Welcome to the post competition...this is number 3 for the day. So, a week and a half ago I got a sunburn...today it is snowing. Other than the craziness of weather, life has been...good. I haven't really been stressed out like much of the student body, assignments and quizzes and exams have gone well, and I've been having a great time hanging out with other students. ... I want to go on an OM ship!!! One day, I will get there...one day, when I'm finished school here.

This shouldn't be surprising to me, but it really was...some of the g.i.r.l.s felt an urgent need for prayer last night, so we had a dorm prayer time last night. It was beautiful seeing everyone come together, just seeking after God. One thing that sparked it was a message on our message board informing us that there is a pact between at least 20-30 youth in Welland, Ontario to commit s.u.i.c.i.d.e on Halloween night, and that we need to pray for them and others who may be in a similar situation.

Check this out: theinterviewwithgod.com

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings between 9:30 and 10:30 are my favorite times to be in the school lounge. There's hardly anybody here. There are only like 5 people in the school who don't have a class during that time. It's beautiful...very peaceful. I am so excited! We have Contact Weekend this weekend, then the following weekend I'm heading to Winnipeg!!!!! From various blog readings, I have somewhat of an idea of what might take place, but I'm just excited to go there! 11 more days!!!!!! I watched Matrix and Matrix Reloaded (with the exception of a 5 minute scene) on Saturday. I enjoyed watching the movies, but I also had a great time hanging out with people I don't normally hang out with. Anywho, I've got a Leadership paper due tomorrow. It involves looking into my own life: past, present, and future. I've enjoyed it so far, so I hope it continues on.

You are Neo, from "The Matrix." You
display a perfect fusion of heroism and
compassion.


What Matrix Persona Are You?
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For the longest time I have been sick of being only in Christian communities (Abbotsford and FGBI). While it is nice to live in, it doesn't give me a picture of what the world is really like. I don't understand what it means to be persecuted for my faith. I don't understand what it's like to share Christ with someone who has a strong faith in a different religion. I want to make a difference in this world. I am available for God to use me, and He knows that. I hadn't planned on going on WAT this summer, but this morning it just hit me. I told myself this morning that if someone gave me $3000 or whatever to go on WAT, I would go. So I realized, then, that the only reason I wasn't planning on going on WAT was because of finances. So, I have decided to sign up and see what God does. I know if He wants me to go, He'll make it happen...just like last year, or better.

How is it that people you hang out with don't seem to understand you, but someone you don't even really know seems to understand you so well? I suppose, though, that no one really understands you in every area, but that there are certain people who understand certain things at certain times, so you don't think you're going crazy. Understand?

Ow. Pain. Football yesterday was great and I wish I could have played more. I also wish that I would learn to stretch after I play. My muscles are sore for the above reason. My face is sore 'cause I got a sunburn...ya, you heard me...a sunburn. In the middle of October! Anywho. And the rest of me is sore from getting knocked around yesterday. I look forward to doing it all again next year! Our boys won the "B" championship game yesterday. It was a gooder...we were down a touchdown, but then got one, and it was still tied within the last minute of play, then we scored again. Yay boys!

I couldn't believe it at Kids Klub yesterday. The last 2 weeks, we've only has 9 or 10 kids, but yesterday we had 18! We weren't prepared for it. There weren't enough name tags and one of the guys who helps out when he can wasn't able to make it yesterday. Once again, God provided for us, bringing another person in to help. That was such a blessing. And we had an awesome time with the kids. We're going through the Ten Commandments with them, via puppet shows, skits, stories, Bible reading, memory verses, etc. Most of the kids are Christians, but they need to be discipled. Pray for this when you get a chance. Thanks.

We had class prayer this morning. I missed it second semester last year, but I remember it from first semester last year. It seems that no matter how far apart our class may seem to get at times, when we come together like that to pray, we become connected again. There are so many amazing things that happen here, and this is one of them.

Why is the only art I am good at the art of procrastination? ... I'm going, I'm going!!!

You are Legolas- the patient loving elf. you are a
very accepting person and wont put up with any
crap from people putting your friends down. You
sure know how to battle, and do it in style- if
such thing is possible.
by the way- can i have your number?


LOTR - Which Helm's deep Soldier are you?
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One complaint right now: I really dislike not being able to type certain words on these computers because for some reason somebody finds them offensive.

