From the sublime to the ridiculous...

Sleeve Notes

2010-01-19T21:01:00.002-04:00

I was sorting through some old files on my computer the other day and came across some old assignments. In one of my introductory English classes we were given the opportunity to write our own sleeve notes; that is, to briefly write about some of the music that was influential in our own lives. While my musical tastes have continued to change over time, I still stand by the statements I made about these albums and wanted to share.

Professor:
In my experience, music is another language. Every song has a memory, each lyric a new lesson to be learned. While it may seem odd to a non-believer, I've found that God speaks to me most not through my Bible or devotional books, but rather through music. "Music is God's reminder that there's something besides us in this universe" (August Rush). Each of these albums has had a distinct impact on my spiritual journey and because of this I've written about them in different ways. These are my Sleeve Notes.

U2: The Joshua Tree
On the brink of stadium tours, Bono and the Edge in the desert
From isolation to standing room only
Spiritual angst and freedom from constrictions.
It is these songs that inspire the urge to look past
Simple acceptance, to search for answers. To be willing to wait.

Switchfoot: The Beautiful Letdown
Mainstream success at last for the band that refuses to be pigeon holed. The let down of knowing you don't belong here and the inherent freedom in that statement. Being 24 for life, but knowing its not your life to begin with. The dare to be more, the courage it takes to care. To live and move and breathe in Your presence, for that to be enough. Knowing that this is not everything, there is more and we were meant to live for it, called to a higher purpose.

Hillsong United: All of the Above
The idea of worship as social justice
Not a new one, we are the solution,
We will be Your hands and feet
To the least of these.
Desperate for all You are and all that you have in store for me.
Throwing our lives down in awe at the foot of Your cross.
The ultimate contradiction of beauty in pain?
Freedom.
The freedom to dance, to not care about the legalistic ones who would condemn us for living out your grace.

Relient K: MmHmm
"The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair."
Amen. If not, we're all screwed.

Why I'm not in South Korea...

2009-08-16T19:29:00.001-03:00

I was listening to an Erwin McManus podcast today and was reminded again of why I'm in London, Ontario rather than in South Korea. The podcast was the first in the 'Broken' series from the Mosaic church, and the idea that stuck with me was that "great failures are not overcome by great successes but rather by great faithfulness." My entire journey towards doing my Master's in Library and Information Science at the University of Western Ontario has been completely God's doing; it wasn't in my plans and yet I found myself drawn here. Back in March I started to panic about spending another year in school (and all of the financial stuff that goes along with it) and decided to head to South Korea for a year in order to save up for grad school and get the chance to see a bit of the world. My dream to head to Western was still there, I just figured I'd put it off for a year. Of course God had other plans and not only was I accepted to Western, they wouldn't defer my acceptance... o_0. All along I'd been saying that the only way I wasn't going to South Korea was if Western wouldn't defer my acceptance, and go figure, God called my bluff. I had peace about moving to Ontario, and while South Korea is still in the works, it's actually works better to wait until I'm completely finished of school to go.
With everything seemingly sorted out, I packed up everything I owned and headed for London at the end of June. I had applied for several jobs and figured it would only be a matter of days before I had a full time job for the summer. Fast forward a month and I was still unemployed and starting to get very antsy. Then I was offered a spot with a telemarketing firm and I jumped at the chance to prove myself capable of actually supporting myself. A week after starting the job, I quit. I'm not cut throat enough or driven by the inherent materialism that led my supervisors to make the claim that "our product will fill a gap in our customers' lives." The day I left work early, sick with a migraine, I called home to talk with my mom, sobbing because I felt like I had failed. I remember my mom reassuring me that they wouldn't let me end up homeless, and so I quit the job in hopes of getting something better. Fast forward another month and I was still jobless and again questioning why I didn't go to South Korea. Had I followed through on that plan I'd have a job and be very comfortable financially by that time. That takes me up until yesterday when I was offered a part time position working in a local restaurant.. it doesn't start for another week, but I've also received my student loan documents, and barring any crazy unforeseen circumstances, I should be okay. Which brings me, in a rather roundabout way, back to my original point. I could have run away to South Korea at so many points over the last two months, and that's exactly what it would have been... it would have been that 'great success' I was looking for, but it would not have taught me anything other than to run when things weren't going the way I wanted them too. Thankfully God has been much more patient with me than I have been with him. He's used so many people to show me in tangible ways that he's looking after me. One of the points Erwin made was that when you're the person paying for dinner, your table will always be full. It's when you're in need of a meal that you find out who the people are who are willing to stand with you. Whether it's my parents who've kept a roof over my head and groceries in the cupboard, or aunts and uncles who provide bus tickets, home cooked meals, and more importantly hugs; or new friends who are quick to help out by taking me shopping for groceries or buying a coffee at Starbucks. I have been blessed and if God has me here for a reason, like he's been showing me all along, then who am I to start running now?

