SYMC Conference - Part 2

Breathe! Just breathe. Breathe in all that is good. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Breathe in Life. Breathe the life that your Creator breathed into lifeless dust at the beginning of time (Genesis 2:7). Breathe the life the Spirit gave to the valley of dry bones that gave lifeless being sustenance (Ezekiel 37). Breathe in the Holy Spirit that was given to the disciples by Jesus and is equally offered to us (John 20:22). Breathe the way you were created to.

In the midst of pain, breathe.
In the midst of business, breathe.
In the midst of trial, breathe.
In the midst of joy, breathe.

Breathe and find delight in knowing that all the chaos of life is already overpowered by the peace and harmony of God. Thank you God that today we can breathe.

Psalm 150

 ¹ Praise the LORD^.    Praise God in his sanctuary;
   praise him in his mighty heavens.
² Praise him for his acts of power;
   praise him for his surpassing greatness.
³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
   praise him with the harp and lyre,
⁴ praise him with timbrel and dancing,
   praise him with the strings and pipe,
⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
   praise him with resounding cymbals.
 ⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
   Praise the LORD.

SYMC Conference - Part 1

I'm exhausted already. I told myself not to get overwhelmed by these conferences but to my dismay it has happened again. It wasn't really my fault though. It was the session that I chose to go to that drained me most of all emotionally. The course was on how to help kids that are hurting and it had some great content to it. It was taught by two guys of which one i know much better in Marv Penner. He has such a heart to help kids think through all that life can throw at us and to direct them to Jesus it's great! But his experiences are insane.

He told many stories of letters that he's received from people who have self abused, people who had taken their own lives, people who on the outside may have looked destitute but also of many who looked to have it all together and then divulged the pain that they were feeling inside. It's scary how pain can lead to hopelessness even when Hope is always available. It's amazing what we can convince ourselves of when it's most often the furthest thing from reality. It's amazing the amount of people who have been victims in their past who internalize their emotions and take it out on themselves. It's really sad.

If any of you know me you know that it doesn't take much to bring me to tears but this day, Thursday, as we were talking about these issues for about 6 hours straight I was on the brink of tears almost the entire day. It's horrible what goes on. There needs to be someone who will lead these people to hope. Their needs to be an army that will stand to fight the injustice that happens right around us as well as the mental agony that has little room for release.

I'll continue to think about this later. It's too overwhelming right now.

For now I'm physically tired and am going to have a nap. The conference is, as always, amazing but it started off a little heavy for me. I trust my nap will help me to focus and Breathe in a way that I can encounter the everlasting God in an amazing way this weekend. Please pray for us as we continue to learn, evaluate and translate this whole weekend into what God wants to lead us into back home.

I look forward to the snow covered roads of the Canadian prairies! Home sweet home will come soon enough.

Peace!