I was overwhelmed by all the people here (some for a wedding reception and some for a family reunion), so I went to the dorm where I was the only person there. I read a book I have to do a review on, but turned up my music so I wouldn't fall asleep reading again. Now, normally I wouldn't play the cds I played last night, but decided if I put anything else on I would not be able to read because I would end up worshiping God. The funny thing is, though, that I ended up worshiping God through these other cds anyways. I felt so close to God last night, it was wonderful. Just me and Him. Though I love my friends dearly, my favorite time is time alone with God. I'm glad I finally realize that. (I know it's not technically till tomorrow, but Happy Thanksgiving!!!).

I walk through the dorm, through the school, having no real sense of time. I sit in my room doing homework, reading my Bible, listening to music, writing, whatever I feel like, really. My only "responsibility" is to go to meals and help clean up for a few minutes after each. There are a few other students to see. 8 guys and 4 other g!rls to be exact. Meals are our connection, but for the most part many of us remain to ourselves. I had thought this would be a weekend for homework, and I will do some, but already I know that it will be more than that. Pressures are off, distractions are gone. This weekend will be a time of reflection and a time that God will do a major work in my life. As He searches my heart and helps me to find myself, there will be a greater vulnerability than I have offered before. That thought frightens me, but I embrace the challenge, wanting to go ever deeper with God: my Creator, Father, Friend, Savior, and the Lover of my soul.

I got my Leadership paper done and I'm ready for the Greek quiz. This adds up to much less stress in my life. We've got Boredome Busters (Eston Kids' Klub) tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have more than 9 kids show up now that we've changed the day it's on. I'm one of like 6 people staying at the school this weekend, which I'm kinda looking forward to. I hope to get a whole lot of homework done, making the rest of this semester extremely enjoyable.

"God's funny." These are the last words I said to one of my friends after chapel tonight. Matt Redman's song "Blessed Be The Name of the Lord" is becoming even more real and powerful in my life. For the longest time all I could focus on was the part that says "when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say, 'Blessed be...Your glorious name.'" "You give and take away" were also words that had hit me pretty hard. Tonight, though, more words struck a cord in my heart. I have been asked to sacrifice something to God, but it has been a very difficult process getting to a point where I understand the sacrifice and am willing to make the sacrifice. I'm not quite ready to give it all up, but I'm so close. The line in the song is "though there's pain in the offering, Blessed be Your name." When we sang this tonight, God had already got me thinking about previous times something like this had happened, but not quite to this extreme, and He showed me that if I am faithful to make this sacrifice, He will prove His faithfulness to me again, bringing me through the times that feel like my world is crashing down around me. I look forward to that time, but in the mean time, I must be faithful to do my part.

Off to watch A Bug's Life!

I have heard time and time again that I (and everyone else for that matter) should not care about what other people think. For the longest time, I believed this and was struggling with it greatly. After a conversation I had yesterday, I began to really think about what this means. My thoughts were like this: If I don't care what people think, then I don't really care about people. But maybe that's not quite it. Maybe it's that I should care what people think, just not what people think about me. I then started to think about how I allow people to affect me and I came to the conclusion that, overall, I don't let what people think affect me, not the way that you would normally think. It's not that I care about what people think about ME, it's that I care about what people think about God. I am supposed to be an example of Christ to others and if people see something other than that, I need to work on things that they see as contradictory to God's character.

I think I may have realized this morning why I don’t often open up to people. I know I’m not the only one in this position, so I just hope this can encourage others out there. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, who I have opened up to in the past has, in one way or another, been taken away from me after just a short time. I have been seeing the beginning stages of this cycle occuring with a few people recently. My first thoughts were that I should just back off before I get hurt, but I know that is not the right thing to do. No matter how other people respond, I need to continue showing the love of God to them. This goes against my ways of self-protection and puts me in a position of vulnerability which I need to learn to grow in. I am beginning to understand the saying “it’s better to have l.o.v.e.d and lost than never to have l.o.v.e.d at all.” I cannot control people's reactions, but I can control my actions and my attitude. I was thinking why I allow some people to get to know me and decided it was because I believe they can have a positive impact on my life. After coming to that conclusion, I realized that everyone can have that kind of impact on me, if only I would let them. I also realized that this is not a good way to view people. It is from my old way of thinking and I know that my new way of thinking needs to overpower the old way. I need to open up so others can see a different reflection of God's character. Sorry this was kinda jumbled.