It's such a blessing to participate in God's story. Last Sunday I was sitting on the grass after church with Cara and we were admiring the kids running around outside, talking about how we wished we were back at their age - the care free simple life, everything was so joyful! The reason I mention this is because this past week has felt like one long childhood memory for me. God is to thank for this, as always.
From the sweet scent of homemade(!) strawberry jam to the drive home from the mountain - passing farm lands on a cloudless sunny day - it brought back amazing memories of my childhood.
Peter Bichan, the creator of the adventure Bible school on the north island came down to teach us... in a different environment. We packed up our bare essentials (deoderant is not a bare essential apparently, sorry girls) and took off with nothing but a backpack and headed to Mt. Somers for three days to experience God in the wilderness.
My relationship with God this week was directly comparable to that of a seven year old boy's relationship with his dad. It was a good time warp.
We were given a packing list before the trip and whatever was not on the list was absolutely condemned. We weren't allowed to bring watches. We weren't allowed to bring any gadgets, any toys or other distracters. It was just us, the Bible and a teacher.
Time was irrelevent. We got up when the sun woke us up, we went to bed when we were tired. We didn't bother with checking how long we had been hiking for or how long it was until dinner. We got away from any routine, we weren't participants in a robotic time schedule. This was freeing.
Exploration was the all day activity. Whether it be as a group hiking from hut to hut through forest, dryland, rock or across river streams, or going off alone, or with a few Capers'. Wide-eyed and excited as to what would be around the bend, I felt a freshness and excitement I hadn't felt since the days of freaking out the parents because a 50-pound body on a narrow strip overseeing a cliff provided fun (for me) and fear (for the family). The most rewarding exploration came with Michael on two occassions. On the first day of hiking, after dinner we skipped from rock to rock up a river stream to a really cool narrow waterfall which was accessible on 3 different tiers. The second day after lunch on another hot sunny day found the water caves which has to be one of the coolest things I have seen in my life. Inside a dark cave with water up to the knees, we had to climb through tight spaces, past/through miniature waterfalls to get through the cave out to the other side where there were... more waterfalls! Farther up the rocks we got, the more waterfalls... and even a natural slide at one point. Later in the day we got to witness Dale falling off a rock into glacier water... funny stuff.
The family atmosphere, much akin to those of family gatherings with extended [second cousins, great uncles] family was ever-present. It didn't matter that making dinner for our small groups only took two people, we were going to use four just so we could be ultimate team workers and be around each other a bit longer. Shooting each other up with hand (literally) guns in pretend war and following each other through untouched terrain even though there's a clear path which would ensure scratchless legs from pine trees, we did things together just for the sake of being together. Driving home from the mountain with Dale felt so nostalgic. I remembered all the times of going out to the country side, passing nothing but farm land to go to cousin gatherings in Abbotsford or in the valley somewhere.
There was also a naivity, a childlike dependence on God this week. We try to grow up so much, realizing our newfound maturity it's easy to believe we can do things on our own, without the presence of God. However, there is nothing we can do without God, and so we learned to recognize that we need to surrender completely in all situations, He is capable.
The absence of time, the family atmosphere and the constant exploration of new territory made this week feel like a flashback to the golden age. It was a great refreshing trip. The challenge now is to bring the mountain (experience) back to the Crossing and keep it safe in the closet, safe in our hearts and minds.
28.11.09
Guest Post: Featuring Jordan Lee
Introduction / Adam
It must be the Sufjan Stevens in me. I've always had the urge to turn every project (in this case; a blog) into a production. Intertwining ideas, perspectives, diversity into one cohesive slab of something more than just the regular bare bones. Like Sufjan, I get bored with my ideas very quickly, and as a result, I need to stuff everything I can think of into the chest and hope it works out alright. I had the vision that this blog would become a grand project: a monstronsity, featuring reader-multiplying posts of varying kinds. Hooray for overblown-ness.
One of the most exciting features I was looking forward to starting was this one; the guest post. I'm hoping this guest post will be the first of many (optimally: 13) which will feature a different classmate here at the Crossing. The aim of the guest post is for you to get to know who I'm living with a bit better, to learn about this place or what we're learning from another perspective, or to simply witness (via the internet) their talents, as is the case with the first guest post from Jordan.
Jordan has a passion for English literature and aspires to become an English teacher. He puts his English AP credentials to good use here in this extended metaphor which came to be originally in his mind during the Mt. Somers hike and has since been translated into text for all Spirit Parade faithfuls to read!
Without further adieu, enjoy the talents of Jordan Lee.
Guest Post / Jordan Lee
It must be the Sufjan Stevens in me. I've always had the urge to turn every project (in this case; a blog) into a production. Intertwining ideas, perspectives, diversity into one cohesive slab of something more than just the regular bare bones. Like Sufjan, I get bored with my ideas very quickly, and as a result, I need to stuff everything I can think of into the chest and hope it works out alright. I had the vision that this blog would become a grand project: a monstronsity, featuring reader-multiplying posts of varying kinds. Hooray for overblown-ness.
