Blinded

Yo. So another long day.

I actually did get to spend a bit of time today with God. After a quick meeting with RH and a quick email convo with AL about songs for Chinese New Year, I got to just stop and think for a bit. I ended up reading blogs and on youtube, but in a good way. AZ's blog is pretty encouraging a lot of the time. Really blessed by the things he has been publishing. Not too sure what led me to this song, but it's really good. haha. I think I first heard it just over a year ago, and we sang it a few times at late night worship at WinterCon.




Ya, so it was a day. lol. It's really weird being in class and paying attention. lol. I'm apparently really bad at focusing on anything.

I remembered that I had some notes on my phone to share with you. lol. From Urbana, about the debate, lots of stuff.

But ya. The lab today was really boring. I found out that my TA has a husband. Then the lab ended early and I just went to have more quiet time. I ended up reading about John 9 and the blind man. So good. So much to take from the one chapter.

Honestly though I have been having a really difficult few days. So much temptation, so many bad thoughts, not nearly enough time to slow down.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

The Smell of Tomato Vines

So, my hands are blue. My stomach is empty. My eyes are a little strained. I am exhausted. I'm tired of hearing people tell me to vote, or people asking me how I will vote. I need a break. I need more time with God.

Lab reports are mostly done for this week. Food is nearly all gone in my house. Support is nearly all in for Haiti!

So, I'm really in need of time management. I'm also very in need of waking up on time.

It's always fun playing around in the labs though. haha. We may have actually made progress in our Microbio independant project! =D

Ttyl.

D.Fa

This is War. So let's Fight!

So, why can't I just do my lab reports in two hours a couple days before it's due rather than the couple hours before it's due?

I really can't figure it out.

But I really want it to stop. I've got another one due tomorrow. >.>

Microbio labs are kinda a lot of fun. I really wanted to have an endospore..... lol.... But I didn't... As much as I squinted and refocused and changed the aperture, I can't make the bacteria green... T . T

Oh well. lol.

So, a week or two ago I guess now, I went to watch Les Mis with some friends. The movie was good and the songs were good, but I didn't care much for the song about having a dream. lol. The best song was the one where they were starting the revolution and they sing to ring it in!

"Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?
Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!

Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The blood of the martyrs
Will water the meadows of France!

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!"

And this really resonated with me on another level too. Not just the movie, but real life too. haha. I feel more than ever like it really is a war; our fight with sin and temptation in our lives. So often we fall to the lies and deceit of the enemy when we know there is a fight we can join in that frees us from it. Christ has already won the battle! Beyond what may seem to be a hopeless barricade of sin and the things you have already done, the footholds and strongholds of the enemy. But we will not be slaves again! Christ has set us free! I want to fight! Know you don't fight this battle alone!

Fighting!

D.Fa

我的中文不好

Somehow Monday has turned into my busiest day. Sometimes it will be as busy as 7am-10:30pm with no breaks. >.<

It's ok I guess. Had to cram for a quiz earlier, but it was ok. lol. Cramming sucks. Why do I do it?

At my midday break I got to chill with Pastor DB and JC and RV at Roosters for a bit and show JC all my pictures from EA. lol. I really want to go back!!! Haha. Maybe I was too excited. lol. We went singing around campus. lol. ZL and DB and I sang a song in Mandarin along the lines of "sorry, my Chinese is bad, I don't understand you. Sorry, my Chinese is bad, but I still want to be friends."

DG was really awesome. DL shared a testimony of the competativeness of China and how he always wanted more, but was never happy. Then he ended up at Carleton, not really the 'best school', but here he found God's work in his life and the peace and joy that comes from a relationship with Him. =D

Ya. Gotta lab. lol.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

Posting Everyday

Posting everyday seems to be really difficult for me right now.

This morning my first thought was "You know you are procrastinating when the thought of cleaning your bathtub sounds appealing." And that's my thought processes waking up today. haha.

