The Future is Here

Don't we all wish we had a worship leader like Lincoln Brewster at our church? Dang, this guy can really play......:)

In other music news, it seems that Something Like Silas is renamming their band to Future of Forestry!??! Okay, this seems so weird to me not because of the name change, but because of the name they chose. Jon Wong asked me why bands are namming themselves with nature/environmental themes these days and I had no answer. Apparently, the band got it's name from a C.S. Lewis Poem. Hmmm....they still sound pretty good though despite the name change...in fact, I've previewed two of their tracks on their myspace site. Hmmm..I love this band so much because they have a Chinese Song Leader. His wife (who was half white/half Thai), left the band..so it'll be weird getting use to not hearing her vocals...but I'm still putting in my pitch for Future of Foresty!!! :)

Everyone Would Be Better Off if They Just Knew A......

Today was kind of interesting because Matt and I ended up having lunch with some old friends from Dief/S JAM at Fujiyama. Wow...it's been years since I've seen some of you hasn't it? It all started with me going to church last Sunday and seeing Jonny Eng with some chick who looked like Patti. I proceeded to say "hi" and called Patti's name but it turned out to be Patti's sister Anne haha...they look so much alike from a distance! :P That's when Anne tells me Patti's back in town from school this week...and the rest is history....:P

I thought Patti went to Edmonton but I guess I've been out of the loop because now she's in...San Jose?! Yeah...she's going to become a Chiropractor! That's good news for me because I believe there are too many crooked workers in certain professions that milk us for what we're worth. I believe that every one of us should know someone who is a good friend in the following professions (to avoid being milked of our money): Chiropractor, Dentist, Mechanic, Lawyer, Computer Guy, etc., etc.......That's all I can think of but I'm sure there are a lot more. Seriously, take the Mechanic for an example who might say, "Yeah, your fribillator is 5 inches too close to the engine and it will require me to order three extra parts to fix it only it'll take 4-6 weeks for the parts to come in. You have to fix this or you risk death!!! You could get it fixed and wait the required time for the parts to come in or you can order an entirely new fribillator but that will cost a significant extra amount! What would it be?" Come one, do I know if this guy is conning me or not? There's no way of proving so. Which is why we have to take our workers here at their word. Sound familiar?!?! Hmm...'Nuff Said!!! :)

Speaking of which, does anyone even know what the heck a fribillator actually is or do you think I made that word up?!?! :P

"True Love Waits"

Now I know most of you who have heard this song on Shine have complained that it was overplayed when it was released but really, maybe they should be playing this song on secular radio. I was on the bus today and it was scouging hot!!! Man I need a car.....

So anyways, on the bus, there was this teeny couple who came from the YMCA at Crowfoot and started to lie, grope, and french in each other's arms right in front of me. C'mon here people! What is going on here? Doesn't anyone have any self- respect anymore? Fine, if you're going out, you can do those things if you want but why do it on the bus and how old could these guys be? 14? 15?

Fine, a lot of couples I know (Christian and Non), believe that premarital sex is not a good thing. Many do what they want but feel they're fine as long as they don't have intercourse....because having intercourse is "crossing the line." Why is it then that most couples insist on getting as close to the line as possible but still try not to have sex? Really, is it really that different morally? Do you think it is morally any different to God if you've had intercourse or if you're already lying in bed naked together and "only" heavy petting?! Sheesh, talk about a false sense of reality.

Hmmm...yeah, I'm venting...sorry! I'm trying not to appear judgemental...because I'm not judging the people...I just hate how society has made everything "okay." However, I do have to take a stand here. Was reading some scripture last nite and of course seeing what I saw today just kind of made me think....

What did I read? Well I copied and pasted it below.... :)

1 Corinthians 5: 9-13 (The Message) : I wrote you in my earlier letter that you shouldn't make yourselves at home among the sexually promiscuous. I didn't mean that you should have nothing at all to do with outsiders of that sort. Or with crooks, whether blue or white-collar. Or with spiritual phonies, for that matter. You'd have to leave the world entirely to do that! But I am saying that you shouldn't act as if everything is just fine when a friend who claims to be a Christian is promiscuous or crooked, is flip with God or rude to friends, gets drunk or becomes greedy and predatory. You can't just go along with this, treating it as acceptable behavior. I'm not responsible for what the outsiders do, but don't we have some responsibility for those within our community of believers? God decides on the outsiders, but we need to decide when our brothers and sisters are out of line and, if necessary, clean house.

Interesting....is this extreme or is this not God's standard? Makes me think of cleaning my act up myself....

