blog of kevin

explanation

2005-09-15T19:43:00.000-06:00

k so i guess i am nearly done blogging. reason: most of my blogging time has been here at battery boys. and now my battery boy time is coming to a close. that's right. i have been hired at the church as the interim children's pastor. so on top of my jr youth i'll be overseeing the kids. with that taking up my time and being financially compensating i can afford to quit here. so it's good for me. although i will miss you... but who knows, i'll probably stop in once in a while.

goodnight i love you have a good sleep

2005-09-09T08:49:00.000-06:00

i'm sorry baby, i didn't mean it. i really like your finger paintings

i'm not sorry

2005-09-08T18:10:00.000-06:00

i'm not sorry that i haven't blogged in a while

i'm not sorry that i'm done blogging

i'm not sorry that i'm going to miss your wonderful comments

i'm not sorry cuz you didnt comment anyway

i'm not sorry that you won't miss me

i'm not sorry that i won't miss you

i'm not sorry.

i might be back once in a while. but don't count on it

LA

2005-08-27T15:10:00.000-06:00

On Monday,August 15, our quite diverse team of 22 youth and young adults headed for Los Angeles California. You might just wonder, what kind of 'missions trip' goes to California? sounds more like a vacation. Yes, it may sound that way, but i really was a life-changing week for many of us.

Monday was our travel day. once we got to LA there was to be no official agenda. On the plane Ronnie and i realized that the Blue Jays were in town for three games against the Angels. The first of which was that night. We got the wheels turning and figured that if we hurried we could get to the game not too long after the first pitch. Little did we know what truly was in store for us over the next 12 hours.

We hurried off the plane to figure out how much money it would take us to get to Anaheim. the cheapest shuttle could get us there in just over an hour for $48. Ouch. that puts us at the game in the 2nd or 3rd inning and that's not cheap either. we did it anyway.

As the shuttle was approaching the stadium we started to think about getting some tickets. On the sidewalk we saw some homies that looked like they could be scaplers. we rolled down the window and within minutes had 2 tickets for only $20. nice. good seats too.

the game ended up going 11 innings with the Angels finally winning. it was a great game. but now our next challenge; we gotsta get to the Dream Center. #1 we have never been there and just have an address. #2 we're in freaking LA #3 we dont know how the public transportation system works.

Through the advice of some other homies we went to the M-Track (train) and found out we missed the last one. Eventually we had to take public transit. the good news is it was only about $6 for the both of us. The bad news is that since it was so late very few buses were still running. we took the first bus to the end of the line at Long Beach. then took another. the next bus wasn't running for another half an hour so we chatted with the bus driver about baseball and how to get back. (it's now nearly 1am) His bus took us for an hour and a half to the end of the line in downtown LA. (slightly nervous) At this bus stop we met a fine gentleman named Art. you may ask, why the heck are these punks from sask doing meeting people from downtown LA at 3:30 in the morning?? we asked many of these same questions people.

So Art was a great guy and lived somewhat near the dream center so he offered to show us the way home. we finally crawled into bed at 4:30am. unreal experience. until 6:30 am when the alarm went off. not fun.

now the important part - the ministry. We were at the dream center for 5 full days. each day after breakfast we'd meet for our morning assignments. we were one of about 5 teams at the dream center so they broke up the 80 or so volunteers into the different ministries. we did everything from cleaning, to prep for ministry, to phone calling, organizing a warehouse - basically whatever slave labor needed to be done. then after lunch we'd go as a team to one of the ministries. we went to Skid Row, Santa Monica, delivered food in the food truck, helped with Metro Kids and Adopt-a-Block.

Skid Row was crazy cuz i knew it would be stretching so inside i really didn't want to do it, especially right at the beginning. but i knew that poetic justice says that Skid Row would be our very first afternoon ministry. Skid Row is the area of downtown where a large amount of people live on the streets. You can actually smell when you get down there (the whole week after we were there Amy was convinced her clothes still smelled like skid row) Our team split into three with a Dream Center volunteer leading each. My team picked 5th Ave. Our only task was to greet people and enter into conversation with the ones that looked engaging. It was way better than i thought it'd be. Ronnie, Ashley, Kaylene, Amy, Tyson, Stephen, Brittany and a nice girl from England were all on my team (any evangelistic team should have Ronnie on it). I loved having no other agenda but to talk to people. my favorite was when Tyson, Kaylene and I were sitting on the dirty dirty sidewalk talking to one man. or more like listened. he talked lots. he said something profound too. he said, "if you go hungry down here, you're either stupid or lazy." interesting thought.

So many of the ministries were great - that's just one of the highlights. my eyes were opened in a lot of ways. there are soooo many hurting people in this world that just need love. that gotsta be our only agenda in life - to make people feel loved.

Saturday night we left the dream center for Anaheim. Sunday we went to see the Red Sox vs the Angels. another great game - Manny and Renteria went deep and the Sox won. Scalping tickets for that game was a crazy ordeal but was really fun. **Scalping tip of the day - look for the guys who are going to the game but just have extra tickets. They're way nicer and cheaper than the guys that scalp for a living. Tip #2 - if you're really desparate for cheap tickets wait till after the game has been going on for a while. sure you'll miss some but it'll cost way less.

Monday was Disneyland!! Fun Stuff. I'm not a rides guy so i didnt really partake in most of that jazz but the rest was cool. Maybe not the happiest place on earth but cool nonetheless. Everything at Disneyland is sooo professional and well done. they spare no expense. i like that. so many times i found myself thinking that as good as it was it would've been that much better if Sarah was with me.... but that's ok. there'll be plenty of opportunities to make other awesome memories in the future. yeah, that'll be great

K, this is me signing off on quite a long post. i hope you've enjoyed. one thing though - you must leave a comment. thanks and come again.

black cars look better in the dark

2005-08-25T12:57:00.000-06:00

k, we've all been waiting for this.... and the results are in...

but first i'm going to tell a few of my driving experiences.

- Back in November of 1996 i failed my drivers license test twice before i finally got it in January.
- One fall evening in the beautiful town of Carman i was driving my '88 Ponitac Tempest down mainstreet with Derek Eastveld. We were driving North heading to the Royal Bank. I was purposely driving too fast for the fun of it and knew that my brakes would stop me. well, the gravel on the shoulder of the street allowed me to slide forward, jump the curb and take out the railing right in front of the door. Derek quickly helped me lift the car up off the railing before we made our getaway.
- a couple of months later, probably in November of '97, C.R. and Rachel Mann and I were going to a town north of winnipeg... i forget the name. we were just getting ready to leave Carman but had to make one last errand. The snow was lightly falling; it was a very nice afternoon. we were in the parking lot, kinda behind the old mcc store turning between the credit union and the library, driving incredibly slow when my car found some ice and fresh snow and slide into a van. because we were on our way out of town for the weekend i left a note on the van explaining the situation and she ended up being nice about it. i still had to pay the deducible and all that crap.
- once in winter i hit the ditch with Derek's mom's car right in front of the Dunn's house. Jim was too drunk to come pull us out so we got someone else... gong show
- once garrett and i were driving dad's truck to camp, i looked down to adjust the stereo, looked up, and there was a dumb farmer gazing at fields, driving 30kms right in front of me. i swerved to avoided him but clipped his back bumper and almost swerved out of control. good thing i was driving the truck.
- yeah, then there's the stories tanys told. probably many more of those.

I think those are the main ones. i only bring up the past so that we can all (including me) learn from my mistakes. i now put this behind me in order to not have any more driving offenses. Lord, help me. He is able.

K, who won the story telling contest??? k here are the scores in order of appearance.

Faith and the Firetruck - great story Faith. the clincher is the fact that it all happenned in a firetruck. crazy stuff - 8.3

Tanys - i'm pretty sure you're lying... ok you're not. but it was regan's fault anyway. the coppers would've never stopped us if she wouldn't have tried to pull me in an swerve in the process - 7.4

Tyson - great story, i appreciate the effort - 7.2

Tyler - that may just be the craziest, longest comment in a long time. i'm just glad you're ok - 8.0

Kristin - i must say that you're story is one of the craziest of all times - something that is usually seen in the movies. But you made one mistake by discrediting my prize-giving asperations. and therefore you lost half of a point - 8.2 (i would've given a prize for the manfromsnowyriver deal too but when i asked how you knew that i didn't receive an answer. my game, my rules)

Megan - i remember the story and am glad you are alive, never mind pretty much unharmed. but i didn't see the picture so the impact wasn't quite as great for me... but you do recieve a point half point for being Sarah's best friend - 8.2

Therefore our winner is FAITH. congratulations!!! for your prize come to a battery boys location on a thursday between 5.30 and 8pm and i'll hook you up with something.

Coming soon - California Locamotion

post BDA meeting

2005-08-13T14:25:00.000-06:00

My name is Kevin, and i'm a bad driver.

That's how today started. i had to attend a 'bad drivers annonymous' meeting. but i really do think that i'm a changed man.... hmm, i think that after i left the meeting i sped on the way to work.... ok, so i'm mostly a changed man. it's like sanctification, give it time. but i will change. i need to. Mr. Bankstatment needs me to. therefore, i will change.

It was actually a decent class. Two weeks ago i recieved a letter in the mail informing me that i was required to attend a TRAFFIC SAFETY WORKSHOP. i kinda smirked to myself. i knew that sooner or later my time would come. and today it did. from 9:30-11:30 i was at the SGI claim center taking in the workshop. there were about 15 of us there, and most of them were completely boring. i tried to make whitty comments and lighten the mood but no dice, these people were mostly dead. I dont really get it. i mean, if you have to be there anyway, you'd might as well make the most of it and have a laugh or two.

Anyway, i got the low-down on how things work and learned that if i don't get caught for 3 whole years i can have a completely clean record. so i guess that's the goal. i would estimate that over the course of my driving life (8.5 years) i have probably spent between $3000-$4000. that, my friends, is insane. my mother has given me all the speeches about how much money i could've saved so spare me.

i say all that to say this, i will be good. just say a little prayer for me. i appreciate that.

Monday we're leaving for California so i guess the next time you'll get to read my junk will be on the 25th cuz that's the next time i work at battery boys.

**notice how there was not one mention of sports this entire blog**

Leave a nice comment telling me about a driving blunder that you have encountered. I will give each comment a rating and the winner will recieve a nice prize. I look forward to coming home to many comments. thanks pals

sports etc

2005-08-11T13:18:00.000-06:00

i just lost my post and im quite disappointed. Not that i really wrote anything of much substance, but still, that's besides the point. my heart still sank when it happened. i continued my sports monologue from a couple of weeks ago.

MLB - my predictions are doing great so far.

NHL - some may not know this about me, but NHL hockey has bored me to tears over the last couple of years. i still like hockey - the world juniors, olympics, etc. just not NHL. the league having 30 teams has been watered down with way too many bad hockey players.
but the events of the last few weeks have been intriguing, leaving some reason for optimism.
I'm quite excited to see Todd Bertuzzi back. He's such a big teddy bear and i hope he can come back to his peak performance quite quickly.

NBA - who really cares? not this guy!

NFL - Football, je t'adore! i am ventureing into the world of fantasy sports this football season. Darryl is putting a league together so i'm looking forward to that. if you want a piece give him an email.

CFL - ok so the Blue Bombers aren't great. but i'd still rather cheer for them than the riders. the Lions look great, and the Eskimos are right on their heels.

That's about all for the sports that matter. oh yeah, and curling. can't wait for that!

But now the stuff that really matters: the last couple of weeks have been great. i was in winnipeg with Sarah for about 5 days. i think i have a crush on her. mmm, yes i just checked and it's confirmed.
then mom and dad came to saskatoon to help me shop for a place of residence. we're still working on that one.
and then monday we're taking off for the missions trip to LA. but i should post again before departure. until then my friends...

hair

2005-08-06T10:09:00.000-06:00

Kev & Jamie Before

Jamie the Hairdresser

Kevin the cleaner-uper

Kev & Jamie After

sports update

2005-07-28T17:14:00.000-06:00

before we get going here... in response to Kristin's comment, somehow trying to match my sports intellect... What the crap were you thinking. Never Ever try to pull that stunt again!