One of the most exciting features I was looking forward to starting was this one; the guest post. I'm hoping this guest post will be the first of many (optimally: 13) which will feature a different classmate here at the Crossing. The aim of the guest post is for you to get to know who I'm living with a bit better, to learn about this place or what we're learning from another perspective, or to simply witness (via the internet) their talents, as is the case with the first guest post from Jordan.
Jordan has a passion for English literature and aspires to become an English teacher. He puts his English AP credentials to good use here in this extended metaphor which came to be originally in his mind during the Mt. Somers hike and has since been translated into text for all Spirit Parade faithfuls to read!
Without further adieu, enjoy the talents of Jordan Lee.
Guest Post / Jordan Lee
The car pressed on through the night,
rain battered the windshield faster than it could be swept away.
Trapped in the back no longer driving, who’s in control?
I wrote a thousand save me’s on the fogged and icy windows.
From the other side it was just obscure scrawls at first glance.
Too bad that’s all it ever got.
Music filled the silence that chokes and crushes and hides.
People hammered on the windows as the car slowed to round a curve.
I can’t hear what they are screaming over the din of an angry cadence,
nor can I see their faces through the now frozen glass.
The car hurtles on, beyond the range of measure.
Fleeting along a seemingly impending course that neither slows nor ever turns.
Beyond the end of the road, farther than I could clearly see,
The horizon glowed faintly with vague hints of the approaching dawn.
The music fades violently into nothing, and in its place,
A siren song of abrupt confrontation, pierces the awful air.
The print stained window slides into its metal sheath.
I am blinded by what can not be.
The sun flares through the portal, into my bitter, clammy fortress.
“I have nothing for you.” I said to the man outside, looking in.
“Why are you doing this?” He asked, as if not expecting a response.
But I shot back in guarded rage.
“Stop trespassing! What’s mine is mine, get out!”
“I have wandered through fields of pain, sown with your defiance.”
He was searching me, even as he spoke.
Feeling open and exposed, softly I said,
“I’ve told you once, now leave me be, there’s nothing here of interest.”
“LIAR!” He roared, stabbing with a word.
“You can hide nothing from the eyes that see,
you can never bury what you’ve done.”
He displayed his own humanity and challenged me to do the same.
Slowly I began to speak; expressing a sea of deep transgressions.
Then slowly caution lost it’s hold and confessions flowed unchecked.
A sudden change in pressure from inward to out.
The windows shattered with the rush of words.
The speech pours out with an energy no language can disclose.
After all was said, after all had been made known,
I looked at him with my chest cut open and pleaded quietly,
“Sew me up or kill me now, but please don’t leave me broken.”
He reached inside the car and then he grabbed ahold.
He tore out what had hindered me, healing what was left.
He stood there, holding onto the wrong that once was me,
with a melancholy smile, drawn underneath sad and knowing eyes.
He muttered something softly as his head drooped to his chest,
and a single tear cascaded through the valleys of an aging face.
I only caught a few words, “I ha..............., now live.”
Then the dark and angry men came and took him, saying,
“Look what he holds in his hand, an abomination, surely he’ll hang for this.”
They left me be, for when they asked, I denied I knew his face.
As they dragged him off to certain death, something dropped from his jacket to the dirt.
The angry men in their vicious zeal failed to see the volume fall.
It was tightly sealed,and leather wrapped it round.
Hours later when I was sure the stealers were long gone,
I left my throne of cowardice and ventured to the spot.
I picked up the book, it’s cover blank, and with caution, looked inside.
What I saw brought me to the ground; page after page,
a list of everything I have ever done wrong.
I read it all, and by the end, I was left a weeping mess,
every page, devoid of good, was full of sin.
When I turned over to the final page, I saw that it was blank,
empty, save the muttered words.
“I have died so that you may live for me, now live.”
Trembling I shut it tight and glanced at the cover once again.
What was blank at first now is stamped in the deepest shade of red.
These words I’ve yet to comprehend, these crimson words that free the lost,
“It is paid in full.”
rain battered the windshield faster than it could be swept away.
Trapped in the back no longer driving, who’s in control?
I wrote a thousand save me’s on the fogged and icy windows.
From the other side it was just obscure scrawls at first glance.
Too bad that’s all it ever got.
Music filled the silence that chokes and crushes and hides.
People hammered on the windows as the car slowed to round a curve.
I can’t hear what they are screaming over the din of an angry cadence,
nor can I see their faces through the now frozen glass.
The car hurtles on, beyond the range of measure.
Fleeting along a seemingly impending course that neither slows nor ever turns.
Beyond the end of the road, farther than I could clearly see,
The horizon glowed faintly with vague hints of the approaching dawn.
The music fades violently into nothing, and in its place,
A siren song of abrupt confrontation, pierces the awful air.
The print stained window slides into its metal sheath.
I am blinded by what can not be.
The sun flares through the portal, into my bitter, clammy fortress.
“I have nothing for you.” I said to the man outside, looking in.
“Why are you doing this?” He asked, as if not expecting a response.
But I shot back in guarded rage.
“Stop trespassing! What’s mine is mine, get out!”
“I have wandered through fields of pain, sown with your defiance.”
He was searching me, even as he spoke.
Feeling open and exposed, softly I said,
“I’ve told you once, now leave me be, there’s nothing here of interest.”