Journey...

2009-07-17T01:05:00.002-03:00

I've come to realize that my favorite stories, whether they are in the form of a book, movie, or even music, are those that deal with the idea of journey. That's why I loved The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Don Miller's Through Painted Deserts, C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, among others. I found The Hobbit at a thrift store today for $0.50 and even though I've read it before (I was 12) I cannot wait to read it again, this time with the concept of journey at the fore.
More later!

Wandering...

2009-07-11T14:57:00.002-03:00

I don't do well with wandering. That is I don't find it easy to just wander around by myself for no reason, I need a concrete purpose. Of course if I'm with someone else I find it easier to let them take the lead, even if we're going in circles, I can still relax knowing that someone else is directing me where to go. But by myself I feel lost; it's one thing to kill time, another completely to wander for no reason other than I can. I guess I should work on that.

Here and Back Again...

2009-07-11T00:46:00.003-03:00

I doubt anyone still reads this anymore seeing as I haven't updated it in over a year... but regardless of that, I've felt the urge to get back into my writing and thought the blog was the best place to start up again. Whether or not this continues once I'm back in school in September another story entirely. :)
I moved to London, Ontario, at the beginning of July, in preparation to start my Master's in September at the University of Western Ontario. For anyone who has kept up with me over the last six months knows, this was something of a last minute trip. I had been planning on traveling to South Korea to teach English when I found out that I had been accepted into the Library and Information Science program. This wouldn't have affected my plans except for the tiny annoying fact that Western wouldn't defer my acceptance for the year, so in the span of a little less than two months I completely changed course and headed for Ontario.
The thought behind moving here in July rather than waiting for August was that I wanted a chance to get to know my way around the city and campus before classes started, otherwise I didn't know that I'd get to see anything other than the inside of classrooms and computer labs. This worked well with my job at the library ending mid-June, so I booked my ticket and started looking for a job.
Unfortunately, finding work wasn't been as easy as I anticipated, but I'm 99% sure that I have a job starting on the 20th as a telemarketer... Obviously, it's not the most glamorous job, but at this point, as long as it is legal/ethical and will pay my bills, then I'm ok with that. I honestly don't know that I'll be able to work any amount of hours and keep up with my grad program, so I think having this job will work out for everyone involved. And on the note of how ethical it is to be a telemarketer, the company I'm working for sells magazines like MacLean's and Chatelaine, and is owned by Rogers, so while we may be annoying, at least we're running credit card scams or anything.
Not sure what else to update at the moment.. I'm thinking about maybe spending some more time with my aunt and uncle who live about an hour from me. Because I don't start work for another week, I sense that I might go a little crazy between now and then. But we'll see what happens, things have had a way of changing at the last second since I arrived!
Cheers!

Leave.

2008-06-04T12:50:00.001-03:00

From Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller.

I could not have known then that everybody, every person, has to leave, has to change like seasons; they have to or they die. The seasons remind me that I must keep changing, and I want to change because it is God's way... Everybody has to change, or they expire. Everybody has to leave, everybody has to leave their home and come back so they can love it again for all new reasons. I want to keep my sould fertile for the changes, so things keep getting born in me, so things keep dying when it is time for things to die. I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind was made to figure things out, not to read the same page recurrently... Everything we were is no more, and what we will become, will become what was... I sometimes look into the endless heavens, the cosmos of which we can't find the edge, and ask God what it means. Did You really do all of this to dazzle us? Do You really keep it shifting, rolling round the pinions to stave off boredom? God forbid Your glory would be our distraction. And God forbid we would ignore Your glory.... We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it? It might be time for you to go. it might be time to change, to shine out. I want to repeat one word for you: Leave. Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.

Psalm 145

2008-03-31T12:29:00.003-03:00

So it's official... I'm leaving for Africa in 29 days. I can't even begin to describe where I'm at emotionally right now. I'm so excited to be going, but it still hasn't even sunk in yet. On top of that I'm trying to survive the craziness that is the end of the semester, the only consolation is that it's almost over and then 4 glorious months of freedom! Unless of course I do take the Milton class that's being offered, but one of my favorite profs is teaching it, so I'm actually looking forward to it. Anyways, I broke out my Hillsong United More Than Life cd this morning, the one I bought after the concert last summer and got signed by Joel Houston afterwards. I looked again at the verse he put with his name, and even though I read it last year and enjoyed it then, it was more because the first verse mentioned the name of the worship band I was leading, which made my day to say the least. As I sat down and read it again this morning though it was like reading it for the first time and realizing that this is truth... thought I'd share with everyone else, hope it brightens your day!

