Month: April 2021

No Parking Zone

Published on by tinavila206 Comments

It was a quiet evening in June. I was cleaning up after dinner and my husband was getting our baby boy ready for bed. Life. Was. Goooooood. Though if I’m being honest, I’m sure I didn’t necessarily think so since I’ve been known to over-dramatizing things (not that my husband would EVER confirm this preposterous notion).

I digress…

While cleaning, I felt what can only be described as an earthquake. The entire house shook and rattled. My husband ran into the kitchen holding our son, and we met each other with matching looks of horror and perplexity.

Turns out a car drove full speed into our house. Of course…?

We stepped outside and sure enough, there it was. Half a car out on our lawn, the other half suspended in mid-air through a car-shaped hole in our basement.

So here’s what happened:

  • The car hanging out of our house actually belonged to our neighbour from across the street
  • This neighbour was completely sober
  • She meant to back into her own driveway
  • She realized she was going forward and meant to slam the breaks
  • She slammed the gas pedal even harder instead
  • She had recently lost a dear friend to cancer; her mind was preoccupied
  • Thankfully, she walked away without a scratch
Just your average car-in-a-house scenario.

We had not been living in our home for even a full year when this freak accident took place.

As the damage was assessed and we took inventory of our home, one thing was clear: our lives were spared that day.

For awhile, I was in a state of shock. The thought of what could have been… all the what if’s that run through your head rent-free in the aftermath of any accident… it was scary to think about!

So this is where my head went: Had the accident taken place just a few minutes later, my husband and I would have been sitting on the couch in our usual cozy spots, probably watching the Habs game or a new episode of The Office.

I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious…

– M.G.S.

The car rammed through the outer wall of our basement family room punching a 100 lbs window through the other side. That window then flew across the room, landing on a couch where we usually sit. It’s likely that we would have absorbed the force of that window.

Not to overdramatize (because, y’all know that’s not my vibe), but we truly were minutes away from that reality. Thank God that wasn’t the case.

The entire basement had to be renovated, and the exterior of our house refinished as well due to car-sized damage to brick and siding.

Thank you Lord for home insurance.

We used an old door to board up the hole until it could be repaired.

We had only JUST moved into our home less than a year before. We were finally out of boxes and had arranged everything exactly how we wanted it to be. So this surprise reno definitely was not what we wanted, not what we’d planned. It wasn’t well timed, nor did it make sense!

A few months later, it really did turn out lovely and we were so happy with the finished work. The insurance was fair in their appraisals, which made our newly-renovated home a true gift.

First Easy Takeaway: there are a lot of places one could park their vehicle. A neighbour’s basement is most certainly not on one of them.

So what’s the point of all this besides a bit of blockbuster entertainment with a side of shock value?

For awhile, I asked God that very questions. What was the point of that?! Sometimes things in life just happen. I don’t believe God is the cause of all of it, but anything we experience is allowed by God. So why did God allow that?

Well, it took a few more years to see the big picture.

In my last blog post, I shared about a big opportunity my husband had to start a new job, in a new town. So when he was offered a pastoring position at Meadow Brook Church, we knew we had to sell our house because we weren’t about to add a 10-hour commute to our daily lives.

And there it was. Our big picture.

Second Easy Takeaway: If you know anything about real estate (of which I possess nearly zero knowledge), you know that unless there are extreme fluctuations in the market, it’s wise to sit on a piece of real estate for awhile before selling for profit. Unless you’re flipping a fixer-upper, it’s not likely that you’ll turn a huge profit if you try selling within only a few years of buying.

God’s Providence

I find this to be increasingly true:

Those who leave everything in God’s hands, will eventually see God’s hand in everything.

I derive a lot, and I mean SO MUCH comfort in seeing God working in the tiny details of my life. In those little things that seem inconsequential… I KNOW He is doing a work for my good, and His glory.

Our finished home for sale before moving to Leamington!

Our freak accident ended up increasing the value of our home significantly. Less than two years later, we made the life-changing decision to move our family 10 hours away for a new ministry opportunity.

We only lived in our first home for three years when all was said and done. But the ripple effects of that woman driving into our house are still felt every single day of my life.

You see, when we finally decided to move to a new town, we couldn’t have known what a sizeable downpayment would mean to us. Compared to Montreal’s market, the market in our town was laughable six years ago (in case you’re unaware, it’s terrifying today).

Because the house we bought cost significantly less than what we sold for, we were able to drop an entire income (I was teaching then) and take on a mortgage that could be supported by one salary.

