The Blood of Christ

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the blood of Christ…do you know how precious that stuff is? Worth more than any earthy thing we could ever possess. Seriously, let’s consider this for a moment. When Adam and Eve sinned they really messed things up. They opened a huge chasm between mankinds relationship with God, a chasm that unfortunately cannot be bridged BUT for the blood of Christ. So Adam and Eve could come out from hiding God had to make them animal skins to cover themselves. (Genesis 2:8-9, 21) but here’s the thing: an animal generally has to be dead before you can skin it. This was the first death God used to make atonement (the literal translation for atone is cover) for sin. From then on out God’s people needed to shed the blood of animals so that they could be in right relationship with God. I gotta tell you though, it was not a perfect system. Now don’t go all pitch fork shouting “blasphemy” on me, God Himself said that the system was flawed! “The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under the system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship” [Hebrews 10:1] You see the thing is God’s people continually had to make sacrifices for their sins and even then they couldn’t ever actually be in the presence of God. One guy, the high priest, could go into the Holy of holies once a year and only after extensive purification rituals and sacrifices atoning for his sins and for the people sins. Even after all that they still tied a rope around his ankle and put bells on his robe in case he was struck dead in the presence of the Most High God. See, flaws. Then Jesus entered the picture! (cue the angelic choir sounds) Jesus came to earth for a very specific reason. To be the One sacrifice for all. That short sentence is bigger than it sounds. What Jesus did required personal sacrifice, it required humility, it required obedience, it required blood. When Jesus died on the cross He bridged the chasm, forever! His spilled blood caused the curtain in the tabernacle to rip right in half (from top to bottom none the less) opening the Holy of holies to show that the presence of God was now made available to all! You guys?! This is a HUUUUGE deal!!!!!!! No longer do we need to slaughter sheep, doves and bulls to obtain forgiveness; no longer do we need a High Priest to go into the Lord’s presence on our behalf. Jesus was our High Priest, for all time! The thing about all this that is just blow me over amazing is that because of this, because of the blood of Christ we can go boldly into God’s presence, with no condemnation for our sin. Wow. “And so, dear brothers, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By His death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” [Hebrews 10:19-22] We are able to go into the presence of God, whenever, with no condemnation!! God, who is holy and blameless; without sin! That's what Jesus did for us when His blood was spilled.

Hello again darling

Wow. Hello my name is Joni and I am the worst blogger evah! BUT WAIT! There is posts coming in the near future! Pinky promise!

I Like Pictures and Stories

Have you ever checked out Suzy's blog? Well you should! Because she always has interesting things to say and cool projects to try out and funny stories to tell! Her blog is where I scammed the idea to do this: Step One: Post your very first facebook profile picture Step Two: pick just one picture from each consecutive year up to the present one Step Three: Explain/tell a story about each one Fun right?!

I was suprised that this was my very first profile picture...I definatly thought it was a different one! Either way, this is a testament to the Tim Tam Slam! For a while there my friends and I were very into the Tim Tam Slam and did it pretty much everytime we all got together! If you don't know what the Tim Tim Slam is...well I'm kinda sad for you. This picture was from 2007.

2008. This picture was taken at the end of a ministry trip we took to Calgary during Easter break. We had a great week helping out at The Food Bank, The Mustard Seed and some other Christian organizations in the city. We also stayed in a church that didn't have any showers, we all took 2 showers at the community pool throughout the week. The four of us were sitting in the back of the can during the last hour and a half drive home and taking silly pictures. This is our "who turned out the lights?!" picture. It made sense at the time!

and here we are in 2009, on a weekend inbetween camps. Craig, Kaylyn, Debbie and I had a most excellent Saturday off! It started with a leftover picnic in "the space van" after which we went for a drive on reserve land and picked berries out of the window. Then we went to the camp and spent the afternoon floating on tubes in the lake. We went waaaaaaay out the the middle of the Lake where a man driving a boat circled around us until we were being tossed by the waves. Also on the list of activities for the day were: a visit to the museum, laundry, listening to creepy music and planning our deaths in a car crash and eating ice cream. It was a really good day! Also, 2009 was a really good year! A lot happened during it.

2010! Also a lot of good things happened but whenever I think about the year it always revolves around the 2 weeks I spent in Regina during the summer for Becky's wedding! I had such a blast helping her do the last minute things and doing all the fun before wedding stuff. Plus her wedding day was just amazing!

One of my most favorite days in 2011!! My 27th birthday :) My friends really went above and beyond to show me I was loved! We went mini golfing, then had a birthday cake picnic, followed by playing W5 and doing some singing around the fire. THEN my friends kidnapped me and drove me around until I was very confused as to our location! When we got to where I had no idea we were going my friends put off FIREWORKS!! It was the best!

And all this brings us to 2010. This picture was taken mere seconds after the new year began. We were all hanging out at a farm playing games, eating food and having a lot of laughs. New Years Eve is one of my favorite nights and I was very happy to spend this last one with these 2 girls, they are a couple of my oldest and dearest friends. That was nice. I'm glad we had this time together :)

Thoughts on The Hunger Games

Ok, first off. I don't want anyone to ever mistake me for a bandwagon jumper oner, or a trend follower or anything like that because I'm really not. I like to decide for myself if I like something or not. Example: I've never, ever read any of the Harry Potter or Twilight books. I also have never seen the movies. And guess what? I never will! Because, even though, they've been all the rage with society and with pretty much all my friends I checked out what they were about and I decided that wasn't something I was interested in.