A Boy Nammed Shirley

Have I introduced you all to Kingston's childhood best friend? His name is Furry Shirley. Legend has it that a certain boy nammed Kingston nammed him Furry Shirley all by himself but he distinctly remembers his brothers helping him name the bear. Why was this boy bear given the name Shirley? This is still unknown. I wish I could say that this bear has seen better days, but it really hasn't. It's always been just as old and run down for a teddy. It was given to Kingston by a customer at our restaurant in Moose Jaw. We used to be right beside the Fire Station so Fire Fighters would hang out with us all the time either at the restaurant or in the back courtyard. So anyways, one of them gave me Furry Shirley I believe. Despite its rough appearance, Furry Shirley and Kingston hit it off very easily. However, because of aging, Furry Shirley was only recently taken out of hibernation in the basement garbage bag full of stuffed animals for pictures. If any of you wish to meet Furry Shirley, you may book him for an appointment via Kingston's cell/email/blog/etc. However, if you choose to do so, you must be very fragile with Furry Shirley as he has a weak neck. Apparently a certain little boy strangled onto Furry Shirley's neck with extreme force due to the fear of the dark. Thanks for reading. :)

Still Searching for It...

Today we went to The Broken Plate for lunch and went shopping for Flora/AC's wedding. Hooray...at least we got them what they wanted haha. Hmm....I think this is the most I've ever prepped myself for someone's wedding in terms of purchasing the right gift in advance! Lucky them!! :P

I've been thinking about the possibility of joining a small group with Tony, Kenric, Milton, Geo and a few others starting in a few months or so. I really have been praying for some stronger friendships with my brothers at CPC lately. I've also been praying for people I can be accountable to in various areas of my life. I've had some accountability in the past, but they've all fallen through. Not that my partners were never trustworthy--because they definitely were VERY trustworthy--but the accountability just died down. No communicaiton = no accountability. It's just that simple!! :) It's time for brothers to stand strong. Let's stop being boys and let's be Men. Let's stand together guys!

I'm in a place right now of extreme discontent. Now don't get me wrong. Man, I love the way things are going with YAC and my relationship with brothers and sisters have been improving over the course of the last few months. I'm living with God on my mind daily and doing my best to honour Him but there's this feeling of discontent with my life. Is it just fear of the future? I have no idea. I'm really confused still about what I want in life. I can honestly see the possibility of me leaving my life in Calgary to persue other things but what Karl Feltmate said this Sunday was very interesting to me. God desires things for us but things aren't "going to work out in God's will no matter what we do." He took the stance against fatalism and said that even if God wants something, if we don't do it, it ain't going to happen even if God wants it to. Interesting. Maybe the part of me that believes in fatalism believes that if I won't want to live God's will, He will do it through someone else....but I don't want to miss out. I want to live God's will in my own life....I want to be as close to my Father as possible!

I have no idea what this life is about but there has to be something more doesn't there? I don't know...I'm just becoming really disatisfied with the mundane routine. Am I meant to just live this life of 9-5 work and struggling to pay off debts or is there more? Is there more? God is there more?

PUMP UP THE POWER!

So I went to go visit my kids on Wednesday at Hawkwood and it was really funny becuase Sarah also blogged about seeing her former students haha. I walked down to Hawkwood during noon and my former partner teacher let me open the doors for the kids to let them in after the lunchbreak. When I opened the doors, the kids didn't really notice at me at first but then a lot of their eyes lit up and yelled, "Mr. Wong!!!" Haha, and yes, some of them hugged me silly.....oh the joys of putting me in awkward situations haha...thanks kids! :) I wonder if I will visit them again before school is up. I called up one of my friends from the education program and she's been visiting her kids at Hawkwood weekly. Apparenlty some of my students have been asking her if I was coming in so good thing I did.....but do they deserve one more visit?!?! :) Hehe....

Today, I had a fun time painting and decorating with a lot of the youth and other young adults for DVBS. Thanks to everyone who came to help out today! It may not look something Sarah has ever done for DVBS, but this was honestly the most meaningful time of decorating I've ever been a part of because we got to do it together. You all have a piece in all of this and your fingerprints are definitely already all over DVBS! Thanks peeps! I'm looking forward to working with you all. 1 more week 'til DVBS! Hope you're all pumped!!!

So tommorrow I get to meet everyone at Marion Carson and honestly, although I'm nervous as heck, I'm doing very little to prepare for my time in meeting my principal and partner teacher. It's like if I'm nervous, you'd think I would do something to prepare myself to make me not be nervous?!?! Well, I don't know...what can I do? I'm just praying that I can appear to be genuine to the staff and that they'll warm up to me quickly. Oh God let this upcoming semester be an enjoyable one.....

What?! Tommorrow is YAC already?! Where does all the time go?! Dang, no more sitting at home and sitting at the computer/TV all day anymore haha. No more relaxing and playing/listening to music. It's been a real blessing to have this time to relax...but it's now GO TIME!!!! ALRITE!!!!!! HERE WE GO!!! I'M PUMPED; CAN'T YOU TELL? :p

Old Reliable....

