Unforced Rhythms of Grace

I was really excited when I heard Jillian Michaels was coming to Winnipeg.  If you don't know who Jillian Michaels she is the trainer that is known for being on the Biggest Loser.  Jillian's contestants are often the winners of the Biggest Loser (as was the case this year with a contestant who had everything against her in the beginning.)  The reason I like Jillian is not because of her training skills.  It is because she has an ability to get to the heart of a contestant and figure out what it is that is getting in the way of their goals. When she came on stage see was instantly endearing.  She swapped her high heels for flip flops saying that she felt like she had done her duty by coming out in them.  She broke down what she was going to talk about - nutrition, working out, mind.  She was real about the fact that many of the people who came to see her, wanted to know how to lose weight so she spent the first hour talking about it.  The second ...

A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped. Luke 8:43-44, NLT The story of the bleeding woman has been my favourite story about Jesus since I came across it.  Last night I was thinking about the story and all of a sudden I heard, “I want more for you than to keep touching the hem of my robe.”  I have been reeling ever since. Yes the story is about the great faith of the bleeding woman.  The reason it is my favourite story is because Jesus stops and validates her action by saying: "Daughter," he said to her, "your faith has made you well. Go in peace." Luke 8:48, NLT I always thought that Jesus did that because he knew that, given the culture, she would spend the rest of her life wondering if she had defiled Him.  He needed to validate what she did.  So He stopped in the middle o...

Today is a day to think about resolutions.  I know I definitely had some plans this time last year.  I thought that I would weigh less, be more physically fit, contribute more to those around me…  It seems like so much more than a year ago that I ran the resolution run.  I said that was the first of many 5k’s.  It was the only 5k I ran last year. The plans I had seemed like a good, logical next step in my life.  The thing is, I don’t think I asked God what He wanted for my life.  This year, I have no idea what to resolve to do because I really can’t figure out what my next step is.  I have been living day to day.  I have been blessed and found provision.   I think that resolutions have had a place for the past couple of years.  This year I need to be okay with not making any.   So I guess my only resolution this year is to ask God what’s next today and to go where He leads. ...