Psalm 145
1I will extol You, my God, O King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable.
4One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5On the glorious splendor of Your majesty
And on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
6Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts,
And I will tell of Your greatness.
7They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness
And will shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8The LORD is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
9The LORD is good to all,
And His mercies are over all His works.
10All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD,
And Your godly ones shall bless You.
11They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
And talk of Your power;
12To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.
13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14The LORD sustains all who fall
And raises up all who are bowed down.
15The eyes of all look to You,
And You give them their food in due time.
16You open Your hand
And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17The LORD is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
18The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
19He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.
20The LORD keeps all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
21My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

Looking for 130 people...

2008-03-07T12:42:00.004-04:00

Just to update the last post....
The number is now down to 130 people, so if you'd like to help me out you can click on the donation button below. My math was slightly off with travel expenses etc. and it's down to around $4000. :D And actually our accomadations price ended up dropping too, but I still don't know the final number. That being said, I'm still aiming to pass in $2700 on Sunday morning. If the number is lower than that, then the extra money will go towards the rest of my shots etc.
Thanks so much for all your help!

170 People Needed...

2008-03-05T12:46:00.004-04:00

As many of you already know, I'm scheduled to leave for Africa on April 30, 2008 for a 2 week missions trip to Uganda. I'm heading over with a team from my church to help build a home for 8 orphans and their house mother. To see more about the Watoto organization you can go to www.watoto.com. For more information on our team you can visit www.longcreektowatoto.blogspot.com.
So what's the deal with the 170 people? I need to raise at least another $1700 by this Sunday (March 9) in order to go, and so I'm asking for 170 people to donate $10. It's very easy to do, I've even set up a PayPal account to make it easier for those who don't see me every day.

Thank you so very much for all your support!

Enough

2007-08-26T16:50:00.001-03:00

You give and take away and yet you ask me to still trust, that through the pain you have a reason behind this, that the tears have a purpose. I take a step, and then another. Halting baby steps is all I can manage and yet you are pleased with my stumbles, a proud father pointing out to whomever will listen that I am yours. Even on my darkest days when getting out of bed is almost more than I can manage. You are enough. You have to be enough. If you aren't enough then it has all been for naught. When it feels like I've been deserted by everyone I hold dear, you are enough. When I'm in the middle of a crowd yet utterly alone you are enough. When the days are so bright with your glory that it hurts to open my eyes you are enough. When the night is so black I can't tell up from down you are still enough. When I'm scared to take another breath for fear of giving myself away you are enough. When I am homesick for your courts, when home feels so close yet so far away, when you continue to ask me to walk in obedience, when all I want is to be done... you are enough. August 22, 2007

Beauty in Pain... The Ultimate Contradiction?

2007-08-26T16:48:00.000-03:00

In everything beautiful there is pain. Can they exist on their own, apart from each other? The things in life we most appreciate come at a price. Thunderstorms, fire, darkness, love... even the cross.
Thunderstorms are a powerful display of nature, often awe inspiring by those who love to watch them. Even aside from striking fear into the hearts who don't like them, thunderstorms have the power to destroy, yet many find themselves transfixed in awe. The same with fire. It gives light, heat, allows us to cook and can offer us protection and it too can destroy. One errant spark and the results can be disastrous. Depending on the circumstances darkness can be cold or comforting, terrifying or full of warmth. Love, as wonderful an emotion as it is, when it is abused it leaves people hurt, damaged and scared to try again or to be vulnerable. The cross... not really something most people find beautiful, yet when I look at the cross I see the one person who was willing who gave everything for me. Who searched me out and when he found me bound in chains he gave his life to break the lock holding me. Many will look and only see a blood stained chunk of wood, an instrument of torture, a death sentence. I see love. I see my Jesus, and fall to my knees humbled and amazed at the beauty expressed through the pain. August 22, 2007

my apologies...

2007-07-29T18:54:00.000-03:00

yup... once again I've gotten completely out of the loop as far as updating my blog regularly... lol, for the 4 of you who read this, I am sorry. :D Things have been kind of crazy, I've been working full time at the library in town while still living at home which translates into me not having very much free time. What free time I do have lately is spent sleeping, or outside, cause sitting inside for 10 hours a day when you're used to working at a camp can suck... hard. Anyways, June was a pretty sweet month, considering it all started off with a crazy 3 day road trip to Montreal it was very sweet indeed. The trip to Montreal was incredible. Not really any other words to describe it, but heck I'm bored at work so why not try huh? For one thing, I was the only driver of what turned out to be a very small car (at least small when trying to fit 5 or 6 adults in it) for the entire trip. This was great because I hate the backseat and well driving kind of ensures that you have a good spot :D. It was not so good because it was a 12 hour drive up and a 13 1/2 hour drive home and I had never driven further than Moncton before by myself let alone taking along friends/being trusted with the lives of those who had to ask permission to travel with me. We never actually got lost tho (well, seriously lost anyways, we took an accidental side trip into Quebec City, but we did get out!). The Hillsong United concert was... wow. Yeah, it was great and we weren't that far back from the stage and ended up randomly finding some the band members afterwards and getting pictures and autographs. I also got my nose pierced, what better way to celebrate a road trip than a random piercing right? It actually wasn't all that random, but it ended up being made possible cause Ethan gave it to me for a birthday gift (I wasn't allowed to spend the money on it... long story). I spent the rest of the month working, doing Watoto stuff, and more working. July has been much of the same story. In case you haven't heard yet, I'm going to Africa next May with my church with the Watoto Children's Ministry. I'm so excited and yet terrified at the same time! Even though I've always said that I didn't want to go to Africa, I know without a doubt that I'm supposed to be pursuing this... even typing that last sentence was scary... but Jesus is more than sufficient and it will be on his power, strength, wisdom etc. that I will be going.
That's pretty much what's been going on here lately.... I'm going to get another tattoo in a couple of weeks (hopefully) but I'll post some pics when its finished. Hope you're having a great summer and God Bless!