It was a big priority for us to have a parent home while our children are young, but making that happen in Montreal felt like an impossibility. I love of all these tiny, but wild details God orchestrated to make this dream come true. I’ve been home with our babes ever since!

Ok yes, so I do complain about #momlife a fair bit, but that’s not the point here! Don’t @ me!

Friend, please hear my heart in this: Sometimes it feels like you’re living under a storm cloud. Like you can’t catch a break. You keep facing set backs, breakdowns, meltdowns, and attacks from the devil that just don’t make sense. Like a car driving into your house?

Sometimes God delivers us from our troubles on our timeline. But sometimes He doesn’t. Sometimes He works things out in ways we couldn’t have imagined. Because His ways are not our ways! And as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are His ways higher than ours. (Isaiah 55:9)

What’s really really really cool, is CHOOSING to leave those things in His hands, and then seeing His hand work out all the details… in His time. FOR. HIS. GLORY!

So rather than staring at half a car hanging out your basement and thinking, am I cursed?

Ask instead, God, what are you working out in all this?! He will NOT disappoint. He is faithful and true and He’s always for your good.

What’s in the Ears

This song is too good, and I didn’t mean for this to be so perfectly suited to the topic, but it is. Enjoy!

Have some questions or thoughts to share on any of this? Send me a message or comment below!!

First Impressions

Published on by tinavila201 Comment

They can be a lot of pressure! What comes to mind, is an opportunity my husband and I had six years ago to make a good first impression with potentially life-changing results.

We had been interviewing at various churches across North America in search of a new ministry opportunity. When one church in Southern Ontario invited us for a two-day visit including a formal interview and to meet some church leaders and the staff.

Quaint Windsor airport. Heading back to Montreal after our interview!

I remember the anticipation leading up to the interview as we took time to prepare, dream, pray, and freak out! Ok fine, I probably did the freaking out. My husband was calm, cool, and ready. Which is a good thing too, because he was doing 99% of the interview.

Besides the anticipated interview questions, I couldn’t help but consider how I might be perceived.

I knew all about that stereotype of a pastor wife vibe. I also knew I didn’t check all the boxes.

  • Love Jesus ✔️ (but I’m not great at trusting and obeying Him)
  • Love others ✔️ (but reeeeeeeally not as well I should)
  • Read my Bible ✔️ (but I find parts of it boring… yes, even me, the one obsessed with the Scriptures)
  • Pray everyday ✔️ (do drowsy bedtime prayers count?)
  • Listen exclusively to worship music (yeah, no… please don’t ask for my Spotify history)
  • Never cuss (define never…. damn it! What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?)
  • Passion for children and youth (umm sorry husband, you might not get the job and it’s all my fault)

It was so stressful to think about what kind of first impression I’d be giving during those first encounters.

Well, spoiler alert: I didn’t blow it. My husband landed the gig! And it was 6 years ago this past week, since that whirlwind weekend of first impressions.

Why are first impressions such a big deal? What is it about being asked to describe ourselves that makes us want to run for the hills instead?

Whether it’s:

  • a blind date
  • job interview
  • first day of school
  • first day on the job
  • meeting the in laws
  • or a small group Bible study…

The intense pressure we feel to project the best possible version of ourselves is truly palpable.

Hi, I’m God.

I’m willing to bet He did not feel the pressure, but in the book of Exodus, we find one of the very first times God describes Himself in Scripture. How cool is that?!

Let’s check it out!

5 Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him [Moses]; and He called out His own name, Yahweh. 6 “Yahweh! The LORD!
    The God of grace and mercy!
I am slow to anger
    and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
7 I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
    I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty.
    I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
the entire family is affected—
    even children in the third and fourth generations.”

– Exodus 34:5-7

Honestly, it gives me chills just thinking about it. After an already wild start for humanity, God’s like: “Ok, this is it y’all. Here’s a little about me and what I’m all about.”

It’s been said, if you want to know what God’s like, just look at Jesus. But I would argue that God had been revealing Himself to His people, and trying to make Himself known and understood long before Christ walked the earth.

So I say, if you want to know what God is like, Exodus 34:5-7 is a great place to start!

Naturally, God starts with His name – actually, names!

Yahweh: The earliest recorded name of God, spelled YHWH in Hebrew. The name in itself is considered so sacred and holy it couldn’t even be uttered! Yahweh means “He who brings whatever exists into being”.

