No Room.

You know what I've found myself thinking about often this Christmas season? It's not what you think but go ahead, take a guess...








The Inn keepers in Bethlehem that wonderful and profound night so many years ago.

I've found myself wondering if maybe after the census rush, maybe even years down the road once Jesus was a man, some of them realized who Jesus was and felt ridiculous for turning his parents away when they needed a place to sleep. Seriously! I mean here it turns out that the Messiah that people have been waiting for was born in their town and they turned Him away! Granted they didn't expect the Messiah to come in that manner and they didn't know just who they were leaving on the street, I realize this. I'm just saying, how did they feel after they figured it out?

It makes me think about the "whatever you do for the least of these you do for me" passage of scripture in a different light

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

I'm sure some of those Inn keepers, if they had known just who Mary was carrying in her womb, would have given their own rooms for Him to be born in. As it is now, I should make sure I'm being kind and helpful to people because when I'm not it's the same as turning Jesus away.

Not something to remember only during the Christmas season but for everyday of life.

oh, hello there!

What in the world happened to November??! One minute I'm seeing the beginnings of all the greasy staches for "Movember" next thing I know it's the 30th. This has never happened to me before...I've never blinked and had an entire month go by. And I thought that December was the busy month.

Ruuuu ooooh! :S

Here's some things that happened in the blur that was November:

I donated blood, always a good time. This was a particularly great experience because I had a couple nurses that were chatty and super nice. The one told me that I seemed to be very capable of anything. Whatever that meant.
A team from Alberta Bible College came and ran a youth night, I cooked supper for them as well. I've decided that I like cooking for groups of people.
I hosted a sweet 16 birthday party for one of my youth girls: a pinata filled with candy, freeze dance, musical chairs, Indian tacos. Boss.
I watched Drumbeats, twice.
I forgot how to drive on ice.
I put up my first ever "my own" Christmas tree! It was very exciting!
My dad had surgery, it all went well.
I discovered this amazing thing called 31 Bits you should seriously check it out. It's awesome! I'm trying to pull together a house party I think it's so awesome!
I developed an insatiable urge to go sliding down a grassy hill on a food tray.
I had a really good chat with Fresh IE

There's more. But that's enough!

And now comes December! Huzzah! I love the hustle and bustle that is the Christmas season!

Pick of the week

"Church structure can allow or disallow for the reavealing of gifts and talents of Christ's body...everyone has a spiritual gift, everyone has abilities, talents, experiences, and passions to share...it's time for churches to change the way they do church and allow the body to express itself..." (KK)

a confession and correction

Have you ever jumped on a band wagon because all of your friends had jumped on it and just this once you didn't want to stand back and watch as the wagon continued on without you? You know, all of your friends laughing and enjoying the booty of the band wagon while you stand your ground all alone.

I'm not typically a band wagon jumper but once in a while I just don't want to get left out.

That's how I felt with the new NEEDTOBREATH album...everyone was talking about it and raving about it and chair dancing along to it while they were driving down the highway and I felt left out. So I borrowed it. And I decided before I listened to it that I already loved it.

And I made it my pick of the week.

I am feeling sheepish.

Because after having listened to it a lot over the past couple weeks I'm really not so sure that it is my pick of the week, ever. There are good things about the album, musically it is brilliant! There is a lot of texture and different sounds that really work on this album. However, lyrically...I'm not really sure what they are trying to say, in any of the songs. I've listened to them over and over but I just feel...the lyrics are weak.

I'm sorry.

Pick of the Week:

Helloooooo double bloggin!

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2011/10/fridays-thank-you-notes-4/

10 things Saturday....eeer well close enough :)

10 things that made me laugh this week:

1. Dakota's "evil" plan..."First I'll eat all the cookies on the plate and then I'll replace them with fake cookies made of playdoh and then when you eat them I'll get MY REVENGE!!"
2. The Big Bang Theory
3. Playing "Just Dance" with Carlie and Caitie
4. A little girl doing her own hair, ponytails EVERYWHERE!!
5. Playing Minute To Win It games at youth
6. My dad, he's just funny
7. Ken's imitation of my singing at church
8. Modern Family
9. This text: "Hey buddie boop!"
10. Morgan, she's also just funny

Day three of the trip!

