My Faithful Father

The verse "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" James 4:8a has never been more real to me then it has the past month and a half. God's word is truth so I can trust what it says. I have been trying to spend more time with God. To stay off Facebook and stop watching TV and really spend time in his word, reading books about him and listening to sermons. It has been so rewarding. Not only am I growing closer to him and learning more about him I am learning so much more about myself.

One huge thing God has shown to me is the importance of finding my joy in Him and Him alone. I was having God time and then I opened my Bible and I read these verses that spoke to my heart,

"Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:5-8

I feel very much like I have been depending on man and trying to make man my strength and my joy. I love that it says, "He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come" When my eyes are fixed on man how can I see the good and glory of my Lord? These verses were a real break through for me.

Another break through was the fact that God works all things together for the good of those who love him! Sometimes I get down on myself and feel like I have messed my life up or I haven't obeyed God in everything. But God has really been showing me that he can and will use all things in my life to mould and make me into the woman he wants me to become. He will use my "screw ups" and things that I think are bad for good! Any pain, loss, gain, growth, anything that happens in my life, God can and will use for his glory! I love that! I love that he is the potter and I am the clay. That he can and will mould and make me into who he wants me to be as I surrender to him. All that I go through in life is no surprise to him, he is using these situations to bring me to the place that he wants me to be.

I have been learning so much! God is so good and faithful. Even though I don't always "feel" like he is close I hold on to his truths and know that he will "never leave me nor forsake me". For he is Good.

Deeper Passion For Him!

Wow! God is so good and so faithful! I have been learning a ton lately and it is so satisfying. I have been feeling so spiritually dry lately and I feel as though he is lavishing his love on me. I serve an amazing God! I just wanted to blog and share some things he has been teaching me.
First of all I'm reading the book "Hinds Feet on High Places" by Hannah Hurnard. It's kind of like Pilgrims Progress as it is "a beautiful allegory dramatizing the yearning of God's children to be led to new heights of love, joy, and victory". It is an interesting, enjoyable and easy read.



Also, I have been learning so much through the Bible, the Sunday School I'm helping teach and a Paul Washer Bible study that I am doing with my mom. One thing the Lord has brought to my attention is the purpose I was created for. God created us for HIS glory. He and he alone is worthy of our praise. So often I get worried that I'm doing my own thing and that I'm not following the Lord or what he wants for me. It is something that I continuously battle. I know to some this sounds totally absurd, but it is definitely a struggle for me on a regular basis. The Lord has brought me to this conclusion: First off, I was created, designed and made for the purpose of bringing glory to the Lord. So if I surrender my all to the Lord and let him have utter control over my life then he will lead me down the path that will best glorify him because I was made to do that. He will take me where I need to be to glorify him the best way possible, as long as I am fully surrendered to him. It is definitely and continuous process, but one I am so thankful for and one that brings peace to my heart.

Another lesson I have been learning is humility. Humility is something that I pray the Lord would give me on a regular basis. Pride is a sin that I do not want in my life. From time to time God will show me the pride in my life. I am so thankful for those times so that I can say I'm sorry and turn from it. For example there have been times I look in my Bible and see I have underlined verses and for a second I will think to myself "I'm a good Christian"!!!! SERIOUSLY!!!! How pathetic right!? It just amazes me that I can even think that. The Lord has really been showing me that it is not me who has given me faith, it is Him. The reason I have any faith or call out to God is because God and God alone has placed that faith in me and has drawn me to him. The reason I have underlined those verses is because He has shown them to me and spoken to me.

I really want to encourage you all to call out to God. Weather you have a relationship with him or not. Ask to know Him more and to understand more who he is. Ask for him to change you to be who he wants you to be and to teach you more about him. The verse in James, Draw near to him and he will draw near to you is SO true!! It is an amazing gift to grow deeper in a relationship with your creator. Beg him to know him more, he will not leave you stranded. You were created to worship and bring glory to him, so of course he will show you how to do that!