THE ROCKIES

now that that's off my chest... You may or may not have enjoyed the fact that i have posted quite infrequently about our baseball team. The main reason for that lies in the fact that our baseball team did not live up to our expectations. I could look back to my previous post in which i likely predicted good things for the Rockies. But no, unfortunately, such a fate was not ours. We battled through injuries and people not showing up when they were supposed to (Rod was our #2 pitcher last year and showed up to 1 game this year). we didn't have the same chemistry as last year's team. I'm alright with it though. The season is over. My body aches. in about 10 days i'll be healed up and i'm looking forward to that. in fact, i trust that tomorrow's massage will go a long way to that end. And next year the Rockies will likely be disbanded. I look forward to what next season will bring.

REAL BASEBALL

i know if you really wanted to know about this you'd go to a website or newspaper and look it up. but i dont really care, you're in my world now grandma.
The blue jays have been plagued by inconsistancy yet find themselves in the thick of the playoff race. How will things shake down for them? well, once again they will find themselves on the outside looking in. 3rd place in the AL east.
the Red Sox, White Sox, and A's will win their divisions leaving the Yankees, Angels and Twins battling for the Wild Card.
in the NL the Cards Braves and the Padres will win their divisions and i think the Astros will pull of another miracle comeback and win the Wild Card.

k bye

music machine

2005-07-23T13:55:00.000-06:00

back in the day i was a child. it's true, i wouldn't lie about something like that. back in my childhood my family attending the Mennonite church in Carman, Manitoba. In this church, to the left of the organ, there was a door. Behind this door was the church library. in this church library there were obviously some books, but more importantly, there was a vast supply of movies. One of these movies was entitled "the music machine". it was pretty much cooler than life. it was a cartoon and it had this machine that played music...... (i'm diggin into the ol' memory bank trying to remember...) if there was lots of love around the Music Machine would respond with beautiful music. if there was lots of hate around the Music Machine would play bad music and shut down. cuz one time the bad people from across the river stole the Music Machine to steal the joy from the good people (i wish i remembered their names). Anyway, enuf of this pointless childhood memory.

i say all of that as a prologue... Normally my time at battery boys is boring. the day just drags along. but today has been somewhat different, which is pleasantly surprising. Especially considering this is my 3rd full day in a row here at the store. I haven't worked 3 days in a row at battery boys in forever. so needless to say, i came to work today somewhat dreading the next hours. But i came to the computer with optimism. I emailed Sarah - a really nice email too. then i went to my friend Mr Google and did a search on BEAUTIFUL SOUL by a kid named Jesse McCartney. I ended up finding a site with all these music videos. and it's in a weird language but it's cool cuz i've been listening to music for the last few hours. i pulled out a Celine Dion classic and many other good tunes. I think Graham was a little embarrassed with me, but what can i say, the Power of Love was just too much to pass up. (I've got Nick Carter playing right now). most guys would hide the fact that they listen to Celine but Blaine Eagle and i are not ashamed! and besides, it's not as if i have her posters up in my room! (i've got the good charlotte song with the food costumes playing - i just wanna live - i like the pizza suit. i think i'd look good in the pizza suit)

So instead of being a really boring day, straining to find things to do, i have managed to be mildly entertained so far. and oh yeah, only 2 hours to go. that's exciting for me.

And how about them BOMBERS. lay the boots to the Allouettes last nite. i know it's only one win but seriously people, i think it could be the beginning of good things... oh and you cocky rider fans - i GUARANTEE that the Saskatchewan Roughriders will NEVER win a Grey Cup with Nealon Greene as their starting quarterback. there you go, i said it. peace out, leave a comment

2-in-a-row

2005-07-22T09:53:00.000-06:00

I've had enough of my blogger slackerhood. hee hee - slackerhood. that's a funny word. and besides, yesterday's post was rather short. so i will proceed to talk about...... i haven't figured it out yet, but i will. just give me a second or two....

k so jenn commented on my last post about my brand spankin new haircut. PROLOGUE - my hair has never been long (grade 6 brought about a slight mullet - i had nice little curls) and it's never been short either. always just normal guy hair length. well, when i went and visited Jamie on Wednesday his wife was getting her hair colored by Kerrilynn and so Jamie, Tyson, the baby, and me were just chillin and Jamie wanted to give me a haircut. So instead of thinking myself out of it i told him that it's probably like the 60 foot cliff i jumped off of. just don't think about it - do it. (i think Nike is smiling somewhere right now) So i did it. Jamie made good use of Kerrilynn's clipper and the rest is history. Jamie is going to email me the pics so i can show you the process and so you can see my head in case you don't see me on a regular basis.

But it kinda got me thinking... It's good to be around people who inspire you to step out of normalcy. We can get in ruts and become so boring. But i'm glad i didn't think about it. My life needs to consist of less contemplation and more action. Who cares if you make a couple of mistakes. Better to have lived fully and made a few mistakes than to just think yourself to death and never do anything. i've got friends like that and that mindset frustrates the crap out of me. Don't complain about your life and the descisions you have to make if don't really want to do anything about it. The descisions eventually just pass right by and they're left standing exactly where they were in the first place.

Wow that rant kinda had a mind of its own - kinda took off on me...

Well, i guess i'll 'bid the mob good-day'. If you can guess what movie that quote is from... you'll get a freaking fantastic prize. But i pretty much guarantee no one will get it

untitled

2005-07-21T14:54:00.000-06:00

what is up? me, not much. nearly nothing. summer is a little bit of a slack time for me.... yet so busy at the same time. monday and tuesday we went camping with the grade 8's to celebrate their graduation from my little youth group. we went up to waskesiu for one night and had a grand ol' time. Jamie came for the afternoon on monday and then yesterday i went to the farm for the afternoon to see him. good times.

He is back in sask cuz his bro and sister in law had a baby a few weeks ago and they needed to come out for that. I'm glad i got to see them.

Apparently we won our ball game the other night. if we win every game we might have a shot at the playoffs. this guy isn't holding his breath.

Sarah, please come visit me

thanks everyone for the great fun we had with our little matchmaking extravaganza. you're great people, you really are

back in black...

2005-07-12T13:40:00.000-06:00

or anything else by AC DC.

Disclaimer: I am here by obligation only........

Come to think of it, that's the way we come to God sometimes. Hear me out. Sometimes we dont feel like spending time with Jesus, or doing the 'right' thing, but we do it anyways cuz we know in our head that we should. We trust that when our head knows something our heart will be following... hopefully sooner than later.

so, hopefully i will want to blog someday, but until then, i will do it because Jenna asked me nicely to update my blog...

the truth is that i have been away for much of the last 3 weeks. I was in Manitoba sometime in the middle of June, came back for a bit, then i've been at camp.

This last week was jr teen camp. i just happen to be the director. what a great powertrip opportunity. but alas, i will mostly supress that desire in order to have the best camp. And it was great! almost 60 kids, great staff (most of them), and great people surrounding me. The best thing i can do as a leader is to surround myself with people that will make me look good. and for the most part i was able to do that. and that allows me to relax and not have to be so crazy busy with everything.

our baseball team is sucking. we're not consistant, we're losing close games, and the commitment level of the guys is causing the problems. say a prayer for the Rockies. The playoff are still within reach but we really need to step up.

I wanna be like all those other cool people, so if you leave me a comment i'll tell you which pro athlete i'd set you up on a date with... and i'll add pics too... ooo wouldn't that be fun?!?

pics

2005-06-23T10:53:00.000-06:00

Sarah, these two are for you

Andy is for Megan

Jenn wasn't pleased with Tom so Dwayne stepped in

Kristin, i know you didn't want a football player, but i used my discretion and got you a good one

Jennie likes Thomas

Kristy-Anne gets Steve

Faith + Jevon

i dont know Rylan, let me know how the date goes

why is it that everytime i blog my body aches.

1. my neck/upper back - stiff and kinked - probably from driving and not sleeping enuf
2. right forearm - road rash about 10 inches long, 2.5 inches wide - dove after a guy in last nite's ball game, landed on sand.
3. other assorted baseball injuries (right hip, right wrist!! etc) - we'll battle through

i dont really want to write anything else. why is battery boys so uninspiring... maybe i'll be back later in the day

2005-06-18T14:36:00.000-06:00

if i had to pick one of the seven dwarfs to represent me, it'd be Sleepy. This whole week has been rough for me. I guess i'm not getting a tonne of sleep, but it should be enuf to keep me going...

Thursday my body was really screwed up. I was working at Battery Boys with an incredible headache. Really disturbing... and since it was so slow, and we had 3 people, i went home early. i popped a few pills and laid the ol' body down on the couch. 5:30 rolled around and i dragged myself off the couch to get ready for baseball. Finally as we warmed up for the game i didnt notice my head throbbing. Top of the 1st - no problem - 3 up, 3 down. Bottom of 1st - I made the line-up card and put myself at the leadoff spot (Daniel has been struggling at the plate so we dropped him down for a few games. I'm sure he'll turn it around in no time.) First pitch, curveball in for a strike... not a bad pitch. Second pitch, oh no sucker, you can't throw that twice in a row... I hit a bomb to the right-center gap (no fence at Deif 2) and got myself a nice little home run to lead off the game....

Well, my body did not seem to like running hard for 360 feet. it was like all the energy in my body. it's kinda hard to explain. that hasn't really happenned to me... except for a few years ago. Me and another guy were coaching the Pee Wee boys baseball team. They were awesome (ended up losing in the semi-finals of the provincials). One day, at the end of practice, Miles (the head coach), 18 years old, decides to challenge the boys to a race. each of the boys would have a run around the bases while Miles and i would have to go every other time. by the end of that run i had to lay on the grass for a long time. then i sat in a van nearly motionless for about an hour before i regained my strength.... i even puked that time, right in front of my friends. and then Holly started laughing at me... but she felt bad after....

ok, so enuf of the rabbit trail. we won the game 14-4. Then we played again last night. It looked intensly like it was going to rain. but i told God that i really wanted to play and asked if the rain could wait a bit. God is super rad. Though the wind was going at about 800kms/hr it didnt rain until the game was just over. We won 9-1. i went 2-for-3. Not a bad outting. Not that you care, but i'm now batting .636 (in case you have no idea what that means, its good)

Father's Day

I've decided that it's really important for me to be home for Father's Day.... ok so i just wanna see Sarah and this time just fit with my baseball sked. But Father's Day will be a nice bonus. It feels like forever since i've seen Sarah. Tomorrow will be a beautiful day....... Back in Sask on Wednesday. Until then my friends,

it was me

2005-06-13T19:43:00.000-06:00

I am pleased to say that Saturday night went very well. I pulled off a decent costume... As i was at my house watching baseball, already dressed up, i found myself looking in the mirror and laughing. The only thing i wish i had was suspenders. That woulda been great. Everyone there had great costumes and played their characters very well. i really appreciated Dave Mosher's moustache. pimpin'.

So it turns out that I killed Rock N. Roley. Together with Dave and Regan's character, I came up with the plan to kill him. See, the love of my life died in my senior year and i blamed Rocky. Besides, any plot had to include me, cuz i'm the freaking genius. Who else could pull it off?? Dave Block and Tanys Mosher's character's also had a plot to take his life, but i beat them to it. Kerrilynn Block was Rocky's ex and mother of his child so she didn't want him dead. Lynnel's character - who was actually a man - didn't want him dead either. And Kristy-Anne's character was working another case for the FBI but indirectly aided the murder....

Yeah, it was good fun. I really like those games - how all the characters are interconnected and there's so many twists. Even i didn't know that i was the murderer. I had a little hunch, and knew that i was capable and had the motive, but even i didn't see the method coming.

Until the next time i kill, this is Calvin Q. Layder, signing off

k

2005-06-11T16:33:00.000-06:00

alright, there's 1/2 an hour left of work. just enough time to say, there's not enuf time to blog... but then i bring myself to the realization that it must be done. there is something to be written that must be written by me. k so that's lame. but last nite i got less than four hours of sleep and my head is throbbing. in less than an hour i'll be drugged up laying on my couch watching the Jays and Astros. Roger is on the hill for the 'Stroes. should be fun to watch.

k, so later tonight we're having this murder mystery thinger. I'm so glad i was invited. i love them.. k, i've only been in one, that was a couple of years ago at the Glubish's. this one too is there... come to think of it, Regan was the killer last time, and she'll be there...... there's no way she'll get away this time.... mwahahaha. My character is Calvin the geek. i think it was type-casting. full report to come next week

monday night raw

2005-06-08T11:15:00.000-06:00

Monday night we had the most lop-sided baseball games that i've ever been apart of... that i can remember. We play against the Cardinals - a young team that usually plays a good game against us. we beat them 20-1. ouch. i kinda felt bad for them. But i had fun... i like winning. i went to for three again with a single, triple, i was hit by a pitch, walked, scored three run and a couple RBI's i think. For some reason i'm seeing the ball really well. i like baseball.