At the Goveners House we met Barry
A security guard who was merry!
He took pictures with us
And made not a fuss
Then at the "Ledge" we were fairies!



On a very hot day in the car
All our brains were turning to tar
Our poems were all lame
They won't bring us fame
On that very hot day in the car





At Big Muddy where cowboys did roam
We all felt so small and alone
'til along came a crowd
Who was very loud
At Big Muddy where the sun always shone






So we followed these "J Dubs" around
Though we knew not where they were bound
We say USA
And where outlaws did play
But at our tracts they surely did frown (oh well!)




Limerick is a small town in Sask
Where? You may jolly well ask
It's just past the Giant
I keep telling my client
To take pictures is a very big task

Pick of the Week

It's good. Check it out!

10 things Saturday

10 things that made me smile this week: (in no particular order)

1. Jumping in a huge pile of fallen leaves with Anna and Ben
2. Brian from work making his "You're teasing me and I love it" noise
3. Getting stopped on the road by one of my dads friends who thought I was him because I was driving his truck
4. Going for burgers with Glenda and Mic.
5. roast potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots
6. Becky's dream about me wanting to wear bright green and yellow eyeshadow for my wedding
7. Kaylyn's fireworks fest story
8. this text: "stop boinking my eyesssss"
9. The thought of starting youth next week!!
10. Trenace and Jordan

Day 2 of the trip

Onto the next day of our Wonders of Saskatchewan trip...





From there we went on to MJ
And things there were going ok
We saw a moose that was big
And owls that "dig"
On Donya's 23rd birthday

And underground we did go
To see the Al Capone show
And Gus made us laugh
As did all of the staff
I do think everyone should go!





In Regina we ate lots of food
It put us in a very good mood
In the front we're all smushed
And then Donya blushed
Then we spent that night in the hood.

time travelling by facebook

A year ago today I set my facebook status as follows...

"Can't see the light yet in this ever darkening valley she's walking through but ...knows it's there, and that He'll get me there. onward and upward!"

I remember so clearly how lost I was this time last year. God is so good! He's done some amazing things in the year since then. It was cool to be reminded.

The Wonders of Saskatchewan, Day one!

Ok so a "few days" turned into a bit longer, my apologies. However, here we are now! This was the first day of our trip...


We started off in Debbie's parent's kitchen with a map and a penny. We thought maybe we would drop a penny on the map and make that our destination. Not so much. After a bit of discussion we sort of figured out where we wanted to and what we wanted to see. So off to the Dairy Bar we went for slush and ice cream
and then we headed to North Battleford. We didn't leave until almost 7ish so we planned to spend the night at Debbie's brother's place and then really started our trip the next day.

In the morning we really started out trip...

*I was reading from "The Book of Nonsense" inspiring us to write limericks about our trip, enjoy*

There was a lady of Loon Lake

Who was one day chasing a snake

She wanted to ring the bell

And she did it quite well

til the Krydorians chased her away

So we went next to Ft. Carlton

But there was no way for us to get in

So we were sad

And some were mad

And said, "I'm never going to Saskatchewan again!"

We crossed the St. Louie river

At first it did make us quiver

Once we were aboard

We opened the door

and waited impatiently for dinner.

At Batoche we had our own tour guide

and went on a golf cart ride!

There was a guy there

Who gave us a scare

Cuz he came out of everywhere!

And what's more, we all had some fun

As we saw where Riel shot a gun

We saw houses and wells

And rang old door bells

and of weird art we sure saw a tonne.

At Watrous we drove down main street

a church cleaning lady there we did meet

She led us inside

Where we did abide

and saw stained glass that was really neat...(and old!)

