Well here goes nothing...

Wow

2004-12-12T18:28:00.000-08:00

So yeah I had no idea that it had been so long since I've written anything. My how time flies by. No one probably even reads my site anymore but I thought I would write down what is on my mind.

I have been trying to study for the last few hours but I have no focus and absolutely no attention span. What is wrong with me??
Well today has been a great day. My friend Gabriella was baptized at her church in Bulington. A bunch of us Redeemer students went and it was an incredible service. I have not been so deeply moved and touched in a very long time. There were 7 people baptized and all of them had an incredible testimony to share about God's faithfullness and how they came to have their own personal relationship with Christ. I cried through each person's testimony. To me it is the most amazing thing to hear about one's story of how they came to faith and accepted Christ as their personal Saviour. It also made me think about my own life. How many times have I taken my faith for granted. My life has been pretty easy. I have been blessed with an amazing Christian family, supportive church and many godly friends and mentors. There are so many people who have gone through great struggles and persecution in order that they might follow Christ.
By listening to the testimonies today it gave me so much hope. There are so many times when I doubt that the power of God could radically change someone who is so lost. However God uses all different situations and circumstances to reveal Himself to people. So I will not give up hope. There are so many people in this world who are searching for the hope that we have. As Christians let's be willing to share the gospel to everyone we meet. Let our actions and words always show the love of God. We are so blessed so let's bless others.

That's what's on my mind.

Some Words of Wisdom

2004-09-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do but it doesn't get you anywhere.

Marie Janssens

2004-09-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Marie Janssens:
There once was a girl named Apple
And the truth was what she loved to grapple
It always won
and now she's done
So she'll take a break and drink Snapple

Back at Redeemer!!

2004-08-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

So I have returned to the Redeemer community!!! It feels soo good and I am so excited for this upcoming year!!! I look forward to seeing you all!

Rooted in an Intimate Relationship With Christ

2004-08-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that in one week I'm heading back down to Redeemer. I'm soo excited but at the same time very sad. I will miss everyone in SF!!! So I've been reading a book that all the HA's are supposed to read before training week. So far it's been a good little book and I just wanted to share something that caught my attention. This book is called "In the Name of Jesus" and is written by Henri Nouwen. He says,

"Christian leaders cannot simply be persons who have well-informed opinions about the burning issues of our time, Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnite Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance....Dealing with burning issues without being rooted in a deep personal relationship with God easily leads to divisiveness because, before we know it, our sense of self is caught up in our opinion about a given subject. But when we are securely rooted in a personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and TRUE WITNESSES without being manipulative."

So being rooted in an intimate relationship with Christ will help us in every aspect of our lives. It is not possible to fully serve our Saviour if we are not rooted in Him. So let's not just be people of opinions...but let the source of our ideas, words and actions be found in the best source...JESUS CHRIST!!!

So It's been a while..

2004-08-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well it is crazzy how fast this summer has been flying by. Every year it goes by faster and faster. I miss the good ol' days wher summer seemed to last forever! Oh well, life goes on....
I am so thankful for the past few months that I've been at home. It's been great spending time with the fam, making new friends and growing closer with the friends I already had. Many good times this summer like; friends getting married, formal parties and dances, parties at my house, LOTS of babysitting, housesitting, dogsitting, getting to know new families that have joined my church while I was away at school, hanging out at the lake, cruising on the Rideau in the boat with friends, drive-in theatre, sleepovers, Redeemer friends coming to visit, teaching kid's classes at church again (I missed all my kids so much this past year!), leading worship for all our outdoor services (there is nothing better than an outdoor evening church service, surrounded by the beauty of God's wonderful work in nature)....and the list goes on!!
However this week is gonna be quite different from the rest! This is the first time ever that my family is going on vacation without me. I don't get time off from work...so I get to stay at home and look after things here. At first I thought it was gonna suck. I don't like being alone and living in silence. But it's turning out to be a pretty good week so far. Spent all of Saturday babysitting...definitely not quiet and peaceful..but a great time none the less. Little kids are so encouraging especially when they tell you a million times that they love you and you are their best friend :) ANd then Sunday was church, got invited over to friend's place, spent the afternoon chatting and boating. A bunch of teens in a boat cruising around on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon is my idea of fun. We cranked the tunes, had some dancing in the boat and just had a great time. WE then boated to the house where we were having church. So it was a good day. This week I have friends coming to sleep over night so I don't have to be alone!! Girl sleepovers..yeah!! And then Friday night will be the grand finale before my family comes home!! Party at the Hogan's house!! So yeah..never a dull moment I tell you..never a dull moment. Well I'm sure that many of you probably don't give a hoot about what's happening in my week..but meh I had to write something and this is what's on my mind. Oh and another thing that's on my mind....3 weeks from today-back at REDEEMER!!! Oh that's crazy. I definitely have mixed emotions!! I'm SOO excited to go back but at the same time it's really sad to leave my family and friends and all the good summer memories behind. But that's the way life goes eh? Always gotta move on because time just will not freeze.
I hope everyone out there is having a great summer. I'd love to hear about it at any time!! Especially this week since I may have some lonely evening hours and need someone to chat to!