Oh man, I had some dreams about church again. This dream had Leo, Geo, and a few others in it but it was mainly about a group of us reorganizing our church. Apparently the renovations happened already in dreamworld and we were just moving things and such. This was happening on a Friday and we were getting late for worship practice as it was 6:55pm and YAC was gonna start at 7:30pm. Now when we were getting ready to go into the sanctuary, the "doors" weren't opening up. It was like everyone had to wait in the foyer (just like we did at First Alliance), only I had to wait outside too even though I was the worship leader!! I was thinking I was going to be late for practice but for some reason, no one would let me in. The doors finally opened to the band playing and I was rushing to get into the sanctuary. Now some of you are aware I had a dream about a stage being an island in the middle of a room with ppl surrounding it but this stage was completely different in this dream. The stage was a big U shape in this dream and ppl could either sit in part of the U shape or gather in the middle with the stage surrounding them. The worship band only occupied maybe half the U ....but before the night started, I got to practice one United song with the team and all I remember about the team was it was a huge team. Leo was on guitar and support singing, Sarah was support singing and Jiffany was on the piano. That's all I remember. Also, this United song we were practicing wasn't even a United song...as in, it doesn't exist in real life! Haha...but in the dream, it definitely sounded like a United song and we were pulling it off! I was so disorganized in this dream. I couldn't even find my song sheets. I do remember Leo and Sarah continued to sing when I left to go find the song sheets and they were singing the bridge of this song in my dream. The words for the bridge I can actually remember and they were:

Let Your Glory Fall
Above all
In All the Earth

And it just kept repeating. When I woke up, I had the tune in my head, but now I can't remember it at all. Dang it memory, why have you failed me!?!?

Actually speaking of memory, I remember learning in Psych how easily memory fades and is lost forever. In fact, according to this theory, people who remember things from the past actually don't memorize them completely that accurately. Especially with the factor of time, more of the memory is lost and we tend to fill in the blanks with whatever we want; we fill in these blanks with distorted facts and thus make our "experiences" in our memory more in our favour. Even the person who constantly repeats the past events in their heads can distort the facts. That's why even eye-witness accounts in the courtrooms aren't completely reliable. In fact there have been cases where there have been eye witnesses and just for research, facts were distorted and the eye witnesses started to say, "Yeah...I remember things being that way...." even though the facts were distorted on purpose. So how easily the mind fools you hahaha. I don't know why this all came to mind but maybe it'll help all of us think twice about our "oh so reliable memory."

Well honestly, when I dream about CPC, I'm more and more excited about things for us!!! All Aboard the J Train!!! Woot Woot!!!!

Something Divine About Hockey?

Well it's been a long and fun ride, but I guess it ended in heartbreak for us Oilers fans. It's okay though, it just wasn't meant to be. I didn't think Cam Ward was going to win the Con Smyth but particularly in this series with the Oilers and with the first series against Montreal, I believe he was the difference maker without a doubt....so how fitting for it to be him to win. Congrats to a brother in Christ! :) Maybe God just wanted it all this way....I have been finding rest (though it's painful) in the lyrics of Mainstay's song "Take Away:"

It's all from Your hand
and there's nothing that's mine
and all that You give
You're free to take away

That song applies to my life more than in just hockey :).....what a powerful reality this song portrays.

For those of you who were trying to call me while the game was on...I just have to ask why? Haha....it's game 7 and there is no way anyone who is an Oilers or Carolina fan would would answer the phone at that point...you're crazy! :P

After the game, I basically went to bed and had about 12 hours of sleep...well I tried to. My cold is disappearing but my cough is gaining strength so I was up for a large portion of the night coughing my brains out. I hope I get significantly better within the next day because I called my former partner teaching and told her I was going to go visit the kids tommorrow. I think I'll still show up even if I'm coughing badly. I just need to bring lots of cough drops haha...:) Or do you think that's a mistake to go? 'Cause after all, I could be going there and giving the kids all my germs right? :)

On a final note, I love my dp of the X-Men but I really can't stand the way Bachelo draws Iceman...he looks like a moron!! :P The rest looks decent though...and who's that girl beside Cable?!?! Arg...I guess I have to wait 'til August/September to find out....:P

Orthodontics No More!!!

Hmmm...I've been changing my display picture a lot on my blog lately. This picture is pretty sweet though...it's the first cover of a mini series coming out soon which talks about some of the untold stories of the original X-Men: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman and Angel. If the cover is any indicaiton of the artwork in this series, I may pick this up because it's gorgeous!