Thomas came out and went 2-for-2 with a few defensive gems. kudos Thomas.

Below you may have seen what i have entitled the "E-68 reading guide". I have found that my Junior Youthers do not read their bibles. Pretty much none of them do. that's dumb. How the heck are they going to be serving the Lord down the road if they don't start with some fundamentals now??? (yes i know its possible, quit antagonizing). So i've mapped out the next 5 weeks for them and i'll give it to them a week at a time. now we'll see if it changes anything. if you too have problems reading the word feel free to use the guide. it's nothing special, i just want my youth to not be dumb Christians, cuz Jesus knows we've got lots of those in our churches.

k bye

E-68 READING GUIDE

2005-06-08T10:32:00.000-06:00

Wednesday June 15 – Matthew 2: 13-23

Thursday June 16 – Genesis 2: 4-18

Friday June 17 – Genesis 2: 19-25

Saturday June 18 – James 1: 19-27

Sunday June 19 – Psalm 4

Monday June 20 – Luke 2: 41-52

Tuesday June 21 – Psalm 5

Wednesday June 22 – Genesis 3: 1-13

Thursday June 23 – Genesis 3: 14-24

Friday June 24 – Psalm 6

Saturday June 25 – Matthew 3: 1-11

Sunday June 26 – Matthew 3: 13- 4:1

Monday June 27 – James 2:1-13

Tuesday June 28 – Psalm 7

Wednesday June 29 – Genesis 4: 1-12

Thursday June 30 – Matthew 4: 1-11

Friday July 1 – Psalm 8

Saturday July 2 – James 2: 14-26

Sunday July 3 – Genesis 6: 5-22

Monday July 4 – Matthew 4: 18-25

Tuesday July 5 – Psalm 9

Wednesday July 6 – Genesis 7: 1-16

Thursday July 7 – Genesis 7: 17 – 8:5

Friday July 8 – Genesis 8: 6-22

Saturday July 9 – Matthew 5: 1-12

Sunday July 10 – Psalm 10

Monday July 11 – James 3: 1-12

Tuesday July 12 – Psalm 11

Wednesday June 8 - Judges 3: 12-27

Thursday June 9 - Matthew 1: 18-25

Friday June 10 - James 1: 1-8

Saturday June 11 - Psalm 1 (it's only 6 verses)

Sunday June 12 - Matthew 2: 1-12

Monday June 13 - Genesis 1: 1 - 2: 3 (it's seems a little bit long bit it'll be quick)

Tuesday June 14 - Psalm 3

the desert a good thing?

2005-06-02T13:10:00.000-06:00

As i promised, here is what i learned at YC in Edmonton last weekend. Mike Pilavachi was the main speaker. He was absolutely great. He is a great story teller and the youth really enjoyed him. Saturday night he talked from the book of Matthew, chapters 3 & 4. The message was about being empowered by the Spirit of God. He showed that throughout the book of Matthew, Jesus lived a life that was marked by the moving of the Spirit. So what happened prior to that?

Well, at the end of chapter 3 Jesus was baptized and the Spirit of God descended on Him. He was then led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted. 40 days he went without food and was tempted by the devil himself, and all of that was by the leading of the Holy Spirit…. Hmmm.

So often we assume that any ‘desert’ that we go through is an attack, or punishment, or something that we need to correct in our lives. But God leads us through those times to shape us and test us to see how we come out on the other side.

It’s the ‘desert’ times, and not the good times, that will ultimately define who we are. In those times we will either desperately seek God out, or we will wander aimlessly and wake up lost… hmm, I think I’ve seen that before.

rocky start

2005-06-02T13:09:00.000-06:00

Tuesday was our first baseball game. We lost. We made lost of errors. I did too. My body aches… well, mostly my legs. Don’t worry, I’ll get in good shape soon…. Hopefully. I did go 2-for-3 with two singles and two runs scored. Not a bad start. And even better than that is I felt like I saw the ball really well.

For those of you that aren’t into baseball you may not get that. But baseball is a very mental sport. It’s all about confidence. When you’re “feelin’ it” the ball looks bigger, easier to field, everything is a little more effortless. BUT, when you’re not “feelin’ it” it’s like a pit you can’t get out of. Yeah, it’s tough.

i love jr youth

2005-06-02T13:08:00.000-06:00

E-68 last night… was good. I think last night we played the most dangerous game I’ve ever facilitated in my entire life. But it was Kenny’s idea. The youth were divided into 3 teams. They duct taped one team member to their table and then had to carry the table upside-down outside, around the volleyball court and then back to the gym. During the race I kept thinking to myself that I was a really big moron and I just hoped that no kids would get dropped or smashed or anything like that…. Definitely a little bit of a nervous time….

DELETED

2005-05-29T09:12:00.000-06:00

just like strongbad would say it

i just posted and it got deleted. I'm sitting backstage at YC while the concert's going on.... may, i was excited about finally getting back here.... and now, nothing. man that ticks me off!

highlights from deleted post: got a new car, saw my girlfriend, here in edmonton. crazy week. i didn't base my comparison of the YA groups on one service and remain firmly behind my previous assertion. however, i am not preaching at anyone. i lump myself in the group as well. but i hate apethy. and i dont wanna be there.

k, YC highlights this week including A WALK THROUGH THE DESERT. should be fun.

wowza

2005-05-18T11:51:00.000-06:00

so much to write, so little time.

over the last week (i cant believe its been a week already... maybe if you'd leave a comment instead of just lurking i'd feel more inspired to write more often)

wed the 11th - Superhero night at E-68. great times. Carly had a wicked costume, as did Dalton! there were so many of the youth dressed up. it was craZy.

thurs the 12th - battery boys..... not much else

fri the 13th - worked at church didn't do much... Kerri and i kicked butt at Rook.

sat the 14th - battery boys moving day. visit us in front of the circle-8 mall beside JD Peppercorn's. But the real excitement of Saturday came at 5pm when i got to leave battery boys and head off to Winnipeg to see my beautiful Sarah. i got to the peg by 1:30 (lost an hour due to time change).

sun the 15th - Sarah and i went to Carman for church. good to be home. watched Garrett's baseball game. i love baseball.

mon the 16th - brunch with Sarah, went for a walk down by the forks (very beautiful. beautiful girl, beautiful place... how good is that??) later in the evening we went to the LINK. the LINK is the Young Adults service at Sarah's church. it was a great time. I hope and pray that our Young Adults will begin to get out of their complacent, passionless lives and live for something other than themselves... just a thought

tues the 17th - breakfast with Sarah and mom in headingly then headed back to sask where i was supposed to have a baseball game that got rained out. sucky deal for me.

today - got in a fairly major car accident. we'll see how that all plays out.

other random highlights - i had a cold for most of my time in Winnipeg. i think i'm almost over it. My parents are the greatest people alive. And i got to meet Sarah's parents, which went really well. I think that's all that's happened. Tonite we got jr youth. i'm going to talk about worship.

k, leave a comment. please?

2005-05-09T11:59:00.000-06:00

two more days of housesitting/babysitting. its gone well so far, though its definitely a change in lifestyle, thought process, etc. i've cleaned up after kids, done their laundry, woke them up for skool, drove them to skool, maybe supper for the family, fed the pets and i'm about to embark on a major house cleaning over these next couple of days. Wow, i have become quite domesticated. it's ok though, it's all preparation for something down the road.

what have i learned? i need to learn patience and become less self-centered. i'll work on it. maybe you all knew i needed to work on that crap, but now i learned it too. yay for me.

JYC was alright. the kids had fun. i had some fun. kids got saved. i got saved... wait a minute... i think i was already. i thought that staying in a room with Dalton and Brayden would have me up all nite. they are two of the most hyper kids in know. they're great. they're two of the guys that make ministry worth it. Anyway i had those guys as well as two grade 5 boys in my room. i think we were asleep somewhere around 1am. what a miracle! i was sooo excited to get so much sleep. most of the boys dorm was still hoppin at that time. but nope, not my boys. Yeah, it was a great weekend.

prayer part II

Pastor Marvin said something really good yesterday in his sermon about prayer. when i heard it i thought, "hey, i'll have to put that in my blog as a post-script to my last blog. and now i forget that brilliant thought. i really have to get back to taking notes. if any of you know what starvin' marvin said let me know. merci.

i might go home this weekend

my baseball season starts next tuesday. Go Rockies.

friday

2005-05-06T08:47:00.000-06:00

GOOD MORNING!

I dont really have time to blog today, yet here i am. so it'll just be a quick one today. Me and 24 others are heading out to Caronport for Junior Youth Convention 2005. oooo, should be fun. it's a really great time. it's only one night and they pack out the two days with tonnes of fun stuff for the youth. hopefully we come back big winners like last year. We came back with the XBOX for the youth group and another kid won a Riders jersey. that was 2 out of the 4 major prizes. when i was growing up i always hated it when the bigger youth groups won everything.... and now here i am.....

so the reason for this quick blog is this... Sarah and i have been going through a devotional book. Throughout the week we do the devos on our own and then at the end of the week we discuss the stuff. it's great cuz it's gives us a more intentional excuse to challenge each other in our faith. so this week's devotions are on Prayer and yesterday i read the first one and it challenged me sooo much. but instead of preaching to you, i'll just give you some quotes.

'Next to the wonder of seeing my Savior will be, I think, the wonder that I made so little use of the power of prayer.' - D.L. Moody

'Prayer doesn't change God, but it changes him who prays.' - Soren Kierkegaard

'The most important thing about you is what you think about God.' - A.W. Tozer

'Mind how you pray. Make real business of it. Let it never be a dead formality.' - Charles Spurgeon

i especially liked this last one. it's so easy sometimes for Christianity to turn into religion - dead formalities!

peace

happy mothers day

Robin Hood

2005-05-02T09:19:00.000-06:00

(song) robin hood and little john, runnin' through the forest..... i got nothing. man i wish i remembered the rest of that song... it's from Robin Hood the cartoon movie. that's a classic. i like it a lot.

3 posts in less than a week! whoa, am i back to the old ways? nevermind that. let's just take it one day at a time. no need to define things!

sleeping update: it's weird that coming over here to the Eagle's would help me sleep better. but that's exactly what seems to be happenning. i like it though, don't get me wrong. yeah, can't complain. maybe last week there were just too many things on my mind... yeah maybe that's it. Just like Alyssa last week, i find myself blogging in a new environment. i kinda like. it's weird cuz i dont have a computer at my place. i'll have to make use of it over these next couple of weeks.

k, now to the real content of this blog

but first, the preamble - ang and amelia were over here last nite and we played settlers (sarah, i know i said we wouldn't but it just kinda happenned). anyway i won both games but that doesn't have any real relevance other than an opportunity for me to boast. (may i only boast in the Lord, right?) k, so after the games we were talking and ang was saying how she was this great archer. i laughed cuz i thought it'd be funny watching ang with a bow and arrow. scary crap. but later that nite my mind came back to it.........

last nite i was in bed thinking/praying. i was really noticing all those things in life that don't really matter. if you really think about it, most of the things in your life are completely irrelevant. if you strip that away, what's left? is there anything of substance? i hope so. but as i thought i saw it like this. it's kinda like an target. you know how in archery there's many rings. at camp they had pretty colors. but in life we prioritize like a target. what's got the bullseye in your life? If our eyes are fixed on anything but Christ we live life out of focus. None of the other rings make any sense without focus on the bullseye. on the next ring come our family and our very closest friends. Next are hobbies, jobs, and other friends.

obviously you might prioritize differently than me. i'm ok with that. and as i think about it, this message isn't a whole lot different than a lot of the other stuff i've been saying on here the last little while. it's just a different picture with different words.

but so much of our lives is spent majoring on the minors (one liner for sarah). we make a big freaking deal out of the crap that doesn't matter while giving no attention to the stuff that really matters. we place huge importance on our hobbies, jobs, and how we appear to the people around us while we give little thought to God throughout the day. Instead we should invest more time with God, to our families and our loved ones. Who cares what everyone else thinks???

