Thursday, October 29, 2015
Monday, October 26, 2015
Missions Trip
Any Idea where we are going on our Missions Trip???
Guatemala and Honduras!
From February 26/27 to March 5th we will be in Guatemala.
And From March 5th to March 9th we will be in Honduras.
We will be back in Canada on the 9th of March.
More specific details are hopefully coming soon.
I will have to do fundraising, so if you have any interest in supporting me, I would be thrilled! I don't know any other details yet, nor do I know how much money I need for the trip (since I have already paid $1,000), but Ido know that we are suppose to get some more details sometime soon. I will share them with you when I get them.
I am quite excited to be able to travel to these countries! I have never been out of North America.
Overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit
Sunday Evening: Twenty20
Ohh my. The church I am going to up here in Canada, has a
belief that no church that I have ever been to has taught. They believe in the
speaking of tongues and that everyone can tongues. They believe that there are two baptisms, a
water baptism and a Holy Spirit baptism.
I have grown up only believing and knowing about one baptism, and it has
challenged me a lot up here. I’ve
questioned “what if there is a second baptism? Have I been baptized in the Holy
Spirit?”
Until Sunday night…
I now believe in two baptisms. And if I hadn’t been baptized
in the Holy Spirit before, I am now.
Last night at the college-age ‘program’ at Koinonia (twenty20), God’s presence what there.
After the speaker spoke on forgiveness, he opened the room up to a time
of prayer with God. Hearts were opened
and God was moving. Something (I
believe it was the Holy Spirit) came over me and I was overwhelmed. I felt as though I was being prompted to say
something to God, but what I was prompted to say sounded completely like gibberish
to my ears. Even though it was od, I
felt as though the Holy Spirit desperately wanted me to speak this to God, and
so I started speaking. Through this I
felt as though God was speaking to me.
I continued speaking this “Spirit
language” and praising in God.
After a bit, my fingers started to tingle and I got almost a
mix between light headed and a strange headache. Then I felt a pressure on top of me, a
weight that was quite heavy. The weight
pushed me down on to my chair (we were all standing up), and I felt God continuing
to move. As a bowed down and prayed, I
separated my hands as if I were allowing God to freely enter. Through more prayer, praise and speaking in
‘these tongues,’ I felt my fingers tingling greatly, and I lost feeling in the
tips of them. My hands felt like they
were holding magnets because they felt as thought they were being pulled
together. And every time I tried to pull them back apart it was like pulling
two strong magnets apart. I suddenly
became very cool, and chilled (every time in past experiences I become very
cool/cold and a chill continually will run through me when the presence of God
is strong). My body began to shake; my
muscles shook and jumped randomly, continually and uncontrollably. As I was speaking in tongues the Holy Spirit
told me that I was speaking out my life and sins to God, that I was giving it
all to Him, I was letting him hear it all from me. I had no idea what exactly I was saying, but
I knew that God was hearing it. I felt a
wave of peace as I was saying these things, and afterwards I felt great joy
along with the peace. During all this,
the guy next to me put his hand on me and immediately, God told me that He has
His hand on me, He as all control, He is there. He spoke to me saying different
things through this whole experience.
Now I have no doubt that I have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Praise
God!
Crazy Crafts and No Gas
Sunday
Morning: I arrived at church at about 7:20 am (I had to get up so early, because the church is about 30 minutes away, and I didn't get to sleep Saturday night until past midnight because we were helping at SVET all night.
The craft went well. When I was asked if I was ready for everything before class started, I said no, I had no idea (except for craft). Thankfully she (the main leader) said she would do the welcoming, rule teaching, offering/offering song, and an additional song for me, and I only had to do the craft - That was a HUGE relief. The craft was David and Goliath pipe cleaners that would pop up when you pull a sting. The kids din't have to do any of that though, they just had to basically color. It took me over 5 hours to get all 20 of these pre-made, plus Daniel helped for a lot of it. Some of the work was done Friday after SLI, some was Saturday during SVET and the rest was done before church on Sunday.
Evening: After Twenty20 (read the next post to hear about twenty20), on the drive home, I figured that even though I had very little gas, that I could make it home and back into the gas station the next day. Plus all the gas stations on our way home were closed (most gas stations aren't 24/7 like they are in the US. Anyways, we were several km away from home and I run out of fuel. It was dark and Leah wasn't answering her phone, so we decide we would try to push the car the rest of the way home. Pushing the care was actually kind of fun, thank goodness Echo's are light! But we still had several big hills to deal with up ahead and I started having trouble breathing (asthma). So we stopped for a bit, as we were stopping Leah happened to drive by and after talking to her, she went back and brought us some fuel from home.
Morning: I arrived at church at about 7:20 am (I had to get up so early, because the church is about 30 minutes away, and I didn't get to sleep Saturday night until past midnight because we were helping at SVET all night.
The craft went well. When I was asked if I was ready for everything before class started, I said no, I had no idea (except for craft). Thankfully she (the main leader) said she would do the welcoming, rule teaching, offering/offering song, and an additional song for me, and I only had to do the craft - That was a HUGE relief. The craft was David and Goliath pipe cleaners that would pop up when you pull a sting. The kids din't have to do any of that though, they just had to basically color. It took me over 5 hours to get all 20 of these pre-made, plus Daniel helped for a lot of it. Some of the work was done Friday after SLI, some was Saturday during SVET and the rest was done before church on Sunday.