So we went down to Manitou Park

So we could go swim in the dark

In salt waters we float

Though we're not in a boat

In that beautiful Manitou Park

We spelt in a tent not for three

And we all slept very cozy

We lay side by side

It was stuffy inside

So in the car slept Joni-Lee!

the great escape

Well I successfully ran away from life for a few days. It was fantastic! I went on a whirlwind trip with my friends Debbie and Donya. We called our trip, "The 7 wonders of Saskatchewan tour" only to discover that Saskatchewan is a vast province...thus we stuck to the South East part. We saw some amazing things, met hilarious people and had great adventures along the way! We put a lot of miles on Debbie's granny car! It really was wonderful, you can expect a short series of blogs dedicated to the trip over the next few days.

You know what else though? When you run away from life, everything you were running from is still there when you get back. Waiting to be dealt with.

Today is just one of those days. You know the ones...where you just want to curl up in an unknown location and hide from life for a a while? Yep that's what today is. I don't even have the mind to create a title or a label for this post. I just want a hiding spot, some good music and a large glass of chocolate milk.

SBBC 2011

What a summer, what a summer! I went into the 2011 camp season expecting God to do amazing things and let me tell you He did not disappoint me! I guess what I'll do is give a week by week rundown here...

Staff training:
I find staff training to be such a blessed time. I mean for me the people of SBBC are my family, so staff training is like a family reunion for me in a lot of ways. I get to see the people that I don't have opportunity to see very much and we spend the week together worshipping, praying, learning and having lots of fun as we prepare for the summer!
It never fails to be a week of growing closer to the people I love. This year we did most of the traditional things...having a float in the parade, going to the July 1st fireworks, setting up the tent, having a beach afternoon, spending time together in cabin devotions, enjoying campfire...it was all really good! Our theme verse at camp this summer was "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." [Zephaniah 3:17]








Kids One:

I was the program director for this week which means: I was in charge of keeping the schedule, making sure everyone was where they needed to be when they needed to be there; I dealt with an discipline issues that went beyond what the cabin leaders could deal with; I was the "front man" most of the time...it's a position I enjoy and this year was amazing!

Our first week staff were wonderful! We has such a good week. Every time I turned around I could see God answering prayer and taking care of us in ways we didn't even ask for! Not only did we have amazing staff but the campers were pretty spectacular as well! They all participated in what was planned for them, they were good sports about it all and they really listened during chapel times. I was so blessed during this week by the staff and the campers that I felt like my heart was bursting most of the time.

Kids Two:
During this week I was scheduled to be camp nurse but due to an injury I wound up stepping in for our summer director for a week...it was a challenge. Mostly because I didn't really know what was expected of me as a summer director. However, I did have an exceptionally fun week! :) Our speakers during this week were 2 young guys with CEF who I wound up being trailer neighbours with. Let's just say they were fun to prank!
I also had the opportunity to work with my 2 girls that I've been spending a lot of time with(Kellie and Kaylynn), it was a really good week for the 3 of us to get to know each other in new ways and I saw them both just grow so much in their faith walk! God is so good! They spend two weeks working at camp in the kitchen this summer and I was just so encouraged by them.

I also celebrated my 27th birthday during this week and let me tell you, I have an incredible group of friends who love me so well! I was blessed with an evening of mini golfing, birthday cake and a surprise kidnapping that ended with fireworks! Plus I got the mini golf guys phone number...go figure! It was an excellent birthday celebration!


Jr Teen:
My first week as head cook and it was quite the adventure! The week before we had experienced a small power outage, about half an hour long, and as I watched the ladies in the kitchen I prayed, "Lord, please don't let the power go out on me during my week of cooking!" Well. Monday night brought with it a crazy storm! The winds were violent, the rain was relentless and the lightning was breathtaking! And one more thing, the power? She was out. We got everyone gathered into the chapel where we prayed and sang for the hour and a half until the storm subsided. Then everyone went back to their cabins and to bed. In the morning we saw the reult of the storm: our tent was down, we had a few trees around the property down and there was debris everywhere. The favor of God was on us that night because things really could have been a lot worse. As for me I was without power...for 44 hours! The power didn't come on again until Wednesday evening! However, Our summer director was spectacular and got some generators borrowed so that we could have 3 fridges and 1 freezer running as well as the water! Most of the time I even forgot that the power was out! I only took 2 pictures during this entire week and none of them have anything to do with the kitchen!
I wish I had a picture of the kitchen staff to show you because they truly were amazing, they kept me grounded when I started to stress!

