If this was a practical joke, you better fess up!

So this afternoon, I came home after a very unadventurous day. Generally leaf pickers aren't the most enthralling. My regular routine is to take a shower and then take a nap, but today it was a bit more of an adventure.
I turned on my shower as usual, when I noticed something large and black in our garbage can, located between the shower and the toilet, in quite a tight spot I may add. The black blob took me off guard since Brent had just emptied the garbage the night before and I decided to take a closer look. I gingerly peered into the blue bucket and was confused by what I saw: Was it a toad? Wait, it looks like it has four tiny feet, but no tail, and it's really wide and flat....a bat?????? At this point, I was getting more and more frightened at my own thoughts. I decided that maybe I should get a flash light to shine some light on the situation but when I was about to turn on the tool another frightening thought came to mind: What if it is a bat and the light scares it and it flies out?! I quickly turned off the light and started to panic.
The first idea that came to my mind was to get a large box and cover the garbage can, take it out of the bathroom and leave it on the front porch for Brent to deal with. So I got the box and was about to put it on the garbage can, when I realized that the garbage can had to be lifted out of the tight spot to be moved. I started putting the box over the can, but accidentally bumped the bin and the head of the blob moved in a very quick and creepy way!!! like a BAT!!! My heart was beating a hundred miles a minute and I didn't know what to do! My water was still running, the bat had moved, the can is right by the door of the shower, the box is teetering over the can, but not enough to prevent the bat from escaping yet enough to block the door to my shower. There was no way I was going to shower with the bat in the room.
So, I quickly moved the box, turned off the shower, recovered the can, ran out of the room, closed the door behind me, and covered the crack of the door with a towel.....now what? There was still an hour before Brent came home and so I sat in my living room trying to distract myself from the thoughts, yet baffling at how in the world a bat got in my bathroom.
Brent came home abit early and my first words to him were, "You need to save me!" I told him the whole story, slightly embarrassed at my cowardly actions. As he was going into the bathroom, to "save me" he was like, "I'm going to take you seriously right now, but I may come out making fun of you.
So we went in with a box and closed the door behind him. I listened in fear and trepidation as he got the bat. At his signal, I opened the door, and he brought the monster outside and dumped it on the front lawn. Low and behold, it was a real, half-alive bat!! I told him he couldn't leave it on the front lawn and he had to move it. As he was moving it, the half dead rodent screeched and screamed at him, as I quivered on the porch. Into the bushes it went to die! Thank the Lord for my knight in shining armour! Boy I'm glad I'm married!

Now the question remains: HOW IN THE WORLD DID A BAT LAND IN MY BATHROOM GARBAGE CAN?!?! If this was a practical joke, you better fess up!!

Stay tuned for possible continuations of the bat adventures!

Do I Even Attempt to Revive This

So I don't even know if I dare to revive this old blog. I don't know why I would, or what I have to say, but my life continues to be filled with adventures and so I'm sure I could continue to find things to write about. But, who even reads my blog anymore? I'm sure you have all given up by now, and really I don't actually know if after this post I'm actually going to keep writing. But, whatever the case, here is my first attempt at trying to revive this old thing. Stay posted for my latest adventure.

Project Number 2!

The second project was strangely enough not as bad. Again however, I spent my entire weekend devoted to this stupid project but this time, I was done with one hour to spare and I didn't stay up all night. The project was for my Qualitative Research Methods class and I had to create a proposal for a research project. I again could choose any topic of my choice within the confines of the sociology of health. I decided to look at how single mothers perceive the effects of an intentional community on their health; basically came up with a sweet project looking at how awesome Women4Women is. Anyways, the paper was quite straight forward, but a lot of writing. I finished the paper today and the total amount of page s was...drum roll please, 40 pages!!! I have never written so much in my life. Mind you that does include a 9 page ethics proposal as well as a two page bibliography. But whatever the case, it was freaking huge! I am happy to say, that it is done and I only have one more paper to write this term! Praise the Lord!! (and to think that I'm taking spring courses! I'm not going to think about that yet)

