I have had an intersting night tonight. I have playing one of the longest games of monopoly ever, I have had way to much junk food. I rode my bike around in the dark using only my phone as alight. I have also had conversations with friends from 3 diffrent countries all around the world. Some of them I have not talked to in years.
Some of the conversations have me looking back over the years, looking at the dicisions I have made and how God has led me to were I am right now. It is intersting for me to see how little I can actually see as to what is going on in my life. How God has saved me from things that would have been hard for me. To see people that I was close with making dicisions that are interesting to me.
Over all, I am just in a state of awe and feeling truly blessed right now. I am surrounded with some amazing people. People that I have learned to love and to truly see the work of God in them. I am with my wife, who has changed everything in my life, sometimes I don't few that as a good thing but if I get to be around her then it can't be bad! :-)
And with all of this in my life I am also thinking and pondering how the human "Will" actually comes into play. I read a book tonight that stated that the human will does not have any power, it does not act on it's own accord. It only REacts out of the situation you are in and how you interprit that. This is a interesting thought to me and if it is true would totally change how I go about getting rid of things in my life that I don't like and putting things in that I deem good. Spriritually this is huge, it takes a large amount of pressure off of me and allows me to put that energy on transforming my life to a more Christlike existence.
With those thoughts I say goodnight. Rambling of a tired will. The person that is. :-)
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Thanksgiving, temptation and chainsaw work.
Those three words in the headline are all pretty far apart. At first glance you might not see how they are linked and in many ways they are not. But they are all things that I have delt with in the last weekend.
First off lets start with the chainsaw part. We spent this last thanksgiving (Canadian) up at hyas lake at the Schumachers(inlaw's) cabin. It was a really fun and relaxing weekend, it consisted of getting some reading done, lots of really good food and building a railing. Building is something that is pretty natural for me, but this was the first time I had ever built with logs and a chain saw. Went out and found a fallen tree we wanted to use and lugged it back to the cabin, peeled the bark off of it and cut it to length.
We did a half cut on it to make it sit half on half of the deck, then drilled holes into it and attached two similar but small trees to make the cross members. It was actually alot of fun and looked pretty good, it was for sure a unique way of building that I have not done before so enjoyed it but as others could attest to, I could for sure use some practice at it :-)
Over all a good weekend and I am truly and utterly thankful for the family that I have up here. To have there support and love means alot.
Thankgiving is interesting this year for me. I have always celebrated both American and Canadian Thanksgiving before. But this year it is abit different. For a few things, I am actually living in canada, all my friends up here are Canadian, and I think the biggest difference is the landscape. As you may or may not know, Canadian thankgiving was today, Oct 8th. and US Thanksgiving is later, Nov 22nd this year I believe. So with the combination of the difference in time, and also the landscape around me thanksgiving has looked alot different this year.
Now on to the temptation end. Interesting subject. We started a new bible study lately and we have been going through Mathew. We are jumping into chapter 4 and in that it goes through the temptation of Jesus. One thing that stood out as I read through it and spent time studying it was that in the second temptation situation. Satan actually quotes scripture. This struck me as a interesting fact, I still want to do some more research into it but I still don't know in which ways Satan can use scripture. I don' thtink he can use it in a correct way. I believe that if he does use it, he would use it out of context, or change it to fit his will.
But as I said, I want to do more research into this. But the point of this story is the interesting facts that I ran into as I looked more into what temptation is. We view it as a negative thing, as a struggle or hard time. But before the 17th century, temptation could have many meanings, yes, negative was one of them but there were also many positive ones. It was talked about more as a testing, as a thing you would come up against to show the strength of our faith. It was not always a bad thing, not easy, but not always bad.
This got me thinking as I was looking over my life during this thankgiving time and found myself with the understanding that we should be thankful for the temptation. And even as I write this it does not sound like I should be. But I do think that it is true when come to the understanding of temptation in a deeper way then just something we struggle with. If nothing else it is something to ponder, something to think about and for me has been a attitude shift in my thinking on temptation. It also gives me the freedom to make every effort to grow and learn from it, since I know it can be used for his glory.