Evening: After Twenty20 (read the next post to hear about twenty20), on the drive home, I figured that even though I had very little gas, that I could make it home and back into the gas station the next day. Plus all the gas stations on our way home were closed (most gas stations aren't 24/7 like they are in the US. Anyways, we were several km away from home and I run out of fuel. It was dark and Leah wasn't answering her phone, so we decide we would try to push the car the rest of the way home. Pushing the care was actually kind of fun, thank goodness Echo's are light! But we still had several big hills to deal with up ahead and I started having trouble breathing (asthma). So we stopped for a bit, as we were stopping Leah happened to drive by and after talking to her, she went back and brought us some fuel from home.
SVET
Saturday
In the evening Daniel and I went to an event at the church called SVET. Daniel attended the event, while I did some other things, including work on my Kindergarten craft preparation for Sunday morning. After the event, both Daniel and I helped clean up and spent most of the time washing dishes. Well, thats not entirely true, Daniel spent the whole time washing dishes, I spent most of the time, sorting dishes from trash, moving things around, helping Daniel, and Drying and putting away dishes. It was actually a lot of fun.
In the evening Daniel and I went to an event at the church called SVET. Daniel attended the event, while I did some other things, including work on my Kindergarten craft preparation for Sunday morning. After the event, both Daniel and I helped clean up and spent most of the time washing dishes. Well, thats not entirely true, Daniel spent the whole time washing dishes, I spent most of the time, sorting dishes from trash, moving things around, helping Daniel, and Drying and putting away dishes. It was actually a lot of fun.
Grade 1 & 2
Friday
I was helping the Grade 1 and 2 class. Daniel, who is helping the grade 3 and 4 class this month, was sent in to help us out (because grade 1's & 2's need a lot of "help," especially when it comes to staying on task.
I was helping the Grade 1 and 2 class. Daniel, who is helping the grade 3 and 4 class this month, was sent in to help us out (because grade 1's & 2's need a lot of "help," especially when it comes to staying on task.
Allergy Shot
Thursday
To be honest, since Thursday was 4 days ago, I don't remember what we did in SLI. After SLI I went and got my allergy shot, and only had a minor reaction (less than the previous 2 times).
To be honest, since Thursday was 4 days ago, I don't remember what we did in SLI. After SLI I went and got my allergy shot, and only had a minor reaction (less than the previous 2 times).
Brain Aptitude Test and Bill Nye vs Ken Ham
Wednesday
During 3-3.5 of our 4 hour SLI Class, we did a Brain aptitude Test, Someone came in and gave us the test, we will get the results back in a few weeks and they guy will be back in January to explain more of the results. It was a pretty neat test. It doesn't measure your smarts or anything like that, it just tells you what you are good at and what your are not. For example, (and I am just assuming here because I haven't got the results back) I think I am good at 2-D rotating shapes (visually) but am not good at reading words jammed together (with no spaces) that are both backwards and upside-down. Nor am I good at memorizing a 7 digit number left to right, and then writing them down left to right backwards with a certain number missing. That should just give a very very quick look at a few of the types of questions.
In the evening I went to Life Groups (I am in My Ready Defense - which helps prepare people for evolution vs creation debates), and we watched part of the Ken Ham (CEO of Answers in Genesis) vs Bill Nye (the science Guy) Debate. It was great.
During 3-3.5 of our 4 hour SLI Class, we did a Brain aptitude Test, Someone came in and gave us the test, we will get the results back in a few weeks and they guy will be back in January to explain more of the results. It was a pretty neat test. It doesn't measure your smarts or anything like that, it just tells you what you are good at and what your are not. For example, (and I am just assuming here because I haven't got the results back) I think I am good at 2-D rotating shapes (visually) but am not good at reading words jammed together (with no spaces) that are both backwards and upside-down. Nor am I good at memorizing a 7 digit number left to right, and then writing them down left to right backwards with a certain number missing. That should just give a very very quick look at a few of the types of questions.
In the evening I went to Life Groups (I am in My Ready Defense - which helps prepare people for evolution vs creation debates), and we watched part of the Ken Ham (CEO of Answers in Genesis) vs Bill Nye (the science Guy) Debate. It was great.
YNAB
Well I haven't wrote anything for a bit for several reasons, most of them are my fault. for one I have been very forgetful and secondly I have done a very poor job of Time Management last week. This week we have had horrible internet too, which is why I haven't posted anything in the past 2 or 3 days.
Anyways, God has answered my prayer, and I was shown a way to use YNAB a lot easier without all the frustration.
Anyways, God has answered my prayer, and I was shown a way to use YNAB a lot easier without all the frustration.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Prayer Request
Something that I could use prayer for is my stress. I have been very stressed out trying to set up my budget on the computer (using YNAB). I am required to us YNAB for the next 9 months, and I just have so many issues. It doesn't help that I have to do my bank flow and cash flow differently because of the exchange rate (for example when I buy something for $10 here, only $7.50 comes out of my account) and when I do anything with my debit/credit card the purchase is followed by at least 4 or 5 fees (very small, but I still have to put them in YNAB). Generally I think it would be easier to just use my debit/credit card and no cash, but I don't quite work like that. I flow so much smoother when I can do everything with cash. It's all very mixed up and confusing.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Freezing Wind is Love???
