Time Management.

So, yesterday.

As usual I had a ton of things scheduled. I actually finished my organic chemistry prelab the night before, so I didn't have any really urgent school work to do. xP

I bussed to school. That was awkward. It was (at least according to a group on facebook) 'sing on the bus day'. I was so excited to get on the bus and just have everyone singing. Did not happen... and I didn't want to be the only person singing... and I hadn't really prepared anything... So I was like singing really quietly............... awkward.

Physical chemistry lecture. boring.

Then I was supposed to meet up with LT for our one on one discipling time. Class had ended a bit early and LT is often a bit late, so I figured that I had time to go heat up my leftovers for lunch. It was like stir-fried vegetables and clam chowder on rice. Mmm. Ya. He arrived and we continued to try and set goals for the year. I am bad at sitting down and setting goals. Like, I see the purpose of goals, but I am terrible at setting them non-spontaneously. I say non-spontaneously because I do set goals based off of experiences and what is happening and what I want to happen.

Like, ya, so, this week was supposed to be 'the swan dive' and so I made myself available to the best of my ability for the other first year guys and stuff. I offered multiple time slots everyday of the week and told them to message me if they were able to / wanted to go with me. I did not hear back from anyone. The only time I went sharing was when me and LT ran into DP and so we went. So, I set a goal. Instead of them coming to me, which they still can, I will actively pursue them and (here's the goal) go sharing with each of the other guys in C4C by the end of the year. If that means 20 or so guys, let's go. We've got like 13 weeks next semester and a week left or so. That's plenty of time. xP (especially with only 3 labs next semester. yuss.)

Ya. So, I guess (if you can't tell) I have a lot of issues with time management, but I guess I don't really associate them with so called 'spiritual growth' goals. I guess I have in my mind divided how I live and treat myself from my relationship with God..? That, that's not really good. He is Lord of all. My life should reflect that and ya, every aspect should be worship to him. So, I guess LT challenged me to do something about my time management.

The challenge: Write down what I spend my time on for a week (or two..?) while also getting 7 hours of sleep each day (or trying to).

So, you know. I really want to do this, I suppose. I mean, it's something I really need to work on and so I want to be committed to it. So, to make sure I am committed to it I bought a notebook, a pocket-sized notebook. But not even one of those dollar store ones that I can just throw away or whatever. I bought a set of two mini Moleskine notebooks. Now I am committed. I didn't buy them just because of all the hype behind moleskines, but also because they were the smallest notebooks I could find in the bookstore and that they were expensive... T.T I am not one to buy unnessecary things, especially expensive ones. It was 8$. I am committed. lol.

So, ya. Let's see how that goes. I'm trying, like, down to the minute, but not quite that intense. Just like whenever the focus switches. I'll do a bunch of analysis later. (I like data analysis =D)

Yup. Then I got to meet up with KC again. I'm really glad I get to spend time with him and that we get to spend time reading the Bible and ya, to spend time thinking about these things. We read John 2 and did a lesson on growth and the essentialness of prayer and reading the Bible and obedience in growth. So, this week we are going to read the Bible daily before bed and hold each other accountable. He had to go to work, but it was another great meeting. I can't wait until our lesson on prayer. xP. I really want to see him praying passionately.

Umm. Organic chem lab. We watched clear liquid go from one point to another really slowly by evaporating and condensing like a million times. >.> Kinda boring, but we know what our liquids were! =D (which is the point of the experiment. Separating two liquids and determining which they were by testing them.)

Then me and NF went to Story of the Soul (after a brief chat with MC who played on worship team with NF at Getaway two years ago!). SotS was good. We watched a couple movie clips, looked at a painting and heard CW's testimony of hope in a difficult time. and JXW came! =D (even though the O-train broke down... >.>) Ya. There were a bunch of people there (I haven't heard an official count yet though. I counted 45 at the end, but people may have already left at that point).

Ya. Then 11 of us went to bubbletea in China town and played Apples to Apples in My Sweet Tea. lol. So fun. AG is hilarious and I think a lot of us hadn't actually had dinner, just sugary baked goods at SotS and bubbletea. lol.

Ya. I need to change. I don't want to be the one that makes you cry, but rather the one you can cry on.

I talked with CW for like half an hour before going to sleep. xP. I really wanted to do that like everyday the way me and DP did in EA. It's one thing I think good roommates should do. xP

Ya.

Ttyl. I've got to do my Phys chem lab now since I have work at 2... >.>

=D.Fa

PS. DS's baptism tomorrow!!!!!!! So exciting!

Starting Somewhere

Yo. So. Did I tell you about yesterday..? I don't remember. It is doubtful... Actually I think I did..? Or maybe that was just a text message. >.>

Ya. It was a text. lol...

Wednesday wasn't the best.