“LIAR!” He roared, stabbing with a word.
“You can hide nothing from the eyes that see,
you can never bury what you’ve done.”
He displayed his own humanity and challenged me to do the same.
Slowly I began to speak; expressing a sea of deep transgressions.
Then slowly caution lost it’s hold and confessions flowed unchecked.
A sudden change in pressure from inward to out.
The windows shattered with the rush of words.
The speech pours out with an energy no language can disclose.
After all was said, after all had been made known,
I looked at him with my chest cut open and pleaded quietly,
“Sew me up or kill me now, but please don’t leave me broken.”
He reached inside the car and then he grabbed ahold.
He tore out what had hindered me, healing what was left.
He stood there, holding onto the wrong that once was me,
with a melancholy smile, drawn underneath sad and knowing eyes.
He muttered something softly as his head drooped to his chest,
and a single tear cascaded through the valleys of an aging face.
I only caught a few words, “I ha..............., now live.”
Then the dark and angry men came and took him, saying,
“Look what he holds in his hand, an abomination, surely he’ll hang for this.”
They left me be, for when they asked, I denied I knew his face.
As they dragged him off to certain death, something dropped from his jacket to the dirt.
The angry men in their vicious zeal failed to see the volume fall.
It was tightly sealed,and leather wrapped it round.
Hours later when I was sure the stealers were long gone,
I left my throne of cowardice and ventured to the spot.
I picked up the book, it’s cover blank, and with caution, looked inside.
What I saw brought me to the ground; page after page,
a list of everything I have ever done wrong.
I read it all, and by the end, I was left a weeping mess,
every page, devoid of good, was full of sin.
When I turned over to the final page, I saw that it was blank,
empty, save the muttered words.
“I have died so that you may live for me, now live.”
Trembling I shut it tight and glanced at the cover once again.
What was blank at first now is stamped in the deepest shade of red.
These words I’ve yet to comprehend, these crimson words that free the lost,
“It is paid in full.”
Times Are A Changin'
Perhaps an ode to Bob Dylan (for dad), this title references to the fact I'll be changing some things on this blog. A new look for the blog is in store, more features, more enthusiasm, more fun... I'm dressing up the blog for Christmas.
It's summer, it's sunny outside, and yesterday we decorated the whole house with red, green and silver. There's a Christmas tree going through the roof in the living room and lots of shoulders getting sunburnt. Pick-up soccer games, bug bites and sore feet. Summer dresses for the girls, smelly feet for the guys and a really amazing (Okanagan-esque) atmosphere. Outdoor dinners, outdoor devotions, afternoon naps on the grass, star gazing after lectures, shinanigans.
I'd like to have a special shout out to Oma and Opa, gramma and grampa. Thanks for reading my blog! I miss your amazing food, stories and company!
Bless you all.
The only one who lives the Christian life is Jesus Christ.
I try, I fail. I trust, He succeeds. I try, I fail. I trust, He succeeds.
It's summer, it's sunny outside, and yesterday we decorated the whole house with red, green and silver. There's a Christmas tree going through the roof in the living room and lots of shoulders getting sunburnt. Pick-up soccer games, bug bites and sore feet. Summer dresses for the girls, smelly feet for the guys and a really amazing (Okanagan-esque) atmosphere. Outdoor dinners, outdoor devotions, afternoon naps on the grass, star gazing after lectures, shinanigans.
I'd like to have a special shout out to Oma and Opa, gramma and grampa. Thanks for reading my blog! I miss your amazing food, stories and company!
Bless you all.
The only one who lives the Christian life is Jesus Christ.
I try, I fail. I trust, He succeeds. I try, I fail. I trust, He succeeds.
14.11.09
What a Character
Hey look! I finally finished the character sketches I had been talking about long ago.
So here's my lame attempt at trying to recreate the people I live with into words!
I just got back from a great travel weekend where I went to Mt. Cook.
I went alone and hitch hiked up on Thursday and bussed back today (Sunday). Friday was really sunny and so I took some great walks to see various lookout points of Mt. Cook. Saturday was great/grey all day and misty. It poured at around 8pm and that's also when I did the harshest hike of the weekend. I reached the top! At the top the wind picked up to crazy levels and I felt like I was going to get blown off. Then really hard hail came down and I got a headache from the pelting. It was all good. Kinda felt like Christmas. It really felt like home though. It was great.
Okay, talk to you guys soon! Remember, I love comments. :)
So here's my lame attempt at trying to recreate the people I live with into words!
- Capernwray Character Sketches
- GIRLS
- Similarities of all of them: All five of the girls are really awesome. They've also all got great smiles.
- Amber
- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Curly red hair
- Bubbly, charismatic, cheerful, enthusiastic about life
- Bright personality
- Super outgoing - will start conversations with pretty much anyone on the street
- Upbeat attitude and steps in with good mom-ness when things are getting out of hand ... she'll be an amazing mom
- "Shoulder height to everyone else - aka. short" - Jordan
- Proactive worker, part of the student council with Ben
- Inclusive, aware, fun, loud, caring
- Yeah, really uplifting - a huge help for me
- Loves museli (cereal) and occassionally steals some during the night and gives some to me
- Angela
- Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- Short straight light brown hair
- Loves the sciences, wants to work in the field dealing with creationism
- Reading the Narnia series out loud with Michael
- Personable, understandable, cheerful
- Overly nice: "Can I steal that?" when asking for something at the table
- Has a boyfriend named Adam back home
- Went on a long walk with her awhile ago, taking an alternate route to town and it ended up being super long and exhausting at the time. Had fun complaining.