Project Number 1

So, my adventures for the past few weeks have consisted of me sitting at my desk for hours apon hours, researching, writing, organizing and trying to compose a masterpiece! The first project was for my Popular Music in Society class with the fabulous Professor Nick Baxtor-Moore! The project consisted of choosing a topic (or your choice) about pretty much anything you want, but it had to do with popular music. It could be a genre of music, a time period, a social movement or a certain lyrical theme. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I chose the most bizarre topic in all the world and by the time I realized how crazy a topic it was, it was too late. I decided that I would look at a movement within South Africa called the Voelvry Movement. Basically a group of white Afrikaans speaking youth revolted against the apartheid government and created a whole wack of music. Sounds cool. Well, it is so obscure that it was next to impossible to fulfill the tasks of my assignment: a five page research paper outlining the subject, a 60 minute compilation CD illustrating the topic and full liner/listen notes to accompany the CD. The research was fine and I was able to come up with a five page essay (the yellow stack of paper), but the rest was hell. I first of all had the most horrible time trying to find the titles of songs that I should include on the CD; I then for the first time in my life illegally had to download the music; then I realized (duh!) that all the music was in Afrikaans! and then I had to find all the lyrics AND translations, never mind analytical material!!! It was insane and after staying up all night and finishing at 6:30 am, the day that it was due, I finished the project and handed it in! What an adventure!

I was there!

Wednesday February 13th: This was the day that I had been looking forward to for nine months; I was going to Winnipeg in hopes of witnessing my sister giving birth to her first child! I don't remember ever anticipating something with such urgency. The excitement was almost suffocating. There had been so much rigamaroll surrounding this flight, and now that it was actually here, I was beside myself!.....well actually, I was beside my sister, who some would argue is quite similar to me. Whatever the case, both Rose and I were beside each other in excitement!

Saturday February 16th: A gorgeous sunny Winnipeg day and we were bound and determined that little Maple needed to become more active! So we went for an all day walk down to the Forks. It was so great to be out in the fresh air, have Nathan fill the air with laughter, and have a new puppet to play in the breeze! Chatter, laughter, silence and anticipation continued to fill our day.


Wednesday February 20th: The due date had passed and still no baby!!!! Nath (ie. Sherwood) predicted that this would be the day of the great arrival and we were more than willing to jump on that bandwagon. Everyone was getting anxious and wondering if Rose and I were actually going to be here for the birth. Will our hopes and dreams come true? We were bound and determined to have it happen! So as they say, if you want a women to go into labour, make her wash the floors and that is exactly what we did. We cleaned all day and got the house all spic-and span for the baby to arrive! The contractions were going nice and strong and Rose and I left and let the two of the lovers have a nice and "relaxing" night ;)

Thursday February 21st: 9:00- Rose and I are woken by a shrilling phone ring! "Come on over. It's starting!" AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is it! This is it!!!!! Soo incredibly excited! Our legs couldn't move fast enough and the grocer couldn't have taken longer! We finally arrived to the birth home and before we opened the door, we both stopped. "Just breathe." We calmed our selves down and lowered our voices to enter the sacred house. However, I think it was our "peaceful" spirit that calmed the baby right down too. We spent the day relaxing, as did the contractions.

Friday February 22nd: 8:30- "This is truly it! Come over. Deanna has been here since 12 last night. This is it!" ECSTATIC doesn't even come close to what I was feeling. Pour adrenaline pumped through my veins and we zipped over to Elice and Maryland and arrived once again at the anticipated location. We entered in, again trying to compose ourselves and the contractions just kept on coming! Deanna (the dula) was there and she was working; Maria was there and working; Nathan was there and working, at getting this baby out! Rose and I felt helpless. We tried to occupy ourselves for most of the day trying to find things to do while we waited on baited breathe. We ended up cooking and baking, "doing homework" and waiting patiently. It was during these long hours that it hit me: my sister is having a baby! My sister is in labour! My sister, is a SUPER HERO!!!

As the hours were gaining, my admiration for Maria and her Creator grew exponentially. For Rose and I, we didn't really have much that we could do for Maria directly and so I just prayed and watched through the crack in the door. We listened to the sounds, listened to the voices and listened to the most painful moments of Maria's life. It was incredibly hard to just listen and not be able to do anything to ease the pain. I found comforted in the fact that Maria's body was created for this moment, and I had to trust that her Creator knew what He was doing. As Becky, (the midwife) said in response to Maria's exclamations of exhaustion, "You're not dead. You're having a baby. You're fully alive. This is the most alive thing you're ever gonna do."

