Christine Bacon

Food for Thought

2007-11-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand firm."

Hmmmm....

Walking by Faith

2007-11-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am such a slacker..very sorry...anyways...here is what GOd taught me over the weekend:

I need to walk by faith and not by sight.

Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the assurance of the things hoped for, and the convictions of things not seen"

My mom and I went to Spokane Washington over the weekend to go see a friend and get a private dance lesson with him. Best decision I made, because he is a fantastic dancer and teacher. I learned a lot of useful things.

Anyways, our appointment was for 7pm and we had left at 8am thinking we were giving ourselves enough time. We didn't take into account that there would be a 2 hour wait at the border. On the way to Spokane (once we got past the border) we were thinking we weren't going to make it for 7pm. So I called the studio and switched my appointment with the couple that were going at 8.

We were listening to my iPod through a digital radio thing, but we were losing signal and I couldn't find a signal for it for about an hour, so I took it off and listened to the radio. We were surfing the channels when we came across a radio station and it was playing this song:

Walk by Faith- Jeremy Camp

Would I believe you when you would say
Your hand will guide my every way
Will I receive the words You say
Every moment of every day

(chorus)
Well I will walk by faith
Even when I cannot see
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me

Help me to win my endless fears
You've been so faithful for all my years
With one breath You make me new
Your grace covers all I do
yeah, yeah , yeah, yeah, yeah, ya

(chorus)
Well I'm broken- but I still see Your face
Well You've spoken- pouring Your words of grace

(chorus)x2
Well hallelujah, hallelu
(I will walk by faith)
Well hallelujah, hallelu
(I will walk by faith)

I will walk, I will walk, I will walk by faith
I will, I will, I will walk by faith

I looked up to heaven and said "very funny". God has a tendency to do that at the best moments. As we were worrying about whether we would be there on time, I was reminded to have faith. Have faith in God to get us there on time and have faith in God that everything would work out for the best.

Turns out we got there at 5:30. So we hung out at the hotel for about an hour, then went to Northgate Mall and shopped and then went to the studio to see Benji. We could have still got our lesson at 7, but we had already switched, so we decided to spend half and hour at the mall instead. But we were there for our 8pm appointment.

If we walk by faith, everything will work out and we don't have to worry about anything. Worrying doesn't get you anywhere.

Be Blessed! :)

We Are Not Lost!

2007-09-07T22:17:00.000-07:00

I was listening to Michael Buble this evening as I was having a much needed relaxing bubble bath! I was listening to a song that him and Jann Arden wrote together called "Lost" and I was getting a sense of God singing this song to me. Look at these lyrics:

"Life can show no mercy
It can tear your soul apart
It can make you feel like you've gone crazy
But you're not
Though things have seemed to changed
There's one thing that's still the same
In my heart you have remained
And we can fly fly fly away

'Cause you are not alone
I'm always there with you
And we'll get lost together
Till the light comes pouring through
'Cause when you feel like you're done
And the darkness has won
Babe, you're not lost
When your world's crashing down
And you can't bear the cross
I said, babe, you're not lost"

I just let those words wash over me and I am feeling so encouraged
and hopeful! We aren't lost!God is always with us, and we are
always on his heart and his mind! He thinks about us all the time.
When you are feeling lost, take a look at this song and the lyrics,
and just let God wash those lyrics over you and feel encouraged!

You are NOT lost! :)

The Body of Christ

2007-08-22T12:49:00.001-07:00

Why is it that we go to church, if all we do is sit there, not listen to the sermon and then go off on our way and do exactly what the sermon was preaching us NOT to do.

Why is it that someone speaks about not gossiping or cutting your friends down, or swearing, or not being a good Christ-like example, that we go straight out of church and do exactly that. I experienced that last week. Thing is, if I try to tell them we shouldn't talk about so and so or shouldn't be saying certain things, I get called "holier than thou". Is there a way of saying it, that will not result in that being said? Granted I am NOT perfect AT ALL, but I am working on myself, but when I even try to help my friends by saying that we shouldn't talk about certain things I get called that or it just doesn't stop.

Now the question is: Do I seperate myself from the group? Or continue to try to help them realize what they are doing. I love all my friends dearly, but I hate seeing the negativity, and the gossip, and the anger and so on and so forth.

Jesus was perfect and so when he was with people such as these he wasn't brought down and they listened to him. But what about a regular person like myself who is with sin (of course, who isn't?) who is trying to change?

Abandonment

2007-07-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

Firstly, very sorry for the lack of blogging. I will try to blog more.

A few weeks back I was at Worship team rehearsal (I go with my brother early because he does sound) and they started to sing a song called "King of Glory" the words that sparked were "I've come to give myself in total abandonment". My pastor was sitting there and he said that he didn't really like those lyrics. I asked him why he didn't like the lyrics and he said that its because not a lot of people really TRULY know what it is to give oursselves in abandonment. It really made me think. What DOES it mean to abandon ourselves fully to God and his will?

FIrstly I looked up the definition in the dictionary and here is what I found:

ABANDON
1. to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert: to abandon one's farm; to abandon a child; to abandon a sinking ship.
2. to give up; discontinue; withdraw from: to abandon a research project; to abandon hopes for a stage career.
3. to give up the control of: to abandon a city to an enemy army.
4. to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over to natural impulses, usually without self-control: to abandon oneself to grief.

We are called to leave our former lives behind us and live life with Christ. We are called to stop doing the bad things we are doing and follow Christ. We are called to give up the things in our lives that hinder our relationship with Christ.

I like number 3 and it is definitly a hard one that many people (including myself) struggle with "To Give up the control of". Not give up SOME control.....ALL control.... We are called to give control over to God because he knows what's best for us. Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." We may think that the plans that we have for ourselves are good, but they will fall through, because if they are not God's plans for us, they are not meant to be.

That is just my two cents for today. :) Thoughts are welcome!

Ouch

2007-06-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

This isn't much because I am tired, more tired than usual, but this was a slap in the face when I got this in my inbox today..this was the quote of the day:

"Sin is a clenched fist and its object is the face of God."

Assumptions

2007-06-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

This is sort of a venting blog, so if you don't want to read a venting blog or if you get offended easily, please don't read this....

Ok...when someone goes missing, why is it that everyone makes their own assumptions as to what has happened without knowing all the facts? Why do people think that they know what happened when nobody really knows what happened...

Does God call us to judge others? No..... Does God want us to make assumptions about people? No.... So why do people do it?

So if you want to make an assumption, think twice...get all the facts first before saying anything. Don't just make a snap judgment about a situation until you have all the facts!

Love God with all your Weakness

2007-06-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

We are called to love God with "all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" Luke 10:27. We have to love God with everything we have, even if it is our weakest point. In order to love God with all our strength, we have to admit that we are weak. We have to acknowledge that God is the source of our strength and that without him we are weak and can do nothing. "I am the vine, you are the branches, if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me he can do nothing." John 15:5. We need to totally depend on him, and allow his strength to work through us. God WANTS us to rely on our own strength so that we will start to rely on HIS strength alone.

Just imagine the things we could do if we relied on God's strength and not our own. We can move MOUNTAINS! Isn't that cool? Just imagine that! We can love people who you deem "unloveable" because in God's eyes everyone is loveable. THAT is only done on God's strength. If we rely on our own strength, we cannot love those who are unloveable because lets face it, we are humans. We make mistakes. But if we rely on God to help us with that, then anything is possible because "All things are possible with God who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13.

It does not happen in one day though. It takes little steps of faith. Start small and work your way up and you will be so happy! It is a lifelong journey, but will be so worth it in the end! The willingness to rely on him is a step of faith right there.

Remember this: We can't love God wholeheartedly until we rely on God's strength because we can't do it on our own strength.

So here is a question for you, and I must ask it myself too.... How dependant am I on God each day? Do I rely on him for everything or do I move independantly of him a lot?

Prayer needed please ASAP

2007-06-05T22:19:00.000-07:00

Brian Braumberger was last seen early Thursday by a friend who spoke to him in a New Westminster church parking lot on 8th Avenue.

Braumberger drove away after saying he had to work in the morning and was going home.

The next day, police found his vehicle abandoned in a parking lot in the 7500 block of Cumberland. It was towed and a message left for Braumberger at his parents' home.

They later called police and said their son had never made it to work on Friday and it was not like him to leave his vehicle unattended.

Braumberger is white, clean shaven, with brown hair and eyes. He stands about six feet and weighs 185 pounds.

He was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, shorts and white Adidas runners with no laces.

If you have any information, please contact the Burnaby RCMP at 604-294-7922.

On a side note, I had no idea that Bryan's mom is Janice, a lady who goes to the dance class that I go to, so not only did I go to high school with him, but I know his mother and I know that she is feeling devestated that this has happened. So please keep Bryan's family and friends in your prayers as well as praying for his safe return home.

Thank you very much! God Bless

Sorry this is a long one...but well worth the read

2007-06-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

I was watching an old episode of House on TV today..it was about a nun who mysteriously got this rash and an allergic reaction...and it turned out that she was allergic to something that was in her body (I wont say what because it would ruin the ending of the episode for you guys aha) but at one segment when they still hadn't found what was wrong..but she was quarentined in a sterolized room, and Dr Chase was in there talking with her and she asked if the nuns could come in and pray with her...and Dr Chase said that they couldn't come in because they were trying to find out what her bad allergy was so they weren't aloud in...so he said he would pray with her. He then proceeded to tell her that he went to..shoot..I can't remember hte name of it...not a monostary...the other thing..for catholic men..well anyways...irrelevant... but she asked him what his favourite verse was..and he said

"These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." 1 Peter 1:7

That verse really got me thinking...cuz I am feeling very attacked by the enemy this week....I just started my new job at Goodall Rubber and I love it, however, I am not learning stuff as fast as I would like to and therefore feel very incompetant. I am constantly having to ask my trainer what to do next with this or how do I do this....now I realize that I have only worked there 3 days and I will be able to pick it up and I will be able to do it in my sleep...but its just that those 3 days last week words were popping into my head, and not good words....Satan was filling my head with lies like "you can't do this", "how do you expect to learn all this stuff in a month", "you are not going to do as good a job as her", "you are going to mess up". I felt very defeated on Friday when I came home (it was the end of my week).

I was very excited when I got a message from a friend saying that we were going to see Shrek the Third...I was exstatic because I had a hard week (3 days) at work and wanted to get out and do something that didn't make me think...but the thing was I couldn't spend this money that my mom gave me because she had given it to me for the weekend (she gave me 20) and I had alraedy spent 10 on coffee. And the ticket would have cost me 7 dollars..anyways..long story short..I was unable to go..so I was quite bummed...and because of the work thing, coming home to nobody (mom at camp, dad at lecture and brother at work) I was quite lonely....so I had a good cry... I actually cried more than I had in a while...maybe it was something I needed..

Anyways...then I texted a friend and asked if she could come over and hang out because I was lonely and had a hard day at work..and she said for me to get in a cab and come to metro and she would pay for the cab (which she did) , but I called the cab and went to set the alarm and lock the door and the doorknob fell off (we have been having a problem with it for a while) and so I lost it again.....and the phone rings saying my taxi is here. so I went outside (left the door open) and told the driver I would have to call another one and I apologized to him. I eventually got the door knob fixed so I called another cab and when i got there she and her brother said that we are going for dinner....and I had quite a good time..it was a lot of fun.

On to today.. i went to dance which was good... but I didn't get inspired to dance (I guess for the most part I am a partner dancer now..) so many other thoughts were clouding my mind....and Joanne showed us a dance she was working on to the song "You are Still Holy" and I cried..the dancing was beautiful, but the words of the song were just so powerful. Here are some that got me:

"Holy, You are still holy,Even when the darkness surrounds my life. Sovereign, You are still sovereign. Even when confusion has blinded my eyes"

"Holy, You are still holy. Even though I don't understand Your ways. Sovereign You will be sovereign. Even when my circumstances don't change."

It is very true...no matter how many bad things happened this weekend, God is still Holy. He is still Sovereign. Even if things don't look good for us He is still Holy. He is still All Powerful. He is still in control of us, and will never let us go. He still loves us.

I think the blog was too long and took too long to get to the point, but the point is so key.

But going back to 1 Peter 1:7 :
"These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." 1 Peter 1:7

If we face trials, that means our faith is genuine. Because we were told that we would have trials. Even if we go through trials, we need to use them to strengthen us, not make us feel defeated...we need to keep pressing on towards the goal.

Wholesome Music

2007-05-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while...been busy with job hunting....haha.....

I was talking to a few friends about this tonight, and I thought I would blog about it to see what you guys think. Here is the thing...I just bought the new Maroon 5 album on iTunes and I really like a lot of the song on it. Not for the lyrics, but because the music is catchy and is perfect to dance West Coast Swing to. My question is.....is it a bad thing to listen to this unwholesome music?

What the consensus among these people I was talking to tonight (who are both Christians) have said that God calls us to live in the world and not to be consumed by it. So if we are listening to this music strictly for the music and the danceability (is that even a word?) then it isn't bad. I agree 100% with these people. I am listening to Maroon 5 because the music is catchy, I like the lead's voice and it is a really good album to dance to for West Coast Swing.. I have found that with their first album too....

Thoughts?

I'll Stand By You

2007-04-27T00:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight I bought a song that Carrie Underwood recorded for people to buy on iTunes for proceeds to go to the Idol Gives Back charity. I was listening to the song and I really felt God talking to me through the WHOLE song. Then I was reminded that this song was in the prayer room at Youth Councils and that God spoke to me then through that same song. He brought me those memories back when I was sorting through some old papers and I found the letter I wrote at Youth Councils when I was in there, and that song was written on the top. Many months later it was sung on American Idol by one of the contestants, and then by Carrie most recently. The lyrics are SO powerful it brought me to tears. God wants to stand by me through EVERYTHING. He will NEVER walk away from us. When others walk out of our lives, he is still there through it all. He will NEVER leave me.

Deuteronomy 31:8 says " The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Here are the lyrics to it. I pray that God speaks to you through this song and brings to you the place I am at. It feels wonderful to feel loved:

I'll Stand By You
by the Pretenders

Oh, Why you look so sad?
Tears are in your eyes.
Come on and come to me now.
Don't be ashamed to cry,
Let me see you through,
Cause I've seen the dark side too.
When the night falls on you,
You don't know what to do,
Nothing you confess,
could make me love you less.

I'll stand by you.
I'll stand by you.
Won't let nobody hurt you,
I'll stand by you.

So,
If you're mad, get mad.
Don't hold it all inside,
Come on and talk to me now.
hey, what you've got to hide?
I get angry too,
Well I'm a lot like you.
When you're standing at the crossroads,
Don't know which path to choose,
Let me come along.
Cause even if you are wrong...

I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Take me in into your darkest hour
And I'll never desert you
I'll stand by you
And when,
When the night falls on you baby
You're feeling all alone
Walking all on your own

I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Take me in into your darkest hour
And I'll never desert you
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I`ll stand by you.

As I was listening to this song, God was speaking to me and showing me scriptures that prove that this song is words straight from His mouth:

Psalm 91 (The entire chapter is about His protection over us)

John 15:18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."