- Used sin waves in her testimony
- She is really neat and tidy. Apparently she makes the girls' beds in the morning
- Aims to be asleep by 9:30, wakes up at 6:30
- Cameron
- Colorado, USA
- Short wing-y (awesome) dark brown hair with highlights
- We worked doing veggie prep for dinner together and now we clean up breakfast together
- I got her in trouble once when I took a leftover cake out of the fridge and pressured her into eating a piece of cake with me and Colin (note: that's the only time I have gotten into trouble, don't worry, I'm not a troublemaker!)
- Positive thinker, open-minded
- Cheerful, soft personality
- We relate when it comes to introvertedness... at one gathering her and I hid behind the couches so we wouldn't have to talk with any of the strangers
- Answers lots of the questions in lectuers - good perspectives
- Cara
- Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
- Short brown hair
- Very focused conversationalist - looks straight into the eyes and probably the soul
- Five foot five!
- Clothing article of choice: Cardigan
- Tough questioner, very frank, not afraid to get into debates
- She has a look
- Career hope: Medicine
- Likes asking questions and genuinely likes getting to know people
- "Will straight up tell you if she thinks you're stupid" - Jordan
- "Went to Catholic high school and skipped mass every three weeks" - Cara
- We almost always work together on Wednesday work day and those are good times
- She also reads my blog sometimes, so she gets major bonus points for that
- And she also has an amazing plaid shirt which gives her more bonus points
- Kelsey
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Long brown/blonde hair
- Consciencious, nice to everyone, fun
- Likes to Skype with her family
- Positive, very good with strangers, good manners is a way to put it, I suppose
- Who knows how many bags of clothes and toiletries she brought... oh wait, Bryan does, he had to carry them all here for her (Half J/K)
- Athletic - played volleyball, soccer, probably others during high school
- She also has a pretty amazing plaid shirt
- "Boy crazy" - Jordan
- GUYS
- All the guys are way more manly than I am. ;) Great guys, super funny, silly maniacs.
- Ben
- Alaska, USA
- Shaved head mostly - brown
- "Alaskan chin-bearded snow ninja" - Jordan
- Likes doing physical things - can climb anything (walls, trees), strong
- Wants to be a worship leader - plays the guitar a bunch, also a great piano player
- Confident, proud, perfectionist, lots of knowledge
- Clothing article of choice: Probably a muscle shirt if he was allowed to wear one
- Takes lots of videos - has made 4 volumes of our activities this year already
- Already got accepted into an astronomer program in Florida after Bible school - got huge scholarship for that
- Bryan
- Red Deer area, Alberta, Canada
- Straight red hair with long-ish bangs
- Clothing article of choice: Skinny jeans, has an amazing yellow toque
- Brought 12 pairs of shoes along
- Hair straightener
- Uplifting, encouraging, outgoing
- Great photographer
- Plays in a worship band. Can play guitar, bass, drums, piano
- Smiley, amused at my laugh, and does snicker a lot
- "Secretly a ladies man" - Jordan
- Colin
- Abbotsford, BC, Canada
- Short red hair, hairy, born on St. Patrick`s Day = He`s probably a leprocaun
- Great storyteller
- Has had some incredibly terrible yet funny things happen to him
- Between 9pm and 9am he`s pretty much disfunctional
- Very enthusiastic about the things he likes
- A good co-councellor, great at disciplining
- Extensive Bible knowledge
- Intern, nicknamed "Esau"
- Good trip organizer - leader
- Clothing article: Dwight Schrute t-shirt
- Won highschool yearbook award: Best bum
- Laugh goes very high pitched
- Joel
- Walheim(?), Saskatchewan, Canada
- CURLY brown hair
- Goofball - huge personality
- Sings a silly rap for every birthday
- Football player body
- Clothing article of choice: Sweatpants, bumblebee socks
- Makes lots of announcements after meals, usually about J&J's Fitness Club
- Has a huge Canadian accent
- Shot off a possum's foot and wrapped it up and put it in a box and gave it to Cara, haha oh boy...
- Jonas
- Germany
- Curly short blonde hair
- "Likes Starcraft more the people" - Jordan
- Best buds with Joseph/Moseph and Joel
- Clothing article of choice: Well, he just bought a white Cowboy hat for 7 bucks...
- 21 - oldest person here
- Witty, confident, a jokester
- Created J&J's Fitness Club with Joel - it's pretty much just them and Joseph now
- Jordan
- Salt Spring, BC, Canada
- Dark brown hair - growing it out, getting curlier
- Clothing article of choice: Underpants
- Most interesting life ever - amazing storyteller
- Tells at least 3 great stories every day:
- Examples:
- - One time when he and his dad were driving in their truck they passed a hitch hiker who gave them the finger. His dad passed him, turned around and then went back and picked him up. He told the guy about the gospel and then kicked him out the door.