I feel like I wanted to blog about something else, but my notes are at my house and I'm at my parents so there may be another one coming soon! And here are some pictures from my summer just for you Ash!! And anyone else without facebook!! Some are from camping with my friends Amber and Johanna and then from my trip to Victoria for my grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary.

Pro-Choice or Pro-Life

There is a new movie out there called "180" and it is a really great movie that I think you all should watch and share around as it is on YouTube. I encourage you to take 33 minutes out of your time to look at abortion from a different perspective. I hope you can learn a thing or two!! Feel free to comment too!

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God's Perfect Protection

Wow! People are complete idiots. Brad, Tim and I went down to Vancouver watch the Canucks game on the street last night. We were very excited and couldn't wait for the Canucks to FINALLY win the Cup...too bad that didn't happen.

Both Brad and Tim are on call right now with work for forestry fire fighting. At anytime they could get called and have to be somewhere within hours. So going to Vancouver was a bit of a risk but we figured we would be ok. Earlier yesterday morning Tim had recieved an email saying that they won't be called out this week so we figured we were pretty safe and just hoped that Brad wouldn't get called either. Well, littereally as we got onto the Portmann Bridge to go enter into Vancouver Tim gets a call. By what he was saying we could tell it was work. Turns out he needed to be in Barrier are 7 am today! Therefore we would have to be home by 4:30 am at the latest so he could drive to Barrier which is 2 hours away.

Originally, when we decided to come down we had planned to say over in Chiliwack and spend more time down in the city after the game. I was a little nervous but I had thought we would be ok. When Tim had said he had to be in Barrier at 7 I said, "Maybe God is using this to protect us from the crazieness that will go on." Because if it were up to me I would have left right when the game ended, but Brad and Tim had wanted to stick around.

When we got there the energy was great! Everyone was so pumped and couldn't wait for the game. There were hundreds of thousands of people. So we pushed our way up near the front by the screen. The game began and all went down hill from there! Probably at the end of the second period I kept hearing people says "Let's Riot!" "Let's get this riot started!" and other things like that. You could tell that it was what people wanted to do. There was so much drinking and drugs too. I know the news keeps saying it wasn't the fans who were rioting or it was criminals and anarchists, but I have to disagree with that. You could just tell that so many people, fans included, just wanted to riot.

I was starting to feel a little nervous and since we wanted to leave at a decent time we started heading out of the middle of the crowd. We saw a couple fights starting too and there were hooligans climbing up on street lights. That was kind of funny because they had no way of not getting caught. The second they got off the poles the police arrested them! Way to be super stupid people! Well there was probably 7 min. left in the 3rd period and we decided to head out as the outcome of the game was obvious. As we were leaving there were more fights breaking out by the porta poties. We got to our car and left in good time. Thankfully we left before basically everyone so we had no traffic and just sailed out fine.

As we were driving away I said "HEY! There is black smoke!", as a huge plume rose from between buildings. Oh I was SO happy we had left. Brad and Tim were sad because they wanted to see what was going on, but I was SO happy and above all SO thankful to the Lord! I know God used Tim's work to protect us.

As we were driving away I was so thankful to God for getting us out of there just before things went really crazy. Today I have been watching a lot of clips of the riots. I found this one below and it proved to me even more how God was protecting us. After the first few second of the fire in this video it shows the street with a car and people rioting and police. Between two buildings on the left is a parking lot that you can see and a car that people have smashed. Well we had parked in that parking lot!!!! Crazy hey? We parked right beside the road too, which was maybe a little stupid but whatever. If we had stuck around I don't think we would have got my poor little car out of there in one peice. Then in the same video, after it shows the street where we were parked it shows a street with a couple fires on it, well that is exactly where we had been standing! How great is our God! I'm so thankful for his protection.



So overall it was a great expierience for us, since we left at a good time. The drive home felt like forever though, since we were so tired. I feel really bad for Tim he got basically no sleep and now he has to work in the bush for who knows how long! Here are a couple pictures too.

Shows how many people there were!




This is how squished we were in the crowd.

