I remember having to write numerous essays on “How I spent my Summer Vacation”. As an English teacher I told myself I would never assign that kind of tedious writing assignment to any of my students. Still, I do enjoy asking my students what they did over the holidays and most recently what they did over the Easter Break. I already know that many went travelling, and there will be many more who just stayed at home and had what we like to call a “Staycation”.
On April 1st my cousin’s daughter arrived for a visit from Denmark. She has already been to New Zealand and Bali and Canada is her big stop before heading back home at the end of May. We have spent the past week, showing her the sights near to our home and seeing the beauty of Alberta afresh through her eyes. Scenery we’ve taken for granted, she finds breath-taking, and we gain new perspective on the beauty around us. Truly we are blessed! We spend time comparing her world and culture in Denmark, to our world and culture here in Canada. She asks us questions about Canada, that I have to “Google” answers for because I honestly do not know everything about this big country of mine. I’ve learned things about Alberta I’ve never known before as we play tour guides and we lead our enthusiastic tourist around with us.
I remember when I lived on the west coast that even though I lived near the ocean, I did not spend a lot of time by the ocean shore. It’s interesting that when we visit the coast now, I am drawn to the ocean and can not get enough of it! Living near the Rocky Mountains now, with a spectacular mountain view just outside of our front door, there are days I barely give it a passing glance. Our Danish guest has taken so many pictures of our view over the last few weeks that I look upon the view with renewed interest. Seeing the ordinary in our lives through the eyes of someone else makes it extraordinary!
I am currently teaching a series of lesson plans on the Miracles of Jesus. I am having my Grade Six students retell the stories creatively through art, video or PowerPoint and I am sure that I will gain a whole new appreciation for the familiar stories that have read so many times. Just like the beauty of nature that surrounds us daily, taking time to appreciate creation around us, I pray that I will always take time to appreciate the beauty that is also found in Scripture. I pray I will not take the precious Bible stories for granted, but see each story with fresh perspective and enjoy a “Staycation” at home in the Word!
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105
It is no secret that I am NOT a fan of April Fools’ Day. In fact, I don’t really care for practical jokes at any time of the year. I suppose it stems from the first time I was pranked, bullied was a more accurate description in high school, when older girls thought it funny to pick me up and throw me into a large garbage can on April Fools’ Day. They may have thought it hilarious…I did not! Then, my first year teaching in a public junior high school a boy, who for approximately 10 seconds lost all sense of rational thought about the consequences of his actions on April Fools’ Day, decided to drop a raw egg on my head when he walked by me. Although he towered over me, he cowered as I “explained” the seriousness of what he had just done and the principal backed me up later. Let’s just say no one was laughing then.
Today I received an email sent to me from someone claiming to be from the Apple iTunes Store. It was a copy of a receipt for close to $150.00 claiming I had purchased movie rentals from Apple and they were confirming my purchase. “Issues with this transaction?” it read,”Click the link below to get a full refund.” Well, obviously I had all kinds of problems with that kind of purchase but I refused to click on the link and immediately called the good folks at Apple Support. Sure enough this is considered a “phishing” scam. Ne’er-do-wells who get people panicked about a large charge on a credit card and then when an unwary person reacts by clicking the link, they have ways to access your personal information. Luckily, I’ve just taught an intensive course on online safety to my Grade Sixes over the past few months so I consider myself pretty savvy about this type of stuff. Still, it got my heart racing. I despise online hoaxes and people who nefariously look for “easy” targets online. I may not have fallen for their trickery, but there are bound to be others who will fall for the ruse.
So on this April Fools’ Day, I just want to impart a bit of wisdom to those who spend time online but may be vulnerable when it comes to online safety. Here are some online safety tips so you won’t be played the fool today or ANY day!
Ensure you have the latest security software for your computer.
Secure your accounts by having long passwords with a combination of capital and lowercase letters , numbers and symbols. (I know it’s a pain to remember passwords, so if you’re like me and constantly forgetting passwords, write them down on a piece of paper and file it away from your computer.)
Unique accounts need unique passwords. (Don’t use the same password for every one of your online accounts!) Change them all periodically as well.
Ensure that your online presence is also secure especially on social networking. Set your privacy settings so that you control who sees what about you on Facebook, Instagram etc. Remember that everything you share online has the potential to be seen by anyone if you don’t control your privacy settings.
Links in email, tweets, posts and online advertising are often the ways cybercriminals compromise your computer. If it looks suspicious, even if you know the source, it’s best to delete it. If in doubt, throw it out!
When banking and shopping, check to be sure the sites is security-enabled. Look for web addresses with “https://,” which means the site takes extra measures to help secure your information. “Http://” is not secure.
Be a smart shopper online. Be wary of communications that implores you to act immediately, offers something that sounds too good to be true or asks for personal information. NEVER give out personal information or send money to a company or someone online without verifying the legitimacy of the source. Remember: “the enemy prowls around like a hungry lion, waiting to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
Cyberbullying is a crime! Do not post anything online about someone that you would not want posted online about you! It’s the “Golden Rule” of the Internet!
Back up your computer regularly and if your computer “dies”, as they all do within a few years of purchase, right :), remove your hard drive before recycling your old computer. (We dismantle the hard drive ourselves after we’ve backed up any content we want to save and scrap the metal.)
I can’t help but think of Matthew 10:16 whenever I am online: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Be wise, and stay safe!
Does the world seem like it is spinning off its axis? So many things seem so out of control. People seem more and more stressed and depressed because they feel abandoned, alienated, misunderstood, uninspired, powerless, bleak about world events, and have a sense of hopelessness about everything around them. Christians are not immune to feeling helpless about circumstances that seem to be spiraling wildly about them but we should never experience hopelessness. Our “hope” is not found in the world, or in its people, our Hope is found in Jesus Christ!
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Proverbs 24:14 “Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”
Psalm 27:4-5 “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.”
Job 11:18-19 “You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor.”
Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.”
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Titus 3:4-7 “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
Romans 5:1-5 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Romans 8:24-25 “ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Psalm 3:2-6 “Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high. I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.”
1 Corinthians 15:54-58 “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
1 Peter 1:3-6 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”
Psalm 147:11 “the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”
Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Psalm 39:7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.”
Psalm 71:14 “As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.”
1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”
Romans 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
Daniel 2:44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”
Revelation 21:3-5 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus’ name!”
I remember having to write numerous essays on “How I spent my Summer Vacation”. As an English teacher I told myself I would never assign that kind of tedious writing assignment to any of my students. Still, I do enjoy asking my students what they did over the holidays and most recently what they did over the Easter Break. I already know that many went travelling, and there will be many more who just stayed at home and had what we like to call a “Staycation”.
Lynn Dove's Journey Thoughts 