Strip down your life and see what you've got. will it all blow away like chaff in the wind, or will you have something left that really matters?

to bring this to a close, i read this about an hour ago and i had to give it to you.

Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

- Psalm 37:4-7, 9

money money money

2005-04-30T10:22:00.000-06:00

i hate money. i hate having it, making decisions about it, but mostly worrying about it. i know that i need to trust God to deal with my money but sometimes it's hard. I owe the government money for student loans. i owe my parents money because i need it sometimes and they always come through for me. They often give me gifts but i'd rather it be a loan so i don't feel quite so much like a deadbeat.

I know that God looks after me every month. i know that He has been faithful in the past and will continue to do so. but sometimes i know stuff but i just forget and think of how i'll deal with it on my own terms. not good.

I love how God always works backwards in our standards. the less i worry about something and leave it to God the better it'll turn out. the weaker i am, the more God has a chance to display His strength in me. For me it's a daily reminder. i always forget that stuff and far too easily try to take stuff on my own. i gotsta continually hand it over to God and remind myself that none of this is about me, but it's all about HIM. that's refreshing to be reminded of that sometimes.

Whatever you're dealing with, give it to God. Don't deal with it in your own strength. Abandon your pride. John 3:30 .... less of me, more of Jesus... On your own you will fail EVERYTIME, but with Jesus you'll be alright.

less than splendid

2005-04-28T14:29:00.000-06:00

What do I know today? Come to think of it… what do I know any day? This is what I know. I’m getting to be early, getting lots of sleep, and I’m incredibly tired. What the heck is going on? Kenyan Joe only sleeps 3 or 4 hours a night and he seems to have lots of energy. He says the reason I’m tired is cuz I’m white. I bet that if we did a study we’d find that whiteys are lazier than most other people around the world. Joe’s a good guy.

What’s with the freaking cold weather?? I’m not enjoying it. Are you? Likely not. Bring on the summer. The other day we were supposed to have baseball practice and I was foolish enuf to think that it wasn’t that cold. Many others on the team were not as foolish as I. Daniel, Tyson, and Ronnie all showed up too. After only about 10 minutes of throwing we decided that it was insanity. Dan wanted to pitch a bit and Tyson has never faced a baseball curve ball so I strapped on the gear and Dan pitched to me and Tyson took a few swings. By the looks of it we may have 7 guys who can pitch this year. That’s pretty freaking good if you ask me. Now we just need to develop those arms and give them all a chance to throw as often as possible. That’s quite hard when you only play a couple of games a week.

So after a little while Dan looked pretty good and we were all so cold so Tyson had us over to sit in his hot tub for a bit. That’s the way to go. I want a hot tub someday. If any of you want to buy me one, let me know at we’ll make arrangements.

I miss my girlfriend. She’s been gone for a few days. Sarah, come visit me please…. Thanks.

About the comments… I didn’t necessarily want that last blog to get 20 comments. I merely want a blog someday to receive 20 comments. That’d be nice, wouldn’t it? That’s why whenever I read someone’s blog I comment on it. Even if it’s a lame comment, at least they know I appreciate them and I was there. That’s what it’s all about. I just wanna know you’re here.

Tomorrow I move in with Matthew and Phil as the Eagles are taking flight… hehe. Kristin is off to Prague and Blaine and Anne are off to Romania. I’m looking forward to 12 days chillin’ with the boys. It should be a great time. Party time on Nesslin Crescent. Maybe this will prepare me for fatherhood. Not that that’s going to happen any time soon, but still. I do want to have a family within the next decade.
K, I’m done. Leave a comment and have a great life.

2005-04-27T14:14:00.000-06:00

nine will do. i can't wait to blog tomorrow. it'll be splendid

head hung in shame

2005-04-23T10:12:00.000-06:00

what the crap is wrong with me friends It’s been nearly forever since I saw you last… I am terribly sorry. My guess is that with Sarah gone tomorrow (sniffle sniffle) I will have time for stuff like this. So I guess lets hope that I get back on the wagon with a little bit more consistency. But in all fairness to me, Thursday I tried to post but blogger was down for maintenance or some crap like that.

I would like to say a big ‘thanks’ to some of you. Receiving 11 comments (none of which were mine or repeats) is a beautiful thing. My next goal is to surpass 20. if some of you lurkers would quit your lurking and leave me a comment we wouldn’t have to worry about that now would we.

I need to wash my car. Sometimes I do and then it rains right away. This time I held off cuz it was supposed to rain and then it didn’t. you just can’t win!

The Last Nine Days

I think there was a band called nine days. Or their cd was called nine days. They were a one hit wonder either way. If anyone can tell me their details they’ll win a prize.

K, so I can’t really think back to what has happened in the last nine days. I’m really tired right now. I even had a coffee this morning. I hate coffee.

It all started….. I don’t know, I guess we’ll go back to yesterday afternoon. I was trying to nap when Glen disturbed me and I could not get back to sleep. I needed a nap cuz I knew last nite would be late. It was CPC grad all day and nite. The ceremonies were not as boring as I thought/remembered they’d be. I went home, watched baseball, got changed into my suit and picked up Sarah for the banquet. She, of course, looked amazing. Sometimes I’m just privileged to walk beside her…. (that’d be a good line for a country song or something like that.) anyway, the night concluded with the after-grad party at the Lawson Heights church. I think I got to bed around 2:30 or something. I’m an old man so that’s late when I have to work in the morning. So this morning I thought I’d treat myself to a McDonald’s breakfast. Mmmm mmmm, I really do enjoy those sausage mcmuffins.

I hate this cuz I told myself I didn’t wanna have lame blogs. I really enjoyed my country music blog. But this one sucks and I didn’t wanna have sucky blogs anymore. I’m so sorry that you have to wait 9 freaking days for this. Maybe this afternoon I’ll be able to come up with some better inspiration and come through for you. Until the next time, Keep fit and have fun! - who said it, 500 points to the first person with the answer.

coming soon.........

2005-04-21T12:29:00.000-06:00

i guess it wasn't as soon as i thought...... maybe tomorrow

country music

2005-04-14T18:35:00.000-06:00

At the moment I am sitting at my computer at battery boys. My legs are propped up on the counter and I’m taking it easy. I’ve got a pretty good life.

For my blog tonite I think I’m going to listen to the radio and write what I hear.

‘if love is a weakness I don’t wanna be strong’

New song…. She’s singing so fast it’s hard to write a whole line. I don’t really like this song…. Oh and I should warn you, I’m listening to the country station right now. HOT 93 – but it’s 92.9… I guess they’re into rounding up. Yeeehaw

So, what else is new? Ooo, yeah, the Hot 6 @ 6 is starting right now…

#6 George Strait – so far sounds like a nice sad song. (side note: I want the warm weather back… I’ve only got another week before my girlfriend leaves for the summer and I’d like to go outside with her. So next week had better be warm.) I think George is singing about heaven… maybe someone died and he’s talking about missing them and going to see them in heaven. Yeah, “see you on the other side, if I make it.” George, you don’t have to wonder if you’ll make it or not. If you love Jesus and give your life to him you can definitely go to heaven. And George, if you have any questions, lemme know.

#5 singer unknown so far – nice upbeat love song. I think it’s Emerson Drive. Pretty sure. I’m sometimes good at knowing artists. It’s an ok song. Nothing great. He’s got an ex stuck in his head. Na na na na na na na na na na. he can’t get her out of his heart. Na na na na na na na na na na (in case you’re wondering I counted the “na na’s” and there are 10 of them) I was wrong about the artist. It was some no-namer that I’ve never heard of. In fact, I already forget his name. I think it was Gary or something.

#4 Trick Pony – I wouldn’t listen to this song ever again if I had the choice. She’s singing about heartache. whoopidity doo. Who the heck voted for this song. Lame! It’s ok, I’m confident that #3 will come through for me. Are you as excited about this as me?

#3 Rascal Flatts – I was right. Great song!!! It’s their new one that I’ve just been hearing in the last couple of days. It’s not ‘God Bless the Broken Road’ (though that is a great song too). I’m not sure the title. I have the cd but I just know the songs by what # they are on the cd. This song is #5 and ever since I got the cd it’s been my favorite song. Yay, #3. k so let’s see if #2 can live up to #3… do you think it can?? Wow, I’m not quite as confident as you… let’s wait and listen… (while we wait I’m just going to check on the ball game… Jays are up 1-0 in the top of the 1st)

#2 Roadhammers – eh, not as good as the Rascals. I think the Roadhammers are a few country artists that have joined together for a separate project. I think this song is about being a trucker or something like that. Yeah, that’s it. It’s not bad, it might grow on me. Ooo, little guitar solo. Country music sure has evolved!

(you wanna know why I got into country? Well, I have never really HATED it and ever since moving to Saskatoon my feelings have continued to evolved. The main reason: Saskatoon radio stations suck C95 (the c stands for CRAP) and Rock 102 (the 102 stands for the # of good songs they play per year). obviously, Jamie’s love for country music helped push me in that direction but the brutal Saskatoon radio stations is the main reason)

#1 Are you ready for this?? I’m not sure who’s singing. It’s a guy. About a broken heart. The radio is his only friend. Like an old sad song but you just sing along, its something like a broken heart…… (sniffle sniffle) Hanna McEwan was the singer (I’ve never heard of that guy)

Come to think of it, it’s quite appropriate to be writing about country music. Last night at E-68 was FARMER NIGHT! We got dressed up as the biggest hicks you’ve ever seen in your life. It was quite fun. Brandon Crowe won the costume contest. He was great! For the leaders Sarah won. To vote the youth all cheered for who they thought should win. Sarah was a hot little red-neck!! Painted her teeth black and everything! Honorable mentioned to Glen. He was great. He even went outside and put dirt all over his arms, face, shirt, pants and hat. Yeah, he went all out.

Then I spoke about FAITH, cuz growing up on the farm you quickly learn that you’ll develop an ulcer if you don’t trust in something bigger than yourself. Dad has always trusted God to carry him through.

(great song on right now. I think it’s Diamond Rio – one believer)

I talked about how no matter what goes on in our lives God can carry us through. There’s so much uncertainty in farming and in every one of our lives and I have found that in putting my trust in Christ, I can live a much more peaceful life.

Someone once said that doubt is the ultimate act of atheism. Great thought. Faith is the belief in something intangible.

(Shania’s on now. DON’T)

I love not being in control of my life. It’s so much easier to say, “God I’m going to try to follow you in everything I do. You work out the details. Use me however you see fit” And you know what?? He always does. He never fails. I know that I’m nothing without God. And I’m ok with that. In fact, it’s perfect that way.

warning: only baseball

2005-04-13T14:18:00.000-06:00

Reoccurring theme as I check peoples’ blogs… a lot of us have been dormant for a period of time. For me it’s the first time I’ve such a long hiatus. Does it feel good to be back in the saddle? No, not particularly.

We had baseball practice last night. It was only the first one so only a few guys showed up. But we had enuf to run an infield. I took grounders at 3rd base. I was joking around that I’ve gotta find my back-up position. I’ve got catching down pat but if there’s a situation where I need to give the ol’ legs a rest, or someone else wants a shot at the title, I then need another position. I have played outfield before, but yesterday 3rd base fit quite nicely. The only problem is that we seem to have quite a few infielders. Oh well that’s ok cuz the only way I wouldn’t play catcher is if the game is out of hand. I love baseball (I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that before…) I think I’m ready for a career-year. I’m going to bat over .375 with 2 home runs and throw out 10 base-stealers. Yeah, that’d be a good year.

I know some of you really don’t care about my baseball but really I don’t have much else to say. Sometimes life feels really busy and overwhelming. Now is one of those times. I’m sure it’ll all be fine in the morning. Tomorrow’s battery boys day so i’ll write something worth reading tomorrow

out of hibernation

2005-04-07T18:33:00.000-06:00

Rocky IV – the Kev notes:

Rocky III is better than IV. I watch IV wednesday nite and was mad that the other guy died (I don’t wanna give the name so people that haven’t seen it don’t get mad. And I didn’t like that they started cheering for Rocky at the end. Lame… But Rocky was as ripped as ever.

