Allright Mike- you wanted my next blog to be dedicated to you, so here i go.
Ode to Michael. I just asked Matt what word could be used to describe Mike. He said "mole". My thoughts exactly. I spent reading week working with this guy, and I formed some new opinions of him. Granted one wish- he would want to know everything, so that he could answer everyone. If he could control one element, it would be the wind, so he could blow annoying people out of his way. He chose strength as his super power so he could push annoying people out of his way. Granted another wish, it would be unlimited money, or that everybody just stopped caring about things. I'm not even going to explain that one. I don't think any of his ideas are good- but hey, this is Mike's story. Mike's daemon is a monkey ( read Philip Pullman's Dark Materials- a daemon is symbolic of your soul, but it's an animal that cannot go any further than 3 meters from you or you will feel pain,- and it can change into any creature depending on your mood, but must stay one creature once you hit puberty- very cool)So.. it's a monkey now, but it's still changing.. hahahaha
Mike just asked me to check out his beard. I guess this means he will stay a monkey.
Mike pulls weird faces. He says weird things. You think he's quiet until he crows like a rooster an inch from your ear. He's pretty good with a yo-yo. Matt just yo-yo'ed on Mike's head, and it got tangled in his hair.
Mike. You're my psycho brother- but I love you :)
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
"If you don't know what you stand for, you'll fall for anything."
I have got issues. I've been falling a lot lately, and it's getting ridiculous. Maybe my shoes aren't that grippy. The fact that I can pass a sled down a hill with only my shoes on kind of leads me to that conclusion. But it's not just my shoes. Ryan thinks it's hilarious to scare me, mostly because I overreact. I tend to flip out, and then I land up on my back. Ya, I don't know- he gets a kick out of that. The worst case of falling I've had in a long time was just yesterday. I'm suprised my knees are still attached to my body, instead of locked into the ice on the Rideau Canal. Honestly-- who invented toe picks on women's skates!? I am cringing right now just thinking about that..
But let's get real. Clearly, whoever came up with the above quote did not have this in mind. I heard an excellent sermon today that made me think about this quote a little bit differently. The sermon dealt with how we are to run the race that has been set before us, and to throw off everything that ensares us on the way. The visual image was that of a man caught in a vice grip- which was slowly squeezing him to death. I've always thought of that vice grip as the things we are exposed to in this world- external things. Things we can just say NO to. But there is more to it than that. The pastor said, " If you let your life be run by your feelings, you will be slowly beaten to death by them." It's really hard to control your feelings, but God gave us a brain for a reason- thus we are able to KNOW what we stand for- rather than simply feel it.
So, once we are firmly grounded, standing strong, with little chance of falling- we are ready to start moving. Standing is great, but it indicates something that is static, immobile-- not the best strategy for completing a race. For the sake of my little analogy, I'll say the first thing i'm going to do is throw away my crappy brown shoes with no tread, because the last thing I want to do is wipe out before the finish line. Let the shoes be any type of sin you may struggle with. The bottom line is, they slow you down. Get rid of them. The next thing to do is focus. There will be times when the pressure comes from all sides, the vice grip tightens, and falling seems inevitable. Perseverance is key.
The minister told a short story ( a true story) about a man who took 4 1/2 days to complete a marathon. That is probobly THE slowest marathon run in the entire world. What makes it so remarkable is that the man had no legs. He chose to start a race that would take over 4 days to complete using his arms, while strapped to a saddle with wheels. Unreal. Why did he do it? Maybe what's worth asking is- how could he do it? One arm length at a time, he kept his mind focused on the end result, and he crossed the finish line- 3 days after every one else- but he did it. His success was largely due to his focus and perseverence.
We know what our focus is- and we refocus on it everytime we get together in church- bloody and terrible as it seems, the cross is where we find our hope. Because of Christ we can stand- and once know what we stand for, we can run. This run demands a lot. Casting aside the "weights" of the world, we run with the knowledge that if God is for us, who can stand against us? Some powerful stuff to think about- thank God we have that ability- the ability to KNOW what it is we stand for!
I have got issues. I've been falling a lot lately, and it's getting ridiculous. Maybe my shoes aren't that grippy. The fact that I can pass a sled down a hill with only my shoes on kind of leads me to that conclusion. But it's not just my shoes. Ryan thinks it's hilarious to scare me, mostly because I overreact. I tend to flip out, and then I land up on my back. Ya, I don't know- he gets a kick out of that. The worst case of falling I've had in a long time was just yesterday. I'm suprised my knees are still attached to my body, instead of locked into the ice on the Rideau Canal. Honestly-- who invented toe picks on women's skates!? I am cringing right now just thinking about that..