6 o'clock and the hard pushing began. Maria again was incredibly strong in body, mind and spirit. Amongst the pain and agony, she would sneak in some jokes and makes some corkey remarks, subconsciously comforting us all and releasing some of the tension in the air. I have never felt so much intensity in my entire life. The anticipation, the agony, the excitement, the praying, the sounds, the silence, the movements, the pacing; pure intensity. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting.


7:42- "Come over here girls! Here it is!" Rose and I leapt to our feet and ran to the door, just in time to see one of the most memorable, and incredible moments of my life. The baby shot out of the water, into Nathan's arm and onto Maria's chest! Tears steamed down my face and the greatest sense of relief filled the room. It was the most incredible moment. In one instant there was seven of us in the room and a second later, there was eight breathing beings in the room! Unbelievable miracle! A little girl entered in! As Maria so accurately put it, "you're in the world!"

I was there for that incredible moment. I was there for her first breath. I was there for her first cry. I was there to hold her new hands. I was there to see the miracle of life and was overwhelmed with love. My heart was bursting at the seams as I held her for the first time. It struck me how incredibly precious and fragile that moment was. This little face had never been seen before. This little creation, had never been held before. This little human was part of my family. No words can even begin to express the emotions that coerced through my veins at that moment. I was there, and this is my darling niece Mikayla River!

Shane Claiborne Talking about Life

This video is abit about what I've been thinking about. Thanks Mre, for posting your video on your blog. Maybe this will answer some of my questions.

Questions

My life has been full of adventure since September and my last post. So much so that my posts on my blog have been more than lacking, they have been non-existent. I wont bore you with a detailed update of my life: going to school, having a boyfriend, teaching art classes, cleaning houses, and yes, joining Facebook (I hang my head in shame), but instead I am going to solicit your opinion and your input into the questions within my head.
Community: I don't know about you, but this word has been bombarding me since September. I can not get away from it and wherever I go, I hear about it. It's not as though I want it to stop following me. It has just brought me a place of contemplation of what really does it mean. When I hear the word community, what do I think of? What do you think of? One step further: how do I live in community? Is it necessary for life? Am I suppose to live in community? What does that look like?
The discussions surrounding the word community are nothing out of the ordinary in my family, but actually quite the opposite. They happen frequently. Being apart of Christian circles for all of my life, the word community is not shied away from either. On top of that as a Mennonite, community is one of the first words in the dictionary. But, what does that all mean for me, Suzanne Klassen. How do I live in community?
In the summer I was talking to a friend about religion and what "my religion's" beliefs were. I found myself using the word community and family and unity quite often. For him and his adventures in religion he wanted the complete opposite; individualism, me- myself and I, no accountability to anyone else and I get myself where I want to go. I have found that this way of thinking is not unfamiliar to the university crowd and yet for me, I am constantly striving to build community. What is it about community that I find so attractive and yet Ian finds so appalling? In what ways do I live my life so that community is something that is longed for instead of shunned? What does community have to offer that individualism does not? Is there an ideal way to live out community? Who is to know and who is to tell?

The Unusual Applaud

The lights are dim, and the film begins to roll. The sound starts to play and I sit there in anticipation of what is about to be displayed before my eyes. A documentary: Man with the Movie Camera, 1929. I wait and low and behold, an orchestra soon begins to take position on stage. I love music. The film reels through from slide to slide, and I take in the action, but more importantly, my ears are saturated in the sweet sounds and melodies that ring in the air. I am elated at the quality and a smile is pasted on my face. The film continues from scene to scene and with each passing moment the same thought keeps flickering through my head. "Where in the world can I get my hands on this sound track?! This is amazing!!" Ninety minutes later
the finale comes to a close and there I am left in awe and wonder with my heart feeling warm, my eyes closed focusing on the auditory intake, and my hands naturally begin to clap and applaud the greatness of the performance that I have just witnessed. Startled back to reality, I find that I am not the only one clapping my hands together, but the class which I had lost consciousness of, has joined me in my appreciation. How marvelous! They appreciate this film (or this sound track) as much as I do! I exit the room in satisfaction and much to my chagrin the ears which were so beautifully treated by harmonies are rudely harassed with words of discontent. "What a waste of time. That sucked!?" In confusion and disbelief I become aware that what I perceived as greatness, another perceived as garbage; what I thought was appreciation, was merely mockery.
A week passes and I am reminded of the whole experience again. "Can you explain to me the unusual applaud at the end of "Man with the Movie Camera?" Yes I can sir. But my explanation only captures the one set of hands that started it all.

