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Sunday, June 25, 2006

It's Sunday...

...and I am soooo bored. I don't think I have felt this bored in a long while. I don't know why I feel this way, but I do.

This morning was the last day of Sunday school until the fall, and the main teacher in the class I helped teach (kindergarten to grade 2) has now moved away with her family. So, this morning I and my helper for next year (I will be the main teacher) did the class. We just had a fun day for the kids, and only 4 were there - one of whom is not a kid who comes to our church, but was visiting his grandmother. Two kids that are normally in the class moved away as their mom was the other teacher. It would have been nice to have a couple more of the regular kids show up, but that's fine. Next year's class will be small anyway because the Sunday school committee is restructuring things and I will only have grades 1 and 2 - that will leave me with no more than 4 or 5 kids unless there are some families who join the church over the summer with kids that age.

This afternoon I was over to my friend Kristina's for lunch (a usual thing for our 'group' on Sunday's) and we watched the third Matrix movie (I loved all 3 of them). The church van was supposed to come and pick us up for service tonight, but the driver forgot us and we didn't get there. Oh well, stuff happens eh. No big deal, but Kristina was supposed to be in the nursery tonight - hopefully they found someone to go in her place.

So, anyway, I'm back home now and I don't know what to do. I don't want to knit or stay on teh computer much longer so that I can rest my wrists, and I don't want to write because I think I have writer's block - well that and I just really am not in the mood to write I guess. I guess I am just in the mood to not do anything. And that is resulting in boredom. Oh well, might just go to bed early tonight and catch up on some sleep since I didn't really sleep all that well last night.

Hope you have a Christ filled day!

P.S. To whomever is doing a search for 'pitbull cat' and coming to my blog, please note that I removed the picture of the drawing some time ago so you won't find it. Besides it was just a drawing that I was trying to do of a cat and the teacher turned it into what looked like a pitbull, and I had posted the picture of it for fun.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Not Much Going On

I haven't been getting many posts on here lately. There really is nothing happening at the moment that is "blog worthy" really.

My wrists have been sore from work - typing all day doing data entry doesn't help. We have to get a certain amount of waybills processed daily, so I push myself to meet that and this past week my wrists have been sore. I haven't even been doing much knitting lately either because of that. I really need to look for my wrist thingys so I can wear them at night and/or during the day some. This is most definately a job that I will not be able to continue doing the rest of my life...

I have a few of prayer requests:

1. My friend Franky (she is a Christian) is going through some rough waters with her job. Please pray for the Lord to give her guidance and wisdom in this area.

2. A local Christian radio station is applying to the CRTC for more wattage so they can reach a wider audience. They have applied in the past and have been refused. Please pray that the CRTC grants them approval for this so that this ministry can reach a wider audience.

3. My ongoing decision/choice as to what to do come fall. I am a little closer to making my choice as to what to do, but I still don't know if it's what God wants.

4. My friend Jean is also going through some rough waters at work (I work with her). Please pray that the Lord will make clear what He wants her to do. Pray for financial blessings for her as she has 2 jobs (1 full time and 1 part time) and is a widow who is having a hard time making ends meet. She is under a great deal of stress and it seems like 'if it isn't raining, it's pouring' in her life. Pray that she will also feel the Lord's arms around her (she's a Christian).

Hope all is well with everyone, and that you are all enjoying your summer so far. Have a Christ filled day!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

At Least I Can Relax Now...

Well, prayer meeting was tonight. I want to thank all who prayed for me. I got up and spoke, was VERY nervous (though I was told that I didn't sound nervous at all - my voice didn't shake or anything), and intimidated because instead of there being about 10 like the associate pastor told me usually attends, there were about 40!

I messed up, and I don't think I did good at all. I sat down and wanted to bawl my eyes out, and a few tears did escape (though I caught them before they could fall down my face). I felt awful and humiliated and felt like I wouldn't be able to show my face at prayer meeting again (course I didn't want to show my face at church either). The pastor got up after me, thanked me and agreed that it was a hard Psalm to work with, especially on such short notice (with not much time to prepare). I let him take over and he gave a much better talk.

People came up to me after though and told me I did a great job, told me I was courageous and they could never do that, said I stepped out of my box, etc. The president of the university I went to (he's also a pastor) was there (he goes to my church) and he came up to me and told me I did great, that I included everything I should have - context, application and said not to stop doing that but to keep up with it, keep practicing. He said I have a real gift for teaching, so that was nice to hear.