Yesterday I did a lot of nothing. haha. But a lot of productive nothings. lol. First I had a driving lesson: "merging onto the highway". I think I got to merge on twice after watching my dad do it like 5 times. lol. But if that qualifies me to drive on highways, ok. lol. The rest of the day was spent doing Haiti stuff. First was going to the store to buy food to make into a lunch for today. We were having a support raising presentation. Then we prepared it. lol. Much Andrew Huang remixes in the background. HOMEMADE CROUTONS ARE THE BEST! Then we prepared our powerpoint and played a really short game of killer bunnies. Then I went home and procrastinated by sending over a hundred emails... lol... Should have sent weeks ago. Then suddenly it was 10pm.

Today was cool. As cool as Sundays are though, there is no time in a day. with church from 9-1 and the leadership courses at night. No way my lab reports can be done with no time input... impossible. So, ya. I'm way behind.......

So, I'm gonna try to blog, because I really need to to fully think things through, but they are gonna be really short (as far as time to write is concerned. lol)

Night

D.Fa

All Reflecting His Glory

Today was one of those days. The type of day where I don't do any school work, but am at school all day. The type of day where I can spen hours talking with my brothers about God working in their lives. =P

First I got to hangout with SC in the CMAS office, talk about EA, and just enourage him to pray about it. He's gone this weekend on an IVCF retreat, so he should be in the Wprd a lot.

Then I did a large amount of supporter email sending for Haiti! Only three weeks from now!!

Then I got to talk with ZL about all that has happened in his life. It was long, but really good to see how everything has been working together to draw him closer to God in a deeper trust and a greater passion to see Justice come.

Then RY. Haha. I love my brother. We really haven't spent much time together until today, but it was good. At first I was really questioning if RY's faith was real, but even if he didn't explain everything really well, I actually did see a passion in him. That's the one thing I never really saw from him was real drive to be in DG and to share Christ with others. I mean, God is still writing his story, but he is definitely my brother and I want to enourage him. XP

Neeeext was CX. Interesting time. Haha. Should be good. He really wants to grow and mature in Christ.

Some random down time, connect meeting with KM giving a really awesome testimony of how taking.initiative in evangelism changed her life, some hangout time with the guys. Finally, back home supper and Fairy Tail. XP

Tomorrow gotta work hard. Lol

Ttyl.

D.Fa

3x7=21

This week has been crazy. It feels like it's been a whole month.

Monday I had a lot of class as well as a couple meetings. They were awkward, I guess, but well needed. I also ended up getting a booster shot for tetanus. >.< I very much dislike shots. It also seems like all my responsibilities from last semester are gone now. lol. Like I have very little roles in Weekly Connect Meetings now. Making facebook events, making the graphics, getting greeters, doing the worship, all gone. lol. But it's been cool to not have to worry about that stuff so much. lol. And it's really cool that I can focus on just building into other guys and also seeing others step up to take on responsibility is awesome. lol.

Tuesday was pretty sweet. I woke up early and went to the morning prayer meeting and the time just spent in worship was pretty awesome. It really reminded me of God's love, that even when all else fades, that one thing remains, God, who is faithful and true, and never changing in who He is or His relationship with us. Ya, it was a busy day again, but good. Got to spend some time at my parents' house too. We played 'Things' and it was really hilarious. lol.

Wednesday was cool I guess. It was more business and I had a lab report due that I kinda threw together during class and during my time with MT. haha... I was gonna meet up with SC to talk about EAP, but I needed to print my lab report, and then I found out he had class at 1, so it was a really short meeting.......... then I had a plants lab. lol Then I got to chill with SM and after the prayer meeting at 5:30 the CrazyCarleton Haiti team met up to conference call the rest of the team. lol. We are really easily distracted apparently. lol. We got very little deciding done for our lunch / presentation on Sunday after the call. lol.