Gross'me'Green

If This Tree Could Speak

The other weekend, Brent and I went for a walk and heard this loud, furious, angry sounding screaming. It was quite the noise and it sounded very destructive, violent and disturbing. As we kept walking, the screaming came closer and we ended up walking right passed the bushes where the racket was coming from. This sick and distressing feeling came over me and all I wanted to do was go and talk to the guy and see what was wrong and why he was so upset. Brent had a head on his shoulders and stopped me from entering into the bush without thinking, and as we walked on by I prayed as release of what I was feeling. It was really sad to think about how this guy had so much anger and furry in him and yet had to go into the bush, all by himself to get it off his chest.
We went back later to where he had been, to find a tree fort of sorts, right on the edge of the water. It was cradled by this huge tree that had these big sprawling branches that hugged the lonely soul that sat in it's arms. The main platform of the fort had a ton of carvings and markings on it that could write novels of what had happened in that place.
Oh the stories this tree could tell if it only could speak. The secrets that were told and the memories that are erased. The words that were uttered and the curses that were thrown. The blessings that were embraced and the toxins that were inhaled. This tree holds it all. It is a place of security and a listening ear that will not object. It is a place of safety and a strong arm that will not beat back. It is a place of comfort and a warm heart that will not be hurt. If this tree could speak, oh the stories it would tell.

Missing Out or Saving Myself

Within the society that I live, there are many different forms of communication and ways of interaction. The handwritten letter is one that everyone really loves and when you open the mail to find a personally addressed envelope, you are thrilled. But it pretty much stays at a novelty and many people don't take the time to actually use this method. The telephone has been around for quite some time, but as the years progress, I find that it is used less frequently. Email, can be argued as being the most common and the standard form of communication across generations. Online chatting has become quite popular as well but is not used by all. It kinda stays between the younger folks, and as you get older, using Messenger, Google Talk and the like is not as common. Skype is another more recent form of communication where you are able to talk, as though on the telephone, but through your computer. This is a nifty way of communication that is cheap and relatively painless. Text messaging is predominant and though everyone and their dog has a cell phone, they are not used for actual talking as much as "texting" your "fav. five". And then there is this: "a social utility that connects you with the people around you." Any guesses for what this can be? Facebook!
Facebook is a way of networking and communicating with people from your past, your present and I wouldn't doubt, your future. This phenomenon started in 2004 and was originally only available to college/university students with a campus email address. Since September 2006, this utility was opened up to be used by anyone with an email address and by July 2007, it had 34 million active members and was the seventh most visited site in the United States.* Though it started with the university crowd, this network has spread throughout high schools, families, parents and work places.
Many friends of mine are proud members of this network and beckon me to join in with this social gathering. They tell me all the great advantages of "having Facebook" and are constantly making me feel as though I'm missing out because I'm not connected. For some, Facebook has become their principal way of communication and they rely on it fully to get messages to each other, plan events, to stay up to date on the latest greatest, know the person's dating status, to find new friends, to stay connected with childhood playmates and to watch and observe the lives of others through videos, pictures and stories. Discussions are had, comments are made, and the world is aware of every move that you make. You are comfortably distant, yet jarringly vulnerable.
My opinions for Facebook are strictly observational considering I have not become a member, and the debate of whether or not I should, is continually being presented to me. I question what this social utility says about the society that I live in. How has our culture come to a place where virtual connectivity is the norm and if you don't take part, you are on the outside, the outskirts, an outliers? How as it happen that suddenly we are willing to expose our every move to the world, let them know who our top friends are, and rekindle friendships that never existed? As one that hasn't taken the plunge and entered this virtual world, am I truly missing out like my friends say, or am I saving myself from a reliance on a computer to connect me to the "people around me"? Has our society come to a place where physical interaction is no longer needed, and we are able to be sustained and fulfilled within our cyber-world? How long can I stay on the outside and still remain on the inside of society? Will I have to cave to fully know how my society works, or can I just observe and look objectively from the outskirts? Am I missing out, or am I saving myself?
*figures taken from Wikipedia

One of the Best!

