How He Loves Us

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,

that we should be called children of God!

And that is what we are!"

1 John 3:1

The last song we chose was again a song we taught the children last year. We were asked by the children time and time again to sing this song, "How He Loves Us", so we are doing it again this year. The lyrics that touched their hearts and mine are:

He is jealous for me, 

Love's like a hurricane; I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.

When all of a sudden,

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,

And I realize just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me.

Oh, how He loves us so.

Oh, how He loves us.

How He loves us so.

So we re His portion and He is our prize,

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes.

If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.

So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest.

I don't have time to maintain these regrets,

When I think about the way.

This song is a wonderful reminder of how much God loves us. I think this is something we all need to tell ourselves regularly and singing this song does just that! I really don't think any of us fully understand the depth of God's love, until we finally meet Him face to face in a place where we will no longer feel the insecurities that at times cripple us. Hurts from those we love, rejection, failure, dysfunctional homes, abusive relationships and the selfishness of others all get in the way of accepting the magnitude of love we have from our Heavenly Father. Be rest assured that despite what we may feel, God loves us dearly!

Starting tomorrow, I will start posting the recorded songs. The CDs are being burned as I write. I pray that God will use them to minister to the hearts and lives of all the children and their families as they listen to the songs throughout the year. We chose these particular songs because the lyrics portray the life-altering truths of God.

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My sons, Tim and Matthew go for daily runs. Chris is starting to run with them now too. On their feet, they wear these crazy looking shoes called "five fingers". 

Here a picture of a pair:

Tim and Matthew have very large feet, so I worry that the prints in the ground will make people think "Big Foot" is in the area prowling around. If Matthew keeps growing his hair, they might think he is "Big Foot". (Don't tell Matthew I said that.)

Our God

"What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?

If God is for us, who can ever be against us?'

Romans 8:31

We taught the song "Our God" to the children last year and the children loved it so much that we are going to do this song again  If you haven't heard of this song yet, the lyrics are:

Water You turned into wine.

Open the eyes of the blind.

There's no one like You.

None like You.

Into the darkness, You shine.

Out of the ashes we rise.

There's no one like You.

None like You.

Our God is greater; our God is stronger.

God You are higher than any other.

Our God is Healer, awesome in power,

Our God, our God.

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?

And if our God is with us, then what can stand against? (2x)

What can stand against?

I think the children loved this song so much because it instilled in their minds just how powerful God really is. God is the answer to all our prayers, whether a person is in need of a physical or emotional healing, or a miracle, or the restoration of a relationship or finances or provisions or deliverance from addictions. Nothing is too difficult for God! If God is for us, and with us, we have the strength and hope to proceed forward in this life, so we can be a blessing to God and to others.

"Our God" is a popular worship song in many churches here on Sunday mornings.

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When I first moved to the Prairies, I knew nothing about farming.  Then July came and I was taken back at the beauty of the farm fields that were all in yellow blooms. It was breathtaking to behold, but I had no idea what  the plants were. I expected to see wheat or hay fields, but instead I saw these surrounding farm acreages of delicate yellow flowers. When  I asked my neighbour about them, he told me they were canola plants. They are now again in bloom and so yesterday I took a picture of them for you all to see. 

The French community in which we live in is just on the outskirts of the city. It is very picturesque at this time of year! The town also boasts a beautiful historic Roman Catholic Church built on a hill. I love hearing the thundering deep resonant tone of the church bell that is rung every hour during the day.

Here is a picture of this church:

Rooftops

"Shout to the Lord, all the earth; break out in praise and sing for joy!"

Psalm 98:4

Another Jesus Culture song we chose is called, "Rooftops". The lyrics are:

Here I am before You,

Falling in love and seeking Your truth,

Knowing that Your perfect grace,

Has brought me to this place.

Because of You I freely live.

My life to You, Oh God, I give;

So I stand before You, God.

I lift my voice 'cause You set me free.

So I shout our Your Name.

From the rooftops I proclaim,

That I am Yours. I am Yours.

All the good You've done for me,

I lift up my hands for all to see.

You're the only one who brings me to my knees.

To share this love across the earth,

The beauty of Your holy worth;

So I kneel before You, God.

I lift my hands 'cause You set me free.

Here I am, I stand, with arms wide open,

To the One, the Son, the Everlasting God.

This song is a declaration of giving our lives to God. We will teach the children this song during the latter days of the week of Pandamania Vacation Bible School, when the children have had to chance to make that personal commitment to God if they haven't done so already.

I will teach the children to sign all the key words in the songs we sing, but when it comes to the words, "I lift up my hands for all to see", then I will teach them to lift their hands towards God. I love watching the children do this. If touches my heart to see all the children worshipping God in this way, and if it touches my heart, just think how it must touch the heart of God. Many adults today are uncomfortable raising their hands. I try to teach the children in song to do this, so when they reach adulthood, they will not feel inhibited to lift their hands towards God as a form of worship.