- - Crazy pranks with his friends like seran wrapping the whole school for 7 hours
- - Too many awesome stories to write I'll just stop with those two.
- "If I were to date one guy here it would be:" Jordan
- Big frame - he is a logger
- Funny - also has a great explosion sound effect
- Loves the outdoors
- Willing prayer
- I probably connect with him the most out of the guys, he's really encouraging and silly
- Farts a lot - loudly and sometimes amazingly long (along with Bryan)
- Michael
- Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
- Short straight dark brown hair
- Can talk for long periods of time (about very intellectual things)
- Likes to climb trees - will disappear randomly and will be somewhere in a tree
- Played the piano on the back of a moving trailor through town
- Strong political standpoints
- Very consciencious about sticking to morals, good practices
- Clothing article of choice: Drivers cap
- Umm, did I say intellectual?
- Robert
- Alaska, USA via Illinois, USA
- "Handsome Rob"
- Quiet demeanor but can really add fun, introspective things to conversations
- Long curly dark brown hair, thick black glasses, chin beard, wears toque a lot
- Clothing article of choice: Nothing, likes it drafty (joke ... he's actually the opposite)
- Passionate about music - plays acoustic guitar, bass, got a harmonica for his birthday
- I love it when he plays his guitar outside + sings
- Can imitate voices very well, especially the "hick" voice
- Stays up late with Bryan and Jordan
- Takes lots of photos
- "Journals a lot" - Jordan
- Adam/Me
- "Weird"
- Runs away a lot (without any warning) - which makes the guys uneasy "Uh oh, where'd Adam go?" - The guys have spent 3 hours combined looking for me apparently
- "A man of many laughs"
- Can be very hyper at night
- Clothing article of choice: Plaid shirts
- "Onion" - Jordan
I just got back from a great travel weekend where I went to Mt. Cook.
I went alone and hitch hiked up on Thursday and bussed back today (Sunday). Friday was really sunny and so I took some great walks to see various lookout points of Mt. Cook. Saturday was great/grey all day and misty. It poured at around 8pm and that's also when I did the harshest hike of the weekend. I reached the top! At the top the wind picked up to crazy levels and I felt like I was going to get blown off. Then really hard hail came down and I got a headache from the pelting. It was all good. Kinda felt like Christmas. It really felt like home though. It was great.
Okay, talk to you guys soon! Remember, I love comments. :)
3.11.09
Swimming Upstream
Faithful readers,
Summer is upon us New Zealand habitants.
It's getting hot! I'm not happy about this. I'm ready for rain, 7-12 degrees, crisp, cool weather. Not gonna happen... I'm cotntinuing to wear my plaid shirts faithfully however. The upside to the good weather is that we've been able to have meals outside and there's been lots of volleyball, frisbee, soccer action going on in the yard which is fun.
Last week was rough, but this week has been better. Having the redemption project over and done with definitely helps! Last weekend was good. On Sunday I went to Peel Forest and had a great time with some Capers and the Shaws, a family from the church we also attend. The four kids in the family are all in the 2-8 age range and they were a joy to be around. I was told some interesting stories about polar bears turning brown and penguins trying to fly.
We also had a tidiest room competition last week, with the winner receiving a big dairy milk chocolate bar. Gosh, we really needed an incentive to clean our room because well... our room was fillllllllllllllthy. One of the guys rooms was already really tidy, and the other guys room was even messier than ours. The girls room was messy too ... so I heard. In our room there were shirts, papers, junk everywhere. The first three days of the week it was so messy we were assigned "extra-duties" for having an unclean room. I cleaned windows and loaded and unloaded firewood for my extra duties for the two days I was punished. My roommates also had to do some different extra-duties. We also got some clothes confiscated (the clothes which were on the ground) so it wasn't so fun. After the second day of doing extra-duties, Joel announced that our room was going to win the award, so that day we stuffed all of our belongings into various cupbards, and secret places Hanna, the inspector, would never look. By the end of Thursday we could see the entire floor and were eagerly waiting for Friday. After breakfast on Friday we cleaned our room before the final inspection. Before we left, we arranged our shoes in the shape of a heart in the middle of the floor. Couldn't hurt. After classes I ran up to our room and in the middle of our shoe-heart... a chocolate bar! And a heart-shaped note telling us how much of an improvement we made. Now, turns out this wasn't the grand-prize chocolate bar, but we were satisfied. The guys room which was clean all week won the award, makes sense. So far this week we've been able to keep the room at a respectable level of cleanliness.
I've kept my laughing under control a bit better lately I think. My roommate, Joel is keeping track of how many times I burst out laughing at lectures/meals. I'm over 25.
I really wish you could see the antics of these people I'm living with...
I've actually been working on character sketches and so that may be able to help you out a bit if you want to picture it.
A bit of insight into my other roommate, Michael: In the middle of the night a couple days ago, when Joel and I were still up (Michael goes to bed at 9:30-10:30 whereas Joel and I go to bed at 11ish or later) Michael breaks the silence and shouts "I've figured it out!"
