'm saying that we need to go to stuff like this but this time it was Roger's idea to go - in spite of the costs involved and even though we also went to the Truth Project seminar back in November as well. I know God is working and moving in my hubby's life, my life and in our lives together as a couple, and in our kids lives. God wanted us there for a very specific purpose. And we were blessed!!







Roger & I went to a couple of the same workshops but we also attended different ones as well. Roger loved Lee Strobel - who was an atheist for many many years and has now come to believe in Jesus Christ, the resurrection, Creation and our God of the Universe - who made everything in it. Lee had amazing testimonies, photos, videos and presentation. What a journey he's been on. So many of his teachings went along with what we've been going through in the Truth Project. We took those as confirmations from God that we were supposed to be there and He had us there for a purpose. Josh McDowell (www.josh.org ) also had a great talk. All the speakers did - Erwin McManus, Lee Strobel (www.leestrobel.com ), Josh McDowell, and David Nasser. I had gone to two of Donna Carter's workshops but I would've also loved to have caught one of Kay Arthur's workshops - she was really good too.



The music was outa this world - really - it was, it was, it was, sooooooo good. Friday night we were led into worship with Mercy Me and then later that night they gave us a concert. WOW! We love their songs - each song is so deep and so meaningful and so about God. Mercy Me has this one song on their new CD and I just cried the first time I heard it. They sang it at their concert and of course it really affected Roger & I. The lead singer's dad had passed away when the singer was 19 years old - hadn't started this band yet. So in the song he talks about wrapping his arms around his daddy's neck when he sees him and telling him all the things that he's wanted him to know - telling him of how far he'd come and what God had done in his life - hoping that his dad would be proud of him - he wanted to tell his dad how much he's missed him and tell him how much he loved him. Then at the end of the song he sings about when he sees Jesus how all the questions that he thought he would ask him would all leave him and how he might just be speechless and then he sings the line "But the sweetest thing my ears have yet to hear, are the voices of the angels - aaaahhhhh!" Oh it's such a beautiful song and spoke to closely to Roger's heart and to mine. The kids love it too - especially Alysha, she wants to play it over and over again. There's just certain songs like that that just go so deep into a person's heart and every song that Mercy Me sings seems to speak to a person to deeply like that - each song has so much soul in it. What an incredible gift the Lord has given to this band. They will surely be blessed for singing these songs that God has written on their hearts to bless others with. WOW!




I'm not sure what happened with this one photo but I love it. I had been taking a picture of the stage with all the lights and pulled my camera down too soon. Instead the camera caught the reflection on the floor of the lights along with a shadow of a person. To me it looks like a young person standing with their face raised up to the light that God is shedding on their face. I love the thought of that - standing in God's spotllight. :-) In a sense, are we not doing that everyday??



There were 4 separate worship sessions where we sang for about 1/2 hour and then we listened to a speaker after that. On Friday, Mercy Me led worship - that one was my favorite. Then on Saturday morning during worship, a fellow was painting this picture - it took him about 45 minutes while we were singing songs along with the band. It was incredible!! There was a silent auction on the painting for the rest of the weekend and it went for $4,500 - and that money went to World Vision or Compassion, I can't remember, one of those two. It was a gorgeous painting. Two of my other favorite worship leaders are Robin Mark from Ireland and Paul Baloche from Alberta (I think) - they both led worship - Paul on Saturday night and Robin on Sunday afternoon for the final worship time together. Both of these men have written so many worship songs that we sing in our churches today. It was great to sing their songs that they've written together with them too.

Saturday night Lincoln Brewster gave a concert as well but we hadn't stayed for that one - but we heard it was fantastic. Sunday night Third Day gave a concert and we stayed for that - was that ever worth it, even arriving home at 3:30 am and driving all the way home through a blizzard - it was sooo good. I loved seeing older people raising their hands and dancing to the music. I loved seeing so many people moved by God as we all worshiped Him in unity. Something that really struck me during these concerts was the fact that we were all there worshiping God together, people's hands were raised and the band wasn't there to put on a show, but to praise God in the songs God had given them the words to sing for us. These singers weren't there to get the glory from us or for us to 'worship' and idolize them but to give glory and praise to God. To me that's such a difference at a Christian concert - the band always talks about God and brings the praise to Him rather than to themselves. Incredible.

