If my Prayers Drew Blood

I have been looking through an old journal (2007) and have felt convicted to live out more of my past persuasion, and to not become complacent nor stagnant. Here is a note that I wrote about [imagination and] prayer, which I need to re-arrange my life to pursue more: "When one has an imagination like mine, it is often best not to to recall certain things, [like news] spoken second-hand. Yet, some thoughts and especially prayers must be suffered through. I wonder what thoughts, what painful knowledge was so burdened on Jesus that while praying, He was caused to bleed. AT TIMES I CHOOSE TO EVEN REFRAIN FROM PRAYING, ONLY TO SAVE MYSELF SOME REALLY INSIGNIFICANT PAIN, AND AT WHAT COST?

If my prayers were so fervent that they actually drew blood then perhaps they would be more effective!

Reader’s Favourites

“Palm Sunday”. Thinking about Worship, “social distancing” & examining ourselves and our Gospel message

Psalm 139:23, 24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test? Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem by a crowd full of people singing and rejoicing over miracles. When Nicodemus came to Jesus and said that they (the Jewish leaders) knew that He must be from God because of the signs/miracles, Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) The Jewish people had been waiting for the Messiah, and the entire Old Testament is full of messianic prophesies - on the road to Emmeaus, after His resurrection, Jesus went through the entire scripture to teach that it was all about Himself. The mes...

Reflections on Rwanda from 2004

A City on A Hill Written by Charity Pilkey, January 2004, after visiting Rwanda ( the land of a thousand hills ) Teardrops falling on a thousand hills Somehow invisible Footprints marching on a thousand hills Somehow silent Bloodstains rolling on a thousand hills Somehow transparent Echoes crying on a thousand hills Somehow muffled Tears that fell, now fall from mourners Survivors march to make new prints Blood now dried, remains a vivid reminder New cries resound on a thousand hills So, if you are remaining Keep walking and learning Keep striving and yearning For His light to shine brilliantly From this land of a thousand hills.

Passionate for Truth: If you are a born-again Christian, do you use the JW Bible or Book of Mormon? What if I told you that Jesus appeared to me with insight into re-translating the Bible? What If I added words to the Bible and made it available for Christians everywhere?

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19 “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” Deuteronomy 4:1-2 “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6 In the Garden with Eve and in the dessert with Jesus, Satan used the Word of God too... ...

Reflecting on Child Soldiers and IDPs in Soroti, 2004: Journal Entry and Poem

Child Soldier (Reflecting again on meeting child soldiers in Soroti, Uganda in 2004) Although I didn't know it at the time, I met my husband - and even interviewed him- in Soroti Town in 2004. That visit will forever be etched on my memory. We have just published the second edition to Samuel's story now. Having freshly re-read and edited every page, I have again re-lived his story as if it is my own (which is probably why I have been feeling so exhausted lately!). Imagining life as an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), living on a battlefield and surviving in the jungles, is one thing; remembering the child soldiers and child wives that we met is another. The picture on the right, and the one below, are of IDPs in Soroti. They have beautiful smiles, and while they were completely displaced and spread out throughout the city, seeking safety from Kony's army that rampaged villages in the district, they were still "innocent". The children that we me...

Walking the path marked out - by Charity Okurut (early 2000's)

No matter what the circumstances, no matter the happenings, know this: He holds you in the palm of His hands and He has wonderful plans for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. Along the way, don’t look down so long that you don’t see the road ahead. Don't keep your head up so high that you don’t see the path, and so trip and fall. Don’t look back so long that you forget where you are going, nor keep your eyes fixed so far ahead that you forget where you came from, and what made you who you are today. Memorize the faces of those travelling alongside you. Identify those who need your help and recognize those who need to help you. And no matter what - never give up! ~ Charity Okurut nee Pilkey

Rats - living and even sleeping with rats - a lesson in being thankful!

Rats are one of the most resilient rodents on this globe. They take care of their orphaned young, and they survive on whatever they can find, and in whatever nests they can make – all over the globe. Both of my sisters had had experiences with rats (in Canada and in Uganda), and while I had seen the odd rat at a distance, I had never had to deal with living with them –let-alone sleeping with them! At home in the village there is a small variety of rat (from my limited knowledge of rodents, I would have called them mice). There are several problems with having rats around, but aside from their stealing food, and possibly spreading disease, if not just urinating on personal belongings (such as children’s car seats being stored in a hut!), they attract snakes. So, when we had a tribe of rats, numbering in the hundreds, living close to our hut, and after having one of them drown in our drinking water (inside our hut – such a horrible sound to wake up to!), we destroyed their ma...

An old lesson from ants - written in 2010

A LESSON FROM ANTS With gazillions of little ants as roommates, I have been learning a lot of lessons. Some are practical lessons, like on Bible Study night I can’t serve coffee cake or banana bread until after the study, because if it is sitting on the table for more than 20 minutes the entire table will be covered with ants! Or making sure that the kitchen is clean before bed, dishes washed and counters wiped with vinegar. Other lessons are lessons on how to keep ants away from certain areas, like: leaving the honey jar in a dish with vinegar water works for keeping them out of the honey, but if the water has no vinegar they will still find a way of reaching the sweet smelling lid, or that chalk drawn around openings in walls or around crib legs deter ants, but on the windowsill a line of chalk is not thick enough and instead pouring baby powder will both deter the ants and make the room smell nice. But the best lessons learned from the ants are see...

Intentionality

As I finish up this school year with my littles, (and prepare to continue their lessons throughout the Summer, so that we are ready to begin the school year well), I am reflecting on this past school year, and the many travels and lessons that we have had together. We began the school year in El Salvador, finished our first term in Canada, completed our second term in Uganda, began our third term in Canada, and are finishing up back in El Salvador. We have learnt and grown in each subject and grade, and as a family, and individually. I especially enjoy the lessons learnt through experience, as we travel, and as we live in different cultures and contexts – but, as much as I love teachable moments, and life lessons, and I love teaching God’s Word and the practical lessons of growing in character, I am otherwise, not a very good teacher, and very easily fall behind –especially in recording our learning (which is required for being Distributed Learner’s through my home province)....

Life in the village, as a parable that points to Christ and to eternity

I have stepped out of the village for one week, and am spending time with my sister and her family in Kampala (with my 4 littles). Samuel is still in the village and working hard to finish a permanent brick house for our extended family there. We began this house 9 years ago, and it has been very slowly taking shape. Unfortunately, not much can be accomplished with any quality, without Samuel overseeing (even now, if he leaves a “professional” builder to work on one portion of the house, while he is on the other side, he can come back and find that no level has been used, and the work needs to be redone). As I wrotelast time , I could die to certain life comforts, and would gladly count them a loss for Christ, but still struggle with being a foreigner with the language. We haven’t been called to live and minister long term in an African village (at this point in our lives). So, I am enjoying a visit with my sister before spending the next few weeks in the village and the...

UPDATED: God's Faithfulness During Earthquakes and Natural Disasters

After feeling the whole house shake for a few minutes tonight, and checking the Salvadoran earthquake report, I am soberly reminded of the volatile world that we live in, and our need for God's grace. The earthquake, felt here, was a magnitude 8.0 earthquake, near Palmercito, Chiapas, Mexico. Thinking of our Mexican brothers and sisters, and remembering God's words in Romans 8: For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us! For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration and futility, not willingly [because of some intentional fault on its part], but by the will of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will also be freed from its bondage to decay [and gain entrance] into the glorio...

A Call to Discern, Contend for & be Sanctified by Truth

Search This Blog