thanks

The Holy Spirit does a remarkable thing when He brings about feelings of remorse and repentance and in the end, reconciliation occurs.
It's like a little miracle (I know, I know...not coherent with the exact definition of a miracle according to Dr. A. Scholes - I took Doctrine Survey...but I suppose I use the term loosely) that happens inside someone. It's incredible.
For those who don't know, my grandfather passed away this past Wednesday and there was much strife and tension between certain extended family members.
I expected huge drama and even a public scene.
Instead there were tears and hugs and apologies and humble hearts.
Thank you to those who prayed.
Thank you.

smells

Onions and laundry.
Those were the combined smells I inhaled when I walked out my front door into the apartment hallway.
Yuck.
I hate weird-smelling apartment buildings.
It used to smell nice in there but now it seems as though someone has discovered onions and is using them in every meal possible.
That's too bad.
At least it doesn't smell in my apartment.

happy

Things that made me happy today:


- a glorious sleep-in

- Rolo Ice Cream for lunch

- getting to spend time with my sister

- my sister getting hooked up with Western C4C

- tv shows on DVD

- "down" time

- left-over candies from East Side Marios

- chasing Jamie around the house

- reading a bit and listening to a sermon on being filled with the spirit

- going to bed...well, it will make me happy!

25

Today I had a sobering thought.
Today I am in the middle of the first of 25 weeks on campus this year.
Twenty five!
That's it!
What will God do in 25 weeks? What will He use me to do?
How will He change me?
Whose eyes will He open? Whose heart will He soften?
How will I grow? What will I learn? What friends will I make?
Only 25 weeks.
Oh the things He can do!

today

Today I:

- made hundreds of snow cones
- had probably 15 bees swarming me (and landing on me) as I attempted to "flavour" the snow
- discovered that I enjoy ultimate frisbee
- met some great people (including a girl who knew Carmen from Carleton)
- set up another followup meeting for this week (we're at 5 and counting, folks!)
- took a ton of pictures of people playing sports (and I am attempting to attach them in an email to rmitts)
- ate "real" Chinese food (so good - thanks Becky!)
- played "the bowl" game with some awesome peeps (and we won - oh yes...)
- watched 4 episodes (back to back) of Lost Season 2 with the hubster
- had a scalding hot shower - it was "delicious"
- marvelled at God's faithfulness and sovereignty in the midst of chaos and uncertainty

...did a whole bunch of other things that are probably worth mentionning but not worth reading.

oweek

O-week (aka Frosh week) has begun.
And I love it.
Last night I danced my little heart out on the field along with hundreds of first years and learned my favourite new dance move, The Toy. Good times.
Today I scooped and gave away over 400 free snowcones.
Good times!
Although I didn't get to chat with too many first years, I did notice a girl sitting by herself in the cafeteria reading "Would you like to know God personally?" that she had received for free from our C4C booth. I decided to go over and chat with her.
I don't know what will come of the conversation but I look forward to many more conversations in which to talk about the one person I love the most - Jesus Christ.
I followed up with a ton of girls who left their info and hopefully will be meeting with at least 3 of them this week.
I love my job.

explanation

A brief explanation of the disturbing chicken picture:
We made a Summit video and to add randomness included a chicken in it. Mostly Jamie was the chicken but since he was the groom for one shot I had to be the chicken.
It was hot and slightly claustrophobic.
On an entirely different note, I started a new blog for myself to write about the books I am reading so as to remember and process them. You can check it out here. There's also a link on the sidebar.

chicken?

This is my husband as the "groom" and myself in a chicken suit as "the best man". Does it get any more twisted?

book

I am currently re-reading the first book in the Mark of the Lion series called A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers.
So good.
She is so descriptive and honest with her characters; in how they feel, what they do, what they think.
There is something about good, Christ-centred fiction that sweeps me away and causes me to think about who I am and (especially with this book) how I am being changed by God (or how I am hindering Him from changing me).
I heartily recommend it.