So. As I am finishing up my peanut butter nutter bar, and thinking about heading to bed. I think I will light up my pipe (tobacco that is) go sit on the porch, ponder something and over all, just be thankful.
Thankful for the many, many good things in my life, but also to the best of my ability, the temptations in my life.
Thank you for reading,
Christ in All.
First off lets start with the chainsaw part. We spent this last thanksgiving (Canadian) up at hyas lake at the Schumachers(inlaw's) cabin. It was a really fun and relaxing weekend, it consisted of getting some reading done, lots of really good food and building a railing. Building is something that is pretty natural for me, but this was the first time I had ever built with logs and a chain saw. Went out and found a fallen tree we wanted to use and lugged it back to the cabin, peeled the bark off of it and cut it to length.
We did a half cut on it to make it sit half on half of the deck, then drilled holes into it and attached two similar but small trees to make the cross members. It was actually alot of fun and looked pretty good, it was for sure a unique way of building that I have not done before so enjoyed it but as others could attest to, I could for sure use some practice at it :-)
Over all a good weekend and I am truly and utterly thankful for the family that I have up here. To have there support and love means alot.
Thankgiving is interesting this year for me. I have always celebrated both American and Canadian Thanksgiving before. But this year it is abit different. For a few things, I am actually living in canada, all my friends up here are Canadian, and I think the biggest difference is the landscape. As you may or may not know, Canadian thankgiving was today, Oct 8th. and US Thanksgiving is later, Nov 22nd this year I believe. So with the combination of the difference in time, and also the landscape around me thanksgiving has looked alot different this year.
Now on to the temptation end. Interesting subject. We started a new bible study lately and we have been going through Mathew. We are jumping into chapter 4 and in that it goes through the temptation of Jesus. One thing that stood out as I read through it and spent time studying it was that in the second temptation situation. Satan actually quotes scripture. This struck me as a interesting fact, I still want to do some more research into it but I still don't know in which ways Satan can use scripture. I don' thtink he can use it in a correct way. I believe that if he does use it, he would use it out of context, or change it to fit his will.
But as I said, I want to do more research into this. But the point of this story is the interesting facts that I ran into as I looked more into what temptation is. We view it as a negative thing, as a struggle or hard time. But before the 17th century, temptation could have many meanings, yes, negative was one of them but there were also many positive ones. It was talked about more as a testing, as a thing you would come up against to show the strength of our faith. It was not always a bad thing, not easy, but not always bad.
This got me thinking as I was looking over my life during this thankgiving time and found myself with the understanding that we should be thankful for the temptation. And even as I write this it does not sound like I should be. But I do think that it is true when come to the understanding of temptation in a deeper way then just something we struggle with. If nothing else it is something to ponder, something to think about and for me has been a attitude shift in my thinking on temptation. It also gives me the freedom to make every effort to grow and learn from it, since I know it can be used for his glory.
So. As I am finishing up my peanut butter nutter bar, and thinking about heading to bed. I think I will light up my pipe (tobacco that is) go sit on the porch, ponder something and over all, just be thankful.
Thankful for the many, many good things in my life, but also to the best of my ability, the temptations in my life.
Thank you for reading,
Christ in All.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Water water everywhere....
I never know how to start these things and it is usually late at night (like now) so my mind is no the sharpest. But we will just roll with it.
This last weekend was pretty fun. I spent the weekend up at Sun peaks resort where my inlaws have a condo. We went up with my wife's fam including her brother. It was a really fun weekend overall and got to relax, eat good food, and also got to go downhill mountain biking. For sure the first time I have down anything like this. I rented a bike that was worth around $5000 and we headed up for the day. Really really fun, and I am now, really really sore! :-) My father in law, brother in law and I all went up. It was a bit harder then I exspeced and even the "easy" runs required some good balence and riding ability.
All and all it was a great day with only one bigger fall, lets just say I am really glad I was wearing a full face helmet!
Now it is back to work, should be ready to put down floor joist and plywood tomorrow. Houses are going up pretty fast and the heat of the summer is gone so that has made working condition nicer. Now we just wait for the snow :-)
So in order for me to actually log on, and start writting a blog there has to be somthing that I stand back or htink about and go.