Finally, yesterday was another lot of classes and work. Got to google hangout with MC. XP. What do you really do over a google hangout? Play with the effects obviously. lol. It was really challenging to hear how he is willing to follow wherever God is calling him though. Whenever God tells him to do something he will do it.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

PS. It's funny how much Geography I have been learning from my blog. lol. Réunion is apparently an island in the Indian Ocean! =D

Send Revival

Yo, so, Friday I did chores and we had a DG meeting, and we had Connect and did a lot of prayer and worship. Good times. AG is a great worship leader. Then i ended up at a club downtown. What? haha. Explain more later? Nah. It's lame how often I say that and then have no time to do anything about it. lol. A bunch of my friends in Architecture organized this party. So I was there to support them, but they were pretty busy, so I didn't hang with them too much. I actually ran into EL as the first person I saw there. lol. I was kinda really hoping to run into him. lol. We met at the pre-party last semester. lol. Good times, but as my friend said "I feel like that was not your type of music and or fave place to be Haha".

Saturday I had worship practice and our book study. Then I kinda wasted a lot of time. I had to go pick up a letter, but I didn't know where I was going... lol. Took an hour and a half to get it. Wasted more time and made poor choices about what I was looking at.

So, this morning I made a bad decision, and it was lame, but I looked out the window and the sun was up and I could see blue sky..? Seems so long since that was possible. What I had done in the dark, is drowned out by the light. Fully paid for and forgiven. Not a good thing. By no means should I continue in this, but the fact that by faith there is grace enough for that and everything I have done is amazing.

I really had not prepared for Sunday School, partially because of my bad choices, but also because of a miscommunication, but it was ok. We talked about prevenient grace and justification by faith. Exactly what I needed. Even as I write this it says prevenient isn't a word. lol. The Pursuit of God is a difficult book. haha.

Again, God really spoke to me through worship. It's always the song I don't really want to sing. lol. Hosanna. and that our lives should really be challenged  by God, not to fit Him into our lives.

Lunch at J+KK's with a bunch of YA Centrals. Good times.

Not much time left in the day, but I guess it was kinda productive. lol.

The best part though was after I cooked my dinner. I was just gonnawatch some anime, but I don't really know why, but I stopped to play guitar. Chose songs randomly from the pile beside me. Consuming Fire. Send Revival, Start with Me. Christ is Risen.

Always speaks powerfully through worship. Always. Why do I ever stop?

Ttyl.

D.Fa

Quick Overview

To catch you up:

Ok, Tuesday was kinda boring. I had class. lol. I got to announce to the second year Animals class, which was cool. xP. I got a bit confused and missed an announcement because I got the room wrong. Then I made a streak plate in the lab! =D We checked them yesterday and they were good. xP. (I don't have a picture....... >.<) After the lab I went straight to the movies to watch 'Les Miserables' with RL, J+KK, B+HK, and DZ and JC. It was really good. Kinda weird at first that it was all singing, but the movie was great! It was about a guy whose life had been basically ruined by the law's 'just' punishments, but it wasn't the 20 years as a slave that reformed him, but the grace shown through a father at the church he attempted to steal a bag of silver from. He experienced God's grace and was made new. The rest of the movie is his life, lived for others, to express this grace to others. Then I went to the store, bought 80$ of groceries, and got RP to help me carry them home from the bus station.... lol.

Wednesday I also had a lot of class. And a double quiz... lol. But I got to go do a survey with SC. We ended up talking to a guy who works at school. Apparently he has been through a lot and when his life turned around he thanked God. He called himself a Christian, but he seemed to learn a lot from our discussion on the gospel, so I really want to meet up with him again. Then I played with spinach juices and different colours of light for a few hours. >.> Then I got to meet up with the Navs and talk about Urbana. lol. We all just shared what God really taught us through it, how our lives have been different and what we are praying to see happen in our lives. It was really good. Talking to people who were at Urbana about Urbana is completely different than talking to just anyone. lol. Then I went to the debate. It was really good. I will post more about the debate later. But being in the room with like 4-500 students as Dr. Kirk Durston shared how he has experienced Jesus in his life was awesome.