Hebrews 13:8 "So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

1 John 1:9 " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Matthew 19:14 " Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

American Idol Gives Back

2007-04-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

The last two nights I watched American Idol and I was hit really hard with conviction. This week's theme was "Hope and Compassion" or something like that, so the top 6 sang songs of hope and what not. Blake Lewis is my favourite, and he sang a classic song "Imagine" by John Lennon, and it brought me to tears. That song is so beautiful and the way he sang it was beautiful. Here are some lyrics that hit me:

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

I learned that 1 child dies of Malaria every 30 seconds, when a cure costs 2 dollars for a pack of medicine to cure 4 people.

It costs 1.50 per child to eat lunch at their schools, but they can't even afford that.

The amount of money in ice cream that North America eats could feed the WHOLE world.

Startling eh? I was hit very hard when I watched tonight's results show. It was a two hour special and they kept phone lines open to donate. They showed many stories about different families in America AND Africa who are in poverty. They showed the victims from Hurricane Katrina, who are living in trailers (which was only supposed to be temporary). People in Africa are dying because they can't get the medicine they need to get better. Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest took a trip over there and they tried to help many people to get better, but 2 people passed away because they were just too far gone.

This sickens me. Our continent is rich enough to eat all this food and everything, but yet people over seas are going hungry? It doesn't make sense. There is an "epidemic" of obesity in America and Canada because they eat too much, but yet people overseas are so malnutritioned because they eat cornmeal only...thats the only thing they eat ever. It doesn't seem fair. We have so many luxuries and we take them for granted, meanwhile people overseas don't have a lot.

Thats my rant for tonight. Comments are welcomed as always. Speak out against poverty! Make a change! Be grateful for what you have because there are people all over the world who are worse off than you are.

Venting...

2007-04-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

I apologize in advance, but this stuff needs to come out and there was no other way to get this out because it might be how other people are feeling, so I thought I would post.....

Have you ever felt that you don't have the support from your own church? I am feeling that quite strongly at the church I attend on Sunday nights. I don't feel that I have support from that congregation. Except for maybe 1 or 2 people and thats it. I don't feel that other people are approachable to talk to to ask for prayer or stuff like that because they go off in a group and chat...so I wouldn't want to break up the fun, either that or people are getting prayer and are busy... For instance, tonight.... well..today...some crazy things happened and have kinda been shocking for me and it sucks a lot, and I was upset.... I was praying and wanted to talk to someone about it and ask them to pray over me, but anyone who I thought of talking to had their own issues to deal with and I didn't want to burden them with my stuff (I didn't think it was fair to) or they were busy with their group of friends, so I didn't want to intrude.

The church is supposed to help people are they not? The church is supposed to be supportive of every member are they not? I have tried my best to help people, and many people know that I support them and pray for them and pray with them and all that. But when I am feeling overwhelmed and drained and tired and feeling just plain crappy, does anyone come and ask if they can pray over me or even ask if I want to talk about it? No... What ever happened to things happening mutually? I don't feel that I should have to go down to the mercy seat to get prayer, I don't feel that I have to necessarily make that step because some people (i feel) abuse that just to get people to pray with them and get attention...SOME people..not all... and I don't want to be looked at as just wanting attention. I just want to know that someone in my own church actually cares enough to ask if I am ok if I don't look like I am ok...

Ok venting done..

Counting my Blessings

2007-04-17T23:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight was such a huge blessing and something I really needed. Today marks the 2 year anniversary of my good friend's death from Breast Cancer, I actually thought I was going to be upset about it and what not, but it turned out that I wasn't, and today was filled with blessings.

I have been dealing with a couple friends who I am having to act as a counselor to and its stressing me out. But tonight at dance I was able to forget all of that and just dance and boy was I having a GREAT time. I didn't think I would like the Hustle, it was a dance that originated in the 70's (way before my time) and it sorta got phased out, but we are doing it in dance class. I am getting that more than the West Coast Swing steps. West Coast Swing is the hardest dance to learn and many people have told me that. I am sticking with it though. But the Hustle, oh man it is just so much fun. When West Coast Swing was over they played one song of that to dance to and then one song of Hustle to warm up. I thought I did pretty well with it. It was so amazing to dance and feel like I was understanding and actually looking good doing it LOL. So much fun. I did that during the warm up and then I stay for a few songs after the lessons are over because my bus doesn't come til 35 minutes after class ends. I was struggling with the pivet turns, but I think I ended up getting it at the end! YAY!

Anyways..that wasn't really what I was going to blog about... but that was actually a blessing, being able to understand the moves! Woot! Anyways... When we were on the bus it was starting to rain (on the way TO dance) and then by the time we got there it was POURING..like...not just raining..it was POURING. Angel and I were a little anxious about that because we both didn't have umbrellas so ya... We prayed that it would stop by the end, and when dance class was over and we walk outside it had stopped fully. It was that refreshing smell of after the rain. Beautiful.

And about the 2 year anniversary. I chose not to be sad and I have lit my candle that I got from Avon (that donated 100% to Breast Cancer research) currently. The glow reminds me to thank God that I am healthy and to thank God for Janis' life.

God has a plan for my life and I am going to wait and see what he has in store for me. On Sunday my life verse was spoken again (yes Karyn, i did notice that LOL) and it reminded me of this. Not knowing is such a blessing actually, not having control is a good thing because then we don't have to worry about it or stress about it. It's very exciting but also scary not knowing what is ahead, but bring it on LORD!

Thank you God for that blessing and the many blessings you continue to give to me and my friends' in their lives. I love you! Thank you for giving me patience to deal with those two friends as well because you know that without you I would have lost my patience and said something I shouldn't have. Thank you for continuing to teach my daily what I need to do and thank you for unveiling your plan for my life day to day.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Feeling Unworthy?

2007-04-06T00:22:00.000-07:00

If u were looking for an inspiring blog lately, sorry..but these things are on my mind, and thats what a blog is for right?

Have you ever had those moments where you don't feel worthy enough to enter God's presence? I felt like that last week at a worship night. With the song "Take me into the holy of holies" (thats not the title.. i cant remember the title) But it was like "wow... i don't feel worthy enough to be in his presence. Do I want him to take me to that place if I don't feel I should be there?"

I think the simple answer is yes, Satan tries to tell us that we are unworthy all the time, but we need to fight that off and enter God's presence. We need to focus on God and let him speak truth to us instead of giving into the lies that Satan tells us....

That is all...

Good night

Fighting the Demons

2007-03-23T04:08:00.000-07:00

It is 4:00am and I cannot sleep. I have a lot on my mind that I need to get down on..well..the computer (not on a notebook, I dont want to turn lights on)

Have you ever felt like you are in a constant losing battle with your flesh? That is how I am feeling. I am feeling defeated, like there is no possibility of winning. There are so many "demons" in my life right now and there are just so many (anger, doubt, envy, hating food, weight issues, greed...just to name a few) and it is a little overwhelming because I try to overcome them but they just overpower my life and it is hard to get out.

I try to show outwardly that all is good and rosey, but inward I am fighting a constant battle. I have friends who are going through some pretty rough stuff right now so I try to be there for them and it is hard because if I am struggling, it makes it hard for me to get the words across to help my friends. As much as I want to help them, its near impossible to because I am struggling and hurting. I love my friends dearly...like...SOOO much, you have NO idea, and it hurts me to not be able to help them properly because my own mind is clouded with thoughts.

Dancing gets rid of the pain, but only for a short time. I go to dance classes regularly (once a week...soon to be 3 times a week..once i get my ID) and I find that when I am there, I feel no pain. I just focus on having a good time and learning something new. I enjoy it thoroughly..but then I leave that dance hall and its back to reality. Life isn't all roses and butterflies... it probably never will be. But its just nice to have that release for 2 hours at least. Where I can forget everything in the world and just dance. The dance "high" usually lasts an evening.. on the bus on the way home, and then the next day its back to the inward struggle.

I am not commending people who get drunk to get rid of their problems, but I am making a statement here that my friend told me once. He was going through a REALLY rough time a while ago..was going to commit suicide and he said that drinking makes those problems go away. I told him that the problems are still there, they are just masked by a clouded head full of alcohol. The problems are still there, you are just left with a hangover AND the problems.

There HAS to be a permanent solution to people's problems. There can't be these temporary "memory lapses" if you will. There can't be these few hour highs, there needs to be a permanent solution...I need to work through these struggles in my life, and I need God's help with these struggles, because I sure can't do it on my own. I am in a losing battle, and I can only overcome these problems through Jesus. I can only get through these struggles with God's help.

Help me Jesus, I pray!

Jobs and our Holy Journey

2007-03-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

I found out tonight as I was talking to my best friend that having jobs is similar to our Holy Journey. We have to go through some bad times (bad jobs, bad bosses, etc) to get to the really good job. I am having this issue, I keep getting stuck with jobs that I don't like and the one i really love is only casual work. I got a job recently at a telemarketing place...what I didn't know was that I was supposed to basically lie to them... "stretch the truth"...I quit that day..the job wasn't for me on soo omany levels..

I was searching for a new job and I got a new interview at a Hair Salon as a Receptionist. I am very excited about it. I was thinking how perfect this job would be... It is near many stores that i shop at (Best Buy, Walmart, Subway, Tim Hortons, Rogers Video, Payless Shoe Store, AND Pet Cetera..where the Royal City Humane cats are..well.some). It is just nearing perfect...maybe too good to be true..we will see tomorrow at 2..

Anyways...I found that we hve to go through many trials to get the final reward of Heaven...so we have to go through many crappy jobs in order to get a reallty good one...

Not a good paralell..but just something I was thinking about.

Some

2007-02-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

I got this in my inbox this morning and it is similar to what some friends and I have been discussing. And people have commented on Karyn's Blog. It is very relevant to what has been talked about lately. It says exactly what I wanted, but it says it more elequently. Here it is (the Italics are what I add in in a different colour):

February 27, 2007

Someone Else’s Problems
by John Fischer

Evangelicals often put being saved and going to heaven in the same sentence, as if heaven were the only goal of our salvation. But the truth is, we are saved to serve (people in The Salvation Army says that a lot). Heaven is important, but heaven can wait. God saves us because he has a job for us to do in his Kingdom here on earth. If heaven is the whole point of our salvation, then what do we do while we wait? Change the channel on our Christian entertainment? We have to DO SOMETHING. Not just say "Jesus come into my heart" and then go back and do what we used to do. We need to serve! God calls us to serve others!

It’s amazing how many of our own problems dissipate when we begin caring about other people’s problems instead of focusing on our own. That is VERY VERY true! So true! I have definitly found that in my current situation. Yes there are bad things going on in my life, but if I am helping my friends I feel that my problems just seem to go away (not disappear or not become problems anymore but I just don't think about them). If we are doing something, we tend to not dwell on the bad things going on. We’ve picked up some very bad habits from our culture. We have a tendency to be preoccupied with our own needs and constantly trying to fulfill them. Seems to be a "me first" generation! It needs to end! Advertising plays into this self-indulgence, promising that one more product will be the thing that will finally satisfy us. The truth of the matter is: Getting will never come close to the satisfaction that giving affords. Meaning, you get more satisfaction from giving than getting.

Think of someone you know who is truly happy and I venture to guess you will find that someone busy serving others. Yup... true true! If, in fact, our troubles will never go away (and I don’t believe they ever will in this life), then to focus on them and try to solve them is going to be nothing but a broken record. Make one problem go away, and watch another one crop up immediately. To give ourselves to the task of attending to the problems of those around us may not make our own problems go away, but it will make them less of a drag. Focusing on our own problems can lead to anxiety, frustration, and even depression. Focusing on other people’s problems leads to usefulness and a greater sense of health. I feel extremely useful when I am helping someone else with their problems. It makes me feel that I am making a difference and not just being a "pew warmer".

So today, when we are tempted to look in, to our own needs, let’s look out, instead, to the needs of those around us and see if our own needs diminish by comparison. Who knows, we may even forget about ourselves in the process.

Jesus hung on a cross and thought of those who were putting him there, and even pleaded their case before his Father, because he knew they didn’t realize the full impact of what they were doing. Can you imagine having even a fleeting thought about someone else if you were in that much pain yourself? But that’s just the thing about Jesus: He was always thinking of someone else. Wow! That is just inspiring! That Jesus hung on the cross. He was in so much pain, but he was thinking about the nation that he was dying for. He was not thinking about his own pain! WOW!

Father, Help me to look outside instead of in. Sometimes I tend to dwell on my own problems and look inward instead of outward. Help me help my friends more and more. Especially with this one situation with a good friend of mine, give me the words, help me be useful. I want to be useful for your kingdom. I don't just want to be a pew warmer. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, so strengthen me daily to look outward! Amen!

Religion vs Relationship

2007-02-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

I have been struggling lately to find what is the "right" religion. They all seem to have some sort of flaw to them (meaning it doesn't quite fit with what the Bible says)

I came to realize that it doesn't matter what religion I am a part of. Religion is not what matters because all religion is, is a set of "rituals" and "traditions". Some are scriptural and some aren't. It should only matter where your relationship with God is. Is it good? Awesome? Does it need work? Read the Bible, dig in and learn more about Him. If you know Him really well, then the relationship will be great! If you don't know him very well, then its not so good...

However, I was talking with a friend of mine tonight and she said that her and her friend don't like organized religion, and I said "great, neither do I." I told her that I believe that the Church body, isn't organized religion, that is a family group. She said that it is the same thing.

I could be totally wrong in this, I am not sure. I am seeking truth in this whole situation because in my Bible study there are different views, and it is causing me to think a lot and look into The Salvation Army (the church I belong to) and see what they believe and why they don't do certain things that are SO scriptural: Water Baptism, Communion, teaching about Celebacy (some are called to it.. I know i am not one but it should be talked about).

It was taught to me early on that your relationship with God will get stronger if you are in the word constantly and talking to God constantly (its in 1st or 2nd Thessalonians). I definitly think that my relationship is getting stronger with God ever since I picked up my Bible more . These last few weeks, I read through 1st and 2 Corinthians and learned a lot. It is teaching me so much and making me question some things too. Its good to question things, I think. Questioning gets you thinking and talking with God and he teaches you lots of things.

I encourage each and every one of you that read this blog, to pick up your Bible and read it a lot! Try to read it every day if you can. It will benefit your relationship with GOd. You will know him SO MUCH better than if you didn't read the Bible. Trust me, it is VERY difficult to make time to read it, I don't really know why it is though. People are always reading other books, and talk about others books a lot, but then when they are asked what they read in the Bible they say that they haven't read it that much.

Be Blessed!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Dancing

2007-02-21T15:16:00.000-08:00

Dancing is the most joyous thing I can do. That and singing. But dancing just brings such great joy and peace for me! There is just something about it.

I go to West Coast Swing and Two Step classes every Tuesday and its a 2 hour lesson with a big group (which makes the two step very awkward cuz it is danced in one big circle hehe) and I love every minute of it. Even if I get really confused. We change partners every few minutes so we can learn the different leading techniques from the different men. It is very cool! Anyways... When I go there, I totally forget about everything else that is going on. I am not thinking about ANYTHING except for learning the dance steps. When I am there dancing I am at peace. My mind is on dance and nothing else. Watching dance is great but dancing is sooo much better! To be in it and doing the movements is just freeing! But it takes work to learn and does not take just one lesson to get it done well. But did I mention that I LOVE LOVE LOVE it? If I didn't..please let me tell you.. I LOVE DANCE!!

