Peace, Love and Jesus.

This one time, at Music Camp....

2006-08-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

Yeeeeeeeaaaah.

What a fantastic week.

I just got back from my first week of music camp as a FACULTY member. Yeah that's right. The girl who was once caught making out in the bushes as a camper so many years ago has now come back to defend these same bushes. Ha. Oh the good times...especially when I can joke around with the faculty members who caught me. Ha. Who knew? Me. A theory, vocal and Bible teacher.

It was seriously one of the best music camps I've ever been to. The kids were so well behaved, (The senior girls had a party for the junior girls and the senior boys are all such little gentlemen.) the activities were well planned, the guests were amazing, the classes were fun and the Spirit moved. It was just fantastic. Mind you, the weather wasn't the best and I was run ragged morning, noon and night. Nevertheless, the experience was incredible and I will definately be partaking next year. (God Willing)

On the College frontier (I think that's how you spell it) All of my forms have been processed and it's all good. I am set to head out in 9 days. Wow. It's actually happeneing. Messed up. Ha. I'm excited to be filled with everything World Harvest has to offer. Not to mention seeing my pals down there too. Yay Rebecca! Party at your place! With a pool!!! Whoooooo!! Ha.

And as for the love portion......well. We've started looking at rings....I know!!! Rediculous!!!!!! Woah. Like I'm a grown up!! In numbers only I assure you. Oh my.

I am excited to move on. It's gonna be fun.

Out.

Uuuuuupdate.

2006-07-13T04:12:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

What's that? I've finally updated???? Yeah. Summer tends to be the busiest of the seasons (excluding Christmas) for me. Especially this year now that I am depending on other people to drive me places. That means planning ahead of time. What's that about?

Well. The time draws nigh to when I will be heading out on my next journey towards independence. I leave for Bible College on the 15th of August. Woah. That's like a month and 2 days away! Messed up. Anywho, I'm real excited to see my American buddies as well as embark on the experience known as Bible college. As an added BONUS I'll get to be only 6 driving hours away from Deborah!! Whoo hoo!

My time at home has consisted, as of late, of finishing all my forms for Bible college, my youth, Josh's youth, Josh time (Ha), going to the gym, playing solitaire and being sick. Seriously. 3 boxes of tissues in one day. Not even right! Fortunately the sickness is almost gone and the forms are almost all sent.

It's been nice to be home for this past month. I really miss all my peeps in Toronto though, especially Debs. And I miss the NGS brand of humor. Oh well. Hopefully I'll be taking a trip in their direction in the fall and Debs will hopefully be visiting with Jess and her hot new car! Whoo!!! Fun times for sure.

That's all for me. Just thought I should keep everyone posted on how it's all going.

Yeah.

I wish everyone I'm friends with could be in the same place. Then I wouldn't have to miss anyone! Everyone come down to World Harvest Bible College In the fall to Visit! Ha!

No seriously. That would be sweet!

Out.

Not a Barrel of laughs...

2006-05-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

Ok. Now I'm not one to complain, especially about the magic subject known as food, however today will be my exception. I just payed 30 bucks for a meal and didn't completely finish either of my 3 courses. That is never a good sign for me. Shall we begin.

Starting, I got ruded out by some old ladies. Our waitress (who could barely speak English) sits us right next to the computer that they use to make the bills so we were constantly surrounded by people....it made me nervous.
Course number 1: Calimari with chipotlé sauce. The crispy coating was too salty, the lettuce it was served on was old and soggy and the calimari was so tough and tasteless it was like eating erasers. However, the chipotle sauce was devine.
Course number 2: A texas style steak sandwhich. How could that possibly be bad?? Well, I'll tell you. The steak was overcooked, burnt and tasteless, there was no sauce on the bun (although there was supposed to be), the "coleslaw" was merely more sgredded soggy lettuce and I could count the fries on two hands I'm sure. The redeeming quality was the mushrooms and the slice of pickle. Delish, however, not enough to redeem the meal.
Course number 3: Fresh strawberry cheesecake. Again, I ask how could it be bad?? Well, It was the best course of the three. The cheesecake was good, the crust was tasty and the strawberries were fresh....BUT! It was covered in a very artificial tasting cherry sauce. YUCK! I hate cherries! Oh well. At least It was a good cheesecake.

So, arg. I'm not a food critic but today's meal was sub-par. Oh well, I still thank God that I have food in my belly. Heck for 30 bucks I would have eaten the plate.

Ha. Out.

Hot Mom.

2006-05-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

Ok. I've come to the conclusion that parenting is the best work out of them all.

Hopefully anyone that still reads this knows me well enough to know that I don't have kids. BUT I have been spending alot of time with a certain pair of Snow kids and believe me, they could give any gym a run for their money. I mean, I'm getting a full body work out!

Arms: Holding and rocking a 15 pound baby for 2 hours. Playing "backflips" with a 3 year old. Doing curls with a 3 year old. Ok...that one was kinda obvious.

Back: *see holding 15 pound baby. Lifting both babies and toddlers when they say "uppies" or "huggies" or some variation of the words "up" or "hug". Feeding a very hungry baby. The balancing makes for fun back cramps!

Abs: *see playing backflips with 3 year old. The state of constant cringing around 3 year old kicking toddlers...all your muscles are tensed.

Legs: Bouncing a fussy baby, both on lap and standing up. Playing soccer and other running sports/games with any age kid. Honestly....the energy! WHACKY!! Lifting kids with my legs to get them to go to bed....you know, when they attatch themselves to you?

There you have it. The best work out regime imaginable. Plus, it's all worth it when they're asleep. Or their parents come home. haha. But come on...with that work out, how could I possibly NOT be a hot mom??

Oh my. The rants. At least I updated!

Whew........

16 hours on a bus...and worth every second of it.

2006-04-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh.....here I sit. Sick and exhausted. Yet strangely satisfied. Why, you ask? Because the good ol' WHBC has got me singing it's praises once again.

That's right, I have once again returned (safely might I add) from one of my favourite places at the moment, Canal Winchester, Ohio. And this time was even better than the last!

I'm not going to go into extnsive details or anything, I am completele worn out, but I will say that I have no doubts that I am called to go to that Bible College. I love everything about it down there! And most importantly to me, I love the people so much. I've only known them all for about a total of 3 weeks and I still managed to find myself crying because I'll miss them all. Although it could have been because I was leaving Joshua again....but I'm sure it was a combination of the two.

I will put a special shout out there to Rebecca, who was gracious enough to open her whole life to me for the past 6 days. I even got to sleep in her awesome bed! I'll miss you the most Rebecca. "Lesley?? Where are you? This is rediculous!!" hahaha...no worries the midol is all gone and I'm real glad Cam still hasn't figured out what it is.

Not to worry boys, I haven't forgotten you. Andrew, Adam and Cam especially. You guys are my bros of all bros.

And last but certainly not least, my Joshy. Yay! I'm coming home in June! Too bad you had to find out like you did, but hey now you have lots of time to buy me gifts for the airport. Hahaha. You know I love you...even if my note was crap. Lol.

Now I go on a 3 and a half month hiatus from the college but I know that it's gonna be even better next year. I wonder who I'll room with? Hmmmmm?

Out.

P.S.-> "Junk!" HA! Gets me every time. Totally love that kid. (In a plutonic way Joshua! ;)

A little taste of the Harvest.

2006-04-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hey hey.

I'm back and freshly basted with a little american sauce. Haha. For real. Debs says that I have an accent already...oh me and my adaptibility.

So, this past weekend I had the priveledge of travelling south of the border to a little town called Canal Winchester and a little (totally not little in the least) place called World Harvest Bible College. It's a non-denominational bible college based out of Columbus, Ohio and it just happens to be where my boyfriend currently attends school. I went down there for college days and I ended up getting alot more out of it than I expected.