God Bless~Robyn~

Are You Passionate About Christ??

2004-07-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

It's 1:00, the latest I've been up since I left Redeemer, so please bear with me. Well I have been reading yet another book called "Renewing Your Spiritual Passion". Passion is a word that I've been thinking about alot, lately. My desire is to be completely passionate about Christ, but at the same time I don't REALLY knew what passion is all about. It's like a feeling or desire that I have that can't be put into words. So I decided to look it up in the good ol' dictionary. Here is what I found; "intense or overpowering emotion, an eager outreaching of mind towards some sepcial object, fervid dvotion, ardent affection"
Hmmmm how passionate am I about Christ. I mean there are weekend retreats and conferences and worship services where you can just feel the passion, but how often in our ordinary day-to-day lives do we have, feel or show passion for Christ?
In that book I mentioned earlier there was a quote that got my attention and I would like to share it with you.

"I have met many passionate people. They come in all ages,from all backgrounds, with all sorts of personal capacities. No two are alike. But you know them when you see them. They are not hurried; they are not shrill; they are not out to impress. You know them because when you come into their presence; they make you think of Christ. Somehow you feel that you have just understood a little more of what it was like to be in the presence of Jesus. The energy that pushes them along is not the thunderous noise of a jet, nor the pressure of Niagara. It's a quiet energy that you sense even if it can't be seen."

Well I can say that I have met people like that. What a joy it is to be around people that are passionate about such a wonderful Saviour. I mean really as Christians why wouldn't we have passion for Christ? He is so amazing and incredible and the grace that we receive is far from deserved. "What is man that He's mindful of us" (Rebecca St. James) I mean really Christ has given us everything and yet we choose to go on sinning and living lives that are not giving Him all the praise and honour He deserves. I am disguisted at myself!!! I hope to someday be one of the passionate people described in the quote above. Christ is definitely worthy of all the passion in the world...so let's focus on Him always and live our lives in service and honour and glory to Him!!! I want to be so in love with Chrsit that passion continually overflows from my heart!!

Good Night....~Robyn~

I LOVE mosquitoes!!

2004-07-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

So summer is the perfect time of year....making $$$, no homework, relaxing, enjoying the sun, backyard BBQ's, swimming and Mosquitoes!!! I hate mosquitoes!!

I live in the country, with a forest as my back yard and a couple swamps just down the road and behind my house..believe me there are plenty of those little pesks around.
Well now let me tell you about my weekend. Friday night I came home from work and in drove my aunt and uncle from Alberta. That was pretty exciting because I haven't seem them for 2 years and they are really great people. So that night my aunt and uncle as well as another aunt and uncle and my family all went to Ottawa to the Ottawa Renegades play. (That's NFL football for those of you who don't follow sports!) It was a realy great time. And guess what? The whole night while we were sitting outside watching the game I didn't see one mosquito. Oh to be a city girl!! (Just kidding) Well Saturday wasn't too exciting...just hanging around home, being outside most of the day. Then Sunday was church (always the highlight of my week!!). And for once I actually had a very quiet Sunday afternoon. We always have people over or go to someon'es house on Sunday..but my parents had something on so us kids just hung around home. Sunday night was our church youth service at one of my friends house. We hold most of our summing evening services outside. So wonderful to worship and praise God surrounded by His wonderful creation. Then the 2nd biggest highlight of my weekend-the DriveIn. I had never been to a Drive In theatre until last night. After church a bunch of us went to the drive in because it was chrsitian day. Some of the local Christian bands played then they showed a couple Christian movies. OK it took me a long time to get to my point...but the point is that if you don't like mosquitoes...DON"T go to a drive in that is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a forest!!! We were good in the car for the 1st 5 minuted until the windows started fogging up and we couldn't see the movie!! Then we opened the windows and got eaten alive. Thankfully by the time the 2nd movie started the mosquitoes had died down a bit and we all sat outside. It really is an incredible experience. Surrounded by friends, sitting outside late at night..and enjoying a great movie. So if there is a drive in near you, go check it out!! But take TONS of bug spray!!