Thursday. Slept in. Class. Lab. DG. Not much really. The lab was boring, but I knew what to write for the assignment, so it was a confident boredom. lol. DG was pretty good. This was our first DG of the semester. Me and JB are co-leading, but the only good time for everyone was on Monday night, so for this week we broke it into Thursday and Friday. Two times that would cover everyone. It was just ZL, AO and us, but it was good. Having a co-leader is awesome. haha.

Ttyl. haha.

D.Fa

Days of Praise

Again, so much has happened. lol

Just in the last few days, so much. haha.



So, Monday. This was the day of presentations. I was kinda in charge of the announcements to the Sciences. So, I sent emails a few days in advanced to my professors as well as the professors for first year chemistry and biology, second year animal biology, second year organic chemistry, and the profs for a first year Engineering class, a first and second year architecture classes. I had 5 announcements on Monday and a sixth during a meeting. I was amazed by their quick responses, and in some cases their enthusiasm to assist. I got a couple replies that they do not do announcements before class anymore because you can't say yes to one person and not another. But it was awesome.

I really do not like standing in front of people. I may have told you this before.

So, I intend to go to 3/5 morning prayer meetings each week, which may increase. But really, I should go on Mondays. I ended up being late to my first class, which I didn't receive an email back from the prof, so I guess on multiple levels I wasn't supposed to present. I focused on preparing for the next class. This class was running late, so I was prepared to nearly run to my next class because he had said I could make the announcement. Then, she asked if 'the person who wanted to make an announcement' was here. Wow, put on the spot / not expecting that. So bad. lol... But apparently (at least) one girl in my class was really interested.




Tuesday on the bus to the theatre she asked more about the debate and said that she thought Carleton might even like not let it happen because of the topic, but that it was really great that we were doing it.

And that was just the first presentation. lol.

I had four more in the next few hours. They just got better and better. Over a thousand students must have seen me present. The first year profs all made comments like 'it should be interesting, the Biophysicist debating for the existence of God', 'that really challenges even my own stereotypical classification of people'. I also got to see my brother twice. lol.

So, what was I doing in between announcements? Flyering and Surveying had taken off. Oh, and so had Tagging. xP. So between the 3rd and 4th announcements I went with JA and rubber band tied tags to different things around campus. lol. We also prayed for the event. Between the 4th and 5th I was chilling with CX for a bit. He had decided that he should go snowboarding that night and needed goggles. Kijiji. The guy was in class at the moment. Finally he kinda gave up on that and we went surveying in the caf. Basically just asking what their opinion of the topic was and how they got there. Then if they would like, we could share what we believed on the topic. It was good. After the 5th I got to meet and go surveying with ZL. ZL is awesome. lol. He was just baptised not long ago in the summer, but he's so solid in Biblical truth and just ready to go share God's love with others. So encouraging. xP He's gonna be in my DG. =D

Ya. Then we had a praise-filled servant team meeting. So good. Then prayer meeting.

And that's just Monday. lol. Wait til I get to Wednesday. lol.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

From Death to Life for You Alone

"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led be back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know."

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'" 

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'" So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'"" -Ezekiel 37:1-14

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." -Ephesians 2:1-10








'Nuff Said. lol.

I hope you watched that video.

D.Fa

Dry Bones

Yo. This week has been crazy.

Wednesday had lots planned. Even though I only had one class and a lab I also had three meetings scheduled. I was going to have dinner with AW, which fell through because he actually was busy. Then when I went to school for the first meeting he was going to be late, so we rescheduled to dinner. I had a good meeting with MT. A lot to cover.
Plants lab was fun, but then I knocked over a test tube rack and was a bit stupid in my response to my lab partner. It ended early and we talked for a while. It sucks that the church isn't always unified, isn't an exact reflection of His glory, because some people will be really hurt by the church and that sucks.

So, I ended up having dinner with CX, EC, and A(Z?). Not quite what I was expecting. They are interesting fellows. Then I got to hangout with JJ at his house for a bit, but I felt so crummy about what had just been happening this afternoon...

