purpose

“A ship in a harbour is safe – but that is not what ships are made for”

                                                                ~ John A. Shedd

If life is just a bunch of controlled experiences to enjoy….we have missed the point.

                                  ~ Me

Inner Workings

“Only he who gives thanks for the little things receives the big things.

We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measures of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good.

Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experiences that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious.

We pray for the big things, and forget to give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty;

if, on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.”

                                        ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer , “Life Together”

Two thoughts from psychology:

1. anger and frustration most often comes from unfulfilled expectations

2. happiness is usually subject to comparisons of present to past and ourselves with others.

Thoughts on those thoughts:

If only God knows the future and we put our trust in Him, the expectations of life should be secure in His hands and not subject to frustrations.

If happiness is dependent on subjective comparisons only…how is anyone ever happy? In God’s kingdom the last shall be first..this is foolishness to the world (and psychology). Can we be happy in humility, in poverty, in disgrace? Can we be happy if we are demoted? Or in a lower socioeconomic position than the people around us? I think the answer is a resounding YES! So if I bring this closer to home…can I be happy if my life in comparison to the past and others around me, isn’t where I expected or wanted it to be right now? again a resounding YES, if I listen to Bonhoeffer and simply give thanks for the experience i have had, am having, and for the Christian community in which I have been placed and which God wants to grow. No matter where or when we are in life…God has plans for a future!

Re______.(fill in the blank)

Sometimes life requires a hot bath, candles, and great wine.

Epic Rap Battle!

These guys are actually pretty funny! They also do a facebook song that's been viewed a lot! It's got a few good bits too. enjoy!

Muskrats & Beavers & Geese oh My!

Nature…I wonder what this word makes you think of? What comes to mind when you hear it?

A specific place? A certain event? Maybe something of a natural sort like trees or mountains, or maybe human nature?

Nature really encompasses many different aspects of life and I believe that is because we were created by God who created all those facets of nature itself. I love the natural world…I would love to be known as a naturalist; as someone who studies the natural world, believes in its usefulness, and seeks to conserve its resourcefulness. It’s interesting that “naturalism” as a philosophy removes the supernatural from its theory and believes only in the existence of nature itself. I don’t know how anyone as they observe, let alone understand, the intricacies and awesomeness of both the tiniest and most majestic of nature, does not sense the presence of creator God.

It is while I am experiencing the natural world that I feel most ALIVE! It is as if my being is more real, my senses are heightened and I am full of the joy of life. I really feel like anything is possible when I am in nature and it is these feelings that drive me to want to share it with others. Everyone is different in what makes them come alive, but I do believe all of us as created beings connect with creation on some level. I believe nature can bring people back to their center of being if they allow it to envelope them and open themselves up to its life force, that is God. I think nature can teach us about wellness and balance and shape our character and help our relationships.

Everyone needs it, you need it!

So go out and experience it, even if it just means finding a tree in the city and giving it a little pat to say hello and thank-you for the oxygen it is providing. Then thank God for creating it and for giving us lungs in which to breathe IT IN! breathing in and breathing out…that is another amazing thing! (maybe for another post)

This weekend my good friend teresa (whom I call tree) came and we explored nature. Here in Red Deer we walked around the Kerry Wood nature center trail. If you live in Red Deer and haven’t done this I highly recommend it! We saw deer, muskrats, beaver, geese, and ducks. It was a little hike in the woods, in the city. Then we were able to drive out to the mountains west of Red Deer and do a great hike that gave a magnificent view. It was a needed time for me for the above mentioned reasons and really rejuvenated my spirit. I hope something you do soon will feel the same for you!