God of the small details...

2007-05-24T19:18:00.000-03:00

My conclusion of the week (and it's only Thursday, so watch out!): God is crazy awesome, loves me unbelievably, has a sense of humor and loves to remind me of all of this in some of the weirdest ways on a regular basis. I had to go to the dentist on Tuesday... not such a big deal until you realize how terrified I am of the dentist (second only to my fear of being alone in a strange dark place). I was, of course, freaking out and praying like crazy. By the time I got to the dentist I was to the point of just asking God for some tangible sign that he was aware of how freaked out I was. SO I survived the visit to the dentist, due to listening to my mp3 player I may forever associate Hillsong United with having teeth pulled, but my mind was elsewhere for a few brief moments and for that I was thankful. It may have been silly of me, but I kind of thought, "OK, God used the songs etc..." but of course it didn't stop there. I got home and in my facebook inbox was a message from a random person who had added me to their friends list that morning. The basic gist of the message was that he felt led by the Holy Spirit to pray for me on that day and gave me a Bible verse as well. Not only does God use random worship songs while I'm in a dentist's chair, he inspires someone from Ohio, who I've never met, to pray for me and then to tell me about it so I know it... yeah, God is big and I am small and for that I am very thankful, because there is no way I could orchestrate something like that. Was listening to Delirious? live album today and heard "Every little thing's gonna be alright" and couldn't help but worship in agreement. Have a great week!

Where do we go from here?

2007-05-21T17:36:00.000-03:00

wow... it's been almost two months since I've last updated this... oops! Things have been a *little* crazy around here and I seriously can't believe that it's almost the end of May already. I'm back to working full time, which is weird. I like working an 8 hour shift better than say 4 hours, but it's hard to get back into that schedule. This year is also strange 'cause I'm not working at camp... to realize how weird that is for me, you need to know that I've been at camp (air cadets) or worked at camp (seggie) for the last 6 years. I've never really had to *work* for a summer before... yes, camp is a lot of work, but it's different than your typical idea of work and therefore doesn't count in this equation :D. Anyways, like I said I'm working full time at the library for the summer and I actually like my job. There's a list of projects we (the other summer assistant and I) have to work on and other than that we are pretty much on our own. It's pretty sweet because I get to listen to music the majority of the time and since I don't really have to think about any of the tasks I'm doing it gives me a chance to think about a lot of other stuff, which can either be good or bad depending on my mood. Other than work, I guess the biggest changes have been at church. There hasn't really been any major changes, at least none that a new person might notice, but things have been very crazy and awesome all the same. We've been realizing that our church doesn't do missions but is missions. I love that when God has something in mind for people He puts it on more than one person's heart. The last post I wrote was about "the I heart revolution" and this was before our church really even started talking about this! Tied into all of this is that our church is sending a team to Watoto (Kampala, Uganda) next year. I am so excited to see what God is doing through this project! Like I said last time, I know God is calling me to go, then I didn't know where, now I believe that I am supposed to pursue this and see how it works out.... It's kind of funny, because I had all of these plans about working full time this summer and putting away most of my wages towards this trip. Then I went to the dentist last week and found out that I need to have several thousand dollars of work done on my teeth... this summer. Go figure huh? I'm just excited to see how God uses the fact that I don't have any money to let me go to Africa. Last summer, two days after I accepted the position of worship leader at camp, my guitar broke (irrepareably). I had kind of resigned myself to the fact that I was just going to have to spend the money on buying a new one, when someone (I'm not allowed to find out who) gave me a brand new guitar. I figure if God can give me a brand new guitar this trip to Africa is going to work out too. Anyways, now that I've written a small novel, I should go do something, but if you're bored and looking for something good to read, check out Joel Houston's blog at www.theiheartrevolution.com. Have a great week!

