Author: Danielle Lape

I am a hoarder.

I have an extremely bad habit of collecting things that I know I don’t need, but still keep anyways for that one day when I magically decide to use them. I’ve recognized more recently that this is a problem I should address so, the other day I decided that I would spend some time doing some *late* spring cleaning.

With a large garbage bag in one hand and some music playing in the background, I started to sort through the craziness that is my closest; cleaning out all the clothes and things that I should have gotten rid of a long time ago. As I began to clean, I realized then and there just how much stuff I had. I knew that I collected some things over the years but did not recognize just how much stuff I actually kept with me.

Whenever I found something that I forgot I had or when I pulled out old clothes that I haven’t worn in years, I felt a sense of embarrassment. I thought to myself: When did this happen? How could I have let this happen? Why do I keep things that I no longer use? And did I really allow my hoarding problem to get this bad, to the point where I was making such an unnecessary mess in my room?! I was always aware that I needed to clean but oh boy, I did not realize the amount of damage I was making all this time!

Alternatively, as I was sorting through my stuff I started to think about the “cleanliness” of my mind and heart. I began reflecting on my life and wondered if there was any cleaning that I should be doing there as well — Was there anything in my life right now that I should get rid of? Have I kept certain thoughts locked up in my mind that serve no good purpose for me? And are there any negative emotions that I bottled inside that only creates more mess than doing good? To be honest, finding the answers to these questions was not that hard at all.

As a person who hoards things, I have certainly kept many negative thoughts and emotions locked up too. Such as feelings of anger, frustration, hate, and yes, even grudges. All these things do nothing good rather, they do the opposite – bearing no fruit in my life and has even separated me further from God.

“ The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” – Galatians 5:22-23

If emotions like these keep me away from my Master, then why do I hold on to them anyway? Similarly, if I no longer fit into an old pair of jeans, should I continue to keep them so they can collect dust or should I let go and donate the pair so someone else can find a better use out of them?

I know that in this moment God was trying to speak to me. Reminding me that the more I hoard these feelings in my heart and in mind, the more mess I will create in my life.

I think that it’s important for us to do some “spring cleaning” for our emotional well-being once in while. We must learn to take the time to reflect on all the things that no longer bring light or joy in my lives and to find the courage to part from them. God is always calling us to bear fruit in our lives, to cultivate more love, peace and harmony over hate and evil. It’s just a matter of us actually following His footsteps and being willing enough to let go.

Therefore, let us pray to God for the wisdom to know when to stop “hoarding,” for the strength to let these negative emotions go and for the courage to trust that God will carry us through these tough and troubling times.

Amen.

Danielle

 

Before I left for my trip to Calgary, I was told by a bunch of my peers to visit Lake Moraine and Lake Louise. Because of how popular of a recommendation these places were, I made sure to put both destinations on top of my bucket-list.

So when the day arrived and when we were only a few kilometres away, I could not help but feel so eager to get out of my seat so I could finally see what everyone was talking about. As my friends and I exited the car to walk, I squealed from excitement. When we reached the first lake, I stood in complete AWE, amazed what I was starring at.

The sun was just starting to peak through the mountains. The trees were tall and dark green, all perfectly lined in order and the water SO clear that the scenery bounced off the lake; creating the illusion of being a mirror. I believed my friends when they said the lakes were beautiful but I honestly never imagined that its beauty would make me want to cry!

As I looked around me, the Liveloud song Larger Than Life started playing in my head. It was at this moment where I was reminded of how thoughtful and detail-oriented God is. How good God is and how GRAND He must be for thinking of creating something like this! God could have made the earth look simple but instead He choose to take the time to create something so much more precious. I truly could not get over the fact that in seven days, minus the last day of rest of course, God made the masterpiece that is the world we live in today.

As someone who comes from a city-like, sky scrapper kind of environment, seeing nature in this way was a breathe of fresh air that I never thought I needed. I’ve surely taken nature for granted especially with the nature I’ve seen at home. I originally thought that Canada had little to offer in tourist spots but boy, was I ever wrong. Visiting these lakes definitely proved otherwise!