So this may be one of the best summers ever. When I tell people this, they always seem puzzled and ask why, and a valid question indeed. They continue their inquiry asking what I have done and what makes it so great and if you were to look at my summer, from the outside it doesn't look like much. I've been to Toronto a few times to hear some sweet music, but that isn't anything that out of the ordinary. I've been camping with my family, which was super awesome, but again, I do that every year (though, this year, we had an extra great time because we found out that MARIA IS PREGNANT!!!!). Then if you were to look at my job, you would be totally thrown off. My job for those who forget, is working for a agency called Agricorp which under the government, trying to control a virus (Plum Pox) which is spreading through the orchards in Niagara. I am sampler which means that all I do is pick leaves and tag/label trees. That is literally all I do. I pick between 4000 to 5000 leaves a day and put them in little ziplock bags and that's all I do for 7.5 hours a day. Literally that's all I do. So again, this shouldn't really add to the amazingness of my summer. But for some reason, all of these things have added up and contributed to the best summer ever! My job is fantastic and I love it! My family is unreal, and I love them! My music is rockin' and I love it!
But, when I actually take time and think about it, there is one more thing. There is something sweet about having purpose, and I think for me this has made my summer. As you will recall from my previous post, God really made it clear to me that there was reason for me to get this job. There was huge ordeal around getting it, and when I eventually did, I felt strongly that God had put me there for a reason. Well, since then, I have been on a search to find out what my purpose in this work place is and have tried to figure out why I am there. It has been a challenge because I don't really connect with the people at work, I work alone for the majority of the day, and there aren't many great "opportunities" in the normal sense. So why am I there? Without going into huge detail, God has shown me the value of the new culture that I am apart of; the value in the differences between us; and the value in unfamiliarity in new situations. This has given me purpose and has motivated me in life. It has given me a freshness and a joy to do what I do, and an expectancy that God is going to do something. My dearest brother-in-law Nathan posted on his blog about the boredom of work and whether or not work is just work, of if it can be something more (sorry Nato, paraphrasing a bit) and I think that it can be something more. If there was a job that could be boring and unmotivating, I have one, but when you introduce purpose, it is a whole new story. Now, don't get me wrong. Just because I have purpose doesn't mean that I am thrilled with every leaf that I pick and that I am overjoyed with every sex talk I get, but at the end of the day I know that there is a reason why I am going back the next day. It adds something to life and for me that is greatness!
So, yes, my summer has been amazing, and maybe not for then normal reasons a summer is awesome, but to put it bluntly, it's because of God

Nothing Really

You know the people who never update their blog. You're a faithful reader, and you check it regularly for updates, but then for months and months, nothing ever changes. I know a few of them, and to be honest I have been guilty of the same. And so, I am trying to prevent you from stopping to check my blog, because one day I'll have another adventure, and if you haven't been able to see any action, you may forget about it and miss an adventure.
For me I find it exciting to read the new updates on others blogs and hear about what people are doing with their lives, even if it doesn't apply to me, doesn't matter to me, or doesn't makes sense to me. Blogging is a way of communication for the modern day, and it is a way of expression. Some people use it as a journal of their adventures, some use it to provoke thought, some use it just to say what is on their mind, and other just want something to take up their time. There are many different reasons to blog, and I feel as though mine is a combination of all. There isn't really any rhyme or reason to it, it just happens as it happens. For instance, this entry is completely useless and probably by the end of it, you will think to yourself, "why did I just waste my time reading this." But you can just remember that this is a way of communication for the modern day. I consider myself a modern women, and as one who is studying society I find it important to take part in the society and the ways of my modern day. Enjoy today.