For starters, does anyone ever watch Smallville? Seriously, that's what the place looks like. It's in the middle of all these wheat and corn fields and it's so green and beautiful. The weather was great as well. The campus is simple and quaint, 3 buildings. The dorms are great. OH!! Super cool fact. The girl's dorms are in...you ready for this? CUNNINGHAM hall. Yeah that's right. SO meant to go there. Everytime I told people my last name they thought I was making a joke. And the crown jewel of the place was definately World Harvest church. The place is MASSIVE!!! And it's so beautiful! The entire background of the stage is covered in a hugs black sheet with lights on it so it resembles the night sky. Gorgeous. There's also the cafiteria which is covered completely in windows (called the mac) and a k-12 school called Harvest Preporatory School...maybe God's taking me there to be a teacher after all...hmmm? And my favourite part is the Breakthrough Ministries. It helps aids orphans and has freed over 20,000 child slaves in Zambia. Praise God!

The services are amazing as well. So much passion and energy!! And absolutely no bull! 100% bull free! (and I don't mean the animal) I love the Church's pastor, Pastor Rod Parsley. I like to think that I have been blessed with the gift of discernment (when it comes to pastors anyways) and I don't always like every speaker I see or hear, even if I like what they say. But pastor Parsley has a real love surrounding him. Did you know he's written 65 books?? At least it's somewhere close to that. He's so in tuned to God and he is just a cool guy. And he's huge! I wouldn't mess with him!! There's alot of church in a week there. 4 services. 2 sunday and then chapel on Monday and Thursday. And it's not boring church( as bad as it sounds...sometimes I can't help but snooze in a sevice). It's so great! The chapel band and choir are awesome and the songs that they do are just so spirit-pumping. There's not always a sermon, sometimes the sprit just moves and we end up worshipping for hours...seriously the time flies. But all in all it's good stuff.

Then there are the people. Seeing Joshua, of course, was fantastic. He's grown up so much from when he moved there. He was such a boy and now he's growing into a man. It's pretty crazy. And I wish to state, for the record, that he is currently in his new prime(looks wise). His old prime happened before we dated and I was always kind of sad that I missed it, but now...oh he's so passed it. He looks GOOD! Ha. And all of his friends are amazing! I was really scared I wasn't going to like them, but I really do! Every single one of them. I will give a special shout out to 3 lovely ladies. Natalya and Jenn who allowed me to spend my time there as their roommate and Rebecca, who quickly befriended me and gave me more mints then I could count. Haha! Seriously though...I'm addicted! I need more!! Everyone I met were super nice. Especially the guys that we hung around with for the most part. Which were pretty much the guys from the band Josh is in. (Oh! and Chris and Wes and Jacob!) Yeah. That's right! Josh is in a band! A good one too! They have gigs and everything!! they have a my space if anyone's interested. www.myspace.com/themissionband Check them out. they're really good. I got to video tape them one evening...and do an impromptu photo shoot of the 3 guitarists.

So yeah. That's that. I'll be going there in the fall and that will take 2 years. Oh praise God. I finally know what I'm doing. Yessssssssss. Nice. Well, hope you enjoyed my rant!

Out.

What do I want??

2006-03-27T22:44:00.000-08:00

I want to lock myself in a room for a week and go a little crazy.
I want to get so unbelievably passionate about something that I tear at my hair and jump around when I even think about it.
I want to paint and sculpt and draw and carve and do any kind of art I can find.
I want to mix colors wildly on a page in a burst of feeling and momentum.
I want to lie back and contemplate the stars and just how little we really are.
I want to jump into the ocean without being scared of how cold it is.
I want to taste gelato at some point in my life.
I want to be able to just pick up and go if I feel like it.
I want to learn as many different languages as possible and use them all eventually.
I want to crack open a book and not be able to put it down until it’s finished.
I want to write an opera.
I want to learn to play the cello.
I want to take a train right across Canada and not worry about food, clothing or money.
I want to wash my hair in a river.
I want to lie down in the rain and leave my body print on the dry ground under me.
I want a trampoline.
I want to skydive and not have any apprehension of the ground beneath me.
I want to walk down the street and not care if anyone notices me.
I want to watch a sunset in absolute silence.
I want to listen to music so sweet and real that it makes my body move with it.
I want to venture into a virgin wood and close my eyes and breathe everything in.
I want to see an ice covered pond with no ripples.
I want to learn how to blow glass.
I want to dye my hair blond again someday.
I want to laugh so hard that I can’t breathe and tears roll down my face.
I want to experience the rush of touching the skin of someone I love.
I want to get caught up in a romantic moment and not think about what comes next.
I want to learn to play guitar better than I do now.
I want to dance and dance and dance!
I want to meet as many new people in my life as I can.
I want to have the God-given ability to heal and not be prideful of it.
I want to scream and bang my head and punch things sometimes.
I want to learn to box.
I want to make a movie.
I want to buy a really great camera soon.
I want to have at least 4 children.
I want to be able to go south for the winter because I don’t like being cold.
I want to wear flip-flops or bear feet all the time.
I want to wear a toga.
I want to experience the 40’s for a day.
I want to be in a musical again.
I want to cover my entire room in photos.
I want to make a quilt.
I want to have a really, really great cup of coffee for once in my life.
I want the ability to go back and watch my life like a movie.
I want a second chance to say goodbye to my father.
I want people to love people, regardless.
I want to tell my friends I love them and not weird them out.
I want to take home every orphan from every home, war-torn or disease ridden place in the world and then take all of the abandoned animals and give each orphan a pet or two.
I want never have to experience a migraine again.
I want to get a job that I can’t wait to go to.
I want another shot at company 150.
I want community in East Toronto Church.
I want to eat every food in the world at least once in my life.
I want to have the ability to be alone.
I want to be able to do a back flip.
I want get baptized in the Jordan River.
I want everyone in this world to recognize God as their father.

Hmmm...yeah.

That's what I want.

No compromises.

Sunday Sweetness.

2006-03-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was one of the best days I've had in a long time.

I love people. I don't care what my stupid Gap review says. I love them and I love to meet new ones...or at least reunite with one's I haven't seen in a while. It was a good day.

Hope you all had a good one too.

P.S.- 614 is money.

Out.

What news.

2006-03-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

Here's a shocker.

I just had my first in store review and it turns out that I am not a people person.

WHAT??

I have been assigned to inventory and placing new stock before and after the store closes. Apparently I am a task oriented person and my interaction with people is forced and not welcoming.

Hmmmmm......

Here's a little secret!

2006-03-14T20:24:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you about somebody very important in my life. now, maybe some of you are thinking that I'm referring to my 3 buddies, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost...yes they are important to me, but not what this one's about. Maybe my best friend Deborah? Nope, not this time, you can see an entry about her in the archives. My friends from here in the T-dot have been featured many times so this one's not about them either. It's about somebody who I don't give nearly enough credit to for my current spiritual situation.

It's my incredibly loyal, loving, and incredibly passionate boyfriend, Joshua March.

Now maybe alot of people write about their boyfriends in their blogs, but not me apparently. I don't do it nearly enough. Especially considering how incredible he really is. He's my spiritual shoulder. He picked me up out of the depths of depression and just screwed-upness and helped shape me into the woman of God I am today. I have never met anyone who makes me feel as loved and as beautiful as he does. He's never let me settle for anything less than what's best for me. He's always got my back.

Sure, we, like any successful couple, have had our ups and downs, tears and laughs. But we've had so much fun over the past 2 years and 3 months that it overcomes any doubts of us not being together for the rest of our lives.

Yeah that's right. I am in love. SO in love. And the man that I love is Joshua David March.

Just wanted to make sure there were no disputes about that.

Ahhhhh....so cute. Haha.

Keep it in your pants...

2006-03-07T20:06:00.000-08:00

Had the final dress rehearsal for the play that I'm making a cameo in. "The puzzled man" for those who don't know. It went well, despite some minor glitches. But with the cast we have, how could you go wrong? I mean our fantastic lead who is definately going to be in feature films someday, a 23 year old Kathryn Ballantine double (who got some massage action from Joel before the show...IF you know what I mean.), a very tall and beautiful comedienne extraordinaire, well.....SANTA, a hilarious and subtle character actress who makes every one of her moments on stage shine and a child actor who is just so cute I could eat him up! AND he taught me how to fire a rubber band properly. MONEY.

Well, after the play we were all talking and (among other things) Joel said that nobody really uses the word "hunk" anymore. It made me laugh! It's true. Then I started to think of what we do say instead of hunk...I couldn't really think of anything! Ummmm...he's a piece? He's hot? He's....I really don't think that anything comes close to hunk status.