So there's that.

Now, The Hunger Games is a different thing altogether. I've known for a while that this would be a story I would be interested in. Mostly because even though I'm not a sci-fi fan per se, I do like futuristic settings. I also am drawn to survival stories as well as stories about the underdog rising up against injustice. Thus I knew, this was a book trilogy I would probably enjoy reading.

I've only read the first book but trust me when I say that I devoured it. I bought it on a Friday and by the following Wednesday I had read it twice. I sorely regret not just splurging on the entire trilogy at once because I am very anxious to get on with the story and find out what happens in the world of Panem. Anyway, yes I enjoyed the book. It was well written with complex and beautiful characters along with a tragic storyline about the deep injustice of dystopian societies. I also admit that I am in love with the Katniss and Peeta storyline.

And I know, I know, it's "about" kids killing kids. And everyone who is trying to be a good person says, "How can you read a book or watch a movie about THAT? It's horrible!" But that's the thing, it is horrible! It's unjust and disgusting and no one should be pleased with it! That's kind of the point of these books, the country of Panem is grossly dominated by the Capitol and in order for them to remain in control they intimidate, steal from and bully the surrounding 12 districts. The Hunger Games is just one of they ways the Capitol reminds everyone that they are in charge and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Or at least that's what you might think.

I also watched the movie. Yes, it was violent and no, I wouldn't suggest anyone under the age of 15 watch it but it was very well done.

One last thing: dystopian societies are real, that's not a reality that is far removed from us. None of them might have something as horrible as the hunger games but they have other tactics of control, just as horrible. I just wanted to put that out there.

It's been a while

I have not said anything in a long, long time on here. I feel bad about that. Mostly for myself though because I love blogging.

I can't believe how busy life has been recently. It's crazy but it's oh so good! God is very good! He's been setting up divine appointments and giving me opportunities and looking out for me all over the place!

Here's a picture I love. This was one of my favorite moments from one of my favorite weekends this "Spring"

Gluttony of the Brain

I've had a lot of big things on my mind; big ideas, big questions, big ponderings, big realizations. There's not much room left up there with all that's going on! It's like when you're filling a container with stuff and you have it full to the brim but then you find that last scarf that you know you can poke and prod in there as well. That's how my head feels!

I've recently come to 2 very big realizations in my life...

1. I have no idea what my passions, gifts and talents are. Don't get me wrong, I love what I'm doing and where I am right now but I'm not content. I just can't help but think that there must be something more that I was created for. I've been doing what I'm doing for so long because there was a need for it, because I do love it and because I'm good at it. A while ago I was just thinking about life and what I love to do and it dawned on me, I'm not really sure what I love to do what I'm really good at, what gives me energy. This isn't a negative thing, it's been exciting thinking about it, praying about it and talking to others about it. It's exciting thinking that God could be taking me new places, and having me do new things! I have the same feeling I get when I have a blank canvas in front of me and a lot of options on how to fill it!
2. All my life I have felt guilty for so. many. things. Things that I don't even have to feel guilty about! I mean the kind of things that when you feel guilty about them it makes you a ridiculous person! [Hello my name is Joni and I am a ridiculous person.] Would you like to know some of the things I've felt guilty about over the years that are ridiculous? Of course you would!
-I don't like water slides
-I enjoy watching movies
-Roller coasters scare me
-Sometimes I just want to be alone
See? I mean who needs to feel guilty about these kinds of things? No one, that's who. People may disagree with my opinion about water slides but it doesn't mean I have to feel bad about it! So I'm going to stop that. It's important that I be ok with who I am I think. Unless it's bad things that really do need to change.

One of the bigger things I've been pondering is how even though I love God so much I do not show it enough or to the best of my ability. Seriously, ponder with me if you will, God's love for me is vast and creative and wonderful, yet somehow I'm very limited in the way that I love Him. Everyone and their barista has gone through or at least heard of The 5 Love Languages. We've all discovered how we are best loved and figured out how to best love the people in our lives according to this. I'm not dissing the theory behind the 5 love languages, I find it helpful. The thing about it is, God is love and He is the one who created all those different ways of loving others so doesn't it make sense that He can be loved in all those ways as well? I don't have to be limited in showing my love to God by singing worship songs and doing good things. I can...no, I should spend quality time with Him, give Him words of affirmation and praise and even gifts. One of the ways that I express love to my friends is making them cards and writing nice things in them. I can do that for God, it might seem silly but He sees my heart in it.

Well it feels good to talk about a few of the things stuffed in my head. My brain can breath a bit deeper now.

My face is very stoic right now.

My grandfather's heart stopped beating today. But only for a couple seconds. It just started beating slower and slower and slower until he went unconscious. He got help in time and they got his heart into rhythm again and got him stable enough to transport him to a city hospital by ambulance.

This happened earlier today but I still haven't called any of my friends to let them know what's happening. So I've turned to blogging instead.

Truth be told, my emotions are probably not what most people would expect. That's maybe the main reason I haven't talked to anyone about what's going on. I am sad, don't get me wrong. However, I'm mostly sad because my grandfather has never accepted Christ and so I know where he's going if he doesn't pull through this.

That's the saddest and scariest thing.