Teen Camp:
Not gonna lie, my favorite week of the summer! I was finally a cabin leader during this week, which I always look forward to! We had an especially small teen camp this summer, only 20 campers and 11 staff members.
We had a great time though! On Tuesday we went on a 3 hour (one way) canoe trip which included a portage, chapel on top of a hill and a camp out lunch. On the way back to camp we encountered another storm which had us paddeling as fast as we could for any bit of land we were near! After waiting underneath our canoes for the storm to pass we continued on our way, it was a bonding time :)
I had a bit of a difficult time this year during teen camp. I had 2 girls in my cabin who I love dearly but they just did not want to be there this year. One of them actually wound up leaving camp on the Monday after supper which was a messy, emotional ordeal and the other stuck it out until Thursday night but she went home as well. I spent a lot of time fighting the lie that I'm a failure and I had let them down. God dealt with me though and reminded me that I just need to be obedient, which I think I was in both situations. Also during this week a lady on the reserve passed away and I was the one who had to tell a couple of her grandchildren that were at camp. That was tough but God's hand was on me. We went to the funeral together on Thursday and it was good for all of us to be there together. Other than those things it was a great week! The teens were ready to hear what our speaker had to share and they were full of awesome questions! I could so clearly see God working in them.

Yes indeed, it was a great summer! Thanks so much for those of you who were praying for us! And now to end my update here are some hilarious quotes from the summer...

"If you drink 100 pepsi's in your life you won't be able to have kids. But that doesn't matter for guys because we don't want to have kids anyway." Hunter, 10 year old boy
"I'm freeeezing! Sunshine...HEEEELP!" Morgan, 10 year old girl
"Joni is this garbage?" Craig Re: a corncob
Brooke: "You're breaking little girls hearts!"
Frank: "It's what I do."
"...and Lord I pray that we all die peaceful deaths..." Kara,13 year old girl
"Dear Lord please be with the pancakes as they go to their death, give them a sense of peace." Frank

back in business

And I'm back after an amazing summer of camp! Oh man, I want to tell you all about it but I'm waiting until I can load my pictures onto a computer and then blog with visuals! Until then here's a song and music video I adore, it's been known to make me cry at times. Enjoy!

camp days

At my Bible school they had something called camp days and it was my very favorite days of the school year because we could sing camp songs in chapel and all these camp directors were there trying to recruit us to their camp, which means they would give us free stuff to try and lure us and we would play games and my camp came which means some of my friends came and it was just lots and lots of fun!

But anyway, that's not what this is about. Starting tomorrow I am going to Bible camp for 4 weeks to work. I wasn't really very excited about it but now I'm starting to be! I love camp and I love my camp family, they are stellar!

Recently I've been blown away by the reality of Bible camp. For an entire week kids come and we are allowed to tell them about Jesus, without hiding the fact that we are doing it. Do you know what an awesome privilege that is? Not every country on this earth has that right. It amazes me. I really don't want to take that fact for granted this year, I want to take every opportunity I am given.

So I'm out for a while, have a nice July blog world!

Pick of the week...

Have you ever asked yourself "How can I be a good husband?" or "What makes a good wife?" Well then this video is for you! This boy is on his way to being a good husband someday, a long way down the road of life.

Neighbour alert

Do you remember my neighbour Henry? Well he's technically not my neighbour anymore but he is my parents neighbour and I still see him most days.

Anyway, I'm pretty startled because a few days ago Henry had a heart attack and nobody knew for 2 days! Isn't that absolutely horrible. Poor Henry was laying on the floor in his house for 2 days before anybody found him. I can't even imagine how terrifying that must have been. Number one, he would have been in great amounts of pain. Number two, all he was able to do was lie there and think about death. Number three, not being able to help himself or summon help would have been very frustrating for Henry.

I feel terrible.

You just never know.

