Rollercoaster

I believe that every day can be measured in terms of different amusement park rides.

Some days are like a carousel - tame and predictable, they go round and round, and you feel like you've seen it all before. Some days are like the teacup ride - amusing at first, but gradually sickening. Some days are like the Vomitron - just plain horrible from start to finish, leaving your head spinning and stomach churning. Some days are like a haunted house - sort of scary at the time, but laughable later.

Today was a rollercoaster.

It started off with me forgetting to set my alarm and waking up late. It got a bit better when I managed to be ready on time. Later it went downhill again when I had a couple of horrible tests at school, but it improved drastically when I got home and found a Christmas present from my best friend in Australia. I was ecstatic, on the top of the hill, when suddenly my sisters ran upstairs, tears streaming down their faces, telling me Brooke's pet rat was dead. As silly as it may sound to you to be upset over a rat, we were devastated. Death always sucks. Just when we were at the bottom of the hill, things started to pick up again with thanks to some mint icecream and TurboJam. When we got home, Nadine's rat had died too, and down we went again...

As trivial as all those "events" may be, it showed me just how... what's the word, fickle? our emotions are. One second, we're bouncing off walls, the next we're depressed. All it takes is a little thing to make or break our days.

That's why I am so thankful for joy. God's joy is something that doesn't depend on circumstances, situations or even feelings. If you have God's joy, it doesn't go away.

Happiness fades, but joy is neverending.

Updates

I have now been to, spent 2 weeks in, and have sadly returned from Uganda! (Sadly because I never wanted to come back.)

It was the most amazing experience of my life so far.

I am not going to blog about it right now - there's just tooooo much to say, and too much else I have to do at the moment, catching up on school and whatnot - but, if you would like to hear about it, let me know! I can send you a write-up about it, or I might do a post on it later.

Waybalay nyo! Thank you very much! x

P.S. My profile picture is a gorgeous baby girl, Esther, who I met on my trip at Baby Watoto :)

Oli otya!

Oli otya! (That's Ugandan for "Hello!")

For the last week or so, I have not been able to access my blog. When I came onto the Blogger homepage, I entered my email and password as usual, only to find myself on a page telling me I had to have a Google account, and to get one I had to enter my email and password, but when I did, it told me it was invalid and I had to have a Google account! It was all very confusalating, and slightly frustrating, but when I tried again today - expecting I would not be able to blog ever again - I got in, just like I always had! Hmm... I dunno.

BUT I am back now, and I am stoooooooked to say that I am going to Uganda ... TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so ridiuclously excited. Needless to say, I am having a VERY difficult time trying to study for the 4 tests I need to take tomorrow morning (as they would've been the end of this week). As if I could think about anything but Africa at the moment! I'm pretty sure I am not going to do well on the tests, but I couldn't care less, to tell the truth.

It feels very surreal - and I imagine it may very well feel that way even after I come back - but I know it's gonna be an amaaaaaaaaazing experience, and I am filled with bubbling over with joyful anticipation.

I would greatly appreciate your prayers - for our team (10 including me) and our health, safety, etc., and for the people we will encounter over there.

I look forward to telling you all about it!
Thanks and see ya in 2 weeks!
xMWAx

Life is Beautiful

God is so creative!
All photos taken by yours truly - except the squirrel which was taken by my Dad.

Have a beautiful day everyone :)

Song Saturday - 1234

At the moment, I'm loving me a bit o' Feist. She is absolutely amazing.
So, have a listen to her wonderful, wonderful song, 1234. Enjoy :)

1234 by Feist

Jiggity-jig

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig!

Yes, I am home from my school retreat. It was epicly epic.
I had an absolute blast and I am very sorry that it was my last school camp, although I am not sorry it is my last year at school. We played wild games, had fantastic chapels, had mad DPS (Dance Party Seshes), ate delish food, and swam in a ridiculously freezing lake, among other things.

I've discovered that I don't appreciate my school-mates half as much at school as I do at the retreat. You see, at the retreat, alot of the walls break down, alot of the masks come off. It becomes "us" as opposed to "me and them". For some reason, screaming your heads off, nearly freezing to death, eating waaaaaaaay too much sugar, and galavanting about in the dark seem to be part of the recipe to bringing students together. I love watching people coming together, making friends, working as a team. It is sheerly fantastical.