Renae Plett: A Short History

well I was thinking today as I was painting that I feel like I've done so many different things over the years and been in so many different places that I find it hard to keep track of myself never mind other people keeping track of me (if any do). It never fails that when i go somewhere like church or meet someone out and about that somebody will come up to me and ask me where I am living now or what I am doing....after about 10 years of this it gets tiring trying to answer. It's tiring partly becuase I dont know half the time what my next move is, mostly becuase i have so many thoughts about what to do that I can't pinpoint anything. Believe me this gets tiring on its own, never mind all of the people asking...I ask myself everyday and tire myself out!! I thought just for kicks I would recap my post high school years on my blog and look for trends and consistencies and also maybe just see where God was working and possibly get a glimpse of where He is taking me next. So whether this list is for you the reader or me the writer, i'm not sure, but here it is:

1997: graduate from Heritage Christian School in Calgary
1997/98: paint
1999: Student at Caperwray Bible School New Zealand
2000: Staff at Capernwray doing office assistant work and Adventure Bible School leadership/food prep
2001: paint
2001-2003: Student at Red Deer College - Kinesiology: adapted physical education
2003: paint
2003/04: Student at Alberta Institute of Massage
2004: Work as a massage therapist / take pilates training in Ottawa
2005/06: massage therapy/ pilates instruction and training/ Instruct anatomy and physiology at massage school
2007: massage/pilates/instructing A&P /  Missions to Kenya for 3 months
2008: paint
2009: missions to Paraguay for a month
2008-2010: Student at Thompson Rivers University - Adventure Guiding & Management
2010: paint / Student at Canadian University College - Adventure Based Counselling

So here I am in 2010 with all of this behind me. It's been great! I have really enjoyed everything I have done and look forward to what is ahead. Currently I am painting (it seems to be the recurring theme) and I am going to school for Adventure Based Counselling. What is this you ask? good question. Well, It involves using adventure activities as a counseling format. Instead of typical sit in an office type counseling, it would be taking people outdoors and working through issues via using the activities and what they may metaphorically or directly bring forth. For example: A couple needs to work on communication. Put these two people in a canoe together and give them a task. During and after there are certain things that need to be talked through and a goal can be accomplished in the end. Much for fun than sitting inside right?? I think it could work...what about you? 

There are days when I still ask myself if I am on the right track; heading in the right direction...days when I'm not happy, not satisfied, unsettled and discontent...maybe I'm impatient, but more likely it is those days I am not trusting and resting in the one I know who leads with purpose and a plan unique to me. :)

Dress and Hair

 Beautiful Bridesmaids! Can you believe this is October 9?? It felt like the middle of July (although in Alberta that's not saying much actually) Obviously that guy in the background thought we looked better from the other side :) He's one of the photographers.

How my hair ended up...I like it, but our stylist either had her own agenda or wasn't listening becuase both of us who had her didn't really get what we wanted, although it ended up nice.

Altogether the day was great! A lot of fun with fantastic friends and I was so honored to be a part of the union betwen to amazing people like Blayne and Janell!

Sorry I dont have more pics, this is just to show you what I was wearing :)

letting go

I think I have a habit of holding on to things when I should really just let them go. It's sort of this compulsive fear that If I let it go it will never come back, so I have to just hoard it so I get to keep it, even if its just a possibility of something, and not even reality. Like hoarding the idea, becuase if i don't, it wont come true. This really leads to a lot of worry about things not happening becuase the idea just sits there and nothing ever happens!

From experience, I would advise not doing this....its not fun.

But tonight I expereinced a little bit of letting go and realize that the more I simply give to God the more I'm actually ok with present circumstances and feel free of having to have my own ideas becuase I know there is a master plan. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking of letting go of dreams or ambitions and I still think moving ahead in action towards those dreams is important, but its the release of being chained to them, of thinking life isn't fulfilled without them, and of believing its your own resposibility for making them happen.

Our resposiblity is pretty simple really. Give over responsibility to God. He's got it covered.  

Toddlers Online

This article amazed me! It's a US study, but seeing as we sort of follow our southern neighbours it is probably amost the same in Canada. Kids are growing up having their lives documented in cyberspace. Somehow I sort of think this is an invasion of their privacy and rights. I guess kids have to trust their parents until they choose to put their own voice on the internet, which is happening at a younger and younger age. I mean there is social networking sights for 5 year olds! Yes they are "friendly" but there is no mental strainer when you are that age to know what to put on there or not! I just have such mixed feelings about it all. What do you think?
92% of U.S. Toddlers Have Online Presence

a fresh beginning

I've accepted that I probably wont write here every day, but I feel like my life is taking another turn and there is some new stuff happening so a fresh look and renewed commitment to sharing might actually happen! hopefully!

