Trebellion at its Best

Today, Patrick wrote and recorded a song for me. I had dared him to sing a song and record it so I could listen. Instead he actually composed the song, sang it and recorded it, sent it to me, AND allowed me to put it on my blog - all in 15 minutes I might add.

This is what he thinks of me. :P



Download Here

Yo,

I am sitting in my new room, which is actually really cool because we didn't have internet for a couple of days and I could only find wireless in the living room. Now I can be wherever I please. Adina already has some new little neighbour friends and right now one of them is playing "Oh Canada" on the piano and I hear my mom saying, "Oh hello. Who are you?" Speaking of new neighbours I have met only one and he is 5 years old. I can't remember what his name is. Maybe Michael? Anyways I pulled in the driveway yesterday and before I could even step out of the van he eagerly announced...

"Hi, you're our new neighbours!"
"Oh yeah? And what's your name?"
"Michael. What's your name?"
"My name is Jessica."
"Hi Jessica."
"Hi Michael."

I had my backpack which helped continue this exciting conversation. He asked...

"Are you getting back from school?"
"No, I don't go to school anymore. I work"
"Are you a teenager?"
"Yes I am"
"You're a teenager and you work?!"
"Yup"
*giggles*


Twas fun.

Moving went fairly smoothly on Wednesday. The piano exceeded all other furniture in difficulty and took about 5 or 6 guys to move it out and then in our new house. The only way we could get it in this house here is through the sunroom. So that's where it shall stay. The sunroom has got to be the nicest room in the house, though, and I really like having it in there. It's a peaceful room that looks out to the backyard, a backyard that reminds me of a secret garden.

It really is a beautiful house and I love it much already. It has yet to feel like home, though. I keep thinking that we are going to go home soon, after dinner, perhaps. It's a strange feeling of being displaced...which is exactly what we were, I guess. :P
So Wednesday we moved all of our stuff and Thursday we unpacked allot of boxes. I haven't touched any of my boxes yet except to shove them in my huge closet. I have no motivation at all to unpack anything because I won't be in this room for too long and then I will be moving to the basement. Besides, all I really need is my bed, lappy, and Bible. I have a feeling I will get rid of allot once I've realized I can live so long without it.
Friday I went back to work. It was a relief to have some normality back in my life. I also babysat last night, and I had that same feeling of having something stable, which was nice.

Do you know what it's like to go on vacation and, because every routine and stable thing is gone, God is kind of pushed to the side? That's what it feels like now with moving. I hate that. It makes it seem like God is just a routine thing that I do and once I'm thrown out of that routine He goes with it. He has been teaching me in this area, to be in His presence all the time, even when things are crazy and abnormal. HE never changes. I can take comfort and be at home with Him no matter whether I feel at home physically or not.

So, maybe I'll post photos later. I should probably take some first because people here haven't taken many photos yet. I'll see what I can find.

Until next time,
Treble

I want to say thanks to all the boys and men who continue to do chivalrous deeds in today's society, a time when such behaviour is very rare, and often not even accepted. I appreciate you. :)

Lately I have been reading books like "The Jesus Style" from Gayle Erwin and "Crazy Love" from Francis Chan. I want to be more like Jesus and know Him more. Not just know about Him or talk about Him, but know Him. To look at His life in the gospels and truly believe that I can have that same power that He had....to love, serve, resist temptations, pray, etc.
I hope that I can share with you any great things that God shows and teaches me on this journey of faith. At the same time ...I don't want to always just be in the state of learning... I want these things to totally change the way I think and live.

For now...here's an article from Francis Chan. He raises some challenging questions that confront our "Christian" life.


I think it’s time we stop asking ourselves the question: “Am I a good Christian?” We live in a time when the term “Christian” has been so diluted that millions of immoral but nice people genuinely consider themselves “good Christians.” We have reduced the idea of a good Christian to someone who believes in Jesus, loves his or her family, and attends church regularly. Others will label you a good Christian even though your life has no semblance to the way Christ spent His days on earth. Perhaps we should start asking the question: “Am I a good Christ?” In other words, do I look anything like Jesus? This question never even entered my mind until a friend of mine made a passing comment to me one day.