At retreat, we were placed in teams. There were 6 teams - each a different colour, Orange being the best (and, no, Orange being my team does not make me biased! P.S. We were called "The Creamsicles" ...yeeeeeeeah! :) - and these teams were used as the basis for competition over everything between who can yell the loudest to who can blow the biggest bubblegum bubble. I found the point system quite hilarious though. Arm wrestling competition? 20, 000 points. I dunno, I just thought it was pretty funny. Not 20, but 20 thousand! Anyway...

Well, I'm about to fall asleep (though it couldn't possibly be because us Gr. 12s stayed up 'til 3am playing Wii, eating junk and watching Napoleon Dynamite, could it?) so I'm gonna stop because I'm pretty sure you get the point that I loved it and it was awesome, but I just want to say (or shout) one more thing:

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE IS THE BEST GAME EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! (Yes, the triple exclamation strikes again!!!) The M.I. we played at the retreat was completely different than Malagash M.I. (which sounds like a certain Hawaiian-shirt-wearing investigator) and in my opinion way more awesomer. The aim was to take a golfball from one end of the field to the other and drop it into your team's bucket without being caught by a spotlight. There were various obstacles (picnic tables, canoes, bins) throughout the field to hide behind. It was ah-mazing. Never have I hit the ground so many times! Run, run - DROP! Run! DROP! Run, run, run - DIIIIIVE! Hide. Run, run - DROP! BOOOOOK IT! Intense, huh? My knees are bruised and my wrist is aching - but it was SO worth it. I got 5 golfballs in! Oh baby, F-I-V-E! I was very proud of myself, aha. Oh man, at one point, I got inside one of the overturned (empty) garbage cans and started walking up the hill with it over my head! The spotlighters said it was very funny, but I was still out. Sad, but true. I've decided my next birthday party is gonna be a game of Mission Impossible because it is the bomb-diggity-bomb.

Anyway... you can probably tell I'm tired because I'm rambling and using phrases like "oh baby/man" and "the bomb-diggity-bomb" so I will let you and myself go now.

Go watch Napoleon Dynamite, GOSH!
Jx

See ya Saturday!

No Tuesday Think today sorry - in fact, not much of a post at all!
Just wanted to quickly let you know I've got my school retreat (gr. 7-12 camp) from Wednesday-Friday and it's gonna be a blaaaaaaaaast! Will tell you all about it on Saturday, I guess. Woot :)
Also, just wanted to say good luck, bon voyage and I'm praying for you to any of my NCC friends who are reading this and who are going to Fiji in a day or two. Love you, have fun!
Smileo! Jx

Sunday Supper

Last night I went to a local event called the Sunday Supper. This is a dinner held every Sunday night at a church in my city for the homeless and disadvantaged. It's not a "soup kitchen", it's a proper sit-down meal where the visitors are waited on by the volunteers. The Sunday Supper started as a Christmas party - 27 years ago, I think, and has been going on every Sunday since then: "the longest Christmas party in the world", as it was described to me by my lovely friend Alli (I mentioned her in my post on Saturday about the song Times) who I went with, and who has been working there for many years. I had been to the Sunday Supper once quite a while ago (with my youth group) and had really enjoyed it and had wanted to go back, so I was excited to go back yesterday. There were a good number of volunteers there - I'd say 30 plus, many of whom I knew from camp this summer and was thrilled to see again - and that was great because there were probably a couple hundred guests at the supper! My main role throughout the evening was serving juice, as well as cutting up pies and fruit for the dessert at the beginning. We all worked together to serve the meal - which was beef stew and pizza last night - and clean up at the end. It was wonderful to get to chat with the guests - and even just to share a smile and a "Hi! How are you?" with them. These are lovely people who have tough lots in life - due to a miriad of different circumstances - and it is up to us to make life as easy for them as we can. The Sunday Supper is just one practical way that the "lucky" people in my community are blessing those who aren't so fortunate. I was very encouraged by the time I spent there last night and I am looking forward to attending more regularly - hopefully I'll be back next week!
Blessings to you all x
P.S. I am watching House right now and it is wonderful. I'm hooked!

Lessons and Missions

Well, I said yesterday in my ridiculously long post about camp, that I would share some of the lessons I learnt working at camp and tell you about my upcoming Uganda trip, and since I don't have much else to do right now (oh, how I love weekends!), I thought I'd do just that.

Firstly, lessons from camp. Some of these sound tres cliche, I know, but they are true. And the truth is not overrated (Big Fat Liar reference, ahaha!) so here they are:

(P.S. There's a fair few, so bear with me...)