Joel/Adam: "Figured out what?"
Michael: "I've figured out what you guys are! Joel, you're a forest gnome. Adam, you're a wood elf."
*Joel bursts out laughing*
It was so random!
Apparently Michael was thinking for a long time about what mythical creature we were.
Yesterday when playing volleyball I told Michael that he's a desert shepherd. I don't know why I thought of that, but now that's what I call him from time to time...
And now, as promised, here's some stuff I've learned...
Scattered notes!
Richard Neville
Excerpts:
"What do we mean when we say that our most significant struggle in life is with God? In fact we are saying that God is finally the one who determines the outcomes of our life, the outcomes of our struggles with other human beings, and the outcomes of all our best efforts, our successes, and our failures. God is imminent in our lives, he is present to help, to guide, to protect. To wrestle with God, (like Jacob did in Genesis) means to recognize this reality and therefore to look to him and depend on him. It means to shrug off any pretence to self-sufficiency and independence and recognise that we need God, and we need his blessing on our lives, as Jacob did.
Our failures to not surprise God. They should not cripple us.
"The end of ourselves is the beginning of God."
Russell Kelfer
Assimilation, not identification. That's what God wants.
Did you wake up and forget to eat physical food this morning? Not likely.
Did you wake up and have spiritual bread this morning?
Did you remember to assimilate your life with God's this morning?
Learning from Joseph
God uses every experience to change a person.
God-designed miraclesto transport us where He needs us to be.
1. The seeds of greatness come in unexpected pacakges.
2. There is a great future in past failures.
God never trades you, he only trains you.
Suffering (Like Joseph)
1. Through unjust suffering God changes our character.
2. Our testimony is magnified when other watch us endure
3. It is an honour to suffer for God's glory (!)
He blesses us through our circumstances instead of getting us out of them.
Christian must choose to surrender to God. Garments on glory are to be worn only by God. If we are dead, what right have we to glory?
Sometimes we can only change after pain.
God didn't ask you to live the Christian life. Relax. Let God use your mind and body.
Glory
He reveals His glory through us. We must return it to Him.
God reveals glory through:
Creation, His incarnation, Hid death, His return, saints:
When His character is revealed through us.
Through our afflictions.
Through our weakness.
God is strong when we are weak.
(Spiritually better when weak.)
God's power is made stronger when we are weak.
"My power is made strong in weakness. _2 Cor. 12:9
Strengths can be stumbling blocks in our faith.
Praise Him for unfulfilled dreams.
All areas of nothing provide a vessel for God.
To get to the top floor of God's tower you have to press down on the elevator.
When doing tasks, we don't need a lot of experience, we only need a lot of God
Give God the glory for victories, take the blame for mistakes.
Stares from squares? Who cares? God looks into the heart.
Lecturer: Chris Baines
Colossians//
Refrain from making the Bible academic, get the Bible into your heart.
Come to the Lord because you yearn for Him, get away from the tick boxes.
God qualifies the called, doesn't call the qualified.
God loves me not because I am loveable but because He is so loving.
If you look into the world: Distressed
If you look into the self: Depressed
If you look into God: You'll be BLESSED.
When you forgive, you set the prisoner free and you realize the prisoner was you.
Jonah//
God sends storms into our lives to get us where he wants us to be, not where we want to be.
"New believers get angry when they turn their lives over to Christ and they still have problems. I always tell a person if they want to surrender their life to Christ, they'll have more problems than before. The difference is now they'll be living it with God."
Make a choice to swim upstream.
A prayer:
"Dear God,
I am so weary of living life in my own energy. By your devine grace, may I die again that I might become a useable deadman, totally filled and flooded with Jesus Christ. ... Live your life through me today. It is not in me. Amen"
Here's a segment of the devotion I lead:
Failing:
A good starting point: "The way we understand human life depends on what conception we have of the human story. What is the real story of which my life is a part? That is the question which determines what we believe to be success and what failure." Richard talked a lot about living radically different lives than those who don't know Christ and this could be a defining feature in the difference between the lifestyles. Are we living for earthy things, or setting our sights on heaven? On one hand, the media tells us that money and fame among other materialistic things are the defining features of living a good life. It's hard for an easily influenced person like me to get sucked into this mindset because this is the message which bombards TVs, radios and billboards. On the other hand: doing the work of the Lord, to glorify His name, and placing the importance on the spirit rather than stockpiling earthly materials are some of the features of a folloewer of Christ. It's a challenge because we live in a sinners world. It's comforting to know, however, that God expects nothing but absolute failure from us.
In Revolution Within, Dwight Edwards states "The spectaculness of God, the striking grandeur of God, would be seen through the most unlikely material of all-frail, faltering humanity. This is the essential meaning of what it is to glorify God." Nothing we can do on earth will ever be able to come close to the standards of God: "Every one of them has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one." As bleak as this message seems, it gets the point across that we need to be desperate for God.
Through Russell Kelfer's analysis on the Joseph story, he talks about how God uses every situation (including unjust suffering) to change a person. He blesses us through our circumstances instead of getting us out of them. It's all part of his plan to get us to depend on him even more. Kris re-enforced this a couple days ago saying "God has a purpose in our suffering."
