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Name: Rachael
Gender: Female
Interests: music, rugby, guitar, cool hair/piercings (I would say I have neither but Jarod gave me some piercings that I think are rad!), poetry... the weakerthans, pro-life, etc.
Expertise: Expertise eh? hmm maybe sarcasm, naw not at all...Organizing
Occupation: Student
Industry: Midwifery
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
1/28/2005
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| Around 6am on the morning that we buried Opa I drove home from New Hamburg to St. Catharines. I was driving Kenneth's car which had a pretty good sound system but didn't like to change cds very often, so City and Colour accompanied me for the entire trip. The album was playing through and when it got to this song I was filled with so much relief and peace. Sometimes Dallas Green's songs have been described as having a darker undertone, I wouldn't disagree. This is a great song but some lyrics in it such as "their soulds are still searching for the light" bring a sense of uncertainty in death. That morning it was the comprehension that I knew where my Opa was and that I knew where I would be, that was so comforting and assuring to me. The sky was beautiful, the air was really crisp and a huge weight had lifted. A weight has come and gone as the months have carried on, but for that moment, at that time, I felt peace, and that peace hasn't gone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8HPk26gdW0 City and Colour - Body in a Box There's a funeral procession on the highway, Traffic screeches to a halt. There's people searching for a better way, To live their lives. Johnny lived a good life, you'll hear them say As tears of sadness soak the ground. The reaper crept in, took his breath away, In the middle of the night. We celebrate the lives of the dead, It's like a man's best party, only happens when he dies. We gather 'round to pay our respects, While their souls are still searching for the light, Searching for the light. So please don't come to me on my dying day, Just let me go in peace. With all the things that I forgot to say, Racing through my mind. And don't you bury me six feet under ground, Just burn my body in a box. And let my ashes blow with the wind, Out into the night sky. a.m. the QEW near stony creek | | |
| tonight i hung with some awesome people, i had a meaningful conversation with a girl who has been on a journey so similar to mine that it;s beautiful, the people God has put into my path have been so meaningful.
what seemed like a frivolous prayer request has been answered: I'm going to start teaching cooking classes for young adults! I can't wait, I'm about a thousand times excited for this. This is not a church thing but rather something that's happening with a few people from my young adults group, maybe it will be continual.
There are lies and terror all around, but Jesus is solid, He is firm, and He never changes. He is Lord.
i think i'd like a car. not because i need to drive a lot of places, i would still take the bus to school and most of the other things I do since its cheaper and better for the environment. as things stand right now I don't have the money for gas or insurance or repairs but I'm really really really frustrated about the fact that its so creepy to go out after dark and i have to actually factor in how dark it's going to be when I consider whether I'm going to go to church/young adults/whatever. it would be really nice to just be like "i want to go to church tonight" or "I want to not be lonely and go see some friends" and not have to think about the fact that its going to be dark and that i have to bus through a sketchy area and get off the bus and wait for another one in the hood, etc. it would be nice to just be able to go. and it would also be really nice to be able to help other people out. I know a lot of people with no license or no car, it would be nice to be able to take them grocery shopping or out of the city once in awhile or something.
Jesus, thank You for the mountains, and the ocean that kisses their feet.
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| Luke 14
25Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26"(A)If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27"Whoever does not (B)carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28"For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29"Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' 31"Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and (C)consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32"Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33"So then, none of you can be My disciple who (D)does not give up all his own possessions. 34"Therefore, salt is good; but (E)if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? 35"It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. (F)He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Mark 10 24The disciples (A)were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25"(B)It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 26They were even more astonished and said to Him, "Then who can be saved?" 27Looking at them, Jesus said, "(C)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." 28(D)Peter began to say to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You." 29Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, (E)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, 30but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in (F)the age to come, eternal life. 31"But (G)many who are first will be last, and the last, first."
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| Regardless of the relative importance of:
deep thoughts, intense reflection and adamant conversations about
"rejecting religion"
"being spiritual"
"being real"
"rejecting the fakes"
"being accepting"
"having passion"
"having vision"
"social-justice"
"good music"
"revival of the arts and creativity"
they are no substitute for an active, living relationship with Christ. We talk and act a good game, we're so much better than our religious parents and elders because we know we're imperfect and we actually admit it. But so often instead of that honestly being used to challenge each other and encourage each other to track with Christ we get into pity-party accountability where we just talk about how crappy we are to each other and NEVER change. And soon the freedom that comes from admission turns into depression because of the constant reminder of our crap. We are crap on our own, but that was BEFORE Christ, we are made righteous in Christ! We are given power to live! God has promised to complete the work He started, through the Holy Spirit God promised comfort, counsel, and so much more! Where is it? Do I have it? Am I living it? and If i'm not, am i questioning? Or am I blaming it on my old nature and sitting there in my own filth rejecting the power of God. Can you accept that? Can i accept that God loves me this much? Can i accept that I can have salvation and forgiveness of sins, even when I sin over and over? Can you accept that you are His royal child?! a prince or a princess, not just in some sort of fairytale where everyone is royalty, but in reality, where because you have accepted His call, love, salvation you are in fact ROYALTY, and not everyone else is? Sounds unfair doesn't it? Can I allow myself to be that? I can never achieve it on my own, so that means that I have to let someone else do it, I have to rely on God and accept that although i didn't do anything to get here, because of Him i AM here now. Is there any difference? Can i empathize with the downtrodden without rejecting the reality of what He's done in my life? Providing the solution to a problem does not make you a know-it-all, it makes you a tool of reconciliation. | | |
| Allen and Jericho, God keeps speaking to me through these 5/6 year olds. It seems that every time there's a crazy morning where many things have gone wrong and I've had to step up and fill in all the gaps, I hear "for the least of these, that's why rachael, its for beautiful people like these"
Jericho and Allen told me, in broken English (both because they are 5 and 6 and because they are Filipino) about their new "go diego go" dvd and the show they saw on treehouse. Honestly, sometimes I think I could sit there for hours and listen to them, they are just so great!
Sometimes its hard to see that churches ignore kids (not the one I'm working for, but others). The majority of people who will follow Christ make that decision at a really young age and yet so much time, money, and effort is concentrated on the adults. I'm so thankful for the committed volunteers who have come to labour for these children. Some of these volunteers aren't even scheduled to work and they still stop by just to make sure we have enough staff.
For 80 of the least of these...
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