Hey, I should write this down!
Sometimes excited, sometimes not. Tonight is a not. I was actually thinking about loneliness. It is an odd thing and I admittedly don't understand it that well. I think that growing up in a family that is pretty tight nit, and having a lot of friends around I did not have to deal with it to much as a kid. Even in highschool and the years after, I traveled alot but it was always on the way to see a friend or family member. There was somebody there, somebody to say hi to that understood not only your language, but also understood where and how you grow up. You had something in common with them, even if it is just by where you parents decided to raise there kids.
But this last year, I have had to deal with loneliness more then ever before. Now don't get me wrong, I have friends here, I have friends back at home. I have been blessed to not just have my family but now also my in laws completely support me and love me. And most of all, I live with somebody, ya I know crazy. She is my wife and she is amazing, and we know eachother well, and are and will continue this for a long time.
There are also people all around me, from working, to hanging out at night. Because of my and my wife's personalities, our house is the hang out house. It is not uncommon for somebody to be over for dinner or a movie or for a great session of grounders. (if you don't know what that is you are missing out. Email me) We are constantly surrounded by people and I think until this year I would not have thought you could be lonely in this situation. But I have learned that you can.
And I don't want this to become some sort of my life sucks kinda thing, because it truly does not. I think that I have just come to realize a little bit htat you can be lonely from there being nobody around, yes. But you can also be lonely in a crown of people, and furthermore. You can even be lonely in a group of friends at times. I think this happens more often when you move away from a place where you were pretty well established. When you move to a new place, people don't know you, not really. THey don't know how or where you grow up, they have not been through thing in your past that have made you the person you are today. And yes, they are with you now, and they are the ones actually helping define you now. But there is still that missing link that comes up everyonce in a while. And that is what I am feeling tonight, a little lonely. A little out of place and a little not sure of direction.
As I got up from bad to come and read a bit, I starting think that this was most likely the way that Christ felt when he was on the earth. He had his earthly family, but they did not understand where he came from. He had his work mates, but they did not understand where he came from. He had crowds, He had friends and even 12 men that he poured his heart into on a very deep and personal level. And yet, even they did not fully understand where he had come from, who he was, what he was all about. Christ had to feel lonely at points in his life.
I recently had a chance to teach at a bible camp and the topic that was given me was on prayer. I did my best to make it relevant, to show that Christ did it and explain why Jesus prayed. I fully believe what I talked about was true. But now I would ad another thought to it. I think that Jesus prayed at times because he felt lonely. I think that even though he had all these people around him, His disciples around him almost all the time. But in the mist of all this going on, I believe that Christ felt not understood, felt that nobody shared the same mindset, the same ideas as He did. I think that Christ pulled away to pray because he simply needed to talk to somebody that understood him. that knew Him from the start, that was with him throughout eternity.
Does that all make sense? I am still thinking about it but it makes sense to me. And lets be clear, I in no way want to compare what I have been through and the changes that I undertook in the last year to come close in anyway to the act of a God, becoming flesh. To the struggles and hurts that went along with Christ's act of selflessness is far beyond our understanding. And in the lack of understanding we have, makes my mind rest in peace as I get ready to sleep tonight. Yes, I am still lonely, and yes I will feel lonely from time to time in the future. But I serve a God that has also felt that, but on a deep, deep level. In ways that we could not stand, and would never want to.
And yet this same God, is my rock. Is my never changing point of direction. He is always there and knows me far better then I know myself. He not only knows where I grow up, but the hearts and lives of everybody that I have ever talked to or interacted with.
So as I go to sleep, I rest in that. In the never changing Love and person of Christ.
Christ in ALL.
This last weekend was pretty fun. I spent the weekend up at Sun peaks resort where my inlaws have a condo. We went up with my wife's fam including her brother. It was a really fun weekend overall and got to relax, eat good food, and also got to go downhill mountain biking. For sure the first time I have down anything like this. I rented a bike that was worth around $5000 and we headed up for the day. Really really fun, and I am now, really really sore! :-) My father in law, brother in law and I all went up. It was a bit harder then I exspeced and even the "easy" runs required some good balence and riding ability.
