Please read this entire blog entry before you react drastically...

So last night I had to sleep in my car. I'm not really sure why, the details on that are fuzzy. I think I was parked in Anna's yard though...anyway it seemed to be an ok sleep. Some tossing, some turning, some strange sensations that didn't make sense at the time. In the morning when I apparently woke up I saw that Craig was walking into my uncles house and I thought to myself, "Craig?! What is he doing here and how does he know my uncle?" So I unwrapped myself from my blanket, started my car and drove over. I let myself in of course, although I don't actually remember opening the door...then I went and sat down at the kitchen table with everyone. My uncle was talking about a man wanted by the local police. They knew exactly who he was too they just couldn't seem to find him anywhere. They were spending a lot of time and effort looking for this man because he was doing something creepy and illegal. According to what my uncle was saying this man had spent that entire night breaking into peoples houses and painting their bellies red. I know, strange isn't it? My uncle said, "The paintbrush just tickles so it doesn't actually wake you up." As everyone else continued to talk I was thinking to myself, "What? And I was sleeping in a car last night? If this guy can break into a house without anyone waking up could he have got into my car?" Suddenly I remember feeling someone brush my hair from my face as I slept. Oh no! Did I too have a red stomach now? I wanted to check...at this point I became aware that I was in my pajamas...but I couldn't bring myself to do it in front of my family and Craig, who I still didn't understand why he was there. I could almost feel the red paint, now dry and stretching, on my skin. I didn't want it to be true!

That's when I woke up in my bed covered in goose bumps.

And that is why I was awake and baking cookies at 6:30am this morning.

Christ in you, the hope of glory

A couple of weekends ago I took some youth down to Youthedge. It's an awesome youth retreat that Millar College of the Bible hosts each year. Now I've been to lots and lots of youthedges but this was the best one EVER!!!!

Seriously.

Let me tell you all about it! First off the speaker and worship leader worked together during the entire weekend to really bring us into a place of worship. It was amazing but not only that, both of them hung out with the youth during the weekend. That was very encouraging to see. But even more amazing then that was the youth that were there this year. Those teenagers were so ready to hear what the speaker had to say and so ready to experience worship. It brought tears to my eyes more then once to see those kids making public declarations and commitments to the Lord. On Saturday night I was sitting there in the gym, surrounded by hundreds of people, most of them 18 and younger and I saw something amazing. It wasn't something I saw with my eyes but something that God showed me in my spirit. I saw that this generation of teenagers right now isn't going to grow up to love the Lord whole heartedly, they aren't going to grow up to serve Him with their entire being, they aren't going to grow up to do outrageous things for the Kingdom of God. They are going to do it right now. Right now! This wasn't just a fleeting thought I had, I know that this came from God. This generation of teenagers, who are believers, are going to rise above the low expectations put on them by society and do amazing things. It's so exciting!!! It was such an awesome experience to be there and to see that and to know that God is bringing some exciting things on the horizon.

Also something that made youthedge so good this year was how many alumni were present! This year more then any other years alumni brought youth. I was so blessed and so encouraged to be able to spend time with friends, some that I have not seen in a really long time. God is good and I was so thankful for that!

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity --1 Timothy 4:12

Beauty makes me cry...

and this is beautiful.



I hope it touched you as you watched. Thanks to my friend Jonathan for bringing it to my attention.

Brad, the frustrated.

Last night at 9:30 my phone rang and like I always do I looked at caller id before I answered it. Because the reality is I can't live without caller id, I like to know who is on the other side of the phone before I say, "Hello?". It showed up as, "Unknown caller" I paused but then I decided to answer it anyway because some of my friends block their cell numbers. It was a telemarketer, or close enough anyway. The voice on the other side of the phone was a pleasant young man named Brad who wanted me to take a survey about the shows I watch on television. But it wasn't a phone survey, oh no, they wanted my mailing information so I could check off little boxes of which shows I watched at what time during the day.

He sounded like a nice enough guy but I didn't want to give him my address. So I kindly told him no but he insisted that it would be a really good idea for me to take this television survey. So I, kindly, insisted that I'm not really a survey taker and even if they did send me the papers I would never fill them out, so why waste a stamp? Then Brad did something I've never heard a telemarketer do. He held the phone a small distance away from his mouth and made a frusterated grunting noise! I found this funny so I laughed and told him I was very sorry and I hoped he had a good night, even though he was probably being rejected many times over. He laughed too and said, "Goodbye, thanks for listening!"

It was a nice conversation, I like Brad.

With greatful hearts, we say thank you...

Psalm 103:1-5
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

I have a whole lot to be thankful for, God definitely deserves to be praised! God has blessed me with amazing friends, who feel like family. With parents who have been patient with me as I find God's place for me in my time on earth. God has set me free from many worldly desires that used to claw at my mind, heart and soul. God has healed me from sickness many times this past year. God made a way for me, a fallen person, to be reconciled with Him; to ensure my eternal state would be with Him! I am blessed, and I am thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Gathered Family

We all know what's it's like to have a family. Some of us come from really amazing families where the love is spread around and the good times never end. Some of us come from families where...it's a bit awkward. And unfortunatly some families don't know how to be a family at all.

Then there are our gathered family. What's a gathered family? It's the people in your life that you have no blood relationship to but they feel like your family nonetheless. You make them your family. I've got a very large gathered family, and I love them to pieces!

I'm not super close to my real family, it's always been a little bit awkward for me to fit in with them. I love them, but it's sometimes hard to be a part of them. It's something that I'm working on. That's why I started "gathering" family members a few years ago. It was more a fact that I realized I was closer to these people then my blood relatives. It's not something that I've verbalized to these people in my life but I hope I show it to them through my words and actions. In my gathered family I've got brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, moms, dads, crazy uncles, cousins, a grandpa, a couple grans, I've even got a son and some daughters!

SBBC has played a big part in the gathering of these family members, many of my gathered family are in my life because of the camp. In fact I spent this past weekend with a bunch of them! On Saturday we had our staff appreciation banquet followed with a camp wind-up on Sunday afternoon. Hence my "busy" blog just before this one. It was a great weekend! After the appreciation banquet a group of us (many of them who I consider to be part of my gathered family) stayed together and played 4 on a couch, then we watch old camp movies (home videos?!) and I was so blessed by our time together.

Having a gathered family is one of my favourite things!

"If I ain't busy doing something I'm busy thinking of something to do"

Fall is a busy, busy time of year. Did I mention I'm busy? But I love it, even when it seems insane! God is putting together some great stuff and I'm very excited to be a part of it! I'll tell you all about it later, after I'm finished looking like this from all the rushing around...



Juuuuust kiddin!