Gotta love Skype! :)

Besides the beautiful sunshine over here yesterday, the best thing was to chat over Skype with some family! :) (if you know anyone living away from home/far away like I do, do not ever underestimate the value of giving them a call- phone or any other type!)

Hello auntie Mimo!

Mum, you know you could put me down now..

Now that's better...

She is four weeks today! Woohoo! We are all besotted as you can see. =)

Family

I felt like posting some family photos. Here is our latest addition! She arrived on September 14th. I'm her auntie. She's lovely and a miracle!

The next photo was taken in the summer of 2007. It's my little sister and me. She's was a miracle too when she was born, and still is (though sometimes gives me headaches too ;P)

Spiritual abuse

From Naked Pastor

It is so true. Unfortunately. :( I think ANY person in leadership in ANY church should seriously have a self-inspection to see where they stand with regard to spiritual (and emotional) abuse.

We are not always aware of our offensive ways!

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24

Humility is the key. We don't have to be perfect (and hence in denial of our faults) - just ready to admit them and have humility. He can change us and help us change. Watching Jamie Oliver's latest show and project here in the UK made me think of this as well. There's a lovely single mum of two in it, Natasha, who is such a beautiful example of humbleness. In general, it takes lots of guts to admit you are in the wrong and that you want to change. That maybe all that you have been doing is not the best or the greatest way. Willingness to change. Renewal of the mind..

I think spiritual abuse, as well as in the wider world emotional and verbal abuse are way too underlooked and discussed. It is good that there is more attention these days to violent and physical abuse, but it should be remembered that there are other forms of abuse that are highly destructive too. And they are much more subtle.. And less noticeable. And most of the time, we people in general, don't even realise if we are engaging in something that is neither right, healthy or good. (Like we are taught to eat certain foods, but in the end are those foods good and healthy for us?) Thus I think one could be engaging in spiritual abuse even without realising, because one may be conditioned and thought to think it is ok as a Christian to behave this way and do things that way (though it's not if you ask God!). Someone said in the discussion at NP's site there, that there should definitely be more books on spiritual abuse, I agree! (NP is himself by the way a Vineyard pastor in Rothesay, Canada)

Duff duff Duffy

Inspired by Karen's comment, I thought I'd put some more "new" music up. I only found Duffy this summer. So here she is with "Warwick Avenue"



I've caught it quite a few times on the radio over here (Finland). I like "Stepping stone" and "Distant Dreamer" as well, and "Mercy" of course!

Meaningful life

"Step into the light and see, how awesome you can be
Step into the light and see, how awesome you can be
Step into the light and see, how awesome you can be"

..is what Jason Mraz sings in this video at the beginning. I saw him live a wee while ago (was awesome), he got us singing "Every little thing is gonna be alright" and "I won't worry my life away". Generally I like his message(s) :) He said it's always summer in his head in one interview. I like the life view. Today I saw a friend and we talked about seeing life glass half full. In the bad times (and all times) concentrating on the things that are good. Gives you perspective. To see what we've got.

And then being back here, home in Finland, has made me realise what a high standard of living people have in here (generally). And what I see is people have so much, and still they are not (necessarily) happy. They don't see it or appreciate what they have! People have it so good here. Not all of course, but generally. It is such a high standard of living!! As the saying goes, the more you have, the greedier you get. I think that's our problem in western societies is that nothing is enough, we are not satisfied with anything, we need more, more, more all the time.

So I guess like Jason Mraz sings, you could say "Step into the light and see, how awesome you have got"

Ok, rant over :)

Step into the light and see, how awesome you can be! :)

The bigger picture; part of a body

Another ace article by Pete Greig!

"Christ is bigger than any one perspective or set of prejudices"

100% Right!... but only partly

A picture says more than a thousand words..

An important topic has been touched by Jon Birch at Asbo Jesus. Too many people I know are, or have been in the second situation.

What's our self-image..and is it really and truly compatible with reality... Is our concentration and our demands for our bodies healthy... I pray we'd all come to a healthy understanding of who we are, and accepting of that, and seeing ourselves beautiful as we are!

Touching

Just watched this,

We Are Together

"A remarkable and moving documentary that follows 12-year old Slindile, her siblings and friends at their South African orphanage who use music to overcome hardship and loss."

There's a trailer in the link. Their singing is so beautiful and touching.
The whole documentary was.

Another link I thought I'd share (maybe especially to those few Finnish friends reading! who probably haven't heard of this either.) I had never heard of Greenbelt Festival until this summer, but it looks like something I'd like to go to and very interesting! I won't be able to this year though. It was also recommended to me by my friend David E in England.

Help in need

Original by Nicole C Mullen

Weary brother, broken daughter, widowed lover, you're not alone

Sow the Seed

"Now here’s a wild thought. What would happen if beginning today, every Christian on the planet would treat everyone else the way they would want to be treated? What would it do for the church, for the Kingdom of God, for the world, and for those non-Christians who are turned off by Christianity because of how Christians treat one another? (You know, like Ghandi who said: “I would become a Christian if it weren’t for the Christians”).

As long as I’ve been a Christian, I’ve noted two spiritual pillars that are incredibly difficult to keep in mind. They are all-too easy to forget. One is to rejoice in our suffering. The other is to put ourselves in the shoes of another person whenever we’re dealing on the level of human relationships.

...if you don’t wish for your motives to be imputed with evil, then don’t impute others with evil motives. If you don’t wish to be judged, then don’t judge others. If you don’t wish to be gossiped about, then don’t gossip about others. If you don’t wish to be personally attacked, then don’t attack others personally. If you wish for others to give you the benefit of the doubt and think the best of you, then give others the benefit of the doubt and think the best of them. If you wish to be treated with kindness and understanding, then treat others with kindness and understanding. If you wish to be forgiven, then forgive others, etc."

Nice post by Frank Viola.

SO GOOD to be reminded. You can read the entire post in here.

PS. The photo is of a Mango that Karina planted in May before she left, which I almost threw away already because it didn't look like anything was going to happen to it. It was just simply the stone of amango she had eaten! Just a week or two ago it started coming up, I took this photo yesterday and it is going up by leaps, today it looke again few centimetres taller! I look forward to seeing what it will end up looking like! God is speaking to me through this plant.. You never know what you are sowing. It may seem like there are now results, while in fact it is "brewing" and rooting before you will see the outer growth. All is not visible straight away. And Karina is not here to see the results of what she's sown. I'm glad she did though. I am here to enjoy it. =) I'm sure people who know a lot about plants and do gardening have such insight to some truths of God and His Kingdom.. I was ready to "throw in the towel" and didn't expect much of that plant (as it was kind of just a test to see if it would grow, from my point of view anyway), I am now glad I didn't and kept watering it! It speaks to me of not giving up. And like with treating others as you wish yourself was treated, you don't know what kind of seed you are sowing, and how beautiful a flower, fruit or plant there will end up growing one day. Just keep sowing. Good quality land will receive it and make it grow. (Matthew 13: 24-30) If it's there, and looks like nothing coming out, but it is a seed, a plant, just keep watering it and it may turn out like our Mango. :-)

Edit: Just goes to show how much I know about plants..Viola corrected me and apparentily it is an avocado in there! lol! Ok, whatever it is something is growing :)