Don't Waste Your Life

What an Amazing book Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper is. Every page I read I get more and more inspired! I would encourage ALL of you to read it. It's a book you have to take time to read and understand, but when you get it it will change your outlook on your life for sure.

One huge thing that I have been challenged in is how as Christians we are called to be crucified with Christ. Of course I have read that and given that subject some thought over the years but this book has given me a new perspective on this calling. "The world is dead to me and I am dead to the world...And until our selves are crucified there [on the Cross], our boast will only be in ourselves." I don't know if I can really get my thoughts out, but I just think that is an amazing and eye opening statement. The World and everything in it are to be dead to me. I am dead to the world, so why do I care so much what they think. It saddens me how much I care what the world thinks. I feel like a prisoner captured by fear when it comes to openly sharing my faith and I hate it! I must remember I am alive in Christ. I am living to please him and him alone.

Galatians 2:19-20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." My eyes have been opened to a deeper meaning of this verse. When Christ died, we died. I want to and have to remember this.

That is one big thing I have been learning from this book, but there are many others as well. I love most about this book that constantly point to the Cross. To the Word of God. It is full of scripture and truth to inspire followers and seekers of Christ to live life to the fullest. Even if you don't have a relationship with God I challenge you to read this book.

Summer Adventures

This summer has been amazingly awesome! It has been full of FUN, Weddings, Love and Laughter. In May, 4 of my closest friends and I got to do a road trip down to Portland. It was a Bachelorette roadtrip for my great friend Kristin. We had an amazing time at The Market in Seattle, then we went to see my sister and go to spend a glorious night at the Oregon Coast. Our beach front room was amazing and we filled the trip with many unforgettable memories!


After that in June was Kristin and Kevin's wedding and I had the utter privilege of being Kristin's Maid of Honor! It was such a blessing and such a wonderful time. How beautiful to see two people so in love make a vow of life long commitment to one another before the Lord, their friend and family. There are no words to describe how amazing and beautiful their special day was.


Next came my dear friend Laura's wedding in July and again I was honored with the privilege of being one of Laura's bridesmaids. Laura and I met at Briercrest and we instantly had such a deep connection. We soon became inseparable and the best of friends. At school I got to know her husband Jerad as well, so it was a blessing getting to see two of your really good friends marry each other. This wedding was also so beautiful and so full of love! How I love my friends and I love celebrating with them on such a special occasion.

I have also got to spend time with a lot of my family from the coast, which has been awesome as I don't get to see them all too often. Tara and the boys were here too and I am down with them right now. It has been an amazing summer. But I have to say there is one HUGE highlight, and I'm sure you've guessed it...Brad!

Me and Brad started dating again and it is the most amazing thing I could have ever asked for. I have always thought and known that Brad was an amazing man, but I always just felt unsure and it never felt right. It had been 3 years since me and Brad dated, and we decided it might be wise to give things another chance as we had been spending more time with each other and enjoying it A LOT. I am so blessed by him and so thankful that he has waited so long for me. He says he has always known that we were suppose to be together, but I guess it was never the right time. I am so thankful for the time we did have apart though because I know that we grew a lot and became better suited for one another. I can't begin to describe how amazing he is.

Lastly I have a funny story to share. Brad, his brother Brett and their friend Tim drove down to Portland with me because they went to Texas for fireman school. So when we were coming down we stopped at Cabela's, the hunting store. I felt totally healthy and perfectly fine. No concerns at all. The boys were looking at some "really cool" hunting stuff and I said to Brad that I was going to go to the bathroom and I would just find them when I was done. So I went to the front of the store where the bathroom was, still feeling perfectly healthy, and went pee. When I came out to wash my hands I instantly got SO hot and dizzy, out of no where. I had cramps and back pain too. It was like my muscles were having spasms. I went back to the bathroom incase I needed to do anything else. As I was sitting there I started to feel like I needed to throw up. I felt so horrible, but I didn't know what to do. I couldn't move because I felt so horrible, but I thought if I don't move then I can't get help and they'll find me passed out in the bathroom with my pants down! So after sitting there for 15 minutes and feeling awful I found the strength to get out of the bathroom. I can't even describe how horrible I felt.