So I'm at Marion Carson for next year and am working with a grade 6 class. I find that ironic 'cuase I was praying for a grade 4 or 5 class....and yet I received my last choice. Oh well, I'll trust God knows what He's doing. At least he gave me a male partner teacher this year!!! :)

Question, since when has it become okay for everyone to be so overcritical of others? Man, I get it, we all have faults but do we all need to be pointing EVERYTHING wrong with each other? I know I'm guilty of this but who'd a thought that everyone else seems to be struggling with the same thing? :P

I'm rereading a book I own for the third time and it's funny because even after the third time, I receive so much from the book. Maybe I read it too fast the first few times around. I'm currently just reading one chapter at a time and just stopping after each one...maybe this is the best method of reading for me.....

Last week, I remembered that I had an orthodonist appointment set for today but I was distracted by a lot this week and I absolutely forgot about my appointment this week. I put the appointment on my calender in my cellphone and it gave me a 1 hour notice to remind me of my appointment. Dang, when I heard the sound, I put on clothes and ran out the door to make it in time for the bus and I was late too. Dang, I was contemplating whether I was going to leave the house today but then I saw the rain and the wind and thought I'd stay home haha. Oh well, that was my last appointment to see Dr. Yue as he was proud of his work on my teeth and we shook hands and wished each other well and went our seperate ways!! :)

One more thing: GO OILERS GO!!!!!! WE WANT THE CUP MORE THAN CAROLINA DOES!!!!

What's Happening!??

Hmmm what's the low down right now?

The Oilers won today (which I knew they would). Will they win Game 6? Man I hope so. I don't want to bother God with stuff like hockey games but I find myself praying unintentionally during these things. Isn't that how it works though? Even "nonreligious people" pray too.....when they're faced with problems...you will find that any normal person will just say something like "please let this work out, please...." Who are they pleading too? Themselves? No...to some sort of higher power...must be wired into us; must be human nature....:P

My sore throat is so annoying but I'm praying for it to go away. I'm eating Pei Pah Ko and Stepsils and drinking lots of water. I'm also gargelling salt water and it seems to hurt less.....so maybe I'm fighting things off well. God, please take it away so it doesn't bother me during worship leading this week.

Why has blogging died down? Not many are blogging or leaving comments.....have ya'll become that bored of blogging already? Or are you all just too busy to blog? Say it isn't so!!!!

I'm Back!!!

Hey gang,

I've so missed the blogging world. Can you believe I have been without the internet for just 5 days?!? That's crazy...I don't see how anyone can go cold turkey fromt the 'net and survive!!! :P

Speaking of cold, man, it's freezing here! My hands are cold as I type this. Don't get me wrong, I love it....I'd rather face extreme coldness than extreme heat. At least I can wrap myself with layers in the freezing temperatures where as in the hot temperatures, you can only take off so much! I wonder if we could take off our skin, would we feel cooler?! :)

One thing I missed the most about Calgary is the Chinese food. Dang, at Disney World...I was getting sick of this "white food." Haha...and not just "white food," but over-priced "white food." Although, we did go out for Pasta and Mexican once in Orlando....the Pasta was very plain and sucked crap but the Mexican food was the best I've ever had. And for those of you who were wondering, yes, I had Mole Sauce in my Mexican dish! Mole Sauce was covering my entire dish!!! :) My dish was drenched in Mole!!!! (That's pernounced "Mo-lay") :)

The rides at Disney World were okay. Soome were lame because they were just kiddie rides, but these ones were visually very nice....just no sense of scariness. There were a few roller coasters in pitch black and that was freaky!!! We were just anticipating drops but you can't even get ready for them because you just can't see anything! Not that there were drops, but the fear of not knowing if there were or when they'd occur was the scariest feeling ever! I think that's when you have the most fun. Maybe every ride should be pitch black in a building just to freak us all out!!!! :)

Is it Over?

Watching that Hockey Game was so Heart-Breaking last night. It wasn't just the fact that we had a 3-0 lead and lost the game, but the fact that Rollie The Goalie is now out of the season brings trouble for the Oilers. Stupid, stupid, stupid....like my bro said, it's okay if the 'Canes would've scored the winning goal on Conklin, but why did we have to lose the way he did!?!? What a terrible end to a great game. I was so upset....my mind just kept pondering....heck, I can tell you for a fact that I was dreaming about game 2 and The Oilers winning and watching the press conference afterwards where MacTavish and team get interviewed about how they overcame difficulties. Crazy. We can still win game two...but without Roloson, is the dream over?! I hope that the Oilers can overcome the odds once again......

Actaully, there was one other thing I dreamt about just this morning. Becuase my mind was so on the Oilers stuff, I woke up at 10am and emptied my heavy bladder and tried to go back to sleep--and I did! In fact I dreamt about going to this made up fast food joint and meeting up with Grace Hung. She was the same sweet girl that we all know in my dream except she opened up to me about personal things in her life. For example, she starting smoking in front of me and confessed to me that she had been seeing someone for quite some time at school. I wasn't mad about the dating, but I asked her, "Is he the one who got you hooked on the cigarettes?!!" And she insisted that it wasn't but in fact it was JON WONG who got her hooked!! I know this makes no sense to us in reality, but in dreamworld, I reflected back to a moment where I remembered Jon Wong telling Grace Hung in a conversation where she was in grade 6 or so that it's okay to try things out in order to know for a fact that we don't like those things or not. And so he let her try a cigarette and ever since then, Grace was addicted to the darn things. So messed up!! I woke up after this.....