I guess I realized again how prideful I am. I ended up selfishly trusting in my knowledge of phys chem and on the equation sheet I hadn't even really spent time on... I feel confident in my not so great mark on that midterm. ya. I was feeling really crummy the rest of the day I think, except that I got to play badminton with SC and JJ eventually/breifly. xP Ya. SC says I'm way better in front when I'm mad at phys chem. >.> My whole body is sore from yesterday. xP

Umm. I didn't do much. I think I met JXW's Malaysian biochem lab partner. I couldn't quite guess which ethnicity he was... I had narrowed it down to Hong Kong or Korean, but I wasn't really confident in that guess. It was mainly his accent and face that pointed me to Hong Kong. I realized afterwards that basically every Malaysian I know has been in Canada for a very long time and goes to my church.

I ended up leading a prayer meeting. RM kinda trained me..? I have some papers to read over, but ya, we prayed for Cambodia. MM and his family are over there right now working with Mercy Medical Center and New Life Fellowship and they are seeing God do great things.

Ya. So yesterday night I did some work on my biochem lab, well actually I stayed up until 3am doing it. This was after going to my parent's and buying groceries and talking to JH. I'm praying for him. My housemates enjoy talking a lot. Often about things I don't talk about. Seriously DK..? >.<

Ya. I figured it was a way better idea to work on my lab before today rather than not. At the same time, I know that I cannot wake up early, so I decided that since CW wakes up at 8:15 I would stay awake working on it until 3 and a bit so that I get 5 hours, not more, and then get back to it before class at 10. The plan worked pretty well.

Ethers are fun to learn about. xP. Then I finished up my lab with JXW. AG wasn't feeling well today so our language exchange meeting was postponed. Today was our last biochem lab, which is sad because I haven't had much time to speak with TZ and that's like the only place I see him. The prayer meeting was awesome. So many people praying to see God work on campus and for the students to realize that God loves them and is calling them back to him. Stats was ok. I met this one guy and we talked on the bus ride home, which was cool.

JS convinced me to go to YA and I got to see RL! Yay! I miss him... text conversations leave something to be desired when you haven't seen someone for a long time.

Ummm. So ya. This morning I stumbled briefly on a bit of sin, but I was so set on sharing the gospel with JXW today that I was like 'screw you sin. you can't hold me down.' and I just asked God to forgive me and that was that. Through Jesus we have been freed from our slavery to sin. In him we have victory over sin and death. If that is what Spiritual breathing is, then I want to keep feeling this victory over sin.

Umm. Ya. Two events in the near future. The first being Story of the Soul: Hope, which I am super excited for. During the prayer meeting we decided that we want to see at least 60 people at the event and 5 people come to Christ through the event and follow-up. This isn't something we can decide, bad phrasing, but we are placing our trust in God to do great things. I also had this vision that I'd be like, inviting a lot of people. Between classes just talking up some people and inviting them, webCT messages, texts, in person, a lot of invites.

Secondly, the date has finally been decided on the sushi event that has been brewing for a week and a bit. Nov 26th we will be having sushi. I don't know how many people will be coming though, but you have to start somewhere.

Anyways, Ttyl!

D.Fa

Since last time

I have had a pretty awesome time since I last told you guys anything. xP.

So, last night was the STAT Midterm. It went really well. I went in and had this peace. Like I helped a few other people with their questions and was talking to this random guy about minecraft instead of cramming. lol. Cramming sucks. But really, I was not prepared. Luckily we had an extensive formula sheet and the prof had gone over the sample midterm the day before. If it wasn't for that I may have done really really really badly. I don't know. xP.

Anyways, before that was my Organic Chemistry lab which was good. The experiment is basically non-stop for three hours, so much to do and you just have to do it. It took my mind off everything that was happening around me and ya. I really like chem labs. xP We finished at 5:45, 20 minutes late, but we weren't last. xP The smell of ether and acetic acid. xP

Also, this morning I had a real driving experience, no longer confined to parking lots or centerpointe. Not much faster though, but whatever, change of scenery, which was all very colourful. hehe. Umm, ya. !My highschool fantasy has been fulfilled! I got to drive my dad home from MHS! =D I got some food from my parent's after cleaning out their fridge and organizing it a bit. Then I got a drive home then a drive to church. At church I built a Christmas tree out of shoe boxes which required a few Jengas to make it look better.

Then we had a great worship practice (me, AL, SM and NC) and ya, we bussed home.

Now I'm heating up leftovers from my parents. I'm gonna watch some anime, do some phys chem work then go to school where I will meet some Japanese students or students interested in learning Japanese or any language exchange program students interested in watching a Japanese movie then we will bus to the NAC(..? or somewhere anyways) and watch the film 'It's Always Sunny on Third Street 2'..? I think that's what it's called. xP

Looks good.

Ttyl.

=D.Fa

PS. On a scale of one to ten, I'm somewhere between one and ten. =P

Function and Form

So, whenever I don't blog regularly either I'm pretty busy or I'm turtling and hiding from sin issues in my life. This time it was business. Or rather, just not being at home this weekend and then being busy.