This is like our walks as Christians. We have to learn how to be Christ-like. It does not take one day to become Christ-like. It takes a lot of work. It is hard work to be Christ-like because we try and sometimes we fail and we get mad at ourselves. We just need to keep "practicing" because practice makes perfect. How we practice being Christ-like is to read the Bible (like a dance instructional DVD helps us perfect the dance steps) and see how to be Christ-like. The Bible is like an instructional manual of how to do certain things. It is a teacher for in between going to church. When you go to church its like going to the dance lessons. The preacher teaches us how to live, just like a dance instructor teaches us dance moves. Then in between church practices and dance lessons, we practice at home and learn at home.

God Bless!

Movies and the Flu

2007-02-06T23:25:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone
I have been at home for 3 days straight with a bad case of the flu (i know what u are thinking, there isn't a good case of the flu..but this to me is bad...lol). I still have it, so I have been at home for those 3 days. Have not left the house at all, could barely move for a couple days..today i can move.. lol... I have been basicaly lying on the couch watching TV and movies. One of those movies was Shall We Dance and I must say, it is a great movie (obviously, cuz its about dancing) but there was such a great message in it.

For those of you who don't know, this movie is about a guy who is not happy. He loves his wife and all that, but he is just not happy. He is in the "daily grind" basically. Wake up, kiss wife, eat breakfast, go to work and do the same old stuff, coem home on the subway, eat dinner, go to bed. He wasn't happy with it, so he decided to take up ballroom dance lessons. He hid it from his wife, however. It was something that was VERY out of character for him, a lawyer, to do. He wasn't doing anything wrong. His wife decided to hire an investigator to check on him because she thought he was having an affair. The investigator finds out what is happening and relays the info to his wife. She doesn't understand why he hid it.

Anyways, there is a fellow lawyer who took up dancing as well. He is a bald straight man, but loves to wear sequins and wear a wig (the wig is to disguise who he is) and latin dance. He did not want anyone to know that he loves to dance because it would be very bad back at the office. Anyways, he gets into an argument with one of the dancers and the dancer pulls off his wig and people realize who he is. His partner says basically to take the wig off and dance. So he leaves the wig off and dances and finds he is enjoying himself even with the wig off. He didn't care who knew he loved to dance in these outfits.

I love this so much! God taught me something through this movie. I am currently in dance classes (well I have only been to one class...) its West Coast Swing. It is a lot of fun. I am finding it nerve racking too because I haven't been to a dance classes in a long time, so I was wondering how long it woud take me to pick up the steps and stuff. I found I was stumbling a bit. In one part of the dance, the guy has to stop leading and the girl has to do a little bit of 'playing' (as Myles called it), where basically the girl lets go of the guy and does some dance moves on her own and then comes back and grabs the guys hand and he takes control again. That part is very difficult for me because I am very self contious so I don't know any dance moves to do. So I just do a spin every time (which looks cool, but cant be done everytime, cuz that would be boring). God showed me through this movie that I need to just let lose and be myself, and I will find that I will enjoy it sooo much more. I enjoy it thoroughly as of right now, but it will take it to a whole new level if I can be myself and just practice nad try out dance moves and such. If they don't work I just won't do them again lol. Its all about trial and error!

Anywho, it is sooooo late and I am soooooo out of it, but I had to get this blogged....so I am off to bed now..

You are beautiful!

2007-02-02T23:13:00.000-08:00

We had a girl's group tonight instead of youth group (all the guys..well..both of them, were not available). We went over to the Macpherson household and watched a movie. We watched "Take the Lead" Its a DANCING movie! Woot woot!! Anyways, it was about this group who gets detention and the task for their detention is to learn dance. It is a pretty great movie!

The reason why we watched it is because after, we had a discussion about jealousy. Captain Lisa and Kelly made us little gift bags with chocolate in it and a card with this info on it:

Jealousy:
-Afraid of losing someone's love or affection
-Angry or unhappy because of what someone else has
-Careful to guard or keep what one has.

The first and 3rd one I don't quite get, and they didn't really go into detail about it. There was also a verse on it for us. It says:

"You are so beautiful, my beloved, so perfect in every part." Song of Songs 4:7

That was amazing! I am going to start reading Song of Songs tonight! It sounds like such a great book to read!

Kelly also read something from a book. I don't own the book so I am paraphrasing what it said. It basically said that when people tell us we are beautiful, sometimes we don't believe it. It is the smae thing with God. He tells us we are beautiful. Like in Song of Songs. We are beautiful, we are his beloved, we are perfect in every part (in his eyes). If God says this, then we should believe it, because he created the whole world, and he thinks that what he created was good. And also He did just that, create the whole world. That is pretty powerful. So if he says that we are beautiful that is powerful!

They told us to think of a woman in our lives that we admire, and why do we admire them? Is it because of their looks or because of what they DO. I thought about the woman that I admire, and while I do think she is beautiful, that is not why I admire her. I admire her for her heart, for what she does for people, how she makes a huge impact on people who she comes in contact with, for the way she worships God through tears and pain or happiness and joy, and she is authentic. I don't admire her because of her looks. I look up to her because I want to be like her. I want to be able to worship God even through the hard times, I want to be a great example for others and make an impact on them. If I care about that then why should I care what I look like? It shouldn't matter what I look like, it should matter what I do. It should matter who I make a difference for. It should matter who I serve. It should matter that I worship with my whole heart and be authentic. I shouldn't care about how I look.

God says that I am beautiful, and that is really powerful stuff!

To all who read this blog, I have one message for you:

You are Beautiful! B-E-A-UTIFUL!

God thinks we are to die for!

Get the tissues out

2007-02-01T23:29:00.000-08:00

This was so touching! I didn't get to watch this on TV but I saw it on the Entertainment news show that I watched today, and it brought me to tears, take a look:

Friends First

2007-01-30T02:15:00.000-08:00

I got this devotional in my box today and it really got me thinking. We need to build relationships first, because if we just say that they need Jesus (Which is true) and don't build a relationship with them, then its nothing but a marketing pitch. It would come across that we don't really care about THEM and who they are. Here is the devotional. Sorry I haven't had anything inspiring to write about myself, but I will soon... so for now...here it is:

Friends first
by John Fischer

The Great Commission is all about making friends. Now I know Jesus said, “Therefore, go and make disciples …” (Matthew 28:19 NLT), but Jesus himself showed that you can’t make a disciple until you first make a friend. “I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.” (John 15:15 NLT)

So what Christians have called “witnessing” for some time really should be more like building relationships. It’s what you do over the long haul of a relationship that counts so much more than door-to-door canvassing of the neighborhood.

In the movie The Big Kahuna starring Danny DeVito and Kevin Spacey, a young salesman fresh out of Baptist college goes on his first business trip to a convention with a couple seasoned veterans from his company. In an attempt to land a CEO (“The Big Kahuna”) of a very large account as a new client, the young Baptist, played surprisingly close to a real Baptist by Peter Tarrantino, ends up the unlikely one of the three who has the best shot at talking with the CEO.
But instead of talking about the company he represents and setting up his partners with a meeting, the Baptist ends up spending the whole conversation witnessing to the man about Jesus. When his co-workers find out about this, Spacey goes ballistic. A hot-headed argument ensues between Spacey and the rookie salesman over the place of religion in business, and Danny DeVito, the oldest and wisest of the three, tries to calm them both down and provides some very sensible advice. What he says to the young Baptist should be heard and considered by all Christians. It goes something like this:

“The minute you lay hold of a conversation in order to steer it in a certain direction, it ceases to be a conversation, it’s a sales pitch; and you aren’t a human being anymore, you’re a marketing rep. If you really care about the man, ask him about his kids … his wife … his dreams ...”

It’s the difference between pushing an agenda and truly caring for somebody. If you care about somebody, you want to know what he or she is thinking, what is the person’s hopes and dreams, joys and disappointments – in other words, what are the things that make that person human. Friendship is all about finding common ground, and it is out of this common ground that what is shared will have credibility.

Missions Fest

2007-01-28T01:22:00.000-08:00

Today my dad and I went downtown to Missions Fest and spend the afternoon together. It was lots of fun. I saw a booth there from a church/organization called "Joy Fellowship" and it is an organization that works with people with disabilities of all sorts. I got talking to one of the ladies who was there and she has invited me to come volunteer at Camp Squamish in May with the group they are taking. I am going to pray about it and see if that is what God wants me to do.

I also took some pictures which turned out awesome, take a look:

Love Language...no surprise here..

2007-01-22T00:02:00.001-08:00

The Five Love Languages

My primary love language is probably
Physical Touch
with a secondary love language being
Receiving Gifts.

Complete set of results

Physical Touch:		11
Receiving Gifts:		8
Quality Time:		6
Words of Affirmation:		4
Acts of Service:		1

Information

Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.

Take the quiz

Prayer Request

2007-01-21T22:55:00.000-08:00

The other blog was getting too long, so I decided to post this as a different blog....anyways...

I am in school to become a Therapeutic Recreation Practitioner, and this past wednesday my instructor mentioned that she had seen a lady in London Drugs and this lady mentioned that her work was hiring some TRP's. The workplace is at Canada Way Care Centre. I live just a few blocks up from there, and from what I have seen online it is a beautiful place. I also have a friend who works there as a receptionist (casually) So my instructor told me to call this lady and mention that I am a student of hers. So I called the next day and she said to fax my resume in with a cover letter, so I did that. I have to phone on Tuesday to see if they have processed my resume yet, and if they have made a decision.

I am asking that you guys pray (I have been also, and will continue to) that God's will will be done in this situation. I would really like this job because it is in the field that I want to work in, but if it isn't in God's will than I need to get over it and find a different job.

Thanks ^_^

Amazing night!!!!

2007-01-21T22:33:00.000-08:00

This isn't a very insightful blog really, but I just had to let my thoughts out.

Tonight was so awesome, and I would like to thank everyone who came (and sorry that the other ones couldn't make, I still love each and every one of you). You guys are so amazing, you all made me feel SO loved.

We shared in laughs, and I even had some flirting from the waiter again... *rolls eyes* lol...anyways.... I laughed so much tonight. It was something I really needed after a stressful last few weeks, with stuff going on with family members (not immediate family...like not parents or brother), and job stuff and ya.. its just been a little stressful, but tonight was just amazing. I got to go to church and worship God, which was amazing, and then afterwords we went to Applebees (a restaurant right by my house) for a lovely dinner. It was awesome to see 2 friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. It made me very happy that they came (yay Julian and Fiona!!)

Before church we got to talking about Love Language. We have love language that we recieve and that we give. They can be different. My love language that I give is gifts (encouragement books and such), and the love language that I recieve that makes me feel loved is physical touch (like hugs), and not really gifts, but the thought that goes into the gifts that are given to me. I don't know if that makes sense. Let me try to explain: I am a girly girl, who loves pink things and starbucks oh and sheep!! hehe. It would not make sense for someone to give me a power tool for my birthday (LOL!!) because that would show that they dont know me very well.

The gifts that were given to me for my birthday were as follows: A snowglobe from my friend Alie, that has a picture of her 2.5 month old baby Tearah in it, and from Julian I got a 15 dollar gift card for Starbucks, from MJ I got a cross ornament, smarties bar (the explosion one), stickers, a ring pop, a Kitty Birthday Card, and a shower gel thing that is shaped as a sheep..hehe... and from Ben and Angel I got a card with pictures of friends on it, and inside was a check for 20 dollars and in the memo part it said "First Dance Class" (I am going to be taking West Coast Swing lessons in a couple weeks and it is 20 dollars per lesson) This almost made me cry because they all know me so well, which shows me that they love me. Not that gifts is what matters here, it is the fact that they knew me so well. It made me feel very loved.

So in two weeks I will be off to my very very very first West Coast Swing lesson. I am very excited! I haven't taken a dance class in 10 years, and that was classical work (ballet). This is ballroom (West Coast Swing) The Dance class goes as follows: 7-8pm West Coast Swing lesson, 8-9 Two Step (whatever that is) and then from 9-10:30pm for 3 dollars extra, there is a dance, where we can practice our skills! All for 20 dollars (plus the 3 for the dance part, but don't think i will be going to that on my very first lesson, but we will see) I pray that I will not chicken out after my first lesson. West Coast Swing is a very difficult dance to do (from what I have seen) but I am so up for the challenge and I know God will be there helping me all the way!

God Bless you all!

Hmmmmmmm

2007-01-16T23:54:00.000-08:00

I got this quote in my inbox for today January 17th and i thought it was very cool so I thought I would share it.

We must know that as His children, He's going to allow problems even when we are in the centre of His will.
~Sandy Edmonson

Update...

2007-01-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

It turns out I did not get that job at the dollar store because I was told to go in on Tuesday when the janitor's wife (one of the managers) was working and talk to her. Well I did that, but she said that the people got hired yesterday. She told me to come in on Tuesday when she was working to talk to her about it.... she wasn't too happy that they had hired people, but I got the feeling that they won't be there too long because her husband said that to me. So I don't know..we will see... If it is in God's will that I get this job, great..if not..not much I can do.. I can't change God's will.

Which brings me to a question regarding God's will.... When things go really badly for example, when families split apart, number 1: is that God's will? and number 2: If it is God's will, than why would that happen? God wants unity in families, so why would they split up? It is someting I am struggling with in my own family life right now (not my parents guys, don't worry). I need to know some clear answers about this, if any of you have any thoughts please don't hesitate to comment. Thanks so much.

God Bless

When one door closes....

2007-01-04T22:09:00.000-08:00

.....God opens another.

This is so true in my life. I was very excited about the news that I was going to be working for my college as a student assistant, but then my excitement turned to sadness after a week because I was informed that I had to be taking a minimum of 2 courses to have this job. I am only taking 1 course this semester. So I didn't get the job...

HOWEVER.. My mother informed my that the janitors wife (the janitor works at Cariboo Church) works for a dollar store at Lougheed Mall and they are hiring people. They just lost 2 employees. So he (the janitor) wants me to bring a resume in and he will put a good word in with his wife (one of the hiring staff). AND it will be MORE hours and the starting rate is 9 dollars an hour, whereas the job at Douglas would have been 8.15 an hour and 15 hours a week..So God closed one door and opened another for me right away. So I only will be going approximatly a week without work. Praise the Lord!

God's Wonderful Blessings

2006-12-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here at my work right now (on lunch) and I am listening to a song called "He will Carry me" by Mark Schultz. Such a wonderful song. It got me thinking about the many blessings that God gives me each day:

- A wonderful family whom I love dearly
- My health
- A roof over my head
- A wonderful job (which ends January 6th because of Christmas Kettles being over) and the blessing that I have a job to go after that is over (At the college that I go to..well..not the right campus..but its closer to my house)
- Wonderful friends

Overall he gives me a reason to smile each day!

A wonderful story about his many blessings happened yesterday....

It all started yesterday when my friend picked me up after work and we went for a drive and talked. That was really nice and it was relaxing after a long day (payroll for 8 hours straight). and he gave me a Christmas gift which was a plaque that has the verse "3 John 1:2 "Dear friend I pray that everything may go well with you" That made me very happy because the plaque is beautiful and it is a very nice scripture too.