Ahhh Tonight, tonight was Wonderfull. God showed me his love and creation again.
As I was driving home from a get-together, I drove home with the windows down, breeze flowing through the car. I didn't care that it was -1 C* (29 F*) outside, and it felt cooler driving 80 Km/hr. Go showed me this:
The Wind is like Gods Love:
As I was driving home from a get-together, I drove home with the windows down, breeze flowing through the car. I didn't care that it was -1 C* (29 F*) outside, and it felt cooler driving 80 Km/hr. Go showed me this:
The Wind is like Gods Love:
Wind Love
invisible to human eyes invisible to human eyes
Can be felt Can be felt
is older than mankind is older than mankind
Can be seen in others Can be seen in others
God's creation Gods creation
is all around us is all around us
we can sometimes feel it we can sometimes feel it
Sometimes it can't be felt Sometimes it can't be felt
But it is always there But it is always there
For Example, you can see a kite as you can see a person, you can see that wind is moving the kite as you can see love is moving a person, but you cannot see the actual love or wind.
It felt good just to be with God's creation and love, on a cold crisp night alone.
Week Highlights
Highlights of this past week:
Highlight #1: Laura gave me some slippers to ware around the house during this coming winter. They are really comfy and are actually quite warm (and they fit well)! Thank you Laura!
Highlight #2: It snowed! We woke up Sunday morning to find a blanket of snow outside. It was beautiful and wonderful. I hope that we get a lot more and soon (thought not many people would agree with me).
Highlight #3: I was assigned to help out at Ray of Hope. Ray of Hope use to be a Dream Center in Kitchener, but he Dream Center didn't work out and Ray of Hope came in and turned it all around. They are very much the alike. The provide lots of food, services, classes, counseling, a Christian environment and many other things to the homeless of Kitchener. I was pushed outside of my comfort zone by having to "mingle" with the people that came for the service before the meal that Koinonia was providing (Koinonia provides the evening meal ever third Sunday of the month). After the service we were to eat and talk with them during the meal. I was not really looking forward to this step out of my bubble, nor an awkward conversation. But God worked it all out and I got to talk with some great people and hear some of their stories and such. (By the way, Jonathan, a older man named Robby said to say "hi" and wants you to come back sometime).
---
This morning in Church I served in Kindergarten. I had to teach them their new memory verse. It went okay, It was very uncomfortable, but thankfully it was a very short verse. However next week I am really worried about. Next week I have to do welcome (welcoming statements, rules, offering - and offering song- and a song of some sort), plus I have to do a craft dealing with David and Goliath. Does any one have any Ideas, I could use as many as possible.
Highlight #1: Laura gave me some slippers to ware around the house during this coming winter. They are really comfy and are actually quite warm (and they fit well)! Thank you Laura!
Highlight #2: It snowed! We woke up Sunday morning to find a blanket of snow outside. It was beautiful and wonderful. I hope that we get a lot more and soon (thought not many people would agree with me).
Highlight #3: I was assigned to help out at Ray of Hope. Ray of Hope use to be a Dream Center in Kitchener, but he Dream Center didn't work out and Ray of Hope came in and turned it all around. They are very much the alike. The provide lots of food, services, classes, counseling, a Christian environment and many other things to the homeless of Kitchener. I was pushed outside of my comfort zone by having to "mingle" with the people that came for the service before the meal that Koinonia was providing (Koinonia provides the evening meal ever third Sunday of the month). After the service we were to eat and talk with them during the meal. I was not really looking forward to this step out of my bubble, nor an awkward conversation. But God worked it all out and I got to talk with some great people and hear some of their stories and such. (By the way, Jonathan, a older man named Robby said to say "hi" and wants you to come back sometime).
---
This morning in Church I served in Kindergarten. I had to teach them their new memory verse. It went okay, It was very uncomfortable, but thankfully it was a very short verse. However next week I am really worried about. Next week I have to do welcome (welcoming statements, rules, offering - and offering song- and a song of some sort), plus I have to do a craft dealing with David and Goliath. Does any one have any Ideas, I could use as many as possible.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Movie Review
The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Movie
On a scale of 1-10 (10 the highest) I would give The Scorch Trials at least a 6 for story. The story was pretty good, it was the content wasn't that great. I didn't watch the whole movie because I had my eyes closed for a few minutes because of some less appropriate scenes. The was quite a bit of language, violence and to my surprise, zombies. Yes all those really made me look down on the movie more, but what really turned me off was they used the Lord's name in vane multiple times. Because of this I would rate the movie about a 1 Unfiltered. When it comes out on DVD, if ClearPlay will filter out all that stuff, I would consider watching it again. I would not recommend this movie, it is not a family friendly movie either.