God Is Good All of the Time
The realization that God is good at all times, "even when the sky turns dark we must believe that behind the clouds God's face shines upon us" is an ongoing process for me. To believe God is good even when everything seems to be going wrong.
An amazing illustration of this trust in God at all times:
On May 17, 2007 Barabar's niece had her first daughter. Melody and Brian were overwhelmed with the joy of Eliana's safe arrival. That joy soon turned to fear and sorrow as they watched their 5lb 10oz baby girl slowly dying in her mother's arms. She had a rare metabolic disorder. She couldn't digest her mother's milk and instead converted it into toxins. No child in america had survived this disorder. It is rare that isgoes undiagnosed until it is too late. [Richard Neville] received an email from Brian on May 19, he wrote:
"Eliana is very ill. She has been diagnosed with... a genetic defect.
There is no cure for this disease. Pray that she will respond to treatments and truly be a miracle baby.
God is Good All of the Time.
The last affirmation of faith if the key.
The affirmation of God's goodness is seen in the very beginning... God created everything to be good and his first act after creation was to bless us, and even after we sinned, he was determined to bless us.
I'll end with a quote by Billy Strachan:
"He's so trustable yet I don't think I've ever gotten what I wanted."
Summer is upon us New Zealand habitants.
It's getting hot! I'm not happy about this. I'm ready for rain, 7-12 degrees, crisp, cool weather. Not gonna happen... I'm cotntinuing to wear my plaid shirts faithfully however. The upside to the good weather is that we've been able to have meals outside and there's been lots of volleyball, frisbee, soccer action going on in the yard which is fun.
Last week was rough, but this week has been better. Having the redemption project over and done with definitely helps! Last weekend was good. On Sunday I went to Peel Forest and had a great time with some Capers and the Shaws, a family from the church we also attend. The four kids in the family are all in the 2-8 age range and they were a joy to be around. I was told some interesting stories about polar bears turning brown and penguins trying to fly.
We also had a tidiest room competition last week, with the winner receiving a big dairy milk chocolate bar. Gosh, we really needed an incentive to clean our room because well... our room was fillllllllllllllthy. One of the guys rooms was already really tidy, and the other guys room was even messier than ours. The girls room was messy too ... so I heard. In our room there were shirts, papers, junk everywhere. The first three days of the week it was so messy we were assigned "extra-duties" for having an unclean room. I cleaned windows and loaded and unloaded firewood for my extra duties for the two days I was punished. My roommates also had to do some different extra-duties. We also got some clothes confiscated (the clothes which were on the ground) so it wasn't so fun. After the second day of doing extra-duties, Joel announced that our room was going to win the award, so that day we stuffed all of our belongings into various cupbards, and secret places Hanna, the inspector, would never look. By the end of Thursday we could see the entire floor and were eagerly waiting for Friday. After breakfast on Friday we cleaned our room before the final inspection. Before we left, we arranged our shoes in the shape of a heart in the middle of the floor. Couldn't hurt. After classes I ran up to our room and in the middle of our shoe-heart... a chocolate bar! And a heart-shaped note telling us how much of an improvement we made. Now, turns out this wasn't the grand-prize chocolate bar, but we were satisfied. The guys room which was clean all week won the award, makes sense. So far this week we've been able to keep the room at a respectable level of cleanliness.
I've kept my laughing under control a bit better lately I think. My roommate, Joel is keeping track of how many times I burst out laughing at lectures/meals. I'm over 25.
I really wish you could see the antics of these people I'm living with...
I've actually been working on character sketches and so that may be able to help you out a bit if you want to picture it.
A bit of insight into my other roommate, Michael: In the middle of the night a couple days ago, when Joel and I were still up (Michael goes to bed at 9:30-10:30 whereas Joel and I go to bed at 11ish or later) Michael breaks the silence and shouts "I've figured it out!"
Joel/Adam: "Figured out what?"
Michael: "I've figured out what you guys are! Joel, you're a forest gnome. Adam, you're a wood elf."
*Joel bursts out laughing*
It was so random!
Apparently Michael was thinking for a long time about what mythical creature we were.
Yesterday when playing volleyball I told Michael that he's a desert shepherd. I don't know why I thought of that, but now that's what I call him from time to time...
And now, as promised, here's some stuff I've learned...
Scattered notes!
Richard Neville
Excerpts:
"What do we mean when we say that our most significant struggle in life is with God? In fact we are saying that God is finally the one who determines the outcomes of our life, the outcomes of our struggles with other human beings, and the outcomes of all our best efforts, our successes, and our failures. God is imminent in our lives, he is present to help, to guide, to protect. To wrestle with God, (like Jacob did in Genesis) means to recognize this reality and therefore to look to him and depend on him. It means to shrug off any pretence to self-sufficiency and independence and recognise that we need God, and we need his blessing on our lives, as Jacob did.
Our failures to not surprise God. They should not cripple us.
"The end of ourselves is the beginning of God."
Russell Kelfer
Assimilation, not identification. That's what God wants.
Did you wake up and forget to eat physical food this morning? Not likely.