Both Friday night and Saturday night were a ton of different events you could take in from movies, to live comedy acts, to blues cafes, to concerts.... It's a very full and uplifting weekend and you don't want to miss a thing. If you ever get a chance to go, it is so worth it. It happens every year at the end of January. Be sure to check out their website www.breakforthcanada.ca

When Life Ain't Easy

It was 5 am on Friday morning when I got the phone call from a friend - he was calling from the hospital. Their son had just been in a truck fire and was hanging onto life from his hospital bed. I got up and was at the hospital as quick as I could. As I drove I prayed. What do you say at times like these?? Often you don't say a thing, you just be there and give hugs when needed. I had never been in this type of situation before. Just before Christmas I had witnessed a mother holding her son in the ditch right after an accident - he had already passed away - her son was the same age as mine. I had thought then, "God, why her and not me? Why her son and not mine?" Well this morning at the hospital, little did I know that I would be meeting a teacher who taught with this mom and God would give me an opportunity to share my heart of my experience through that difficult day. A bittersweet blessing.

We don't always make sense of God's timing in our lives or in our kids lives. What can we do at those moments when things just don't seem to make sense? Hold on to God for dear life and personally, as hard as it is, what other option is there but to trust God to take us through those dark valleys.

You know I had only met my friend's child once a couple of years ago. When your kids are older and don't always attend the same church or are not in the same circles of life, you don't always know that much about the family of your friends. In our Bible study groups we often pray for each other's kids and talk about them, but that's about it. So that's how it was with this friend. What a blessing it is though when you have a group of friends or a Bible study group that you can pray for each other. God had brought us together for such a time as this.

So, I had stopped at the hospital a few times that day, to stand by my friend's side and to support and pray as much as I knew how. I didn't always know how, it was something that I hadn't done before in this type of situation. But it's amazing how God gives you strength and the ability to do the things which He calls you to do. It was such a privilege to walk through this dark valley with this friend, as difficult as it was and as sad that it was. At one point, when Roger and I were there together, they asked us to come in with and pray over their son. I had never done that before either. God is amazing at how He prepares us for these moments where it would just not be humanly possible to do something like that on your own strength. Even though it's so difficult, it's amazing to see how God is at work through these times. Tyler had been on life support since he was brought into the hospital. His one brother was down in Texas and would not get in until late that night. But it was like he waited. In the evening, his vitals kept going down and down, but when his brother got there and started talking to him, they just jumped. It was like he knew. But then they plummetted again and mom said, "It's okay Tyler, you can go now." And you know what? He did. It was like he knew his brother needed to say good-bye and he needed his mom's blessing to leave and be with Jesus. God is so amazing!!

The funeral was on Wednesday. God had it all worked out that my girls would be asked to sing a song at the funeral. Alysha had been working on this piano song for a good month now -- she was playing it completely on her own. She had just gotten a new book and had seen this song and just started playing away. She knew it quite well. Kyrstin also knew how to sing it because we had sung it in church many a time. So, when the question came up if they would sing and play at the funeral, we knew just the song that God had in mind. The girls had never done anything like this either. The only other funeral they had been at was their grandfather's 5 years ago. They were quite nervous and it was quite difficult for them to practice together without fighting. The day of the memorial, they were practicing at church and just fighting and crying. I held up my hands and said, "God, there is no human possible way that this is going to work unless you intervene. Please be the song that comes out of Alysha's hands and please be the voice that comes from Kyrstin's lips because they cannot do this on their own. You gotta work through them and help them. Please Lord." I was frustrated and thinking that this had been a big mistake. God had other plans in mind.

The Memorial service was beautiful. A teacher shared, a mentor shared, an aunt and uncle shared on behalf of the grandparents, and then the brothers shared. After the sharing, Pastor Russ gave an incredible message of how God loves all people and how He loved each one of those people at that Memorial - even the rough tough dudes that don't like to step inside a church. There were not many dry eyes after the sharing and the message of love. Everyone there needed to hear that message. Then came these two girls, these two angels, to sing to the hearts of all these souls that had just heard the message. And you know, God was in Alysha's fingers playing the piano and God was in the voice that came from Kyrstin's mouth. It was beautiful! He did it just perfectly. The mike wasn't working but Kyrstin didn't flinch and she sang her heart away for God. I had told the girls during the sharing that God was at work in all these hearts through all these messages and that they were going to finish this message for Him through the song. They were missionaries that moment, sharing the love of Jesus through song. This was the song they played and sang:

Above All

Above all powers, above all kings,
above all nature and all created things;
above all wisdom and all the ways of man,
You were here before the world began.
Above all kingdoms, above all thrones,
above all wonders the world has ever known;
above all wealth and treasures of the earth,
there's no way to measure what You're worth.