Your mission? Come up with a hunk worthy word.

Haha. Oh the randomness.

The wedding

2006-03-04T19:18:00.000-08:00

So.

Today I attended my first "friends" wedding. As in a wedding where I actually really knew the people who were getting hitched. It was quite the experience.

Through lots of laughs, lots of joy, lots of halleluahs, lots of encouragement, lots of love....there were also lots of tears.

All different kinds.

Today I witnessed tears of a father overwhelmed with emotions, tears of a best friend moved by the words of a song, tears of bride overcome with love, tears of a girl just rejoicing in the occasion but lastly I saw the tears of a brother who feared his little bro wouldn't be around anymore.

It was the latter that really tugged my heart.

I managed to remain tearless for most of the service...I stress "most". But when I saw Joel burst with love, pride, happiness and sadness all at the sametime, I couldn't help but burst a little myself. I was sitting with 2 of my Company 150 buddies at the time and we all simultaneously sprung into tears. It made me chuckle a little....an entire row of weeping girls and all. But it was so heart wrenching to have to sit there and watch a friend go through that. Not being able to help. I'm getting a little misty thinking about it now.

Bottom line. Heck, there really isn't any.

I guess I just wanted to put it out there, Joel, that you've got alot of people behind you who love you.

That's all.

Everybody picks their nose.

2006-03-03T07:59:00.000-08:00

I know that no one really reads this blog except for my cloesest of the close friends so I'm not at all embarrassed to share. Let me paint you a picture. I'm sitting here, in fleece p.j. bottoms, my camp glenhuron t-shirt, hair all a mess, glasses on, no make-up (what's that you say??), sitting cross-legged on this swivel chair, eating dry holiday Rice Crispies (There was no milk!) and sipping a glass of delectable Tropicana orange juice...delish!

Now while I'm so anxious to share this picture with you I'm not quite so excited for anyone to actually see it, there are a select few who will ever see me in this mode of "crappery". Some people have gotten a glimpse...curlers in the hair, waking me up from a nap, seeing me when I'm just getting over the stomach flu and what not. But even then there's a certain level of primping that goes into it all. The only one that has ever seen me at my very worst is God. Sad and true.

I know for a fact that I can be a goober. It's on film and everything! And I know that people have gotten/are getting annoyed with my obnoxious behaviour and not so funny jokes, my self-glorifying attitude, lack of disclipline, 2-sided personality, selfish actions, undeniably annoying laughing, know it all bursts, incessant talking, slobby appearance, rambling blogs and all that jazz...BUT, God still loves me. And nothing I could do would make him love me any more or any less.

I personally think that's huge. It's devine for lack of a better word. I would challenge anyone to feel exactly the same about someone if they smelled bad, got horribly burned, developed an annoying laugh (See janice in Friends), gained 300 pounds, suddenly thought they knew everything about everyone OR on the other hand got a really great hair cut, got breast implants, started working out an their biceps or pecks or stomach (whatever floats your boat), cleared up their acne, developed a fantastic sence of humor, started dating someone who was the coolest person you'd ever met. I don't think I'd be able to do it. Like I said, it's devine.

It's so comforting to know that, even if I don't work out every day like I said I would, God still loves me and even if I read my Bible for 2 hours everyday, His love is still the same.

Hmmmm....nice.

Oh, and for whoever is reading this, let's get an example of your worst case scenario as far as looks go...getting up in the morning? Fresh out of the swimming pool? After working out? House cleaning? Come on, give it up....it's not like anyone but me reads this anyways. Ha.

ROAD TRIP!!!!

2006-02-24T12:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, we haven't even left Toronto and already this has been a trip to remember!

So many plans...so little planning. Between people going and not going, how we're getting there and when, where we're staying or whatever else gets thrown at us. Windsor better be ready once we get there because this was some lotta fun to plan!

THE PLAN: Me, Debs and Phil get a ride out with Matt (after we meet at Matt's house or something...Phil is going to meet us on the 401 or...what??) and attempt to have a practice whenever we get out there. Later we return to our dwellings. The males go to their hostel, originally meant for us girls but after finding out that it was a rehab center for ex-cons, skitzos and recovering atticts, was passed over to the big tough boys....yes, I'm talking about matt and Phil. And the ladies, well we get to stay with one of the local officers...a newf like ourslelves, who we've never met. Blind generosity is a beautiful thing. The rest is history.

So now, I sit with curlers in my hair waiting for Edward to come home and drive us to Richmond Hill using the messiest set of directions ever. No insult to Matt, I just suck at writing.

How will it end? Will the heroines make it to Richmond Hill without getting lost? Will Phil survive on the 401? Will the heroes be accepted into their unusual hostel?

Stay tuned to this same blog time, same blog channel.

*spinning icon of some sort*

Done. Money.

I buried my shovel.

2006-02-15T12:11:00.000-08:00

Happy belated valentine's everyone.

Hope yours was as fulfilling as my own. It involved a little Ice Cream (Ben and Jerry's Half Baked to be specific....seriously if you want to die a slow and pleasurable gluttonous death, eat it.) and a little movie called "Just Like Heaven" starring 2 of my favourite people in hollywood, Mark Ruffalo (what a muffin) and Reese Weatherspoon (a muffin as well). Plus a cameo by the one and only John Heder. (Righteous....that's Napolean Dynamite for those lost...). Oh, and the Winchester Brothers. Hoo-sha. My company included 2 great gals, Debs and Jess. Nothing like an evening with good friends, good watchings, and good eats. However I did almost get sent a beautiful bouquet of flowers by a certain Joshy March. For real. Too pricey for delivery though...stupid Canadian/US border! But hey, it's the thought that counts and I'm happy he even thought of it.

Now, to tie into the bizarre title of this blog, I read a proverb yesterday. The 14th proverb for the 14th day of the month. It was a contrast between the righteous and the wicked. It was extrememely powerful and very specific, but the overall theme was quite clear. Basically, the righteous will live a wonderful eternal life and the wicked dig their own early grave. If anybody is having issues with any aspect of their Christan walk I suggest you read this proverb. If nothing else, it'll put into perspective how shallow and temporary worldly pleasures really are. And a life with God is a righteous and everlasting one.

Proverbs 14=Good eats.

Chow down.

It's not about the snowboarding...

2006-02-12T15:32:00.000-08:00

Well well well.

What a weekend this was. I haven't been to a youth together in a little while so it was kind of nice to see it from the other side. (As in being in the band as opposed to watching it.) Seeing what captivates or bores the kids, watching the youngin's sneak glances at the cuter members of the opposite sex, laughing at uncomfortable situations...man. What a crappy age, yeah? So glad that the teenage years have come and gone, however they did have their moments. And, yes, I do digress to adolescent behaviour at times. ahem. But being in the worship team this weekend definately had it's perks!

There's something so freeing about being the worship leaders as opposed to followers. Being a follower my whole life, taking the reigns is a tad intimidating. Even being up there, I kind of hid behind Joel's leadership. But when the time came for me to step up...well. It's hard! I'm always so afraid of what other people are thinking or if I'm taking my own direction instead of God's. I don't know how worship leaders can do it! It takes some mighty fine-tuning to hear God's voice and drive the worship to the next level. My hat's off to them.

Our speaker was a great guy as well. Steve Court. Great speaker...totally a radical. Totally loves God. Yes, he was a tad extreme (i.e. tearing off the head of your evil canary which represents all sin and yuckiness in your life) but the message was good. I hope that the kids didn't get too caught up in the literal and took heed of the real message behind all of the vivid imagery he placed in our minds. It worked for me! But 14 year olds....well, only God can know right? Pray for guidance and clarification for all these kids for sure.