Did you wake up and have spiritual bread this morning?
Did you remember to assimilate your life with God's this morning?
Learning from Joseph
God uses every experience to change a person.
God-designed miraclesto transport us where He needs us to be.
1. The seeds of greatness come in unexpected pacakges.
2. There is a great future in past failures.
God never trades you, he only trains you.
Suffering (Like Joseph)
1. Through unjust suffering God changes our character.
2. Our testimony is magnified when other watch us endure
3. It is an honour to suffer for God's glory (!)
He blesses us through our circumstances instead of getting us out of them.
Christian must choose to surrender to God. Garments on glory are to be worn only by God. If we are dead, what right have we to glory?
Sometimes we can only change after pain.
God didn't ask you to live the Christian life. Relax. Let God use your mind and body.
Glory
He reveals His glory through us. We must return it to Him.
God reveals glory through:
Creation, His incarnation, Hid death, His return, saints:
When His character is revealed through us.
Through our afflictions.
Through our weakness.
God is strong when we are weak.
(Spiritually better when weak.)
God's power is made stronger when we are weak.
"My power is made strong in weakness. _2 Cor. 12:9
Strengths can be stumbling blocks in our faith.
Praise Him for unfulfilled dreams.
All areas of nothing provide a vessel for God.
To get to the top floor of God's tower you have to press down on the elevator.
When doing tasks, we don't need a lot of experience, we only need a lot of God
Give God the glory for victories, take the blame for mistakes.
Stares from squares? Who cares? God looks into the heart.
Lecturer: Chris Baines
Colossians//
Refrain from making the Bible academic, get the Bible into your heart.
Come to the Lord because you yearn for Him, get away from the tick boxes.
God qualifies the called, doesn't call the qualified.
God loves me not because I am loveable but because He is so loving.
If you look into the world: Distressed
If you look into the self: Depressed
If you look into God: You'll be BLESSED.
When you forgive, you set the prisoner free and you realize the prisoner was you.
Jonah//
God sends storms into our lives to get us where he wants us to be, not where we want to be.
"New believers get angry when they turn their lives over to Christ and they still have problems. I always tell a person if they want to surrender their life to Christ, they'll have more problems than before. The difference is now they'll be living it with God."
Make a choice to swim upstream.
A prayer:
"Dear God,
I am so weary of living life in my own energy. By your devine grace, may I die again that I might become a useable deadman, totally filled and flooded with Jesus Christ. ... Live your life through me today. It is not in me. Amen"
Here's a segment of the devotion I lead:
Failing:
A good starting point: "The way we understand human life depends on what conception we have of the human story. What is the real story of which my life is a part? That is the question which determines what we believe to be success and what failure." Richard talked a lot about living radically different lives than those who don't know Christ and this could be a defining feature in the difference between the lifestyles. Are we living for earthy things, or setting our sights on heaven? On one hand, the media tells us that money and fame among other materialistic things are the defining features of living a good life. It's hard for an easily influenced person like me to get sucked into this mindset because this is the message which bombards TVs, radios and billboards. On the other hand: doing the work of the Lord, to glorify His name, and placing the importance on the spirit rather than stockpiling earthly materials are some of the features of a folloewer of Christ. It's a challenge because we live in a sinners world. It's comforting to know, however, that God expects nothing but absolute failure from us.
In Revolution Within, Dwight Edwards states "The spectaculness of God, the striking grandeur of God, would be seen through the most unlikely material of all-frail, faltering humanity. This is the essential meaning of what it is to glorify God." Nothing we can do on earth will ever be able to come close to the standards of God: "Every one of them has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one." As bleak as this message seems, it gets the point across that we need to be desperate for God.
Through Russell Kelfer's analysis on the Joseph story, he talks about how God uses every situation (including unjust suffering) to change a person. He blesses us through our circumstances instead of getting us out of them. It's all part of his plan to get us to depend on him even more. Kris re-enforced this a couple days ago saying "God has a purpose in our suffering."
God Is Good All of the Time
The realization that God is good at all times, "even when the sky turns dark we must believe that behind the clouds God's face shines upon us" is an ongoing process for me. To believe God is good even when everything seems to be going wrong.
An amazing illustration of this trust in God at all times:
On May 17, 2007 Barabar's niece had her first daughter. Melody and Brian were overwhelmed with the joy of Eliana's safe arrival. That joy soon turned to fear and sorrow as they watched their 5lb 10oz baby girl slowly dying in her mother's arms. She had a rare metabolic disorder. She couldn't digest her mother's milk and instead converted it into toxins. No child in america had survived this disorder. It is rare that isgoes undiagnosed until it is too late. [Richard Neville] received an email from Brian on May 19, he wrote:
"Eliana is very ill. She has been diagnosed with... a genetic defect.
There is no cure for this disease. Pray that she will respond to treatments and truly be a miracle baby.
God is Good All of the Time.
The last affirmation of faith if the key.
The affirmation of God's goodness is seen in the very beginning... God created everything to be good and his first act after creation was to bless us, and even after we sinned, he was determined to bless us.
I'll end with a quote by Billy Strachan:
"He's so trustable yet I don't think I've ever gotten what I wanted."
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