Lessons from Scotian Glen:

• God will always be there to help - it's just up to us to ask for His help.
• Nothing is ever too hard with God's help.
• We need challenges and difficulties in order to grow and learn.
• If it was always easy, we would never get to learn how to handle hard times and gain useful life experience.
• Life would be really boring if it were always easy!
• The logical solution to a problem is not always the best one.
  
• Influence is a powerful, and potentially very dangerous, thing.
• I have a much greater influence than I realise.
• It's the little things that really count.
• Know when to stop - there is a time to just give up.
• Pick your battles, only do what matters.
• Watch your words - what you mean and what you say can be completely different. Be careful! (see The Tuesday Think - Words)
• Never make assumptions or cast judgements.
• First impressions are (almost) always wrong.
• Make every effort to go "the extra mile" - it's the extra care you take that makes the difference.
• When you think you're at the end of your rope and can't do anything more, you're wrong. You can press on and do some of your best work when you decide to persevere.
• Don't take anything too seriously. It's better to laugh it off than to let it get you down.
• Just have fun! If you can't enjoy what you're doing at all, then it's probably not worth doing.
• Look on the bright side!
• Always put other first. (When you live for others it all makes sense.)
  
• Patience! Patience is the key. Even though it's brutally hard at times, it's always worth it.
• Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love is all that ultimately matters.
  

So, there you go. Those are just some of the things that being at camp for 6 weeks (plus Malagash) taught me. Yes, they're all simple things that I already knew, but you can never be reminded of basic truths and principles like these too often.

Now, UGANDA! I depart in a mere 18 days! Ahhhhhhhhhh! :)
I am going to Uganda on a missions trip with a group of 10 people from my church. We're going to the Watoto Children's Village, which is a home for children who have been orphaned, mainly due to AIDS, as well as to civil war, etc. Watoto is just outside of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. We'll be there until 12 October and the main goal for our trip is to help build a classroom for the Watoto school, which we're building thanks to the $23,000 we raised. (Yes, we raised a whackload of money. It costs $17,000 to build the classroom, so who knows what the rest will do... God is amazing!)
We'll also be interacting with the children of Watoto and their "housemothers". You see, Watoto is an orphanage, but not in the traditional sense. At Watoto, kids are placed in homes, in "families" with 7 other brothers and sisters, all orphans, like themselves, and under the care of a "mother". The kids are provided with all that they need, including an education at the school of Watoto. Watoto has given hope, joy, love and life to thousands of kids since it began in 1994. It's going strong as ever: there are several villages, a new "Baby Watoto" and more villages are being created in Northern Uganda, where they will be rescuing child soldiers.
You may have heard of, or even seen, the Watoto Children's Choir. This is a group of Watoto kids who tour the world singing about Jesus, and telling the good news of how He saved them. I have seen them perform twice now, and they are amazing. I am so priviledged to get to go to their homeland and help expand the Village.
Hey, if you want to know any more about Watoto, or see some pictures or anything, here is the website: http://www.watoto.com/

So, now you know what I'll be doing for the first two weeks of October (and also what I'm doing with the money I earned working at camp all summer!) It's gonna be epic. I'd just ask that you keep this mission trip in your prayers. That'd be awesome, ta!

Well, good night everyone!
Jord :)

Lisa

As I've said before, I love writing poems.
Here's a lighthearted, children's poem I wrote recently that I hope you will enjoy.

Lisa

Lisa is my bestest friend
She comes over every day
We laugh, we cry, we scream and shout
We play and play and play

Lisa is my bestest friend
She always shares she toys
She's kind, polite, and oh-so-good
Except when teasing boys

Lisa is my bestest friend
She can't wait 'til next week
'Cuz it's my birthday party then
But into the room she'll sneak

Lisa is my bestest friend
But no-one else has met her
You see she is invisible
But that makes her even better!

Song Saturday - Times

I only ever did one "Song Saturday", but if you remember that, you'll know it's just where I share a song that I'm loving at the moment - and where you can share a song you're currently enjoying! Musical magic :)

So, today's song is a beautiful, beautiful song called Times. It is by a modern Christian band called Tenth Avenue North. I'm really loving these guys lately - they do great contemporary worship, so if you like Times, I'm sure you'd enjoy listening to their other stuff too.

Times is a song which starts off with the prayer of a person to God: "...I long to feel you, I feel this need for you..." It's simply the cry of their heart, it's raw and sweet.
The next section of the song is God's response to them, His child: "...My love is over, it's underneath, it's inside, it's in between..." It's a reassurance that He's there for us through everything, every "time" in our lives - when we're happy, hurting, whatever. He's always there, and He always love us passionately and deeply, and He will never change.