All and all it was a great day with only one bigger fall, lets just say I am really glad I was wearing a full face helmet!
Now it is back to work, should be ready to put down floor joist and plywood tomorrow. Houses are going up pretty fast and the heat of the summer is gone so that has made working condition nicer. Now we just wait for the snow :-)
So in order for me to actually log on, and start writting a blog there has to be somthing that I stand back or htink about and go.
Hey, I should write this down!
Sometimes excited, sometimes not. Tonight is a not. I was actually thinking about loneliness. It is an odd thing and I admittedly don't understand it that well. I think that growing up in a family that is pretty tight nit, and having a lot of friends around I did not have to deal with it to much as a kid. Even in highschool and the years after, I traveled alot but it was always on the way to see a friend or family member. There was somebody there, somebody to say hi to that understood not only your language, but also understood where and how you grow up. You had something in common with them, even if it is just by where you parents decided to raise there kids.
But this last year, I have had to deal with loneliness more then ever before. Now don't get me wrong, I have friends here, I have friends back at home. I have been blessed to not just have my family but now also my in laws completely support me and love me. And most of all, I live with somebody, ya I know crazy. She is my wife and she is amazing, and we know eachother well, and are and will continue this for a long time.
There are also people all around me, from working, to hanging out at night. Because of my and my wife's personalities, our house is the hang out house. It is not uncommon for somebody to be over for dinner or a movie or for a great session of grounders. (if you don't know what that is you are missing out. Email me) We are constantly surrounded by people and I think until this year I would not have thought you could be lonely in this situation. But I have learned that you can.
And I don't want this to become some sort of my life sucks kinda thing, because it truly does not. I think that I have just come to realize a little bit htat you can be lonely from there being nobody around, yes. But you can also be lonely in a crown of people, and furthermore. You can even be lonely in a group of friends at times. I think this happens more often when you move away from a place where you were pretty well established. When you move to a new place, people don't know you, not really. THey don't know how or where you grow up, they have not been through thing in your past that have made you the person you are today. And yes, they are with you now, and they are the ones actually helping define you now. But there is still that missing link that comes up everyonce in a while. And that is what I am feeling tonight, a little lonely. A little out of place and a little not sure of direction.
As I got up from bad to come and read a bit, I starting think that this was most likely the way that Christ felt when he was on the earth. He had his earthly family, but they did not understand where he came from. He had his work mates, but they did not understand where he came from. He had crowds, He had friends and even 12 men that he poured his heart into on a very deep and personal level. And yet, even they did not fully understand where he had come from, who he was, what he was all about. Christ had to feel lonely at points in his life.
I recently had a chance to teach at a bible camp and the topic that was given me was on prayer. I did my best to make it relevant, to show that Christ did it and explain why Jesus prayed. I fully believe what I talked about was true. But now I would ad another thought to it. I think that Jesus prayed at times because he felt lonely. I think that even though he had all these people around him, His disciples around him almost all the time. But in the mist of all this going on, I believe that Christ felt not understood, felt that nobody shared the same mindset, the same ideas as He did. I think that Christ pulled away to pray because he simply needed to talk to somebody that understood him. that knew Him from the start, that was with him throughout eternity.
Does that all make sense? I am still thinking about it but it makes sense to me. And lets be clear, I in no way want to compare what I have been through and the changes that I undertook in the last year to come close in anyway to the act of a God, becoming flesh. To the struggles and hurts that went along with Christ's act of selflessness is far beyond our understanding. And in the lack of understanding we have, makes my mind rest in peace as I get ready to sleep tonight. Yes, I am still lonely, and yes I will feel lonely from time to time in the future. But I serve a God that has also felt that, but on a deep, deep level. In ways that we could not stand, and would never want to.
And yet this same God, is my rock. Is my never changing point of direction. He is always there and knows me far better then I know myself. He not only knows where I grow up, but the hearts and lives of everybody that I have ever talked to or interacted with.
So as I go to sleep, I rest in that. In the never changing Love and person of Christ.
