Tops of 2009

So I'm sitting here at 2:44am, on a Tuesday, unable to sleep and I start thinking about the things I've done this past year. Books I've read, movies I've watched, yadda yadda yadda. Well all that remembering and contemplating has led me to this...the tops of 2009!

Top 5 books I read...
5. Do Hard Things-Alex and Brett Harris
4. Coming Attractions-Robin Jones Gunn
3. The book of Hebrews in the Bible
2. Chasing Fireflies-Charles Martin
1. Crazy Love-Francis Chan

Top 5 movies I watched...
5. Horton Hears a Whoo
4. Hannah Montana (yeah, that's right)
3. Where the Wild Things Are
2. World Trade Center
1. The Last Sin Eater

Top 10 "moments"...
(This one was hard because there's been lots of amazing moments! These are not ordered in rank, just as they came to mind)
10. Recieveing a very specific vision from God about this generation of youth
9. Jonathan praying prophetically over me about being called to a generation
8. Family day at the Rosenke's with the ministry team, everything about it
7. Standing arm in arm with Julie singing Awesome God while watching fireworks
6. Singing He Has Done So Much for Me in the cabin at staff training after cabin devos
5. Dancing in the epic storm with Jenny, Karissa, Levi and Tim
4. That Thursday morning chapel at Inner City Camp
3. Standing arm in arm with Colette while praying over Debbie
2. Watching the ministry trip team preform "Everything" at The Rock
1. Prophecying over the bass player at youthedge

Top 5 worship songs...
5. For all You've Done
4. Mighty to Save
3. The Stand
2. I Give You Glory
1. He Has Done So Much for Me

Top 5 other songs
5. Beside You-Marianas
4. Fireflies-Owl City
3. You Belong with Me-Taylor Swift
2. Be Alive in Me-Abandon
1. I Will Go-Starfield

Top 6 funny moments...
(again not in order by rank)
6. Floating around in the middle of the lake for hours with Debbie, Kaylyn, Craig and Gary...then that boater came and circled us a few times!
5. Playing sardines in the edmonton church, squishing with all the guys behind that one table while Josh kept dropping the other one and making a racket!
4. Dressing up like fairies with Jenny, Rick and Frank
3. On the last night of teen camp, running to the bathroom and back like fools with my cabin and laughing up a storm until Shane yelled at us!
2. Pretty much the entire trip to Alberta and back with frank..."MOTH MAN!!"
1. Chugging the expired juice we were supposed to be dumping out with Janelle at the Edmonton foodbank then laughing and laughing after!

Top 5 places I went/events I attended
5. Nipawin with Debbie
4. Missions Fest
3. Jaylene's baptism
2. PraizFest
1. Youthedge

Some people (not an exhausted list) who have greatly influenced and/or impacted me in 2009...
Jenny Anna Danae
Jonathan Karissa
Brett Jaylene
Becky Aimee
Kaylyn Mary
Alvina Gary
Beatrice Debbie
Janelle Colette
Cory Rick
Frank Brian

5 things I learned about myself...
5. Unfortunatly my feelings are very easily hurt, but I usually bounce back pretty quick
4. I'm actually a pretty quiet person
3. I feel most loved when people make an effort and want to spend time with me
2. I strongly desire the gift of prophecy more and more
1. I can and will stand up for what I believe and know to be right and true when it's really important, even if no one else supports me

Some random, good memories...
-Camping with Becky on May long, everything about that camping trip was wonderful!
-Spending an entire Saturday with Jenny and Jonathan, the entire day was so fun!
-Canoeing back from the dairybar with Debbie and being so far behind everyone but not even caring
-laying on the trampoline with Debbie, Danae and Josh Ramshaw talking about life, love and shallowness
-Talking with Josh A in the Chinese church until 2am
-listening to a Chronicles of Narnia audiobook with Cory on the way to Regina
-Kellie's disasterous birthday cake
-getting to hold Erin just hours after she was born
-going to sleep at 10pm after D-camp was over and Debbie saying "Real old ladies we are"
-attempting to make bannock at teen camp, epic fail!
-When the girls thought there was a bee on my bed and Kaylyn jumped to my rescue at teen camp
-mini golfing after camp in the dark
-swimming with Jenny and Janelle at Meadow Lake
-driving back to the camp after the dairy bar walk with a van load of girls
-putting glowsticks in Exner Lake with Jenny and Levi
-playing rock band with Gary and Brett for hours then watching Muppets From Space
-two words...BOOT CR3W!
-my private communion down at camp of Good Friday
-everyone sleeping on the hard floor in one big room at The Rock with just some small dividers to seperate the guys and girls
-the rap I wrote in my dream, "I'ma white girl, but my heart is brown! With the Lord on my side I can't wear a frown..."

Ahhhh yes, 2009 was a good year <3

Teen Camp 09 slideshow

This video might not be interesting for everyone, but then again you never know. Anyway I just watched it and I cried. There are a few reasons why it made me cry and I don't really feel like sharing them at this time.

I love teen camp. I love it.

It is a tradition afterall.

Every year my community has a Carol Festival around this time.
It's a tradition.
We all gather in the Rec Centre, sing Christmas carols together and listen to brave people sing solos or duets or trios. The school bands always play.
(Except for this year.)
It's a tradition.
Every year I do something at the Carol Festival. Sometimes I sing with a couple other people, the past couple years it's just been me and my guitar.
And every year while I'm preforming my face turns bright red.
It's a tradition.

So that's the point!

You know the other day it hit me, what the birth of Jesus really was. It turns out I've had a slightly skewed idea of the awesomeness of it for a long time now. I've always read the story in Luke chapter 2 and had such thoughts as these, "Wow, a virgin birth. That's a miracle!" or "Imagine, the King of kings coming to earth as a baby and born in a barn nonetheless, amazing!" Now those things are all true and I'm not trying to say it's wrong to have those thoughts. The birth of Jesus was an amazing event but there's so much more to it then the birth!

Jesus' birth was the fulfullment of prophecy!

All through the Old Testament we see how God has promised that a Messiah would come for the people. "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth. Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong. A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city." [Numbers 24:17-19] "The days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness." [Jeremiah 23:5-6] "Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." [Isaiah 7:14] There's lots of verses I could bring up but the point is the people knew that a Messiah was coming, the prophets had told them it would happen. The people of Israel were waiting in great anticipation for the coming of their Messiah.

When Jesus was born the prophecy was fulfilled; the Messiah had finally come!

There's another prophecy though that hasn't come to pass yet. Jesus is coming again! "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." [John 14:1-3]

Am I waiting in great anticipation for the return of the Messiah?