E-68 Wednesday nite:

FEAR FACTOR night. Who woulda thought that jr high students love gross stuff soooo much. 45 kids showed up. Everything from live crickets and goldfish to sardines, licking feet and everything in between. If any of you ever wanna do fear factor get ideas from Erin, she’s great. If you can think of people who would love to get involved in volunteer youth ministry let me know…. Another thing you can inform me on… I don’t love battery boys so if you know of a flexible part-time job opportunity let me know. Thanks.

Message to the ladies:

warm weather = less clothes = perverts come out of hibernation. nope, not the bears, the perverts... You wouldn’t believe how many men I’ve heard today (thurs) welcoming the warm weather and the beautiful girls. I was actually in awe of what I was hearing. I mean, I knew men were pigs, but I didn’t realize it was to that extent. Yep, the perverts are out in full force. Sometimes girls think we tell them to dress modestly for our good, so we don’t ‘stumble’… but today my word is, for your own good, unless you enjoy the gaze of the pervert, to dress somewhat modestly. Word to the wise: respectable guys think that modestly dressed women are way more attractive than the chicks that show off their whole body…

taking a walk.... and ROCKY III

2005-04-05T15:59:00.000-06:00

My head hurts. Sarah and I went for a walk and we made our way to the Holliston skool where we found a swing set. Swings make me dizzy. I went realllllly high. There was this really cute kid there with his dad. His dad was pushing him. he was talking to Sarah and I and man was he cool. He turns 5 on the day after tomorrow. We said happy birthday and he said thanks. I hope I get to be his friend someday.

Rocky III might be the best one so far. Haven’t made it to IV yet. Carter got mad that I got so in depth and gave away the endings of the others so I won’t this time. From a critic’s standpoint it sucked. Rocky was a totally different character than the other two. You may remember me commenting that Rocky was socially slow. Well in Rocky III he’s brighter and all around smarter. That’s ok if he went to etiquette skool, but that’s not in the script… But Rocky III was way more entertaining and Mr. T was in it. How can you go wrong with Mr T?? you can’t!

Well, that’s what I’ve got today. Love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, mind and strength. If you truly do that your life will be dramatically altered. And you who don’t think it would change much need to re-think that and give your head a shake.

the 1st E flame has been extinguished

2005-04-03T18:31:00.000-06:00

we lost. friday nite we played a great game against the breakers. fairly fast-paced (for church league), physical, nice goals and some big saves... neither team ever led by more than one goal. it was just a good game all around. i scored a nice goal. thanks to jeremy pexa for the nice pass! i wanted revenge on BBI but i guess that'll have to wait till next year. 3rd place overall in the league isn't that bad hey? considering last year we were the first team to be eliminated...

this is my shortest blog ever. i hope you're ok with that

20.5 hours till Jays season starts. you know where i'll be at that moment.

Rocky II - kev notes

2005-04-02T10:18:00.000-06:00

So judging from your lack of commenting, I guess the Rocky notes were not popular amongst you folk. Well, you should’ve at least left a negative comment saying you never wanted to hear about Rocky again cuz I sure didn’t learn my lesson.

Rocky and Adrian got married. Yay. Rocky got an endorsement deal, spent lots of money, but then sucked at acting (he’s a little slow). So he needed money. Works at the gym. Adrian gets her job at the pet store back…. Whoa, Adrian’s pregnant!

Meanwhile, back in the hood, (no not really the hood, I just felt like writing that) Apollo Creed is getting hate mail cuz they thought the match was fixed. Lots more hate mail. Apollo wants a rematch but Rocky is retired and Adrian likes it like that. Even if they’re not rich, she’d rather have Rocky not lose his brain. Finally, Apollo puts an ad in the paper calling Rocky the Italian Chicken. Rocky doesn’t like that. Nope not at all. So, against the will of Adrian, Rocky agrees to fight. Apollo’s talking trash like nobody’s business, saying he’ll knock Rocky out in two rounds.

Rocky trains lots. Adrian delivers the baby premature and enters into a coma. Uh-oh. Rocky blames himself, quits training. Eventually Adrian wakes up and makes one request… BEAT HIM! Rocky’s eyes light up. Lots more training, running up the steps again to the good music. In the training, Mac (or whoever the trainer is) tells him to box right handed to mess with Apollo. At the trainer’s signal he’s switch to left and really throw Apollo for a loop. During the match it didn’t seem to mess Apollo up at all as Rocky got tuned for most of the match. Apollo beat him like a rented mule. Through 14 rounds Apollo had the decision in nearly all of them. All he needed to do was stay standing and he’d win. But he thought he needed to knock Rocky out. So he attacked Rocky and Rocky fought back. With every ounce of strength he fought back. Rocky punched him or something and both of them were on the mat. By the count of 8 Rocky finally climbed back to his feet and Apollo collapsed. The impossible had happened!!! Rocky was the champ.

K, so I really thought the kev notes for Rocky II were going to be a lot shorter but it doesn’t really appear so. Maybe I’ll watch Rocky III tonite. Then I’ll find that line that Angie was talking about.

Happy Birthday Amanda (it was yesterday but I didn’t blog yesterday and therefore did not have the opportunity to say so yesterday).

Rocky - the kev notes

2005-03-31T13:45:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: the only reason i'm blogging about this is cuz Rylan told me i should.... peer pressure wins again

Sunday, March 20, 2005, Lloydminster AB

Angie - "i pity the foo, i pity the foo......" she then tries to find the spot in Rocky III where Mr. T says that. I then devulge that i have not yet seen the Rocky movies. I mean, i've seen a few minutes when they've been on TBS but that's about it. well, Sarah and Angie insist that i have to watch them. So i tell Angie that I'm taking her tapes. sucka.

So Sunday Sarah and I proceeded to watch ROCKY. Throughout the first hour and 45 minutes Sarah kept apologizing cuz it was so slow. I thought it was alright. (As long as I’m watching it with does it really matter how slow it is?)

The story begins as Rocky Balboa is boxing some bum in Philly. Rocky’s a nobody, just a simple man, not too bright… He has a crush on Adrian. She works at a pet store. She’s shy. Her brother says she’s retarded. But Rocky likes her. They go out on a date on Thanksgiving after Adrian’s jerk-of-a-brother throws the turkey outside. Wow, those sparks are flying.

Meanwhile, there is a man named Apollo Creed. Not like the band creed, different. K, Apollo Creed is the best boxer on the planet. He’s the man. He was supposed to box a guy but he got sick or something… I don’t really remember, maybe I was holding Sarah’s hand at that time… Anyway, they need to find someone to fight Apollo (I think by now we all know where this story is heading). All the main contenders are busy that weekend or something and so they decide, in an act of true patriotism, to give a no-namer a shot at Apollo. A name jumps out to Mr. Creed; “the Italian Stallion” – Rocky Balboa. More story, more story, more story, blah blah… It’s the Ultimate David vs Goliath. Rocky’s just a bum that throws hard and is left-handed. Apollo has not only never lost but no one has ever lasted an entire match with him.

Lots of training, running, eating raw eggs, running up the stairs with the classic Rocky music….

Rocky ends up taking the beating of his life and surprises everyone by going toe-to-toe with the best boxer in the world. The match goes all 15 rounds and Apollo wins a split decision. A great moral victory… ADRIAN, ADRIAN!! He just keeps yelling it. I think he loves her or something. Then she finally gets to the ring and tells him she loves him. Yay… they love each other.

It was good… actually it won the Oscar for Best Picture that year. So obviously some of the critics liked it too.

In a way, we’re all a little like Rocky. We’re just struggling to keep our head above water. We don’t really realize how simple-minded we are and then we get a break. We have the decision to make, are we going to remain the same or are we going to let fame change us. I say we should all be like Rocky….. ok so I read into that analogy too much.

But the real lesson to learn is: respect your enemy but respect yourself more… or something

My favorite part of the movie… I think there was a good part with about ½ an hour left of so. Yeah, that was the best part. 2nd best part was the running up the stairs with the Rocky music.

countdown - 97.5 hours

professor plum with the rope in the conservatory

2005-03-30T13:46:00.000-06:00

Why am I tired? I guess I didn’t sleep too well last nite. And then 7am rolls around much too quickly.

The other day as I was picking Sarah up from CPC, some of the students were engaging in a ‘murder mystery’ night. It’s cool. You each get characters and someone killed someone and you have to try to figure out who it is… Jenn knew right at the beginning that she was the killer which kinda sucks. In the one I was in, no one knew until the very last scene who the killer was – not even the killer herself. We just were given little clues along the way and got to accuse each other and defend ourselves and play our characters. It was great fun. I think it was Kristy-Anne and Jenna that were in charge of that night. Regan was the killer. But that was a while ago. I’d like to do one again if someone would like to help me towards that end.

I got a call from Kevin Frazer today. He’s the guy in charge my baseball team. You know what that means right? Yep, ball season is right around the corner. I told him to book a gym for the team to get together and start throwing. So good. If any of you know any decent ball players let me know. The Rockies are going to win it all this year.

Blue Jays countdown – 120.75 hours till the first pitch of ‘05

time-out

2005-03-28T15:23:00.000-06:00

another Easter has come and gone. It seems so anti-climatical. if life was like 8th street, easter barely would have been one of the infinite amount of pot-hole interupting my drive. say it isn't so kevin, say it isn't so. I guess most religious holidays have become so anti-climatical over the years. all the confusion of the traditions crowding our little heads till we don't even know what we're celebrating. Amidst the materialism of Christmas, there is still some kind of pause... a time-out to hear the message of Christmas. But this Easter recieved no such pause....

Jesus, thanks for dying for me. Sorry for treating you with such contempt at times. I'm sorry that the Easter Bunny and chocolate eggs steal the attention from you. that sucks. Most of all thanks for conquering death and sin and giving me freedom.

Saturday after work i headed to Lloydminster. Two reasons: Sarah and Kenny. It was a good time. 13 people got baptized at the Lloyd church yesterday. that's pretty darn good if you ask me.

K, i don't really have much to say right so I'm going to pause and celebrate Easter for the next 5 minutes... it's 5 minutes more than most people celebrated...

Rob Lagrove Profile

2005-03-26T10:45:00.000-06:00

Rob Lagrove. You need to learn about ol’ bobby boucher. That’s what I called him sometimes. Rob is a great man. I can honestly say there is no one like him – not even close. I met him in the fall of ’98 as we both started bible skool. He was from Brockville, Ontario and had previously attended Eastern Pentecostal Bible College (it’s called something else now). I think he had been kicked out once or twice from that college. (man, I love him).

So when Rob came to us he had a girlfriend back home – Cindy. Oh, so many stories about Rob and Cindy that could be told. ‘teddy bear out the window’, ‘five-minute warning’, and ‘quiet time’ are just some of the Robert Lagrove/Cindy Osmond stories that could be told.

He eventually broke up with Cindy and proceeded to break the hearts of other CPC girls. The thing is, Rob isn’t the most attractive man, but for some reason the ladies liked him. Rob is one of the most kind-hearted guys I’ve ever met. He’d bend over backwards and give you the shirt off his back if it’d help. My favorite shirt of his is the one he wore under his dress shirts. It was a tight white t-shirt that’s cut off below his pectorals (or man-boobs). Seeing him in that shirt made me laugh everytime. We were roommates for 3 months and we had cool red bunkbeds. Rob was on the bottom and I got the top. There was one month where Robbie was so sick… we called him Sirus the Virus (like on the movie Con Air. John Malcovich is awesome). Jamie was sure I was going to get sick too but I managed to stay healthy.

Rob is now married to Tracy and I had the honor of being a groomsman at his wedding. I do love him dearly!

Just over a week till opening day

that's a kick

2005-03-26T10:10:00.000-06:00

Remember when I posted about the crazies coming out on full moon. Though it wasn’t a full moon that day, it was last nite and if my first customer is any indication of what the day is going to be like then look out.

I didn’t win bowling. I got spanked. The taunting was fun, but woulda been better if I was slightly competitive. Eh well, we’ll get ‘em next time.