I guess Thursday started really badly. I had procrastinated a bit and so I had to wake up early to work on a presentation I had to give later that day. No fun. Lol. It went pretty well I guess.

Ended lab early again. Time for me to prepare for prayer meeting, right? Or I could waste a couple hours looking at memes..? We prayed through John 17, which was good. Prayed for Unity and Strength and His glory. Then we put up some posters.

After that I finally met up with AW. We went to my house and had Instant Miso Soup and KD. Lol. #studentmeals It was good. Lol. We're both a little awkward and quieter people. Lol. But then we started playing guitar. Good times. His, like, favourite song is Peaches by New Heights. It's pretty easy to play. SM taught me some power chords for church last Sunday, so, I'm past my idea that 'those are cheating!' Probably fueled by pride... So, it was easier to pick up than either of us had expected.

After playing Peaches a bit I showed him the 'Awake my Soul' video in my last post. AZ posted it on facebook. I've seriously been blessed by his facebook posts. But ya, it was cool how I got to encourage him with that song and scriptures.

End Thursday.

Friday I went to my parents and did a couple chores in the area. Then just in time I got to school to give my presentation again. Why? Haha. I know. Bonus marks can make people do crazy things. No one from the Friday lab period had volunteered, so our lab coordinator asked if we could do it. I opened the door and my lab partner was presenting. Haha. Lol at CX.

I got to chill with CX and we ran into a couple guys in the caf. So, again my time with just CX was kinda not one-on-one. Lol. Oh well, I got to talk with him a little bit about our discipleship times.

Then we had P2C Connect Meeting. It was good seeing RM from Christian Embassy as well as others. Not too many people for the first week. Oh well. DL and MdS came. XP

After we did made some creative ads for the DGE debate on Wednesday. Cannot wait.

Saturday I slept in a bit. My support coach surprise called me. Lol. I spent a lot of time catching up with friends over gchat and facebook. I played some guitar. Lol.

Then we had a crazy YA hangout. Like more than 20 people. My friends PK and KL came, which was cool. DL was there too! XP We played 'four on a couch'. XP. We had pizza and a lot of random talking. We played a melanged 'Things in a box' / 'Apples to Apples' game for a bit and after most people left we played MarioKart Wii. XP.

Fun times. Can't wait for YA this semester. I hope it is a great place we can bring our friends to.

Anyways, that's about it. Lol. Still not done Urbana posts.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

Bound and Free Water

Yo. Today was pretty sweet. Lol. (I should go to bed now. Lol)

So, I didn't wake up for prayer meeting this morning. I dunno. I needed sleep I guess. I was planning to do some work. Guess not. Lol.

I had some classes.Whatever. I had a lab, kinda. Whatever. lol. I get to hang out with my friend a lot this semester. SP is my lab partner in likely two labs and we have like 3 classes together. Anyways, after the lab I hung out in the Architecture building quite a bit. lol. Went to a workshop "Getting into Research". Kinda cool. Whatever.

Then I got to hang out with Carleton IVCF. lol. Not what I had originally been planning on, but I wanted to spend some time with SC, who has been involved with IVCF. It was pretty funny. There's like 7 of them, but they were on a floor in res for an ice cream party, and a bunch of people came. lol. Actually two of my frosh came! Haven't seen them is so long! haha. We played dominion. lol. It was good. lol. Gender segregation and then we, 'the brotherhood', were in our own world while the girls seemingly only talked about weird things because we kept dropping in at bad times. lol.

So, that was good to play with my frosh, SC and some IVCF guys. lol. I told them about the Debate next week and then got to spend some more time with SC. Good times. Seriously though, why do I have to be in school? lol. Why can't I be in full time campus ministry... lol.

Anyways, gotta sleep if I plan to go to prayer meeting tomorrow morning!

Peace!

D.Fa

Picture of Heaven

Urbana 12 - New Years Eve

So after the break it was 10pm. It was a really awesome New Years. Lol. Gathered with 16 000 other brothers and sisters, 97 or so who had just accepted Christ this week as their saviour, was absolutely awesome.