Anyways, after that he dropped me off at Reitmans so I could buy something with my gift certificate I got for Christmas (i was getting something for a formal i am going to on Friday) and it was worth 20 dollars..the subtotal was under 20 and it had to be 20 and over, which i did not know. so anyways, I had to pick something else and hope that it came to a LITTLE over 20..well it came to 24 something (1 pair of striped socks and 1 pair of earrings at 1.99 a piece and then a sweater) and I had the 20 and maybe a few dollars in my bank account. So we did a transaction to pay for the 4 dollars with my bank card, well it didn't go through because of insufficient funds..so they put 2 dollars on it..so it went through. I was a little worried because I didn't have ANY cash on me and so I called my mom to see if she could come rescue me but she was in bed with a migraine (she had gotten up early that day because of my grandpa). so she couldn't come rescue me, which was fine, she needed to rest.

So I told the lady that I would have to come back the next day to get it, ahd she said "you know what? Merry Christmas. I'll pay the difference" She was so nice to pay the extra 2 or so dollars. I said "God Bless you" and I left the store smiling so widely. It was so nice of her to do that.

God is so good!

Derek in Australia

2006-12-28T13:04:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!
Check out the blog by my friend Derek Craddock! He is in Australia for 6 months, and he has a blog that he keeps up to date with his adventures. He is off to India and Napal til February.

Check it out ^_^

Sacrifice

2006-12-11T23:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we have to sacrifice wonderful things just so we can please God. This is very important to sacrifice your lives to please God. Very important.

Tonight I was offered the chance to go to Summerland for the New Year (from the 30th of December to the 1st). Previously planned was a Huge Worship Bash to ring in the New Year at my church. I was so torn because I love Summerland (and seeing it in the winter would be amazing) but I also loved the idea of ringing in the New Year with a big bang. Worshipping God through music to ring in the New Year is a great BIG bang I think. So I had to turn down the trip to Summerland because I knew that there would be drinking there... and I don't want to go against my covenant... I don't know if I would be tempted to drink if i went and......well... I don't like that too much... I get uncomfortable around people who drink....so I had to turn it down.

I turned down a great trip to Summerland because of my convictions (i think thats the right word)

I had to sacrifice..its a tough decision to make.

Edited December 23rd to change wording.

What does it mean to be yoked?

2006-12-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

What does this mean? Does it mean not to date/marry someone? Or does it mean that you shouldn't fall into a trap of sin when u are with them (friendship or intimate relationship)?

I was talking to a friend of mine about this issue today because it is something I am struggling with really badly right now. I do not want to give details about who he is or anything like that because this is a public blog and such... but I am crazy about this guy, and I mean crazy. Like slip a straight jacket on me and put me in a padded room. We is so astounding when we talk and we find out that there is yet another thing we have in common. Only thing we don't have in common is our faith.

So the Bible says:
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 (New International Version)
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

I hear this, and I understand it, but what I am struggling with is the question of "What if your heart is contradictory to this, and it is so overpowering?" My heart totally wants something that is contradictory to what the Bible says, but my heart is much more overpowering than my head.

So my question for you all to answer in my comments is "What do you do when your heart is feeling what is contradictory to what the Bible says?"

Funny Tidbit for today

2006-11-26T00:20:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone
I have a brilliant blog I am working on but won't post it til later because its not done yet and I am getting really tired and am feeling a little ill...so i am off to bed soon..but I thought I would tell u a funny event of the day.

My mom and I went for a walk (before the snow came) down to the candy store in New West. Great store... well I bought some candy and a bottle of vanilla cream..well...this bottle looks like a beer bottle....dark brown... I was wearing my Salvation Army toque also...so here I was walking up the street drinking this bottle of vanilla cream with my toque on...I put it away because people driving by might have thought it was something else....

If you don't find it funny then maybe it was one of those "you had to be there" types of things.. my mom and i found it hysterical.

I will post a picture tomorrow or the day after...I have been quite busy lately.

Good night all! God Bless

The Wind VS God's Love

2006-11-15T23:43:00.000-08:00

Have u ever heard the saying about Wind being compared to God's love? "You can't see it but you feel it" ???

Well looking at this weather that happened today, I felt God's love in a BIG way today.... lol

Tiera Janae Isbell

2006-11-02T10:39:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to my friend Alie! She had a baby this morning at 3:55am. After 17 hours of labour her baby finally came! There were pictures, but the family and friends that were with her for those 17 hours are way too tired to fix and send pictures right now, so the pictures wll have to wait, but for now here is the information:

Tiera (pronounced like Tear-Ah) I am not sure how it is going to be spelled yet, but Alie described the name like that because the baby was the cry of her heart.....how sweet.. She was born at 3:55am, she was 8 lbs 6 oz and 54 cm long!

Congratulations Alie!

Youth Councils

2006-10-27T00:20:00.000-07:00

I don't think I will go into detail quite yet about youth councils. There is just too much to say and not enough time for me to say it to you viewers quite yet. But for now, here are some photos that I took (some of my friends and then some of the wonderful beach that I spent 2.5 of the 4 hours that we got for free time down there ^_^

Isaiah

2006-10-27T00:10:00.000-07:00

My mind has pretty much been on school these last few days (and thinking about a special guy friend I have..hes pretty awesome!) but I have decided that it is time I show more pictures of Isaiah (my cousin...) So here he is ^_^

Next up will be pictures from Youth Councils ^_^ (mostly the beach heh)

2006-10-20T02:31:00.000-07:00

God is good ^_^

Christmas anyone?

2006-10-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

I joined the Christmas Choir at my church, and we had our first rehersal on Thursday. I must say I really enjoyed it. We were reminded who we are doing this for. Its not for the congregation, but its for God. That put a smile on my face. Not only that, but I have been going through a hard time with some stuff in my life, and I have been really down and going to the rehersal and singing Christmas songs really made me really happy.

Christmas really makes me happy. It just makes me smile so much, everytime I think of it, it makes me smile. Jesus was born on that day, and later died for me. That just puts a big smile on my face.

Bring on the Christmas music! ^_^

Friends

2006-10-09T01:48:00.000-07:00

I read this tonight, and it has encouraged me through this rough night.

"Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family."

Proverbs 18:24

Job and David

2006-10-04T23:47:00.000-07:00

I meet with a good friend of mine to go for dinner once a week, and we have been keeping each other accountable to reading scripture. During the summer we read Job. And currently we are going through the Psalms.

I must say that it is very interesting that the reading of Psalm came after reading Job. Both David and Job have something in common.

Job gets all sorts of things taken away from him, but yet he still praises God. Job 1:21 "And he said 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked i shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

Psalm 22: 1-3 "My God, my God why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest." and the worshipful part "YET you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Isreal."

I just thought that was kinda cool.

Convenient Love

2006-10-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

I know I might get some tomatoes thrown at me for blogging about this topic, but it is another thing that needs to be said..

Why do we love when it is convenient for us? Why do we say I love you when we want things? This is somthing that is baffling me right now. I was at my church youth last night for the first time in a while, and my best friend was there too, she hadn't been out in a while either. I had bought lollipops a few hours earlier, and i gave one to my best friend, then other people saw that I had given her a lollipop. One person came up to me and said "I love you" in a way that told me she wanted a lollipop. I said to her "You only say you love me when you want something." She walked away. Then other people came to me and wanetd a lollipop. People who NEVER talk to me came up to me and wanted a lollipop. Do they only love me and talk to me when they want something?

It doesn't just happen to us humans, it happens to God. Sometimes we have a tendency to just pray for things we want, and we only talk to God when it is convenient for us, and when we want something. This cannot be. We need to praise God all the time. Why? Because he is worthy to be praised! A good friend of mine always says "God's worthiness to be worshipped never changes" I completely agree...it doesn't matter our circumstances, we need to praise God because he is worthy. We need to praise His name, not just ask for things. We need to tell God we love him all the time, not just when we want something.

*ducks for flying tomatoes*

Love and Reliance

2006-10-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

I was reading over notes from a sermon that was preached at Re:fuge a while ago, because it is something that God has laid on my heart tonight. The relying on other people hasn't stopped. God wants people to rely on Him to get them through their tough times, but instead they are relying on people to get them through. My fellow Christians, this cannot be. This cannot be at all. God has laid this on my heart, because He wants you guys to know that He loves you no matter what. He is just asking that you will turn to Him to help you through your problems.

Putting confidence in an unreliable person is like chewing with atoothache or walking on a broken foot. (Proverbs 25:19 NLT)

I love that.. Would you chew on the side that has the toothache? I would nope not. Would you walk on a broken foot? No... so why rely on an unreliable person for the thing that God can give you? EVERYONE in this world is going to fail you at one time or another, but GOD WILL NEVER FAIL YOU! So why not go to the one who won't dissappoint?

That is a short blog..but there it is... there is another one to follow. God is speaking a lot to me tonight.

God's Calling

2006-10-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

Be sure to check out Michelle's Blog for some great insight.

Her and I were talking tonight, and she was telling me about this guy that likes her and she likes him, but he said that they can't be together because they don't go to the same church. Now firstly, that is not cool IMO (in my opinion). We are the church, it shouldn't matter what building we go to to worship. Secondly, she was so heartbroken at this. I gave her some great advice that was given to me when I was going through some issues with some people.

My good friend Karyn gave me some great advice. She said to picture yourself chained to this person to which you are having the issue with. When you are going through a problem with that person, you are chained to them because you are carrying around the issue. She said that instead of dragging the problem along with us in our day to day lives, we need to picture ourselves at the cross, and we need to unlock the chain from our ankle and chain it to the cross. Let Jesus deal with them. It is the most powerful advice I ever got.

I wanted to pass it on to my friend Michelle, and I decided to blog about it. Because if you are going through a hard time with someone, you need to leave them at the cross. If you are dealing with inner issues, picture those issues as an actual being, and chain them to the cross. Let God deal with them. There is no use in you losing sleep over it. Give it to GOd cuz he will be up all night anyways ^_^

The kingdom of God belongs to such as these

2006-10-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

Mark 10:14 "He said to them, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'"

^^ Caleb and I ^^

^^ Caleb, my dad and his lion Leo ^^

^^ My new cousin Isaiah. Isn't he ADORABLE? there is the little mohawk ^^

^^ The happy family. My aunty Karen, her husband Shane and little Isaiah ^^

^^ Caleb ^^

The kingdom of God belongs to little children like Isaiah and Caleb!

Things that flow out of love for God

2006-09-29T00:21:00.000-07:00

I have felt closer to God through this pain I am experiencing currently, with persecution and accusations etc.

I haven't bought a CD in a long time, but last week I finally bought one. It is an album of love songs from the 70's, 80's and 90's. Great sets of love songs! I love love songs...hehe....that was funny the way I said that...*clears throat* anyways... It is "secular" love songs...but the title of the album is "A Thousand Different Ways". The artist has said that the album is titled that because the songs on it can be sung a thousand different ways, can have a thousand different meanings etc etc.

Since all the sermons on worship, and topics of worship have come up (emailed Devotionals that i get) I have learned that it doesn't matter about the music, it matters about the heart. I have taken these love songs that this artist has sung on this album, and I have sung them to God. This has been such a great worship tool. Music is great for that, but there are also other ways of showing your appreciation to God.

Since listening to this album, deeds have flowed out of my love and adoration (worship) for God. I have cleaned my room, cleaned the house, done lots of housework, made candles for people (and for a craft fair my mom ad i are doing in November), I have made some fish (out of gimp) to sell at the Craft fair in November and all the proceeds for them are going for the Bubel/Aiken foundation for individals with disabilities.

All of these good deeds flowed out of a worshipful heart full of love for God.

I guess my point to this blog is 2-fold:

1. Secular Songs can have multiple meanings.....its not the music that is Christian, its the lyics. It is your choice as to what meaning you will have put to the lyrics.

2. Good deeds will flow out of your love for God.

Idolatry

2006-09-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

Since one person has brought it up. I have decided to write a blog about Idolatry. It is in our society today, and it is scary. Idolatry is a scary thing. Idolatry is defined as this:

i‧dol‧a‧try 1. the religious worship of idols. 2. excessive or blind adoration, reverence, devotion, etc.

Now I am not sure what "blind adoration" is...but it basically seems to me that the definition is saying that it is putting an idol above God. It is thinking about this idol and worshipping this idol over God. It is thinking about nothing but the idol. Your whole life is that idol. That is a scary thing. It is something I do not want to get involved in, because in my opinion it leads to death. It might be a harsh thing, but one of the commandments says to not take up for ourselves any idols.

Deuteronomy 4:15-19 says "Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

So what is an idol? In this verse it says it can be a man or woman, living and non-living things.

What should we do instead? Well the obvious thing is to worship God only. If you like a man or woman, or like creation or anything, that is fine, but continually thank God for them instead of worshipping them. God created them, so he is the one who deserves the awe and adoration for creating something so wonderful. Take nature for example, when I look at pictures of nature, or I am in a park with beautiful scenery etc. I always take time to thank God for creating something so beautiful. There is no point in worshipping the flowers, they are dead. Another example is celebrities. For some people, celebrities are their whole lives. They think about nothing except that celebrity. They worship and adore that celebrity. What we need to do instead is to thank God for creating them. God deserves the credit for it. The celebrities didn't create themselves. If you think a celebrity is so wonderful, think about their creator (God obviously), and thank Him for creating someone so wonderful. Don't act like the celebrity is god. Because they aren't.

God created everything, so why worship something who isn't powerful. ESPECIALLY compared to God. God is all powerful, so why worship something that is below him and definitly weak.

I encourage you all to live for God and not for things of the world. We tend to do that sometimes, myself included. This is a good reminder for everyone. Live for God. Worship God. Love God. Serve God. Things of this world will pass away, but God will never. Things of this world will fail us, God will never. God will always love us, the world will not.

I will leave you with this verse that I read tonight.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. ~Galatians 5:19-26

Unity Vs. Uniformity

2006-09-22T02:26:00.000-07:00

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

~Ephesians 4:1-3

God expects unity, not uniformity. Sometimes we get to thinking that we have to all be alike to be in fellowship with people. Fellowship does not mean that we think alike with everything. we might go to different churches, but worship the same Lord. There are many ways to worship him but only one Lord. There are many different denominations but only one faith. There are many different nations but only one destination.

We should be one body in Christ. We are the church. Not everybody is going to be the same. There needs to be different parts of the body to make up one whole one. Someone needs to be the mouth (encouragement), the eyes (discernment), the feet and hands (service) etc etc. All of the different aspects of the church make up one body. We can't all be hands, and we can't all be the mouth.

As Christians, we do not have to agree on everything. As a matter of fact, it’s better that we don’t. If we agreed on everything then the unity of the body of Christ would be on what we agree on and not our relationship with God. To have different viewpoints (whether it be social, political or economical) but still agree that Jesus Christ is Lord, it puts the focus on where it should be- God. If we are always thinking about what we agree on and what we don't agree on, then the focus is on ourselves. If we think about who we worship and why we worship him, then it puts the focus on God, which is where it should be. The diversity of the body of Christ forces our unity to be the thing that we see most. It is the thing that rises to the surface as the rest of it washes away.

Following Christ is not a contest to see if we can all be the same; it is about finding out that dispite our differences, we are one because of Christ.