Christ in ALL.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Yes, it has been awhile
Hello again.
Yes, it has been awhile once again.
In my last blog I stated that I would be writing on here more, I lied. I have not been doing that but know that I truly do want to start more. And I do think that I will in the coming months.
As I start to write this I have a few thing on my mind. Foremost is the fact that I should probably be sleeping right now, but this has never been a thought that I have entertained for long :-) I also am thinking about the smell around me right now. It is a smoky smell, with a hint of vanilla and peach. As some of you know when I need to think or clear my mind I bring out my tobacco pipe and site on my deck and think. Sometimes for hours sometime for not long at all. Sometimes my thought wonder to myself and sometimes to others but mostly they tend to end on my relationships.
My relationship with God, my relationship with my wife, and my relationships with my friends.
These are all things that have been heavy on my heart lately.
First off, my relationship with God. Ever since I have married my bride (just over a year ago!) I have been pushed in this relationship in ways that I have not before. It truly is a interesting thing to life life so closely with another person. To not only effect them with how my relationship wtih God is going but also be effected by theirs. My main focus over the past few months have been attempting to understand the statement in Ephesions when commands the husband to love his wife as Christ has loved the church. Which is then closely followed by the statement, "this is a profound mystery"!! The more I have looked into it the more I completely agree with that statement. :-)
My relationship with Hannah is a mystery to me. Alot of the time I feel like I have no idea where or what I am doing. How to lead, how to protect, how to love, how to honor. This has been some of the hardest questions I have ever had to deal with. But I welcome the challenge and truly do feel blessed for the last year. I have had some of the hardest times in my life but also some of the best times. I have cried more this last year both out of pain and also out of joy. God is good, He has been there when I have walked away, he has been there when I have not been in the word. HE has been there when I am tempted to not treat my bride as I should. My reliance on my great Lord has been pushed this year more them any other year or time in my life.
So a few weeks ago Hannah and I celebrated our 1st year anniversary. This was a really good time of reflection and looking back at were hannah and I have come in the last year. It was also a time of looking back at friends I have had and have gained. Moving up to Canada was not easy. I changed, towns, I changed jobs, I changed friends, I even changed countries. Admittedly this has not been easy and at times been pretty hard. But as I was looking back over the year I can truly say that even though my entire "normal" has been different for the last year. I am fully and truly blessed by the people I have around me here, and the family and friends that still remain in WA. Not to mention the people all around the world.
So.
Random thoughts from me. Things I have been thinking about, things I have been working through.
Thanks for reading if you do and I will honestly try and do this more.
Christ in ALL.
Yes, it has been awhile once again.
In my last blog I stated that I would be writing on here more, I lied. I have not been doing that but know that I truly do want to start more. And I do think that I will in the coming months.
As I start to write this I have a few thing on my mind. Foremost is the fact that I should probably be sleeping right now, but this has never been a thought that I have entertained for long :-) I also am thinking about the smell around me right now. It is a smoky smell, with a hint of vanilla and peach. As some of you know when I need to think or clear my mind I bring out my tobacco pipe and site on my deck and think. Sometimes for hours sometime for not long at all. Sometimes my thought wonder to myself and sometimes to others but mostly they tend to end on my relationships.
My relationship with God, my relationship with my wife, and my relationships with my friends.
These are all things that have been heavy on my heart lately.
First off, my relationship with God. Ever since I have married my bride (just over a year ago!) I have been pushed in this relationship in ways that I have not before. It truly is a interesting thing to life life so closely with another person. To not only effect them with how my relationship wtih God is going but also be effected by theirs. My main focus over the past few months have been attempting to understand the statement in Ephesions when commands the husband to love his wife as Christ has loved the church. Which is then closely followed by the statement, "this is a profound mystery"!! The more I have looked into it the more I completely agree with that statement. :-)
My relationship with Hannah is a mystery to me. Alot of the time I feel like I have no idea where or what I am doing. How to lead, how to protect, how to love, how to honor. This has been some of the hardest questions I have ever had to deal with. But I welcome the challenge and truly do feel blessed for the last year. I have had some of the hardest times in my life but also some of the best times. I have cried more this last year both out of pain and also out of joy. God is good, He has been there when I have walked away, he has been there when I have not been in the word. HE has been there when I am tempted to not treat my bride as I should. My reliance on my great Lord has been pushed this year more them any other year or time in my life.