I let everyone know that I had never done anything like that before and how nervous I was. I also told them that the passage was a hard one to work with, and when the pastor got up to take over he told them it was extremely difficult and that it's not one that you would normally pick to work with in situations like this.

Afterwards, he (the pastor) came over and thanked me and said that he's going to get me to do it again sometime and I sort of reluctantly agreed but told him to give me more notice next time. He agreed that it was on short notice, and that contributed to the fear and stuff.

The comments that some of the people gave me were nice and encouraging. Some of them I don't know if they were honest or if they were just trying to be nice, but I do know that the university president would not lie about something like that. He would give constructive criticism, but he would not tell you that you did good if you really didn't. So, from him I take encouragement from his words, and that's a nice feeling. I do appreciate the kind words people had to say.

I know I didn't do the best at it, and I made sure they knew it was my first time doing that sort of thing, the passage was hard, etc., so I think they were somewhat understanding. Anyway, if the pastor does follow through, I'll be doing another one some time and hopefully I will improve a great deal on it.

At least now I can relax for awhile...

Monday, June 12, 2006

Wednesday's Prayer Meeting

I have been asked to do the message/devotion (not sure exactly what they call it) at this Wednesday's prayer meeting at church. It is on Psalm 79, and honestly I have no idea what I will say.

I was talking with the associate pastor after church yesterday, and he had asked me how I did in school this past year. I had mentioned my 2 Samuel course and that I had gotten A- but couldn't recall offhand the other marks in the other two courses I took. So, he had asked me if I would like to do a "sermon" or something of the sort some Sunday evening. I said I would rather do prayer meeting before I would do something like that, and he agreed that was a wise choice.

So, then we talked to the senior pastor and Phil had mentioned that I had agreed to do a prayer meeting sometime, that I had done well in my classes (My BA is in Biblical Studies). So, Jonathan asked if I wanted to do it this week, and before I had a chance to respond he said that I would do it this week because what tends to happen, is that most people will agree to do something at a later date and then change their minds. I had been hoping to go to a few of them to get the general idea of what they do, because I normally don't go to prayer meeting as the mid week kids program I teach with is held at the same time.

So, after the evening service, I talked to Jonathan again just to get some pointers on how I should do it, etc. and then he prayed for me before I left.

I'm nervous about doing this, I'm not sure what I'll say but I will pray and ask God to give me the words, ask Him to let His Word speak through me, and to take away my nervousness and fear.

Please keep me in your prayers for Wednesday evening. Thanks and God bless.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

In The Dark

Have you ever looked outside when it was raining, or just after it was raining? You know when it gets a little darkish, when there is rain or a storm about to come? Have you seen how the colours in nature seem to become more brilliant and more 'alive' at that time?

Well, I was looking out the window this morning in just this sort of situation. The dark clouds had rolled in and rain was on its way (it's raining now, just started not long ago). We have a bird feeder attached to our back patio, one of those long cylindar type ones for small birds like sparrows, chickadees or finches. There were two male gold finches sitting on the perches, eating the seeds. As I watched for a few minutes, I was greatly aware of the brilliance of their bright yellow feathers. It made me wonder why colours look so scilintallating and dazzling just before a rain.

It is that way, even with the trees - the lustrous greens of the leaves stand out in contrast to the dark trunk and branches. The flower blossoms, as well, seem to radiate such brilliant colours at times like this.

It all made me think of God. Not just because He is the creater of all of these things, but because of His Light; Jesus is the light in this world that is so full of darkness. I thought about how often God can use His light in to us during our own dark and stormy times. When we are down and depressed, angry or feeling at the end of our rope, His light is there if we would just let it shine. Oh, don't get me wrong. The Lord is there in our good times as well; when we are happy, full of hope and cheer, He is definately there.


The Light of the Lord exposes our sins and the sins of others. Sins belong to the dark, but the Light exposes them so that we can be made aware of them and ask for forgiveness of them, so that we can repent of them.

We can even be His light to others, even when we feel that we are in the dark. The Lord lives in our hearts (if we have asked Jesus in and accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour), and we are to be a light to others, and we are to walk as children of Light (Eph. 5:8, NASB).


In the darkness, the Light shines bright. Is your Light shining?

(P.S. I hope this post makes sense...)

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Words, Words, Words...

Words are powerful. Words are meaningful. Words are all around us in speech, literature, newspapers and even ads on billboards. Words can build up a person, or tear him down. Words can soothe the soul or cause anger and agitation. Words are important.

Lately I've been working on a novel. I don't have much of it done, roughly 2500 words, but then I am not writing at it as often as I should. I take breaks from it, think it over, try to come up with conversations, explanations, descriptions, etc. I am reading writing magazines and books as well as writing blogs so that I can gather some hints and tips in writing.