So what can I talk about today… It’s hard to have something witty/creative to write so often. I mean, I’m a fairly creative, maybe averagely (I’m thinking that’s not a word) creative.

Watched the Incredibles again last nite. Good show. see it. Amelia had rented Finding Neverland… I was bold enuf to say I thought it looked lame. Maybe it’s not… maybe she’ll really like it. But I don’t know. Sometimes you see the trailer for a movie and you think that you’d rather stab yourself with a blunt object than see a movie. Or kick yourself in the groin. That’s a popular saying for me. Someone remarked that it would be quite impossible to kick yourself in the groin. I disagreed with him and demonstrated that I could very nearly kick myself in the groin. Neither of us, however, was willing to give it the ol’ college try for real. That would just be plain stupid. I don’t know, any thoughts on whether that’s possible. (if you’re wondering the technique I was using, there really is only one way to do it. Just bring your heel straight up)

So far “crazy-man” is the only one to enter the store so far. 6.5 hours to go... uh oh, a crazy lady is now here and Graham is dealing with her as i am smiling... haha SUCKA

E-68 last nite

2005-03-24T18:19:00.000-06:00

Last nite we had E-68 Service. Once a month we have a worship service with music and the word and all that cool stuff. Sarah led the music for me and did a great job. What a catch! :)

The title of my message was "Jesus is my Imaginary Friend". The fact that i even had a little is quite an accomplishment for me. i usually know approximately what to say but don't know what to call it. Yesterday was the opposite. I had the title in my mind and a little of what i wanted to share, but didn't have a whole lot until about 2:30. It was such a crazy busy day but ended up great.

So the premise of my little talk was that often people treat God as if he's just an imaginary friend. they talk to him (or ask him for stuff) when they need him. but if we say we love Jesus we gotsta make him our #1 priority. i had a lot of fun interacting with the youth. They're great.

After the message we broke into our small groups where the leaders got to pray and talk with the kids. 2 gave their hearts to Jesus for the first time. that's sooo rad-mobile (scott eastveld said it first). Hey Thomas, one of them was Brayden! sweet hey?

Jordan Redpath is one of the funniest people i know. His mind is truly twisted.

Going bowling tonite, going to test out the taunting.... Have a great Easter everyone! Remember that the price Jesus paid was for you! That's what i know!

goin' down momma's boy

2005-03-24T12:59:00.000-06:00

Over the last little while I have noticed that when engaged in an activity I have made a conscious effort to taunt my opponent. In fact, I have found that this makes things more competitive and therefore more enjoyable.

For instance, this last weekend at encounter we decided that a riveting game of floor hockey was in order. Someone piped up that we should play boys vs the girls. I know the girls are superior athletes so to even the teams I volunteered to play for the girls so I wouldn’t bring down the boys’ team. I proceeded to call on the boys’ team, especially Glen and Tyson. Though they ended up winning, I sure had fun taunting. It just puts more on the line. And yeah, maybe in the end I look like a donkey (insert synonym here), but if someone’s going to look like a donkey I’m ok if it’s me. At least everyone else had just a little more fun.

In a couple of hours I’m going to talk about jr youth last nite. It was a good one

hockey and heros

2005-03-21T18:57:00.000-06:00

i was just posting a comment on Jenna's blog about 10 seconds ago and that comment gave me inspiration for today... on second thought, you can wait till tomorrow. I've got enough unfinished business from last week: hockey and heros...

Hockey: We lost friday nite 4-3. It was a decent game, but you could really tell we hadn't played in 2 weeks. we were down 3-0 before i had played 2 shifts (my line didn't give up any goals). BBI was very chippy and those boys need to get an attitude adjustment. and if i wasn't such a wuss, i'd be happy to provide it. So now we take another weekend off and come back April 1 for the B-side final against either the Breakers or the Wolfpack (i know i said Elim or Wolfpack but i was wrong... yeah i admitted it, i was wrong). The Breakers and Wolfpack played Saturday night and i'm not sure who won. But we play the winner. Then, the winner of the April 1st game moves on to play BBI in the final. Whoever plays them has to beat them twice in order to capture the church league title. I think we've got what it takes to do it but only the Father, Son and Holy Spirit really know what'll happen.

Heros: I believe that there are different degrees of hero-ness... (would -ness be the right suffix... or would it be -ship or -ism.... It's definitely -ism). K, different degrees of heroism... Lots of people will make an impact on your life, some will make a huge difference and others will make a smaller, yet just as valuable contribution. So in light of that i will give you some people that i admire (in no particular order).

Mom - Our friends have always called her SUPER-MOM. I think that's probably the best way to describe it. She has managed to raise (and often spoil) 5 kids and (now 7 with the recent addition of Amanda and Caleigh to our family). We've turned out to be really good kids and i believe momma has a lot to do with that. She's way too kind-hearted and giving, but i don't think she'd have it any other way.

Dad - I admire my father. In a world in which men are way to proud and self-sufficient, Dad i willing to admit that he's not perfect and doesn't have every answer. He's so dependable and because of that is often taken for granted. He's a man of strong conviction and the type of man that you'd want to go to war with because you know he'd die for you.

Charles Roberts - In my first year of Bible College Chucky lived across the hall with his brother Peter. In my 2nd year he was the student council president. Those two years were very formidable years in my life and i totally looked up to Charles. He's a man of integrity but not legalistic. He's kind but not a push-over. He's humble, yet so confident. He taught me a lot and i'm sure that somewhere down the line we'll have to opportunity to work together.

Bill Kowalski - Bill was the associate pastor at IPC when i interned in the summer of 2000. He is a man full of wisdom and the Word of God.

Anne Eagle - I admire Anne cuz.... well, she's one of the nicest people in the world. I know that no one is perfect but she's a good one. She will always be my favorite ex's mom. there's so much more i could say but i guess i won't.

Brian Glubish - He was my favorite prof at bible skool. I admire the way the Word was real and alive to him. Almost every class was a personal challenge in my walk with Christ.

Jamie, Regan, Rob, Kenny, and many other people have been great friends and made an impact on my life.

All the best to the missions team from Carman MB heading out to Mexico tomorrow. I'll be praying for you!

not a happy camper

2005-03-17T15:29:00.000-06:00

i just had a great blog today about all sorts of stuff. Man i wish it would have worked. I so disappointed i need to take a break to recover from this disappointment. i think a pizza pop will help with that. no, not a real pizza pop - a pizza buster, from superstore....

Man, do these pizza busters excite me! I can’t wait for them to cool off and then I can dig my little teeth into them…

Last night at Jr Youth Vince and Evan told me to come to their hockey game, but regretfully I told them that I had to work till 8 and wouldn’t be able to come. But I talked to Graham and he’s going to come in tonite. So I’ll be able to go to their game!

Jamie called me last nite and left a message on the ol’ answering machine. So I called him back and we had just a wonderful conversation. He’s going to be the youth pastor at the Nazarene church in Penticton. (I had articulated it so much better in my original blog). I love him

Yeah, out of rebellion I’m not going to try to re-write what I had written earlier. It was about my heros. Sorry, if you really wanna know ask me in person

Mmm those were good pizza busters

hockey update

2005-03-16T13:02:00.000-06:00

it was great to hear about your heros. Tomorrow i'll be at Battery Boys so i'll have plenty of time to give you some of mine.

But today is going to be about hockey. I know that many of you are probably wondering why there's been so much time since your last update. Well, because of our last victory, we got a buy into the Semi-finals which aren't until this friday. Therefore we haven't played in a while so there hasn't been much to update. But this Friday night, at the Schroh arena, we will see who will advance to the church league finals. Our opponent - BBI (Bethany Bible Institute... although they're really BC, Bethany College). BC will provide a very touch challenge. Elim will be playing against the Wolfpack in the B-side semi-finals. The winner of that game will play against the loser of our game in the B-side final. The winner of that game will then play the winner of our friday nite's game. It's really not that complicated. But I hope we can pull out a big win this week. Stay tuned

ps. Sonia informed me that the full moon is actually next week so i'm not sure why all the crazies were out the other day

pro-stars

2005-03-14T15:33:00.000-06:00

do remember that cereal? I dont remember what it tasted like, but just by the name i think i liked it. i think the best cereal theme song would have to be frosted flakes... Just Show 'Em You're A Tiger, Show 'Em What You Can Do......... Man, what a great song... Bring out the Tiger in me! cool! But seriously, Tony the Tiger has distracted me from what i really wanted to write about.

Kristy-Anne had a really good blog. After many days of suspense she finally revealed her hero - her parents. bonne choix (not sure if that's correct francais). So, my question to you... who's your hero? Do a serious one and a funny one if you want...

Me? You wanna know who my hero is? Well, i've got lots. My mom and dad, Jose Canseco... no wait, not him... um, hero status is something that should not just be thrown around. I will have to think about this one and get back to you... i didn't expect this to require so much thought.

I look forward to hearing who your heros are. thanks for being in my life

full moon is out

2005-03-14T12:39:00.000-06:00

I've heard some people say that the full-moon brings out all the weird people. Actually 'people' haven't said that. Richard Dyck did though. (technically his name could be Dick Dyck. That'd be crazy). Anyway, Richard is some kinda of bank manager at the Credit Union in Carman MB. At least he used to be. He probably still is but i just don't know. Back many years ago i did my hike skool 'day at work' (or something like that) with Richard at the credit union. He said that when the full-moon is out the crazy people come into the bank. Well i dont think it's a full-moon out these days, but the crazy people have been coming to battery boys in droves today. (thinking about some of the wackos) Man, there have been quite a few crazy wackos in today. Thankfully, Rick has handled the last couple. He's a good man.

I bet that when you read my title you thought this was going to be about someone's bum... sorry to disappoint. if i were still in Bible College I'm sure i could come up with a funny story... yeah there are lots of good Bible College 'bum' stories. None of which, however, will make it here today. once again, sorry to disappoint.

3rd time's a charm?

2005-03-12T11:54:00.000-06:00

K, I’ve written 2 blogs already today… both of them have been deleted somewhere in the process. Needless to say, it’s a little frustrating. So I guess you’ll get the abbreviated version cuz I really don’t wanna write all I had written before. Wait a minute... they did work... now i've gotta edit this one so there's no repeat... and now you'll get two blogs today!!!

K, I thought it’d be cool to look at my journal and give you a few excerpts… usually you have to wait for a guy to die for such a privilege but not you. So let’s see if I can find something brilliant that you brilliant readers might find…. uh, brilliant…

Sept.22/04 – truth is the main thing that stands between Jesus and those that don’t love him. If they really had a glimpse of truth, life would be dramatically different… any thoughts?

Sept.26/04 – never ever “fall in line”. Don’t settle for the status quo. Pay the price…

Nov.23/04 – “may I risk the appearance of pain for the sake of love” - that's good

I think that’s all we’ll do for today. I’m getting hungry… I think I’ll go to Queeeeznos (right Sarah) for lunch… Thanks for reading

if you're driving an automatic, you're merely steering - Tyler Hay

2005-03-12T10:42:00.000-06:00

i know it seems like it would be a crappy day - its snowing, cold, i'm not in my bed, at work, without enuf sleep. But for some reason, it's a good day. i think it had a lot to do with the email i received this morning. it was great!!!

So last night i started to teach Sarah how to drive standard. She did well, even though she was really hard on herself and thought she sucked. I dont remember back when i first learnt so it can be hard for me to teach. My dad just told me to drive to town in the little Mazda so i did. Ah, the Mazda, i miss that little car. so many good times. But i think i did an ok job of teaching... i tried to get her to feel where the clutch releases. Sometimes she didn't give enuf gas and stalled it. i was cute cuz she thought she was wrecking my car... Truth be told, i put that car through hell most days. If any of you have recently learned to drive standard or are pros at teaching, let me know a couple of tips. Sarah is going to be a pro in no time!

Big fluffy flakes are falling... I'm glad i washed my car on thursday. Her name is veronica. Veronica looks hot when she's clean. This recent warm weather has been really rough on her. But she's really looking forward to the spring time. she's like me. i really like spring. soon........

