Tuna Sandwich with a side of...ahhhhhhh.

Over this past year my comfort food has shifted. It used to be popcorn (which I still really love). Now I unwind with a toasted tuna sandwich on whole wheat and a cup of tea. (yet another grandma trait that I seem to have developed)

This shift has got me thinking about food...


Food is powerful.

You can smell it, see it, taste it, touch it, hear it cooking.

Food is an experience. It's tied to memory and relationship.

Think about it. A Baby is born and some of it's first experience of another person is Mother feeding it.

We celebrate with food, we mourn with food, we meet around food.

Food is the great leveler. We all need it.

Jesus was all about food. His first miracle was at a feast. He fed 5 thousand. He wanted to be remembered around a table with bread and wine.

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.

Blessed are you who run to him. (Psalm 34:8)

Bon Appetite!

So tell me, what's your comfort food?

...

I'm no poet.

My pen won't stir you.

But my heart, my heart could tell you of a million drops of mercy,

like dew, fresh and new each morning.

I'm no dancer.

My feet won't move you.

But my heart, my heart could dance you radiant grace,

poured and lavished, warming and lifting.

I'm no artist.

My brush won't dazzle you.

But my heart, my heart could paint faithful love,

powerful enough to shake the earth and gentle enough to wipe away tears.

I'm no author.

My words won't inspire you.

But my heart, my heart could tell you of the Savior, who is Love incarnate.

Who transforms and redeems. Who has rescued me.

I'm no musician.

My songs won't fill your ears.

But my heart, my heart will always sing of Jesus Christ.

His saving grace. First in my heart, and love of my life.

Harvest Gold...and full of mold.

When I was little we had a harvest gold dishwasher. One day it broke...just stopped working, full of dirty old dishes. We just closed it up.

3 years later it was time to move. We opened the dishwasher up, and guess what? The dishes were still there and they were still dirty. Even dirtier in fact.

That's sin for you. You can close the dish washer but the dishes will still be dirty. Avoiding sin doesn't make it go away.

ouch.

School is so much better once you've graduated.

So I'm taking a class at Taylor College. Intro to Christian Ethics with Ken Nielsen. What can I say? It's Ken! I'm loving the chance to engage my brain in an academic way.

In the past I wasn't really very interested in ethics, but now that I'm out in the world it appeals to me more and more. I have always cared a lot about why people make the choices they do and what governs their lives....I just never would have seen that as connected to ethics.

I'm enjoying it so much that I might even do my homework! Now there's a statement!

PS: Ken figures that he and I will butt heads and have some good discussions....When he was explaining this to the class he accidentally called me Reed. That made us both laugh. He said it was a Freudian slip....I said it was a Freudian compliment.

CCMAs have come and gone...

...we had so much fun! My friend and I partied the night away (til 10:15). Our seats were phenominal. I'd tell you all about it, and the music man we rescued on the way there....but I've got chops on the grill. I'll fill you in later!

Praise the Lord.

Thanks to all who have been praying over this past weekend. I'm feeling much restored and refreshed. God is Good!

Prayer request

...I don't like to make a big deal of when I'm in pain. However, I believe in prayer and I'm not proud.

I've been having trouble sleeping and functioning, mentally and physically this past week. Life doesn't stop though. Praise the Lord, He's always got my back and He always sustains me. Medication is taking the edge off, and I'm trying to grab as much rest as I can. I need to be safe and healthy to support the folks around me! This is an ongoing pain issue-but God is bigger.

So if you're reading this and you have a chance, I'd love it if you'd pray with me.

Thanks a bunch!
Your Sister, Gray.

Raise your hand if you're going to the CCMA's!

My friend and I totally have our hands raised for that one.

That's right folks. I, Gray Gillies, long time disliker of Country Music, will be attending this Monday's Canadian Country Music Awards. Why, you ask? Because of this lovely lady right here. We've been friends for a few months now and she LOVES country music.

When we met she was totally appalled by my lack of knowledge in the country department, and has single handedly undertaken my education. You know, Country music is not that bad. I still have all the same beefs about it as I do about most secular music. (Mainly lyrics, morals, and marketing) But she gets so much joy from it, that country music has become contagious to me.


I enjoy it because I enjoy her. And on Monday, from the second row, we'll enjoy singing and dancing...and wearing our matching Red Cowboy Hats! Keep an eye out for us, all of ya'll out in TV land.

Moral of the story: You never know where an open heart will lead you!

This ones for Andrea!

This is Andrea and a horse.....not pictured here are the magnetic waves of pure love (and sadly allergy) that flow between them!

This is Gaston. He's an Oxen. I patted him and got doodie on my fingers. Patting him was scary because he has big horns.




This is Princess. He's an Oxen too. He didn't really move....he might have been a decoy.


These are some great gals. This post is for Andrea! (first on the left)

My Mom loves pigs.

Mom says that she loves pigs because "they're so solid". My mom likes to touch pigs. This is the Pig we saw on monday, you can't tell from this picture but it's the size of a small pony.

It freaks me out that pigs can eat a human body bones and all. Creepy. Oh yeah, and they STINK!

But my Mom sees past all that. Oh Mom. I Love you!

Have you met my Family?

My family is amazing! Seriously if you've never met them or haven't met the whole Clan....Well you just should because they're spectacular!

This is all us kids at Kings Landing on Labour day...in the rain...cuz we're committed to history (well really to all being in the same place for once). That's Jesse (my older brother), Emma (my lil' sis'), Me and then there's Jen ( my God Daughter), and Andrea( my brother's girlfriend).
Mom (Greer) and Dad (Peter+) were there too. It was a day to remember, because we we're together.

I love you guys! Thank you for being my truth tellers and my cheer leaders. I only really make sense when you're my context. Love doesn't even begin to describe...

"Boxed Juice"

My grandmother calls juice boxes, "boxed juice". Which is a more accurate term I spose. I mean you're after the juice not the actual container, so asking for some "Boxed Juice" makes more sense than asking for a "Juice Box". I'm gonna start Boxed Juice revolution!

(Did you know that you can get "Juice Box Buddies"? The boxed juice sits inside this hard plastic thing with handles. I guess so that you don't squeeze it all over the place. Man I hate that!)

Thank you, Sweets.

These words have totally changed my life.

Everyday I have the blessing of being able to serve. And not just serving a meal or sweeping a floor but I'm allowed to meet the hearts of my friends and see to the core of their hurts and joys. Unmasked and unashamed. And my friend says "Thanks you, Sweets." and he means it. Sometimes it blesses me so much that I'm overwhelmed with love and I just weep grateful tears.

He's teaching me that to be truly served is to make yourself fully vulnerable to another person. And that is a deeply personal gift. A gift that blesses the served, but has the power to bless and transform the server as well.

For me to really allow my heart to be served is to have so much trust not in the other but in Jesus. It's really hard. To trust not because the other person has earned it, but because of a radical commitment to a gracious God.

I'm reminded of John 12:1-3, Where Mary anointed Jesus feet and wiped them with her hair.

Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently
raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to
dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the
table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils,
anointed and massaged Jesus' feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The
fragrance of the oils filled the house.

Jesus served and was served. Deeply. As Worship. Not a surface gesture. Service is a fragrance pleasing to God. It should be the distinctive aroma of his people and the church.