Emotional Day for Some reason

So today, for some reason, in the middle of the day I just burst into tears. I could pull out explanations, but really they don't do justice. I'm not even PMSing. I was just emotional today. It started this morning when I was mowing the lawn. I had just started and all of the sudden I got this ferocious pain in my arm and I look down and a bee flies away! The nerve!!! This is my first bee sting I think and it hurt like crazy! So that sucked! Well I continued to mow the lawn and as I got to the street I spotted a little creature on the road. It was in the middle of the road, and I don't know what got into me because I'm not one to really go and inspect road kill, but something urged me. I went over and low and behold there was this baby bird panting and obviously was very hurt; had been there for a few days and was in alot of pain. The second I walked over it turned its little head to me and opened his yellow beak so wide as if I was going to feed it. It was just painful to watch. I had to do something, and the only thing that I could do was put it out of its missery. Let's just say that my neighbour yelled out, "I live beside killers!!" It was so incredibly devistating and just heart wrenching!
Well, that wasn't the end of my missery. I then went to donate blood and as usual I filled out all the papers, answered all the sex questions and went and sat on the comfy chairs. I had just gotten stung on my right arm, so I thought it may not be the best idea to draw blood from that arm. So the nurse searched my left arm for the vein, and she said that it was too small. So she looked around the right arm for a vein. "Oh, this one is a bit better. Let's try this one." She stuck in the needle and I looked down and there was no blood coming out at all. That was very strange since usually I just pour out. But this time there was nothing. She called over the other nurse, and she started to poke around and together they dug under my skin to find a gushing vein. They finaly found one, but gushing would be the complete opposite discription. It dripped out of the needle enough to just fill their four test tubes. They decided they would try the left arm to fill the bag and they found a vein but again not much blood. So they gave up, and sent me home crying. I just couldn't stop crying though for some reason. I was sitting in the chair waiting for them to clean my iodine arms and the tears just kept streaming. I was trying to stop, but just couldn't. It was an emotional morning, but really not that bad. It was so dramatic and my emotions just got the best of me.

Faith

So, as a lot of you know, this past couple of months has been an adventure on the job hunt. It is crazy how hard it is to find a job now a days, and especially one that is willing to pay you a decent wage. Jobs don't come easy. In March, my number one goal was to make money! It seems like a common goal among students, and I was no different. Without boring you with the details, there was one job in particular that seems quite appealing and just the perfect fit. I had applied last year for this job, but to no prevail. When considering applying again, I didn't think I stood a chance. Why would they hire me this year if they didn't hire me last year. God right away asked me His favourite question to ask me, "Do you have faith?" I hate that question because it puts you in such an awkward situation, because you know that it is a challenge more than a question. My answer was no; I did not have faith that I could get this job. Thus the begining of a great adventure!Faith.
I decided to apply for the job, but with much timidity yet wanting to take God up on His challenge. He could get this job. Once I had applied, whenever I would think about the job, I was reminded of the question and it got me thinking about what faith really was. What does it mean to live by faith? That seems like such a Sunday school answer, and something that is so easily thrown around in the Christian community. But God started to ask me if it was more than just a blank statement, and He challenged me to really think about what that means. Throughout the past two months, I have learend more and more that living by faith is not about the end result, but it about the journey to get there, the adventure behind it. Living by faith doesn't mean that you go out and like the lottery, hope that you'll win, or you will get what you want. Living by faith is learning to trust God with every part of your life; the big, the small, the pretty and the ugly. Living by faith is a journey of dependency where your only option is to trust God and to find peace in knowing that He will get you to the best destination imaginable; no matter what happens, the journey towards it was worth it.
The job took me for a ride, leaving me week after week, wondering what was happening. I was starting to really wonder when this journey was going to end and starting to consider new options for my final destination, but again, the question haunted me, "Do you have faith?" God started to show me that He had it under control and that no matter what, whether I got the job or not, this adventure of faith didn't end with this result. It was only the begining of a great adventure, and even though, yes, I ended up getting the job (PRAISE THE LORD!!!), the journey still continues, and from what I can tell, I have a long ways to go before I see the end.

The Painting

Just thought I would share this
some have asked, who this is, and it is just a picture that I saw and so I decided to paint it. Oh, and it is not in black and white, but the camera did not capture the full colour unfortunately. It is really colourful in real life.