Aaaand. On the rediculous fun side of the weekend, I tried my hand at snowboarding. Rather I tried my entire aching body at snowboarding. Ok, how do I put this lightly? I SUCKED!!! No, it was beyond suckage. Even suck itself would look at me and say "Dude, You SUCK!". Oh it was an experience for sure. I couldn't even make it down the bunny hill (more like bunny barely-a-slope) without injuring myself. Ha. Falling on my face (quite litterally...ice burns, believe it or not!), almost dislocating my knee, slicing the board across my shin, falling on my tailbone, giving my knees a run for their money, oh and the pain that came the morning after...ACK! I felt like a truck had run over me. A large truck...with studded tires...carrying cinderblocks...lined with iron....Not a good thing! And I only went down like 6 or 7 times! And only one of those was on anything other than the bunny hill! (Never again I might add!) Oh dear. Most of the day consisted of me and Deb carrying around our boards looking cool and stylin'. Which we were, if I do say so myself. Hoo-sha. (See pic...of course we looked amazing!)

Yeah. It was a very enjoyable weekend for sure. Many many memories. Cold Showers, Scabie Motel, Deb's European snowboarding, Stinky bagels, massage oil, Dion taking a face dive while triumphantly proclaiming "I didn't fall once!",the juniour frosty, "My hump! my hump my hump my hump!", Perfuming Jess' eyes, "IF you know what I mean...", Joel's spiritual tantrum, the east toronto gang and all that they bring...including crossed eyes, "bi-spirituality", the abundance of product in in our room, "Yeah, 312 doesn't exist...oh wait you're staying outside.", Frozen Juiceboxes, Fries on the floor, attempting to Follow Ashley Elliot, Apple caramel crispy minis??, The smudges on erica's window, AND "Do you remember that comment I made earlier about any guy carrying a snowboard being hot? Yeah, I retract that."

Oh what a weekend. Clearly good times. The best of times even.

In the words of a wise man "MONEY!!!!"

*I would like to state for the record that no actual canaries were harmed in Steve Court's sermon.

This is the song that never ends...

2006-02-05T18:04:00.000-08:00

Due to a brief conversation had at Wednsday night small group, here's a little throw back to one of my favourite shows back in the day. I could do the best impression of them all too....not so much now. But man, that show was good times.

Care to name some of your old favourite shows?

...He will give us the desires of our hearts...

2006-01-31T21:18:00.000-08:00

Tonight's small group was gold.

Honestly now, how could it not have been? Ingredients: The Millwood House, 4 very cool Christian friends (Including one new one! Rachel, you're money.), The Bible, and of course hilarious stories told by Curtis and Jay...not to mention Joel's inability to pick up cake and not drool on himself at the same time. Haha. Class.

The topic tonight was basically our desires vs. God's desires for us. It made for some powerful and thought-provoking moments. Joel had us think of our heart's desires during a listen to some Jason Upton (I think that's who it was...ehhhhhh..) and the desires that came to my mind didn't exactly make me proud.

I thought about my desire to be recognized and admired from afar, to be wealthy and powerful, to be the most beautiful woman in whatever place I walked into, to be a keeper of toys (such as cars, tv's, houses, clothes...) and be the best at everything that I tried.

Not a whole lot there that's anything but self serving huh? Sucky.

Then Joel asked us to think of what we could desire that would be pleasing to God or that He would desire for us...basically the opposite of everything I had. Hmmm....

So, this week's mission is to meditate on some of God's desires for me. Not a bad idea.

Yeah?

une question

2006-01-27T09:25:00.000-08:00

Just a quick question. Think about it seriously now. What does Jesus look like to you? When you close your eyes and picture jesus coming to talk to you, just where you are. What does he look like?

I'd really like to know.

...

2006-01-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

I was just scrolling up and down my msn contact lists when I began to notice a trend in the under 17 contact's screennames. They were all about finding a boyfirend/girlfriend. To the point where it'd be like "Life sucks...why am I the only one without a soul mate?" or "Loneliness is a way of life." Seriously! What the heck are we teaching these kids!! If you don't starting dating before you hit puberty then you're a joke? No wonder kids are getting pregnant or becoming fathers before the age of 16. Because they start dating people in..what? Grade school? Honestly. It's becoming rediculous!

I know that when I was younger I had this idea drilled in my head that because I was 14 and hadn't had a boyfriend I was a late bloomer. Uh 14?? I wasn't even mentally stable enough to start dating til I was 20! Why is it that the world around us needs to tell kids that having a boyfriend or girlfriend is the number 1 priority? Who gives a crap about school or family, as long as you're dating someone right?

The whole idea of waiting to date until you're older and more in control of your emotions wasn't even an option for me until about 18 or so...and many boyfriends down the road. There was no turning back at that point. I'm not saying that dating is a bad thing necessarily, it's just been pushed up into some higher calling. I learned some great things from dating early on...like what I don't want in a guy. haha. But I also know that everything else took second fiddle to my current beau. Then when we broke up the whole world had come crashing down around me! I hate to think that the same thing is happening to kids today.

The biggest problem, in my eyes, is how our society defines love. I'm not even going to go into all that but I do know that a month long boyfriend/girlfriend who makes you cry does not equal love. Pining over a guy or girl every night and morning does not equal love. Sticking posters of them all over your wall does not equal love. Adjusting your lifestyle to suit theirs does not equal love. An undeniable romantic attraction does not equal love. Physical Chemistry...no matter how good, does not equal love. Love isn't a feeling, it's a way of life! I think that everyone needs to read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 at least once a day. Especially those poor adolesants that think they're missing out on something just because they're not dating. Love goes beyond emotions and feelings and passion. It's a gift and one that's not to be thrown around whenever.

If that were better understood then I think that there would be alot less sadness and confusion in the world.

Yeah?

What a night

2006-01-14T17:49:00.000-08:00

Last night I did possibly one of the coolest things EVER!

Everyone went skating at Nathan Phillips Square and it was outdoors.....so beautiful. One of those places I'd like to rent for a private night with Josh. All the lights and stuff. Gargeous! Seriously really nice.
After that we went back to Debs and hung out...and ate. Natch. Seeing all of my summer friends again was really strange. I think they thought it too. But it was nice. They all seem older than I remember. Maybe they think the same as me. Who knows?

Well, gonna hang with Deb now.

Cash.

Second thoughts

2006-01-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

I'm starting to rethink this whole moving to Toronto thing. I really don't know what's come over me.

Maybe it's because I've lived in this same spot since I was 2. My first memory ever was here! I can't just walk away from that. All of my friends and family. I've attended the same church since I was 8 years old. My corps is my home. I've known the kids that go there since they were pre-schoolers! Now they're graduating and growing up and I feel like I'll miss out. Everyone knows me! Newfoundland is such a little place...I'm connected to everyone somewhere down the line.

Then again. Maybe that's another reason why I should go. I guess it's a chance to take away the safety net of home. I'll have a clean slate there! Well...cleanER. If noone likes me, oh well. At least they won't have a pre-arranged idea of me.

But, I mean, am I ready for the big city?? Am I just a small town girl? Oh dear. The more I think about it the more real it becomes. In just 5 days I will be leaving home for the first time in my life. I don't like to suck at things...what if I suck at living on my own? Is that even possible? Ha. I am so ridiculous. I feel 12 or something.

Maybe I just REALLY don't want to go on a plane.

Out.

Will you stay?

2006-01-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

To what length can you love me?
To what extent does your passion consume?
When tomorrow comes will you be here?

Will you stay?

And if I choose to leave, will you follow?
How long a path will you tread to find me again?
And when you find me wandering, will you help me?

Will you stay?

Suppose I called your life a joke, would you strike me?
If I made you cry just to see your tears, would you hate me?
And If I stop my laughing and beg you not to go, will you listen?

Will you stay?

What if at the end of the day I long for you, would you come to me?
If I wanted you to hold me, would your arms again enfold me?
If to wake up to your face is all I want, will you be there?

Will you stay?

I honestly don't know what this is about...just kinda happened.

Go emo.

Narnia

2005-12-30T12:24:00.000-08:00

I have seen the Light!

...and by light I mean The Chronicles of Narnia.

I saw it with my mom and my sis on momma's b-day (aka Dec. 27th) and I honestly couldn't write about it until now because it rocked my soul so much. Seriously, had I written about it at the time, the entry would have gone something like this:

"OH MY GOSH!! I JUST SAW.....WOW!!!!!! THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER!!! IT WAS ABSOLUTELY....WOW!! THERE WAS THIS PART...ASLAN..THE WITCH...HE ROARED....THEN...WOW!!!!!!! I WANTED TO DANCE AND SHOUT BECAUSE....WOW!!!!!!"