It's gorgeous, I love it. I first heard it at Malagash this summer, actually. It was performed by two of the most amazing, beautiful people I know - Allison and Matt. Alli sang the prayer, and Matt represented God and sang the answer. It was amazing, I had goosebumps.

So, here it is: Times by Tenth Avenue North

I hope you enjoy Times as much as I have been.
Now, go ahead, return the favour - share a song you love with me!

I'm Baaa-ack!

*pushing through crowds of screaming fans*
Thank you, thank you! Yes, I'm very happy to be back! I know, it's been a long time, but I'm sure I can make a successful comeback and continue blazing my bedazzled trail to super stardom! Oh, flowers? You're too kind! Okay, okay! Enough with the flowers-- ooh! Ferrari?! For meeeeeee?! AWESOME!!! (Yes, a Ferrari does merit the heinous crime of the dreaded triple exclamation!!!)

Alright, enough o' that. Yes, I have returned. But, no, it won't involve Ferraris. Or flowers, for that matter. Although I do like both flowers and Ferraris (the latter more so than the former, obviously.) But, we digress.
I am back at long last after finishing the school year and the summer (again, I much prefer the latter.) Wow, what an incredibly eventful summer it was! So crazmazing (which is my new word - a combination of crazy and amazing.) So, without further ado, allow me to tell you a bit about the aforementioned beaut of a summer holiday!

So, from 24 June - 7 August (with one week off in between) I worked as a camp counsellor at a summer camp, a few hours from where I live. (There was a week of training, 4 "Holiday Camps" and one "Moms & Tots Camp".)
This camp is called Scotian Glen and is run by the Salvation Army as a place that kids (ages 7-12) from underprivileged homes (i.e. public housing areas) around the Maritimes can go to camp - for free - and have an absolute blast in a safe and loving environment, as well as learn about Jesus. I was with the 11-12 year old girls.
I'm not gonna lie, camp was difficult. The kids (the boys in particular) were tough. But you couldn't blame them, knowing the situations and backgrounds they're coming from. Most of these kids live in violent and messed-up places. Most of them don't have two parents. Many of them have parents who are alcoholics, drug addicts, or in prison. Some of them don't have parents. Some of these kids have been abused, or neglected. Many of them have ADD, ADHD or other issues. And even the kids who come from relatively easy homes, still have problems - because, let's face it, we all do.
All of these kids rarely get the chance just to be kids, so one of the major aims of camp was to just enable and encourage these kids just to be kids and enjoy themselves! Camp gave them a chance to get to relax, make friends, and so much more, all in a place run by young people (i.e. myself and the other staff) who they knew they could trust.
Kids love having fun (pretty sure everyone does, actually! I sure do!) So ... Camp! Was! FUN! We played mad games, swam, made crafts, sang songs, watched movies, ate delicious food at crazy themed meals, learned Bible stories... It was wonderful. I can't even describe how much fun I had, let alone how much the kids must've had.
But as fun as it was, it was, at times, brutally hard. Especially at bed time. Oh. My. Goodness. The days are pretty much okay, since there is stuff to do, but at night. No. No. No. How come kids who are so tired fight sleeping so hard? I will never understand. Actually, I'd prefer not to think about the night times. Let's just focus on the fun.
But, yeah, camp was intensely intense. Intense to the max. But we had a great team of staff and we pulled through wonderfully, with only minor hiccups along the way - such as one of the guy counsellors having his fingers - the same ones - broken TWICE whilst breaking up fights between kids. And alot of sickness (no H1N1, though, thankfully!) including my brutal ear infection which was no fun. At all. But I survived - we all did - because God is awesome.
Yep, God is ridiculously amazing. I can't even express how ridiculously amazing He is. Without Him, there is no way on earth we could've done what we did. He chose exactly the right team of people to work at the camp - the 18 counsellors, the kitchen staff, the maintenance, the directors - and gave us all that we needed - strength, patience, love, courage, hope, compassion, grace, etc. He is so good, and the 6 weeks I spent at Scotian Glen really reinforced that for me. I learnt SOOOO much at Scotian Glen, and I hope to share some of these valubale lessons with you over the coming days.

