relief!

Oh, I can't begin to tell you how much more bearable it is today! It's cooled significantly, the breeze is up, and makes it much easier to pack up the van. I can even capitalize my letters! Yay for answered poem prayers :)

We're off to do some camping and some fishing up island for our August long weekend. I really love the idea of the August long weekend. Such a perk living here! I think that the US should catch on and do the same! There's way too much time between July 4 and Labor Day. YAY for B.C. Day!

Have a great weekend... I will be computer-free for three days! :)

i haven't written one since the sixth grade, but here's a poem.

well, it must be the heat because in my delirium i've written a poem. i don't write poems, and i'll prove it by publishing it. it's not some literary device to write all in lower case, it's just that it's too hot to shift to caps, and the computer on my lap is no help. lol :)

it's hot...

it's so bloomin' hot...

and all i can think about is how hot it is....

i love the heat, but not this time...

it bears down on me and i feel so dry

i'd love relief but it's not in sight....

for my weary frame, achy heart, tired eyes

a window breeze a single drop

of rain from the sky...

would break this drought and give me shade

sometimes i wonder why it is that

i am afraid

that i have to wait in hope to see your grace

and your mighty works

upon this place

lord restore my soul restore my faith

give me water that i wouldn't thirst and

give me shelter from the worst

o lord refresh me, protect me,

act in your own time

that i might know it was divine

and o my lord i'll praise you so

because because you love

like no one i know

to spare one like me from heat and from drought,

from sin and pain and

faithlessness and doubt

and though i wait, so hot and dry

one day i know

you will provide.

⁵Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is infinite.
⁶The LORD supports the afflicted;
He brings down the wicked to the ground.
⁷Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
Sing praises to our God on the lyre,
⁸Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who provides rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
⁹He gives to the beast its food,
And to the young ravens which cry.
¹⁰He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.
¹¹The LORD favors those who fear Him,
Those who wait for His lovingkindness. Psalm 147:5-11

God fireworks

July 27, 2009 (happy 9th birthday yesterday, Candan! how'd you get to be 9 already?!)


Last weekend in Nanaimo is the huge "Bathtub Racing Festival"... it's a huge deal, people come from all over to go watch racers race their bathtubs around the little islands, and the whole thing culminates with a huge fireworks display at the beach downtown on Saturday night. I didn't feel like fighting crowds and the whole bit, so we'd planned a quiet evening at home, watching an old episode of SuperFriends on the Retro channel. When our living room glowed gold, and knowing that over across the strait in Vancouver there was a lightning warning, we sat up from our chairs, ran for the van, and headed for our beach. God put on the most amazing light show, and we didn't even need to fight for a parking spot! Praise Him! :) We missed it, but apparently, there was a double rainbow in the sky shortly before we got there, too, if you can imagine!

Be patient with my grainy video...the first one I just wanted to show what our view was, the west, the sun setting, and the south, the lightning storm in the distance.... we didn't know which way to look! I hardly got the very best ones on video... but you get the idea. What a God sighting we had!

I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. ...17 The clouds poured down water, the skies resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked. Psalm 77:12-14, 17-18

A major threat...

While I work away on the post I had said I might do earlier this week, been thinking on it lots but can't quite finish my thought yet... I found this article this morning that follows...

It's important to remember not to take the fact that I can write my blog (or procrastinate on it, anyway...) for granted, and that I can own a Bible (or several) without fear, and that so many have to believe in secret. That following Jesus has a cost... but one with such amazing rewards!

"Only the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, and his son, Kim Jong-il, may be worshipped, in mass public displays of fervour." Yeah, I'd view Jesus as a major threat, too, if I were him, eh, Pharoah? Nebuchadnezzar? Saul? Haman? You get my drift....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8167644.stm
North Korea 'executes Christians'
By Andre Vornic BBC News

North Korea views religion as a threat to its state ideology
Human rights groups in South Korea say North Korea has stepped up executions of Christians, some of them in public.
The communist country, the world's most closed society, views religion as a major threat.
Only the founder of the country, Kim Il-sung, and his son, Kim Jong-il, may be worshipped, in mass public displays of fervour.
Despite the persecutions, it is thought up to 30,000 North Koreans may practise Christianity secretly in their homes.
A report by a number of South Korean groups highlights one particular case of a woman allegedly executed in public last month, in a northern town close to the Chinese border.
She was accused of distributing Bibles, spying for South Korea and the United States and helping to organise dissidents.
Her parents, husband, and children were sent to a prison camp.
Such reports are hard to verify, but North Korea is known to be intolerant of religion - it views any form of alternative social organisation as a competitor for its own, religion-like ideology.
The US government says just owning a Bible in North Korea may be a cause for torture and disappearance.
Pyongyang's position appears to have hardened on everything from human rights to defence policy and international relations in the last year or so.
It is thought this may be a way to shore up the government through Mr Kim's illness and the process of anointing his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as North Korea's next leader.