Here are some scriptures about the Body of Christ:

“We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us all and living through us all.”
~Ephesians 4:4-6 NLT

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
~Romans 12:4-6 (NIV)

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
~1 Corinthians 12:12-13

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
~1 Corinthians 12:27

When Bad Things Happen

2006-09-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

I was watching GMA (Good Morning America) this morning and I watched an interview that Diane Sawyer did with Clay over the last 2 days, and I was horribly dissappointed. The only issues Diane asked about was his sexual orientation and the fact that he is on Paxil (Depression and Anxiety pill) because he has panic attacks. Why is it that this is what the public wants to know? They could have talked about his work with his foundation for people with disabilities (The Bubel/Aiken Foundation) or his work with UNICEF or his new presidential appointment. But no, they talked about the bad stuff and broguht up bad memories for him (the tabloids back in January) I could see the pain and anguish when he spoke. He was clearly bothered. Which brought me back to a devotional I read from Purpose Driven Life. It was titled "When Bad Things Happen" Here are my thoughts about it and a mix of John Fischer's words:

"When bad things happen to good people we can be assured that this is God, out to make good people better."

When bad things happen it is for God to make us better, but sometimes it can get to the extreme, don't you think? I mean, like, come on... this brings me back to the whole celebrity thing, it is what i see as huge issues, people being attacked in the tabloids. People are being hurt by what the tabloids say. I guess God does want people to grow stronger because of this, and some people's faith has grown stronger. I guess that is what God wants. It is a huge test for Christian celebrities especially.

"There are so many things in life that make us cry, “Why?” “Why me?” “Why now?” I don’t think we are capable of knowing all the answers to these questions. Our lives fit into a vast and complicated tapestry that only God could unravel, because he’s the one making it. There are things that happen in our lives that are tied in an intricate domino effect to something else happening somewhere else that we may never realize in this life. I’ve heard of enough bizarre connections to know this is happening a lot more than we realize. Chalk it up to God’s amazing creativity as he weaves his will into the events of the world."

God is definitly creative. Well obviously, he created everything. Everything in the world is part of his will. Sometimes that is hard for me to grasp. Was September 11th part of his will? I don't know, because it was people who forced it to happen. Same thing with the wars, people started them. Was it in God's will? Only God knows. I don't think it is ever in God's will for innocent people to die. We need to trust in God and trust that when we are going through bad things that there is a purpose for it.

"Our job is to look at what happens in our lives and learn from what God is trying to teach us. There are no mistakes here. God doesn’t go, “Whoops!” or to the angels: “OK, what went wrong here?"

OUCH!! That is truth right there. God doesn't make mistakes. Why? Because God is perfect!

"Here’s the truth of the matter God’s purpose is in everything that you and I go through, whether we are able to see it or not. And that purpose is producing something good in and through our lives, no matter what happens."

"We all have things in our lives in which it is hard – almost impossible – to see God’s purpose. That doesn’t mean anything except that we are shortsighted and short on faith sometimes. That’s when we need to keep on believing and knowing that God is working things out for the best."

Dear Heavenly Father, Help me see that what I go through on a day to day basis is what you want to happen. It is for your purpose and pleasure that everything happens. Help me to realize that you still love me, even though I go through pain and hurt. Help me to always remember that even if friends walk away that you never will. I love you Father, and I will never walk away from you! I tend to think that you do walk away from me when i am going through pain, but I realize after that you were there all along. I am going through pain right now, and Jesus, I know you are here! Help me to always know that you are with me! Amen!

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT)

Pictures from Saturday

2006-09-13T02:40:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few of the many pictures that I have from Saturday night. They are clickable so you can see the full photo! The ones that are blurry were taken with my camera (except the one of me and Faye, that was the only one that wasn't blurry for some reason):

Clay! Oh and the 11 finalists and the rest of the judges too..

The Judges

Mrs. Faye Parker and I

Pricisilla (sp?) - She was Clay's college professor, Kristy (works for the BAF), and Faye again (Clay's mom)

Clay!

Clay again!

None other than Ms. Olivia Newton-John!

Clay! Cute eh? He was looking right at my friend's camera (who was right in front of me)

Unforgettable!

2006-09-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday (September 9th) I had the great opportunity to go watch the David Foster Star Search at the River Rock Show Theatre. I was so glad that I was able to go because, if it weren't for some random claymate in Ontario, I wouldn't have been able to go. God provided me with the money, but the tickets were sold out. Then he blessed me abundantly, by this woman being so kind as to sell me her tickets because she was not going to be able to go.

There were 11 finalists and 4 celebrity judges: Clay Aiken, Babyface, David Foster and Daisy Fwentez (sp?). I had the most amazing night of my life. I didn't get to meet Clay, but I at least got to see him and he waved at us. It was my very first experience with seeing any sort of celebrity as well known as Clay. I got to meet David Foster, he is one of the biggest producers out there. This was a pretty star studded night for me.

Here is my review of the night:

Tonight was so awesome! I had such a great time and got to meet a lot of wonderful people. Now I know you all are wondering, well no I didn’t get to meet Clay unfortunately. But I was in the same room as him and got to see him in person and listen to him speak his mind.

We got there at around 3pm on Saturday and hung out, waiting for people. Then we went into the Dockside Café and got dinner. And as we are just sitting and waiting, I hear someone whisper “There’s Faye” (Clay's Mother). I was shocked that she actually came out. Her and Jaymes and some camera people were there for around 15-30 minutes talking, taking pictures and signing autographs. Faye was very kind. THEN low and behold I hear SCREAMING. I wondered what the commotion was, so I look and Jaymes had CLAY’S NEW CD in her hand. She opened it up for the mini poster. I didn’t get a picture of it though, someone did I am sure. That was awesome. I shyly asked Faye if I could get her autograph and a picture with her. She signed the LTS book as ‘Clay’s mom, Faye” hehe aww. I also gave her the book that a friend and I wrote so she could give it to Clay ^_^

After dinner, we went up to the balcony to see if we could see Clay. They saw him for like 3 seconds. LOL. I was downstairs at that time, so I didn't see him. But anyways…then I went back up and waited there until about 7:30. I was feeling a little weak and nervous about meeting him ( I get nervous about meeting ANYONE new, let alone someone who is well known), so my mom and I just went to our seats and sat down and waited. When we went to sit at our seats in the theatre and Clay walked out, my nerves just calmed right down. I was completely fine. I didn’t have butterflies in my stomach anymore, and I didn’t feel lightheaded. I was completely calm. Another exciting thing about that night was, when they were going to announce the winner, the host brought out a “surprise”. The surprise was OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN! Oh gosh. She didn’t sing but she announced the winner. Then the show starts…and oh my gosh! They say all of his accomplishments (oh, they introduced him FIRST btw) then he came out wearing a black pinstriped suit and kind of a navy blue shirt and black tie. HOT! My mom even turned to me and was like “Ok, he is cute!” hehehehehehe.

So the show started and he made his comments to the contestants. His critiquing was truthful, but not hurtful. That was really great. There were a couple of funny things that happened that night. Clay was obviously witty like he always is ^_- But there were funny things that he said that had all the Claymates screaming hehe. Firstly, one of the girls when she was singing went "upstairs" meaning she hit some high notes because the song was dragging, so she decided to kick it up a notch. When Clay critiqued he said something about when he notices that the song is dragging or he is losing somebody, he will take it "upstairs" and David commented that Clay has never done it quite that good. And he was like "probably not" and then he was like "You'd better watch out, cuz there are some Claymates who will kick your tail" That got us howling in laughter and cheering ^_^. THEN David Foster gets up to talk on stage and his chair spun towards Clay, so Clay moved it back. David joked around and said “Don’t touch my chair Clay” and then Clay twirled it. David said something about getting him later or something and Clay was like “Who’s got my back? I'm gonna need some help” and again all the Claymates cheered and David said "Don't mess with the Claymates" hehehehehehehe.

At the end of the competition they get a group picture and then the host said that there was no music and then Clay did the "soft shoe" dance. It was sort of a jig haha. It was cute. Then the host told him to sing (he was joking around) and Clay turned away as if to say no. What a great guy, he didn’t want to take the spotlight away from the winner. Overall this was a great evening filled with excitement. I got to see Clay in person, and let me tell you, he is hot on TV but he is MEGA HOTTER in person ^_^ He is so down to earth too. Great night that I will never forget.

September is shaping up to be a great month! ^_^

PS. Sorry for the lack of blogging. I will try to get back to blogging what I usually blog, very soon. I am dealing with some stuff in my life first. Thank you for your patience.

Edited on: September 23rd, at 10:35pm because some people have been criticizing me about my wording of some things. Somethings I forgot to mention.

God's promises

2006-08-18T23:16:00.000-07:00

God says: He will provide, He will always love us no matter what, and the most important, he keeps his promises!

Today, I quit my job today, after 2 shifts, it just wasn't working out for me. I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off...not fun... ANYWAYS... I have never had as much peace as I am feeling right now. A weight has been lifted off my shoulder and I feel great.

Also, I have (sorta) a job opportunity. My nana is in town, so we were taking her to some cool places tonight, and we passed by the Sally Ann Thrift Store in Burnaby and there was a big sign in the window saying "NOW HIRING" I thought "Thank you Lord for confirmation" So I went in and they gave me the number for Sanro and they said to mail in my resume. So I am not going to do that. I am going to call instead and speak to the lady in charge of hiring. She knows my family well, so I feel I have a graet chance of getting this job. Please pray!

Anyways, I was praying this evening asking God if it was a good idea to quit and he didn't disagree. I believe that God will provide (as long as I do my part) so I am at complete peace with my life right now. It feels great! ^_^

Inhumane Animal Treaters!!!

2006-08-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry that this isn't any insightful blog, but it's something on my heart and I need to share it.

On Sunday my friend and I came home from church and we were walking up my street and saw a poor little cat (probably like 7 years old, it looked really old) and it was so sad looking..it was all matted (had knots in its fur..all over) and was so skinny, and had a runny nose, but it was so incredibly friendly. It immediately came up to us. We gave it lots of attention. So I went inside and got a few treats, cuz it looked like the cat hadn't eaten a decent meal in a while. I gave it some treats and it ate a couple and started to choke, so I massaged its neck cuz that helps get the food down. I was really sad about that, but and didn't know if i should report it or not, so i left it for a day.

My parents heard people outside and they were apparently going to tkae the cat to their house. Apparently they didn't because sure enough, it was back outside by my house. So I called the local Humane Society (that I volunteer for) and she told me to bring it to the nearest vet and she would give the "go ahead" to look after the cat. So my friend (Bless his heart) drove us to the vet, cuz our car wasn't working, so my mom couldn't drive me. (I know, I am 19, and I don't have my drivers license.. I don't want it really..)

So there I am at the vet, and I realize that that exact day that we brought this little kitty into the vet, was the day that we had to give our cat over to the Humane Society because we couldn't afford to take care of it (a couple weeks later they had to put her down cuz she was really sick..)

I got a call while I was at Worship Team Practice from the lady at the Humane Society. She said that this cat was anemic, had cancer, had kidney failure, was malnurished, and weighed 4 lbs. There wasn't anything they could do, they had no choice but to put her down. They couldn't even tell whether it was a boy or a girl because it's fur was so matted.

I was terribly upset about this. How can someone just treat their pet like that? Just leave it on the streets to fend for themselves, how can someone just abandon their pet like that. To most of my friends, their pets are family members. I know I feel that way. So tell me this, would you treat your brother or sister or parents like that? Would you leave them on the streets to fend for themselves. Sadly, this happens to. It makes me sick to hear how badly people treat their pets.
Since I volunteer with the Humane Society where I live, I see many stories like this. Cats who are left on the streets to fend for themselves. One cat was left in an abandoned building with just a dish of water and a dish of food. Sick!

Please people, if you see stray cats in your neighbourhood, please take them to the nearest Humane Society (or call the nearest one they will pick the cat up)

Thank you for hearing my rant!

Profound Quote

2006-08-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

This is a quote that I got in my email today and I thought it was so profound and I had to share it.

My deep definition of sovereignty - He is God, and you are not!

Rod Parsley

Spiritual Vaccums

2006-08-04T02:58:00.000-07:00

I have never thought about this before. But it definitly made me think. I hope it makes you think.

Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotional August 4th 2006

Spritual Vacuums
by John Fischer

Everybody worships something or someone. Worship may be a new emphasis for the church these days, but it is not new for human beings. We have been doing it since we were created. That’s because we were created for this purpose. But God did more than create us and tell us to worship him. He created us with a NEED for worship.

Blaise Pascal, the brilliant French physicist of the seventeenth century who had a dramatic conversion to Christ and went on to write some of the most famous apologetic for the Christian faith in history, is the one who came up with the idea of a God-shaped vacuum in every human heart. That’s because he studied the vacuum and noticed that whenever a vacuum exists something by nature has to rush in and fill it. It seemed to him the perfect picture of how God created us, as constantly pulling in something. Think of yourself as a giant spiritual vacuum.
Now the thing about a vacuum is that it will pull in anything that is within its reach. Like me, you may have heard this concept before, and like me, you may have assumed its work was already accomplished in your life by becoming a Christian. God created us with a need for him—a hole inside us that is in the shape of God so nothing else satisfies that need but him, and once I respond to Christ, that hole is filled and I am spiritually satisfied. But this description doesn’t go far enough. It doesn’t show that we are continuing to need him. God doesn’t plug up the hole so we can go on and indulge in whatever we like since this foremost thing is taken care of. He has made us with an enduring need to keep filling ourselves up with him. In other words, we not only have a vacuum, we are vacuums—always on, always sucking up whatever is near the heart.
Whatever you put near the door of your heart is going to be sucked in. Think of the number of things cluttering our spiritual core simply because we have not kept God and his truths close to our hearts at all times. This is why Jesus said we couldn’t serve God and something else. In order to live with our primary purpose fulfilled, we need to keep God as the focus of our worship and nothing else—not pride, or money, or material things, or even people.

What are you placing near your heart today? That is what you worship, and that is what will be sucked into the core of your being—the place where only God belongs, because only he can satisfy.

Opposites Attract

2006-08-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

This is such an early blog, I think it may be the earliest I have gotten up and written a blog. I am going with a few people to camp to help paint some mom's nails. Fun ^_^ Its so early tho.... blah!! Anyways, I open my emails and this was the devotional for today and I thought it was so awesome, and so I thought I would share it:

Opposites attract
by John Fischer

How do you become like Christ? Interestingly enough, God is more committed to this than we are. And it’s a good thing, because if it all depended on us, we would never get very far in this process. We would probably be too easy on ourselves.

“And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.” (Philippians 1:6) He started it; he will finish it.

OK, but how does this happen? One of the ways God does this is by letting the opposite thing happen to you. Do you need to learn how to love? Get ready for someone you can’t stand. Need patience? Better prepare for some aggravations to come your way. Looking for peace? Here’s a little chaos you weren’t expecting. Joy? Did I mention sorrow?

Now why is God like this? Is he some kind of killjoy in the sky? Does He get a kick out of kicking us around? Actually, he does this for the very reason that he is the one who starts and finishes the work in us. You see, all these qualities really belong to God. Love, joy, peace, patience are actually fruits of God’s Spirit in those who believe. In other words, he’s provided all these things we need, but we don’t find them until we are desperate for them. It’s just the way we were made.