So yesterday i was contemplating what to write... As the day passed I just didn't get around to it and i began wondering if this fad of the blog had now passed for my life. i haven't come to a solid conclusion yet but i do still enjoy it... and even if i dont write everyday, that's still ok, right? right.

well, i think this entry is coming to a close. I wish you all a great and most lovely day. I'm thinking my future blogs will consist of some of my journal entries. should be a good time.

staying awake

2005-03-10T16:00:00.000-06:00

It's still slow here. i've read all the blogs on my list, chatted on msn, and sat around some more... i even played minesweeper for a little while. I'm good at it. the only problem is my records are pretty good so they're really hard to beat. i guess i just need to keep on trying.

don't you ever wish you could get an alert every time someone left a comment on your blog? yeah, that'd be good. someone can come up with that. but make sure i get credit cuz i said it first.

Aren't you guys proud of my mom for commenting on my blog?? I am. She's great! She doesn't always do too well with computers ... mostly cuz she doesn't like spending so much time just sitting there doing nothing. there's so much more productive things for her to be doing. She a multi-tasker, like Ashley i suppose. Plus, our computer back home is sssssllloooooooooww. yeah it's brutal. there's no high-speed out there yet.

My family is the best... totally taken for granted... sorry family... I hadn't talked to my sister for years... k, not years, but i was on msn with her, but that's not the same. i'm going to call her soon. we've gotta chat. the only problem is neither of us have a long distance plan... i know that's just an excuse... oh and another good excuse is the time change. she's 2 hours behind in BC. So even though i don't talk to some of you that often, that doesn't mean i don't love you....

dont be surprised if this isn't the last blog of march 10th for me...

erin is a nice friend

2005-03-10T13:21:00.000-06:00

It's funny how this blogging community has multiplied. People who desparately wanted to stay away from the bandwagon have taken the leap. look at my list of friends. at least half of them started within the last week or so. crazy.

One person who's been on fire this week is Erin. She's got a killer blog. check it out. She had a great idea about blogging about people - mentioning at least 2 of her friends every blog. That should keep a person from not having anything to write.

So since i'm stealing her idea for today i'm going to talk about her. Erin and i met at camp in the summer of 2004. I am the director of Jr Teen Camp at Living Waters and she was one of the counsellors for the week. She dated my bro for a while and she's still my honorary sister. We had a Jr Youth Leaders meeting yesterday and she came up with some killer ideas. We're going to miss her when she goes back to the Lloyd for the summer. If only Lloydminster was as cool as Lloyd Christmas. Then i'd wanna live there for sure. Harry, i took care of it.

Today is thursday. i don't think i've helped one customer yet. and i've been here for an hour and a half. that's a slow start to a slow day.... who knows, maybe i'll blog like 8 times today...

deep breath

2005-03-09T10:11:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you've just got to take a deep breath. (deep breath) Man that feels good. Sometimes when you're mad at someone - or maybe annoyed - you just need to take a deep breath, remind yourself of their ignorance and move on. Your madness/annoyance will only effect you. They are unaffected because they don't know. and should they? no, you're just being stupid anyway. Sometimes i think i'm retarded or something.

Last night i watched Vince's hockey game. Vince is one of my jr youth and he plays for the Barons. He's a great guy! I'd share more about Vince but i'll maybe do that in person. Anyway, although they lost, it was a pretty good game. The final score was 2-1. Vince was sure he scored earlier in the game but the ref waved it off. He was all over the ice.

I think i need to take another deep breath. My heart is still angry even though my mind isn't anymore... (deep breath x 2) It feels good every time.

I'm not usually an angry person. I'm fairly even-tempered. Not too much will rattle me. I guess some things do though. i more often get annoyed than angry. I think i probably get annoyed too often. I need to not do that. cuz i probably annoy a lot of people.

Whatever, this is dumb. But you know what i love to do when i'm in this kind of mood ...(though i wasn't in this mood an hour ago. i was in a very good mood....) I like to drive really fast. i know it's bad. and i'm trying to stop. cuz the police man doesn't like it when i drive fast... something about dangerousness... and hurting people... and i definitely don't wanna do that!!! So i'm going to drive really nice today and i'll still feel better.

whew, i feel better already... (another deep breath)

E-68 READING GUIDE

2005-03-08T16:29:00.000-06:00

Wednesday June 8 - Judges 3: 12-27

Thursday June 9 - Matthew 1: 18-25

Friday June 10 - James 1: 1-8

Saturday June 11 - Psalm 1 (it's only 6 verses)

Sunday June 12 - Matthew 2: 1-12

Monday June 13 - Genesis 1: 1 - 2: 3 (it's seems a little bit long bit it'll be quick)

Tuesday June 14 - Psalm 3

rock, stones, but no pebbles or bam bam

2005-03-07T00:06:00.000-06:00

if you know me you know it's odd that i'm at a computer at midnight. I don't have a computer at home so unless I'm at work or the church, i'm not going to be at a computer. So where am I, you ask? Well, i was on my way home from dropping Sarah off when i remembered that i had some unfinished business at battery boys from saturday. so i stopped in here to clean it up. I'd rather do it now than have rick call me in the morning while i'm enjoying my day-off-sleep-in. plus I'm quite awake since i had a power nap around... 6.30 i think. i was tired and Sarah said she didn't wanna hang out with a sleepy person. she's funny. but her suggestion was a good one and the power nap really did me well. I was worried that if i had a power nap that i might not be able to sleep tonite. but then i remembered that i get to sleep in so i hopped into bed for about 20 minutes. it was a good one (dumb and dumber).

So upon waking up from my brief rest i picked Sarah up, we had Timmy Ho's to go and went for a walk... then we watched my for-real favorite movie, 'For Love of the Game'. It stars Kevin freaking Costner and Kelly Preston. Its about Love and baseball. She really enjoyed it and of course i did too.

So yeah, i was talking to Erin and she said my blog sounds very pastoral... I'm not sure whether that's an insult or not. i know it wasn't meant to Erin, but i ponder that thought...

Eh, maybe some other time... Yesterday, talking to Jesus... (and no talking to Jesus is not a pastoral thing to do. you need to talk to jesus too, it'll help un-screw you life up.) So back to talking to Jesus; I understand that God created us with (for no better terminology) a God-shaped hole in all of us. There's a longing and an emptiness inside of every human being that only He can fill. So often though, we try to fill it with other stuff. Therein lies the problem of humanity. Trying to fill the longing for God with so many other things. Why? Cuz God seems illusive. Yeah, that may be true... But that's the only way to find the real thing, true sastisfaction... I think the Rolling Stones sang about that... I don't like their music but that's ok. Sometime i try to find sastisfaction in hockey, or baseball, or entertainment, or relationships, or my jr youth etc. But those will all leave me empty at the end of the day if i don't find my real self worth in Christ. If i expect those things to give me true fulfillment, i will be sorrowly disappointed! My world has to center on Him. I'm still working on the legistics of what that exactly means but i think i'm right.

God, thanks for teaching me stuff and help me to listen more. and pay attention more. and get distracted less. Thanks... ttyl

So (sigh) i guess i should give you all the hockey update. I know that's the real reason you're checking this blog. So on saturday i told you that we'd be facing the #1 seeded Rock of Ages team. Well, it was an up-and-down see-saw affair between two great teams. We jumped out to an early 4-1 lead but saw it evaporate as the refs were determined to call penalty after penalty. Soon we were trailing 5-4!?! Where did that stinking lead go? But in a time where the cream rises to the top, when the.... you know what i'm trying to say... I crossed the blue line, wound up and let my (not quite) blistering slap shot go. it deflected off the defenseman's stick, off of the goalie's shoulder and into the net. Not pretty but the correct result nonetheless. It was my 2nd goal of the nite. (however, my self worth is not place in scoring goals or being a good/mediocre athlete). Rock scored with just under 2 minutes left, deflating the morale of the Flames on the bench. But with around 1 minute left Bryce Kinzel stepped up with his 2nd of the nite, a trash goal in front of the net to tie it up.... off to O.T. In the church league, to keep games within time contstaints, Over Time = Shoot Out. Each team selects 3 skaters to shoot on the goalie. Whichever team has the most goals after all three wins. Flames' forward Kurt (last name unknown to the author) scored the only goal of the shoot out to give 1st E a huge upset victory. Though the method was not ideal, the outcome will do. We move now to the semi-finals to be played in two weeks.

may your monday bring you good tidings of great joy that will be for all people.... no wait, that's a different story... good nite

good morning san francisco

2005-03-05T09:57:00.000-06:00

i feel like it's really early and i should be on one of those talk morning radio shows. the ones with the guys with really good radio voices. But really, it's not that early. Sometimes i pretend that i'm an announcer and that's fun. And sometimes as i'm about to step onto the ice, and my adrenaline's pumping (see last blog for more on adrenaline), i say, "here come your winnipeg jets" and then i fly onto the ice and wanna be just like teemu. I miss the Jets. Yesterday i watched the Teemu Selanne video with my new girlfriend. It's about half an hour of him scoring goals. It's really a beautiful thing. It had been a while since i had seen it and now i think i'll watch it everyday... no i wont. that'd be a waste of time. But i will watch it more frequently.

Graham still isn't here. and he's usually early. hopefully he's ok...

(in my cool radio voice) Nine teams..... one goal..... to rise above the rest..... to climb that mountain..... to be be the best! Last night the church league playoffs started with the 1st E Flames playing host to the Mount Royal Mustangs. It was an exciting game from start to finish. Halftime saw both goalies unbeaten but the confidence was apparent on the 1st E bench. James Hindmarch scored a huge short-handed goal to break the goose egg. They then responded with goals by Daniel Jeanson, Kevin Janzen and Bryce Kinzel. It was a tight checking, chippy affair ending with a fight. Hindmarch dropped his mitts but i fear he got the short end of this fight. And the worst part is that he's now suspended for 7 games. That's going to hurt. But the Flames press on tonight as they face the #1 seeded Rock of Ages...

Graham still isn't here.... maybe i should see what's up.... for a second i was wondering if it was even saturday, or maybe it was 10:00 yet... but apparently it is. good thing there's no customers.

I'd like to say to my momma. You're the best mom.

i dont know what my title should be today

2005-03-04T10:42:00.000-06:00

Good morning. no messing around. let's get down to business. after a little contemplation and deliberation i have come to the realization that i must apologize for my recent blog entries. i realize that every writer (no matter the degree of their expertise) will go through times of difficulty. And other times they will be in the grove. (insert sporting analogy here).
The last couple of days have been weak on my behalf and i must do what it takes to step it up, to raise the bar, to go for the gold.

first matter of business: i need some advice as to the appearance of my blog... creative consultation if you will....as you can see i have allowed each entry to have a unique color. but gazing upon yesterday's purple i was nearly horrified. purple?!??!? it just does not jive with my blog! so i need your help. what color should my entries be. your votes count. so vote. as the rockers say, vote or die. actually im not sure if the rockers say that, but it sounds good, nonetheless. Also what about the font and size. (notice today's is different than usual and the same as most of yours) i'm really looking for some guidance here. help a brotha out. i know you girls have lots of creative imput to give so bring it on.

second matter of business: Yesterday was Chad's birthday. be sure to wish him a belated happy birthday if you have not done so yet. He's a splendid guy. And single for you ladies out there. give him a call. i'm sure he'd like that.

thirdly, do you like what i've done spacing my paragraphs like this. i know it's new for me, but highly overdue.

Tonight the 1st E Flames embark on what we like to call... the PLAYOFFS!!! we were able to grab the 3rd seed in the field of nine teams and tonight we'll take on the Mount Royal Mustangs (they're not really the mustangs but i thought it sounded right. that might be the high skool team's name... if you know then tell me). Last year Mount Royal was the worst team in the league and knocked us out of the playoffs in the first round. We will look to avenge that humiliation. i'm going to be jacked up for this game.