Coming from P2C WC background, I assumed we'd have a big dance party. Lol.

Not exactly what happened.

We had an amazing party with worship; Bible readings from our main speakers and the drama team; a message about how amazing it is that we actually were gathered from the ends of the Earth: from hundreds of countries, so much more than the early church could have imagined, but we still haven't reached all people with the gospel; and awesomely, we celebrated communion! That was awesome!

Smallest Communion wafer

So, ya, after all that, we rang in the New Year in prayer and singing about how great our God is in Hindi. Haha. Best song. Super awesome singing in the New Year together, praising our Father.

Who needs a 'Dance Party'? We can dance as we praise Him. Lol.

Y ahora canto, y ahora bailo, y ahora salto, y es todo para Ti!

Then we sang a bit longer and although we had to leave, we just kept singing of our freedom in Christ!
 
Got on the bus and everyone was still so excited about what God is going to be doing as we are sent out to the world! My brother MC is my seat buddy. We talked a long long time. Haha. Then we needed to take a sleeping break. We're gonna keep talking after breakfast.

Ttyl.

=D.Fa

Zaccheaus was a Wee Little Man

Urbana 12 - 31

Yo, so it's actually like 11am now on Jan 1st. We've bussed a great distance from Urbana. We left at like 12:30 after an amazing night.

My day was ok. Bible study was about Zacchaeus. Jesus can save the rich too was one message from the text. Another is that Jesus doesn't call us all to go to far off countries to share the good news, but even where we already have been placed God can use us greatly.

Morning session was short, but sweet. An encouragement to trust God to use the small talents we have been given for great things while Jesus is gone.

We went a far way for lunch today to skip lines. Today was a free day to reflect or have community gatherings.

After lunch I planned to go see the exhibits, but even after a 'ministry match' I really had no direction. I was feeling down again. Haha. So I decided I'd just go pray and read the Bible and spend time with Him.

I was asking Him more about why I had come and what it is that I could do, how I could love our King more. I thought I just need to get away from everything, so I was kinda just drowning it all out with music from my phone. After a little while though a group of people had gathered across the large room with a guitar.

I couldn't stop singing.

Even though I still didn't really feel like I had figured too much out on my own, I had to just go over and sing praises with them.

Worship is just awesome. I will definitely elaborate in a separate post.

They were a group from Texas and it's just amazing that we can sing His name together and know that through Jesus' death, our worship is acceptable to Him, who is worthy of all praise.

Dinner with KC [who goes to OttawaU].

Evening session was awesome. Lol. Honestly don't remember exactly what was said before the break, but it was good. Definitely a call to follow Jesus, knowing He is faithful always.

Then there was a break. So we were playing games and stuff, bu the best part was a competition me, KC and BD had. With 20 minutes before the New Year Celebration stuff would begin we had to go and find another person with the same birthday as ourselves. The first few times were super awkward, but it got better. I searched all through the stadium, asking probably a little more than a hundred people. I did not find anyone there with my birthday, but three people had parents with my birthday, three people were born the day before me, and I found two pairs 6 and 8 days after me. Statistically, asumming completely random birthdays, out of 16 000 people there should have been 43 people in that stadium with my birthday. Oh well. Lol. Neither of the others won. Lol

--> New Years Eve Post

"Old Faithful"

So, despite my desire not to, I woke up at 5:45 and got ready and braved the weather and got to school super early... lol.

It was kinda the most awesome way to start the semester. Just coming before God with 15 brothers and sisters and just praying, worshiping Him and asking for Him to be at work this semester in us and in those around us.

And that was how the day went. lol. I was really joyful the rest o the day. I ran into a bunch of my friends and did some texting to people I hadn't talked to in a while. I had 3 classes. I went to the passport office and sat there for over an hour for a five minute conversation and paying nearly 100$...

Ya. Got homework to do. lol.