The LORD: When in all uppercase, it is another name for God. And there is none like Him!

God goes on to describe His character by painting a picture of who He specifically is in relation to His people.

Every facet of God’s character contains these attributes in their fullness. He isn’t one more than another. As James 1:17 puts it, “there is no variation or shadow of turning – nothing deceitful, nothing two-faced or fickle.”

Even though God is fully and completely all these characteristics, I love that He starts with grace. It’s a lesson in my own life to extend it for others and to receive it for myself.

Grace is receiving goodness from God, which we do not deserve and could do nothing to earn. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Mercy is God withholding punishment we deserve and extending pardon and forgiveness instead. (Deuteronomy 4:31)

Being slow to anger has to do with God’s patience and delay in displaying His wrath against sin. Also related to His long-suffering and how He patiently endures our offences and rebellion against Him. (Psalm 103:8)

Unfailing love is SO hard for us to get our minds around because we cannot produce a love that is so unconditional or steadfast, but God’s love really is! (Romans 5:8)

Faithfulness: This scripture says it best, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful— for He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13)

How are these characteristics manifested? FORGIVENESS!

God forgives iniquity, rebellion, and sin… to a thousand generations! (Deuteronomy 7:9)

That’s really good news!

But we can’t fully appreciate how good that news really is unless we read the whole of verse 7. Sorry y’all.

We’d rather ignore the reality of 7b, and live on the good graces of a God who extends unfailing love to a thousand generations.

But friends,

…what would have been the point of Jesus’ death, then?

We cheapen His sacrifice when we downplay our sin and its consequences!

The following paints a sobering picture:

“We’re not really surprised that God has redeemed us. Somewhere deep inside, in the secret chambers of our hearts we harbour the notion that God owes us His mercy. Heaven would not be quite the same if we were excluded from it. We know that we are sinners, but we’re surely not as bad as we could be. There are enough redeeming features to our personalities that if God is really just, He will include us in salvation. What amazes us is justice, not grace.”

– R. C. Sproul

Justice has to be served. We’d expect that from an earthly court with a human judge! So of course a God of justice has to punish the guilty, or else He wouldn’t be true to Himself.

However, and this is a big HOWEVER! If that’s where we stop, then there’s not much good about the Good News, is there?

It’s only in understanding that Jesus took on God’s wrath against our own sin, in our place, that we find the very best ending to ANY story.

Faith in Jesus means that we are always under the banner of mercy, not judgement. And God’s default for us is mercy every time to a thousand generations.

I’m reminded that mercy TRIUMPHS or REJOICES over judgement (James 2:13). Knowing God errs on the side of mercy means the Good News isn’t just good, it’s life-changing!

So whether it’s an opportunity to make a good first impression, as in our experience; or a chance to get to know the unfailing love of God – those initial interactions truly matter because they have a lasting impact on how any relationship will unfold.

What’s in the Ears

Y’all this song! A reminder that it’s His kindness that leads us to change (repent). He’s so good.

I felt so compelled to share about the richness of this passage, but they don’t call them hard truths for nothing! Can you share your own thoughts on it with me? Send me a message or comment below!

Bandaids on a Gunshot Wound

Published on by tinavila202 Comments

5-step program! 4 smart solutions! 3 easy payments! 2 effective strategies! 1 piece of advice!

Does it not draw us in to think that all our troubles could magically go away so easily?! Wouldn’t we all love a quick fix to life’s woes?

Living in a world that prides itself in efficiency and results, it’s no wonder the Easter story, and the wild notion that Jesus’ death can transform your life, appear downright foolish. And if not foolish, at least perplexing.

The reality is that we fool ourselves by believing that our bandaid-solutions will make ANY lasting difference to our broken lives here, or in eternity. Because it’s not about steps of improvement to implement, but a Person to know, a Redeemer to save!

Once we see that the real transformative power Jesus offers is the only real solution to our fatal problem, we’re then awakened to the futility of our own self-help efforts.

Like bandaids on a gunshot wound.

Please hear my heart through this intensity of a ramble…

NOTHING has had a greater impact on my life than simply doing life with Jesus.

  • Trusting Him with the unknown.
  • Trusting Him with circumstances I can’t control.
  • Trusting Him with whatever I want to change but don’t know how to (no matter how many bandaids).
  • Ultimately trusting Him with the salvation of my very soul!
  • To believe that God created all of us for more than what our eyes can see.

