Marathon Progress/Come Take Me Home

Thank you to all of you who have donated to my marathon fundraiser! After just a few weeks, we are 25% there!

And how is my training going? 

I'm so glad you asked!

...It's crap. 

Last Saturday I was supposed to run 32km. This would be my second time doing this distance, the longest distance that I ever do in my training. At kilometre 19 I called my husband and said...and I quote... "I don't want to do this anymore. Come take me home." 

Big. Fat. Failure. 

I was so frustrated with myself. Yes there were big hills on this run. Yes it was raining. But I've done worse before. Why did I give up this time when I kicked butt last time? One word....

Accountability.

The last time I did this long run I told people via facebook that I was going to do it. So when I wanted to give up and call for a ride home, I didn't. Because I knew that I had promised the internet that I would do it. This last weekend I didn't tell anyone that I was going for another long haul. So giving up had no public consequences. (Besides the obvious ones here now with this public confession.) 

This reminds me of my walk with God. There have been times when I've been tired. I've prayed that simple prayer "God, I don't want to do this anymore. Come take me home." But He didn't. I'm still here trucking away at following Him and working at establishing His kingdom here on earth. And I love it.

If you are tired and ready to pack it in I want to encourage you today. Create accountability for yourself. Tell a friend. Tell someone about your hopes and dreams, the things God has called you to. Whether that's committing to reading your bible everyday, or getting to know your neighbours, or whatever he has called you to. Tell someone about it and ask them to keep you accountable. That way it's harder to give up when you have someone keeping tabs on you.

Anyways. I'm off to do my run today. 7miles. (That's 11.26km.) I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks for being my accountability! 

This is me at km 21 last spring at my first half-marathon.

I may not be smiling so big on October 13th, because on October 13th I will be running my first FULL MARATHON! Let's put that in perspective shall we?

42.1km is from Vancouver to Langley

or for my islander friends....

42.1km is from Victoria to Shawnigan Lake.

So why am I doing this? I run a program called Momentum, a peer mentorship program where I have a bunch of teenagers from the high school come and volunteer at my elementary school recreation program. They will gain the volunteer hours they need to graduate while being stretched and challenged by me and my team of mentors. Each teen will meet every other week with the mentor I have hand selected (with much prayer) for them. Their mentor will ask them questions, listen to them, pour into them their own wisdom, and, if the teen is ok with it, pray for them. I am so excited to see this happen. This is what I've been doing one-on-one with teens for the past 5 years. Now instead of just me working with my dozen or so teens, I am multiplying my impact by mobilizing and connecting dozens of adults to work with many more teens. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few right?

In order to help my mentors be the best mentors they can be, I'm providing them with "Mentor Packages" (Creative name right?) In it will be Tim Hortons gift cards, a deck of playing cards, admission tickets to the batting cage and castle fun park...etc. This will help them connect with their teen in fun ways without breaking the bank. I estimate these packages will cost about $2,000 to put together. Momentum is only limited by volunteers and finances...because I have more student applications then I know what to do with! 

So back to the marathon. I am fundraising for Momentum by way of my marathon. I'm asking for people to sponsor me for each kilometre, $50 per. I already have sponsors for the first 6 kilometres! So that leaves 36 yet to be claimed. 

Will you sponsor Momentum via my marathon? Ask me for details or go to www.youthunlimited.com and click "donate" then fill out the appropriate fields. Be sure to say "Carmen Rempel marathon" in the "Give to the program or staff member" field. 

I'll keep you updated on my training and the fundraiser progress here!

Today a Loaf of Bread Almost Made Me Cry

Today I went to go speak at Regent Christian Academy in Surrey. My connection with that place is a few friends of mine who worked at the same camp (Anvil Island) as me this past summer. One of those friends introduced me to the crowd. He did the usual thing of telling who I am and what I do and who I'm married to and all that. But then he did something very very special. He gave me a loaf of Moreno's garlic swiss bread.

This is my favourite bread.

He said "Carmen we got this for you because last summer in one of your sermons you talked about being the aroma of Christ in the world, and you used Moreno's bread as your example. So we thought of you, and thought we should get you some of that bread that you went on and on about."

I was touched.

They remembered! Today I was greatly encouraged by this gift of a loaf of bread because these camp friends not only remembered my object lesson for one of my messages, but they actually remembered the lesson!

Most of the time I think that the words I preach go in one ear and out the other....and today these wonderful, beautiful people went all the way to the bakery to prove to me otherwise.

Thank you friends.

A Dream, A Call

Last night I had a dream. And I’ve been singing ever since. Not a happy song. No. (And that’s odd for me.) It’s a deep song. A song that wells up from the deepest part of me and leaks out in non-rhyming verses with unsteady rhythm while I’m alone.

I was in a field. A field full of young people. Hundreds, if not thousands. There were adults there too. Caring adults. Youth leaders, parents, youth workers...etc. We were all wandering aimlessly around in this field, seemingly waiting for something to begin. 

Then they dissapeared.

The youth. 

They vanished. They dissolved really. I knew, in the way that you can only know things in dreams, that they had vanished into death. Us caring adults were left in an empty field, grieving for the lost young people. 