If we could come up with all these qualities on our own, we wouldn’t need God; we would have rules and formulas and steps to go through to better ourselves. In other words, religion would be enough. As it is, we are deeply flawed. Even our best attempts at producing the right things in our lives come up short. Religion is a fine thing; it’s just that it has never made anyone like Christ. In fact, the more religious we become, the further away from Christ we get. You get to be more like Christ by needing him more and more in your life.

You can’t make the right stuff out of the wrong material. Or as Jesus said, you can’t put new wine in old wineskins. So God allows things into our lives that break the old, to bring in the new. The new is beyond us. We are forced to discover it when we are stretched beyond our means. So God brings the opposite to create in us what we really want. That’s when we grow.

Quote for the day

2006-07-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

I got this quote in my email a few days ago and I thought it was SO profound...

"When we worship the Lord, let's remember that He is in control. Nothing alarms Him, or takes Him by surprise. Nothing is too big for Him to handle, or so small it escapes His attention. When the winds of my world begin to blow, He remains seated. When raging waves surround me, He governs their temper...I need not be moved ... Because the Lord is seated and sovereign...He alone is sovereign."

Quote by: Ronald James

God has answered prayers

2006-07-10T23:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, God is so working in people's lives. I see him working in other people's lives so much! It's amazing..

Tonight my family actually sat down and they turned off the TV and we talked for 2 hours. Now I like to figure out how we got to certain topics when we talk. This happens with my friends too, we talk and I try to figure out how we got to a certain topic because its WAY off from the beginning..or it is linked someway... The conversation was mostly about my dad's past experiences, because we were talking about Commissioner Christine MacMillian( I was named after her. I look VERY highly upon this women, she is inspirational...) anyways... we were talking about her and it brought up my dad's memories of working with her. We had many many laughs there.

My dad was telling us (we have heard these stories btu they are still SO funny..that we were crying so bad lol) about a day when this guy walked in the Crosswalk with a machety (a big knife...i cant spell lol) and Christine walks up to the guy and grabs the knife and says "Give me that!" So funny..... Christine is a very conservative lady and she looks like such a serious lady, but my dad Christine has a fun side. When she saw my dad last night at the Installation of our new Divisional Leaders she said to my dad "Hey buddy".. She used to call him that when he worked with her in the 80's. A very cool lady...

Another story was these two guys came in and they were fighting, so Christine went up to them and broke up the fight saying "Stop that! Whats the matter with you" The two guys were very embarrassed and said "Sorry, Chris"

Anyways....enough funny stories... cuz I have a lot of them...just ask if you wanna hear more..

But since we got on the topic of the Crosswalk, a friend of the family was brought up because he worked with my dad for MANY years, up until the end of the old Crosswalk. They were awesome people. they were like family and i loved each one of htem. ANYWAYS, I had found out a few months ago that one of them contracted Hep C (i think it was a needle or something that caused it). Now from what I have heard this is not curable. He was on meds and was going to have to take time out from his job and whatnot because the meds were going to make him really sick. Well, my dad informed me tonight (when I asked how this guy was) that this man went to the doctor's and they found absolutly NO trace of Hep C. Praise the Lord!

Gone Vacationing

2006-06-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

he he..get it? Instead of gone FISHING? ha ha ha ha...anyways...

Sorry for my lack of writing blogs lately. I have been very caught up in writing my new story. I have had writers block for about 2 years and nevr really attempted to do anything about that writers block. Then I joined the Clay boards and I met some wonderful people there, and one of them is my co-author :) She writes one page of story, and then I continuie and write 3 after that, then when I get writers block, she writes another page (sometimes 2) So my story is now 28 pages long ha ha... nice! I started it last week... like the 22nd I believe.

ANYWHO, I am going on holidays until the 4th of July, so I won't be blogging unless I can get to a computer to tell you about my trip. That might happen. If I dont blog you will know why tho! God Bless and see you all on the 4th!

Blessings..

Do I make You Proud?

2006-06-24T01:50:00.000-07:00

I watched the American Idol finale season 5 about a month ago, but really got to love the song the winner sang as I listen to it tonight. Wow the words are really powerful and full of spirituality too. WOW... look at these lyrics:

Do I make You Proud?
Sung by: Taylor Hicks (American Idol winner season 5)

I've never been the one to raise my hand,
That was not me and now that's who I am
Because of you I am standing tall,

My heart is full of endless gratitude,
You were the one,
the one to guide me through,
Now I can see and I believe it's only just beginning
Chorus-
This what we dream about but the only question with me now
Is do I make you proud
Stronger than I've ever been NOW
Never been afraid of standing out
But do I make you proud

I guess I've learned, to question is to grow
That you still have faith, is all I need to know
I've learned to love, myself in spite of me
And I've learned to walk, the road that I believe

This what we dream about but the only question with me now
Is do I make you proud
Stronger than I've ever been NOW
Never been afraid of standing out
But do I make you proud

Do I make God proud with the things that I do? the way I act? If he were to come to my door today would I be prepared for his return? No, I would say no.

A while ago a person that i didnt realy know too well came over and said that God wanted him to tell me that he is proud of me ( i think i blogged it a while ago). He is proud that i perservere throug trials and that no matter what i am going through I still worship God with my whole heart.

This month, i definitly canot say that I have made God proud. I dont think I have worshipped him the way he deserves. So much has happened in my life this last month, and its very overwhelming and I have distracted myself from the problems in my life. I have not read my bible very much, I have been distracting myself with other stuff: computer, and TV mostly...its not good.

Father, please forgive me for being lazy. I should realize even if i feel overwhelmed that i should perservere through it and worship you more than i have ever worshipped you in my life. I should have faith that you will bring me through it. I love you Father, and I thank you for your mercy and grace in my life! Amen

The Lord is at work with his children!

2006-06-23T01:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I had the opportunity to visit my friends mother in the hospice that she is in. My friend's youth group were going to come and pray with her mother. That was an amazing night that I will never forget. They got there after we did, we got to chat with her mother for a while... then the youth group showed up, and they talked for a little bit, but then just started praying. They immediately started praying in tongues. It was amazing to see God working in that room. They prayed for everything for this woman. As they were praying I could see God actually breathing life into her, they all saw colour coming back into her. It was amazing. Surely the best night! Its encouragement that I needed to see! Praise the Lord!

Oh and Praise the Lord for removing writer's block. I haven't been able to write a story in almost 2 years straight. I have attempted but its just gone bad. I have had an idea in my head for a few months of a story, but i didnt quite know how to put it to paper. After some encouragement from friends of mine from a forum that I belong to... ahem.. i won't say which one, cuz people will get mad...or they will roll their eyes... lol.... They encouraged me and gave me some ideas of how to start the story... so I have been writing non stop for hte last hour and I am at 3 pages long. Its mostly dialoque at this point, so i need to go back and put some descriptions and stuff in there. Its a work in progress tho and so Praise the Lord! But nooooo more writing, I have picked my brain enough tonight with this thing. LOL

Live a Life Uncommon

2006-06-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

Romans 12:1-2 says "I appeal to you therefore, brothers by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

We are called to live a life that is not wordly... we are called to live a life uncommon. I don't know about you, but I want to live a life that is uncommon in the world. I don't want to live by the world's standards. I am so sick of following what the world says to do. I am so sick of doing stuff that God does not want me to do.

Listen to this song by Jewel (I apologize that it is a montage of Clay but this is how i came across the song, then I downloaded it, but I can't figure out how to get just the song on here..sorry y'all)Don't pay attention to the video, pay attention to the words....

The Video:

The Lyrics:

Don't worry mother, it'll be alright
And don't worry sister, say your prayers and sleep right
It'll be fine lover of mine
It'll be just fine

Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend you strength to that which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And you shall lead a live uncommon

I've heard your anguish
I've heard your hearts cry out
We are tired, we are weary, but we aren't worn out
set down your chains, until only faith remains
Set down your chains

And lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend your strength to that
which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon

There are plenty of people who pray for peace
But if praying were enough it would have come to be
Let your words enslave no one and the heavens will hush themselves
To hear out voices ring out clear
with sounds of freedom
sounds of freedom

Come on you unbelievers, move out of the way
there is a new army coming and we are armed with faith
To live, we must give
To live

And lend our voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend out strength to that which we with to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead...

Lend our voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend out strength to that which we with to be free from
Fill you lives with love and bravery
And we shall lead a life uncommon

Joy in the midst of Sorrow

2006-06-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

This morning my brother comes in the room and wakes me up and says that a friend of the family had passed away suddenly last night. His name was Peter Rolston, now if you grew up on the coast from the 60's to the 80's you will know that name. He was a famous ventriloquist. He had a TV show. He was a really nice guy. I bought his book and he signed it for me :) I will treasure that forever. Anyways... So I was really upset about it and I was quite deprsesed the whole day. When my brother told me I was in shock and couldnt say anything... my mouth was open and my eyes were wide.. (and blinking as well cuz i had just woke up) but anyways... I was quite sad..still am to a certain point but I was very encouraged tonight.

Karyn mentioned that there is going to be a dramatic reading of Psalm 29 on Sunday morning. She said that I can participate if I want, and I am going to. Psalm 29 says:

Psalm 29
Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.

The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the LORD strikes
with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the LORD twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

I was very encouraged especially by the last verse (in bold) It is totally what I needed to hear tonight! Praise the Lord!

Do not be afraid

2006-06-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

First of all, it has been brought to my attention that my posts are being put one on top of the other when you go to read them. Send me an email to let me know if this is waht you are seeing too so i can fix it:)

So I was walking home from youth tonight and i was a little scared. I am paranoid of everything, so i was constantly looking behind me while walking down 10th ave. I was walking to cross canada way and the church sign across the way said this (i am not kidding) "Do not be afraid" WOW... thank you Jesus for that wonderful message in a time when I needed it!

Do not be afraid, for I am with you. ~Isaiah 43:5

God's Timing

2006-05-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

God's timing is seriously perfect.

Tonight my mom and I went for a walk to the video store to rent some movies and get munchies. On our way there we saw a pretty cat in the window of a house next to the store... very cute cat..then we came out of the store and the cat was playing on the sidewalk... u know how cats are... rolling on their backs... etc.... the lady that was petting him was like "is this ur pet" cuz we went up and my mom was talking to the cat.. we said no...and she said do you know where he lives cuz he almost got run over a few times. I said that we knew, so I knocked on the ladies door and said 'is this your cat' and she said that it indeed was her cat and I told her that he almost got run over a couple times. She was absolutly in shock. She thanked me over and over.

God put me in that place at that time for a reason. If God hadnt placed me there I can't bare to think of what could have happened to that poor cat. If any of you know me, i have a very soft spot for cats. I love them to death (like I love Clay Aiken he he)

Now for some music.... this is a song that Clay sang "bridge over troubled water" he didnt write it... Simon and Garfunkel did...but its a great spiritual song! so here it is:

And also.... Here is another good song "you were there" Avalon sang it before...

More of Clay Aiken

2006-05-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures I found of that night... and there is a before and after picture as well (from the VERY first time we say Clay at the auditions he he he...BIG change)

Clay Aiken!!!

2006-05-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

K this isnt the insightful blog that i usually write.... but meh I don't care.

How many of you watched American Idol's finale on Wednesday??? I DID! and OH MY GOSH. I didnt care who won, my jaw dropped and my heart pounded when Clay Aiken (with his new look....so cute!) surprised a "wannabe" pop star... take a look! (hopefully this works)

Oh, in case you all didnt know... i am IN LOVE with Clay Aiken!

Mary vs. Martha

2006-05-20T00:29:00.000-07:00

Luke 10:38-42 "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

This scripture is basically saying that we need to stop getting distracted by meaningless things and just sit at the feet of Jesus. We live in a world that is always busy, and always has stuff on the go. We rarely take the time to just sit at Jesus feet and spend time with him.

We talked about this at Worship Team practice the other day and I have come to realize that I am Martha. I am so busy doing stuff, I am so distracted by doing stuff that I never just sit and spend time with Jesus. He desires that intimacy from us. But I am either watching TV, cleaning, on the computer, or sleeping. Its a horrible life really. I need to spend time with Jesus. I need to turn off my TV for a few hours and just spend time with Jesus whether its just listening to music or reading God's word. It says in verse 42 that Mary chose what was better and that was to just sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to him.

We were asked where Jesus' feet is (where we love spending time most with Him) I wasn't given too much thought on this one so I just said what I usually do (which is sit on my bed with my Bible) When I came home and REALLY thought about it, I felt God's presence most when I was on the top of the hill behind Julian's house (in Summerland) When we were there in March, I took some time for myself and Jesus. I left the group and went up to the top of the hill and I had my notebook and my Bible and I just wrote a big prayer to God (I was a little angry at him because of my current relationship status..but thats something I am not prepared to share about on a public blog...) After I got angry at him I just cried about it. As I was crying I saw a picture of him holding me in his arms and cradling me. So as I was remeniscing on Wednesday about that morning in Summerland, I came to realize that I love spending time with Jesus in the wilderness, in nature. I somehow feel his presence more when I feel the wind in my face and see the bright sunshine and I am in the middle of nowhere. I also came to the conclusion that THAT is why I want to move to Summerland, because I felt his presence so much more when I was in Summerland. I need to find that here, I want to feel his presence in New West just as much as I felt it in Summerland. Come Lord Jesus Come!

I pray that I can spend lots of quality time with my Lord, and just listen to him. I pray that I will have that intimacy. I pray that I will spend lots of time with Jesus and not just on Sunday's. I pray that this will become a part of my daily routine. I pray that it will become a good habit like brushing my teeth. I am so sick of doing things that He doesnt want me to do. I am so sick of sitting around and watching mindless TV. I pray that I will take at least 1 hour out of my day to spend time just sitting at Jesus' feet! Amen!

New Template

2006-05-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone
As you can all see I have a new template. I like it a lot. Except for the fact that I can't see my comments, and nobody can send me comments to the blog. So for further reference, if you have any comments about my blogs..any at all please feel free to email me... christine_bacon15@yahoo.ca I would love to hear from you no matter who you are. I love comments :)

Bless you all! I will blog later tonight, I have spent so much time with the html on this thing that its time to take a break. :)

Godlessness in the last days

2006-05-18T00:50:00.000-07:00

A friend and I had a conversation about Godlessness in the last days. We were angry at what happened to a family. They were all killed (except for 1 who is in a coma in the hospital) in a fire in Vancouver. This scripture was brought up:

2 Timothy 3 (NIV)
Godlessness in the Last Days

1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

6They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

If all of this is true...(people are lovers of self, unforgiving etc etc etc) then why hasn't Jesus come back yet. Why has the world not ended yet. Because the number of those being saved is not complete yet. We just need to pray for those who are not saved and we need to continue praying for them. Do you hang out with non-believers? Do you have any friends who are non-believers? Pray for them, and don't stop praying for them. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to Pray continually. Or in another translation... pray without ceasing. We need to keep praying for the non-believers of this world because they need to know the love of God. They are hurting, if they weren't hurting in some way they wouldn't have to take it out on people. People don't set fires or break into someone's home if they weren't hurting in some way. Pray for these people. If you see people hurting, show them God's love! Pray for them! Don't just be like "these people should be punished severely, these guys are so stupid, causing all these fires" don't just put them down. Pray for them, yes the justice system will get them, but you need to pray for them because they need that love of God in their lives.

Be Blessed! and Continue reading God's word. He has a lot to show you in that book!