13O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like chaff before the wind. 14Like fire that burns the forest And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire, 15So pursue them with Your tempest And terrify them with Your storm. 16Fill their faces with dishonor, That they may seek Your name, O LORD. 17Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, And let them be humiliated and perish, 18That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth. Psalm 83:13-18 (emphasis mine)

Later alligator...

You know, you post it online how you want to be more productive, more focused, more purposeful, and the next thing you know, you've just had about the most mindless, most distracted week. Ever. Frustrating. Gotta rely on His strength to not feel so tempted to flake out, not relying on my own, like I have been doing... I am going to try to write this afternoon... no promises, though!

Skillet song turned VBS :)

It's my favorite, absolute favorite, week of the year--- VBS :)
I love it, it's exhausting, but so much darn fun... we're doing "Crocodile Dock"-- a bayou theme... so cute, and what a great excuse to wear a coon skin hat. I mean, how often do you get to do that?

The week is all about having no fear, because God is with us, God is powerful, God does what He says He'll do, God gives us life, and God cares for us! Such great things for kids to know, that they don't have to be afraid (wish I'd known that!) because God is good all the time!
Here's the day 2 song! We rocked the "dock" with this one :)



I will show you that I am the Lord. Exodus 7:17

Life in HD

We broke down and did it...

Well, actually, our TV broke down and we had to do it. The colors started flickering and getting saturated, words were blurry, and it wasn't starting up right away, and so we made the decision to upgrade our television.

Oh man... It's pretty darn unbelievable.

Candan walks in to the living room after Brad had set it up. Brad's watching football (CFL) highlights from the night before, and the eight year old stops short of the couch, awed."Wow...!", His exclamation prompted a large, proud smile on his daddy's face.... Pretty much says it all. Wow.

The message last Sunday was on escapism... Yup, that's me! There's so much I love to distract myself with. The new TV is no exception. I already know how much useless time I spend on the computer... I so want my computer time to be productive instead!

I want my time to be spent wisely, clearly purposed... Highly Defined...

but right after I watch the All-Star Home Run Derby...

*sigh*

What a work in progress am I.

a funny quote I found today:

Most people would like to be delivered from temptation, but would like it to keep in touch. ----Robert Orben

Oh, so true...

So teach us to number our days,That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

07-08-09!

I love numbers, well, not as much as I love words, but today's a cool day as far as numbers go!

Today's 07-08-09 :) (should I wait and post it at 10:11 pm? hehehe...)

Oh, I did speech number 4 today for Toastmasters and I feel like I did well. And no notes!

Here's the transcripts of my speech today, taken from the notes from the women's retreat I spoke at... minus the part where best friends should lead you to dependence on God rather than dependence on themselves...

Speech #4 Poets, Giant Slayers, and Roses....

In my last speech, If you remember, I gave the statistic that 1 in four people have no one to confide in. And this is troublesome, because people who lack social ties but had good health habits were three times more likely to die than those with social connections, regardless of their weight, eating habits or smoking. I concluded that it's better to eat twinkies with friends than eat broccoli alone. I talked about how to reach out and make friends and why.

But do you ever have those friendships that just happen? When you've just met, but you feel like you've known each other forever? Those friendships that don't take time to develop-- they're knit together....

The story of David and Jonathan in the Bible is one of those. David, you've probably heard of. David, as a shepherd boy, shot his slingshot and knocked down the giant Goliath. Jonathan was the son of king Saul. Jonathan was the heir apparent to the throne of Israel, but knew that God appointed David the future king of Israel. They're two very different people. David smelled like sheep, Jonathan smelled like royalty, but they meet and find themselves knit together in friendship.

So, what makes a best friend? What kind of person do you want to be able to confide in? We can see a lot of elements of a good friendship by looking at theirs.

A best friend is one who is like a poet to us. David was a poet. He wrote about half the psalms in the bible. He was expressive and reflective. Now, your friends don't have to be actual poets or artists, but what I mean by a poet is someone who sees things differently than ourselves. Someone with a different perspective of the world, and likes to think and see the beauty in things.

A good friend is a giant slayer. You want a friend who isn't afraid to take risks and try big things. I want someone in my corner who isn't afraid to go big for me.