So a few weeks ago Hannah and I celebrated our 1st year anniversary. This was a really good time of reflection and looking back at were hannah and I have come in the last year. It was also a time of looking back at friends I have had and have gained. Moving up to Canada was not easy. I changed, towns, I changed jobs, I changed friends, I even changed countries. Admittedly this has not been easy and at times been pretty hard. But as I was looking back over the year I can truly say that even though my entire "normal" has been different for the last year. I am fully and truly blessed by the people I have around me here, and the family and friends that still remain in WA. Not to mention the people all around the world.
So.
Random thoughts from me. Things I have been thinking about, things I have been working through.
Thanks for reading if you do and I will honestly try and do this more.
Christ in ALL.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Long time, no blog.
So, to whoever is actually out there reading this, Hello again. I don't know who you are and really why you would be checking a blog that has not been updated since December 08. But I welcome you and thank you for reading.
Alot has changed since my last blog. The biggest thing is that I have gotten married and moved to a completely different country. No, not New Zealand, no not the Philippines. I have moved to the big country of Canada. And although alot has changed, something have stayed the same. I still work construction and am loving it. I am not working construction for my dad for the first time in my life, and truly do miss it. The work itself has not changed much but the relationship and talks during work have changed dramatically. And as the saying goes, the more I work here the more I realize how much I took working with an amazingly wise and Godly man for granted. So for the years of work behind and the possibility of work in the future, Thank you dad.
So we will see how often I actually update this thing. I feel like I need some kind of outlet so maybe this will be it.
So I have moved to Kamloops, BC, Canada. It is a good size town, not to big but also gives me a bit of a look at living in more of a city. Pretty much everything has been new for me in the last 6 months. I have gone through alot of learning, some good and some harder. Over all, God has been a rock, he does not change no matter what country you are in and that has been very true the last few months. One of the highlights of the time has been learning how to love, support my wife. She really is amazing and the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Living life together in such a close, day in day out, through the hard times and the good has been the hardest and most rewarding things I have ever done. God continues to humble and take care of me through it all.
To change directions now a bit.
Leadership has been somthing that I have been working through as of late. The meaning of it, how it is done and what that looks like in a practical way. I have been challenged daily as I learn to be the head of my family, and lead in a Godly and biblical way. This comes to task when a disicion has to be made. I think that this can be small things, even to the point of what we do with our evenings, what shows we watch on tv, what books I read and how I treat Hannah. It also is present in the big deals, as far as what bills to pay when, what car to buy, who we align our life with, what community of believers we work with and what ministries we put our time and energy into.
I have made mistakes and have done well, it is a learning curve that I am in the middle of. With everything in my life being new, it is just another thing that I have yet to become proficient in. But I am coming to the conclusion that this issue is a bit more important then other things. Like in other areas, I have a choice of how to respond. Since moving, I have had to make the choice to pay more for dairy, either I pay more, or I don't get it. I have the choice to pay a ridicules amount of money to ICBC to insure my cars, if I pay, I can drive, if I don't pay, I walk. both of these I could live with the other option, I would not like it, but it could be done.
With Leadership, I also have a choice, I could put in the time, and learn how to do it well, or I could not. But unlike the other two examples, I don't know if I could live with out paying the extra, without doing what needs to be done. Without being a man, which is what this all comes down to. When I stood before a few hundred of my closest friends and made a vow before them and before God to value Hannah above myself, that was my choice, my final answer. I don't have the option now to not follow through, there is way to much at stake. My leadership directly effects Hannah and my relationship with eachother, and also our relationship with our God.
And again, I have done this well at times, and at others times there is room for improvement. And I am working on that, I have been reading books on the matter, I have been listening online to respected and Godly men as they share there thoughts on the subject. It is again a time of learning for me in this area, and also a time of joy. When I step into the leadership role that I am made for, that I am ment to be in and have to be in, then I come a little closer to understanding Gods love for His church. And in that there is try joy, that is what we are meant for and how we are supposed to live. In the Joy and hope of our Saivour King.