Another dream I had this night was Steph Ng rebuking her old way of life and she returned to the church. In fact, she started hanging out with us but on the day she decided to come back to CPC, I was just hanging out with Leo, Geo and Linda. Leo and Linda decided to go home after lunch and Geo left without giving any explainations. So there I was with a returning Steph Ng...only, it wasn't much of a celebration and no one was around to hang out with us. I even tried calling Jackson and Jenny in my dream...I thought, "Is this what Steph came back to? I wouldn't be surprised if she just went back to her old life right now..."

So yeah, I had a lot of memorable dreams last night. What an active mind I have. These are subject to inturptratations.....I already have my own but you're welcomed to offer any insights! :)

That's it for now folks....I'll be off to DisneyWorld tonight with my VERY GOOD FRIEND for a week! Take care of Calgary for me and I'll see ya'll when I get back!!! :)

Reunited

It started with going to The Cheesecake Cafe with Tammie on Thursday, but it seems like I've been on a streak lately--whether intentional or not--in meeting up with old friends. I got to see Alicia on Friday and then today, I saw Alicia's friend Sheryl who I used to see a lot of in Machall awhile back. She was working at CIBC and that was the one place I didn't expect an English major to be!! :P I also saw Jon Skeith today at the Citywide Prayer Youth Rally and that was awesome because I haven't seen him since Cathie's wedding reception. The guy had just finished working as an intern at his church which was surprising to hear becuase he was the guy who had dreams to be a vet!!! It's so cool because as I was talking to him, I really got the sense that ministry was a better fit for him as a career and as we talked, Jon told me that he really thinks God is leading him towards something better now...something like ministry! God Bless his soul! That was really encouraging! Good for you buddy and I pray that God will continue to guide you and bless you in your career decisions.

I just tingle inside after hearing this from Jon because his stories really represent a part of me that wants to go into ministry as a career as well. I really wanted to be a teacher but now that I'm in this whole thing, I can honestly say that within the last 8 months, I've been dreaming of what life would be like being in ministry as a full time career. I wish I was really sure though....because I'm not. The pros and cons of ministry as a job have been weighed in my head over and over again for who knows how long. The fact is though, I'm scared. What am I scared of? Scared of telling my family that this could be a path I want to choose. Scared of what this would mean financially as I'm already a certain amount of money in debt due to student loans. Scared to admit to my loved ones that maybe I was wrong for being so set on being a teacher. Scared that this means my love life needs to be put on hold. Scared that maybe I'm crazy for having to have pondered such a decision for the past 8 months. Scared that if I make the choice to switch focuses on my career that maybe I'll realize maybe ministry isn't what I want latter down the road. Haha...I'm being crazy right now...it's late night isn't it? :P Really though, maybe I'm not crazy enough to drop everything right now and switch focuses but it's something to consider down the road. I mean, look at Uncle Gordon. He switched careers very recently so it is never too late to do so if I choose to do so. We'll see where God leads me! :) Keep speaking ot me Lord and may my ears be open to it......

So speaking of the rally...man it was freaking sweet!!! Thank you God for allowing me to go and experience something like that. I don't know what it was.....it wasn't the band. I mean they were musically really gifted and all, but it wasn't like that was the most inspiring part to me. It wasn't the fact that they could play United songs that are "too hard" for us to do at church. It wasn't the fact that we were at a gorgeous new gigantic church. There really was something so real about the prayers I heard today. There were prayers cried out of desperation and truly a longing for God to move in this city. That desperation is admirable. Jon Skeith was one of the guys who went to the front to pray for us corporately today and I heard the cries of his heart. I heard high school students acheing for just the movement of The Holy Spirit and I just couldn't believe how much they wanted God to move. It was so encouraging. I really prayed my heart and soul out today too. It was a taste of what my prayer life could be and things have been getting better with it over the past month or so, but it was a glimps of how awesome prayer can be! So things are good and they are just getting even better....God keep stirring me...keep stirring this city....may there be a massive movement of your power across Calgary....we need you more than ever.....thank You Lord....For Your Namesake Lord....Amen....

Cutting the Grasses

Hello Blogging World!

Wow, it was really hot outside today wasn't it?! Haha...I went to Cheesecake today with a friend for lunch and when we got back into the car a few hours later, it was boiling in the car! In fact, my friend drove with me holding the cheesecake that I bought to take home out the window because I feared it would melt in the car lol!