No kidding. You should have seen me. I was a trembling heap that night.

The movie just spoke to me so much. I honestly could never describe exactly how much my spirit got...well...ROCKED!!! That's the only way I can say it. It put my life in a whole new light (just in time for new years..hey!).

There was one scene in the film where the white witch turns to Edmund and says,

"You'd better decide who's side you're on. Mine...or theirs."

How much simpler can it get? Who's side are we on? The white with representing satan and Aslan representing God...I'm gonna have to go with Aslan. The movies imagery made it so much easier for my little and simple brain to comprehend. The witch hears the name of Aslan and she can't hide a flinch. Brrrr.... Aslan roars and that witch is SILENCED! That's right SIT DOWN! He laid down his life that a traitor may live...but BOOM! He's back again!

Even thinking about it now gives me the goose bumps.

I'll have to explain it in person....I could write sermons upon sermons based on that movie. Seriously powerful stuff. Like I said, I wanted to dance and shout when it was over.

Go spirit-rocking.

Out.

Go Jesus! It's your birthday!

2005-12-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

Oh yes.

Just wanted to put that down! Gold! Bam! Zing! And all that Jazz.

But seriously. I hope that everyone is having a great Christmas so far even though it's technically not until tomorrow. I just got my first taste of Christmas presents and it was great. (Joshua, you are THE best!! Norah AND Michael???) Not to get caught up in the materialistic aspect but hey! Free stuff is great!

To those I have seen tonight and this past week, a warm and happy Merry Christmas once again. To those I didn't see, sorry I missed you or sorry I couldn't get to see you and Have a great and wonderful Christmas!

A big hug out to all my friends. I love you all so much.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The best medicine

2005-12-14T18:27:00.000-08:00

Yet another fantastic night of hanging with friends.

Even though we were supposed to be practicing for our vocal ensemble which is perfoming sunday, we still found some ways to goof off. Be it making fun of the Citadels angel filled tree (seriously, some of those are scary!!), yelling at Banfield to stop playing the same 2 bars of a song repeatedly, or witnessing Jon debubble...eeeew...it was all so much fun.

It made me realise that I seriously love to laugh! I mean, sometimes I'll guage a night's quality just on the amount of laughter in it. Maybe that's why I love Deborah so much. We just get so rediculous around each other that we laugh at everything and nothing! Maybe it's why I had such a great time this summer (among other things...like, duh! Sharing Jesus with kids? Helllooo!) And it's definately why sence of humour was important to me in finding my potential mate.(First is a heart for God) I mean, who wants to spend the rest of their life with someone who can't make you laugh? Not me. That's for sure. I'm a lucky one. I hooked myself a funny guy.

I'm really not a high maintenance girl. Sure, I take a while to get ready in the morning but other than that I'm an easy rider! I really don't consider myself one of "those" girls. Yeah, I like lipgloss and hair curlers. I also like hoodies and ponytails, basketball in the rain, being up to my elbows in clay, home made popcorn and a movie, sitting and talking for hours, just hanging with friends, and obviously a good laugh. I pride myself on being laid back and not having to be impressed all the time. Maybe it's my excuse for being lazy. Ha.

Well, this was spaztic and random but seemed to work. I'm off.

Out.

Show stopper

2005-12-10T16:58:00.000-08:00

Oh man.

Tonight was the first peformance of the christmas cantata "Repeat the sounding joy" or in the words of my buddy Daniel "...Repeat the same cantata as two years ago." Ha. Love that kid. Anywho, the night went over fairly well. I got to put on a ridiculous red velvet, puffy-sleeved dress and wail some Judy Garland as well as sporting a hankey and donning a really bad German accent. Oh yes. Dramatics at it's finest.

But, despite the hokeyness and rushing...it really made me miss acting. It's kind of crazy to think that if I had persued my original career plan I would be headed into my 2nd last year of my drama degree at Grenfell college.

I had completely forgotten about that plan until our pastor came up to me and said. "I wouldn't be surprised if you decided to take up a career in acting...you're a natural." And I was just kind of stunned. I thought. "Oh yeah. I was gonna do that wasn't I? Why did I give that up?" Then I remembered why. Hmmmmm....oh well. It's in the past I guess. I'm going to do something that I love right?

But now it's got me thinking...did I make the right decision? I love kids and I know that teaching them music would bring me so much joy and be so rewarding. But still. Nothing beats that rush of being on the stage. The joy of late night rehearsals or learning how to stage kiss. Ha.

I remember when I first did "South Pacific". It being my first show and having the lead role made me SO nervous. I have a really bad habit of shaking on stage but when I stepped out and delivered my first line all the nervousness was gone. A great musical really is a well oiled machine. There's no need for nerves to fray.

I really don't know where I'm going with this. I'm probably just going through musical withdraw. Les Mis was 2 years ago...time for another show methinks. Yes indeed. Maybe rent...or Phantom!!! Not that I could sing that high. haha. Oh well.

I'm spent.

Out.

And again...

2005-12-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

Alrighty.

I was just reading Esthers blog on the whole what happens when boys and girls like each other and such. I was totally laughing my head off reading everyone's comments. But...I also found myself sucked into the slumber party talk mentality. So, oh my gosh girls, lets chat!! *giggles and scuffling*

Ok ok. Here goes.

I know that I have been in some absolutely rediculous situations when it comes to liking guys and stuff but there has been one element that has united them all. That first moment when you realize you like somebody. There's always that moment where something changes and you're just like BOOM! And then there's no turning back cause you're totally crushing. It can happen any time too. My friend Dale put it best: "I can fall for a girl with the flick of her hair." It's just that simple. For me it has happened when a guy left a group of friends to go home like all the other times but this time I wanted him to stay and realised I missed him, or discovering a new talent that a guy has and finding it attractive, or witnessing a guy be rediculous and thinking it's cute, even looking at a guys mouth and honestly pondering what he would kiss like, or having a guy touch my arm for the first time and getting chills...the possibilities are endless.

Once that happened, how I acted around him really depended on who it was that I happened to be crushing on. I've had some pretty bad GLS (guy liking syndrome) and the symtoms are rarely the same. In one case I got very confident and touchy feely with the guy, always unnecessary touching of the arms or legs. Then again I've had the polar opposite effect happen. I crushed on a guy once and it was so bad that I couldn't touch him at all! I would even premeditate opportunities to talk to him where I would have the opportunity to give him a pat on the back or a nudge and then I'd be in the situations, talking to him and physically could not get myself to do it! But my personal favourite is the case where I turned into some sort of idiot around the guy. I would be even more klutzy and awkward than I usually am. Hitting my head on things like pool tables and the like, completely ruining perfectly romantic moments by dropping things or asking stupid questions...oh my.

All in all this little divulging session has been good times. Getting the inner 12 year old out from time to time is semi-refreashing.

So rediculous.

Out.

20 going on 12

2005-12-04T10:23:00.000-08:00

What's the deal with being 20?

I always thought that when I reached my 2 dec (that would be slang for 2nd decade in case your not as hip as the next. ha.) I'd have it all figured out. And truth be told I'm pretty sure that's because I was raised that way. Alas, here I am, not having a sweet clue exactly what comes next.

Yeah, by now I've figured out who I am and where my strengths lie but who gives a crap about that right? Apparently the proof is in the pudding. No, I don't have a career started yet. No, I'm not engaged or married, nor do I plan to be for a nice while. No, I don't have my own place or vehicle. Does that mean I'm dragging my feet?

What is 20? Who made it a milestone? To some people 20 year olds are still babies. Yeah alright, I'm not a baby, but I'm not ready to start nailing myself into adulthood.

I like my life right now. I have a great job, I love my friends, I'm applying to 2 great universities and I'm about to move away from the place where I have lived for 18 years of my life. Sure, I'm not completely solid but I'm ready to go out on a limb and make some memories.

Oh dude, gotta have a dawsons creek moment with you now. *Let the sappy pop music start....* I keep thinking about the words from a song. They go like this: "...and even if I crash and I burn, at least I'm gonna know what it's like to feel alive."