On a scale of 1-10 (10 the highest) I would give The Scorch Trials at least a 6 for story. The story was pretty good, it was the content wasn't that great. I didn't watch the whole movie because I had my eyes closed for a few minutes because of some less appropriate scenes. The was quite a bit of language, violence and to my surprise, zombies. Yes all those really made me look down on the movie more, but what really turned me off was they used the Lord's name in vane multiple times. Because of this I would rate the movie about a 1 Unfiltered. When it comes out on DVD, if ClearPlay will filter out all that stuff, I would consider watching it again. I would not recommend this movie, it is not a family friendly movie either.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
You Need A Budget
Tuesday October 13 2015,
This morning in SLI, we had Bryce as our teacher. We didn't use the first half hour or so to do our devotions though like we normally do. Instead Bryce gave us a extensive talk on basically not to judge the book we are reading before we get to know the author more and to hear what he is saying - A lot of complaints have come from this book (The Compassionate Samurai - which by the way I really liked). After this talk, we then did our devotions. We then went and did "Chair Fellowship." Or at least thats what they call it. Every Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is a Holliday - Yesterday was thanksgiving in Canada) we SLI students go into the gym (also the auditorium) and stack and put away chairs from the Sunday service. However we only put away the chars in the back half of the gym, because a curtain comes down in the middle and they use the back half for the KCA (Koinonia Christian Academy - basically the school) gym class/time. As usual, after Chair Fellowship, we got a 15 minute break. After our break, we did some more budgeting with Bryce. Next time we will be working more with our budgeting software, YNAB or You Need A Budget.
For the remaining of class (about 2 hours) we went outside and help set up for a KCA-Run (thingy - where they run to raise money or something). Anyways the KCA students had to run around the property (around cones and markers) as many times as they could in a given amount of time. The kids were also split up into 4 different color groups, and each time they made a lap, they would get a Stirring Stick and put into a bowl marked with their color. So I basically helped out with that and even got to run 2 laps with them - and man, am I out of shape. I felt like my heart was going to explode even after a half a lap. But it was fun.
Tonight I am going with a few other fellow SLI's to the 9:50 pm showing of the sequel of the Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials. I am hopping it is as good as the first one. The theater costs apparently about $12- $13 per ticket, but they have Half-Price Tuesdays and it will only be about $6 or $7 dollars CAD per ticket, which is about $4 or $5 USD per ticket - a really good deal.
This morning in SLI, we had Bryce as our teacher. We didn't use the first half hour or so to do our devotions though like we normally do. Instead Bryce gave us a extensive talk on basically not to judge the book we are reading before we get to know the author more and to hear what he is saying - A lot of complaints have come from this book (The Compassionate Samurai - which by the way I really liked). After this talk, we then did our devotions. We then went and did "Chair Fellowship." Or at least thats what they call it. Every Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is a Holliday - Yesterday was thanksgiving in Canada) we SLI students go into the gym (also the auditorium) and stack and put away chairs from the Sunday service. However we only put away the chars in the back half of the gym, because a curtain comes down in the middle and they use the back half for the KCA (Koinonia Christian Academy - basically the school) gym class/time. As usual, after Chair Fellowship, we got a 15 minute break. After our break, we did some more budgeting with Bryce. Next time we will be working more with our budgeting software, YNAB or You Need A Budget.
For the remaining of class (about 2 hours) we went outside and help set up for a KCA-Run (thingy - where they run to raise money or something). Anyways the KCA students had to run around the property (around cones and markers) as many times as they could in a given amount of time. The kids were also split up into 4 different color groups, and each time they made a lap, they would get a Stirring Stick and put into a bowl marked with their color. So I basically helped out with that and even got to run 2 laps with them - and man, am I out of shape. I felt like my heart was going to explode even after a half a lap. But it was fun.
Tonight I am going with a few other fellow SLI's to the 9:50 pm showing of the sequel of the Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials. I am hopping it is as good as the first one. The theater costs apparently about $12- $13 per ticket, but they have Half-Price Tuesdays and it will only be about $6 or $7 dollars CAD per ticket, which is about $4 or $5 USD per ticket - a really good deal.
Canadian Thanksgiving
Monday - Thanksgiving
Well, it was quite odd to have thanksgiving in the middle of October, though it was nice to have a day off. I din't do much in the morning, or at least not much that was productive. Late morning I went out on a walk, and just used it as if I were walking with God, I thoroughly enjoyed just spending some time alone with Him out in is creation, just talking with Him. around 2:00 pm we were all put to work preparing Thanksgiving Dinner. Jim's sister and family were coming around 4:00 pm. So I ended up mostly, washing dishes, cleaning, setting up the table (a little with decoration), and that sort of stuff. Now Jim's family are really big Toronto Blue Jay's fans, and they had a game tonight starting at 4:00 (in Texas). We were planning on live streaming it, but could never get the free live stream to work. Someone from Jim's family had a sports net account or something, and tried logging into that, but for some reason that didn't work either. So we ended up just talking. The original plan was to eat at 4:00, so Jim's family came a bit before 4:00, however right as we were getting ready, Laura remembered that we completely forgot the mashed potatoes. Daniel and I were going to peal them starting at 2:00 and we forgot to do them, and Laura forgot to assign us to do them. So, while Jim's sister helped peal and mash the potato, everyone else just talked or tried to get the Jay's game going. The meal was about half an hour late, but that was okay, for it was amazing meal. I don't know if it is because I has been a year or what, but I don't remember a meal this big for Thanksgiving. So much, and so good. Well afterwards, the Blue Jays ended up winning, and I don't know if I should be happy or sad, because they beet the Texas Rangers. I am no baseball fan (if I had to pick I would go for Cubs), but I am an overall Texas fan.