Friday. lol. Umm. Ya. Then I got to school and had things booked until Saturday at 3pm. What? Ya, Raven's Log meeting, A scheduled discipleship meeting with KC (he had errands), a lab with associated report I had to hand in and wasn't done because I slept in, Campus for Christ Weekly Meeting and then off to church. The RL meeting was short so me and TJN went to SC/RP's dorm and worked on our labs. lol. Good times. I managed to get the lab report done and get to it on time. The lab was pretty interesting. Liquid-Liquid extraction. =P Ended early, a bit. C4C Weekly Meeting was awesome. DP[not the same DP. a similar DP. lol we both went to EA, but this DP was on a different team] was there! and S(?)!?! He was in my Japanese class back in grade 12. I never really knew him very well though, so, I guess I don't actually know him. xP It's still cool.

Then we hung out in Oasis and when they were all going to McD's to get McFlurrys I was going the opposite way off to church. You see, we are still in a temporary location. Actually this March we will most likely be the very latest we can stay here. Although it's huge and has been a real blessing to have, it really is falling apart, so buying it was probably a bad idea anyways, so thanks God for not having that happen. Ya, there are a number of short term possibilities in schools or universities. There are also the two main long term possibilities now on the radar. 1. Buying a piece of land in Centrepoint and building a new church there. (The government is very very slow) 2. Buying a church building from another church who aren't able to stay in their own building at the moment. We want to ask God for his guidance, opening and closing doors and really getting us where he wants us to be, so all month we are having '30 days of prayer' for this and this weekend we were having a '24 hour prayer chain' meaning 24 hours where someone was always in the church praying for the building search. For the middle of the night shifts we just had a youth and young adult sleepover party at the church.

We played games and worshiped and skyped and watched a movie and prayed and worshiped some more and slept a little and ate muffins for breakfast. The movie was 'highschool musical China'. It was really funny. xP I had the 3:30-4am prayer shift, so when the movie finished I just did more 'late night' worship with FL and R(?). The way worship worked was that someone calls out a song and we use Ultimate Guitar to get the chords / lyrics and project it onto a large screen so that everyone could see including whoever was playing. xP So good. I got to sleep a bit. I wasn't really planning on it, but everyone else (except Z(?)) was asleep, and I was pretty tired after only getting 5 hours the night before. I got two hours from 5:15-7:15 on a cold carpeted floor. Z(?) is really nice. He gave me his hoodie and then his sleeping bag when I was super cold in the morning. >.< He's pretty mature too. and responsible.

Worship practice started at 10. I wasn't on team, lol. At 1 our worship leader study continued from where we left off in April (or maybe March..?), except that we will be going at a faster pace since reading one chapter a month would take us nearly three years... >.> Ya, it was good.

Then I bussed to school for a really bad audition. She seemed enthusiastic that I could sing though. >.>

Then I bussed home (so much harder this year and especially on the weekends), had a rather large meal and watched too much anime then apparently I passed out on my bed at 8 instead of doing my Phys Chem prelab and playing guitar as I had planned to do... I awoke at 3am to find that I had done as such. I continued to sleep until 6.

Worked a bit on my prelab then bussed to church. You have to leave an hour before church to get there with the current bus system, which is kinda annoying. But, ya, not that bad. Sunday school was good. Service was good. AL invited JC and she enjoyed it. Although it was a bit awkward sharing my Bible with her... >.<

I got a drive to work since JS and I neeeeeeeeeeeeded rice and DZ lives near there. I checked my schedule (no work this week! w00t!) and my coworker tried to pursuade me to work more since my 'replacement' isn't the best at working hard and getting things done. I did a bit of grocery shopping and in the end bought the last remaining Rooster brand bag of rice (40lbs) and bussed home with it.

I can't wait to stirfry. Hehe =P

Umm. Lunch. Prelab. One Piece. Bus to church again. Leader Study on the book of Acts. Pretty interesting. When I finally got home we had a house meeting. Very funny. lol.

I have a BIOL assignmnet due tomorrow, so Ttyl!

D.Fa

PS. Portugal!!!

Testimony Time!

So, today was church. Bussing takes forever. I left around 8:35, shortly after meeting MM's family. (so funny) I got to church at 9:24. CW, my roommate had left half an hour after me and got there before me. I'll bike next week. I had bussed for a reason. I had work immediately after church, like ASAP, so I needed a drive from someone the second it finished. If I had biked I'd have to leave my bike there...

Anyways, I was in a really really bad mood this morning.

Sunday school was cancelled because KK forgot the cheese, T(?) was playing piano and JS was in Hongcouver with his girlfriend, so we hung out for a bit and then went to Starbucks. Talking with JW, I got a free Caramel Macchiato cause they made it wrong for a woman who ordered it.

We got back, set up some chairs, then service started. Guest speaker. Prodigal son. Worship. Still in a bad mood.

