Valentine's Day in the eyes of the Lord

Yes, it's that time of year where lalala... love is in the air. A day to celebrate with loved ones, and for some, a day to cringe about how unfair life is.

Actually, the truth behind Valentine's day is quite heartbreaking. It is dedicated to a saint who was martyred for bringing Christians to marry. It reminds us about the Christians who have been persecuted for glory the Lord, just like how He was persecuted that we may glorify Him. It's so precious that today we could celebrate because the Lord is with us, from now until eternity.

So yesterday I bought three roses (before I realized the school's selling roses at a better deal) and put them in my living room. Then I remembered and thought about the Lord's love for me. I imagined what it would be like to have a Valentine's Day conversation with Him.
I say. "Beloved, these roses are truly beautiful."
He says "Darling, not only have I given to you, but I created them to remind you of how beautiful and precious you are in My heart, and that nothing should take away your beauty."

It's so amazing that God speaks to us by the things He created on Earth. How precious that the rose is so wonderfully made. Its thorns help protect the rose from being touched and damaged by animals.

And a quote from Songs of Solomon to keep the love flowing.

Shulamite: I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
Beloved: Like a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
- Songs of Solomon 2:1-2

So if you're that kind of person who gets jealous on that day, think about how much the Lord desires you. Jealousy will only make your heart harden and you'll be missing out on so much love He intended to offer. So, enjoy the rest of your day, or rather, eternity, in the love of the Beloved.

-Karen

Morning Glory

Happy Valentine's Day! <3 - From the plant in my room

This is a 'morning glory'. I grow this in my room every year. It's a climbing plant that climbs up and twirls itself around some fishing wire I've attached to the ceiling--so it keeps growing up to the ceiling until winter; it creates this curtain of flowers. It's messy to clean up every winter when it dies. The vines are all over the place, the leaves get crushed and goes all over my room, the dried up flowers fall and litter my floor, and I eventually end up getting soil all over my desk. So my friend asked me, why do I still grow this in my room at the end of every winter?

Well, I explained to her, that morning glories are a special kind of plant. It blooms a new flower every single day, in the morning. When the flower closes and fades in the evening, it starts to grow seeds where it bloomed. 

Still, she didn't see the appeal. So I explained again from a spiritual perspective. This plant, reminds me of the Lord's love. Every morning He gives me flowers. The vines are like the Lord's encouragement to me, He tells me to keep climbing! Even when the plant reaches the ceiling, it keeps growing, it doesn't stop--the Lord has so much planned for us, it seems limitless. Sometimes when I trim the plant by cutting the vines, more vines will grow up to replace where I've cut. Never give up, even when you've been 'cut down'. The plant is very tall when it reaches up to the ceiling which means I have to give it lots of water for the water to reach up there--this reminds me to be rooted in His love, to drink His blessings, fight 'gravity' to bring it throughout my entire life, to reach every 'leaf'.

She then looked troubled and said that being a morning glory must be a really horrible life (if morning glories had personalities). She explained, every day you labor to produce flowers, only to have the flowers wither away at the end of the day and for your entire self to wither away at the end of the year. Labor until death. 

And so I replied to comfort her, at the end of the day when the flower withers away, the stem in which the flower bloomed from still remains attached to the plant. From there, seeds are produced in the bud. At the end of the season when all the seeds have been collected, more morning glory plants can be planted at 20x the original amount! I said, the Lord will never forget your labors and toils and you will be rewarded for it. Your labor will never be in vain! 

 

So she found peace in this plant, just as I have. I love receiving flowers from the Lord through this plant, especially during the winter time. Knowing God is in the Small Things is really encouraging! You don't have to look too big or too far, He will always find a way to tell you He loves you. So, I thought I would share this with you! Hope to lift some February Blues.

Respond in the comments below:

What kind of 'small' daily blessings do you find yourself receiving from the Lord?

Devalued

A picture I took when I went to survey the Distillery District. It's a rather bad image due to my low quality of a camera--but when I stood there in that spot as I looked towards the colourful city, I thought, it's a shame that this place was left to ruins as the city progressed. It's almost as if the rest of the city had abandoned this district so it could grow faster; as if the Distillery District was dead weight... but it came back. The district is growing again.

Just a short sharing.. it's amazing how the Lord speaks to each one of us. If we keep our eyes and ears open, the Lord will chose the right moment to speak words to us, and in the most unexpected places, as well. Why, just last week while sitting in lecture, my professor said something that really sparked an epiphany. He said, "If we think of Algonquin Park as a place to escape from the city, then we have devalued the city--we have created this 'other', this exotic image of what nature should appear to be, as a pleasant place to go, that we have completely abandoned the idea of transforming our neighbourhood to be just as pleasant a place to be."

I sat in my Perspective of the Environment class stunned in awe at what he said. I thought to myself, this is exactly what I needed to hear! In order to have revival, it is not just going away from something to find something new, but to go back to the old and transform it. Have I devalued what I already had so quickly to the point where I already want something new? Is what I have gained a toy where I have played with it enough where I want a new one? And thus caused me to wander off to search for the 'other'--a place, or something, or someone, that I can escape to?

May we not devalue what we have gained, because what we have gained is so beautiful. Let us transform it together! :)

Be blessed, and be a blessing

Life is becoming a burden these days. Nowadays the world demands of things that don't seem to matter because it will perish one day. Let's say for example: Sometimes I wonder why I'm learning stuff like how to design Green Buildings so they can last for a long time, or consider renewable energy instead of oil so the world will be a better place. Well, going green may help improve the environment, but in the end it won't matter because the world will perish. (sorry for being a pessimist) I'm not saying keep using your cars and pollute all you want, because you don't want to make this place worse to live in either. Remember that a clean, healthy environment is a blessing the Lord had made, and He will greatly involve Himself in every aspect of life.

  ...celebrate the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings and singing... - Nehemiah 12:27

 It's so precious that the Lord revealed Himself more to me about His will of joy and His desire to share it with me. Even though I'm still battling the wrong concept of thinking that you can't enjoy anything anymore because everything's so fruitless or will perish, I do hope that He will bring me joy from His blessings.

Speaking of which, I do have prayer requests for myself and my friends from university. Even though I'm not that 'close' to them, I care about them very much. I saw that their hearts are saddened by the wrong concepts of this world and I really want the Lord to reveal Himself to them. Pray for me also that I may reconnect with them, because my contacts with them are becoming more distant. I really want Him to greatly use me in this generation.
Give me a call if you want me to talk more about this.

 -Karen