We got a lot of planning done, I think, about what will be happening in the next couple weeks. Also I just had dinner with the guys. Steak? haha. The first time he'd cooked for a group. lol. Thanks JB!

Ttyl.

D.Fa

I'm in Reverse Culture Shock mode! So weird not having the prof pray and send us out at the end of class. But, the lines for passports and science store were normal. lol.

The Kingdom

Yo, so today was really awesome. Haha.

So, as I told you before, I was like, putting so much of my own effort into the worship set and was just humbled yesterday when all my work meant so little.

So, like I still wasn't fully prepared at that point, like I still needed to figure out how to introduce it and everything. Hopefully everyone would sing the new song.

And I still needed to figure out leading Sunday School...

But it all worked. Lol. It felt so great to just see my brothers and sisters at church again. That's one thing Urbana showed me: I really need a good Christian community in my life to help me, encourage me, and keep me accountable. I have been lacking it a bit where I live now, but when I was in Urbana, just me and 16 000 other brothers and sisters in Christ, there was just nothing to fear and just encouragement and prayer for one another everywhere. Haha.

Ya, so church is just awesome. Lol. Just no time to talk.

I then went home; packed; moved; and went to 1472 to talk about YA this year. Good times.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

His Invitation Goes Out to the Nations

Yo.

It's a little crazy that in the last few days since being back from Urbana I've been able to share the gospel with four people. First was my friend 'Samson' in East Asia, then my mom, and today I got to meet up with J(?) and R(?).

J(?) and R(?) are Masters students from China and they got to meet up with AS and DB back in September and are really interested in coming to church. So today me and DL met up with them at Timmies on campus. It was a really awesome conversation. We used the 'Soularium' pack of photo cards to discuss life and who God is. It was really great, and I just got this idea to do a gospel presentation with the cards. I had never done that before, but it was really good. I think they really liked it. Their English was not the best, but it was good and I think they understood everything we talked about.

After I got to share with DL the one thing we hadn't talked about yet, sharing Jesus with others. I had hoped to get to it before the break, but it hadn't worked out, so after having that meeting I talked to him a bit. He's actually already inviting his roommate to church tomorrow and was really happy to share the joy we have in Christ with others! I actually shared about one of my friends in East Asia and like he was tearing up a bit at the end of the story. After accepting Christ she exclaimed "I'm your sister!" and gave us a big hug. I miss her.

But ya. Today I was thinking a bit about why I don't feel called to Asia, despite how much I want to go. Like, the cool thing is that God is doing so much in Asia, and even without being there I am meeting friends from China here, and my friends in East Asia I am still talking to. But I want to go back to Asia so badly...

Anyways, I also got to share about Urbana with R(?) and J(?) and how like, I'm really looking forward to Heaven where there is no sin, no disease, no evil, just eternity with God's goodness and worshiping Him with the multitude from every nation, tribe and tongue. And that was what Urbana was like. 16 000 of us from over 100 countries singing His praises in like 10 languages. I seriously cannot wait for that day.

Anyways,

Ttyl.

D.Fa






So, fyi, I used pictures 05, 33, 25, 03, 26, 40, 44, 24, 35, 34, 01, 12, 48, 37, 39, 02, 30, 14, and 17 to share the gospel. If you have a set. But ya, maybe I'll record one at some point? But it meant way more in context, cause we talked about all the cards.

I'm Broken, but Try to Look Whole

Urbana 12 - 29

So, that was another crazy day. Haha. I think I am finally here. Like I have been thinking about P2C+ a lot and kinda thinking about the differences there would be, but I've been trying to hold on and just wait to see why I am here instead. There must be a reason.

Well, honestly, I have broken down in tears twice today.

As much as I love to pretend I am fine and can do it, really I can't. Image means a whole deal more to me than it really should. I don't even mean my perhaps existent problem with vanity, but like as a student leader the pressure is on to always look good, to be more than a normal student. The problem is how I go about it. I will try to do better myself, or I will just not tell anyone what is happening when I have a time of dryness or doubt.