I am so thankful for being able to witness God’s handiwork at its finest and most especially, for being able to see His creation with some of the people I love the most – my household! It’s simple moments like these where one truly believes that God is real.

Praise God for simple joys!

Danielle Lape

 

 

“Journeying with Christ is a beautiful adventure.”

This weekend I was able to take a walk down memory lane. Now being a person with short term memory, it can often times be quite difficult to do this. However, God spared me the headache and helped me to remember just what I needed at the perfect time.

On the first day of conference during Session One – In Faithfulness – the song “At the Beginning” from the musical Anastasia played. Not only is this song so beautiful, but there were specific lyrics that spoke so closely to my heart. I’d like to think that these lyrics were what sparked this trip down “memory lane” and how I think God was speaking to me at that moment so I could reflect back on my journey with Him.

“No one told me, I was going to find you. Unexpected what You did to my heart. When I lost hope, You were there to remind me. This is the start.”

10 years ago, I was invited to my first CFC-Youth camp by my brother. I’ve shared this many times before but I was only invited to a camp because a discount was being given out to all service team if they brought a participant to come for the weekend. Thus, through my brother’s constant pleading and my parent’s nudging me to go, I ended up at an unknown venue in Cambridge, ON where strangers were trying to talk me into falling in love with God.

As a 12 year old who joined the community I honestly did not understand what was happening. I thought that what I was doing as a Catholic was enough. I attended mass every Sunday with my family, received straight A’s in religion class and was a “good” girl. Despite all of this, as I look back on my behaviour and posture now there was so much more I could have done. I mean, I was definitely NOT invested in my faith nor was I eager to have any close relationship with God, other than paying my dues at church every weekend.

Thankfully, over time this all changed. I mean I wouldn’t be writing this post if it didn’t, right?

Through the help of my amazing household heads, Couple Coordinators and friends in the community I eventually feel madly in love with God and my faith. Alleluia!

Now back to the relevance of this song – The reason why this song sparked so many emotions out of me was because it perfectly outlines how I feel about God, and reminds me of how faithful He has been to me all these years, even before joining the community. Here’s how; line by line:

“No one told me, I was going to find you.”

When I joined CFC-Youth 10 years ago, I did not think that I would find God. I mean, I thought I “found” Him already! I was baptized, did my First Communion and whenever my Confirmation was, I already knew I was going to say yes to it.
Now fast forward to few years later, I can definitely see where I was wrong and this time I can proudly say that I have re-found God, f’realz. I have found Him through reading scripture, attending mass besides on Sundays, by going to adoration, and through the people in this community. As someone who formerly felt as if God was a stranger in her life, I am so happy to report that He is now my best-friend and the first person I go to for anything.

Unexpected what You did to my heart.

Since joining the community, God has not only captured my heart but He stretched it as well. He has allowed me to love in BIG ways and at times, has asked me to love those who are quite difficult to love. I think it is normal for our hearts to get broken, be it with our families, our friends or a significant other and although I’ve had my share of experiencing this, God has filled in the cracks. This in turn has made my heart more forgiving, more understanding and more vulnerable to accepting His grace and love for me! I finally have a great relationship with God and feel extremely blessed to be pursued by Him every day.

When I lost hope, You were there to remind me. This is the start.

As much as I have experienced many joys in this community and with God, there have also been many times where it was hard to see, hear or feel Him working in my life. As you get older, you start to have many questions and sometimes when you don’t get the answers you want this can cause problems of resentment, anger and hurt.  I have definitely felt all these things and have lost hope in myself and in God. However, God is SO good because every time I felt this way He reminded me that He loves me and that He will never leave my side. Dang, am I blessed or what?!

I honestly love this song so much and thank God for speaking to me through the lyrics. By hearing these words, I was brought back to all the times God has been faithful to me. From attending my first youth camp, to my first household, to my first worship and so forth – God has been spoiling me every since! And even though I only joined the community 10 years ago, I know that God was right there at the beginning praying for me and loving me through and through.

To God be the Glory! Amen.

Danielle Lape

P.S. Please listen to this song when you get the chance: https://youtu.be/EgqXg9qPefE

In a few hours I will be boarding an airplane to attend the True North Conference in Calgary, Alberta. As I anxiously wait for that moment to come, I cannot help but reflect on how good God is and how He gave me this opportunity to go.