I guess the newest is that I've started attending Canadian University College in Lacombe Alberta. I like Lacombe...its a small city but retains a cute town feel. I'm in two psychology classes, a sociology class, a history class, and a international health and wildreness first aid class which is great! So far we've mostly talked about bodily excretions due to parasties and bacteria. yum!

Well, more to come....really ;

Literary Surprise

I recently finished reading the "Millenium Series". If that name doesn't ring any bells, it might help if I say "the girl with the dragon tattoo" books. I was introduced to them on a recent trip to europe; my traveling companion was reading the first one, as was another random airline passenger in the row next to us. I figured it was another New York times best seller that I probably wouldn't read. But, then I read through the book I brought along with me; a small paperback I haphazardly pulled off my parents bookshelf without really being interested in it, but that looked like the right size for a backpacking trip. So when my travel partner was done that dazzling yellow book and I had watched her enter rapturously into its pages, hardly able to come back into reality, when in some of europe's most amazing cities, I thought maybe I'd start it and see if it was worth my time. And, whatever, I had some train time I needed to fill anyway...

A trip to Paris from the south of France was never so short! After a laborous first chapter, this book and the next one and the next one held me in a sort of trance. In fact, they held me like a tractor beam, past Europe and back home for two months, that was so strong it was like living in altered reality. I couldn't not finish these books. I borrowed the first one, bought the second one, and read the third one entirely in the book store! Except for once when I purchased it only to return if a few hours later after reading in a coffee shop for the afternoon. The content affected my emotions considerably with a range from interest, to wonder, to happiness, and even outright fear. Some nights I didn't want to turn my lights out in fear of the pictures swirling in my imagination. It wasn't until I finished the final chapter in the series that I could see the progression of content, and the progression of how they were supposed to make me, as a woman actually FEEL. You see, these books are primarily about women. Strong women. I would almost venture to say feminist, but not directly. Instead it is a celebration, in a sense, of the characteristics that comprise a women who will not let herself be dominated, held back, trod upon, humiliated, subjugated, used, manipulated or thought less of.

It is this progression that makes these books so amazing. It is a journey through the pages, of hopelessness at first; yes, hopelessness and disgust and anger at what you're reading about used and abused women, and it makes you want to cry and scream and just stop reading (and not turn your lights out). But the story continues and the strength grows, and in the end the lead female character prevails in all her imperfectness. But its not only her struggle and triumph that speaks to the strength of woman. Each and every female character in these books is strong and in many ways triumphant in their own roles. Each exudes independence, confidence, and an uncompromising attitude of self-assurance among male counterparts.

I am interested to know why these books were written; if there was a greater purpose or desired outcome for readers than literary enjoyment. I am also interested in what will come of them when the pop culture craze and hype and even movies are finished. Will they be a forgotten new york number one, or will their message be enough to make them classic? I don't think so, I think most people will read them because of the hype and then forget them while moving on to the next popular read. What I hope people don't forget; what I hope people get from these books and hold on to is this notion of persistent, unbreakable strength of character embodied in the uniqueness of who people are. What I also hope is that women will be celebrated. It is a sad reality that these books speak of. Women continue to be abused and thought less of all over the world, when it is woman who time and time again are the backbone, glue and heart of communities. People speak of empowerment and voice. Yes!

I am not a feminist, but I am a women and I am strong, I also know the need for man. I also believe in love and respect across genders where, as people, we accept and understand gifts and roles that are divinely given. So i'm probably missing some great revelation that these books give, and maybe i'm sucking out of them what I want to hear, but even if its not in there, this is a message our world needs.

the blog that hardly changes

i'm trying to make a decision....

do i keep this blog? and commit to being a little more faithful to it...

OR

do i end this attempt at online expression...

I'm torn. I'm terrible at decisions...especially when it means black or white, yes or no, where there is no compromise with another choice...i'm realizing I tend to want all options, and often try a lot without pursuing a lot to complete ends. What does this mean for my relationship with Jesus? Am I living for Him completely? Do I pursue Him above all else? When it comes to deciding against another option in a situation that tears at me...will it be black and white, yes or no with no compromise?

I want it to be...I fiercely want it to be.

Its my decision.