Well I blogged about how great it was that we got our lawn cut by paid workers a few days ago but after this morning, I'm not so sure. I couldn't sleep in today because the lawn cutters came and were mowing the lawn or something today at 9:45am or so and I had a hard time maintaining constant sleep. I could've sworn they were here on Monday too haha....but I don't know, maybe they were doing something else but they were doing something noisy around here and it was annoying! I guess after thinking about it, I think it was the same when I lived in Sandstone. Everyone around me loved their lawn there so they would be up early (they were all retired folks), just to mow it!! In fact they would only seem to mow the lawn on early Saturday mornings....so I guess with here, even though they ruined my sleep today, lawn mowing occurs not just on Saturday (aka "Sleep-In Day"). Okay that's enough talk about lawn mowing.....:P

Man, watching game 7 of the 'Canes v.s. the Sabres was intense. It's going to a great final this year but I know it'll be equally frustrating! I kind of hope the Oilers won't win the cup until I'm back from Disney World, but if they do, hey, at least my heart will not be as strained from watching this series.....haha....go OILERS!!!! I can't wait 'til Monday for game 1!!! :)

By the way, the cheesecake I ate today was Jamaican Banana Cheesecake. Does that matter if I tell you that? :P

"It's Showtime Folks!!!"--Sting, TNA Wrestling

After watching "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" a few weeks ago, I finally got down to watching "Snatch" yesterday...both were made by Guy Ritchie (Madonna's husband), and I honestly really liked both of these flicks. I think I like "Lock, Stock..." better though because I liked all the characters and the concept better. Jason Statham was featured in both of these movies and because Kenric asked me how Transporter and Transpoter 2 were, I decided to download these flicks and watched them today. Wow, I've just watched 4 movies featuring Jason Statham and man what I love about this guy is his accent. People with British or Australian accents are so cool...because we're not used to hearing these guys around us in a typical day in Canada, I swear I could listen to tapes of these British/Australia peeps talking. :P

So anyways, Transporter 2 was a lot better than the first so if you watch the first and are disappointed, don't let that stop you from watching the 2nd one. I guess the action sequences were just way better and not as cheesy as the first one. The story just flows a lot better and we get to see more nice cars in the second flick!!! :)

I haven't been doing much at home these last few days. This is the one week were I haven't done much because most of the DVBS work has been taken care of in terms of prep. Just got to decorate the sanctuary but that won't happen 'til I'm back from my trip to Disney World. Speaking of which, that's in less than a week!!! :P

During my time at home, I've had some time to do stuff....some things I enjoyed (like the movies), but some I regret. For example, I dug back into my junior high year books as I thought this would be a good idea to reminise on the past. However, for some reason, this activity didn't do very much for me. I actually ended up reminising on the bad things about junior high. I read some of the comments that people wrote to me in my yearbooks and now looking back, I just think "What the heck?!?!" Did they mean to insult me then? Maybe I was blind then but reading things now, I think to myself, "Is this how I was preceived?!?" I don't miss junior or senior high one bit. School was just so lame. I already had the prespective of the outside world and the future in my mind while all these people were just looking to do anything for a good time. That you Jesus for elementary schools!! :)

I really feel for the youth right now at CPC...there's just so much around their school to influence them and I really just pray for them that though I want them to have a good time, that their relationships with Jesus will define who they are. God keep them safe. Junior/Senior High schools just create such a false atmosphere as to how the world is. Priorities are definitey shifted. What this generation will go through will likely be more terrible then anything I had to endure so I'll definitely keep you guys in my prayers......

Wow, that was negative....haha....don't worry...it's all good. I guess I was just so different before coming to know Jesus through the relationship I have with Him now. Who I was back then, and who I am now is vastly different.....I guess opening up the doors to the past can be painful still, but God just has shown me that in my brokeness He took me in and truly made me a new person....Hence the verse in 2 Corinthians: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation--the old has gone, the new has come!" Thank God for the new me!!! :)

It's Tuesday Already?!?!

Well, it really feels like a Monday to me. Usually Monday, is the day I take to relax and recooperate from the loss of sleep due to the weekend. However, yesterday was the DVBS shopping day and I can't believe how early I woke up...I am not ready to be a teacher. I wish I chose an occupation that didn't require me to wake up so early in the morning! :P I usually am psyched for DVBS around this time as being lazy and having no work to give me a purpose in life sucks but I am really enjoying my months off this time around...I am not ready for DVBS to start.....:P

Speaking of which, I've been thinking about next year and I just need to get through the next semester becuase it's going to be stressful. I'm really praying for a great partner teacher/principal/school again. I was blessed this year but next year is a very important year isn't it? :)

I've been thinking about school also because I processed my student loan for the next year and this is going to be my last loan!! Hooray!! I can't believe the debt I will be in but hopefully I can pay it off in a few years. So yeah, I guess that's why my mind is in school mode.