Adrenaline is an addictive drug. I think Sidney (jennifer garner) on ALIAS said that. Like Sunday night when we were bowling... i know it's dumb to get pumped up for bowling but it's way more fun that way. i was cheering really loud for my team and ok, maybe i look like an idiot. But at least the people around are able to engage in a little chuckle... My adrenaline took be to the pinacle of my game, finishing with a mighty 208. anything over a duece is pretty good i think.

that's what i've got today. i can't wait to hear what you've got for me... have a great weekend.

march ing on

2005-03-03T12:55:00.000-06:00

Thursday, yes Thursday. Thursday is my day to be a Battery Boy. i kinda like working here on a day after jr youth. yesterday i was at the church for about 12 hours. it certainly makes for a long day. Especially when i'm not being effecient with my time. It's something i am working on. So after a long day at the church i get to sleep in a little and then come waste a day at battery boys. My mind is able to forget ministry stuff and relax. Then Friday rolls around and i'm ready to go.
Jr youth was good last nite, although i get frustrated... i decided that it'd be cool to play Capture the Flag in the church. but the seniors are in the chapel and we're too loud for that and the upstairs rooms are already set up for Sundays so we've gotta be super careful not to wreck crap... i need the church to myself! But we've really got some great kids in our youth group. i hope they alllll grow up to love Jesus more than anything else.
My girlfriend called me to say goodnite last nite. that was nice. i like her. It's been a great day and a half so far!

mmm, summertime

2005-03-02T09:55:00.000-06:00

Wow, i guess yesterday was busier than i thought. But maybe it's good to have a day off of blogging. hopefully i won't have a day where i have nothing to write.
I'm getting really excited about camp this year. This'll be my 2nd year as Jr Teen Camp Director at Living Waters Camp. Last year i had about a month and a half to plan camp. That, teamed with the fact that i had only even been to the camp for one night made planning very interesting.
But this year my friends, we're lightin' it up! Jesus and me are going to make this the best jr teen camp ever! We've got lots of kick-butt ideas. if any of you wanna help, you'd be joining an elite staff team. not just anyone makes the cut. but talk to me if you're interested. I can't wait!
In my world it'd be summer all year long. That way we could have camps all year long and play outside, and go for walks.... and most importantly of all, play baseball all year long. and football, and croquette. Croquette is quite fun even though i haven't played it since i was a little tike. We were at my cousins house in the little village of Shoenwiese, MB. Man, i musta been only 9 or something like that. My cousins name is Ryan. We used to always have sleep overs in the summertime. We'd bring our sleeping bags into their play structure (it was rad) and hang out there for the nite. oooo, we'd also play the FARMING GAME. and before you go saying that i'm some hick or something, don't! the farming game is kinda like monopoly but waaaayyyyyy better. it's long too, but ryan and i were just kids so we had lots of time.... Ryan's a good cousin... it's no good how we get old and drift apart. we see each other once or twice a year and it's kinda hard to catch up on absolutely everything.... ah well, such is life. life is good. i got a girlfriend

not much to say today....

2005-02-28T15:06:00.000-06:00

Seeing as it's my day off, I'm going to try to keep that them with this post. I'm taking a break from writing about crap that's too serious. man, what was i on last week??? Saturday night we had our final game of the regular season in our church hockey league. We played against Elim, which is always a fun game. Both of our teams are near the top of the league and knowing most of the guys creates a great rivalry. Well, we hammered them. We laid the boots to them. It felt good to be quite honest with you.
I stop that story for one reason. I realize that the majority of my readers, for whatever reason, are girls (at least the comments would suggest that) and don't give a rip about my hockey exploits. So that's all i will write for now. But when baseball season rolls around, don't think you're not going to hear about the ROCKIES. I think it's going to be a good year for our ball team. I can't wait! I've been waiting for baseball season since September. And we only finished in August. I often thanks God for baseball.
Well friends, i once again thank those of you for leaving comments. To Andy and Matthew, who were first time comment-leavers, thanks so much! And to you faithful few, i also appreciate you. I trust this day will bring happiness and a greater knowledge of the One who created and loves you. OUT.

reality?

2005-02-26T10:14:00.000-06:00

sometimes some people think too much. we miss out on life cuz we overanalyze every little freaking tiny detail of a decision that doesn't really matter. Our brains are crazy little things! My brain was thinking last night. i lay in bed wanting to sleep but my brain was thinking. and not just fluffy tired stuff, it was thinking quite deeply. it came to tell me about REALITY. I think that none of us here on earth actually have an accurate picture of reality. Our minds take in our lives and the world around us and interpret it to make up our version of reality. It's our reality, but it's not true reality. so each of us have our own little version of reality but none of us have it totally there. This applies to religion, morality, relationships, and many other things. our perceptions and misconceptions skew reality.
so i guess the goal is to keep ourselves as close to actual reality and to not let our minds misconstrue or overthink things and get us outta wack. i dont know if this makes any sense. everything is contextual and in the context of my simple mind it makes sense, and i could probably elaborate to help it make more sense but now is neither the time nor the place. I dont know. i'm lost sometimes. but don't worry, i'm ok.
if you read this blog you need to publish a comment or i will hunt you down
I laugh cuz all my blogs are totally alllll over the place and probably hard to follow at times. but they're just as much for me as they are for you anyway so shove it. haha, that's my new favorite saying. so i guess that's my version of reality for saturday, feb 26, 2005.... i think....

The Great Lion

2005-02-25T13:04:00.000-06:00

I have this one young man in my youth group that's probably smarter than me. Actually most of them are smarter than me. But this dude goes to skool for above average kids. Anyway, he has a rad family and i was there for supper one nite and we were checking out his room and i saw the Chronicles of Narnia there. He has all 7 books in one freaking huge book. incredibly i know. It's almost 800 pages. So he told me that since i had never been so fortunate, i should borrow the book. I am excited to say that i am loving it. Not McDonald's (though i just ate lunch there with other jr youth). The books - they rock. I know i shoulda read them about 15 years ago but i didn't. And now i am.
So for those of you who have yet to read them i'm going to let you to my world. C.S. Lewis is the author and the books are about a magical land called Narnia. My favorite character is named Aslan - the beautiful, terrifying, magical, and awesome lion. Lewis portrays Aslan with a lot of the characteristics that we would attribute to God and it's just soo darn cool how he brings them into the books. I want to tell you about all of them but i just don't want this blog to be too long and frankly i think you should read the books yourself. I'm definitely buying them for my children, when that fine day come that i do in fact have children.
Just know that i love Jesus and i think it's cool how Lewis uses a lion named Aslan in a children's fantasy book to illustrate what Jesus means to him. I can't wait to finish all the books.
k, that's today's episode of who want to.... i got nothing...

E-68 Rocks!

2005-02-24T16:52:00.001-06:00

I really like Jr Youth! It's a very confusing and awkward age. Jr Youth are often incredibly mean. I've noticed that in a group they will identify the weakest member and in their best british voice they'll say, "you are the weakest link, goodbye". (man, did that show flop!) no they don't actually say that but they do take the weakest kid and step on them and push them lower, all in an attempt to secure that they're not the lowest. It's survival of the fittest. It's cruel and very painful. The weak kids learn how to pretend. They become so good at pretending that they eventually have no idea who they are. They're so used to being whoever they're supposed to be, or who they think their 'friends' will think is cool. those stupid 'friends'.
Even last nite at Jr youth there was a group of girls that decided they wanted certain girls in their group, thus giving their stamp of approval on those girls while painfully rejecting the others. Who the heck said that their stamp of approval meant anything. Who cares what you think? am i being harsh on a bunch of 13 year old girls. maybe. but i hate it.
(I need to make sure that in my own circle of friends im not acting in hypocrisy. Lord help me.)
But i really do love Jr Youth. There are some challenges (as cited above) but there are so many good things. They're not yet 'too cool for skool'. They'll play nearly any game and though it's rare, they do actually listen sometimes. They also idolize 'cool' authorities in their life, which is good for me cuz i need to learn to live up to that responsibility.
k, so i started with not knowing what to write and lookee here, i've got a whole long blog. that's what i know this thursday! all my love....

Pimp My Scooter

2005-02-22T12:58:00.000-06:00

Once a month, on the last Tuesday of the month, the senior citizens of Elim Tabernacle gather together for fellowship, a service, and then lunch. Those of us on staff look forward to these days, mostly because Marion cooks an awesome meal. And being on my own I cherish the few good meals i eat in a month. All we do is help a few of the seniors with their plates, serve coffee and tea and then we 'go to town' on the buffet line. It's quite a good deal.
One one such Tuesday, while we were waiting for the service to end, we (by we i'm not totally sure who was all there. Probably Glen, Shawn, Barry, and I) were eyeing up all the scooters and walkers that line the church hallway. So we decided that we were going to pitch a new concept to MTV. And there came the birth of a brand new evolution in television... "Pimp My Scooter". We'd have to find someone old and famous to host it. Maybe James Garner. He's cool. And so darn romantic in that movie.... oh yeah, the Notebook. How could i forget??!?
So next time you see an old person flying around on a pimped out scooter, ponder those 3 little words, Pimp My Scooter...

PS... Just a note regarding the hockey blog i wrote the other day... (by the way, Kristin, i agree that the word 'blog' sucks and i try to avoid using it) ... So i don't hate hockey. I merely hate the NHL. Hockey can be a beautiful thing. Within the NHL however, hockey is not beautiful. It is diluted and boring. Nearly every sport, NHL and MLB specifically, would benefit from losing about 10 teams. The mediocre athletes would be relegated to the minor leagues where they belong. By the way, If any of you mediocre NHLer's read this our team is going into the playoffs in a couple of weeks and could use your help. gimme a call!

that's what i know today. i'm done

patience, obedience, yellow and blessing

2005-02-22T10:13:00.000-06:00

It's a good morning today. I am feeling quite rejuvenated after a mostly quiet weekend. Before this weekend i don't really remember my last 'day off' - a day that carried absolutely no responsibilities. But Friday and Monday i was treated to a couple of such days. I like.
Once in a while i decide that i should read the entire Bible in a year. SIDENOTE: Christians dont know anything about what they believe or about the bible and that's one of my pet peeves. Therefore, reading the Bible is not something to be commended for; it's something that we'll be crippled without. So much more i could rant but i wanna stay on topic. So at the moment i am reading in Leviticus and i just started Revelation. i know i should start at the beginning but i don't wanna and i dont have to if i don't wanna. Reading Leviticus and Numbers and such can be quite boring at times. But I've been learning some great things. God's ways are sooo backwards sometimes. Actually, nearly all the time. It's talking about how the Israelites were supposed to farm the land for 6 years and then take a year off. But what'll they eat that 7th year???? God promised that not only would they be taken care of but that the 6th year would produce 3-fold. Does that make sense. Not to this guy. But that's the way God works! When we obey the stuff that doesn't make sense He'll take care of the rest.
So that kinda fits totally with what i've been learning with work. I asked rick if i could take mondays off just so i'm not working 7 days a week. Can i afford it? probably not. But the real question is, 'can i afford not to???!?' I know that i will be better off if i give a day back to Jesus and rest. That's what i'm learning anyway....
Another thing i'm learning is patience. But that's something that i'm learning the hard way! I hate it. I hate being patient. Someone told me that i'm a control freak. I didn't really know that. i think these things are related, but i'll be figuring that out sometime.
k, so that's all i know for now. and FYI my heart gets very happy when i get to read your lovely comments. So Sarah, Jenna, Kristin and Amanda - Thanks

2 minutes for interference

2005-02-19T15:28:00.000-06:00

I know by writing twice in one day - actually twice in a matter of an hour or so - I risk overkill. I'll probably be really pumped about all of this for a week or so and then totally die off. Who the heck knows? I don't.
So I know that I go against nearly every Canadian in this beautiful country, but I really don't want the NHL to come back this year. With great disdain I have watched Canadian sports channels report on the Lock-out as if it's the only news out there.... I cringe. And now it'll get worse!
A message to baseball - I love you. I will always love you and never cheat on you. I may check out the other sports on occasion but you are my one true love. Very soon we will once again be together. What a day that will be....
FYI MLB training camps are underway... PTL

Bandwagon jumping and other thoughts

2005-02-19T14:30:00.000-06:00

Load me up. I didn't want to jump on the bandwagon but here i am. i'm not totally sure why, but sometimes i think i'm a good writer. once in a while i try to be funny. i never used to be a good writer.... or maybe i was but my hike skool english marks sure didn't show it. i struggled to say the least.
The other reason this whole blogging thing might be fun and good for me is, i like to journal my thoughts about Jesus and stuff like that. And i often have really good thoughts. But i only journal once a month or so, and that's just not good enuf. So maybe here i will find the opportunity to do some of that.... although my most private-est thoughts will not make it here... so i guess i will have to continue the other journal thinger... just more often.
K, so that's all for now.