But that was not all I did this summer! As soon as I finished working at Scotian Glen, I was off to another camp! This time I went to the beautiful Malgash Bible Camp (again, a few hours from my place) with my beautiful family for Family Camp. This week was SO RELAXING! Ahaha... It was filled with chillin' at the beach, games, worship - ooh, and watching a meteor shower! We lay on the beach one night and I saw about 30 meteors in just over an hour! It was epic!!! (Again, a meteor shower is an exception to the !!! rule.)

But wait! There's more! At the end of that week, I was asked back to be a volunteer counsellor at the next camp, which was Jr. High Camp. That was another INCREDIBLE week. I'd say maybe the highlight of my summer? While Scotian Glen was great, Malagash is a much better camp in my opinion, so I enjoyed getting to be there again greatly. I will talk about this week another time probably because this is getting looooooooong and you are getting boooooooored, and I STILL have more to say!
Then I came back AGAIN to Malagash to work in the kitchen (something different this time!) for the next camp, Sr. High Camp (I could've gone as a camper but I didn't because I hadn't been planning to come back and it cost a fair bit as well). It was fun to work in the kitchen, which I hadn't done before. We pretty much washed dishes, set tables, and served food. Hard work, but it was good because we had a good team and good music to help. The best part of this week was probably the lovely "Coffee House" we had one night where some amazing local musicians graced us with their beautiful mmmusical prowess :)

Well, that was my summer! I also spent a few days with my family on Prince Edward Island, which was loverly too.

So, I've gone back to school now - it's my laaaaast year (finally!) and I'm kinda stoked about that. Also, it's school camp next week which is good because I am suffering from camp withdrawal! It'll be different to not be running the camp, though!

And in other news, today marks the anniversary of 9/11. To my American friends, I am praying for you and your nation today, as you - and the world - remember and reflect upon the tragedy that happened on this day, 8 years ago.

Oooookay, I think I've written enough for one day. I didn't intend to share all that but now I have, so that's that, I guess.
Much love (and the last few rays of summer sunshine) to you all.

P.S. My new profile picture is a snap I took of my dog at the beach last week! Enjoy :)
P.P.S. I am going to Uganda in just 19 DAYS! I will tell you all about that soon!

Apology

Hey all,
I just wanted to apologise for not posting regularly and to tell you that I probably won't be blogging for a couple of weeks. I am bogged down by so much school work - assignments, tests, etc. - not to mention exams in a few weeks - it's unbelievable. I simply don't have time for anything but schoolwork at the moment, so I'm sorry, but I'll be away for a number of weeks, possible the next couple of months. I hate it, but it's true. I'd really appreciate your prayers for wisdom, patience, and good time-management, among other things, as I work through my projects - starting with the 6 essays I have due in the next week and a half alone.
Thanks so much, for your understanding and prayers, and I hope to hear from you all again in a while!
God bless.

Take a Break

It's been a busy day. You need a rest. So, go on, take 4 minutes and 11 seconds to stand up, stretch and boogie. It's Cha Cha Slide time, baby! Come on - click it and join in, you know you want to...