And fade to black.
Credits roll.

Cheers.

My ADVENT-urous brain

2005-11-27T18:55:00.001-08:00

Haha.

I personally thought that pun was BRILLIANCE! lol. yep. Ok. I'm hyper and frankly feel like just spewing random thoughts on this blog.

Firstly, Today was the first advent sunday...madness huh? I can't believe how quickly the time is flying.

I don't like it when people get mad at me for not blogging. I mean, sometimes the muses just do not decend. why write garbage?

AND that really rediculous thing where you get on this sketchy website just to see who blocked you on msn...How dumb?

On a good note I love Christmas music and broke out the Ol' Harry Connick Jr. Christmas CD...delicious.

I'm having Turkey dinner tomorrow...definately growing on my list of favourite meals. That means I'm gettin' old.

I have a day off tomorrow, which is only fair cause I worked on saturday and it was MADNESS!! Seriously people in shopping mode are not a force to be trifled with...they'll kill ya!

I found a bunch of cartoons that I drew of people back in grade 9. Classic!! I may post one that alot of people would recognize..I'll have to scan it and stuf first...we'll see. They made me laugh.

My eyes are really dry right now. I should put on my glasses but I left them at my friends house...along with some underwear...haha. no worries they were new and she was a girl...rather IS a girl. ha.

I'm undertaking an artistic endeavor. I'm carving a candle. I just bought a huge pillar candle and I'm gonna carve it out into something...it's gonna be sweet. I'm pumped.

I love kids! I went to dinner and I ate downstairs where all the kids were. It was awesome. they were playing that game where you can't touch the floor because it was poison Lava. I'm sure everyone's played some version of that game in their life. It was fun to watch and they were climbing all over me and all talking to me at once but I loved it. Man, I'm so having a huge family!

Oh man. Well there you go. That was awesome. Now I'm wiped.

Out.

Oh! And I LOVE JESUS!

Boo yeah.

I heart Deborah Barrow!

2005-11-21T12:26:00.000-08:00

It's true.

I just spent the past couple of hours talking to her on the phone. We can just talk and talk. It's rediculous! And lately our convos have been more about our lives than T.V. or movies. Which is good! It's been mostly about me moving to Toronto and her telling me all of the funny stories she has from up there. GOOOOOD times.

She wrote an essay for one of her classes about me. Well, about our friendship and how we used to be polar opposites but now we're pretty much the same person. It's awesome. Yeah, she's a great friend and the only one who's really stayed close to me all these years. Despite the fact that she moved away! And now we get to live together. Whoo!

I'm so pumped. Beauty.

Out.

Nice

2005-11-13T20:02:00.000-08:00

I had a great night tonight.

Snac was at my good buddy Darren's, who I haven't seen for a while. It's incredible. You're close with someone, you don't see them for ages and then you see them and just pick up where you left off. Good times.

The night was great though. I love just hanging out with people. I spent the night chilling with the "older" half of the youth. That pretty much consisted of myself, Jon, Val, Rideout, Laura, Darren and his g.f. Danielle.

We laughed ALOT! We talked and we talked about anything from getting lost in the car to shoving straws up our sister's noses.....actually that was all Laura. haha.

Yeah. All in all it was just a great evening. I'm going to miss everyone so much when I leave. So many memories. *Sigh* Good times.

Out,

The "s" word

2005-11-05T14:37:00.000-08:00

yeah, you heard it here first.

SNOW.

This is my house...and on the 5th of November here it is covered with St.John's first taste of snow. However I guarentee it will not be the last.

On a happier note, I am now officially moving to Toronto!! I'll be there for Debbie's 20th Birthday!! So, January 12th or 13th!!! YES!!

AND I got a job at old navy!! It's amazing and pays great!!

AAAAAAND My youth group is growing and maturing spiritually! Last night we had an amazing discussion night about how are youth could grow and change and there were so many ideas!! It was fantastic!! I love my youth and I'll miss them so much when I go.

Oh well. Life is good. God provides!!! Amen!

In Him,

Mum's the word

2005-10-30T20:08:00.000-08:00

I have a real problem with my mouth. It just won't stay shut sometimes.

Seriously. I have to start taking the time to just keep the tongue from wagging and let things simmer for a bit before I say them. Maybe that would eliminate my "yeah" problem...or make it worse. Who really knows?

What I do know is that I am fully capable of intelligent conversation when I don't just blurt out the first thing that pops in and out of my head. I mean, I'm a fairly flighty and emotional individual, so the things that I think don't necessarily need to be out there for the world. In fact, one of my most commonly used phrases has become "I'm just talking! Sometimes I just talk for no reason." Wish I was kidding. Alas, no.

Even now I'm debating wether or not to add to the blog. But, truely, I think enough has been said. I should keep that sentence in mind for the future. Ha.

Cheers.

Mad skills.

2005-10-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

Yeah.

So this adorable creature that you see here, (along with his grandmother...who I love!!) this is Joshua. That's right THE Joshua.

Now last night something incredible happened, I saw Josh dance for the first time. However, the story gets better. It wasn't just me that saw. Anyone that was watching the TBN super salvation special saw him too! All the way from Nashville! He was the super tall white guy dancing with the AMAZING group, "remnant", from World Harvest Bible College.

Seriously now. Besides being totally moving of God I gotta say...the boy's got skills. That's right. White boys can dance. Anyone who wants proof can go to www.tbn.org and check out the archives...look for the tall white guy in the back. How could you miss that face? Ha.

Out.

Chillax...

2005-10-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight at songster devotions...shocking I know...Big Bobby Riche was reading from a book (I wish I caught the name of the author) and the topic was hurrying. The story he told was all about this guy and when he asked his spiritual mentor how to keep his spiritual life intact with all of his new family, job and move to a big city. His mentor, after a VERY long pause said, simply,

"Do not hurry."

And there it is. Plain and simple. When we hurry, so many things get pushed aside, regular exercise, personal hygiene. ha. But seriously...ususally our spiritual disciplines are the first to go. God doesn't call us to rush things. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle Jesus took his desciples up to the mountains to rest and pray. "Be still and know that I am God." Those words mean something.

So when you're stressing and running around take a sec and just chill. It'll do your soul a whole lotta good.

Peace.

This world is going straight to Hell.

2005-10-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

I was watching TV tonight and I happened to come accross ABC's Primetime. They were doing a special on neo-nazis and white power movements.

I almost vomited.

The first thing that I saw was two ten year old blond little girls singing about how coloured people and other races have no place in this world...wearing little Hitler happy face T-Shirts. And to go on these little girls helped with the Hurricane relief effort...as long as only white people got the materials they sent.

I must reiterate that these girls were 10 years old singing hate upon God's people! Oh it makes me so mad!!!!

Then they interviewed the lead singer of a white superiority band. The interviewer picked out the lyrics of some song that read about the streets running red with the blood of the inferior to which he replied, "It was merely a fantasy song about a possible future race war."

A fantasy!!!!! A FANTASY! While some people dream of ponies and proms this guy fantasizes about the streets running red with the blood of non-white people! SICK SICK SICK SICK!

I don't know if I'm more infuriated or saddened. I want to puch holes in my walls but at the same time I just want to break down and cry for this world we live in.

10 year old girls...hating.

Sick.

Yeah...

2005-10-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

That seems to be my favourite word lately. I think I'm getting slow in my old age. "Yeah" seems like the perfect place to pause and gather my thoughts...or see if I have any to begin with.

Especially tonight...eeep. It was, well as dear ol' mom pointed out "slow starting" a.k.a. I babbled on and on because my brain doesn't know when to tell me to SHUT UP!

The sitch was, I was leading worship and we kind of do that on the fly down here so Lesley+Unprepared= Lots of babbling and "yeah"ing. Oh boy. I really gotta work on that! Ha. PLUS I'm dying of a cold and I'm medicated...I actually made a pun while leading...a bad one...and laughed at it myself. I blame it on the meds. Yeah right. Come on!!

Luckily the Lord was with me and he pushed me through the beginning and my unbridled joy for God came through which also helped with the worship. Praise the Lord!