Love.Truth.Faith.Hope.Justice.etc

2007-03-16T18:56:00.002-03:00

So I got my Hillsong United tickets on Wednesday, only 77 days left! (I wasn't crazy enough to count this out myself, I promise, I just discovered that my phone has a countdown feature). Their new album, All of the Above, has already been released in Australia, as far as I know anyways, and it should be released here on approx. April 10th. It's something like their 5th or 6th album but its their first studio album. I was kind of apprehensive about it being recorded in studio vs. live because one of their trademarks is the live sound and the presence of the crowd singing along, sometimes overpowering the band themselves. I have heard one of the songs off of it though and it sounds really good... I'll definitely be getting it as soon as it comes out. The new song that's been released is called "Solution" and after looking at the lyrics (the copy I heard wasn't very good quality) it's a really big indication of where the band is going. The idea of social justice is coming out in a big way, and for good reason. How many times over the last week have I heard people talking about boycotting maritime products because we participate in the seal hunt when Sudan is being torn apart from the inside out? My ranting aside, the opening bit is:
It is not a human right to stand on fire
While broken nations dream
Open up our eyes so blind
That we might find the mercy for the need
Pre-chorus
Hey now, fill our hearts with your compassion
Hey now, as we hold to our confession
Chorus
Woah, God be the solution
Woah, we will be your hands and be your feet

The rest of it is just as powerful and leads me to my next point... the I Heart Revolution. 'All of the Above' is the first part of a three part global project. The second is the I Heart Revolution, a documentary of sorts that will be released in 2008, but until then you can check out the website @ www.iheartrevolution.com. I've just been overwhelmed lately with God impressing upon me the need to act, to love those around me. As much as I would like to go on a missions trip to Africa, I know that God has me where I am right now for a reason, and while I know he's preparing me to go somewheres at some point, now is not the time, and he's called me to be his hands and feet here, where I am. When people talk of missions, the first thing that usually springs to mind is the idea of going away from where you, but the broken and unloved are everywhere you look. I see them every week in my church, in my youth group, in my drama team, in my school, my work place and in my family as they are in yours as well and we've been called to love them as Jesus would too. It always used to tick me off during the missions time at camp when they would ask who had been on a missions trip, but it was always only those who had travelled abroad who were asked to speak about their experiences. That's why I loved that during our recent missions night at church, special attention was paid attention to the idea of local missions. How on earth can we travel half way across the world to show the love of Christ if we can't do it in our own backyard? I'm counting myself in with a group of likeminded people who don't want our generation to be remembered for it's iPods and Youtube, but rather that God moved in a huge way through us and made us radical enough to change the world we live in. Anyone else up for a revolution? The time has never been more right.

Montreal, here I come!!!!

2007-03-10T14:33:00.000-04:00

So Hillsong United is going to be in Montreal on June 1st and as you can tell from the title of this blog, I will be there. I'm not sure how yet, seeing as my car died last week (yes, Howie is no more but I'll write more on that later) and I have no idea where I'm going to be working this summer etc... but I will be there for this concert. Hillsongs are one of my favorite bands and have been the most influential in my own musical style as well, and seeing as they're from Australia it isn't like I can see them whenever I'd like to. Anyways, if anyone else is planning on going let me know cause I need a ride too! Have a great weekend!

This would only happen to me...

2007-02-24T21:33:00.001-04:00

Just starting to recover from our babysitting adventure... I got home this afternoon and slept for 3 hours and you have no idea how much I'm going to appreciate sleeping in (or at least later than 6:30) tomorrow morning! It actually went really well, the kids survived and we survived more or less, although two dolls were 'damaged' in a sharpie gone bad incident... as a side note: Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are the greatest invention ever and if the kids are being really quiet... it's probably not a good thing. Let's just say that without the magic erasers Mike and Kim would have a very interesting pattern on their floor! Well, it was definitely a spring break for the record books, and if I finish my neo-pag responses tonight I'll have all day tomorrow to just relax!

no one to blame but myself...

2007-02-21T16:34:00.000-04:00

This week was supposed to be my spring break.... supposed being the key word there, because I think I'm going to need a break to recover from my break (and not in the typical sense!). It all started off quite innocently enough, I took an extra 9 hours this week for two of the guys I work with so that they could head off on their own spring break adventures. This, in and of itself, is not an issue. Yeah, I wasn't going to have any free time until thursday afternoon, but then I'd have 2 1/2 days, plus sunday to just chill, relax and not be stressed about anything. Then I got an email from my boss from the summer. He was looking for 2 babysitters for his 4 kids for two days. His wife is quite literally my hero, she's a stay at home mom with 4 kids under the age of 4 (one of them only being 4 months old) and he's taking her to a hotel for a couple of days. So yup... you guessed it... I'm babysitting from Thursday lunchtime til Saturday afternoon sometime. Add that to the fact that Sunday is one of the busiest days of the week for me and I could end up in a mental institution by the time I head back to school on Monday! But as always, its going to be a good time! Have a great day folks!

How Great Is Our God...