Well, it was quite odd to have thanksgiving in the middle of October, though it was nice to have a day off. I din't do much in the morning, or at least not much that was productive. Late morning I went out on a walk, and just used it as if I were walking with God, I thoroughly enjoyed just spending some time alone with Him out in is creation, just talking with Him. around 2:00 pm we were all put to work preparing Thanksgiving Dinner. Jim's sister and family were coming around 4:00 pm. So I ended up mostly, washing dishes, cleaning, setting up the table (a little with decoration), and that sort of stuff. Now Jim's family are really big Toronto Blue Jay's fans, and they had a game tonight starting at 4:00 (in Texas). We were planning on live streaming it, but could never get the free live stream to work. Someone from Jim's family had a sports net account or something, and tried logging into that, but for some reason that didn't work either. So we ended up just talking. The original plan was to eat at 4:00, so Jim's family came a bit before 4:00, however right as we were getting ready, Laura remembered that we completely forgot the mashed potatoes. Daniel and I were going to peal them starting at 2:00 and we forgot to do them, and Laura forgot to assign us to do them. So, while Jim's sister helped peal and mash the potato, everyone else just talked or tried to get the Jay's game going. The meal was about half an hour late, but that was okay, for it was amazing meal. I don't know if it is because I has been a year or what, but I don't remember a meal this big for Thanksgiving. So much, and so good. Well afterwards, the Blue Jays ended up winning, and I don't know if I should be happy or sad, because they beet the Texas Rangers. I am no baseball fan (if I had to pick I would go for Cubs), but I am an overall Texas fan.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Hobbit Date Changed
I am quite disappointed too. I was hoping and planning on getting The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies the extended edition while I was down in Texas. However, I found out that the same websites that told me it was coming to DVD on October the 5th are now all saying I have to wait till November 17th.
Late Night and Next Morning
Sunday
Well since I had slept in so late on Saturday, I was unable to go to sleep Saturday night, and so I got up and worked on my book report until about 1:30 am - my stink'n laptop time is still on Illinois time and always makes me think that it is an hour earlier than it really is. Knowing that I had to get up around 6:00 am that morning, I asked God to bless my sleep and I asked him to help me get up in the morning and be refreshed. I also ask him to give my body more sleep than my physical body was about to get.
God answered my prayer. I had no trouble getting up after only 4 1/2 hours of sleep (That never happens even when I get 8 hours of sleep - I normally go through 3-4 alarms ever morning). Not only that, but I felt refreshed and I haven't been any more tired than normal, in fact I felt a lot less tired in church this morning.
In second Service I helped out in the Kindergarten class. I, again, am not too thrilled with working with 'kids' but I do have to do it. Afterwards, I was told that It is normally a lot less crazy and a lot less stressful. I hope they are right. I am no looking forward to next week though, they are having me introduce and teach the kids a new memory verse.
This afternoon, I am writing all this on my blog, and will be working on my book report some more. I have twenty20 tonight, which is basically a college group - like The Cabin for college age people.
Well since I had slept in so late on Saturday, I was unable to go to sleep Saturday night, and so I got up and worked on my book report until about 1:30 am - my stink'n laptop time is still on Illinois time and always makes me think that it is an hour earlier than it really is. Knowing that I had to get up around 6:00 am that morning, I asked God to bless my sleep and I asked him to help me get up in the morning and be refreshed. I also ask him to give my body more sleep than my physical body was about to get.
God answered my prayer. I had no trouble getting up after only 4 1/2 hours of sleep (That never happens even when I get 8 hours of sleep - I normally go through 3-4 alarms ever morning). Not only that, but I felt refreshed and I haven't been any more tired than normal, in fact I felt a lot less tired in church this morning.
In second Service I helped out in the Kindergarten class. I, again, am not too thrilled with working with 'kids' but I do have to do it. Afterwards, I was told that It is normally a lot less crazy and a lot less stressful. I hope they are right. I am no looking forward to next week though, they are having me introduce and teach the kids a new memory verse.
This afternoon, I am writing all this on my blog, and will be working on my book report some more. I have twenty20 tonight, which is basically a college group - like The Cabin for college age people.
Cleaning, Reading, and Watching
Saturday
Well since I didn't really get home and in bed till about 1:30 am Saturday morning, I turned off all of my alarms so that could sleep in. And I would have to say, it was one of the first times I was actually able to sleep in, and I got more sleep than any other night I have had in Canada. I got up at 12:30 pm. and I really enjoyed sleeping 11 hours.
Right after getting up I was put to work, along with the rest of the family, cleaning the house for our Thanksgiving company. I know it is really weird, Thanksgiving is way too early here (Tomorrow, Monday October 12th). Anyways, I was given the job of cleaning and sweeping the garage. I now appreciate a small garage, it goes so much quicker and is a lot easier.
After cleaning I again drove out to the same spot out in the middle of nowhere to read my book. I was out there for about 3 hours, maybe a little more. My laptop battery ran out a few pages into the last chapter, so I had to finish with out the audio. This was easier than I thought, because I ended up just skimming the remaining of the chapter because almost the entire chapter was just all of the previous chapters summarized with exercises to do with each - Why didn't they tell me that at the beginning of the book, I would't have had to read the whole book? :) But it was a very good book (The Compassionate Samurai by Brian Klemmer). If you want to know more about it let me know and I will show you my book report on the 5 key points on it.