Oh God is good! I got super pumped about moving to the T-dot tonight! I started thinking about all of the "yeah" moment I had over the summer, which got me thinking about the people...which got me missing everyone. Now, I don't expect to get back and be as tight as the summer, but it'll be nice to see everyone again...and witness the pending rediculousness in person. Oh how I miss it.

And of course I'm pumped about getting another chance to live with my very best friend again! The house hasn't been the same without you Debbie...the dog's still scared of the laundry basket! HAHA! ;) Seriously though. good times.

I'm coming soon guys! So excited.

Yeah...ha.

In Him,

...

2005-10-13T13:26:00.000-07:00

YC was one fantastic time. Words can't describe.

So, take this instead.

Praise the LORD!!

In Him,

What lies beneath.

2005-10-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Time for some deep thoughts. lol. come on!

Ok. Some of you know that one super power I always wanted to have is to be able to read minds.

But on further exploration of that...I don't think so!

Where would the fun in that be? There would be no mystery! All the fun would be taken away from interpersonal communication. I mean, the thrill of wondering what lurks behind a smile, a stolen glance, a secret giggle. Those moments when you look at someone and you don't need to know what they're thinking because you can see it in their eyes.

OR

The relief of not knowing that the person next to you thinks you smell bad, can see down your shirt, hates your hair. Or that your ex is secretely wishing you were dead.

Yeah, I like the mystery. It makes things interesting.

Cheers.

A quick look back

2005-10-09T10:45:00.000-07:00

I know one shouldn't think too much on the past, but let's just take a moment shall we?

Great Friends, Great Food, Great Times, Great Summer.

Praise the Lord.

In Him,

Habular Spectacular

2005-10-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

Who saw the game tonight huh?

I'll admit...not the best game Montreal's ever played. They were a little sloppy in the last ten minutes of the third. BUT...

They won!!!! Boo Yeah!

And now that I've lost all of my friends from Toronto I'll be off.

Ha. Classic.

Cheers.

YC!!!!!

2005-10-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Bonjour all!

I'm in a spectacular mood because tonight, at long last, YC begins!!!!

For all of my non-newfie buddies YC is an incredible gathering of Christian and non-Christian youth who come together with the common goal of learning about and Praising the lord Jesus!! Whooo! There are incredible speakers and bands (Jeff Deyo AND Reuben Morgan together this year!!) and sessions which help us all to learn more about God and Worship him so freely!

Thousands of people come every year and this has been the biggest so far with about 3200! Praise the Lord! Alot of them aren't saved so pray for them and pray for an experience far beyond anything we've ever encountered!!

If anyone's interested in learning more, visit www.ycnewfoundland.org . There are pics from past years, testimonies and even a live webcast so you can watch from all over the world! (It starts at about 8 newfoundland time) I'm going to attempt to get a seat up front so look for me! Haha. No man, it's not about me it's about Him.

Well, I'm off to be spiritually renewed. Praise the Lord!

In Him,

Hug a Tree

2005-10-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hey.

I just watched a commercial on the ol' boob tube. It featured a man going around, hugging everyone and everything he was around...I thought it was kinda dopey at first 'till a small caption came up on the screen. It said something along these lines:

Most people diagnosed with ALS lose use of their arms in the first two years of the disease...so wouldn't you do what you can, while you still can?

Well, the wording isn't perfect but you feel me right? Why not take advantage of all the things we can do? Go running as fast as you can! Climb a mountain. Sing a song. Play an instrument. Make a sculpture! (Seriously I suggest eveyone in their life do this at least once!) Play a hardcore game of sports. Dance like no one's watching. Love as many people as you can in your lifetime. But most importantly, spread the love of Jesus while you still can. We've been given the gift of life and it's not gonna last forever. Make the most of the time you have.

So, the moral of the story is live it up! And here's a challenge: Hug somebody unexpectedly this week. Let them know you really care about them and that they're appreciated. I'm gonna go hug my mommy...she's a wonderful lady!

In Him,

Cheers.

Nice shades

2005-10-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hey.

I found this pic on Ris' blog today.

It made me laugh.

Go contemporary vocal!

Phil, we're so rock stars.

Cheers.

Got Purity?

2005-09-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

Purity.

1. The quality or condition of being pure.
2. A quantitative assessment of homogeneity or uniformity.
3. Freedom from sin or guilt; innocence; chastity: “Teach your children... the belief in purity of body, mind and soul” (Emmeline Pankhurst).
4. The absence in speech or writing of slang or other elements deemed inappropriate to good style.

There it is. A definition of purity.

But where does that leave us as Christians?

To me, these definitions seem to contradict each other. The absence of innapropriate material in our lives should seem to make us stand out. So, in that we are not uniform...we walk in another direction.

To be without sin or guilt is what Jesus was and what we should strive to be.

Jesus was pure. Should we be pure?

And if so, how does that change our lives? What would we have to give up to remain pure?

What goes? What stays?

Was your day today a pure one? How can you know for sure?

God knows...maybe we should ask him once in a while.

Peace.

If I were a painter...

2005-09-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

Boo yeah.

I am in a wonderful mood, one of those ones where you can't stop singing or shouting praises for no reason, have been all day. But tonight put the buttercreme icing on the cake.

I was at church doing some painting touch-ups on the youth group loft. Some pretty standard stuff...putting beige paint over this hideoso orange rusty stuff that was there. Anywho, I made a bit of a boo boo and got some of it on our graffiti wall. Now this wall contains some awesome sayings in the bible, reffering to the bible, or referring to christ, christianity or God as a whole. Sooooo, a blob of paint didn't look like it belonged erego I had to "fix" it.

I got majorly passionate about it. I took some paint that we had in the loft, grabbed any brush I could find and, in a majorly passionate moment using my hand as a pallett, turned this blob of beige into a cross stained in the blood of our Lord and saviour, Jesus Christ. Suddenly this scripture kept resounding over and over in my head.

"But he was wounded for our transgressions...By his stripes we are healed."

So I wrote it over the cross and it just spoke to me. It humbled me to the point where I fell to my knees. I mean, God had that whole thing planned. The blob of paint, the fixing, the Scripture...all of it. He touched me in such a profound way. Praise God! He died so that us imperfect sinners could have a chance at heaven! I mean, we get to hang out with God for...EVER! Wow.

Yeah, Praise the Lord for moments like these.

In Him,

Diet What??

2005-09-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

Just watched an episode of shopping bags.

Guess what cola was a favourite among the people?

Diet Coke. Boo yeah.

Chew on that.

Smilemakers

2005-09-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of things that made me smile today.

A Salvation Army truck followed by about 200 motorcycles. All of the bikers were carrying teddy bears.

My dog got her head stuck in a paper bag.

I awoke to my alarm this morning and couldn't remember why I had to get up.

The "crime report" on the radio told a story of the theft of some expired salt fish...only in Newfoundland.

I tried to say "Praise Jesus!" and my gum flew out of my mouth.

Yep. These things made me smile. Hopefully you too.

Anyone else have a smilemaker moment? Feel free to share!

Cheers.

Freedom Reigns?

2005-09-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Guess who?

That was lame, but whatever.

My thought for today stems from something that happened this morning in church. Well, I see alot from the platform, where I sit, and this morning during the service there were alot of blank faces and vacant stares....one lady was even asleep. Now I mean, I understand the whole early morning thing but seriously, we have a great Officer and he's a fantastic speaker and the message was a good one...contagious holiness. I was wondering what it would take to wake these people up.

No sooner did this thought register but a little girl in a pink dress came skipping up to the altar during the call to worship. We were singing "Refiner's fire" and she started dancing and spinning around the altar attempting to sing the words with her hands lifted to heaven. It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

This certainly awoke everyone. I could hear whispers of "Who owns that child? and "tut tut"s coming from all around. There was a buzz in the songsters. I heard one lady whisper "She shouldn't be up there like that." I just sat there...smiling. I mean, this little girl was praising the Lord! What else should we want??

It drives me nuts how caught up people get in all of the lagistics and rules that come with religion. I think that little girl showed everyone up today. While the congregation sat acceptingly in their seats staring out the window this kid got it. She wanted to prase God, so she did. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you have to get up and go nuts to worship...I've had some great moments just sitting in my pew, talking to God. I'm saying that if people get distractingly frusterated over some little girl dancing around the altar, then there's a real issue with freedom.