2007-02-14T18:35:00.000-04:00

I logged on here with the intentions of writing something really profound, but have found myself speechless. I've been listening to some Louie Giglio messages over the last couple of days, and they've made me re-examine who I think God is, and my experiences with him. If you ever get a chance to see/hear him speak go for it, you won't be disappointed! I'll post more later, when I figure out what all this means I guess! Happy Valentine's Day!
Alicia

heavy sigh

2007-01-28T14:17:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been in that place where you just wanted to curl up in bed with the blankets over your head and not get out? Ever? Yeah... me too, well at least that's the way I've felt for the latter part of this past week. The last couple of weeks have been ridiculously crazy (in a mostly good way), and God had been doing some amazing things in my life and in my church/youth group/drama team as well. I honestly don't ever recall having this feeling that I have, that God is undeniably speaking to me. It's kind of a weird feeling, but that being said I don't ever wish it to stop. So like I was saying, things have been going really well, and then thursday I checked the status of my student loan, and of course they didn't give me what I needed. In fact they didn't even give me enough to pay for my classes this semester. Go figure. I apologize if any one who reads this is a student loan person or knows a student loan person, but I really don't like them... I'd use stronger words if I thought I could come up with an accurate description... but I really don't like them. So now I have to appeal my student loan (not a fun process) and try to get more hours at work (cause that's really fun too! :S). Oh well... it all has a purpose right? And on top of all this I might be doing a 2nd degree (through distance ed) in youth ministry. Does this prove that I'm clinically insane? I barely have time to work on one degree let alone a 2nd, but if you could pray for me it would be greatly appreciated. I've also been trying to figure out what I'm going to do this summer, and one of my options is to go out west and work for 4 months. My dad is out there already and could probably get me in with his company as a "fire watch" person, that is watching welders etc. to make sure that they don't catch themselves or anyone/thing else on fire. Oh yeah, did I mention the starting wage was like $17.50 an hour, and would probably be over $20/h shortly after I started. If I was to go out, I could work for the summer and pay for school next year, thus negating the need to deal with the aforementioned yucky student loan people. I have no idea what I'm going to do, actually your prayers would be appreciated in this matter too, unless you plan on pulling an Ethan and praying me out of a job.. in that case please don't! Have a great week everyone!

and so it begins... again

2007-01-03T11:36:00.000-04:00

Oh the joys of going back to school. Actually I'm not that upset over the fact that my vacation is over... well other than the fact that I can't stay up til 3 anymore. But oh well, such is life right? Hope everyone's Christmas was good. Mine was, well interesting as is any holiday spent with my family. I got the first 4 seasons of ER on dvd and so needless to say I've spent a significant amount of time watching that, and then my mom got the first season of Bones on dvd, and well now I'm addicted to yet another show. I really don't have time for another show to watch but if you've ever seen Bones then you'll understand why it's a must see. Work started up yesterday and I've come to the conclusion that my boss definitely loves me because my schedule is amazing. Yet again I do not have to work evenings or weekends, but she also scheduled all of my shifts so that they are right after classes so I can be home at decent times. Classes started up today as well, and I think I'm really going to like them... I was supposed to have these two classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday but after January 12th and the 19th I will no longer have class on fridays because we will be participating in online discussions. Add that to my great work schedule and I now have no reason to drive to charlottetown on Fridays, well other than plans with friends etc. Anyways, I guess that'll be all my ramblings for today... If you could pray for my dad it would be greatly appreciated, he leaves next monday to go to Alberta for 3 months and it's going to be hard on my mom as well. Have a great day all!

5 more sleeps!!!!

2006-12-20T18:32:00.000-04:00

But I'm not excited for Christmas... really, I'm not. Well, ok.. maybe a little bit excited. That being said I haven't really started my shopping yet and I probably won't start until friday evening. I know what I'm getting everyone, does that count??? I got my marks back today and I did really well, well at least it was good for me. My lowest mark was a 77, then there was a 79 and two 82% so not bad overall. I've been in the Kelly Computer lab for the last 2 hours waiting to go to drama. I'm still not sure how I got put in charge of props etc. I really don't know what I'm doing. Wow... this post is really disjointed, I'm just really tired, I got stuck out in Long Creek last night, my sister ditched the car and so I stayed at the the Fenton's for the night. That was fine, I just wouldn't recommend sleeping in your clothes to anyone. Anyways, I should get going.. Merry Christmas!

Free at last!

2006-12-13T17:35:00.000-04:00

I finished my last exam and handed in my last paper today! And to make things even better, my exam was actually really easy... I was out of there 45 minutes after I started. *Sigh* Off to drama, and then tomorrow... I'm sleeping in and other than cleaning my room I plan on doing absolutely nothing that requires brain power!

What a day....