You know how much hypocrisy that leads to? How many times I'd been to prayer meetings or how many worship songs I'd sung without having my heart in it?

What Calisto said yesterday about how if we can't share with our friends, what is the point of going on missions? If what we are saying isn't good for local consumption than it isn't good to export.

So ya, when we were going to sing 'I will go' and the worship leader said to really just pray and when you are ready to mean those words, stand and sing, and if not just let God minister to you through it; when that happened I broke. My friends and family need the gospel now. If I care about them this much, how much does God, who has loved with an everlasting love, care for them? Yet I am scared of saying anything. Although I pray for opportunities and know God is with me, I stutter and don't take the opportunity.

In track time we did some worship, watched what it means to be Canadian (aka Gunnarolla), then had a talk on 'Canadian Idols' and then a big time of thinking what idols we have, then confessing them kneeling before the cross, then interceding for our campuses and country.


I didn't really want to go kneel that much, but when I did I broke down again. Why am I here if not to hear from God? So why am I fighting it? Why am I putting up this image of having it all together? I prayed that God would just break me down so that there was no way I could put myself back together, but have to rely on Him to fix me.

So ya. I'm here now. Haha. Tonight we got to join the ministry in Swaziland by packing medical relief kits and praying for the caregivers who use them to share God's love with HIV positive individuals.

We packed 32 000. Awesome.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

My Father's World

Yo.

So I've been working a crazy amount on the worship set for tomorrow. And just when I thought I had it done and ready, I needed to change it. And then when I thought it was good, I needed to change the set list. Then I was ecstatic about doing a medley!!! (Never done one yet, but AL did so many) But even though the majority of the chords are the same between two songs, they do kinda change at any transition points...

And not that this is bad, but I tend to, recently, only choose songs that are not very familiar to most people. Which is good that we are expanding the amount of songs and stuff, but we can't do too much of that at once. And I fully understand that. There was this one super fast Colombian worship song at Urbana, and after I got it, it was great, but at the start, with other Spanish songs and other unfamiliar songs, it was a lot of just trying to say the right words at the right time.

So, ya, everything has worked out, but it was a lot more work than it could have been and I definitely over thought the whole process.

At the end while TM was working on the slides I was just sitting there and SM was playing piano, just playing like so many worship songs all strewn together. Not perfect, since he didn't have music or anything with him, but just worship. God really got me again. lol. Worship isn't about the performance Sunday morning, but about truly and with our whole being, just praising Him who has done so much for us and loves us.

I had to go to school after for 2pm to meet some friends. I got to Bayview just as the train left, and it may have been a joke, but SM suggested taking the walking path to Carling (the next train stop over). I kinda hate waiting when I could be doing something, so I just went for it. 18 minutes until the train would be there. Plenty of time, right?

Haha... It was not shovelled. It probably wasn't even supposed to be open yet (fences and tape and stuff as an indicator..?). There were cross-country skiiers, lots of snow, and the train went by. I was still 7 blocks from the station. So, I just kept going. lol.

I walked all the way to Carleton, down by the tracks, and then by the canal. And even though I was a bit annoyed about all that stuff, I just need to calm down and realize God is in control of everything.

This is My Father's World

Ttyl.

D.Fa

This is my Father's world, 

And to my listening ears 

All nature sings and round me rings 

The music of the spheres. 

This is my Father's world; 

I rest me in the thought 

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas 

His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world,

The birds their carols raise;

The morning light, the lily white

Declare their Maker's praise.

This is my Father's world,

He shines in all that's fair.

In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,

He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father’s world,

Should my heart be ever sad?

The lord is King let the heavens ring.

God reigns let the earth be glad.

This is my Father’s world,

From the shining courts above,

The Beloved One, His Only Son,

Came a pledge of deathless love.

This is my Father's world,

O let me ne'er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the ruler yet.

This is my Father's world;

The battle is not done

Jesus who died shall be satisfied

And earth and heaven be one