Soaked

Ephesians 6: The Armour of God. Verses I have committed to memory and studied several times in my life. Right now our entire church is doing a series on Standing Firm. We are studying it Sunday morning in "big church" as well as in our Sunday School classes. We are studying in in small groups and in Youth Group. We are studying it at home in our devotional time.

This week I learned something new about the shield of faith. The shield that was used in Romans times measured 4 feet by 2 feet. It was made of wood and had iron along the edges. The shield was covered with linen and leather. Roman soldiers used to soak their shields in water, so that when the enemy attacked with fiery arrows, they would not burn the wood, but would rather be extinguished.

That truth can totally be applied to our walk with the Lord. We have to soak ourselves in the Word. As our Pastor often says, marinate in it. For only when we are soaked in His Word can we really be equipped to quench the fiery darts Satan sends our way. The comparison really struck me.

The other point that was brought home was the fact that when you go to battle, you don't stand there all by yourself holding your shield. You stand shoulder to shoulder with others in battle. When you are too weak to hold on tight to your shield, others will hold theirs up around you. How great is that? How awesome to know that we have brothers and sisters we can rely on to help hold us up when we are weak.

Christmas Music

Is October 17th too early to be listening to Christmas Music? Sarah McLachlan's Christmas CD came out today. So as soon as I got home, I logged on to iTunes, and the download began. I could say that I was listening to it only to make sure it downloaded alright, but the truth is, I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC! (I was actually on iTunes a few weeks ago, and saw that you can link up to a radio station that plays all Christmas Music. I resisted.) I usually put my Nativity Set out the first week of November... for the simple reasons that I love it (it is one of those Willow Tree Angels sets), and it was not cheap. So I figure I may as well get my moneys worth! Off to work with my new Christmas cd in hand!

Things that make my heart smile

Between work and life, the past few days have been a bit stressful. But through all that, there have been a few things that have made my heart smile.

Sunday evening I was waiting outside the front door at work waiting for a friend to come and pick me up. It had been a long day, and I was tired. The sun was just setting and there was a cool fall breeze in the air. These two older men walked by me, and in to the hospital. A few minutes later, they walked back out with drinks in hand from our coffee shop. They went and sat on a bench nearby. Let me see if I can describe the sight for you. One of the men was a large man... tall with a "pregnant belly". He had a burly, long grey beard, and wore dark jeans and a black t-shirt. He looked like a biker. The other man was a smaller man... dark weathered skin. I lost sight of them, but suddenly heard something that got my attention. I stood up to see where it was coming from. The big burly man sat on the bench drinking Coke from a bottle, while his friend sat beside him playing this amazing harmonica music. I wanted to dance. My heart smiled.


Today as I was leaving work, I saw a bunch of staff members carrying bunches of roses. I was informed that they were giving away free roses in Shipping and Receiving.... I had to walk by here to leave work. As it turned out, someone had donated boxes and boxes of 12 red roses that were being handed out to anyone who wanted them. One of my most favourite things ever is receiving flowers, so of course, this made my day. My heart smiled.

I was not feeling well this evening. (I think I have a stinken UTI) A friend called to ask a favour. Not feeling well, and being confined to my couch, I couldn't help her out. Instead, she drove over here to make sure I was ok... made me dinner, got me cranberry juice to drink, and made sure I would be ok staying here tonight (despite her best efforts to get me to come home with her!) It meant a lot knowing that someone would come check up on me like that. That is what real friends are for. My heart smiled.