This year will be another milestone year of my life....a lot of it has to do with because of the graduating and looking for a job thing....it's like I'm going to be introduced into manhood honestly! I guess after that, all that there's left to do is get married and have kids right? Haha...well no! Those steps can't be the end in our journey of life can they? A part of me is eager to get all those things done so I can rest easy in my comfort zone and be secure in the safe little world I will create for myself but the other side of me is looking forward to the prcoess of it all....whether it'd be fast or slow....God wants us to enjoy the process of getting the job we want...and getting the woman we want! :) Just gotta live it one day at a time and rest in God's goodness each and everyday right?

I have to honestly keep reminding myself to do that becuase I'm just such a mess. I'm usually the rational guy and act accordingly to that but I'm also the spontaneous guy...just look at the purchases I make...you think if I thought it through, I'd buy everything I own today? :)

PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE......

Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rosedale are my Mommy and Papi!!!!

So watching X3 for the 2nd time was pretty fun with the church peeps this weekend. I know some of those I watched it with liked the second one better, and I can understand why that is. However, I'll have to say the third one takes the cake for me!!! The good thing about watching it for the second time was that at the end of the credits, there was an extra scence and I HAD to go watch it again to catch it! So if you haven't watched X3 but plan to, make sure you stay for the closing sequence!

We went to Montana's for eats after that and I had the Riblets (1 lbs.) and it only cost $7.99 for it when the menu said $12.99...I have no idea but SCORE!! Nice deal...maybe the mean waitress liked me....:) What was bad about the experience though was sleeping with "rib gases" in me. I wasn't farting or anything...(jeez you guys are sink for thinking that!). However, once in awhile, I'd let out this burp and it would taste aweful....have you ever had a gross tasting burp? Well, I went to bed and woke up for church the next day with the aweful taste of pig lard/bbq sauce in my mouth...it was a nasty after taste....jeez, remind me not to eat ribs before sleeping again...that was really disgusting guys! :P

Hey so it appears that Gavin Rosedale and Gwen Stefani had their baby on May 26th and that's crazy because that's the same day as my brother's brithday. What's crazier is the fact that they had a son and nammed him KINGSTON! YES, I'm famous!!! What a great choice in name by the way guys; that's freaking awesome!!! :)

Haha...my bro finished watching Lost season 1 in 2 days and a bit. He seemed quite satisfied in it all. He got hooked during season 2 so now that he's watched the prior episodes, he doesn't have to keep asking me questions about why things are the way they are...and now to get my other bro to finish the season (not that he's started haha...but he wants to)!!! :P

It was fun to watch Prison Break with you new watchers at Phil's haha. Oh the suspense! Go LINCOLN!!!!! That name rocks....I want to name one of my kids that so I can call him "LINK" for short haha....

Well that's it for now guys...gotta get dressed as Louise is coming to pick me up to do some DVBS shopping! Have a super day everybody! :)

Flooding in the Air!!!!

Yesterday was my bro's birthday so we watched X3 and it was a good experience. Ooops, i just realized that I read someone that we need to stay until the credits are done to catch something from the movie but I forgot about that.....hmmm..I'll have to get it the next time then hahaha. We were quick to leave the theatre.

We had to drive my bro home and then to downtown to get to church and this for me was really agonizing because we had to drive in rush hour traffic towards home first and then try to make it into the downtown area where there were a lot of traffic problems that day. I was getting cranky on the way to church and I kept thinking, "Dang, I can't wait to get there!" Only when I got to church, I saw how bad our church was leaking. What was beautiful about the experirence was seeing the church people care so much abou their home and try to get everything organized. I just couldn't believe it at first. That part was amazing now that I think about it. My initial thoughts were actually ones of shock though. Crystal noticed how shaken up I was and a part of it was because I was in the car for so long and all but a part of it was just seeing the church so vulnerable. I know it's not about me placing hopes in a building or anything...but man, I've come to think of this place as my home (no matter how creepy it is at night!). I can now imagine how shocked I'd be if my real home went through this. It just got me really shaken up. I just felt this vulnerability.....

YAC was pretty fun haha. Because of the flooding, KFC was cancelled so a lot of kids were told it was cancelled that night for YAC too haha. So really, because of YC and flooding, I think over half of our kids were gone. We had a good turn out though as Brenda, Jiffany, Zevida, Agnes, Florence, Enoch, Daniel Mok, Truman, Kendrick, Kenric, Crystal, Hannah, Geoffrey, and Andrew participated (Did I miss anyone?). Haha....it turned out to be a blast and my only regret is that more of our youth couldn't participate in this disgustingly fun event. I don't think most of them have seen this stuff so it was a real shocker for those who were there. One of the hightlights of the night: Truman eating sardines WAHAHAHAHAHAHAH. Jenny, if you read this, can you send me the pictures you have of the night please? :) Or was it from Geo's camera? Geo, if it's from your cam, can you send it to me please? Haha...I just don't know who's it was.....:P

Hmmm...I wonder how those YC people are doing...God keep them safe and all the blessings upon them!

