~O-Town Update~

Helloooo! ^_^ I apologize for not updating last week since I was very sick and in bed for three days straight. Believe me, I would have much rather been updating my blog than sick as a dog...but, on an up-note, the doctor gave me a new asthma puffer, and I stopped coughing almost instantly!

I am home in O-Town for reading week and really enjoying myself. Saturday night everybody was over at Amanda's...I'm really happy I got to see her since her reading week was just ending. The next night I went to Carp with Sarah for a delicious spaghetti and meatball dinner (mmmm....). It was really cool because they had 10 deer at a time in their backyard! I always thought that deer were very peaceful creatures, but apparently not when there's a limited supply of food ^_^

Monday and Tuesday were lazy days...I had a nice time just puttering around the house, getting my lab mostly done, and spending some quality time with Mom and Dad. Dad and I invented a new variation of backgammon...it's very confusing. Hence, we dubbed it "Criss-cross Mensa Gammon". Perhaps we shall make some money off this idea... :o)

Yesterday Mart and Sarah and I went to St. Laurent and shopped around. It was a nice sort of relaxing kind of shopping...not the sort that makes you want to sleep for a couple months. Mart very generously picked me up the "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack I've been wanted to buy for a couple years. Thanks so much Mart! Now I can dance around my room to Roxanne anytime I want ^_^

Today I plan to go see my highschool teachers...I have lots to tell Mrs. Schreider!! So I had better go get ready....

On a side note, I am reading through the book of Numbers for the first time, and you know, it's really not too bad! I expected it to be chapters and chapters of lists and embarked upon reading it to "find meaning" in the lists. What I've found is some stories that are actually quite interesting and show that no matter how many signs God gives us, people still refuse to have faith. Apparently seeing isn't believing. I wonder how that must make God feel...

All you on reading week, have a good one!

~And now for something completely different~

My Dad entered this radio contest on CFRA in Ottawa for the best "Lover" or "Loser" Valentine's Day story. Dad has a really hilarious story that I remember quite clearly...I'll send it to you upon request ^_^ Anyhow, the story is quite hilarious (it's a "loser" story) and he entered it in. And he won! A $100 shopping spree at the mall and brunch for two at a nice restaurant. Then, there was a judge who gave out a grand prize just yesterday...and he won that too!! That is for a $1000 shopping spree and a weekend at a spa/resort for two!!! This is for the guy who's "never won anything". Hahaha! Good job Dad! (The story is truly hilarious...you should read it for yourselves).

Well, just waiting for Alex to drop by and chilling to some jazz while I wait. Did I ever mention how much I LOVE jazz lately?? Good stuff! Look up Django Reinhardt if you want to hear some REALLY cool stuff that was happening over in Europe during the American swing era.

~Trees~

Random thought of the day... at church, we were learning about the Trinity, and Pastor Ken was talking about the unity of the Trinity and the perfect love that God experiences within it. Thus, He doesn't need us...He created us to love us.

This took me a while to understand in my Christian walk, but all of this I knew. It was something else Pastor Ken said...

He said "Can you imagine how it must have felt to God when people rejected the plan he was so excited about? To share perfect love with people! But love is a choice, so God put the tree in the middle of the Garden and said, 'You can choose me or the tree'...and they chose the tree."

How silly! Don't you think? Choosing a tree over the best opportunity that humanity has...

Yes, how silly...

How many trees have I chosen instead of God in my life? In the last year? In the last month? In the last week?

How silly...to choose a tree over God.

Dear Lord, Jesus. You who were tempted for 40 days and know how it feels...you know how we don't always see the silliness in our choices. Other times we do...Jesus, show me how to see the trees when they are obscured by poor judgement. Please help me not to choose the tree, whatever form it may take at any given moment. Thank you for your love, Lord. May my choices not cut your heart. All I want is to love like you do...I don't need trees.

In Jesus' name,
Amen

Meet my new pet! =D

~Peace~

What a hectic week! I had two midterms, one of which went really well, and the other...well...let's just say that I'm glad it's over ^_~

But what plagued my mind earlier this week was not my midterms but the issue of outreach in CCF. As a committee, we accidentally missed a very important step in the implementation of our new model. The consent of the members. Needless to say, we did a good job causing a rucus =P But, I believe that the struggle over this issue was a big growing opportunity for everybody involved. After our first meeting, which was very confrontational, I felt sick and empty inside...on the verge of tears. We held a second members meeting two days later, and decided to scrap all previous models we had thought of, and as a fellowship, start from scratch. That meant defining our purpose for outreach, defining questions we need to address together and prioritizing them, defining who (specifically) we want to reach, what the Good News is, how we can encourage and equip members to adopt evangelism as a lifestyle, and finally, according to all our ideas, what the best approach to an evangelical event would be.

Praise God for He is faithful and listens to our prayers! God did not let us continue to be divided, but united us behind one common goal...and one idea! We prayed for unity, but I must say that we didn't expect the final vote for the event in question to be unanimously in favour! What an awesome God! I'm so thankful that He has healed our fellowship and brought peace into our hearts once again. And the idea that we came up with collectively is so much better than what we could come up with a smaller group.

So, the idea will be drafted up by the visioning committee for the event, and presented as a proposal before the entire fellowship, and then we'll go from there.

Perhaps what touched me the most out of the experience is how many people (and frosh!) showed up for these two meetings. I've been out to members meetings in the past, and there usually aren't many people who make it out. I guess this was a sign to me of the genuine love for the fellowship that our members carry in their hearts, and their passion to help in defining the best way it can function. As long as we have people like this in CCF, God will always be able to use us a light on campus.

We had our second Alpha meeting this week, and I think it went pretty well. Getting a projector was a story and a half! =P Ask me about that one in person!

Well, today I am confined here to work on my lab report while the rest of CCF is at the Winter Retreat. I'm dissappointed that I wasn't able to go, especially after how hard I worked to get my stuff done before the weekend. But I trust that God closes the doors that we are not meant to walk through, no matter how hard we yank at the door handle. May as well not waste my energy getting through a door that God has sealed to me! =D

Have a blessed weekend, wherever you are, and whatever you are doing <><