Crucified, laid behind a stone,
You lived to die rejected and alone.
Like a rose, trampled on the ground,
You took the fall, and thought of me,
Above all.


You know, they didn't do it for themselves or for their parents, but they did it for our friends and for God. It wasn't a performance, it wasn't a show - it was a message from the heart from the angels of the Lord to the hurting souls in that church. God amazes me. He is so worthy beyond our comprehension. His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts. He is amazing, steadfast, loving, forgiving and comforting. He is everything to us and He'll take our hand through anything here on this earth as long as we let Him. Won't you let Him today?? He's waiting for your invitation to be a part of your life. He wants to bless your socks off but He also wants to walk with you through the difficult valleys of life here on earth. He wants nothing more than an intimate relationship with you. It's the best place on earth to be, in the arms of our Loving God, in the security of His Wings, and the shelter of His Promises. Thank you God for loving me and everyone else.

The Truth Project Studies

WOW! WOW! WOW! We just finished our first week of The Truth Project study. It was hard to stop and not keep going with all the videos. :-)

We have about 70 people registered in 4 separate classes from now until the end of April. Each of them will be so blessed. God is going to use this project big time in our community and in our churches. It's so exciting to see the various churches that are represented by the people taking these studies. I know that God is already preparing the hearts of some of these people to take this study back to their homes, their communities and their churches to spread His Truths.

This morning, the verse that I started with today was this: "Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight." Psalm 43:3-4 NIV This is the bottom line truth - reality from God's perspective. Do I have this perspective - do you have this perspective? Do we see truth as reality from God's perspective? With all that the world bombards us with today, the enemies lies that keep us captive, what do we see? We are filled with lies everyday in our culture. Oh God, transform us with your truth. The lies keep us captive but the truth - your truth God, is what will set us free. I know how desperately I want to live in freedom and the only place to find that freedom is in God and in His Word, the Holy Bible, which is the source of our truth, the source of God's truth.


I know the enemy has been is fighting real hard for this project not to come to our church and community. The day that we brought it to our church was on a Sunday; we woke up hardly being able to move - our bodies had never been that stiff both at the same time before - both Roger and I were so incredibly sore. Then the dog had peed in his kennel - dogs never pee in their kennel - so we had clean up this kennel and bath the dog before we could leave for church which therefore caused us to be late. We had a potluck lunch that day for the kickoff and the dishwasher wouldn't work - the drain hadn't closed so it had emptied out the whole hot water heater in the church so we couldn't even wash the dishes right away. When we got home late that night, our van runner had been taken off - the demons must have had crowbars for that runner and the mud flap to come off cause there's no way that it would just come off on it's own. Then Roger's trying to fix it and he couldn't fix it alone so I had to climb out of my pj's and go help him in the garage at 11 pm at night. That's when I found out that our furnace wasn't working so we had to call a furnace guy at 11:30 pm at night. We didn't get to bed until 1 am in the morning. Do you think the enemy was throwing all sorts of things at us to get us discouraged and want to give up?? I think so.


So, then we come to the first week of the actual study. Well, I tell ya, something happened every day. :-) I just had to keep smiling because it didn't matter what was thrown at me, I was so looking forward to this study, I wasn't gonna let nothing keep me down - especially the devil. So, Sunday we start the study in the evening, but I can hardly move all day - my back and my legs had never been that sore before - I knew it was an attack. Wouldn't you know that after we started the study and prayed all together as a group, the pain eased up significantly. I had a terrible time finding babysitters for the Friday study with young moms - it was unbelievable. On Wednesday morning, when I was on my way to the study with our church staff, I had stopped to pick up capaccino's for them. I had asked a kind man to open my van door for me and as he was walking back to the store from my van, a truck that was driving onto the parking lot hit him. He wasn't hurt but they were both shaken up. The morning of another study, I was waiting at the church for 20 minutes before the doors got opened up and the TV didn't work so we had to use another one, causing me to become quite frantic that morning as well. Another morning of a study, my daughter forgot her homework and I had to bring it to school - causing me to be late for that study and my dog had been relentless in his troublemaking that first hour to get out of the house. :-) Many people that I had registered, had trouble getting onto the website and were getting quite frustrated. Those are just to name a few of the hindrances and attacks for the first week of the studies. Just the 1st week!!!!! But for those 70 people that had gone through the study this 1st week, they were blessed and they were filled with a hunger and a thirst and a desire for more of God's truth. Thank you God!! The enemy will fight hard, but God has already won! Amen!!