After supper, we sat down in the living room and watched Interstellar (though it was only Laura, Leah and I, Julia was baby sitting, Daniel went to bed and Jim was out doing something. He came in and watched some of it I think, but then went to bed early). It was, again, lots of fun. To my great surprise, Laura rated it a 7 out of 10 (with 10 being the best movie ever).
Well since I didn't really get home and in bed till about 1:30 am Saturday morning, I turned off all of my alarms so that could sleep in. And I would have to say, it was one of the first times I was actually able to sleep in, and I got more sleep than any other night I have had in Canada. I got up at 12:30 pm. and I really enjoyed sleeping 11 hours.
Right after getting up I was put to work, along with the rest of the family, cleaning the house for our Thanksgiving company. I know it is really weird, Thanksgiving is way too early here (Tomorrow, Monday October 12th). Anyways, I was given the job of cleaning and sweeping the garage. I now appreciate a small garage, it goes so much quicker and is a lot easier.
After cleaning I again drove out to the same spot out in the middle of nowhere to read my book. I was out there for about 3 hours, maybe a little more. My laptop battery ran out a few pages into the last chapter, so I had to finish with out the audio. This was easier than I thought, because I ended up just skimming the remaining of the chapter because almost the entire chapter was just all of the previous chapters summarized with exercises to do with each - Why didn't they tell me that at the beginning of the book, I would't have had to read the whole book? :) But it was a very good book (The Compassionate Samurai by Brian Klemmer). If you want to know more about it let me know and I will show you my book report on the 5 key points on it.
After supper, we sat down in the living room and watched Interstellar (though it was only Laura, Leah and I, Julia was baby sitting, Daniel went to bed and Jim was out doing something. He came in and watched some of it I think, but then went to bed early). It was, again, lots of fun. To my great surprise, Laura rated it a 7 out of 10 (with 10 being the best movie ever).
Friday Overview
Well the past few days have been weird. Just trying to get back into the life of schedules, class, sleep and all. Friday morning, I got to work with the 1st and 2nd grade class in the Acadamy again. I still am not a huge fan of working with 'kids' but I have to get use to it because I will be doing it for the next 9 months.
Friday afternoon I took a country drive out to the middle of nowhere. I found a place on the side of a dirt road with lots of openness and little traffic. I parked my car and read my book for 2 hours. I do this because out in the middle of nowhere I have no distractions. I have no internet, no household noises or anything like that, I can't just get up and go do something else if I get board - it's quite nice. I have to say that having an audio book read the book to me while I follow along makes things so much better. I get a lot more out of the book and it goes quicker too. With in the 2 hours I was able to almost get half way through the book.
Then after I found a good stopping point, when my laptop was almost out of battery I went to start the car. The problem was that though the key was able to turn the car didn't do anything. I tried it several times, no noise, no movement, nothing. So I got out and walked back to the interception of two roads to see what road I was on, and then called Laura. She was out riding, so she called Daniel. Daniel cam out and while we were looking under the hood, he said, "oh, and you should probably turn your lights off." Ding ding ding. I had no idea I had my lights on, but apparently they had been on for the past 2 hours and had drained my battery. Neither of us knew the proper and safe way to jump start a car, Daniel knew where to put the jumper cables, but we didn't know what order to put them on or take them off. We were finally able to jumpstart my car with only a few sparks. When we got back home, Daniel looked up on how to safely jumpstart a car so that we don't get sparks on the battery.
Friday night we had Impact (which is similar to The Cabin) and then we, along with many others, went to a fellow classmates house for a surprise birthday party. And it was a huge surprise for her, when she walked into her living room thinking that her parents wanted to talk to her, but instead found a room full of her friends shouting "surprise." We were at her house until a little after 12:30 am.
Friday afternoon I took a country drive out to the middle of nowhere. I found a place on the side of a dirt road with lots of openness and little traffic. I parked my car and read my book for 2 hours. I do this because out in the middle of nowhere I have no distractions. I have no internet, no household noises or anything like that, I can't just get up and go do something else if I get board - it's quite nice. I have to say that having an audio book read the book to me while I follow along makes things so much better. I get a lot more out of the book and it goes quicker too. With in the 2 hours I was able to almost get half way through the book.
Then after I found a good stopping point, when my laptop was almost out of battery I went to start the car. The problem was that though the key was able to turn the car didn't do anything. I tried it several times, no noise, no movement, nothing. So I got out and walked back to the interception of two roads to see what road I was on, and then called Laura. She was out riding, so she called Daniel. Daniel cam out and while we were looking under the hood, he said, "oh, and you should probably turn your lights off." Ding ding ding. I had no idea I had my lights on, but apparently they had been on for the past 2 hours and had drained my battery. Neither of us knew the proper and safe way to jump start a car, Daniel knew where to put the jumper cables, but we didn't know what order to put them on or take them off. We were finally able to jumpstart my car with only a few sparks. When we got back home, Daniel looked up on how to safely jumpstart a car so that we don't get sparks on the battery.