Until next time.
Christ in ALL .
Alot has changed since my last blog. The biggest thing is that I have gotten married and moved to a completely different country. No, not New Zealand, no not the Philippines. I have moved to the big country of Canada. And although alot has changed, something have stayed the same. I still work construction and am loving it. I am not working construction for my dad for the first time in my life, and truly do miss it. The work itself has not changed much but the relationship and talks during work have changed dramatically. And as the saying goes, the more I work here the more I realize how much I took working with an amazingly wise and Godly man for granted. So for the years of work behind and the possibility of work in the future, Thank you dad.
So we will see how often I actually update this thing. I feel like I need some kind of outlet so maybe this will be it.
So I have moved to Kamloops, BC, Canada. It is a good size town, not to big but also gives me a bit of a look at living in more of a city. Pretty much everything has been new for me in the last 6 months. I have gone through alot of learning, some good and some harder. Over all, God has been a rock, he does not change no matter what country you are in and that has been very true the last few months. One of the highlights of the time has been learning how to love, support my wife. She really is amazing and the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Living life together in such a close, day in day out, through the hard times and the good has been the hardest and most rewarding things I have ever done. God continues to humble and take care of me through it all.
To change directions now a bit.
Leadership has been somthing that I have been working through as of late. The meaning of it, how it is done and what that looks like in a practical way. I have been challenged daily as I learn to be the head of my family, and lead in a Godly and biblical way. This comes to task when a disicion has to be made. I think that this can be small things, even to the point of what we do with our evenings, what shows we watch on tv, what books I read and how I treat Hannah. It also is present in the big deals, as far as what bills to pay when, what car to buy, who we align our life with, what community of believers we work with and what ministries we put our time and energy into.
I have made mistakes and have done well, it is a learning curve that I am in the middle of. With everything in my life being new, it is just another thing that I have yet to become proficient in. But I am coming to the conclusion that this issue is a bit more important then other things. Like in other areas, I have a choice of how to respond. Since moving, I have had to make the choice to pay more for dairy, either I pay more, or I don't get it. I have the choice to pay a ridicules amount of money to ICBC to insure my cars, if I pay, I can drive, if I don't pay, I walk. both of these I could live with the other option, I would not like it, but it could be done.
With Leadership, I also have a choice, I could put in the time, and learn how to do it well, or I could not. But unlike the other two examples, I don't know if I could live with out paying the extra, without doing what needs to be done. Without being a man, which is what this all comes down to. When I stood before a few hundred of my closest friends and made a vow before them and before God to value Hannah above myself, that was my choice, my final answer. I don't have the option now to not follow through, there is way to much at stake. My leadership directly effects Hannah and my relationship with eachother, and also our relationship with our God.
And again, I have done this well at times, and at others times there is room for improvement. And I am working on that, I have been reading books on the matter, I have been listening online to respected and Godly men as they share there thoughts on the subject. It is again a time of learning for me in this area, and also a time of joy. When I step into the leadership role that I am made for, that I am ment to be in and have to be in, then I come a little closer to understanding Gods love for His church. And in that there is try joy, that is what we are meant for and how we are supposed to live. In the Joy and hope of our Saivour King.
Until next time.
Christ in ALL .
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The last 3 weeks of my life
I am now sitting in the busy city of Manila trying to figure out how to explan to you the last 3 weeks of my life. I don't really know how this is going to end up looking but will try not to bore you to much. So if you don't know, I took a 3 week trip down to New Zealand to surprise the returning students that I know at Capernwray. I did not really think I would be able to take this trip and didn't actually buy my tickets for it until a few weeks before I left home. As the time came near for me to leave I was getting excited but it was hard to leave the Philippines, well, more to leave Jess and her family. I had been in the Philippines for just over 4 weeks and it had become normal life and would be weird not to see jess everyday.