But it didn’t stop there.

We began to sing. Us caring adults. It started slow and deep, just a few voices. Then more and more voices joined in, and as we sang the song grew stronger. There was an electricity in the air. The song rose in a loud clamor towards God in heaven. “Have mercy! Jesus Christ! Have mercy on us!” We cried in unison. 

And then the ground began to rumble. In one little patch. The earth began to pulse. And front of our eyes, to the sound of desperate singing, she arose from the earth. She. Back from the dead. Still with the dust shaking off of her, confused innocence in her eyes, still with the breath of God in her lungs...she lived.

She was only the first. The ground rumbled, and the song changed to a song of victory as all the young people were returned to us. 

Ezekiel 37:4-10 “Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones; Behold I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.”.... SO I prophesied as I was commanded and as I prophesied there was s sound, and behold a rattling. and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.”

If this story stirs your heart to pray, then pray. Please join me in a time of intercession for the youth of our city.

Is Life Just Hard?

Ok. So here's the deal. Last week I was at a ladies conference and it was excellent. As part of the weekend we listened to a panel of ladies who have overcome much. Loss. Divorce. Death. Mental illness, and all the nice things like anxiety and shame that go along like a side dish to the already full plate of struggle for these poor women. They were inspiring as they told their powerful stories of how they fought through it with God's help. I went away with one question.

Is life just hard?

I work with at-risk kids and their families so I understand that my view of the world may be effected by that perspective. I'm surrounded by hurting people all day and then go home and put on the news and hear stories that make me scared to be at home alone. So I have begun to wonder if this is all life is. Inevitable suffering.

Don't get me wrong.

I know that life has awesome things to offer. I have lots of amazing things and my life is filled with so much joy every day. I'm not sad here...I'm just wondering if one day I will have to suffer. Like it's inevitable. I'm followed by this terrible feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop. This joy can't last. I'm willing to admit that I may be wrong. I hope for it actually. Hence this little blog post. I'm taking an in-formal survey. If you are over 30 years old and have not suffered much, let me know. I want to hear about it. Does everyone who lives on this planet have to under go some great trial? Or are there a lucky few who escape and lead trauma-free lives? If this describes you. Let me know. I will write a follow up to this post based on the responses I get. Until then!

Grown to Last Fail

"Grown to last Guarantee my foot!" ya...I can kill anything. These 4 inch roses that claimed to be able to last for a minimum of 4 weeks died a slow painful death in my office in 3. I didn't ignore them either. I watered them faithfully. Can you over-water plants? huh, shows how much I know. The good news is I feel no compassion for these plants. I don't give a rip about them or their feelings. The reason for me being upset is only because they lied to me. Stupid lying roses. It's harder to take when people do this. Wither away in front of you. As a youth worker I spend my time caring for people. I buy them coffee, listen to them, comfort them, encourage them. Lots of times this has a good result in happier healthier people. Sometimes it doesn't. So how does a youth worker deal with failure like that?

It's all about success.

How you define it, I mean. 1john 4:19 says "We love because He (meaning God) first loved us." Note that this passage doesn't say "We love so that people get better." Or "We love so that the world changes." No. No. No. There is no "so that". There is only a "because of". If you change your idea of what success is to being "Did I love because Christ first loved me today?" instead of "Did that person change?" you will be over all more encouraged and successful. This will allow yourself to grow and thrive! If you work with people and feel yourself withering away right along side those that you care for, remember why you care. Remember your purpose. And then get right back out there in the spirit of Because Of.

An Explanation of The Cross of Jesus, The One Called Christ

I read of a God of justice. A God who looks at this broken world full of pain and hurt and wrong doing, and He grieves. He weeps and the Holy Spirit intercedes with deep groaning for us. Then this grieving God takes action and punishes the wicked and cruel. He repairs the brokenness of the world with fire. He is like a potter putting unfinished clay vessels into the furnace, or like a metalsmith refining gold with fire. There is suffering, there is justice. Recompense for evil actions taken by evil people. Whole countries getting what they deserve. A God of justice bringing justice.

I read of a God of love. A God who made people in His image and loves them with a depth that none can imagine. A God who looks at this world and smiles at what he sees. He rejoices and delights in the people He has made. Then this joy filled God takes action and provides adventure and fun and beauty for his people to enjoy. He is like a Father playing in the back yard with His children, or like a big brother who teaches his siblings the joys of bike riding and catching butterflies. There is joy, there is love. Love that knows no bounds pours out over the entire world in sunshine and song and dance. A loved people being lavished on by a God of love. A God of love being loving.

I read that this God of justice and this God of love are one in the same. A heart ripped in two by a need to see justice done, and love for those whom justice would punish. How are these two attributes of God reconciled? At the cross. The place where Jesus willingly died for the sake of the people who he loved. Where the justice of God came down, but came down on the one head that didn’t deserve it. Jesus, the one called Christ, took on his body and soul the punishment for a world filled with injustice. In doing this He freed the beloved people from their deserved punishment so that they might enjoy the beauty that they were created to live in for eternity.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that none should parish, but all could have eternal life.”