I will follow You

2006-05-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had trouble singing one song and being truthful about it? Well that happened to me yesterday at the worship service.

We were singing "May the Words of my Mouth" The lyrics go like this:

May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart
Bless Your name, bless Your name, Jesus
And the deeds of the day and the truth in my ways
Speak of You, speak of You, Jesus

For this is what I'm glad to do
It's time to live a life of love that pleases You
And I will give my all to You
Surrender everything I have and follow You
I'll follow You

Lord, will You be my vision, Lord, will You be my guide
Be my hope, be my light and the way
And I'll look not for riches, nor praises on earth
Only You'll be the first of my heart

I will follow
I will follow
I will follow You

Near the end of the song, Karyn was saying that if this is what we are going to do, we need to stand and proclaim it. I stood for a few seconds but then I asked myself what I was doing. I was completely lying to everyone in that congregation. It's not that I don't want to follow what God has for me, I know that his plans are bigger than mine and his plans are better than mine. But I do not want what he has for me right now. What I want is getting in the way of what God wants. It should not be that way. This is what God wants for me right now:

-To stay at New West and be involved with the RAW group from New West (doing open airs and missions stuff)
-Be involved with the Youth and Young Adults group (being the fund-raising coordinator)

What I want right now is:

-To drop out of school and move to Summerland.
-To move to Summerland so I can minister to my non-believing friends there.
-To just plainly move to Summerland, for many many reasons.

So anyways, I stood up for a few seconds and then I was like "I am lying to everyone around me" so I was very convicted, so I went up to the mercy seat and spent some time with God asking him to take over my life and be the center of my life. I asked him for forgiveness for wanting what i want and not what he wants. Cuz it is so true, I want my own way. I want to do what I want to do. I could be doing the stuff that God wants me to do, and still be in Summerland. I could work with the RAW group from there, I could be the fund-raising coordinator for their youth group. But for some reason God wants me to do that stuff in New West.

Dear Father, I pray that you would take over my life. Be the center of it. Help me want what you want. I am so sick of being so self-centered, and wanting what I want. My desire to move to Summerland is greater than my desire to follow what you want, and that should NOT be that way. I ask for your forgiveness for being so stupid. I want my desire to follow you to be greater than ANYTHING in my life. Be the center of my thoughts, my life, my plans, my everything. I pray all these things in Jesus' precious name. Amen!

Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NLT)
For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I will be found by you," says the LORD. "I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and bring you home again to your own land."

Wisdom

2006-05-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

Tonight at Worship team practice, the topic of Wisdom came up briefly. So I thought I would share in a blog about what God taught me a few weeks ago.

I was spending some time alone with God a few weeks ago at the Friday youth night. He was speaking to me about Wisdom and gave me a bunch of scripture.

Proverbs 4 (The whole chapter, its too long to put in here)

The key verses from this chapter are:
Verse 1-2: "Listen, my sons, to a father's instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. "
Verse 7: "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. "
Verses 11-27: I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil."

Wisdom is: Not walking in the way of the wicked (14), Keeping God's commandments (4), Not speaking bad or corrupt things (24), Walking on the firm path that God has set before us (26-27)

Proverbs 9:10 --> "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

That was just what God told me, so i thought I would share the wisdom with you all.. he he get it??

God Bless you all

Desiring God's Will

2006-05-08T01:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight at the worship we were singing a song called "Your Majesty is More" by Karyn Baker. Here are the lyrics:

Each day there's a struggle in my heart
Between my desires and your throne
I long for the day when I will truly say
That my will is yours

I see that your gentle eyes look down on me
Each time that I fight to die for you
I yearn for the strength to see You glorified
In all I do

(Because) Your majesty is more than all that I could ever hope for
Your pleasure means much more to me than mine
I let all my dreams fall pale in the presence of Your glory
Joining with the angels I will bow

If I have gathered any earthly crowns of gold
I know that it's all because of You
I choose to set them down and dress your feet
And start anew

This is something that I am struggling with. My desires and what God wants. For example, I want to be in Summerland. I hate it here and really don't want to be in this city anymore. I am so tired of the same old same old. I want to be in Summerland with my other friends. I love my friends here, don't get me wrong, but I just really want to be with my friends in Summerland. I just really want to be out of the city and live the country life. I guess I am a country girl at heart because when i went to Summerland I didn't want to come home because I loved everythng about Summerland: the country feel, the courtesy, the friendliness, the friends, everything. So ya, I am sorta fighting God on this one. Not really fighting, but basically asking why he wants me here.

A while ago when I came back from Summerland I was praying to God to see what he wanted me to do: whether it be drop out of school to move to summerland, or stay here. God told me to stay here for now. There is so much he wants me to do at my home corps and the surrounding area. Since RAW I have been heavily involved with mission stuff and ministry in the church. I am thoroughly enjoying it, but I feel i want something more. But thats MY desire, not God's. God wants me to stay here and carry out his work here.

I apologize to those english teachers or former english teachers that read my blog lately because they seem to just be my thoughts and they aren't in any organized fashion.

My apologies!

PS. I ask a prayer of you all. I am currently a) looking for a job, the one i had the interview turned out to be a complete sham, they mislead me...but anyways.. oh well... and b) for the courage to speak the word of God to my friends without worrying that they are going to push me away or not talk to me.

God Bless!

Prophetic Words

2006-05-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

Wow tonight I was majorly blessed!

At the Worship service tonight and we were singing "Your Majesty is More" by Karyn Baker (powerful words in that song, the words are exactly explaining what I am going through right now, but I will blog that after this)

As I was singing that song I heard someone come over and sit down beside me. I didnt pay much attention to it, i was singing this song from my heart because I want those words to be true. After the song was over this guy was telling me that he has been watching me for the past 4 weeks and he has noticed me worshipping God through singing. He has noticed my willingness to worship God. He told me that God told him to tell me that he is proud of me for overcoming trials in my life and for perservering through current ones. This guy (a really nice guy) doesn't really know me at all really. We see each other a lot, but thats about it. He didn't know anything of what I am going through currently, and for him to tell me that God told him to tell me that he is proud of me, that was totally from God. He told me that God told him to tell me that He wants me to stay with the Salvation Army. I was like wow..thats cool! When he was telling me all this stuff I was almost crying, because I have been feeling really sad and stuff.

And confirmation to that prophetic message... I am sure u all remember (well those who know me lol) when God spoke Jeremiah 29:11-14 6 times in a week? Well a different verse has shown up 5 times this month. James 1:2-3 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

This just totally made my day. I love it how God gives messages to people that we don't really know all that well to tell us. Its funny how God works :)

God rocks!

Imperfectness

2006-05-01T01:24:00.000-07:00

I was taking photos at church tonight of the pretty flowers outside. I don't know what they are but they are pretty. Anyways, I was looking for the perfect flower to take a picture of. I took many pictures of the flowers but none of them were the perfect shape, didn't have the perfect amount of peddles and some peddles were just out of place. But the flowers were still very pretty.

It got me thinking, how none of us are perfect. We don't have the perfect body, we don't have the perfect life, and our spiritual lives are certainly not perfect, yet God loves us still. God's love for us is unconditional. It doesn't matter how imperfect we are, he will always love us. Jesus is still drop dead gorgeous and we are still to die for (he he thanks Karyn for that little snippet in ur profile..heh) even if we are imperfect.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." *Romans 5:8*

"Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." *Jude 1:21*

God at work!

2006-05-01T01:11:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, the teens and leaders that went to RAW from New West held an open air at Moody Park. That was an awesome time! God is truly working on me! woot! I was not afraid of speaking and I wasn't afraid of showing my faith to people! Anyways, a gentleman named Will came up to the group and listened in. It was great. It took him a while to come over, but its all in God's time. Anyways, we prayed for him.

Today after the sunday morning service, a bunch of us went over to Moody Park. We had a ghetto blaster and stuff and were just singing and hanging out. Then Mike and Joanne Badior joined us and we had a great chat! It was nice of them to come out! Then I look over and there is Will walking down the sidewalk. I recognized him so I waved to him and he came over and everyone talked for a while. Then Will mentioned to us that his friend Julie, 34, has Brain Cancer. He was quite upset about this, he was crying, I felt really bad for the poor guy. He said he is going to loose it when she passes. She needs Jesus! So anyways, we prayed for Will and we prayed for Julie and he thanked us. Then he had to go, but it was so great how God is working in our lives. We have one open air and God's glory is already being shown! God is working through us to help Will. God is working through us to help all of New Westminster! woot!

God rocks!

God's Plan for Me

2006-04-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I came to a great conclusion about God's plan for my life!

I was chatting with a friend from Summerland and we were talking about God's plan for our lives. I was telling him how I don't know what God has planned for my life. A month ago Julian moved back to Summerland and I became very depressed because at that point I loved him as more than a friend, I wanted to date him (I have since then realized that it is not dating that i want.. its friendship that I want with him, and I am really happy about that because I don't want to screw up our friendship)

I was very depressed about him leaving. I had planned to move to Summerland, I was going to drop out of school if that was what God wanted me to do. I kept praying about it and praying about it and asking God what he wanted me to do. He told me to stay in New West. There is so much he wants me to do here. I was angry because I wanted to be in Summerland, I wanted to move there. God told me that he wants me to keep working with the youth that went with RAW.. like go on the missions with them. I was not thinking I was not making a difference being here.

I have realized that God wants me to stay in New West because he is helping me to grow! Ever since RAW I have been stepping out of my comfort zone and speaking in public. It all started when God told me to prophecy to Drew from RAW. I barely knew him and God told me to tell him something. So I told him (it turns out it was relevant to his life... woot!) I was very fearful before I told him because I didn't know how he was going to react to it and stuff. But I did it and ever since then I have been stepping out of my comfort zone. This past Saturday we did an open air at Moody Park. It was awesome! I had no fear of seeing people that I knew, I had no fear of what others would think of me. I praised God, I read scripture in public and had no fear or anything about it. My stomach usually hurts really bad before i speak in public and stuff... but it didn't hurt or anything.

God is helping me to step out of my comfort zone and rely on Him to get me places. He is helping me grow so when I do move I can survive out on my own. By stepping out of my comfort zone, I will get somewhere in life. I can work in the field I am going to work at and not be shy. I can't be shy in this field, I have to make conversation with people and I have to be positive. God is continuing to work through this stuff: Patience, Making conversation, being Positive etc, so I can live out on my own and survive!

God truly does know the plans he has for me! Woot!!!!! God is good!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." *Jeremiah 29:11-14*

God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. *Hebrews 11:40*

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." *Isaiah 30:21*

"Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him." *Deuteronomy 8:6*

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained." *Philippians 3:14-16*

Spiritual Gifts

2006-04-23T12:15:00.001-07:00

I was bored this morning, so I searched google.ca for a Spiritual Gifts test. I got this website called Online Spiritual Gifts Test Inventory. This is the basic spiritual gifts: Exhortation, Service, Mercy, Leadership, Teaching, Prophecy and Giving. There are 35 questions that you answer. When I did this test I got:

EXHORTATION (14): Romans 12:8 - to come along side of someone with words of encouragement, comfort, consolation, and counsel to help them be all God wants them to be (Greek Word: paraklesis - calling to one’s side)

SERVICE (15): Romans 12:7 - to identify undone tasks in God’s work, however menial, and use available resources to get the job done (Greek Word: diakonia - deacon, attendant ‘diako’=to run errands)

MERCY (15): Romans 12:8 - to be sensitive toward those who are suffering, whether physically, mentally, or emotionally, so as to feel genuine sympathy with their misery, speaking words of compassion but moreso caring for them with deeds of love to help alleviate their distress

I encourage you to do this test and comment here and let me know the top three u got (or the highest ones... these three were the only 2 digit numbers)

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. ~Romans 12:6-8

God's great love

2006-04-22T00:36:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about God's great unfailing love lately. He always is faithful. Why? Because he loves us unconditionally! No matter how much we screw up.... well here are some verses I was reading tonight...

Psalm 63:2-4
I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalm 86:12-14 (New International Version)

I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.
The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life— men without regard for you.

Psalm 89:1-3 (New International Version) I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.

I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

Psalm 91:13-15 (New International Version)

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

Psalm 108:3-5 (New International Version)

I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.

I am going to be going through the whole book of Psalms.
Please keep me accountable (those of you who see me regularly that is)

Blessings everyone!

MercyMe

2006-04-21T00:50:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone I just thought I would promote the new MercyMe album "Coming Up to Breathe" I love this band so much.. Here is the site where you can preview little clips of their songs. Good as usual I must say.

http://www.grassrootsmusic.com/artist/mercyme/mercyme10

:) 5 days til it comes out. I have it pre-ordered and I get a hat too :)

Silence

2006-04-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night Re:Fuge we learned about Silence..

This is a tough thing for me. Some questions that were asked were:
-Do you have a hard time being quiet? Yes
-What are the noises in your life? Music mostly
-Do you have the power to remove the noises? Yes, but I usually choose not to because I love music
-Do you have the power to control the noises? Yes
-Do you have the power to minimalize the noises? Yes
-Do you have time in your day to be silent with God? I don't make the time unfortunatly
-Is it possible that God speaks to you all the time? Yes, but its the fact that I don't listen sometimes
-When you are troubled with things who do you go to, God or others? Firstly, others and then God...it shouldnt be that way.
-What is the longest time you spent in silence? 5 minutes
-Are you afraid of being alone with God? I guess.... I just don't like silence.

Those were tough questions to answer. There were some verses that were spoken too:

Deuteronomy27:9-Then Moses and the priests, who are Levites, said to all Israel, "Be silent, O Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the LORD your God.

Psalm4:4-In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.

Habakkuk2:20-But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.

Matthew11:28-Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Psalm46:10-Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Have you spent 5 even 10 minutes in silence before God?

Idolatry is a scary thing! WOW

2006-04-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight at Re:fuge we were talking about Idolatry. Now I was like " ok whatever, I dont worship anything except for God" but then the definition of Idolatry came up: Anything that keeps us from thinking about God. I just looked the definition up in the dictionary and it says this:

i·dol·a·try ( P ) Pronunciation Key (-dl-tr)n. pl. i·dol·a·tries
Worship of idols.
Blind or excessive devotion to something.

I was like.. OUCH... The activity that we did was writing our idols on the clay pot.. pray about it and give it over to God and then SMASH IT with a hammer in a pillow case.. It was so relieving to do. Oh.. my idol that God showed me were the following: Julian, Money, and MY OWN WAY (what I want to happen and not caring what God wants to happen)

Before the preach Cory played the guitar and we worshipped God through music. I gave my all tonight because I was so broken all day today. I was just not having a good day, i was stressed and I was upset because of probably not being able to go to Summerland at the end of April.. So I just worshipped in faith. And what do y'know? I was given COMPLETE joy! Funny how that works..

When I was worshipping I gave my relationship with Julian over to God. I was in a nut shell thinking about Julian too much and God not enough. and I was wanting things to work out with Julian so badly that I was willing to anything. That is when I realized what I was doing. I was thinking about Julian more than God (which at that point I didnt know it was idolatry) So I gave that relationship over to God. If its his will that we are good friends, I will be fine with that (It will take time to move on.. but with God's help I can do it) If it is his will that we date and/or marry..than God will make that happen. But until then I need to not think about it. I have given it over to God, to let HIM do the working and the thinking.. not me...