The Tuesday Think - All the Same

So, it's Tuesday, thinking day, once again. I'm not too sure where this one is gonna go yet - probably into rant territory, sorry - but today I thought I'd think about how we're really all the same. We may look different, but other than that, we're all pretty much identical. It's true, whether we like it or not. We're all the same.
Take celebrities, for instance. I mean, I love a good actor, musician, etc. just as much as the next person, but I'm sick of society idolising them and making them the standard, the goal, of what we're supposed to look like, act like, live like. When did being a good actor make you a good person? When did being able to sing make you better than anyone else? When did they stop being movie stars, and become gods? Why are we expected to meet Hollywood standards that are purely fantasy in real life?
And why do we only see what we want to see of people we look up to (or even look down to...) and not view reality? For example, millions of my fellow females would literally chop off their arms to meet Robert Pattinson for just a second, yet is he really the Mr. Perfect he is portrayed as? No. He smokes, gets drunk, swears - I'm totally not picking on him, he's just the first thing that came to mind - he's only human. Just a human - no different than the rest of us. A messed-up, frail, measly old human like all of our calloused, beautiful kind - from the sherpas of Tibet, to the child soldiers of Uganda, to the rich of L.A. and everything in between.
Am I starting to make sense at all? We're all exactly the same. No one is better. No one is worse. We all live. We all die. We all desire love. Security. Approval. Happiness. Hope. We're all afraid of something. We're all worried about something. We're all struggling with soemthing.
Some people have gotten pro at wearing a mask that says "I'm all good" but is anyone ever really "all good"? I don't think so. Some try so desperately to cover up their mistakes, flaws, faults - sins - whatever you want to call them. They put up happy facades of perfectness. But is anyone ever perfect? No. Is anyone ever happy all the time? No. Is anyone ever truly happy when they're trying to convince others they are? No.
Why do we all try so hard to impress each other? Who do we think we're kidding? And why do we still fall for people's lying games over and over? Why do we constanly compare ourselves to others? Why is our society so ridiculously obssessed with comparing and contrasting? Why can't we just be happy with what we've got? Why can't we accept our past failures and move along to a brighter future?
Why can't we grow up and realise that we're all the same? We're all human. We all stuff up. Over and over again. And again. We're all stupid at times. We're all suffering. Fighting. Wrestling. Battling. We all get angry. We all get embarassed. We all get depressed. We all need each other. We all need God.
When we boil down the hype and hash, we're all exactly the same. Let's accept it, and let that knowledge impact us in our dealings with others. Let's be careful, because we all have feelings and fears. Let's be loving, because we all need care and acceptance. Let's help each other, because we all have needs. Let's stop seeing what we want to, and start seeing through God's eyes, the truth. Let's stop letting the few (celebrities) set what is right for the many (the rest of us). Let's keep in mind that we. are. all. the. same.
This is getting loooong, so one last thing. I love humans. I love the fact that we're stupid. I love that we're helpless. I love that we mess up. Yeah, it sounds whack, but it's true. I love that we can't make it on our own, no matter how hard we try. I love our weaknesses. Because our every hang-up, mess-up and stitch-up screams that we need God. We cannot do it without Him. And I wouldn't have it any other way. But, I also love that although we are essentially the same, He has created us so uniquely, so differently, so specially. I love the gifts and talents He gives us. I love our sense of curiosity, wonder, discovery, creativity, responsibility, delight, humour... I love the beauty in each and every person. I love our crazy, mixed-up, gorgeous world. And God does too.
Well, good night. Happy thinking! (I always love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to follow my ranting lead...)

Grace

I want to share with you a poem I recently wrote. I love writing poems, so I hope you like reading them!

Grace

When you reject
The one who loves you
And run away
He runs to you

When you hurt
The one who loves you
And break His heart
His heart breaks for you

When you turn away from
The one who loves you
And leave His side
He won't leave yours

When you ignore
The one who loves you
And just don't care
He cares for you

When you mock
The one who loves you
And spit in His face
He'll wash yours clean

When you sin against
The one who loves you
And won't forgive
He forgives you

Though we don't deserve
The one who loves us
He takes our shame
And gives us grace.

The Fish

One of my favourite things in the world is sharing "God stories". These are testimonies of miraculous, moving, surprising, beautiful, etc. things God has done in your life. They don't have to be huge and amazing, just any kind of story of provision and blessing from the Lord.
I'd like to share one with you today - and hopefully you'll share one with me. I pray it will uplift your spirits and show some of Our Father's great goodness.

About 7 years ago, my family moved to Tasmania, the tiny island state of Australia. It was our first day there and we'd just moved into the little house we were renting. Being the first day, and being on no income at the time, we had nothing to eat and no money to buy food with that night. Anyway, we decided to go for a drive around the area, to see the new local sights, and stopped at a pretty little lake (of which there are hundreds in Tassie). My sisters and I stood and threw rocks into the water (as all kids do!) for a couple of minutes, before my parents noticed a man fishing a little way down from us. Dad thought the rocks we'd been throwing would probably be scaring the fish away, so we went down to apologise to the man. We talked with the man for barely a minute before he offered us one of the big trout he'd just caught. We never mentioned that we'd just gotten off the plane, had no food, or anything like that. He just gave us a fish - so, we didn't go hungry that night, as we would've. I thank the Lord for His provision and "earthly angels"!

It was nothing big, just a fish. But I have never forgotten that day, that man, or that fish. And I doubt I ever will. God stuff, no matter what size, impacts you in an inexplicable way...
I hope to share more of God's many amazing blessings upon my family and I with you soon. And I look forward to hearing your stories!

Song Saturday - The Crowd

So, I've decided on another weekly post - Song Saturday. I'll post a song I'm really loving at the moment and talk about why I'm diggin' it. And I fully want this blog to be interactive, so feel free to post a link to a song you're enjoying lately (keep it clean, please and thank you!) and talk about why you like it, what it means to you, etc.