But let's get real. Clearly, whoever came up with the above quote did not have this in mind. I heard an excellent sermon today that made me think about this quote a little bit differently. The sermon dealt with how we are to run the race that has been set before us, and to throw off everything that ensares us on the way. The visual image was that of a man caught in a vice grip- which was slowly squeezing him to death. I've always thought of that vice grip as the things we are exposed to in this world- external things. Things we can just say NO to. But there is more to it than that. The pastor said, " If you let your life be run by your feelings, you will be slowly beaten to death by them." It's really hard to control your feelings, but God gave us a brain for a reason- thus we are able to KNOW what we stand for- rather than simply feel it.
So, once we are firmly grounded, standing strong, with little chance of falling- we are ready to start moving. Standing is great, but it indicates something that is static, immobile-- not the best strategy for completing a race. For the sake of my little analogy, I'll say the first thing i'm going to do is throw away my crappy brown shoes with no tread, because the last thing I want to do is wipe out before the finish line. Let the shoes be any type of sin you may struggle with. The bottom line is, they slow you down. Get rid of them. The next thing to do is focus. There will be times when the pressure comes from all sides, the vice grip tightens, and falling seems inevitable. Perseverance is key.
The minister told a short story ( a true story) about a man who took 4 1/2 days to complete a marathon. That is probobly THE slowest marathon run in the entire world. What makes it so remarkable is that the man had no legs. He chose to start a race that would take over 4 days to complete using his arms, while strapped to a saddle with wheels. Unreal. Why did he do it? Maybe what's worth asking is- how could he do it? One arm length at a time, he kept his mind focused on the end result, and he crossed the finish line- 3 days after every one else- but he did it. His success was largely due to his focus and perseverence.
We know what our focus is- and we refocus on it everytime we get together in church- bloody and terrible as it seems, the cross is where we find our hope. Because of Christ we can stand- and once know what we stand for, we can run. This run demands a lot. Casting aside the "weights" of the world, we run with the knowledge that if God is for us, who can stand against us? Some powerful stuff to think about- thank God we have that ability- the ability to KNOW what it is we stand for!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
snow day
You know when you’re at the beach, sitting on one of those nice relaxing armchairs, and then an ant crawls up your leg? You look down, see a few straggling ants carrying grains of sand and you get this urge to just dump a pile of sand on them? You start with a light sprinkle, which they (almost arrogantly) ignore, and then the sand in your hand starts to spill out a little faster.. amazingly, they can keep working- popping up within seconds of being covered. Then, you just can’t help it- you cover them about a mile deep (in the ant’s eyes)
-you just go and dump your whole hand full of sand on their little bodies- sit back, and see how long it will take them to struggle to the surface.
God has just dumped a pile of snow on us. I'm not sure why, but it reminds me of ants on a beach. Like tiny ants we have furiously worked to swish away the snow that He started sprinkling. Some of us are annoyed by it, some delight in it, and others are just hoping for a friggen snow day. Then God’s hand opened up a little- the snow came a little faster- and our working forces went into high gear. Just picture us from God’s eye view—what little warriors-with our trucks out plowing, frantically clearing roads all through the night- but the work is tedious, because the snow just keeps coming..Now, what got me thinking is this: would God ever open up His hand entirely? What if the snow never stopped?? There is only so much the ant can do before he realizes he’s done for- he can only do so much--
It’s kind of crazy to think about. We can’t ‘turn on’ a blizzard, and we most definitely cannot turn it off. God is in charge of that stuff. The elements are at His beck and call… and who’s to say He won’t get that urge to just bury us? Well, I suppose the Bible lets us know He won’t. He knows when enough is enough. He’s the kind of God that sits in the armchair at the beach, and (assuming He is even able to pour too much sand) brushes the sand away to make sure the ant makes it back into the sunshine.
I think it’s important to really think about that. The concept behind this is that God is 100% in control- even though we like to think we are. This snowstorm (for some) is a rude awakening to the reality that there are just some things out of our control. We are so helpless!
So- ya, if God wanted He could bury us with snow, but He loves us enough that at just the right time, He squeezes His hand tight- and we always trust that He will. Now we need to sit back and thank God He is in charge…. And pray that He sends a few more feet of snow to secure that snow day..
-you just go and dump your whole hand full of sand on their little bodies- sit back, and see how long it will take them to struggle to the surface.
God has just dumped a pile of snow on us. I'm not sure why, but it reminds me of ants on a beach. Like tiny ants we have furiously worked to swish away the snow that He started sprinkling. Some of us are annoyed by it, some delight in it, and others are just hoping for a friggen snow day. Then God’s hand opened up a little- the snow came a little faster- and our working forces went into high gear. Just picture us from God’s eye view—what little warriors-with our trucks out plowing, frantically clearing roads all through the night- but the work is tedious, because the snow just keeps coming..Now, what got me thinking is this: would God ever open up His hand entirely? What if the snow never stopped?? There is only so much the ant can do before he realizes he’s done for- he can only do so much--
It’s kind of crazy to think about. We can’t ‘turn on’ a blizzard, and we most definitely cannot turn it off. God is in charge of that stuff. The elements are at His beck and call… and who’s to say He won’t get that urge to just bury us? Well, I suppose the Bible lets us know He won’t. He knows when enough is enough. He’s the kind of God that sits in the armchair at the beach, and (assuming He is even able to pour too much sand) brushes the sand away to make sure the ant makes it back into the sunshine.