At the end of 2017, I made it my personal mission to go to ICON. As I shared before in a previous blog post, (shameless plug) I did whatever I could to make this dream of mine come true. After hours of working at my part-time job and many nights spent praying, I was finally able to buy my ticket and register for the conference. I look back at this moment and realize that as much as I tried to make this trip happen, God’s grace and love came in clutch as well. I truly am still in awe at how fast God works and how amazing He is for giving me the means to go.

Fast forward to now, I stand in disbelief, humbled by the fact that I have the ability to travel and witness #FullBlast2018 AGAIN, but this time with my fellow Canadian friends and missionaries. I already felt so blessed to have gone on one trip, but to be graced with the chance to go on another adventure makes me all the more grateful.

It is so true that when you give your “yes” to God without holding anything back and when you serve Him in the best way that you possibly can, He will pay you back.  It may not be in ways that you expect such as in money or materialistic things but instead, He will give you JUST what you need. In this case I thank God for gifting me with more memories with my household, more adventures with CFC-Youth and most especially with more opportunities where I can physically encounter Him through  this wonderful community and family.

I look forward to this year’s TNC and cannot wait to experience God’s love all over again. With joyful anticipation I await where God will take me on this trip. Maybe I will encounter Him through the talks, the worships, the reflections or through simple conversations with people. Whatever it may be, I am super excited!!!

#FullblastTNC I am ready for ya.

Danielle Lape

 

Just recently, I met up with a dear sister of mine who I have not been able to see for a long time. Since we don’t get to hang out as much as we both would like, our conversations that night consisted of a lot of updates and catching up on what we’ve both been up to.

As the night went on, I could not help but notice a reoccurring theme among our conversation. After each story we shared, the theme of God’s faithfulness to us was very much alive. It’s as if God has been spoiling us so much over the past year! (No complaints though).

This sister and I both joined the community x years ago and we have experienced a lot together. From sleepovers, to “mall-ratting”days, to serving at camps and eventually going on separate mission trips,  it was so amazing to see how much we both have grown as sisters, and as daughters of Christ. 

Our conversation that night made me realize how beautiful it is to witness someone’s faith journey with God. God works in everyone’s life differently and when you get the chance to partake in seeing the process it truly is a great thing to see.  You could witness a once shy, timid individual transform into a loud, energetic leader; or even a once hesitant member become a passionate missionary ready to proclaim the gospel everywhere they go. Whatever it may be, I think it is important for us to not only acknowledge our own growth but also within our friends too.

Hearing all the Christ stories this sister had to share truly touched my heart. Seeing her light up whenever she spoke about how faithful God has been to her made me smile and appreciate how I have been able to witness her love story with God on the sidelines. 

I hope that whoever is reading this, that you take the time to listen to your friend’s stories and that you be willing to hear their personal encounters with Christ too. It may do more than you think it will.

Amen.

Danielle Lape 

June has finally ended. Hooray, I survived!
With all the craziness that came from this past month, whether it was attending an event, planning an activity, or from participating in a meeting, I have found it extremely difficult to reflect and understand where God is calling me to in my life.

It has been hard putting my thoughts into words so for this week I have decided to write a personal prayer to God. A prayer that can hopefully lead me closer to God once again and one that can also help me to hear God’s words more clearly in the future. I hope that whoever is reading this that you can join me in prayer and help me by lifting up these simple words to Christ.

Almighty Father,

I come before you today eager to hear Your voice. Although it may feel like you far away I know that deep down in my heart You are still there reaching out Your hand to me, wanting to help me and to guide me back to You. With all the distractions that I have been facing as of lately, may You open my eyes so that I can see You more clearly in my life. Help me to trust in You and to believe that You are carrying me through this “spiritual dry” moment. I pray that I can make myself more available to You as You always make yourself so readily available to me in the church and through the sacraments. I offer up this period of spiritual confusion to You and I place them into your most loving and gracious hands. May I be able to see Your light at the end of this all, and I pray that I can hear Your voice again so that I can follow you as the faithful disciple You have called me to be.

Amen.

Danielle Lape