My Korean Sister

Have you ever thought that there may be universal faces that everyone, no matter what nationality, where they are from, which world they grow up in, reconginze? I am officially done first year university (HALLELIUAH!!!!) and one thing that I will remember from first year Psych, is that there are universal emotions. What they all are, I don't remember, but they do exsists. In February, we had two Korean girls living with us for seven weeks. It was great and I do miss them and I just stumbled apon these pictures. We were just having some fun with the camera, and now looking back, this proves the point. There are universal emotions. If you havn't played this game with your friends, or your international friends, it is quite the fun. You just yell out an emotion and without thinking about it for very long, you take the picture. These were our results. Universal emotions? I think so.HAPPY:)

SAD :(

ANGRY!

AFRAID!!

SUPRISED :O

Do what she says--Not Impressed -----WHOA!!!

Broken Vision

So, a few weekends ago I was at a BCF retreat. It was fabulously awesome and a ton of fun. While I was there, God did some pretty cool things, one of which was touching me powerfully and manifesting huge in my physical body. It was pretty crazy and it happened so unexpectedly. My darling friend Ruth was praying for me in the kitchen of the place we were staying, and all of the sudden I start to shake like a leaf and couldn't stop shaking! God totally took over me and for about an hour I was totally filled with the Holy Spirit. He gave me visions, prophesies and just took a hold of me, mind, body and spirit. This used to be a regular occurrence in my life, but for the past six or so years I hadn't experienced anything like this and unconsciously I was starting to doubt if He still moved in that way. A lens of doubt, shall we say, came over my eyes and heart and I started to doubt my experiences in the past and if they were actually legitimate. But that night it was as though I was catapulted into my past and God met me in the same way as He did back then. It was so refreshing and God showed me how He still can move in me like He did back then and He is still alive and well. He showed me that with Him I can be satisfied and that He is the one that I need to turn to for life, energy and joy! It was marvellous and really humbling.
At the end of it all, I went to get my glasses that I had taken off prior to the experience and when I went to pick them up, low and behold they were snapped in half! I don't know exactly how this happened but with all the movin' and shakin' I'm not surprised. It is a symbol of what God did for me that night. He took my lens of doubt that had been covering my eyes and broke them in half. I walked around blind for the next week but God showed Himself to me in a way that needed no glasses, but just a vision of Him.

Frozen In Time

 

The Chapter is Closed and the Book is Finished!

As you probably are aware, I am not a reader. I have never been a reader, and if I start to become a reader, it will be a miracle. BUT, I have read a book or two in my life and do know the relief of finishing it (maybe an emotion that some of you avid readers can't relate to). I also know the feeling of reading an aweful book, one that seems to drag on and on and never come to an end. When you are finally finished it, you are more than happy to slam the book closed, never open it agian, and maybe even give it away. For me this is abit of a picture of the past four to five months. They have been the hardest months of my life and I have been in a state of constant sadness, depression, confusion and just overwhelming emotions that were usually not enjoyable or comfortable. This may have not been visible to everyone, (don't judge a book by its cover) but I was dealing with the realities of singleness, giving up dreams and hopes for the future, trying to figure out how to continue on a journey I didn't want to be on and learning more about who I was, and where my identity lied. It was a difficult labyrinth to maze through, and I was sure that it would take me years to reach the end. BUT, thank God, He wrote the plot.

At URBANA (a massive mission's conference with 22, 000 people), on the very last night, New Years Eve, God showed me that the chapter of sadness and mourning was over and I didn't have to open the book again. I could say goodbye to the past with assurance that it never needed to be reopened again. I didn't have to wonder, "Who did what;What about this; Where was I; When did this happen; Why was I not aware of this!?" The questions became irrelavent to the plot and though it wasn't until the last chapter that things could be cleared up, the giberish became a language I could understand and the confussion was pushed aside! God gave me hope for a new year and called it the "Year of Promise!" I said goodbye to the book that I had settled in and handed it over to God to put on His bookshelf. God lifted a burden off my back and I sighed, (accompanied with many tears) a deep breathe of relief. I have no idea what this new book is going to be about but this one thing is fore sure, God has given me new joy and new hope to begin reading it. I embrace the future instead of shun it, and maybe this will be the start the miracle...could I too become an avid reader?...maybe just the ones God writes ;)