I knew I needed to just give it up and ask God to give me a better attitude, but I wasn't...

I was kinda forced to humble myself though, I mean I had to give a testimony. I had written a page, but that was two days ago and it was 11pm when I wrote it, and I'm not good at presenting things, especially testimonies, so I needed the Spirit to help me.

I think it went pretty well. It helped having a translator interrupt me and give me time to think. xP

So, I was thinking, 'dang, I want to share this testimony... I'll have to type it up... >.> Oh! I typed it to begin with! (out of D.Fa character.)'.

Herewith:

"Hey everyone! My name is Dylan and I’m in second year biochemistry at Carleton now and I was blessed to be a part of this year’s VBS to Charis EFree in Scarborough this August. I had just returned to Ottawa for the second time this summer and just a week later I was gone again. I was definitely planning that week as a break, as a relaxing time to refresh and refocus again. I wanted to spend time with my family and friends and I wasn’t preparing nearly as much as I could have. You see, since we were doing the same VBS material as last year when OCBC went to Brooklyn, I had assumed it would be easy, but I was given the role of telling the Bible Stories. I do not normally consider myself someone who can tell good stories, teach people things, clearly explain things and it was a lot to memorize too, so I really did need work. The entire week I spent hours each day working on how to tell gospel centered Bible stories. I still did not feel prepared.

Aside from the preparation before VBS, we also sat down and talked about what our goals in this week were. Our main mission was broken down into a three-letter acronym, UPI. Understand, Provide, and Inspire. Help the children come to an understanding of the gospel, of God’s love and the gift of eternal life through Jesus death and resurrection. Provide each child with their own copy of the Bible. And inspire each child to share what they’ve learned with others. We prayed that God would really use us to accomplish this and to be an encouragement to the church.

Throughout the preparation and the week we saw God answer prayer. I saw God answer prayer in placing me outside my comfort zone and growing me in an area of weakness. I saw God bring the 10 children we were praying for to the VBS this year whether they were church going children, or not, or even if it was their first time in the church, God gathered His children and answered our prayers on Sunday. We saw Him delay the storms Wednesday so we could go to the park and be a light in the community. We saw the children and youth come to a greater understanding of the gospel. We saw every child receive a New Testament. And I only found this out this week, but one of the mothers of a child at the VBS was exposed to the gospel for the first time through conversations she had with him. Also, the youth grew so much that the church even got a new youth worker for them.

Even though we weren’t fully prepared, even though we aren’t there to do follow-up or see what is happening right now, even though we aren’t perfect, God chose to use us, God uses his Spirit in our lives to speak his truths to others, God did so much more than we could have asked or imagined and He is still doing so much.

So, ya, I have been really encouraged by what I have seen happen in the lives of the children, in my life and just everything He is doing through the steps we take in faith. I’m really glad I got to experience this this year and if the opportunity comes up again, I would be really excited to go again.

Thank you for supporting us in prayer and sending us out!

D.Fa
"

And that's a rough copy of it, but ya. God is awesome. He really helped shift my attitude and when I went to work I was ready to glorify God. I worked super hard until 6:30 then I went home for supper, went back to work, came home for pie and now I'm at my house with a large pile of leftovers. lol.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

Stuff.

Hey. Here's some stuff:

-My dad says my brother is better at parallel parking than me... >.>
-I'm eating delicious cookies right now. lol CW's first batch of beer-grain cookies.
-Yesterday I made my first real meal in this house and it was delicious.
-Phys Chem labs are boring. So boring.
-Summit is this weekend!!!
-I feel that I should disciple KC. Hmmm...
-I feel it's time for the talk with SC.
-Tennis is fun. Especially with a new racket!
-My shorts ripped on my bike... T.T
-I'm wearing this shirt for the first time ever.
-Temptation happens so much more when the distance between me and God increases.
-Gotta do more school work.

D.Fa

Where we left off.

Hey guys.

Today started off awesome. Even though I had to wake up 'early' it was well worth it. Worship practice at 10am was awesome. Starting my day the right way. Prayer, praise and worship with my brothers and sisters, and God. (I had actually only solidified the setlist last night at 1am. lol.)

The practice went really well. Like, nearly perfect.

Anyways, I got a drive home and instead of free hamburgers at RBC I had KD at home. lol. It's not jsut KD though. There were hotdogs and onions and carrots and part of a hot pepper. Then suddenly my nose was on fire..? My left nostril was on fire. It hurt quite a bit. So, I borrowed some milk and drank it, through my nose. lol.... Also ice cold water... It was kinda so painful that I couldn't even eat properly. lol. I googled 'hot pepper juice in nose' and came to the conclusion that I should borrow some yogurt. lol.