2006-12-10T10:07:00.000-04:00

God has to have a sense of humor. It is the only conclusion I can come to about Friday without becoming a hermit... because if God doesn't have a sense of humor like I think he does, then he is definitely out to get me. You may laugh, but I'm being absolutely serious here. I was supposed to write my History exam friday afternoon at 2:00pm, and being the kind of student that I am I was spending the morning cramming. I knew what the final essay question was going into the exam but I didn't even start researching it until that morning, and well lets just say that it was a bad idea because I couldn't find anything and was starting to panic (alot). So I decided to head into town to use the library, on my way in I hear that there is a large fire at my school. To even remotely understand how funny this is you have to know that during past exam periods my roommates and I have sat around thinking up ways to get exams canceled/moved ahead. I don't think I actually ever thought of setting fire to a building, but that had to be one desperate student. As much as I would have liked to be done of that exam on friday I had really underestimated what it was going to take to answer that last question (worth 40%) and so I was really hoping fo rmy exam to be pushed ahead. It appeared that this was going to happen because I was at the library when some staff person came in and made this huge announcement that the campus was closing and everyone had to go home. No exams right? That's what I thought because how was I supposed to write when the campus was closed. So Kate and I headed off shoe shopping (well browsing I guess) and then to my optometrist appointment. I'm sitting there waiting to be seen and my sister calls and makes some sort of comment about the 7pm exams still being written. Thinking this odd I called the UPEI hotline and sure enough I was still scheduled to write my exam... in 40 minutes time (trust me, no time to study there). SO I headed back over to the school in the snow and slush and was walking to the sports center (complaining the entire way of course) when I slipped, fell and landed on my butt and my bad arm in a giant mud puddle. I was soaked, like actually dripping and had to go write my exam anyways. When I got up from writing there was a puddle... at least no one said anything right? Anyways, that's the horror story from Friday, there's no word on what the actual cause of the fire was but my money is definitely on a desperate student. Good luck with exams everyone!
Alicia

I still hate school....

2006-11-30T17:38:00.000-04:00

so because I'm writing this post one would assume that I have a paper that I'm not writing right now... well if you assumed so you are right. I have a paper that was due today and I was all set to write it... I mean I just finished writing 2 on the weekend but I was going to get it done today and then I was finished... Then I went to class on tuesday and my prof made some sort of comment about how he didn't deduct marks for late essays. *poof* there goes my motivation. Now really, why would you tell your overstressed overtired and very undermotivated as it is students that? Honestly... not even half the class passed in their papers today, all I can say is that the poor man brought it on himself. The paper itself is on Satans tempting of Eve in book 9 of Milton's Paradise Lost. I have the paper all laid out, (I'm comparing Satan to a salesman by the way so keep that in mind when you're out shopping) and I know what quotes etc I want to use, I just can't seem to write the paper! Argghhh!!!!!!!! Does anyone want to finish this for me? Only 1009 words (approx.) left. Gonna go home and try to finish it after I watch Grey's Anatomy.... HA! I know... highly unlikely, but I really don't want to do it tomorrow. Watch out weekend, I have no papers!!!!
Alicia

I hate school....

2006-11-28T11:31:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure that writing in a state of exhaustion is such a good idea but here its gonna be short anyway. I finished the papers that were due yesterday... I literally wrote a 10 page paper in 6 hours, and that includes changing my topic 2 hours into it. But both papers are done, and now I only have my short Paradise Lost paper to write for thursday. Have I started it? Heck no, maybe tonight, if my brain starts working again. But the end is in sight folks, I will be finished completely in 15 days, and my exams shouldn't be too bad so I'm not overly worried. In other news, I got my English quiz back today and got 100% on it, so that made me smile. More later...
Alicia

P.S. Extol on Saturdayl 9:30-11:30pm @ First Baptist Church

2006-11-23T15:08:00.000-04:00

ahhhh... the joy having to write 3 papers in a short amount of time and not having the motivation to do it. I'm supposed to be writing a paper on the "life, circumstances and message of Hosea" but instead i'm updating my blog. I swear if you look at pasts blogs, the longer they are it usually means the more work I was supposed to be doing. Anyways, I was online doing some research for this paper and checking my email etc. when I came across an old friends website that had some gliding pictures on it. I can't believe how much I miss gliding right now. Of course I looked through all of her pictures and saved a bunch of them, and went back to my research. So I was using Wikipedia and I accidentally went back to the main page and the featured article of the day is on, what else, gliding. It's crazy to think that I haven't been flying in 3 years, but I really do miss it now. I just wish that gliding was more accessible because I'd rather go gliding than power flying any day. The only way that I can go gliding on the island is a)go back to cadets and fly out of summerside or b) build my own glider. I am in no way financially able to build my own glider and I can't ever see myself going back to cadets so I guess I'm stuck for the time being. With that being said, I'm going to get out of this computer lab (I've been sitting here for 3 hours and haven't really accomplished much) do a bit of photocopying and then I get to go pick up Kate. If I can figure out how to post pictures I'll share some of the gliding ones I found... it's hard to beleive that once upon a time this was me!

Is it over yet????