I'm a bit sad that I didn't go to YC but it's weird because I really think I needed to be here in Calgary. I had some good FELLOWSHIP time with some brothers and sisters...yes apparently we do talk about God and give each other encouragement! :P Sam, seriously, the talk we had at BPs was very nice in putting a certain thing into perspective in my eyes. I actually had a good opportunity to talk to a few of the youth about life, love and ministry so that was fun! I'm also very thankful for a talk with Crystal too I had at dinner time. It was nice talking about relationships. Haha, is this what we've been reduced too; are we just hoplessly addicted to love? LOL...I swear, it feels so good but yet it's all so foreign and so scary at the same time! Ahhh God is so good......praise You for the pouring that's been placed in my life and other people's lives around me lately....You're so GOOD!!!!

What a Relief!!

Desperation, Needing U
Every last breath
I scream for you
Shatter me into a million pieces...Make me new

Crush me, tear me, break me, mold me
Make me what U want me to be
I am ur's for U to use
Oh, Take and Replace me with U
---From the song "Replace Me" by Family Force 5

Look I know some of you hate reading spiritual posts, but honestly, the most exciting things in my life are from God right now. I've been listening to lots of new music from bands I've never even heard of in the Christian Rock scene, and man, there are A LOT of EMO bands out there! :P

Speaking of God, I found myself worrying about DVBS numbers and finding van drivers. Seriously, we talk about how great having vans are but they don't help if we don't have drivers!!! :) I found myself becoming very worrysome but God reminded me that if we just not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and petition submit our requsts to God, we should have peace that transcends all understanding and so I thought, "Why am I so worried?" Geez...relax! So I prayed about things last night minus the worry and hence, most of the stuff has been taken care of with the van drivers at least! So I guess I should just relax and let the registrations fill up right? :)

Wow, is it really two more weeks 'til Orlando time? Is it really just over a month away until DVBS hits high gear? Wowsa, where is all my time going?

I'm thankful that we've finally reached the end of season finales this week because my heart can finally take a break and I can now take some time away from the idiot box. Kenric's mom cooked us dinner for the big Wednesday finale and we got to watch Lost and American Idol. Taylor Hicks?!?! Can you say "worst idol ever?" Or is Fantasia worse? Tough choice......and Lost was really confusing but very, very suspensful....dang, I can't wait 'til season 3..I feel like things are exciting again...but you know, you just know that things won't be explained and when they are, they will just take forever doing it....how annoying, yet how excitingly suspseful....oh the irony...:P

It's Been a Nice Day Off....Or Has It?!?! :)

Wow, what an exciting ending to 24! It's been a slow season (if I compare it to the rest of the seasons I've seen of the show), but it was a good ending and I am definitely anticipating season 6. Too bad we'll probably have to wait until January 2007! :P

The hockey game was really intense today. I was satisfied with the victory of the Hartford Whalers---I mean, Caroina Hurricanes! :) Hmmmm...this will be a close series I think but hopefully it will be the 'Canes vs the Oilers for the cup baby!!!! :)

I finished "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" and now am reading "Boy Meets Girl." What I like about Josh Harris' writing is that he reminds us that though he believes his suggestions are accurate, they're not universal because we're all so different and come from different walks of life. A lot of what he says is true and I have no problems agreeing so I recommend this for anyone who has an open heart/mind in regards to wanting to learn more about healthy relationship forming. Anyone want to borrow the first book? :)

A verse I read today during devos today that spoke to me:

“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 11:2 (NLT)

God knows I hate it when I've done something or came up with an idea and someone else takes the credit so how much more would God hate it if I tried taking the credit for his glorious work? Yup, God help me to never try to brag about something as if it were me but may it always be about you Lord.....it sounds so cliche, but I honestly pray for a level-head because I know how easily it is for anyone to be deceived by their own hearts....

Seriously, I honestly thought that with the youth, I would have a lot of things I could reach them with because of the life experiences God has allowed to happen to me. I found myself talking to one of the youth about a situation that is happening in her life which happened to me. I thought that if I told her my experience and the lessons I've learnt form them, it would be enough to spark some common sense into her. Boy was I wrong! I wonder if what my experience had any significant impact on her at all. Did she just take it with a grain of salt? I always justified my experiences with the fact that I could tell my stories to others and that they would be impactful to the youth I worked with one day and now that I'm here, I'm questioning things. God, was I really as unreachable when I was that young too? Are those experiences really to be inspiring to others who may face the same as me? God, you sure you want me to be a youth leader? I know it's not about my words, but I just really pray that you'll have control over this person's situation and please don't let her make the same mistake as I did......if it's avoidable, please don't let her fall for the same trap....In Jesus Name.....