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I was able to take a picture the other day of my Yorkshire Terrier and Angora cat in their pet bed. My Yorkie just got a new stuffy, so he brought it to bed with him for the night. He loves to chew, and carry around a stuffy for you to throw it, so he can retrieve it for you. I have to replace his stuffy periodically because once he has chewed a hole in it, he takes all the stuffing out and leaves it all around the house. He is quite the character, and so is the cat. I would like to catch the cat playing the piano one time, so I can record him doing it. The only problem is that I would have to get up in the middle of the night to do it.

The Way

"Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one can come to the Father except through me."

John 14:6

"The Way" by Jeremy Camp is the song Chris chose. It's a great song! Here are the lyrics:

All creation cried out with longing,

With groans only You could comprehend,

And with wisdom, You always answer,

And give the words of life so unfailing.

And Your glory shines all around us.

Your faithfulness shown for all to see.

When we think of all of Your wonders,

The beauty of Your plan that's been revealed,

We walk in Your light. We walk in it.

Shine, bright.

Let Your glory fill this land.

Lift high, the King of kings and great I am.

Jesus, You are the way

You are the way.

We can see the works of Your loving hands.

With a hope and peace not made by man.

When You poured out Your grace and Your mercy,

And You held out Your arms so we could see.

You bled for all mankind and set the captive free.

Na, na, na, na, na, na, Jesus.

This worship song teaches the children to desire God's glory to shine and fill this land. All we have to do is look around and we can see God's glory. It is evident in His magnificent wonders in creation, in His Word, the Bible, and in the miracles He performs daily, However, when we worship God with a true heart, His glory will be magnified in His presence in a much greater sense. Our worship to Him brings a hope, peace and joy that is not attainable from any other source, but God alone. I pray the children will learn and earnestly desire to worship God for eternity.

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Our pets have taken on the characteristics of our family. We have a Sheltie that sings on command and a cat that plays the piano; however, only at night when everyone is sleeping. One time, the cat played the piano for such a long duration, my sons didn't believe it was her. I didn't think so either. I thought one of them had gotten up, started sleep-walking and went to the piano to play. It just sounded too good for the cat to be playing. While I was still in bed, I yelled out to who I thought was one of my sons, "Will you stop playing the piano and go back to bed. People are sleeping!" I didn't get any response and kept hearing music, so then I got really scared.  The thought came to mind that maybe a drunken stranger broke into the house. When I snuck into the living room, to my shock and relief,  I saw the cat jump off the piano bench. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that even my animals love music!

Here is a short video of my dog singing. The noise, I mean song, brought the cat from downstairs to dash to where Barney was. I'm not too sure it the cat enjoys Barney's singing or not? I will let you decide for yourself.

Forever Reign

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world.

 Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, 

but will have the light of life."

John 8:12

Daniel chose "Forever Reign" by Hillsong and One Sonic Society. The lyrics of this beautiful song are as follows:

You are good. You are good,

When there's nothing good in me.

You are love. You are love,

On display for all to see.

You are light. You are light.

When the darkness closes in.

You are hope. You are hope.

You have covered all my sin.

You are peace. You are peace.

Whom my fear is crippling.

You are true. You are true,

Even in my wandering.

You are joy. You are joy.

You're the reason that I sing.

You are life. You are life.

In You death has lost its sting.

Oh, I'm running to Your arms.

I'm running to Your arms.

The riches of Your love will always be enough.

Nothing compares to Your embrace.

Light of the world, forever reign.

You are more. You are more,

Than my words will every say.

You are Lord. You are Lord.

All creation will proclaim.

You are here. You are here.

In Your presence I'm made whole.

You are God. You are God.

Of all else I'm letting go.

My heart will sing,

No other name,

Jesus, Jesus.

We have everything we need in Jesus:

He is good and perfect. 

He is love and His love is available for all. 

Jesus is light in the darkness of this world.

He is hope in our desperation. 

He is peace and in Him there is no fear. 

Jesus is true and faithful. He will never change,

He is joy, even in sadness we can still sing.

He is life because His sacrificial death paid the price for our sins.

Jesus is more than we could ever desire.

He is Lord and one day all of creation will bow at His name.

He is here and His beautiful presence encompasses us.

Jesus is God and there is no other god like Him.

When we have Jesus in our lives and hearts, we are made complete. There is nothing else we need in this world.

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Yesterday, Matthew and I went to four computer stores looking for the right CDs to record the songs. We couldn't find the ones we wanted and became very discouraged.. Then a stranger mentioned the store "Staples". Matthew and I instantly looked at each other and thought, "Why not?" and headed off that direction. Believe in or not, we found the brand we wanted! There were even specially designed ones that we thought were really cool, so we bought them. The CDs actually look like mini records and they come in five different colours. 