I am so full of joy right now! Thank you God! I love feeling like this.

"You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." Exodus 20:3-4

Angry!

2006-04-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

What is going on?
Satan is working right now
He is working harder than ever
To keep us from God
That stupid jerk has NO POWER
NONE
He is NOT going to screw up my life
EVER
He is NOT going to ruin my friend’s lives
NEVER
He has NO power over me!
NONE!
I am not going to let him attack me anymore
The Lord is so much stronger than him
The Lord loves me
Satan just wants me to rot!
NEVER GONNA HAPPEN
You can’t steal my joy!
You can’t take it!
You can’t have my heart!
You can’t take my friends away from me!
You can’t steal their joy!
You need to leave this place!
BE GONE!

This poem is not that great.. its just my thoughts written down. I am so angry at Satan right now. He has put me in this depression AGAIN, he is ruining my friend's lives and I am no longer going to take it! I am angry at him!!!!!!!!!! I HATE him!!!!!!!!!

Verses from Prayer Circle on March 23rd

2006-03-28T23:10:00.000-08:00

Here are the verses from Thursday's prayer circle:

Isaiah 30:21--> If you go the wrong way- to the right or to the left- you will hear a voice behind you saying ' This is the right way. You should go this way'

Joshua 1:8-9--> Always remember what is written in the Book of Teachings. Study it day and night to be sure to obey everything that is written there. If you do this, you will be wise and successful in everything. Remember that I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don't be afraid because the Lord your God will be with you everywhere you go.

Matthew 6:34--> So don't worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Summerland blog # 3

2006-03-28T22:40:00.000-08:00

Saturday: We basically hung out at Julian's house for a while... I went up on the hill behind Julians house and was just pouring my heart out to God. It was awesome..when I came back down I found out that Kevin and Angel went to pick up Ben. So I got to spend some time with Julian and his brother. That was fun. Julian taught me how to play golf. That was awesome. Then Kevin, Angel and Ben came back and Ben joined in the golf. That was awesome. Then we went to Boston Pizza. That was a fun night. I got to chat with Sierra and Steph. They are cool people.

Sunday: Angel and I woke up early..the guys (Julian and Kevin) slept in.. and Angel and I went out on the trampouline and talked (we spent a lot of time together and we got to talk about a lot of stuff) Julian's dad suggested that we take the dogs for a walk. So Angel took Sam and I took Panda..and..well..they took US for a walk lol.. we walked and saw horses and lambs. That was cool. Then Angel and I got the eggs from the hen house and put them into the carton for Julian's dad... Then we came back and waited for Cody to pick us up for church. We get to church and we are welcomed. I felt quite at home there. The youth band was playing the worship music...that was awesome. I got to see someone I hadnt seen since RAW. Didnt talk to him until later that evening.. We sang songs that Angel and I knew...it was awesome. We came back from Church and woke the guys up..they still were not up. geez! Then we went for a hike up the hill.. awesome experience! We went to the top of the hill and saw over summerland. We came back down and we made dinner.. they had salmon and I had veggie kabobs. I was done eating (didnt eat much) and Julian's dad puts another on my plate.. lol... so i had to eat that one too. lol. Then we went to youth. THAT WAS AWESOME! I spoke! woo... Randy was talking about God speaking to us.. and he asked if any of us had God speak to us.. Julian spoke and I spoke.. Then we went to small groups and we talked more about it. We had to go upstairs so we took the elevator.. we all squished in there.. they fit 18 people in that small elevator.. lol The Summerland group is soooooo welcoming. I felt so at home there. Then after small group we went downstairs for cookies and juice. And I got to chat with Tyrone, Sierra, and Julian. I was talking to Sierra and I was saying how I hate that I cant start a conversation with people and that I really wanted to talk to Drew and I wish he would come over and talk to me and like 5 minutes later he comes over and we had a really nice conversation. That was awesome. Then we left.. I saw Drew outside and he gave me a high five. That guy is so cool! Then Sierra, Julian and I went to pick up Tyler and his friend to go to Timmy's. I was sitting in the back of the car and Julian was in the front and when Julian got out to get Tyler I jump in the front. He comes back and sits on me and shuts the door LOL.. Sierra was not going to drive like that tho lol.. too bad eh? Then we get to Tim Hortons and man that was a fun fun fun time! LOL... I cant remember the last time I laughed for THAT long. I laughed for the whole time we were there.. we got there around 930...left at 1045.. aha... almost an hour and a half of laughter. Everyone was laughing cuz i could not stop laughing. Julian wasnt helping any either.. he kept looking at me and saying "stop laughing" but he was smiling so i would laugh again.. lol... That was the highlight of my week. Then we went back to Julian's house... and thats where blog number 2 comes in.. i wont explain it here cuz it was already explained. lol. oh and Tyrone slept over

Monday: We left at 10.. :( We played around with the Koosh.. haha "you have just been kooshed" ha ha ha ha ha.. Then we went for a walk. It was getting around the time that Ben was coming to the house so kevin and angel went back to the house. Tyrone, Julian and I went up the hill to see another view. that was awesome. Tyrone gave me his hat (oh and Tyrone? What did I tell you.. my dad DID make a comment about me wearing the hat backwards LOL) ha ha.. then we all pile into the car (ben, kevin, angel, julian, tyrone and I...yes thats 6 people aha.. Julian lied on us the way to the school) we dropped ty, julian and ben off at the school and we were on our way.. we stopped at Summerland Sweets to get treats for my parents. Then we went to Vernon. We get to Clint's house and Ethan comes and opens the door. He was happy to see us....awwww... then Clint took us for a tour of Vernon... went to the Vernon College there.. dunno what its called.. and there is an AWESOME view of kal lake from the cafeteria..wow.. Then we went to the church that Clint works at.. we saw Mark Touzeau. We jammed with him. I played the bongos and Angel played drums and he played electric guitar. haha. it was awesome. Then Angel and I played Ping Pong. then Clint showed us the prayer room and then the Talking Donkey (or the Chatting Ass LOL) and we got a coffee..

Then we were on our way :( I was very upset... I really did NOT want to leave. I wanted to stay in Summerland. In fact I am ANGRY that I am home.

I just ask for some prayer.. I need direction from God. I have a few BIG life changing decisions that I need to make before I graduate college (3 years) so please pray that God will give me direction and to help me make those life changing decisions. This is a big decision that I am about to make and I need to have God's hand in it to make sure that it is what I am supposed to do..and make sure that this is where God wants me. and if it is God's will that I do what I want to do then I need prayer that he will provide the things I need in order for that to happen.

Thanks guys

Uber amounts of Blessings on you!!!!

Summerland blog # 2

2006-03-27T00:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight has definitly been very interesting. Julian, Tyrone, Sierra and I were lying on Julian's trampoline and Julian got up to get more sleeping bags and he came out and saw something very creepy. He said he saw a shadow of a man with a brown sleeping bag. THen he turns around and it wasnt there. He was very creeped out and he told us what happened and then I was freaked out. I went inside and told Ben and the next thing I know, he is outside doing a prayer walk. I was very scared. We both started praying. Very very weird spiritual stuff went on this week. God has been working through all of us and Satan does not like that so he is trying to ruin us. But my faith is rebuilt.

Summerland was freaking awesome. I am still here but we leave at 9am. That sucks really bad..but.. Oh well.. Ill hopefully get over it. I will blog about the rest of my trip when I get home.

Blessings...

Summerland Trip..blog # 1

2006-03-24T22:38:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, I am in Summerland, I am having a great time. Lets tell you the details so far:

Thursday.. we left bright and early (4am) and let me tell you...the trip up here was very very very interesting lol... we turned the wrong way in Merritt and ended up in the VILLAGE of Ashcroft. I didnt know that there were villages! We got quite the laugh out of that one lol. So we finally get to SUmmerland at around 10 and we basically just settle in... I played Ping Pong against Julian for a while..that was awesome. I love Ping Pong. Then we went Downtown Summerland... Ben had a dentist appointment so we went with him and then we met up with Julian while Ben was in the Dentist.. we walked around for a while.. just basically hung out.. it was quite fun. Then we got back to Ben's house and hung out there for a good while.. I got to see lambs.. awesome!!! We basically sat around. I like sitting around cuz we came here to relax and not think about stuff back at home. We went to the SUmmerland Sweets place too.. and then we went to a Train Bridge... I knew something was up with a couple people in our group..but i had no idea what was to come until later that evening..but i dont want to discuss it. Then at 7 we went over to Jeremy's house for Bible study. That was awesome. The people here are so incredibly accepting..they are so kind. These people are awesome! At the bible study we just basically talked about some things that God has been telling us.. and there were many verses that came up. But I will blog on those later.. *note to self.. blog that*

Friday (Today) we woke up at 10...had a shower and I basicaly stayed downstairs and read my bible for a while... I was having a bad morning...cuz ya.. something that happened the night before.. and then we went out.. we went and just drove around...we stopped at the youth centre..and ben, kevin and angel went to get the camera and Julian and I hung out and played Pool at the youth centre while they were gone. We played 2 games.. I won both :) it was fun. THen we came to Julians house and hung out again. lol.. we are doing lots of hanging out ... I love it! We went and made dinner..that was awesome. I love Julians family. They are awesome. Then the Bonfire happened and still is happening I think. I am definitly having a better day today.. sorta. Wellll thats all for now.. I will blog more later.

Chao!
Blessings..

Summerland

2006-03-23T03:16:00.000-08:00

Dear faithful readers,
I apologize for the lack of blogging. Things have been crazy here. First thing *twitches* its 3:15 AM and I just got up. I am leaving for Summerland in 45 minutes. SO I will be gone for 5 days. I will be back Monday evening/Tuesday morning, not sure when.

I promise that I will blog my RAW experience and my Summerland experience.

Pray for safety and protection please and thank you.

Blessings...

RAW

2006-03-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, I would just like to ask you all to pray for RAW this week. We leave tomorrow to go to RAW. We come home to sleep in the evenings and then go back in the morning for the morning programs and such.

I have heard that there are going to be things that are going to make me step out of my comfort zone. I am totally ready to do that. I just want to ask you to pray that I will not run on my own strength this weekend, cuz I am pretty tired from staying up last night for the all nighter. SO MUCH FUN. So I just pray that I get a great night sleep tonight and be ready to serve tomorrow!

I wont be blogging for a week due to RAW... So stay tuned :)

Blessings everyone!

Quote

2006-03-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

If we only desire a small piece of God in our lives, we will similarly have only that same measure of His peace in them.

Brian G. Jett

Religion vs Relationship

2006-03-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

I got this email devotional, and it really got me thinking. It was about Religion vs Relationship

Religion - "the belief in a God or group of gods to be worshiped."
Relationship - "the condition of being related; connection."

Are you a member of a religion or are you really involved in a relationship with Him? Are your beliefs just about something or truly in Someone? When we are talking about Jesus Christ, relationship with him is so much better than just religion. Demons know who Christ is, so I think that they had "religion", and they had a "relationship" with Satan i would imagine. When Satan got kicked out of Heaven, he took a bunch of the angel's with him because they worshipped Satan instead of God.

Some people of the world just settle for religion instead of a relationship. God wants a relationship with us!Ephesians 1:5 says, "He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will."

The devotional said that "Religion provides identity (who you are), security (what you’re worth) and community (who you’re with). But, so can alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, gangs...and so can materialism, intellectualism, workaholism, and peer pressure. There’s only one REAL option: to wake up from whatever lifeless religion we practice and trade it all for a living relationship with Jesus Christ!"

Be very careful, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

Don't just settle for religion. Have a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ. You wont regret it! It will be the BEST decision that you will EVER make. He will make you the HAPPIEST person in the world. You will go through trials, but you will get through them with the strength of Jesus Christ!

Bless you all!

154th post

2006-03-04T00:25:00.001-08:00

Sorry Stephen. i win again :) muahahahahahahahahahaha

God rules

2006-03-04T00:25:00.000-08:00

GOD RULES!!!!! anyone agree ?????

Job

2006-03-03T14:56:00.000-08:00

I have been reading Job lately, and I dont know about you guys, but I want to be like this guy. No I don't want to go through all those horrible trials he went through, but I want to be like him in the way he handled it. He didn't sin. He didn't accuse God of being wrong. "In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." Job 1:22

Its amazing to me how someone can go through so much and yet not sin against God.

sorry this is a short blog, but I just had to mention this..

Father, help me to be like Job. Help me to not sin against you when you put trials my way. For all those times where I have sinned against you when you put trials my way, I ask for your forgiveness and your mercy. Amen

Quotes

2006-03-02T12:54:00.000-08:00

Teach us, O Lord, the disciplines of patience, for to wait is often
harder than to work.

Peter Marshall

Cure yourself of the condition of bothering about how you look to other
people. Be concerned only. . .with the idea God has of you.

Miguel de Unamuno

Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate
context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite a virtuous from the standpoint of our friend
or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.

Reinhold Niebuhr

What you are as a single person, you will be as a married person, only
to a greater degree. Any negative character trait will be intensified
in a marriage relationship, because you will feel free to let your guard
down - - that person has committed himself to you and you no longer
have to worry about scaring him off.

Josh McDowell

No husband is so undying and everlasting a husband as Christ is; death
separates all other relations, but the soul's union with Christ is not
dissolved in the grave. Indeed, the day of a believer's death is his
marriage day, the day of his fullest enjoyment of Christ. No husband can
say to his wife, what Christ says to the believer, "I will never leave
you, nor forsake you"

John Flavel

It's time to stop being gripped by fear and to start gripping God.

Anonymous

Accepting

2006-02-22T11:45:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about this whole thing about accepting... I was filling out a survey that a friend actually wrote. It was very cool, it got me thinking.

There were many good questions, but one was 'What is your greatest weakness'. At first I joked and said "STARBUCKS" hehe, but when it got down to it, my weakness is myself. I let Satan get into my head saying that I am not good enough and that I need to lose weight to be happy and I need to be prettier. Satan has used my weaknesses about myself to rule my life, and I hate that. He has used the fact that I dont like my body to influence me to do drastic measures about that fact and I HATE it. Satan is a JERK!

I am still struggling to accept myself, and I think its a lifelong process. I need to be happy with what God gave me. I think Satan does this all the time, he uses what we dont like about ourselves and he torments us with it so bad to the point that we are willing to do drastic measures to be "perfect" according to the world's society. I don't want Satan to have that power over me any longer!

Father, help me to accept my body and accept who I am. It is really difficult for me to do, but by your strength I believe that I can be able to accept myself. I pray that you will give me the strength to not listen to Satan's crap. I speak to Satan, I tell you to GET OUT in the name of Jesus! Get out of my life because you are NOT welcome here! My body belongs to God and you no longer have ANY power over me! NONE! Thank you Father for your many blessings in my life and I thank you for all the work you have done in my life and helping me to get to where I am now. I thank you that you told me to go to RAW, its going to be an eye opening experience, but only because of your strength I am ready! Only by your strength will I be able to get through the experience. I pray your presence in my life daily! I pray that I can wake up and remember that you love me and remember that each day is a gift from you. You taught me that lesson many times since I fell down those stairs 18 years ago, you taught me that each day is a gift not to be pushed aside. Thank you Father! I love you. Amen

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." \
(Matthew 6:25-34 )

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20)