He should be home in the next couple of days, sportin a brand new pace maker. I sure hope he also gets one of those alert buttons, although knowing him he probably won't wear it. I'm going to become better at checking up on my neighbours.

"Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down, until tomorrow the whole world is my home"

I am such a hobo.

I mean not really in the literal sense where I don't have a means of livelihood and I ride the train to wherever it may take me. Or in the sense where everything I own is tied up in a bandanna that I carry on a stick while I wander with my faithful, yet scruffy looking, canine companion. And not even in the sense where I don't technically have a place to live but I have a lot of cool stuff that pickers come and pay me cash for. No. I do, however, mean in the sense where I don't have a permanent home.

It's true, I'm a 26 year old without a home to call her own. Sad isn't it. Not really though, I don't worry about that kinda stuff mostly. You see back in January I started house sitting for this couple that was on vacation...when they got home they asked if I could stay at his mothers house which had recently been vacated. I've been staying there ever since. Living out of Tupperware tubs and my suitcase for the most part.

The thing of it is though they put a "For Sale" sign up outside the house a couple days ago so now I need to move on soon. Thankfully my dad offered me his 1976 Fleury.

*Now I just spent 10 minutes trying to find a picture of a Fleury online so you know what I'm talking about. It was an impossible task though. Basically it's a tiny little motor home that reminds me of an ice cream truck from the 1960's. Even though it actually looks nothing like an ice cream truck from the 1960's. I'm sure you have a perfect picture of what I'm talking about now in your head.*

And since I'm going to be working at camp for all of July I've been allowed to park my new home down there already and I can stay for all of June if I need to! Whoopie! I'm not sure what I'll do in August...or September...or after that once Winter hits. Maybe, just maybe, I should buy a house. Or at least rent one.

Or I could do what I did before January and switch between living in my parents backyard in my tent or in their spider infested basement and taking house sitting jobs whenever they arise. We'll see. That's hobo style.

Weird things

Do you ever stop to think about simple things and start to realize how strange they actually are? I do, all the time. Take for example yesterday, I went for a canoe ride in the evening to enjoy the silence and the view. I was slowly paddling through the reeds and watching the bottom of the lake pass me by. Then I started thinking about fish, about how they just live in the water all the time. When we are out canoeing or boating or water skiing or swimming there the fish are, just living their fish lives in the water. I thought that was weird.

Or sometimes at night when I'm getting ready for bed I start to think about the fact that every night for 6-8 hours (usually never 8, sometimes much less than 6) I lie down in my bed, close my eyes and sleep, unaware of what's going on in life around me. However I'm not the only one doing this, the majority of people in my time zone are doing the same thing and yet there's never, ever a time when we are all asleep. Weird.

Or the word weird. It's a weird word, if you say it enough times it's gets even weirder. Plus it starts to look weird once you've typed it a number of times and also, it defies the law of "I before E except after C", silly English.

Pick of the week...

I'm not a mom, but I have a mom and I hope to one day be a mom and also this mothers day I got a flower at church. Probably because I spend a lot of time with the kids in this community, feeding them and teaching them and planning fun activities for them...it's a good time.

So here's my pick of the week, enjoy!

Is that me I see?

This morning I woke up exhausted, which is never a good thing, and I stumbled out of my bed and towards the bathroom. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror which stopped me cold. There was only one word for the way I looked.

Haggard.

Seriously, I never use that word but it was the first one that came to mind as I stared back at myself. I took a picture so you all could see what I mean...







Baha jaaaykaaay! I really did take a picture though. I'm not sharing because I look awful. I have bags under my eyes and stringy hair and stressed out skin. Obviously it's time for a vacation, I'm thinking a nice cruise to somewhere warm...

May the 4th be with you

I couldn't help myself about the cheesy May 4th/Starwars joke.

You know when everything seems to happen at once and you're right in the middle of it all? So you're constantly running from one place to another with all sorts of To Do lists running through your brain and all sorts of...stuff to remember? That has been the month of May this far for me. And we're only 4 days in! I keep adding things to my calendar...yikes!

