Ryan & Jordan

with Pioneer Bible Translators

Tag: rest

February 22, 2014

thankful for where we’re at

by ryan

We’ve been in North Carolina for almost two months now and there is so much to be thankful for.  Here are five highlights:

  1. We’re so close to family.  Thousands of miles closer.  Come-over-just-for-dinner closer.
  2. There is so much more sun down here than what we used to get up in British Columbia.
  3. God blessed us with a  little cottage in the woods.
  4. After a busy season of grad school and working multiple jobs, we have had time to rest and recuperate.
  5. Getting to know Jordan better is one of my passions, and being together where she grew up is a great place for that.
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November 8, 2013

Time for Faithfulness

by ryan

There are a lot of things we don’t have time for, and that is part of what it means to be a creature, a non-god.

We people are little; we are weak and quick to become frail.  Life is short they say.  And they are right.  In all this shortness, there is a whole lot of busyness we try to cram in.  Why?

People are little who yearn for big.

We were created this way, and I will mention two ways  we can respond.  The first extreme is to try to become a god, to transcend our littleness on our own.  Perhaps we try doing more than is humanly possible, cramming our schedules, skipping out on sleep, or neglecting the Sabbath.  Or maybe we go so far as trying to earn people’s worship.

An alternative to this is embracing our creatureliness, along with its limitations, while at the same time reaching out for God in faithful worship.  What does that look like?

I think of Jesus as he taught his students to feed the multitudes.  If they had tried to provide food for thousands on their own, they would have failed miserably.  But because they were with Jesus and they obeyed him, everyone was fed.

There is a big peace and rest that comes from realizing we are just people, while at the same time realizing that God is God.  And God is here, now.

Now, we have time for faithfulness.

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October 18, 2013

Sweet Relief

by Jordee

I often feel it when I’m weary. When I feel the weight of the world and wonder if I’ll get rest soon. When I feel like I’m swimming against the tide, or when someone I love is barely holding on, finding strength only to come up and gasp for air.

We are not as we should be, and when we look around, the effects of this are everywhere. Sometimes the brokenness seems so awfully pervasive, and I wonder for a moment if there’s hope.

But only for a moment.

Then I remember the God Who Sees and the One who healed the sick and raised the dead. It only takes a moment because He is right here, holy and transcendent,  inevasible and loving.

He loves us.

He sees the pain and evil, our rebellion, weakness, and doubt. He does not turn a blind eye. He saw it and took it on Himself, and it had no power over Him.

A dear friend of mine was walking through a difficult time, a time of fighting the tide and gasping for air. She recently told me that she felt a breakthrough when she was riding in the car and a familiar song about the love of God came on the radio. Air filled her lungs again. She stopped flailing as if it were up to her to stay afloat. She said she cried out of relief.

He loves us. We are often burdened and broken. We are sometimes rebellious and ready to give up, but He loves us. What a divine relief.

Thank God.

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Far surpassing all the rest
It’s an ocean full of blessing
in the midst of every test
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Mighty Savior, precious Friend
You will bring us home to glory
Where your love will never end
– Samuel Trevor Francis, 1890

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