2006-11-22T18:33:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that it's already November 22 and that I saw snowflakes yesterday. But at the same time I can't believe that it's not December 13th and I'm not finished of the semester yet. I'm not sure how it works, but apparently going to the majority of your classes makes everything harder. This has been by far my hardest semester yet, and it's a good thing I have been going to most of my classes otherwise I would be failing in a big way. Mind you I haven't been to my history class in almost 2 weeks and my attendance in Old Testament has been sporadic at best, but I only missed two of my Protestant-Catholic classes and yesterday, I missed my first English class. I was trying so hard to make it through the semester without missing any of them, but the cold/sore throat I had last week turned into a sinus infection on the weekend and so today (Wednesday) marked my return to the world of academia and work. Oh joy. While I was supposed to be off resting on Monday and then on Tuesday as well I spent well over 20 hours working on my class presentation that I had to do today. The outcome? It was a less than stellar presentation, but I was at the point where I really didn't care anymore and now it's finished. I also found out that my exam in that class (Prot-Cath) will be a take-home. :D I missed two work shifts as well which sucks, but exams are coming up so I should (hopefully) be able to pick up a few extra shifts here and there. This week is about to get crazier... I have 3 papers to write, one paper to revise, and exams to start studying for. Plus another Extol on Dec. 2 (First Baptist Church; 9:30-11:30pm) but best of all Kate gets home tomorrow and I get to go pick her up at the airport! It's hard to believe that she's been away for 6 months, but I'm really glad she's coming home now... when she left our friendship wasn't in the best state it's ever been, but her being gone has made me appreciate her more and from the sounds of it, this isn't the same Kate coming home that left here. Anyways, I have to go clean out my car, get a few groceries, and then go to drama. Drama is one of the few sane points of my week... I will write about Awaken The Dawn later, just please be in prayer for me as I'm not totally sure of where God is leading me right now!
Alicia

Now where did I put my voice????

2006-11-17T14:34:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post I have been sick for the last week and one of the side effects is that I have almost completely lost my voice. I thought it was starting to get better yesterday, I could actually talk a bit and when I sang it actually sounded more like singing rather than some sort of animal being tortured... but after an hour and a half of worship team practice my voice pretty much gave out. Needless to say I've been eating throat lozenges by the handful, drinking lots of fluids and taking numerous cold medications all in the hopes that I will be able to sing this weekend. God seriously has a sense of humour. For one thing, I don't like getting up in front of people in the first place, I was already kind of freaking out about this weekend before this happened, now I'm really freaking out... how am I supposed to lead without a voice? It's going to be one interesting weekend folks. As you can probably tell by the length of my post I'm procrastinating, but I suppose I should go do some school work or something. Please be praying for us this weekend, it's very much appreciated!
Alicia

anybody want a cold????

2006-11-15T19:13:00.000-04:00

Why do I always get sick at the worst possible times? Between playing on saturday night and then having an awesome worship time sunday night I've pretty much lost my voice, which sucks considering I have to lead worship at Awaken the Dawn this weekend... I'm not sure how God is gonna pull this one off but it should be interesting. That being said I also have 4 papers and a class presentation due within the next week and a half, but I have to go to drama right now and so I can't worry about this stuff... am I absolutely crazy to be doing this? I'm beginning to think I just might be... later all, 'licia

Who wants to start a free hug campaign???

2006-11-07T17:13:00.000-04:00

I am so unbelievably sick of everything to do with Pennsylvania right now... I have to teach this class on November 22 on Protestant Catholic Relations in Pennsylvania, and of course I've been dragging my butt on actually researching the topic, I've just been doing enough to get sick of it all. And now that I've been sitting here at the library for the last 3 hours I'm ready to jump in front of a bus. That being said, I actually feel like I know a bit more about the topic, or at least I have the potential to know more, cause I just saved most of the info to my jump drive to read through later, but it's a start right?
So is there anyone who would want to start a free hug campaign with me? I finally got a chance to watch the free hug video on YouTube yesterday (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BngEhhdg4lw) and I really like the idea. Laugh all you want, but I'm actually being kind of serious, it would be fun if nothing else. Let it be noted that my mom has already said that she won't bail me out of jail if I get arrested... thanks mom!
Anyways, I should finish this research so I can get out of here and go to youth group, we're having a progressive supperso it should be a lot of fun.
-Alicia

2006-11-06T11:20:00.000-04:00

I'm not totally sure how much I'll actually end up posting on here... I kinda like Xanga, and it's the only way that Christie and I actually keep in touch, but stupid blogspot only allows you to leave a comment if you're a member so here I am! Life is super busy as always, between school, work, youth group, drama, extol and the fact that I have to drive at least 2 hours a day between home and school etc, I barely have time to breathe let alone actually do the necessary work that the above stuff entails. Anyways, I gotta go, Lilla and I are heading for lunch, and then sleep before class!
Later all,
'licia