And in the midst of all these things going on I keep thinking, "Oh! I should blog about that! That's hilarious, I need to write about it on the blog!" But then I don't and the event loses it's luster and I fail to have the words I wanted to describe it. I think I need to carry around a notebook or something to jot down my bloggy ideas as they happen.

Anyway, here is my pick of the week.

http://wedinator.icanhascheezburger.com/

Words to a Friend

Quoted from the epilogue section of Dr. Dan B. Allender's book, "The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse" (parentheses are mine)



Words to a Friend



You are the friend of someone who has been abused, and you are untrained, inexperienced, and scared. If I am accurate so far, then you have seriously thought about backing out of the relationship with your abused friend. Not that you are going to treat her (or him) like a leper or avoid all contact, but the issue of abuse, the current struggles and fears, are off-limits.

My counsel to you is simple: Don't back off from the frightening terrain of a wounded heart. You may say the wrong things and even cause more harm, but the worst harm is to turn your back. Accept your limitations, but also acknowledge the fact that you are on the front lines of the battle. You may not like to hear it but the fact is, you are a foot soilder, an infantryman who is often the first to take the fire of the enemy.

As a therapist, I see your friend once, or maybe twice a week. You see her (or him) everyday. I deal with significant issues in her (or his) soul, but you talk about the same issues, and even more. I may be necessary to the process, but you are even more so. Let me say it again: You are very important as a friend who will pray, talk, laugh, cry, read, embrace, shout, bake cookies, drive to little league, and live life in intimate proximity. Don't allow your inexperience or your own personal past to keep you from loving well.



Dr. Allender, Dan B., The Wounded Heart: Hope for Adult Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse, (Colorado Springs, Colorado: NAVPRESS, 1995), 260.

"You're the colour of my world"

This morning I was woken up at about 2:30am. However, it was for a good reason. I'm glad the person woke me up instead of letting me sleep in my oblivion. Anyway, since I was awake when the sun was rising I figured I would take advantage of the situation, hop into my car and find a spectacular place to watch the morning burst into colour!

Let's take a little detour here. This week I bought a new CD, I had never listened to it before and didn't know anything about it but it was $9.99 so really, how can you go wrong. It's called "experiment" and it's by Rend Collective. Which is basically a bunch of different people all getting together, calling themselves a family instead of a band, worshiping God in a house and recording it, if I understand the fine print right. It's pretty spectacular I would say. However, I hadn't really connected with the album yet if you know what I mean. You can enjoy an album but something deeper takes place when you really connect with it.

Return to my car at 5:45am, the sun was just starting to make an appearance, causing the horizon to turn hues of orange, red and dusty rose. I was watching it and marveling at the Creator of colours and sunshine and morning and beauty when I became aware of the words playing in the background. "I exalt You, I exalt You, I exalt You and enjoy You. I exalt You, I exalt You, I exalt You You're the colour of my world!" It was in that instant that I made a connection with my new album.



Ok I just watched that video for the first time and it made me fall in love with this group even more!

Oh one last thing, if you read this could you be so kind as to let me know you were able to? Apparently blogspot has been failing to publish new posts recently or something? Thanks ever so much!

In the event of...

There was nothing I could do, no time to react. It all happened so fast that I couldn't even think through one of those split second logical reactions that everyone talks about after they've been in a harrowing experience. My car slammed into the moose directly and all I heard was the shattering of glass, the squeal of my breaks and the breathtaking thud of a 2 ton mammal landing on the hood of my Toyota. Then, silence. I soon became aware of the sound of my breathing, heavy and ragged. Then the sound of my heart beating faster then normal. I looked at my immediate surroundings without the aid of moving my neck; you never move your neck in the seconds after being in a collision. I saw glass, I saw brown fur, I saw hooves, I saw a moose that was not breathing and then I saw the blood. I glanced down and my head began to swim...there it was, the leg of a moose penetrating my abdomen. I concentrated all my efforts on remaining completely still. "Please God, let the moose be dead. Please let it not move!" There was blood, yes, but it wasn't moving out of the wound. Somehow the foreign object perforating my body was also controlling the bleeding and probably dancing a delicate balance between snuffing out my life and saving it. Keeping the wounded area still was of the utmost importance. There was no time to check myself over for other injuries (I wasn't feeling any pain elsewhere as it was) this problem, the one staring me in the face, was the one that needed to be dealt with. Now. I reached for my phone, which somehow was still on my passenger seat and dialed 911 with shaky hands. "911, what's your emergency?" Deep breath. "Hello, my name is Joni and I've been in a one car accident on highway 26. I've received a puncture wound in the upper right quadrant of my abdomen, the foreign object is still in the wound. An ambulance would be good." After I gave details and was assured the EMT's were En route I reached over the offending moose appendage to take my pulse. Sporadic, but strong. I took great efforts to steady my breathing as I heard the faint sounds of sirens in the distance...