Dateless summer in a coupled world!

2004-07-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

Well this past year has been a pretty crazy one as far as the dating/marriage topic is concerned. I've had one friend get married, there's been several engagements and many people are hooking up. Oh and last weekend I got asked to be a bridesmaid for my friend next summer!!! :)
In high school I never really thought much about dating. I went to a public school with 0 good Chrsitian guys. At my church there were a couple guys my age-but none of them were very serious about God, and they both had girlfriends anyways!! So it wasn't until I went to university that there was even a POSSIBIlITY of dating. (However choosing Redeemer isn't a good choice if you're a girl looking for a date!) The truth is I am very thankful that God has given me a single life so far. In high school I never really longed to be dating, but at the same time I was never truly appreciative and thankful for the blessings of being single. I have learned a lot about this subject over the past year through talking to friends, reading some books and talking to God. God is so amazing and has taught me to love life no matter what!! Life is such a wonderful gift and I am so blessed to be single right now!!! Who knows maybe someday I'll get married or maybe I'l never get married, but I've accepted the fact that God loves me as I am and I love myself as I am.
Tonight I was looking at some old books that my parents have. I found one called "The Right Mate" (from 1979!!)and I decided to skim through it. My mom had this paragraph highlighted and I thought it was a good one so I'm gonna share it with you.

"Wait on the Lord and he will bring into your life the boy or girl he wants for you. Or it may be that he has another purpose for you rather than dating and becoming engaged and married. You must be willing to wait for him to reveal his will to you, whatever it may be. But before he will reveal his will, you've GOT TO BE WILLING TO DO IT. This much is certain: God's basic will is for you to yield your life completely to him. Once you've done that, you have given God the freedom to do in your life what he otherwise cannot do, WHETHER that is to bring you TOGETHER with a girl/guy OR to prepare you for a life of service to him as a SINGLE. You can make serious mistakes by directing your own life. You can't go wrong by letting God do it."

Well basically trust God with your dating status because His plan and timimg is already made up so there's no point in trying to screw around with it.
Count your blessings-~Robyn~

Homeless??

2004-07-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

Well the issue of homelessness and street youth has been on my mind the past couple days. The other night a saw a documentary on TV about street youth and the way they live. It was so sad, and has definitely touched me and caused me to do some thinking. I used to think "why would people choose to live on the streets when there are shelters available?" or "how can this be happening in Canada?". Well on the show they were talking to street youth about why they were on the streets. Many of them had tried living in shelters, but it was even worse-others livng in the shelter would beat them up or steal their possessions, and in most cases the living conditions were very crowded and less than desirable.
The worst part was when they were talking about the problem of street pregnancy. I think they said it was about half of the females that live on the street become pregnant by the time they are 18. One of these mothers that they featured was a drug addict who had a baby girl. The girl was born with many problems and had to go through numerous surgeries. It just broke my heart to look at that child. I mean I could have been born into that situation. How was I so fortunate to have been blessed by such a great family and a home to live in and food to eat. It just doesn't seem fair.
I realize that as Christians we must do something to help solve this problem in Canada and around the world. But where do we start? (If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them.) These people have no hope or joy. Sure there are temporary band-aid solutions to their problems-but the only real solution is Jesus Christ. These poeple need to know that God loves them and cares for them. They need to know that even when it seems like there is no hope-there is!! I still don't know what I am going to do to reach out to these people, but at least I can start with prayer. They need it.

Summer in SF...what a life!!

2004-07-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

Well I've been thinking that I would start blogging for quite a long time now but I just never got around to starting....so here I go. Summer is good and God has been blessing me during this time. I thought it would be really weird coming home after being away at school for so long...but it isn't weird at all. My life is the same as it was before I left, and some days I forget that I ever went to Redeemer at all. Well that's actually not true, I think of Redeemer every day, but I don't miss it like i thought i would. I love being there and i love being home. It's as simple as that!!

A few weeks ago I spoke at my church about my year at Redeemer. THere were some verses I shared that I would like to share with you. I think it is important to remember to go to God always and trust in Him in every circumstance and situation. I hope these are encouraging to you.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge him and he will
make your paths straight.

Luke 11:9-10...ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be open.