Treat Pick Of The Month

And this month's treat pick of the month is.....
Chocolate Covered Cranberries!
I've been enjoying some delightful dark chocolate covered cranberries (courtesy of the bulk section at my local Zehrs) but I'm sure that they are tasty when covered with milk chocolate.
With the weather changing (yes, autumn is coming...sorry to be the one to say it) cranberries just seem like the perfect choice for a season in-limbo.
And really....chocolate covered anything sounds like the perfect treat to me!

boo

Don't bother watching tv's newest reality sensation, "Celebrity Duets".
I watched 1/3 of it before deciding that;
a) the celebrities aren't nearly talented enough - this would explain why they are actors/gymnasts/comedians instead of singers, and;
b) the judges aren't nearly mean enough, and;
c) Wayne Brady should be IN the competition, not hosting it.
And now many of you will look for it on tv and watch it just to see if I'm right.

babies

Last night (or rather early this morning) I had a somewhat disturbing dream.
I dreamt that I had a baby.
And in the dream that wasn't the disturbing part. In the past when I have dreamt that I was pregnant or had a child it was the most frightening dream - mostly I just felt ill-prepared or mad (for mainly selfish reasons like I couldn't hang out and do non-children stuff anymore).
This baby grew quite quickly and I think I was the most concerned that I wasn't going to be able to feed him properly. I couldn't quite figure out the whole breast feeding thing and was frustrated that he wanted to drink formula over natural breast milk.
There were other disturbing aspects to this dream which I won't elaborate...but it was strange and definitely got me thinking about parenting and all the wonderful and strange things that accompany having a child.

I did look into breastfeeding (the wonders of www.google.ca) and different styles of parenting (such as Babywise and Attachment Parenting)...it's all very interesting.
It will be interesting when I enter that phase of my life and figure out what's nice to read on the internet and what is actually practical and in the best interest of my child(ren).

Jays

I haven't been to a Blue Jays game in...ok well, I have gone one other time this season but come on! There are over 100 games in a season - almost 200 I think.
However, I managed to win 4 free Blue Jays tickets to Monday's game against Oakland.
It was a great game. At one point we were winning 8-0. We were proud Jays fans. We cheered and clapped like trained monkeys and we had a grand old time.

And then Ted Lilly decided to let in 10 runs. And he dropped an F-bomb when he was pulled out of the game. Who does that?
And then the boo-birds came out.

Some other blog-worthy things happened during the length of the game.

Such as:
Kirsten giggling for pretty much the entire game at the thought of me as a snack girl. You know, the person that walks up and down the aisle yelling "Peanuts! Popcorn!" Or "Ice Cold Beer! Get your Ice Cold Beer!". It is a pretty funny thought, though. I think I'd like to be the slushy girl. Or ice cream girl.
The two teenage girls in front of us pretending to take pictures of their mom, but they were really taking pictures of Jamie and our friend John. It was pretty obvious, I thought but I just rolled my eyes and laughed. Oh Jamie...you've still got it. :)
The really big Diet Coke that Kirsten got. I thought it was funny but she did a good job of pacing herself.
Jamie waving like an maniac across the stadium to Tim who is blind (but not really) and couldn't see the tall, white guy waving like a blade of grass in a hurricane.

There are probably other things but I'm feeling quite tired and forgetful at this moment.
It was a good game and I'm glad I won those tickets. Hooray for free stuff!

tv

My newest addiction.

Purity

Wow. This is the best way I've ever heard someone explain why it's important to keep yourself pure (generally in reference to sexual purity) until you get married. I found this paragraph on Solo Femininity and I was blown away by how bang-on she was. (You can click on the link for the entire article). Basically the author (Carolyn McCulley) was responding to an email from a 39 yr-old woman who had kept herself pure but was starting to give up hope for a husband and didn't think she could hang on any longer.
Here is part of Carolyn's response:

The finish line is not the marriage altar, as good and right as marriage can be. The finish line is seeing your Lord and Savior face to face, in glory. Don't forget that when temptation comes around. You must remember that you are keeping yourself pure because it's your spiritual act of worship and praise (Romans 12:1-3)--not just because of the hope of a future husband. If you get married, your husband will no doubt praise you for your self-control and the gift of your purity to him. But your primary motivation must be to please your Savior, marriage or not.

Sometimes we forget that our primary reason for doing anything or pleasing anyone should be to please our Saviour. Any other reasons are secondary.
Thanks to Carolyn (also an older, single woman) for keeping things in perspective.

(Also check out this article she wrote about sinful judgement - I'm halfway through and it's enough to cause me to recommend it!)