Wordless Wednesday

One more sleep

To my dear friends, the Brown's, may you have safe travels and I will miss you guys. You have blessed not only me but our church family and many others throughout Calgary whether through work or school. Thanks for being a great example of what happens when you make the most of opportunities set before you.

Be blessed. I know I've been.

Dear Patroller Number 16

I would like to thank you for almost bringing me to tears today when I saw the wonderful blue ticket you left for me on my windshield. Actually, you should be thanking me that I am not writing this letter to you after I received it or you would've been hearing some choice words. However, since I found my surprise this afternoon I have had a chance to burn off some energy that would've been otherwise thrown in your direction.

Of course, I have to admit that I'm not sure who I'm more upset at, you or myself. You see, my luck with parking in the past year hasn't been top notch. What erks (?) me is that I did exactly what was told of me today. I parked my car, paid for my ticket, put it in my windshield and even came back just in time before it expired. But, of course, as I walked around to the front of my car there your letter sat. Soaking as it may be from the snow falling on it but still legible enough for me to read the violation I had committed:

'Failure to display valid receipt'

Arrrggghhh!!! Seriously?!

What makes it worse is that the time from when I purchased the ticket to when you walked over to my car was a sad 7 minutes. What? Do you just sit in the parking lot and hide until you know I'm officially out of the area before overcharging your ridiculous price!!?? Were you also hiding out waiting for my return to see my reaction too just for your own self-satisfaction?

Ugh!

You know, maybe if I made some more money and knew when my next paycheque would be I wouldn't be as miffed as I am. However, to know how hard I work for the $65 that you might consider 'chump change' frustrates me to no end. I admit that I made an error and can own up to that but $65!!!

With all that said, I hope you enjoyed your day today knowing that you have taken money from someone who made an innocent mistake. Sleep well, my friend. Karma is a kick in the pants! And please don't take any offence to this but I hope to never see you again.

Sincerely,
Your worst nightmare if ever our paths cross down a dark alley

0 - 22 in a flash

I've decided. After this past weekend I've decided that I really don't think I should have children. As my last post stated I spent this past weekend with the teens from our church. I feel like myself and the 3 other leaders birthed 22 teens in a matter of seconds. I went from being single in one moment to being responsible or being a somewhat caregiver to a bunch of hormone raging youth in the next.

We went to Pine Lake Camp and since there weren't too many of us we all stayed in the main building. We had a lot of fun on the weekend hanging out, singing, building igloos and creating memories (good and not so good). I had the opportunity to bond with some of the girls but overall get to know everyone on a different level.

At first I was a little hesitant to go because I was afraid of all the screaming and what the boys had in mind. It amazes me what they can come up with to do for fun. I guess it doesn't matter how secluded the environment is that you put them in, they will find a way to entertain themselves. I find it weird too that the boys will have a screaming contest....just for the heck of it. Weird but funny. There was one moment when I was sitting in the mess hall and one of the boys ran up to me and asked if I could watch him. What him do what? He said he was jumping off the balcony outside into a pile of snow. Eeek!! I'm so glad no one hurt themself!

Aside from the boys doing things they shouldn't be doing there was also the element of girls liking boys and boys checking out girls. In some ways I felt like I had to sleep with one eye open for fear of some of them sneaking off somewhere.

Oy! These are just some of the reasons why I don't think I should have children. I feel like I would be worried too much about what they are doing or aren't doing. I couldn't imagine being a parent because the anxiety and stress of it all would kill me. Of course, I'm saying this from the perspective of going from singledom to a teenage parent in lightspeed. You parents have at least 9 months to prepare for what is to come and spend the rest of your life adjusting to.

God bless you parents. The weekend was good and I'm glad for the memories.

Pre-Fire n Ice

This weekend I'm scheduled to go to the annual Teen Fire n Ice at Pine Lake Christian Camp. I've never been to this type of function so I'm not really sure what to expect. Well, I'm anticipating a bunch of screaming hyper-active teens who plan to stay up till all hours of the night while I might possibly be crying in a corner wishing I were sleeping (with one eye open of course).

Actually, this is my first year volunteering with the Ignite group and it's been better than I expected (no offence). I was expecting that I'd be quite annoyed with the craziness that happens but surprisingly (on my end) I have taken it with stride. Of course, there is the loud screaming and running around and insane personalities, that's a given but I'm more calm about it then originally thought.

If anything, I'm desiring to build relationships with these teens. There are some girls I've connected with already and it's been great. I just know that I'd like to be there for them if they need someone to talk to. If they don't want to talk with their parents or some other 'higher power' (ie. teachers, etc) in their life then I would hope that they could come to me.