Dan is a long time friend of mine. In fact, he’s the pastor who performed my wedding. He was talking to me about a pastor named Von. Von has been working with youth in the San Diego area for decades. Many of his students have gone on to become amazing missionaries and powerful servants of God. Dan described a trip to Tijuana, Mexico with Pastor Von. (Von has been ministering to the poor in the dumps of Tijuana for years). Dan didn’t speak of the awful living conditions of those who made their homes amidst the rubbish. What impacted Dan the most was the relationship he saw between Von and the people of this community. He spoke of the compassion, sacrifice, and love that he witnessed in Von’s words and actions as he held these malnourished and un-bathed children. Then he made the statement that sent me reeling:

“The day I spent with Von was the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to walking with Jesus.”

Dan explained that the whole experience was so eerie because he kept thinking to himself: “If Jesus were still walking on earth in the flesh, this is what it would feel like to walk alongside of Him!” After that discussion, I kept wondering if anyone had ever said that about me: “The day I spent with Francis was the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to walking with Jesus.” The answer was an obvious “no.” Would any honest person say that about you?

What bothered me was not that I hadn’t “arrived,” but that I wasn’t even heading in the right direction. I hadn’t made it my goal to resemble Christ. I wasn’t striving to become the kind of person who could be mistaken for Jesus Christ. Isn’t it ironic that a man can be known as a successful pastor, speaker, and CHRISTian even if his life doesn’t resemble Christ’s?

Exactly one week until the moving day. Packing: not completed.

For those of you helping out. Tip!

I bring you yet another blog post today because I was reading through one of my old journals from last year and I realized that it has been a year since I have had my braces put on. This is what I wrote to God a few days after I got my mouth full of metal: "Thank you for the grace you have given me through this time with braces. They aren't all bad. Actually, it's cool to see my teeth move." Haha.

I thought I would mark my anniversary with a couple of photos. Here's to being half-way there! For that is really the exciting part :)

Saturday was the day we had our garage sale here at GFA. The forecast was supposed to be rain and thunderstorms. Well....we got sunburns. Because it was sunny, and not raining like it was supposed to, I knew that God was going to do something great! Before we could even get all the stuff out on the lawn there were people pulling in to check things out.

Work and play makes for a satisfying day. Especially with my GFA family.

Dylan and Cassandra are going to India in July on a youth vision tour. And tomorrow we are having a garage sale to raise money for this. Up until now we have been taking donations and we had to sort through all of that today. We have soooo much stuff to sell! Hopefully it doesn't rain and we get lots of people going through buying things!


After that we had a bbq and played with water balloons which turned into a war in which you would use any water you could find.

Joan (now nick-named G.I.Joan) was ganged up on by the kids and is armed with a jug filled with water and a water bottle. I think she won. :D

Bean bag toss!

Then we played soccer for awhile on our new property next door. Now, not only do we have enough people for soccer, we have somewhere to play it!

It was a nice sunny day-awesome for a picnic and it was especially nice to laugh and play with the family.

My friend, Patrick, and I were reminiscing about the one and only day we had a really good snowfall this past winter. After work we went out and made a snowman along with Becky. Yes, we had wet jeans, soggy shoes, and really cold hands, but it was a good day. :)

There are no photos of Patrick because he was behind the camara, but he prefers it that way. And I wouldn't want to be the one to reveal his identity. :P

"Under the Sea" was the theme of Adina's party yesterday. There were 10 little kids here and they had a fish-shaped cake, went fishing, had a treasure hunt, and got to take a real live fish home with them. This was a big event that took lots of preparation on my mom's part and it was a big deal because it was Adina's first real birthday party. She also just turned 8 which means she no longer has to be in a car seat. BIG DEAL!
I was the privileged one who took her on her first drive (to church so that we could get her out of the way in order to do last minute surprise preparations ;) without a car seat and she was sooo happy.
Fishing for peices of the treasure map.

Victory!
So, that's why it's better down where it's wetter



Photography: VP Studios (Click on the title to go to link)

Time for another moving tip! Bubble wrap is awesome for poppin...but you must resist the urge! Save the fun for unpacking. :)