I am also trying to take some time to just read for fun. While I was in school I did a lot of reading, but it was required reading and even though a lot of it was interesting, it just wasn't for fun. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I do when I read for fun.

I've got a writing blog as well, though I've only got about 5 posts on it so far. If anyone is interested in reading and leaving a comment, you can click here to go to it: Ink Scrawls. I'm not an experienced writer and it may not sound professional like other blogs, but hey, a girl has to start somewhere doesn't she?

Other than that, things are about the same for me. Work is fine though I am quickly realizing that my old "injuries" are still there. There are days when my wrists feel like they are burning and sometimes paining. Thankfully there hasn't been numbness - yet. Still not sure where my wrist splint things are; might have to invest in some more if I don't find them soon, especially if it will help.

My neck and shoulder have been better, though there are still times when it bothers me. Sometimes the pain isn't too much but if I turn my head I can feel the stiffness, and usually by the end of the day it is quite stiff. I think the muscle relaxers are helping though, so that's good. I don't take them every day because I don't want to get addicted to them, and I don't usually need them every day. Boy, I feel like I'm getting old since I'm complaining about my aches and pains, LOL!

I'm still not all that sure what I'm going to be doing after summer, but I am still praying about it. It's hard because I don't know the direction or outcome of what my immediate future is holding, but thankfully the Lord knows. I am trying to trust and rely on Him throughout this, but that too is hard. I'm sure there is some kind of lesson I'm supposed to be learning in all of this, even if it is to learn to wait patiently. I know He has a plan for me and that He is in control. It's still hard, but then no one ever said it would be easy...

I'm going to try to use this period of waiting to relax, work on my writing, knit and work on my relationship with Him. I think that is most important - improving my relationship with Jesus. I need to get back "in tune" and closer to Him, and I need to improve my prayer life again and get back into the Word more.

I have been reading the minor prophets lately, but not sure if I'm gleaning much from them. It's been awhile since I read them though, so I thought I'd go over them again. I also recently finished reading Daniel. Not sure where I'll read from next when I'm done with the minor prophets.

Off to work on my novel some, and read from Micah. God bless, and have a Christ filled day.

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Saturday Stuff

Thanks to everyone who's prayed for my situation as of late. Still not entirely sure what I'm doing but I'm checking into an option and waiting to hear back on it to see if it's something I can do. Other than that, I'm still not sure about what to do after the summer (I'm still praying about it as well).

Today I was over to the church to help a few of the ladies paint murals for the DVBS (Daily Vacation Bible School). There were five ladies and 3 kids painting, well one of the kids didn't paint and one of the two that were didn't paint a whole lot. Anyway, we had transparencies that we traced onto the paper and then painted in afterwards. The mural I worked on was a field scene that had a sheep pen, one sheep, a big tree and lots of sky with a couple clouds. I was working on the green fields for the first part...so much green! I am sick of green for awhile I think. I also painted the rocks and branches around the sheep pen and some bushes. The other mural I did more green bushes and started on a path, but by that time it was time for me to leave. Some of the other ladies got a couple other murals done and a couple of people stayed after most of us left to finish up on two of them.

All in all I enjoyed it. I like doing that sort of thing, and it felt nice to be helping them get ready for the DVBS program.

My nephew's birthday is on Monday, and he'll be 3. His mom's parents and family had a little party for him and his other grandfather today. His other grandfather's birthday is in a week or so I think so they just combined them. My brother and his fiance and my nephew stopped over for a little while this evening after the party so we could give our gifts to D then. I suppose we could have waited until Monday to give them to him, but he got his other presents today and rather than confuse him, we gave them to him tonight.

Work is going well. I'm getting used to the hours now, which is good. There've been a few days when I've still felt tired, but I think I am doing much better now. My neck, shoulder and down near my shoulder blade on my right side have been stiff and sore this week though. I think it's because I am sitting in front of the computer all day at work, on the computer at night, and knitting. It's all working together and making me feel lame. I use my magic bag, but that seems to only help as long as I have it on and I can't keep it on all the time. I've taken muscle relaxers, and those do help. I also haven't been doing much knitting this past week either. It's feeling bette today, but I think I'll probably be taking the muscle relaxers tonight and maybe tomorrow and that should hopefully take care of it. I don't think it is a pinched nerve or anything; it seems to be the muscles.

Well, I think I've droned on long enough. Don't want to bore anyone to death, so I'll end now. Hope you have a Christ filled day!