Here is a picture of them.

We will soon start burning them. We are very excited! It has been a lot of hard work.

I Will Follow

"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, 

Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, 

for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.' 

At once they left their nets and followed Him.

Matthew 4:18-20

Tim chose the next song and we all agreed wholeheartedly. It is called, "I Will Follow" by Chris Tomlin. Here are the lyrics:

Where You go, I'll go.

Where You stay, I'll stay.

When You move, I'll move.

I will follow.

All Your ways are good.

All Your ways are sure.

I will trust in You alone

Higher than my side,

High above my life,

I will trust in You alone.

Who You love, I'll love.

How You serve, I'll serve.

If this life, I lose.

I will follow You.

I will follow You.

Light unto the world.

Light unto my life.

I will live for You alone.

You're the One I seek.

Knowing, I will find.

All I need in You alone, 

In You alone.

In You there's life everlasting.

In You there's freedom for my soul.

In You there's joy, unending joy.

And I will follow.

We all liked this song because it teaches the children that the Christian walk is all about following Jesus Christ as set out in the Scriptures. Our desire is to please God and live for Him alone, not ourselves. In doing so, a person will find the greatest joy and satisfaction in their lives. When we reach the end our time on earth, the reward will be immeasurable.

I hope the children will be able to apply their decision to follow Jesus in what they choose to watch on television or movie theatres, what sites they go on in the internet, what video games they play, what they say about others and even how they dress. In everything we say and do, we need to glorify God.

God gave us His all. We need to honour God by giving Him our all.

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Here is a picture of three precious girls that I use to babysit in the place I lived before. They are all the same age. This picture was taken when my sons and I took them camping with the Church's Kids Life group.

I am sharing this picture because I will be seeing them all again in just over a week. They are all coming to Pandamania Vacation Bible School. I can't wait to see them all! They each have very special qualities that God has given them.

One Thing Remains

We are presently in the process of recording seven songs for a CD which we will give to all the children to take home at the end of Pandamania Vacation Bible School. I will post them as soon as they are complete for you all to listen to, which should be in a few days. We will be teaching all the songs on the CD to the children during the week of VBS.

"The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease."

Lamentations 3:22

We prayed about the choice of songs beforehand and one of the songs is entitled "One Thing Remains" from the Jesus Culture album "Come Away".

The lyrics are as follows:

Higher than the mountains that I face,

Stronger than the power of the grave,

Constant through the trial and the change,

One thing remains.

One thing remains.

Your love never fails.

It never gives up.

It never runs out on me.

On and on and on and on it goes.

It overwhelms and satisfies my soul.

And I never ever have to be afraid.

One thing remains.

In death and in life I'm confident,

And covered by the power of Your great love.

My debt is paid. There's nothing that can

Separate my heart from Your great love.

I chose this song because as a child I remember vividly a time when my parents were fighting hostilely, with my mother crying hysterically at the end. My dad then announced to my mom he was leaving for good. I saw him angrily walk out our front door. I was a young girl with spunk and so I yelled after him, "And don't ever come back!" My mother then screamed louder and bitterly said to me later, "If he never comes back, it is your fault!" I was terrified at what I had done and was ridden with guilt. The fear I felt was overwhelming that I might be to blame for the destruction of my family. Fortunately, my father came back and from then on I tried not to get involved in their fights anymore.

The lyrics of this song gives me the peace and assurance that even though my father's love was not constant, God's love will never fail. He will never run out on me, even if I get mad at Him or disappoint Him at times. I hope these lyrics will speak the same to the children at VBS. I know many children these days come from split homes and are suffering insecurities, anger and guilt.

In many ways, I am still like that little girl, that yelled out to her father. I haven't changed much over the years. I am quick to defend someone against any kind of abuse. When I was a teenager, I even tried to stop a schoolyard fight between two teenage boys, while everyone else was standing around watching them, cheering the bully on and making fun of the nerd. After the fighting finally stopped, I reprimanded the bully and the spectators. It was the first time I think I preached a sermon.

One time a missionary from Israel came to my church, stopped in the middle of his sermon, looked at me and started prophesying.  He told me God had called me to be His spokesperson because I am not afraid to speak or act on His behalf. I was actually embarrassed, but the fact is that statement is true. Normally, I am quiet and soft-spoken, but if I see injustice, I speak up and act. When I do, it usually shocks people.

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Here are some pictures Tim took last night of my sons, Chris and Matthew, as they head off to Taekwondo. Matthew keeps bugging me that I should join too. I told them I don't need to. I now have them as my bodyguards.