I had to run off to work. I have to bus now. lol. My first time back at work in four months. Everyone was really happy to see me. So weird being back. TM is a cashier now. The funny thing is that basically nothing had changed. I prayed that I would see one of the YA this evening and funny enough I saw ED! She had no food left, so she had to buy some groceries. She has a lot of competitions coming up so I won't be seeing her for quite a while. I'm really glad I got to run into her before she disappeared. lol

Also as I was starting work, BJ was appeared! She is visiting for a week. I got her new phone number (she has a tendency of losing or breaking her phone I think...). She's kinda drunk right now though....... lol. I missed her.

I miss my East Asian buddy that TL and I met on the first day.

Oh, also, I miss MC's laugh. I heard someone with a slightly similar laugh today. >.>

It's almost Summit!!! w00t!

Ttyl.

D.Fa

PS. On the way home a really wasted guy asked for help to find his way to his friend's house. He had taken a lot of drugs and alcohol and was apparently passing out in random places...... He was supposed to be at his friend's for 5pm. It was 10:30. >.> I hope he is okay.

Oatmeal and Sodium Napthalate

So. CW is describing the way I listen to one song until I'm sick of it then going to the next one in an analogy. I'm like an alcoholic who goes from one drink to another. He is also analyzing the lyrics and assuming I 100% relate to them. In David Choi's Uneasy he says 'he drives a better car, he's better looking than me' the song is basically about him being jealous of his girlfriend's friends who are male and CW thought that I was threatened by DZ and his BMW stealing 'my love interest'. All hypothetical though. CW keeps dissing all of David Choi's songs saying they are all cheesy love songs and that David Choi has no guts if he's just gonna avoid his ex (Re: Won't Even Start).

Anyways, last night I finally had to go buy groceries since I was all out of food and ya... I got out of my stats class early. So I bussed to work and bought groceries for an hour. lol. Only 50$ though! 5 big bags of food and only one cent of tax (on the bags. >.>) Then I got a drive home and signed up for SUMMIT using CW's credit card. lol I still don't have a credit card. No big deal.

Ya. My prelab was super long. I was up until 2 and woke up at 7 to finish it at like 8:30. Then I finished my Biol prelab and Biol assignment, which although both are way more simple than the Orgo Chem prelab, they were still making me stress a bit.

Everything worked out really well though, so no problem. I'm a bit tired, but it's a new day. lol.

I had oatmeal for breakfast, but I packed a lunch! So, that's good. lol.

Ttyl.

D.Fa

PS. I got a call back..? o.0 I thought they were going to call me on Monday. They called me during phys chem and since I have caller ID now it showed 'Carleton Sexual Assault Services' since I had that number on my phone for frosh week and it's all extensions from one central Carleton number.

Getting Back on Track

Hey. Today, or rather this weekend I hope to do all my prelabs for the coming week. I have done none today. First I had a large helping of No Name Quick Oats which I bought 2.25kg of the other day. I also have a kilo of sugar, so I should be okay. After breakfast we went to the Food Court on 2nd floor University Centre on campus for follow-up training and data entry. There are so many people interested in meeting up with us again! It's so exciting! And I get to help! Both scary and very exciting. I can't wait to meet these people and talk with them. I'm kinda worried that my schedule will kill any free time I have though, so I may not end up being able to help very much... We had pizza for lunch. Don't ask about the last four pieces. I don't know what happened to them. >.> I put them down at the bus station then chased after a bus. Anyways, I bussed a really long way around the city to get to worship practice.

[I just realized I wasn't finished posting this. lol]

Worship practice was really good. It was me, AL's brother AL, PE and NE on worship team. We went through the songs quickly and went home early. They drove me home. Then I was going to go play tennis with my brother. JS had asked if he could borrow my racket. It wasn't home yet, so I made Kraft Dinner for supper. I ran off to tennis. I thought the courts were way closer than they are... We played. It was a lot of fun. I went to my parents'. Ate ice cream and got a drive home with leftovers. xP I need to go buy some food...

Ttyl.

D.Fa

PS. Nigeria! w00t!

If You Were Stuck in a Tree With 5 Lobsters, What Would You Do..?

It's so nice being done with all my assignments. lol.

In an hour, for an hour is Earth hour, ie turn the lights off for an hour to save the environment or whatever. I remember two years ago it was a Saturday and we had YF during Earth hour and we just prayed on the stage in the old building. We prayed for boldness. I remember that. I remember CC was there and her friend. Those were the first people I remember being there. I could name off the rest of the YF, but, nah... lol.

Tonight I'm going to sing worship songs with guitar and read the Bible and just have an hour with God. I'm gonna print out some lyrics sheets using RL's computer and ya. I've got to hurry up, but ya. I'm excited.

Many people I know don't like all these 'trendy' 'raising awareness' things like not buying gas on a day to make them lower the prices. Also some people don't like environmental fads and I agreeable admit conservation biology is very biased. Save the seals, they're cute. Kill all the crazy joint-legged bug-face monsters that eat bunnies. I digress. I will use my hour for God.