Friday night we had Impact (which is similar to The Cabin) and then we, along with many others, went to a fellow classmates house for a surprise birthday party. And it was a huge surprise for her, when she walked into her living room thinking that her parents wanted to talk to her, but instead found a room full of her friends shouting "surprise." We were at her house until a little after 12:30 am.
Dallas Stockyards
Well, the past few days have been a bit crazy, with trying to get back into schedule and all. Below are a few more pictures from our trip to Texas:
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Gateway
This was amazing and powerful. This is a song they did at the conference sung buy many international singers in their native tongues.
Here are some pictures of the worship (more are to come)
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
A Piece of Home
I ran across the most unexpected person today at the Gateway Leadership Conference in Dallas Texas. I got to finally, again, talk face-to-face with someone from home: Larry Holt, Harvest Bible Chapel Peoria's worship leader was at the conference this week. He said, though that it was his first time.
Monday, October 5, 2015
God Using Gateway to Speak to Me
Sunday evening, Gateway Church:
This experience was one of the most powerful experiences I
have had. The Holy Spirit was moving in
that place, God was there. It started
off with some moving worship and prayer. Once the Speaker took the stage he
started off on his message. Though after his second point, he stopped and
shared a powerful experience he had at another church, and it was such a
powerful experience, that it affected the whole place last night. After he finished sharing, I don’t have any
memory of any instructions, I just remember him stopping and there was
silence. People started to pray and the
Holy Spirit moved in the assembly. I felt as though God had entered the
building and I couldn’t face Him. I know
that I am unworthy and I hear people all the time saying “we are so unworthy,”
but I have never actually felt so unworthy until now. God’s presence shows that we can’t even face
Him, I wanted to hide from His light, for I didn’t feel worthy enough to even
be in His light. In my mind I say Jesus,
truly shining like the sun and robes white as snow, His face and the details of
his garments were almost blurred from my vision like they were out of
focus. Again, I know that He loves me
and all that, but it became so much more real in His presence. He called me by name several times, that
alone brought more tears of joy and I felt even more loved. He said to me “Come” and all the while I kept
saying “I am so unworthy.” He continued to speak to me saying, “you are my child,” “you are a child of God.” This struck me even more because we had just
sung a song that really stuck out to me, the lines were:
I am all
God says I am
I am all
God says I am
I am all
God says I am
And God
says I am His own
I am no
longer a slave to fear
I am a
Child of God
He knew just how to speak to me and He did it right. Praise
God!
Sunday, October 4, 2015
Very Quick Summary
So after a long few days, I hope this is a very quick summary of the past 3 days. I hope to have more pictures in the next week.
Friday:
Praise God that all the international stuff and flights went smoothly. I got GoPro video of take off, landing and some mid-flight action (out the window). Though I was confused on why we only had to use our passports and such to Leave Canada, and we had to do nothing when Entering America. Though all went great. We had set up a 15 passenger van for us to use, but when we got to the rental car company the "couldn't find" the 15 passenger van, so we had to settle with the 12 passenger van - which is working out perfect (for there are 12 of us). After we landed in Texas and got on the road (about 10:30 pm), we went to Wendy's for dinner.
Saturday:
We actually got to sleep in a bit. We had breakfast at the Hotel, and then we went to the Dallas Stockyard station. We did some shopping and walking around.
We also all pitched in a dollar to have Bryce to the mechanical bull riding - It was hilarious to watch.
We ate lunch at one of the Stockyard Station restaurants. Then we shopped some more before heading back to out hotel. Though we didn't have much time, for we very shortly went to Fellowship Church for a service*. After the service we went to the Stockyard Rodeo, where Andrew Baxter met us and we all enjoyed our first Rodeo.
After making a huge, 13-person order at an understaffed Sonic, we returned to the hotel (Andrew spend the night in Daniel and my room.
Sunday:
Sunday morning we went to a huge church called The Potters House, This was an Amazing church. After that we went to Papacitos for lunch and then returned to the hotel for an hour break. Follow that we went shopping for an hour at a mall (huge). After shopping, we proceeded to Gateway Church (which is where the conference is that we will be attending the next couple of days). The service was extremely powerful, and had a number of ties to The Potters House service... We then drove to a walmart where we were given a partner (by Bryce), and $5. Without talking to our partners we had to search wlamart alone and buy the other person a full meal. Then we got to the hotel and presented our meals to the person and ate them while watching the Dallas Cowboys game.
*Fellowship Church's theme this year is "Quarterback." They had a huge 'rug' sort of thing that was a football field when you first walk in and everything was very "creative" - lots of decorations and set ups. When we walked into the Childeren's Ministry area, it was like walking into a museum. The Staff's offices look like they work at Disney - Amazing.
Friday, October 2, 2015
Upcoming: One Moment in Canada, the Next in Texas
Today, well this morning at least, I was in the first and second grade classroom. Normally there is only one SLI student per classroom, but this time there two of us (because the 5th and 6th graders were on a field trip). Anyways Ariel (The other SLI) was 'playing' learning games with the kids at first while I was doing some preparations for the teacher. About half the time I was doing prep for the teacher; about 1/4 of the time I was walking around the classroom checking the kids math work, and some of the remainder time I was supervising/helping kids do their fall craft. Oh... and I also took each of the classes (grade 1 and grade 2) to do what they call "Space Walk." It's basically hopping on each foot and coordinating 'brain-to-foot' movements and such. Thankfully I didn't bring a coat (it is in the 30's outside) because the teacher thought it would be too cold for me to do it outside and instead sent me into the gym to do it.
