Angst… or Peace

Coming home, and coming down with the flu was not part of the plan. Expectations? Shattered.

That’s a little dramatic, but feverish sleep, forced rest, and doing nothing was not what I expected for my Christmas break.

It is an in-between season right now. A year in Canada, 3+ weeks with family in Texas, and then another year in Canada.

My roots have grown down, and people-roots have grown too. They’re pulled up, abruptly but gently – and it is for a greater purpose.

I know that I can trust my Creator, my Saviour, my Grower. His big master plan is more beautiful and magnificent that I can see on this side of the tapestry.

Philippians 1:6 – His work is going on in my life, and He will carry it to completion.

I may not understand the why of this sickness, or the how and what of this in-between season – but I can trust. And that’s what I’ll do.

Jesus is my hope, the anchor for my soul, firm and secure.

The Doxology:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Amen.

And Merry Christmas! This time of slowing down and rest and refocusing is so important, even if this flu forced it on me.

Just like there is a reason behind the seasons God leads my life through, there’s a reason for Christmas. Let’s reflect on the reason for this season… And it’s about Jesus. His first coming, His love, His life. Also is sacrificial death, and the reconciliation we can have with God the Father. He died, and He rose again. That’s why we celebrate Easter in the spring.

And Jesus Christ, our glorious Saviour Messiah, will return again, so very soon. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus! Now, I live my life for Him, through every crazy season that He brings in my life.

Sunday Night Live Update

a day in the life

The fall colour has passed. But isn’t it nice to look back at the glorious reds and oranges of autumn? So here’s a pretty picture from my favourite tree behind the GFA Canada office. Praise the Lord for His creation. And His faithfulness. There is calm in the midst of the storm, and peace in the midst of a whirlwind.

And now, here’s a little live update from my life right now:

Tonight I have a zillion things to do… it’s 6 days until I graduate from the School of Discipleship. Maybe 5. Yeah, just FIVE days. It’s pretty crazy, and the time flies. It’s hard to find time to write personally, but I think it’s important.

So here’s just a snippet.

Tonight I was blessed by rereading this post from my sister Clara: Peace in the Midst of a Whirlwind. Go read it.

Also, the Lord has blessed me so much as I read through the story of Jesus’ birth – the Christmas story – in the first few chapters of Luke.

One verse about God’s faithfulness stood out to me:

“For no word from God will ever fail.” – Luke 1:37

This is a mixed up jar of ramblings. Life is crazy busy, and I’m trusting the Lord.

PS: It’s snowing now! See a couple pictures over at http://instagram.com/eliciamoose. Also, read my newest newsletter. It’s pretty cool and there’s some announcement news: https://eliciaphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/elicias-december-newsletter.pdf

first glimpse of the Taj Mahal

photographic journeys, photos, South Asia 2013

During my recent trip to the other side of the world, I visited the Taj Mahal! This was my first glimpse.

Just one part of our super awesome trip.

Faces of South Asia : Mina

Faces of South Asia, on my heart, photographic journeys, photos, School of Discipleship in Canada, South Asia 2013

Mina lives in a leprosy colony in South Asia. She begs from 4am to 11am every day at a local temple. She is outcast by almost everyone.

But look at her joy.

Meeting Mina, talking with her, hugging her, praying for her — these things I will never forget.

In September/October 2013, I had the privilege and opportunity to travel in South Asia for two weeks as part of my year-long discipleship program (School of Discipleship.) My eyes were opened, my heart was broken, my life was changed.

This is the first, I hope, of many stories that I share from South Asia and how the Lord impacted me there.

September Saturday

a day in the life, photos

Photographs in circles.

recent foods

a day in the life, food

Simply, what I have eaten in the recent past.

isaiah 54:10

photos

hello from canada!

photos, School of Discipleship in Canada

I’m a few days into my second week at Gospel for Asia’s School of Discipleship here in Stoney Creek, Ontario. So far everything has been fantastic. There have been hard parts, and challenges, and struggles – but God has been so faithful to me so far. He’s not going to stop now.

Last Wednesday my classmates and I finally found out what we were itching to know — where we would be working in the office! My ministry placement is in the Web Department. Trevor is our coordinator, and besides myself, two other students are in Web: Ashley and Crissy. Working together is already such a blessing. Part of my job is writing some posts for the Gospel for Asia Canada blog (blog.gfa.ca). So far I’ve put together posts about our first week at School of Discipleship (read that here,) and what we’re learning in class (read about knowing Jesus more over here,) and then my most recent post was about myGFA (this one has a video too! click here to see it.)

I’ll probably be posting over on that blog more than here. They have us pretty busy as School of Discipleship students. Three times a week we have class; throughout the week we have assignments; we work in the office Monday through Friday; we have morning prayer, evening prayer, and house prayer; we have activities on the weekends.

Last Sunday (January 20) we visited Niagara Falls! This is our class. Left to right: Crissy, Abigail, Michelle, Daniel, Rueben, Ashley, Sharlena, Elicia, Chris, and Barb (Rueben and Barb are our house mentors.)

The Creed of the Church

School of Discipleship in Canada, words

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds;
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
Begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from Heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man;
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered and was buried;
And the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures;
And ascended into Heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father;
And he shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead;
Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life;
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified;
Who spoke by the prophets;
And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

This is what I believe.

2013 is the year that I have dedicated to growing more like Jesus. I’m part of Gospel for Asia’s School of Discipleship in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada. Striving to know Jesus more fully and intimately.

The mission of Gospel for Asia’s School of Discipleship is to assist men and women to become devout followers of Christ and to fulfill the great commission by enabling them to know Jesus more fully and intimately through the careful study of God’s Word along with practical teaching and training relevant to each individual God given calling.

What I’m studying currently: the core values of Gospel for Asia and the Bible from 30,000 Feet by Pastor Skip Heitzig.

developing a roll of film

a day in the life, photos, words

Learning to develop black and white film was one of the best things that’s happened to me. I love shooting film, and have loved it for a while. Learning to develop it on my own made it so much more awesome.

Last semester I took Daniel Rodrigue’s News Photography I at Brookhaven College. I had cool assignments that weren’t really work, because taking photos is awesome and fun. My kind of class, for sure. I made a camera out of a can, I shot with instant film, and spent hours in the school darkroom. Brookhaven has a black and white photo lab, and all of the equipment and space you need for rolling film onto reels, pouring in the chemistry to develop the film, and making enlargements and prints of your photos.

One Thursday I was at the photo lab at Brookhaven, developing film. (Standing at a sink for an hour and shaking a film tank intermittently is not the most interesting thing it the world. It’s a little boring [except that you know that what you’re doing is making photos, so it’s worth it.] I have small hands, so my fingers cramp up from holding onto the film tank. Then there are chemicals spilling, and dripping onto your hands, and then drying just enough to make it uncomfortable. [I’m making this sound horrible. It’s not really this bad.])

So I was at the lab, developing film. I decided that I would instagram the different steps of developing film, just for fun, and for something to do while I wait. I decided that I would hashtag it all #photolabthursday to group all of the photos and tweets together.

And, now I’m going to share the film developing process with you, via my instagram posts. Just a fraction of all the photos that I posted though!