A good friend is willing to sacrifice their big dreams to help you achieve yours. Jonathan gave up his ambitions of being the future king in order to help David reach his dreams. He sacrificed a great deal, including his relationship with his father.

Now, good friendships do have a cost. Friendships can be painful, but the rewards outweigh the risks.

We should view our friendships like roses. Friendships are wonderful and quite beautiful when handled carefully. Every once in a while, a thorn can stick us. Like the rose not wanting to stick and hurt the gardener on purpose, so are the hurts in our friendships. We all agree that "nobody's perfect", right? When we have been hurt in our relationships with friends we need to remember that, and we shouldn't be shocked by it. That most often, it's carelessness or selfishness that has caused our friend to hurt us. That it was out of not thinking about their actions or thinking of themselves first, rather than direct intention to cause us pain. I know that's often the case when I've stuck my friends, that I was thinking of my own needs above my friend's. Often our friends don't know that they've hurt us. When wounds aren't tended to, they get infected. Such is the grudge that can form by a wound in a friendship that festers. Tend to the wounds. Apply a salve of love. Love covers a multitude of sins.

Friendships have thorns, but also rewards. Life is better when we have poets, giant slayers, and the sweet aroma of roses in our lives. And someone to eat Twinkies with.

contradictions...

The Bible is full of contradictions.

That's right.

You heard me. Contradictions. All through it.

Before I began following Jesus, that's what I used to say when people asked me why I didn't believe the Bible. "It's full of contradictions." Had I ever read the Bible when I claimed this? No, it was just something I had heard and decided was true. So someone challenged me on this. "Show me where," she said. I still am trying to find one. And believe me, I looked hard. You see, the Bible is perfectly consistent from cover to cover. Down to the most minute detail.

So why do I say that the Bible is full of contradictions?

Popular belief says that Kings should be born in palaces. The Bible says that Saviors are born in stables. Luke 2

Popular belief says that "It's all about me!" The Bible says die to your old self... Romans 6

The world says, "Seek power, earn it, you deserve it". The Bible says, "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." Matthew 23:12

The world says, "You don't need any help. You can do it yourself." The Bible says, "for apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

The world says, "If it feels good, do it." The Bible says, "There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death." Proverbs 16:25

The world says "freedom" is "doing what you want"... The Bible says freedom is serving one another. "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love." Galatians 5:13

The list goes on.

It made me think-- How could a book that goes so against what popular belief is, and so consistent in its message written over hundreds and hundreds of years, in different regions of the world, by different authors in different stages, positions, cultures, etc, in life be inspired by popular belief?

And how did Jesus manage to fulfill all those Old Testament prophecies? Because He wasn't God? And why would He claim to be, if He wasn't? Was He lying? Or crazy? I mean most people do agree that Jesus is a great teacher. But He said He was God. What do you do with that?

Who do I say Jesus is? Well, I think Stephen Colbert said it right, "What's the son of a duck? It's a duck. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, and it can raise the dead like a duck.... It's a duck."

Father of "lights"

July 4, 2009 (Happy Independence Day!)

Once again, I was running late.

Big surprise there, but I was actually, for once, doing some important things. I was getting all the details together to renew my Permanent Resident card, so that I can go to and from the States, and it expires of all days, the 4th of July. Brad kept joking that they were going to deport me, and I'd spend the Fourth in California with fireworks. But yeah, it was getting late for me to drop the kids at the park program, get to my hair appointment, then to the post office. With the kids dropped off, I had eight minutes to get to my appointment, which usually I allow twenty minutes to get to. Now, my hairdresser is great, and very popular, and it took me two weeks to get this appointment, so I didn't want to miss it. It's only a half hour appointment.

I was bred with a California foot, which at times, gets lead-heavy on the gas pedal. So I really have to watch out, and not be tempted to go full board and speed, especially since they have all these things on the highway that blink at you with the number of your speed in bright red lights, and police staked out just beyond them. I didn't want my $20 hair cut to cost $175, if you know what I mean. So, I had this conversation with God in the car.

Oh, Lord, you know I want to speed... don't let me... Lord, but get me to this appointment on time...

Oh, Lord, let me make this light... oh, please, Lord, please, I know it's green, but hold it for me....

The yellow lights ahead of the signal (it's a Canadian thing) started flashing, and then the light turned yellow, then red.

Oh, Lord... what happened? Not this one! This one takes forever, and I needed to make the light..???

God answered me with a calm, almost giddyness about me. "Someone else is late, too."

He gave me the next one. :)

But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, at an acceptable time; O God, in the greatness of Your lovingkindness, Answer me with Your saving truth. Psalm 69:13

p.s. I made my appointment on time.