So, one of the biggest questions, that came out of this first study was this: DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS REALLY REAL???? Do you?? Do I? If I really believed that what I believe is really real then I would shake the world around me, would I not?? God help me to shake the world around me with your truths.

If you have gone through the Truth Project or are going through it, please leave comments as to how it has worked on your heart, what God has shown you through it. Feel free to check out their website www.thetruthproject.org and view the trailers. You can view the short one below.

A Flash from the Past

The following is an article written by Jennifer Jacoby-Smith for the Living Light News
www.livinglightnews.org

Photography dream comes into focus for former student

by Jennifer Jacoby-Smith

Many can recall an inspirational teacher from childhood. But few can say they in turn have inspired their teacher.
Six years ago Lisa Braun, her husband Roger and their three children returned to her hometown of Warman, Saskatchewan. While there, Braun picked up a calendar of prairie landscapes and noticed that several of the photographs were credited to Wayne Shiels.
Could this be her favourite teacher from grade six? she wondered. When she discovered Shiels still taught, she went to visit him and shared her own aspirations for photography, a long-time
hobby she was hoping to develop into more.
Shiels was impressed with her work and suggested she enter some of her photographs in a contest. “He really encouraged me,” says Braun. “He got my dream started.”
She received recognition for three of the five photos she entered, and since then her work has appeared in travel brochures and on local websites.
In 2006 Braun was asked by a local printing house to submit photos for a Saskatchewan calendar. This year, two calendars were designed with Braun’s photos, one featuring Scripture verses, a significant element for her.
Since becoming a Christian, Braun’s focus — in life and in photography — has changed. She sees her talent as a tool that God uses to bless others.
“In photography, people often ask me where I learned how to take photos and if I took classes and my answer is always, ‘God gave me a gift and I’m trying to nurture it.’ ” Her personal motto is “Capturing God’s beauty through photography.”
“God is everywhere in nature and I experience Him every time I’m out taking a photograph,” she shares.
Although Braun was raised in a Christian family, she rebelled and left home at age 15. “I made a lot of bad choices,” she admits.
Just before her senior year in high school she attended a Bible camp in northern Saskatchewan, and there she met God in a new way and committed her life to Jesus Christ. “I came to know who God really was. I found out that He was a God of joy. He wanted you to ... enjoy life.”
In her eye for a scenic prairie shot and in the everyday activities of life, Braun doesn’t believe events happen without purpose. “I don’t see anything as coincidence,” she explains. “It’s all God-incidence to me. Nothing is by chance or luck. He knows exactly what’s going to happen each second, each minute, and it’s all under His control.”
When her calendars were a few photos short, Braun’s elementary teacher came to mind and she decided to approach him. What she didn’t realize was how her request would impact Shiels, who had recently accepted Christ as his Saviour. Shiels had always believed in a Divine Creator. However, after enduring serious health problems and depression, he experienced what he calls “a darkness.” He recognized his need for the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and in 2006 he invited Jesus into his heart. “It is by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus that I am here,” he says.
“God gives us many gifts we are to use to glorify His name,” explains Shiels. “Lisa has shown me how photography can do this.”
Braun feels equally blessed. “A teacher who had inspired me, now years later tells me how much I have inspired him,” Braun says. “It blows me away!”
And just as teachers are encouraged when students realize their dreams, so years later Shiels marvels at how his former student’s photos continue to inspire him, and many others as well.
“It’s always been my dream but I never knew how to get started and I didn’t really believe enough in myself that I could do it,” Braun shares. “Well, now I know that I can ... but only with God’s help, never on my own.”
Shiels agrees. “It is rewarding to see Lisa’s passion and confidence grow,” he remarks. “She uses her God-given gift of photography to show God’s creation in ways that clearly speak to people.”



So that's the article. WOW! It continually amazes me how God works and moves around me and in me and through me to accomplish His Plan in and around my life. The following pictures were other fun photos that Wayne's daughter took for me and Wayne - they were fun to do. Great memories and keepsakes. I thank God for my teacher Mr. Wayne Shiels. :-) And for what He has done in Wayne's life and through his life and the impact he has had on so many students and adults. Thank you Wayne, my friend in Christ, I love you. May God bless you richly.