I left the bathroom and I started to get tunnel vision and everything was spinning and starting to go black, so I just laid down on the ground. I never blacked out, but I knew if I didn't lay down I was going to faint and hurt myself. There was a lady right in front of me when I laid down. I was whiter than a ghost, apparently a little green I was told by Brett! So I managed to say, "I need help" Immediately a lady who worked there was with me and I said "I need my boyfriend, Brad Stickles". So on the overhead, as I'm laying there still feeling horrible I hear, "Code Blue main entrance" Repeated a couple times then "Brad Stickles would you please meet your party at the main entrance." I just remember laying there seeing all these feet of people just staring at this weirdo laying on the floor!

Well, Brad and Brett were in the upstairs of the store when they heard this Code blue at main entrance, so they are looking down and see all these people standing around staring at something. When Brad heard his name he just thought I was being silly cause I couldn't find him, so I called him over head. So Brad was looking for me around the front desk. Him and Brett look closer and realize that the people are looking at a girl laying on the floor....That girl is Malory!!! They finally realized. They ran down the stairs in their flip flops (apparently that is a challenge in itself), and were by my side so fast. I was so relieved to see Brad. He was so sweet and so concerned, I felt bad making him worry. Slowly I started to feel better, they called the firemen as their regular procedure and they came and took my blood pressure and heart rate and everything was normal. I don't think it was low blood sugar cause I had just eaten a couple hours earlier and I had a really good complete breakfast.

It was a little crazy and scary to say the least. I'm going to go get checked out when I get home. I think its a littler humorous too though, like what a thing to happen to me!

Ok, I'm done this HUGE post, but it has been forever so sorry!

The Weak Will Shame The Strong

Do you ever feel like you want to change the world but you are a nobody so how could you even do that? Where would you start? I definitely have felt this way before. I look at individuals like John the Baptist, Thomas Edison and Hitler, I realize that these people were only ONE person, but they definitely made a change in the world. Even though Hitler was a man sold out to his sinfulness he made a huge difference in millions of peoples lives.

Often I feel like I want so badly to live my life to the fullest. I want to stand for the Lord and proclaim His truth, I want to stand against abortion or other things in my life I feel passionate about. Yet when I consider pursuing these areas of my life I am immediately overwhelmed by the vast number of people in the world that I would need to reach. I just quit before I even start because I think "How could a nobody like me have any affect on this world. How could I leave a lasting impression?"

I thank the Lord because he has shown me that I CAN make a difference. He uses INDIVIDUALS to change the world. Remember Moses, Esther, Paul, King David, Daniel....the list could go on and on.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 say, "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."

I feel foolish, weak and lowly. I feel utterly useless sometimes, how amazing is it that the Lord of the Universe would choose me to be his ambassador of Truth, that He would use a sinner like me to change the world. Sure maybe I will never be remembered 50 years after I die, but I know that with the Lord's guidance and strength I can make a difference while I am here, that will in turn change the future. Weather for many, or a few it does not matter to me. As long as I make the most of the time I have and allow the Lord to lead my life where he wants, so He can be most glorified.

I am weak, foolish and lowly, but the amazing thing is, is that the Lord will still use me! With the Lords strength and guidance I have come to realize that I can make a difference in the world that is around me when I rely on His strength and His power.

I think of Ray Comfort, the CEO of Living Waters. Imagine he had never started the ministry. Wow! I feel like that would have been crazy, I am so thankful to God that Ray was obedient and trusted the Lord and started the ministry. Lives are changed by his ministry and they will continue to be changed, because the Lord has used one little man with a moustache! (If you don't know who Ray Comfort is or Living Waters, check it out at http://www.livingwaters.com/)

It is amazing to me that I can make a difference in the world, with the Lord's guidance and help may the difference I make bring glory to Him and to Him alone.