Isn't it amazing what you can imagine as you're driving home on a dark road at midnight?

In the spirit of Spring...

You know how in the spring you just want to change things around? Like maybe you decide to move the couch to a different spot in the living room...or you buy new bedding...or you paint the bathroom a different colour? Well I'm in that mood but I've taken it to a smaller venue. Say hello to my blogs new look!

is it for real spring?

Man, I seriously miss blogging! It helps clear my head. I need to get a computer, but fast! Anyway, I can't stop listening to the song that everyone is talking about. You know the one, Friday by Rebecca Black. I'm not sure why I can't stop listening to it, to be quite honest it's not that great. No offense Miss Rebecca, I'm kind of a tough critic when it comes to lyrics. The fact still remains that I can't stop listening to it so I guess you win anyway! In other news, I'm going to see Steven Curtis Chapman in Concert tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited! I am a fan of SCC for sure. His album, "Live Out Loud" was the first Christian CD I ever bought for myself and I listened to it all. the. time. His latest album "Beauty Will Rise" is breathtaking. I appreciate the ministry SCC has and I'm super excited to see him live! Also, spring is here! I love it! I feel like it's been winter fooooorever! I'm done with it, it was cute for a while but now it's time for other seasons to get a turn. I can't wait to take some of my favorite children puddle jumping. There's nothing quite like getting covered in cold, dirty water while wearing rubber boots! Til next time. Yeah, I've got nothing, I was going to put a funny video here but then changed my mind. Ciao for now!

spaces of time inbetween

I've done quite a bit of things since I last blogged

• I turned the age of 70 on wii sports
• I got minimal amounts of sleep at a weekend youth retreat
• I broke a boys heart (which still is unbelievable to me)
• I moved into a new house, kind of
• I started to restore a couple of friendships that I've missed terribly
• I decided not to go to monster trucks and regretted the decision
• I made banana bread
• I locked myself out of my house and car thus needing to stand outside in -12 for 1.5 hours waiting for CAA to come unlock my car, I was very thankful it wasn't -40
• I spent a few days with a dear, dear friend of mine
• I started playing piano
• I decided that I am going to buy a ukulele
• I watched To Save A Life...3 times
• I donated blood
• I've gone skating a few times, and every time my feet hurt something fierce
• I ate moose heart
• I made bush tea in mass quantities
• I realized that my hair is getting really long
• I had a conversation with a man who can't speak
• I got a 4:30am phone call
• I listened to a beautiful rendition of O Come, O Come Emmanuel
• I made soup for my church family
• I went bowling twice and decided it's my new favorite
• I got to see my friends baby move in her belly and feel it as well

There's more that happened I'm sure, that's what stands out at the moment. If you have a moment check out Zephaniah 3:17...read it in the NIV if you can. It's beautiful.

and we're back!

I have not been blogging as of late, because my computer died. So I've been using my phone to do all my e-mailing and facebooking...but I refuse to use my phone to blog. So anyway, I'm borrowing a computer so I can bring you...

Pick of the week!

Now, I know Christmas is over and many people out there get all crazy when others try to do anything Christmasy after the holiday is over but I don't really care. because this video is my pick of the week. I know it's cheesy and very out of context but I still like it.

Also, one last thing. For Christmas this year I got a calligraphy set!! I'm so very excited and I can't wait to start learning this art form!