I think it’s important to really think about that. The concept behind this is that God is 100% in control- even though we like to think we are. This snowstorm (for some) is a rude awakening to the reality that there are just some things out of our control. We are so helpless!
So- ya, if God wanted He could bury us with snow, but He loves us enough that at just the right time, He squeezes His hand tight- and we always trust that He will. Now we need to sit back and thank God He is in charge…. And pray that He sends a few more feet of snow to secure that snow day..
Monday, February 12, 2007
Thinking..
The human mind is incredible. To think that everything we ever encounter in our lives is somewhere lodged in our brains...and what we forget is still in there somewhere, unable to leak out. Weird to think that we can trap our thoughts in our heads forever. Weird even just to think. How does the mind even work? Can someone explain to me how a part of my mind can be studying for a history exam, while the other part of my mind is off in it's own world, thinking about completely irrelevent things, like what life would be like if you were a louse?
I mean, what makes you think what you think? If the answer is simply that outside stimulants trigger memories in your brain to be recalled, then i wonder why we are not consumed by our memories.. we are always seeing things that remind us of something. But, of course, we would be unable to function if that was the case-our minds would be permanently occupied with things from the past. So perhaps we have some sort of filter.. who knows?
What I think is truly amazing is that I am stuck here right now- at my house, in one room, on a chair- limited by my humanness to be anywhere else at this exact point in time, but my mind doesn't have the same rules. It defies all that-- and can travel wherever the heck it wants. So really-- right now i'm feeling trapped.. but the thoughts in my head ( which are also trapped) have the ability to make me feel a lot less trapped. Now that blows my mind...
I mean, what makes you think what you think? If the answer is simply that outside stimulants trigger memories in your brain to be recalled, then i wonder why we are not consumed by our memories.. we are always seeing things that remind us of something. But, of course, we would be unable to function if that was the case-our minds would be permanently occupied with things from the past. So perhaps we have some sort of filter.. who knows?
What I think is truly amazing is that I am stuck here right now- at my house, in one room, on a chair- limited by my humanness to be anywhere else at this exact point in time, but my mind doesn't have the same rules. It defies all that-- and can travel wherever the heck it wants. So really-- right now i'm feeling trapped.. but the thoughts in my head ( which are also trapped) have the ability to make me feel a lot less trapped. Now that blows my mind...
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Being Fed
I miss my Zulu friends from Agathos. Their culture, their country, their way of life. My brother just got home from South Africa, and I couldn't help but be reminded of my trip not so long ago. I spent about a week at Agathos orphanage- a single week- and out of my two month stay, the week i spent with those kids is by far my best memory. I remember getting out of the car, and being swarmed by about 20 curious, excited, laughing kids. My skin was white, my hair was blonde-ish, and I was from North America! They couldn't get over it. After a few days, I began to hear some of their stories. Orphans- left on the streets by indifferent parents, or parents who had no money, or who were dying from AIDS, or who had allready died. There were kids with full-blown TB, malaria, and AIDS. I held babies that were found in the toilet, or a dumpster, or just picked up off the streets. I can't forget the 14 year old girl that was kidnapped by her Uncle from Uganda and somehow landed up in the orphanage... pregnant. Man, it's a sad world. Yet, most of those kids were so happy! I didn't get it!! Of course, they were kids, ignorant of the reality of their situation... content to live one day at a time, playing swords, dancing, singing- wow- could they sing!But what took me a while to figure out was what made these kids so content? I mean, sure, the area was absolutely beautiful, the people were friendly, they had a chance to go to school- but did that override the sickness, poverty and brokenness that was constantly threatening that tiny haven "Agathos"?
- I think the secret to their joy was that they were simply fed- in every sense of the word. They were loved. Cared for.Taught. Safe-because someone was looking after them. Kids don't notice poverty that much- they really don't. What they notice is that someone cares for them. It makes all the difference. The orphanage may have been poor- but these kids were eating like 'kings', and it showed. God's Word was opened, discussed, and taught regularly, and when Sunday rolled around- kids got excited for the trip to church!
Huh-- I guess it just makes me think. I tend to take being "fed" for granted. I can 'eat' whenever I want- I am surrounded by Christian friends, teachers, family, and of course, the Bible is always within reach. I did a devotional the other day on the dangers of a Christian university and one main concern was that of being desensitzed to Christianity. Constantly bombarded with christian teaching-perhaps the danger comes from being overfed-which seems to be a recurring problem in the rich western world..(Kinda takes a new spin on the NA problem of obesity)
Thinking back to those kids really puts things into perspective. They are a refreshing reminder of the love of God. He cares for them- and He cares for us- and though to some He has given very little, and to others much more- His love is the same. What a blessing- Let's not take it for granted.
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