Another thing which I find of great importance is that I hope these kids will continue their relationship with God and feel connected in our church once they move on from Ignite. I'm finding all too frequently that once they have graduated it's like they've been telaported (?)out of the church as well. Where have they gone?

Where have you gone young people? You are a part of our congregation. You matter. It may not seem like it but you do. We've probably let you down and that is our own mistake and I hope that we can do better for the next group of kids.

I hope that whoever reads this will take to heart these concerns that not only I have. May you be challenged to take that moment and encourage one of our young adults and make them feel welcome and a part of our church history.

The Invention of Lying

I watched the above-mentioned movie tonight starring Richard Garvis and Jennifer Garner. In a way it was sort of a corny movie but the curiosity got the best of me and I felt like sitting in front of the boob tube tonight. The movie was about a man named Mark (RG) who tells the world a bunch of 'lies' as to ease their minds of what to expect in the afterlife. I won't go into all the details of the movie but his original intent of his lies were to help his dying mother but when other people heard what he was saying to his mother they believed what he said to be true.

The love story intertwined in this movie is that he is in love with his best friend (JG) but she feels she can't love him based on his physical looks. She tells him that she can't love him because her genetic makeup would be far superior to his and it just isn't acceptable to societies standards. (The genuine honesty in the movie is quite funny and I couldn't imagine if we actually talked that way to each other. Quite harsh!)

The irony of the whole movie, from a christian perspective (well, mine anyway), is that what the movie was portraying as lies is actual truth and the truth, to societies standards, are actual lies. The lies he was saying was that there is a 'big man in the sky' and he will build a mansion for everyone (John 14:2). The truth they were believing was that they needed to be matched up with genetically gifted people to succeed in life and that the lead character was considered a loser because he was a short, fat man with a pug nose.

Seems our worldly perspective is distorted through our eyes.

What I also find interesting is that the other night I was reading 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.

Remember, dear brother and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no once can ever boast in the presence of God. (bold emphasis mine)

God chose this methodology so we would be clear that the power came from Him and not us. It also reminds me of the message in James 1 saying that we should be joyful in our suffering. To our human standards this doesn't make sense, just like it didn't make sense in the movie. However, what I have discovered from my own experience and in others lives is that when you are at your lowest point in life that is where you will find God (or the 'big man in the sky'). Of course, I think God is in our highest points too but I think we completely miss His presence in those moments. Some times it's pride or us just plain dwelling in our own self-righteousness that clouds His presence when we should be giving Him glory and praise in the good times. But it's in the not-so-good moments and when we feel alone that God is with us and we see Him more clearly.

Well, I feel like I'm going off on another tangent with the last part but it sort of ties in together.

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Post Breakforth

Well, after a weekend of singing and soaking in I think it is understandable if alot of people who attended Breakforth wanted to relax today.

I had a great time this past weekend and especially getting to know more about the people I traveled with. I didn't realize Chelsey was so funny. We definitely had our moments and I loved it when she'd 'pretend' she was having a contraction to sort of let people move out of the way for her to get through the crowd. She didn't do it often but I hear she was a conversation piece...haha. Personally I think she should've milked it for all it's worth but she was a trooper. No wonder she's a mother...they can do just about anything!

I think the best class or lecture I went to was with Frank Peretti. He's quite an animated speaker but his message was really good too. I also attended a class taught by Shannon Etheridge who is a talented speaker and writer. One of the other classes I went to was on being co-dependant but after listening a while I realize I don't see myself as that type a person. I've had some people say that I have that personality type but after listening to this speaker this weekend I definitely don't see myself in that category at all. Or, should I ask, if you do think that I drain you emotionally and feel the need to be validated through you, then let me know. I think I feel the need for socialization and I thrive on relationships with people but I definitely don't think I drain people emotionally.

As much as the weekend is an encouragement and uplifting I know that some can come back home and slide down after such a high. I don't think I was on a 'high' so much but more reflective. I'd like to do more, even if I have wanted to say no to things. But more in the sense of focusing on relationships that mean a lot to me. First is my relationship with God. I know I need to work on my prayer life and daily Bible reading. Anything after that is a by-product of the relationship I have with Him. I'd like to be more intentional as well.

I think this weekend has helped stir up some things that I've been doing, sins I've been committing and giving me a repentant heart. Thankfully we are covered by grace. Not that it makes it easier for me to sin knowing that I will be forgiven. If that's the case I am missing the point altogether. God is a forgiving God and I need to be more forgiving and loving. And some days that's just hard to do but ....when God works through me by His grace (1 Cor 15:10), I know extraordinary things can happen.