Since about 12:30pm, which is when SLI ends, I haven't been doing much: reading some of our 2nd book, eating lunch, and playing around with the giant 2 foot balloons in our SLI room. It is now about 2:30 My Time, 1:30 Illinois Time, and we leave in about 30-45 minutes for Texas.
I am really looking forward for this coming Monday for two reasons:
1. The Gateway Conference starts
AND
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies Extended Edition comes out on DVD (and I plan on getting it ASAP).
Since about 12:30pm, which is when SLI ends, I haven't been doing much: reading some of our 2nd book, eating lunch, and playing around with the giant 2 foot balloons in our SLI room. It is now about 2:30 My Time, 1:30 Illinois Time, and we leave in about 30-45 minutes for Texas.
I am really looking forward for this coming Monday for two reasons:
1. The Gateway Conference starts
AND
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies Extended Edition comes out on DVD (and I plan on getting it ASAP).
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Wild At Heart Notes
These are some of the notes I took during our Wild At Heart session today:
In times of trial I need to remember who is my Father.
My Father lives in me.
God gives us our identity. I AM GOD'S SON, his child - I have purpose and meaning. I have an identity in Christ.
When I think of God, do I think of him as gentle, loving, caring, tender and compassionate or do I think of him as someone strong, a warrior, a leader, and a fierce general? Answer: Both - God is all of these
Luke 13:10-17
We Can't hide from God
When we forget who we are, we think we can hide from everyone/everything (Gen 3:10) - This is also clearly visible in The Lion King.
We Justify things, but then hide behind them. We put on a body mask and hide in our sin.
We have what it takes (through Christ)
We need to Push through the first few seconds of FEAR - To Push through our fear and face the future - to be honest in my fear. Have courage in my fear.
God called Adam our of his hiding place and to follow him, as Christ has done for us.
EZK. 47
----
I just heard God speaking this to me while going through this:
"I am the Lord your God. Whom shall you fear?"
In times of trial I need to remember who is my Father.
My Father lives in me.
God gives us our identity. I AM GOD'S SON, his child - I have purpose and meaning. I have an identity in Christ.
When I think of God, do I think of him as gentle, loving, caring, tender and compassionate or do I think of him as someone strong, a warrior, a leader, and a fierce general? Answer: Both - God is all of these
Luke 13:10-17
We Can't hide from God
When we forget who we are, we think we can hide from everyone/everything (Gen 3:10) - This is also clearly visible in The Lion King.
We Justify things, but then hide behind them. We put on a body mask and hide in our sin.
We have what it takes (through Christ)
We need to Push through the first few seconds of FEAR - To Push through our fear and face the future - to be honest in my fear. Have courage in my fear.
God called Adam our of his hiding place and to follow him, as Christ has done for us.
EZK. 47
----
I just heard God speaking this to me while going through this:
"I am the Lord your God. Whom shall you fear?"
About the Day
Today Daniel and I were with my Mentor, Brian Ferguson, doing our weekly 'thing' of going through Wild At Heart together. It is just the 3 of us, so it is a lot more comfortable and more personal. It is only our second week of doing this, but it is very good, and gets deep. I think that it is going to be quite a powerful 'session' and I will enjoy it a lot.
After about 2 hours of Wild at heart, the girls, who were doing a program called "Divine," joined us back in the SLI room and Beth, Pastor Steve's wife, came in to go through our Previous Book reports on The Devine Mentor by Wayne Cordeiro (I recommend reading it). After about an hour of this, Bryce (basically our leader) came in and gave us some more details and answered questions for our trip tomorrow.
So tomorrow, first of all I will spend the first 4 hours assisting the Church school (the 1st and 2nd grade class) and then I will stay at the church until 3:15 pm. Around 3:15 our class of 10, plus Bryce and Heidi (Bryce's wife), will be driving to Toronto, where we will then fly to Dallas Texas for the Gateway Conference next week. We plan on returning on Wednesday of next week. It will be weird though, in a good way, by traveling and the temperature changing nearly 30*F in less than 3 hours. This will be my first international Flight.
After about 2 hours of Wild at heart, the girls, who were doing a program called "Divine," joined us back in the SLI room and Beth, Pastor Steve's wife, came in to go through our Previous Book reports on The Devine Mentor by Wayne Cordeiro (I recommend reading it). After about an hour of this, Bryce (basically our leader) came in and gave us some more details and answered questions for our trip tomorrow.
So tomorrow, first of all I will spend the first 4 hours assisting the Church school (the 1st and 2nd grade class) and then I will stay at the church until 3:15 pm. Around 3:15 our class of 10, plus Bryce and Heidi (Bryce's wife), will be driving to Toronto, where we will then fly to Dallas Texas for the Gateway Conference next week. We plan on returning on Wednesday of next week. It will be weird though, in a good way, by traveling and the temperature changing nearly 30*F in less than 3 hours. This will be my first international Flight.
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