So, here goes. My current absolute favourite band on the planet is The Cat Empire. I doubt any of you have heard of them, so here's a bit about them first. They're Aussie (like me!) and they play a unique fusion of ska reggae, funk, jazz, latin, rock... Hard to describe, but so infectious I can't help but dance! All their songs are frigintastic (Nick the Geek has me hooked on that word now...) but I especially like Two Shoes, So Many Nights (please ignore the weirdness of the video) and Days Like These (fast forward 32 seconds to start) ... but, as I said, they're all awesome! (It was unbelievably hard for me to narrow down those favourites.)
But today I want to feature one of their slower songs, The Crowd. I heard it not so long ago and since then I've been listening over and over. Now, they're not a Christian band, but this song expresses a message I really appreciate- the desire to be free to live life abundantly and exuberantly, and share that with others. Have a listen, if you like. Enjoy!

The Crowd - The Cat Empire

(Grr, I tried to embed the song but I had to link it instead because any time I try to put in a video the computer freaks out and freezes for some unknown reason. But whatever, you can cope with clicking a link, I think.)

So, I've introduced you to my best band and current favourite song - care to return the favour?

I'll Do What I Can

I recently came across this quote which blew me away. I don't know who said it, so I apologise for that.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Wow! This message of doing what we're made to do and using our gifts and talents has been bombarding me lately. I think maybe I should be listening...
I don't remember where I heard it, but I recently heard someone speak about how we are given talent and we should try to live so that we use them all up in order to "die empty". What a tragedy it is that so much wonderful potential and talent is lying buried in the graveyards of our world. Imagine if everybody who has ever lived used all of their gifts and talents, cultivated all of their good ideas and intentions, spent their life doing the thing(s) they could do... Just think about that for a second. How different would our world be? And what about if those who did use what they were given - whether it be musicians, authors, artists, political leaders, etc. - didn't? Where would we be today?
Another quote that relates to this topic and inspires me is by Helen Keller, one of my heroes. "I cannot do everything, but I can do something ... so I will not refuse to do the something I can do." Consider how awesome the world would be if everyone just did their one little thing -
Just something to think about. You are what you are and can do what you can do (and, conversely, can't do what what you can't do) for a reason. Please, do what you were made to do. The time is now. Celebrate life by living it!

Would You Rather

Let's play a little game.

Would You Rather...
1. Be forced to watch 4 hours of soap operas a day OR pee a little bit every time someone says your name? (I think this is a goodie...) Pee, definitely.
2. Be naked in winter OR wear a snowsuit in summer? Snowsuit.
3. Live in an igloo OR live in a tree? Tree.
4. Eat dog meat OR eat horse meat? Neither! But I'd had to take horse.
5. Have a cloud constantly raining on your head OR have a swarm of bees follow you everywhere? Rain.
6. Wear giant clown shoes everyday OR have giant ears? Shoes.
7. Be stunningly beautiful OR dazzling intelligent? Both?! Intelligent.
8. Drink a gallon of tomato sauce OR bathe in tomato sauce for a week? Bathe.
9. Eat a rotten egg OR lick a toilet? A clean toilet!
10. Never see another movie OR never read another book? I couldn't live without books, so bye bye movies.
11. Constantly smell like garlic OR have no thumbs? Garlic.
12. Live in a house made of bubble wrap OR a house made of pizza? Bubble wrap?

Play along!

What is Love? [insert head bobbing here]

I know you've probably all seen these "through a child's eyes" things before, but I particularly enjoyed these comments from kids on love. I hope they bring a smile to your dial!

(on falling in love)
"If falling in love is anything like learning how to spell, I don't want to do it. It takes too long." - Glenn, age 7
"I think you're supposed to get shot with an arrow or something, but the rest of it isn't supposed to be so painful." - Manuel, age 8
"Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too." - Greg, age 8
"On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date." - Mike, 10
"I'm in favor of love as long as it doesn't happen when Dinosaurs is on television." - Jill, age 6
"One of the people has freckles, and so he finds somebody else who has freckles too." - Andrew, age 6
"One of you should know how to write a check. Because, even if you have tons of love, there is still going to be a lot of bills." - Ava, age 8
"No one is sure why love happens, but I heard it has something to do with how you smell. That's why perfume and deodorant are so popular." - Mae, age 9
"It's never okay to kiss a boy. They always slobber all over you. That's why I stopped doing it." - Tammy, age 10
"Love isn't always how you look. Look at me. I'm handsome like anything, and I haven't got anybody to marry me yet." - Brian, age 7
"It's love if they order one of those desserts that are on fire. They like to order those because it's just like how their hearts are on fire." - Christine, age 9
"Many daters just eat pork chops and french fries and talk about love." - Craig, age 9
"You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming." - Allan, age 10