Also, Quelf is an amazingly fun game. If you get the chance to, play it, and if you want to play it, you should suggest it. By the way, I don't think Chickens can catch rabbies, mosquitos don't kill you, plasmodium vivax does, sharks don't actually kill very many people and I'm sure most of the taxis in New York aren't moving fast enough to kill anyone. That just leaves poisonous snakes which are indeed quite bad for you.

Ya. *shifty eyes*

Ttyl.

D.Fa

PS I just ate a bag of french fries. McDonald's dipping sauces are okay.

Have You Ever VIIII..?

Have you ever made a pot of Jello..? Well, I have and I'm pretty sure it is more common then my next sentence. Have you ever had a pot of jello for breakfast? I did. lol... Nothing else. Just Jello....... lol... I bought it on sale a month or two ago and there is almost nothing (except a 10lb bag of potatoes) to eat... SO, I decided to make it. It wouldn't chill fast enough, so I couldn't eat it last night.

I have been having a very limited range of meals recently. PB and Chocolate toast for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, KD or spagetti or rice for dinner. That's literally about it. Of course, its not just plain KD, or plain rice or plain spagetti, but its still a very short list of things to eat. Also, there is no more bread, so I'm gonna have to buy some soon... And on an odd, yet related note: I use my rice cooker as a slow cooker. KP pointed this out the other day. It's kinda true. I put in rice, then any vegetables I want and just cook it. Add soy sauce / chilli garlic sauce and its good to go.

Anyways, I have an essay to continue and finish by 2:20.......

Ttyl.

D.Fa

The Clouds Over Malaysia Are Really Cute.

That is my reaction to seeing the clouds over Malaysia on Google Maps while looking for Qatar (w00t!!) and subsequently Singapore (which I have always traditionally assumed was in the Mediterranean near Italy).

Anyways, that is why I am blogging, right now, in the library, Qatar has seen my blog!

I really meant to blog yesterday. I ran out of time though.

You see, yesterday in church, Pastor DB spoke about Lent, about the varying history and how we can apply it. Lent has traditionally been a 40 day long time period where you give something up and replace it with something that will draw you closer to God. It is not simply meant as a punishment, it is not simply a time to switch vices, it can't be something that you force on someone.

So, when I was praying about it I came up with three options:

1)Give up breakfast. This was based literally off of Matthew 4:4 "Jesus answered "It is written 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'""
I eat a lot of bread. This is because of my mother who is particularlly particular about whether her sandwich bread is 'stale' or not leading to the purchase of many additional loaves of bread which I take because otherwise no one will eat them. Especially for breakfast recently I have been eating, like, 5 slices of bread with something on it (Peanut Butter, Jam, Bananas, etc.). So literally, replace the bread with reading the Bible or something.

2)Nevermind. It's not important.

3)Anime which I then felt should be all television including Friends. This is because at breakfast and other various times when I am 'bored' or otherwise decide for no reason that my studies are less important than procrastination that this is what I should do. I would be able to eat breakfast and connect with God!

Reasons against the posssibilities:

1) I am hardly eating lunch ever as it is, so giving up breakfast is either switching over to eating lunches (as if I hadn't given anything up) or starving myself by not eating anything, but dinner when I am already, probably, malnourished. Also, Saturday night I was talking to my support coach JW and he suggested I spend more time at school so I could get things done and he said that he used to go to Baker's and buy a cheap breakfast and 'have breakfast with God.' Then Sunday Pastor DB was recounting how food is a social thing and how in college because he knew nobody he would 'eat lunch with God'. I felt God was telling me to a) eat meals and b) eat them with Him. Nothing such as "you should starve", but rather the opposite..

2)forget it.

3)I have actually got to a point where anime isn't controlling my life. I only watch it during meals or when there is nothing else to do. TV however is almost always a waste of time.

I was thinking about this stuff all day and decided to ask AL about it. I told her about options 1 and 3. She asked if I had thought about option 2. I replied that I had and decided against it.

I suppose I should let you know what it is now. Option 2 is pokemon. At the thought I said "no. I just bought pokemon white on Friday. If I give it up now I will be unable to play it for what will turn into 3 months (because of EAP) and then no one will still be playing. I am going to give it up in a few weeks once I beat it."

AL asked if I had talked to God / the Holy Spirit about it.

I realized I was deliberately ignoring Him for my own selfish desires.

You know what that is? That is the general definition of sin.

I was sinning and I even kind of knew about it. I mean, when I had been playing on Friday night I had been like 'I'll play until 9 then I'll read Lev 9-10 (which I was supposed to read on the bus that morning, but ran into NB and a 16 year old gangster hiphop thug at the bus stop and ya...)' and I pushed it off for hours. On the bus I'd read the Bible as fast as possible to spend more time playing. I was playing at the C4C meeting. I was playing before / after sunday school. I was playing instead of eating the soup my dad had made. It was taking over my life and I was letting it because I wanted to play so badly, but at the same time I was feeling pretty bad about it and although I had played for 9 hours I was not in the least satisfied. yet.