Because if we could see it, we wouldn’t need God to do it, that’s why it’s faith! (Pastor Mike Todd said it first)

Sin: The Gunshot Wound

If I really had to reduce it all to a step-program, I suppose that acknowledging our own sin as the problem would have to be the first step. You can then follow that with having the faith to believe God for our solution.

But if we fail to recognize the true consequence of sin on our lives, and acknowledge the fatality of this gunshot wound to our very existence, then I suppose a quick fix bandaid works just fine in deluding us into believing that God sending Jesus is unnecessary or irrelevant.

Thankfully God’s offer of salvation is available to anyone who will to accept it. It isn’t any less true whether you believe it or not.

2 Corinthians 5:21 gives us a beautiful, yet simple synopsis of the Easter story:

God made Jesus, who had no sin, to be sin for us. So that in Jesus, we might become right with God.

Unfortunately, until we truly taste and see how GOOD He is, “we basically reduce Jesus to a cultural icon, rather than the living, resurrected Saviour. And apart from Him we can do absolutely nothing” (Dr. Crawford Loritts). That’s why the quick fix can never work. In the ancient world, the sacrificial system offered a way for people to be made right with God. But like I keep saying, it was a bandaid solution!

Today, the sum of our good deeds can make us feel like we’ve earned our way into God’s good graces. And with polarizing views on what good deeds actually look like, it’s hard to know if you’re even getting that right in the first place!

11 Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest I offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. 14 For by that one offering He forever made perfect those who are being made holy. 16 “This is the new covenant I will make
with my people on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then He says, “I will never again remember
 their sins and lawless deeds.”
18 And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.

– Hebrews 10:11-18

I’m so grateful that Jesus’ sacrifice isn’t only about taking on the consequence of my sin and the reality of whatever awaits us in the afterlife, which is obviously a big deal!

But His sacrifice has amazing consequences in this life too! For an abundant life (John 10:10) and peace beyond understanding (Philippians 4:7).

I need me some peace to get through each day. I need confidence in knowing I can be right with God. That even if I make mistakes, I don’t have to carry the weight of my sin through life. And my identity can now be found in Him.

I don’t have to try to cover my tracks by putting bandaids on gunshot wounds and hoping for the best. I can KNOW with confidence that I’m forgiven, I’m redeemed – for a purpose!

Tim Keller says that Christian identity is the only one that is received, not achieved. This means that transformation doesn’t depend on my performance, but when we accept Jesus’ sacrifice, we receive a new identity as a child of God – forgiven and loved.

And that’s such good news!

Because when it comes down to it, what we really need is good news, not good advice. We don’t need good advice to follow, but good news to believe. One is about tips and tricks, the other is transformative.

I echo Paul’s question in Romans 2:4, don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

This may sound cynical, but unfortunately, I don’t think we actually care for God’s kindness, when all we want is quick solutions to our problems. It grieves me to think that we completely miss what God offers us when we fail to recognize how amazing His mercy and grace really are.

When we reduce the Easter story and God’s plan of salvation to simply being good enough or bad enough, we miss the point! Because that’s not what God’s grace is about! We bring the wrong solutions to a problem only God can rectify. “It’s not about being good or bad. It’s about being dead or alive!” (Louie Giglio) None of us could ever be good enough to get to heaven. No matter how many tips and tricks we try. It’s about recognizing our need for a Saviour, and then being made alive in Him.

For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

– 2 Corinthians‬ ‭7:10‬ ‭

I guess that would be it. The big tip. The main point. I love how the Corinthians author addresses the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. One leads to repentance, salvation, and life! The other is filled with regret, shame, and death.

Let’s be sorry for our sin, but let’s bring it to the foot of the cross where we can exchange it for fullness of life and a new identity as children of God. Not just a bandaid-solution, but a complete transformation from the inside out.

More than a bandaid

The following verse – stripped of any complex theology, in all its simplicity – is the best possible way I can think to conclude. The story goes like this: Jesus heals a blind man. Religious leaders (who happen to be spiritually blind themselves!) give him flack about it. And all he says is…

“I have no idea what kind of man He is. All I know is this: I was blind, but now I see.”

– John 9:25

And that’s the beauty of the whole dang thing.

Many people, much smarter than I, have ventured to answer life’s tough questions and solve humanities impossible problems to no avail… I don’t know everything about Jesus. All I know is this: I was dead inside, but now I’m alive. I was blind, but now I see.

What’s in the Ears

Comment below or send me a message with any thoughts or questions on this Easter post that’s so dear to my heart! I just love to hear from you.