i don't even know what day this is...

tonight i'm thankful that i'm not good enough... which means i can stop trying.

tonight i'm thankful that jesus IS good enough.

there are only two categories of people: perfect and sinful.

trying to be in the perfect camp sucks. cause you never win. you never get there. you never achieve perfection.

admitting you're sinful. HARD. but good.

getting off the performance treadmill. HARDER.

i must become what i already am in christ.

thankfulness... slow and steady

a quick, 3am thank you to jesus for the body of christ. praise him for unity, grace and the interconnectedness of the lives of his people! in our city, the christian climate can often be one of cutthroat competition (ridiculous) and carelessness towards other congregations... but we are all, together, the body of christ.

tonight on the love bus, i felt what i feel like is a small piece of the joy that awaits us in heaven where we are freed from sin and, finally, truly unified. no doctrinal disputes or conservative conundrums, no emerging this and beware of that... just free, unadulterated worship to our father. the love bus was an awesome experience tonight. people from 4 different representative bodies from the city of regina came to love on the people and worship the lord; in doing so, they loved on each other.

there are some amazing hearts for jesus in this city! i am blown away by the selflessness of those who give their late night hours on the love bus to serve others. we had some amazing conversations with people who came on the bus tonight, from suicides and abortions to kids taken away and broken marriages.

i'm often reminded that issues never come in a certain package. we've all got them. it doesn't matter if you shower once a week or once a day, you're human, flawed and in need of a savior.

i'm really thankful tonight for people who love jesus in this city and are obedient to play their part, the part god has given them to play at this particular moment in time. for his glory.

so the last week i'm going to call a day (i can do that, right? i mean, it's my blog, after all!)... maybe i should make this 30 entries thankful, rather than 30 days thankful!

anyways, i'm going to call the last week a day and say that i am incredibly thankful for my relationship with jesus. he is the rock that is higher than i. he is unchanging, never failing, full of love... sacrificial, caring, genuine, real... he gave his life for me. i honestly don't know where i'd be or how i'd be able to function without him.

it's a weird thing to ponder... why do i love jesus? it seems so sunday school... "because he died on the cross for me"... but it's literally that simple. he died on the cross for me because i'm separated by my sin from god. god is full of love, yes, but he's also just. and in his justice, he cannot tolerate sin. but jesus' life, death and resurrection can pay the penalty on my behalf.

it's so much more though... it's a daily life of relationship, it's a walk, a journey. unlike our fellow man, jesus never fails us. he never stops loving, he's always perfect, he never lets us down. he's an incredible friend, brother and god. he is worthy of all of our hearts and the depths of our souls. we can trust him with everything. the more i know him, the more i love him. the more i love him, the more i trust him.

through christ, we are disciplined by the father because he loves us. uggh, discipline is hard. but it produces a harvest! it grows our character... it creates in us avenues to be like christ that would never be there apart from him.

life is hard sometimes. life is hard. but i trust jesus. i love him.

this week i'm thankful for jesus... the author and perfector of our faith. faith... a gift. unmerited, yet freely given.

faith... grace... jesus.

incredible gifts.

thank you, father!

day 13

somehow i put day 9 as day 12 below... not sure what happened there.

anyways... today was a tough day to be thankful. i just wasn't feelin it!

but, as always, the lord is good and showed up in unexpected ways.

i'm especially grateful for the way the lord creates community and the fellowship that takes places over a good meal. i had a great meal tonight and it was a most unexpected invitation, but one that i'm very grateful for! i love my community and the wonderful people that continually shower me with love and god's blessing.

i even ate a whole piece of steak! and it was delish!

thanks, r & c. :)

thankful three days

short and sweet synopsis...

friday - sweet, honest friends

saturday - hockey: play, watch, get involved

sunday - afternoon naps

:)

day 12

grace has been pressed upon me.

grace is incredible. it's free, it's unearned, you can't earn it, actually. never can. it's unlimited. unwavering. unfathomable.

i struggle to believe everyday that i am truly saved by grace and that i do not have to earn my standing before god. how many days do i feign to remember that, oh yes, chelsa, you are, indeed, saved! you are redeemed! you are loved unconditionally! all this "stuff" you're caught up in... simply details in light of grace and jesus!

i'm really thankful not only that jesus gives me his grace in unlimited amounts, but that he calls his community to live within the bounds of this grace. you see, i'm super messed up. i don't know about you, but i am. well, i do know about you. you're just as messed as i am... perhaps you haven't realized it yet! haha. who am i kidding. you know. we all do. but do you know you need a savior?

it's so easy for me to see my sin, failings, the ways that i hurt people, fail to uphold the gospel calling, etc, etc, etc. but then i have to remember... that these things are WORKS, not grace, and that i am no longer held under the law but under grace.

praise JESUS!

jesus calls his community to live under grace and extend this grace to one another... not one time, or even 7 times, but 70 times 7... an amount we could never count! i'm thankful for family that extends me grace, for sisters and brothers in christ who love me like a sister and accept me as i am, for boyfriends (oh wait, make that boyfriend) that allow forgiveness and healing in a relationship... all as a reflection of the cross and the grace that we live under.

jesus... you blow my mind.

i guess in being thankful for grace today, i'm thankful for the cross, the resurrection, and the mystery of the lord that leaves many things unexplainable.

would they really be that great if simple me could figure them out?

day 8

today i'm thankful for positive, supportive and inspirational role models in my life.

this might sound strange, but one of mine is a 64 year old professor who also happens to be the advising faculty for my internship. he is just a downright wonderful person. i've been having a pretty rough september/october, and today he met me at the high school just to chat and see how he might be able to help.

he's great for many reasons. he's extremely smart and very sharp. despite the head knowledge, he cares about people. and you know it. you're not just a number to him, you're a person with a life and a heart and he cares about how you're doing. he's dedicated his life to helping students, helping teachers and trying to make education better. he taught me to pay yourself first... something i will take with me for the rest of my life as a key personal finance principle! among many other things. :) he doesn't judge. someone else might have condemned me or judged me today. or just not cared.

our brief, 45 minute chat, was a huge encouragement to me today.

thanks, cyril. i'm thankful for you.