I thought playing would make it better. I mean, the plot will progress, I'll catch more pokemon (especially Galvantula! I want it so badly!!!) and I will catch them all and have a sense of accomplishment.

I chose to ignore God that morning. He spoke through AL because speaking to me directly wasn't working. I was still not listening. For close to 4 hours at work I was thinking about pokemon and how I was selfishly, sinfully, stupidly, stubornly ignoring God and not making the decision to give up pokemon for lent.

The worst part of this is that I knew Lent is supposed to draw you closer to God. How can you draw closer to God while being in conscience disobedience to what He is telling me? You can't grow in your relationship with God if you are willfully living a life of sin at the same time. Sin is why we can't normally have a relationship with God. Sin is why God had to send Jesus to die on a cross (he also rose from the dead). Jesus is how we can have a relationship while having sin in the past tense. God's grace and love for us overcomes everything.

and yet, I wasn't saying yes or no even while knowing yes was the right answer.

I finally gave up. You can't beat God. So pokemon white is now, and will be for the next 40-100 days, be sitting on the shelf in my room beside my DS which I may or may not touch for an equal amount of time.

Ya.

I'll ttyl. xP

D.Fa

PS... Sorry about the essay of a post... xP

Mobile Parties are Cool

Hey! So. I need to learn how to be concise.

1. I hate shots.
2. It is not easy to get travel immunizations.
3. My imunization record is pretty sketch.
4. I need to learn to play footsy better..?
5. I don't tell you I love you as much as I should.
6. I don't love You as much as I should.
7. I need to cut down on words like kinda, maybe, sometimes, or other stupid modifiers.
8. I would like to be able to be in more than one place at once.
9. Microsoft Office hates me.
10. I understand LRC curcuits much better now.
11. Skipping math is always an idea that is not bad.
12. I learned some kanji today! or at least what they look like...
13. Breakfast at 8pm is odd.
14. I need to get a proper meal routine.
15. I'm leaving this house at the end of April..?
16. Someone keeps eating my food. This week a banana and half a litre of punch have disappeared. Also, RL ate the leftover spagetti I was planning to eat today and the leftover spagetti sauce I was planning to eat tomorrow... >.>
17. Jesus is the perfect spotless lamb that acts as the permanent sin offering for our sins.
18. I'm ahead of the game even if I think I only have 3 days left to do stuff..?
19. When did our lives become so complicated?
20. Snow + Rain = a very terrible combination. Sidewalks are the lowest place, ,', that is where the rain goes, ,', there is no where to walk.

Ya, Ttyl.

D.Fa

Intrinsically Canadian.

So, today is definately a bit out of character for me...

I mean, I have done a bunch of stuff that must be called 'Canadian'.

I have skated 2 miles on the canal.
I had a beavertail. (Soooo goood. Lol... Nothing speacial actually...)
I helped shovel a rink at Brewer Park.
I am currently 'playing hockey' with a few friends and a couple random people who are also here. Lol.

It is cold and windy, but so good.

I have decided. The weather, unless it kills you, cannot ruin amazing stuff.

Yesterday I was 'worship leader' meaning I am in charge of selecting songs, in charge of choosing a call to worship and I kinda direct the congregation when we are singing.

I did a pretty slack job. I chose the call to worship at 12:30 am on Sunday. I chose the songs at 5pm friday and one saturday morning. I had nothing prepared to say. At practice I forgot how to sing 3 of 5 songs...

These are problems, but God's love that never leaves us can fix them, and did fix everything in the end.

Ttyl, eh?

D.Fa

Why am I blogging again..?

So,

I have decided I should eat lunch more regularly. I mean i havn't had lunch on a weekday since last last Friday..? it may have been longer ago... In any case this decision is coming because I kinda almost fainted today and I have been just not feelin too well by the end of the day... Also I have noticed that my breakfasts and dinners have been getting larger to compensate. I mean I practically had half a loaf of bread and a quarter jar of jam this morning......

RL is giving me free lunch tommorow in the caf, so that will be the start of my lunch eating...

Anyways. Not eating lunch is bad for you. Moral: your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and you have to take care of it.

Ya.

Also, JW my dear housemate buddy told me to search for this song and it is pretty cool.



Ttyl.

D.Fa

Update.

So, many things hapened today. Not really, but ya, a lot has suddenly happened and I shall breifly summarize you with an update.

-Friends, so good.
-Bio
-Quiditch!
-Chem
-Creeped Aquaintance
-Oasis
-Stumble Upon
-Prayer Meeting
-CU Frosh Facil..?
-Weekly Meeting
-AFTER PARTY!
-Fireworks! BOOM!
-Beavertails! YUM!
-Heart of Worship! SUNG!
-...McDs......
-BUS!
-Blog!
-Instant Noodles FTW.
-Sleep.

D.Fa

A List of Stuff.