(on how to make someone fall in love with you)
"Tell them that you own a whole bunch of candy stores." - Del, age 6
"Yell out that you love them at the top of your lungs...and don't worry if their parents are right there." - Manuel, age 8
"Tell her that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck!" - Ricky, age 7

(on why lovers hold hands)
"They want to make sure their rings don't fall off, because they paid good money for them." - Gavin, age 8

(on how to tell if 2 people are married)
"You might have to guess based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids." - Derrick, age 8

Sweet, huh? :) I'll write a more original post tomorrow, promise.

The Tuesday Think - Words

So, I was thinking, which is something I do occasionally - but generally only on Tuesdays, which is why I have planned a weekly post called The Tuesday Think (Triple T, if you will) - and was pensing (notice that sneaky Franglish/Engcais?) about the way we often say one thing and other people hear something totally different. I'm not talking about selective hearing (no, Mum, I never heard you ask me to clean my room 63 times!) I mean genuinely mishearing or misunderstanding what people say.
For example, someone was telling me a story today about a "mare" (female horse), but I heard "mayor"! I didn't particularly realise my mishearing at first as I heard about the "mayor" getting her hair braided, but as the story progressed I grew confused beyond comprehension - especially when it came to the "mayor" being ridden in a show! Let's not even go there... *shudder*
But you catch my drift, right? We often hear things totally wrong (wrong on more than one level sometimes, too...) and maybe we don't even necessarily realise our mistake at the time. I know the storyteller never intended me to think the mane character (pardon the pun) was a human instead of a horse, but I did...
Likewise, we sometimes say things and don't realise what other people hear, or think. And sometimes it's not even about hearing a particular word or phrase incorrectly, it's way more. We often misinterpret the meaning of what someone is saying, or take offense at something that was supposed to be harmless. This deeper side of the 'what-I-say vs. what-you-hear' issue I'm trying to touch on is one that has megaly been hitting me lately.
I often joke around with my mates, calling them "idiot", yelling "I hate you" when they beat me at cards, etc., greeting them with a hearty "hey ugly" and such. Of course, I absolutely do NOT mean any of it - I love my friends crazy heaps! - and I know they know I don't mean it, but I've realised this kind of thing can still be dangerous. People I know less may think I was serious if I said they were crazy, in my deadpan tone.
Still perpetually puzzled?
I guess I'm just trying to get across the fact that words have power. Massive, hugemongoose, supernova power. The Bible says they have the power of life and death, in fact. (As Murray Hewitt once said, "You could die. Or even just be ridiculed.") They're serious, mate, serious. We so often reduce words to mere playthings, but they're weapons. Just like we've got to handle swords with care, we have to use words properly. (Ha, just noticed 'swords' is 'words' with an 's' in front! I don't think that's coincidence.) Remember, I'm totally not saying don't joke around and have fun - please don't get me wrong, I love humour and sarcasm with a passion - but I am gently warning you to watch what you say. You never know who might overhear you, or what someone might think of a comment made in haste, so just try to ensure that you'll never have to apologise to anyone for a misunderstanding - or even for something intentional. Deliberately saying something cruel or in bad taste to someone else is a whole 'nother can-a-worms, but you get the jist. Try to speak as if Jesus could hear eveything you say - 'cause He can, of course.
Yeah, this is definitely more of a lesson for outspoken, reckless me than any of you who may or not read this blog, but I felt like I should share it, so I did.
Thanks (and sorry for going all serious/preacher on ya there...)

Hello, Hello, Hello!

So, I've finally given in and decided to make a B-LOG, as all the cool kids are callin' 'em. I'm not quite sure what it'll be yet, but as I suffer from a severe and incurable case of randomitis, expect nothing short of insanity. Mmhmm.
What's with the blog name? Well, I'm a huge Flight of the Conchords fan, and "what a hilarious misunderstanding" is a line from their song Jenny. I picked it because it pretty much summarises me and many of the (mis)adventures I have ... and besides, I couldn't think of anything better. So I'm using it.
Anyway, I hope to make this a very footloose and fancy-free blog, so please feel free to comment!
Have a beautiful day :)