Praise the Lord for Today.

In Him,

This fall day

2005-09-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

What a great feeling.

My cheeks are still cool to touch from walking outside on this magnificent fall day. The sun is shining, the leaves are turning and the cool fall air is blowing. Wow. God is good.

There's nothing quite like being outside on a day like today. It gets your blood flowing...it refreshes you.

Just felt like sharing.

Cheers.

You can dance if you want to...

2005-09-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hello hello!

Well, I just spent the past little while praising the Lord in an extremely fun way!

I moved all of the stuff out of the way in my rec room, cranked the CD player (Geoff Deyo: Saturate) and proceded to dance around freely just praising God!! What a rush! I was jumping of my coffee table and everything.

It's so amazing the ways that God can touch us. I haven't felt this energized in a while. Praise the Lord! Whoo!

Seriously, if your having a kind of icky day where praying and reading the Bible just isn't cutting it, I recommend dancing in Jesus' name. Seriously, it'll kick you back up a couple of notches...plus, it's healthy!

In Him,

I love lamp...I am lamp.

2005-09-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

Wow.

Today was my first day back in uniform for a few years now. I, uh, think it must have shrunk or something...ahem. It was fun trying to cram myself in there! And of course we're still in summer uniform meaning no tunic. eep.

It's funny how people treat you differently when you're in uniform. They even look at you differently. But then again I guess it's an open sign of your commitment. Hmmm...good stuff. I guess.

Well, the service tonight was very inspiring and thought provoking. The scripture was taken from Matthew 5. But a few verses really stood out to me. Verses 14-16 talk about how Christians are called to be the light of the world. Just in case you don't have your bible handy they read :
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

One of the lines that really stood out to me was, "...and it gives light to everyone in the house." It just touches me to think that when Christ is the centre of our lives, we give light to everyone we know and even live with. So many people watch us and take examples from us. I mean, think of the pressures of a Christian child living in an unsaved household. Their every move is being scrutinized, judged and taken into consideration.

In situations where we find ourselves surrounded by non-Christians, we are the light. We are the lamp. It's so easy to be swayed, but the opportunity to be light in darkness is huge! No matter how much darkness is present the light always stands out. I love that thought. We can shine in any situation because living in Christ makes us the light of the world.

Yeah. I like that.

Just one more thought, it comes from the song I sang in songsters this morning:

"More grace is wrought in quietness than any is aware."

Dwell on that.

Peace.

Good Saturday

2005-09-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

Happy afternoon to all.

How I love the carefree stylings of saturdays, so layed back.

Well, I just finished watching "A Walk to Remember" for what I'm sure is the 15th time. (Not in a row...natch.) And everytime I watch it I find a new reason to fall in love with it. However today's reason was more than just romance or whatever.

I was touched at how the story, for once, doesn't involve the girl changing to accomidate the guy's taste and then he falls for her, rather she sticks to her guns and then eventually he comes around to see how awesome she is. AND, boo yeah, she never changes physically even when they do hook up.

I think that sort of romance is underrated in todays movies and the like, it's all about sex. But the movie industry doesn't realize what a gold mine they're sitting on with actual romance. I can't think of one girl that I know who wasn't ALL about the real romance in that movie.

And that's the kind of love that God intended right? Not that physically driven, "you're hot...let's go" type of relationships...but the kind that stem from admiration of character. A partner who inspires you and builds you up in your relationship with Christ. That's the main thing.

Well, gotta run.

Have a good one.

Cheers.

SGD- Spiritual Growth Deficiency

2005-09-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

Evening all.

So, tonight was the first "official" bible study of the year...and yet there were no Bibles directly involved. It was more of a personal reflection time. One thing really stood out to me of all the things that we reflected upon and that was our spiritual growth.

Val pointed out tonight that if we don't spiritually grow as Christians everyday of our lives then something is wrong. If any of us didn't grow physically everyday, wether it be to grow taller if your younger or even grow more red blood cells, then the doctor would diagnose it as some sort of deficiency or illness.

Well I don't want to be an anemic Christian. I believe that every experience, every moment of every day is put before us by God to help us grow. Just thinking about that blows my mind.

Seriously, every person you smile at, every time traffic sucks and you have that little moment where you growl at the driver in front of you, when you see the first person in the morning you have the choice to ignore or aknowledge....every single second is an opportunity.

So relish it! Be aware of it.

When I came back from Toronto, everyone back here was like "Oh you've changed" "You're so different now" and such. After a while it got old and I'd do the whole nod and smile thing. But now, when people tell me how different I am I say Praise God! He's changed me! He's given me a chance to grow and share that growth with others.

Good times. I figure I should stop now before I get too deep and turn my own brain inside out. ha.

So yeah, just think about that.

Cheers.

Soccer Mob

2005-09-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hello All.

Last night I got to be a soccer mom and what a time it was!

I was babysitting and one of the girls, Hannah, had a soccer game so I agreed to take her and her sister, Nora, to the game so that their parents could go to cirriculum night.

Well, there we were in our fold out chairs, bag of snacks at hand, sitting on the sidelines of this 8 year-old soccer game. I tell ya, I was a little intimidated!

Some of these soccer moms (and dads!) are hardcore! The moms have their folding chairs, blankets, bottles of water, thermoses of hot chocolate, ice pops, extra jackets and extra pants. They even know exactly where to sit for maximum warmth. Nuts. You don't realize the things that moms need to think of. And they do it religiously, each time getting closer to perfection.

And the dads...well. These dads are seriously driven. To be honest, most just come to chat and watch their kids, but 1 in 3 sre rediculous! Getting really upset at the referee and screaming stuff like "Stay on it!!" or "Get open!!" at their 8 year olds. Yah.

But seriously, I have a new level of respect for these people because, not only do they make time to watch their kids play their little soccer games, but they haul out everything under the moon to help them be more comfortable. That's good stuff. It's a club that's for sure.

I think maybe T-Ball will be better for my most-likely sportisticly challenged children. It's a ball on a stand in front of you...seriously. Plus, I don't think there are such things as T-ball moms, are there?

Well, that was my night. And, by the way, Hannah's team one. Boo yeah.

Cheers.

WWJD? I'd really like to know.

2005-09-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hey

First of all, Praise the Lord for having peers who really make you think.

So here it is. This whole be in the world without being of the world thing. I really don't know where the line should be drawn. On one side I have people telling me to cut myself off from secular things all together and on the other I have people telling me to take my faith into the secular things of the world.

Now both have really good reasons...I wouldn't be in such a pickle if they didn't.

The first opinion picks me up because it was said to me that if I cut myself off from all that isn't of God then I'll reach my full spiritual potential because I will have nothing to bring me down. No un-Godly images or thoughts, wether put there on purpose or by accident. Yeah, I dig that.

On the other hand, I have people who have gone to see seemingly un-Godly movies and come out with spiritual revelations. People who listen to secular music and find stemming deep hurts and fix them...all in the name of Jesus. That's solid too.

So where do I fit in?

I've found refuge in the name of Jesus but now I don't know how to extend upon that. How do I live in the here and now while keeping forever and eternity in my vision as well?

What would Jesus do?

Jesus kept himself holy while walking amongst the gentiles.

Jesus never let an unpure thought into his mind.

Jesus changed the life of a prostitute by being her friend.

Jesus demanded that nothing in our lives come before God.

Where do I draw the line?

I wanna live Jesus...but how do I start?

Seriously guys...because right now the more I pray, the more the line gets blurred.

Cheers.

umm...what?

2005-09-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

Ok.

The excitement has ebbed.

How the heck do I use this thing? Profile? Pictures? How does it all work?

If somebody could help me I'd appreciate it.

Then I could go about looking like I know what I'm doing.

Cheers.

Dude...this is wacky.

2005-09-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

Hey.

I started this blog primarily to be able to comment on some of the SWEET blogs that you guys have been writing. Yeah, alot of thought provoking and inspiring stuff. Thanks for that.

AND, as an added bonus, well, now I have a blog.

Boo yeah.

Lots of stuff to come.

Cheers.