So, the things on this list are all connected for some reason:
-Halo
-Final Fantasy
-Gundam
-Tim Horton's
-Crocs
-Coffee
-Brand Name Clothing
-Dr. Dre Beats
-Blackberry's
-Twitter
-Athletic Socks
-Baby corn
-Sonic
-Twilight
-Apple Juice
-Eggs
-Pills
-Boots
-Hockey
-etc.
There's probably a lot of other things I could add to the list, but I'm just so tired/bored.... XP

Ya. This list is a list of things I just do not support.

Ya...... Kinda no real reason, but I'm just against them.

xP... Ttyl.

D.Fa

NYE Part 2

... main session and DK had ordered quite a bit of beef and pork and meat in general and you should probably eat what they give you... XP What started as a nice relaxing meal turned into a race to cook / eat as much meat as fast as you possibly could. Someone would always be adjusting the meat while the other two were eating. Kimchi is so good. XP It was my first time eating kimchi yesterday. I have wanted to eat kimchi ever since I watched 'Shining Inheritance' in the last semester of grade 12.

Ya, so... To get back on time for the last main session we kinda left DK at the restaurant and fast walked back to the hotel. MK had told us the Korean BBQ was about a 15-20 minute walk. The last time I had checked my cell phone it said 8:57. After walking back, going to our rooms and walking the distance to the main ballroom we got there around 9:07, sooooo MK must be a really slow walker. XP

When we walked into the main session the was a flashmob mid song and we were kinda confused. XP ...

NYE Part 1

Wow... XP I havn't told you guys anything since yesterday evening. I don't feel like too much happened yesterday though... We had a 7 hour free time / lunch / dinner break between sessions.

Anyways, I woke up, we went to main session (it was split into boys and girls for this one) and the speaker talked about how boys aren't becoming men because the definition portrayed my media has shifted into 'you are a man by what you consume' instead of 'you are a man by what you produce' and stuff like that.

After main session we went for lunch downstairs at the food court and got Indian food. It was very interesting because I don't have Indian very often.

After that a few friends we had made back in Ottawa (MK and HK) joined us in our free time and we went to Markham and just hung out. XP DK was also around. We played some monopoly deal and when HK and MK had to leave we went for Korean BBQ.

Korean BBQ was good except for how pressured we were because we only had like an hour until ......

Swingin' Into the Night

So, ya.

Since I last posted we have had dinner, walked back, had main session, prayed, then swing danced.

The main session's focus tonight was on Quebec and how only 0.8% or so of the 10.2 million people are evangelical Christians. A very small percentage of people. Through varying things said by the speaker or other people there was this urge placed on having a heart for Quebec, moving to Quebec, praying for Quebec, etc. The main message had a lot to do with just making the little time we have left make a difference. There were many stats about how we could reach the whole world within the next 10 years and other things like that.

I just kinda started getting really sad thinking about how my faith was so small. This was most clear when she started speaking of how our job isn't going to be easy, but you know, the lord will give us everything we need. I know these things are true and I have said / prayed a number of times a number of things, but had I really meant them..? Was I really ready to step out and do hard work. I felt like such a coward and a hypocrite and a very faithless person thinking that I would rather just curl up in my safe little bubble instead of taking everything we have learned and making a difference.

I think that I prayed as sincerely as I ever have that God would stengthen my trust in Him in the coming semester and summer as I make larger steps of faith and break more faith barriers. Sure, it would be easy to just stay where we are in our safety, but that's such a waste. It's boring, not making progress, not doing as God has commanded us. I pray that I would be able to surrender in all situations and just rely on His hope and love and goodness to provide for me. Fear and insecurity should not exist if I am truly relying on the Lord.

So, ya. I prayed with HO, RM, R(?) and J(?).

Then I went swing dancing. xP So fun dancing. I havn't danced since the Musical. NJ was my partner then, but today I had like 20 partners (they made us switch everytime we learned something new, which was slightly annoying, but we got to meet so many new people...) It was a lot of fun. xP

On an unrelated note, have you ever been reminded of someone based more on the shape of the person than their actual personality..? xP I have been seeing people all week that look the same (mostly) as some people I know. These people include RM(high school friend), JB, JC(parcour/tiger suit), Dr. JS and HK(male). xP

Ya.

I've been coming up with new years resolutions. So far I have:
-I will tell people when I borrow things from them
-I will answer people when they ask me questions
-I will read the old testament

There are other things that I have now forgotten, but will remember at some point.

This week has been so great. There have been so many cool things I have learned. One of which is that 'distractions' such as facebook and cellphones can be used as a tool in spreading the gospel to our friends. Until the day of outreach I hadn't really attempted to start spiritual conversations with my friends. I may have been witnessing with my life and actions, maybe, but I hadn't really said much. I deffinately told like 15 people I was at this conference on Wednesday.

My room smells like bananas.... Ewwwwwwwww..... And they are ripe......

Ttyl.

=D.Fa

PS. One day left..!?!?!?!