My flights went well and had some good talks with the people next to me. During the long flight from Manila to Sydney (about 8 hr) everybody was sleeping and I had been trying to for a while but just could not shut down. Then I looked to the left, and since I was in the middle isle, looked past 4 sleeping faces and as I was looking out side I witnessed a lighting storm from above the clouds. This did not just happen once, it was off and on for about 2 hours, it was really cool and for some reason really calmed my spirit. I spent my first few day's up in Auckland helping and hanging out with Forrest. It was pretty funny because during this time I actually talked to two of the girls at the school that I was going to surprise and they had no idea I was in NZ.
Forrest and I jumped on his CBR 900 RR fireblade (amazing bike!) and on a crisp Saturday morning, headed down to Cambridge. We took turns driving and I think I spend most of the way because I was so excited. Some of the people that I would be seeing I had not seen in almost a year and was really excited. So after the hour and a half ride down Forrest droped me off at a back door and from there we really didn't have a plan of how I was going to surprise people. Forrest went to the front and said I to people and acted like I was not there. It ended up working out very well and it was a really good surprise for people. One of the girls that I wanted to surprise was actually not at school when I came and she didn't get home until later that night. Right before she got back to school we move Forrest bike around to the back of school and after she pulled up I drove up pretending to be Forrest. Then as she was walking up to say hi I took off my helmet. It worked well and over all surprised a lot of people
I stayed at the school for about a week and a half. Since I am a poor traveling bum I ended up working in the mornings and because of this I was able to eat for free. I was staying at a staff members flat so I just paid a little rent for the time I was there. Over all the staff of the school really helped out and it was huge blessing for me. After work in the morning most my time was just spent hanging out. Not really doing anything amazing or traveling a whole lot but that was not the reason for my trip. I have so many stories that I could tell you of crazy and fun and amazing times I had. From sneaking out and going to a sheep graveyard, to rupturing a tendant in my figure playing rugby in the pouring rain. From staying awake for over 30 hours to straight to almost falling asleep in the top of a tree. I honestly could go on for hours upon hours of stories but this is getting long already.
As soon as I steped of the plan in New Zealand, I was hit with a fact that I had thought about before but this time really hit deep. I flippin love New Zealand. It is in my opinion the most beautiful country there is and the people and just the atmostpher is something that I have not felt or seen anywhere else in the world. I took some rides on Forrest bike and seeing the rolling green hills and other natural beauty I have no doubt that if I don't end up living there, I will for sure be back for visits.
And speaking of living there, as I was spending time with Forrest in a town called Papakura, he started talking about a plan that his boss and him are working on. Papakura is more of a lower end part of the Auckland and has a high population of youth. And at any given day after school, there will be 30 plus kids hanging out at the local skateboard park. So in light of this Forrest and his boss are looking for either a large building to rent or but, or a plot of land that they could build a large building. In the building they would start a skate park so that on rainy day's the youth would have a place to go. Along with the skate park there would be a rock climbing wall and turn it into a kind of place that kids and the youth of the area could come and hang out. Forrest skates a little bit but as we were talking agreed that he would need to get somebody who know how to skate and know the cultur a little bit. And since I know how to skate and know to a point, how to fit in the skate scene we started talking about me coming back down and either helping or running a skate church. This all depends on if they can get a building and even at that not sure if I would head down. But still, something for me to think about and something that could posibly happen.
Even with the posibility of someday coming back to the county, it still did not make it any easier to leave. The 3 weeks went by incredible fast and I felt myself wishing for more. The last few day's I spent with Forrest in Papakura and some friends from school came up to hang out. We went to the beach and just spent a lot of time talking and hanging out. These 3 people that I spent the last few day's in NZ with mean a lot to me. Two of them I will be be able to see at home with in the next 7 months but I have no idea how long it will be until I see Forrest again.
As we had been talking though out my time there, one of the girls had said a statement that I didn't understand. Talking about past times in her life and the future of when she leaves NZ, she said that her heart hurt. I just had never thought about this before. I mean, yes, I have been sad before and all that, but what does it mean for your heart to hurt? I really don't think I know what it meant until I had to say goodbye to these 3 people, then I understood. It is not just something you say, it is actually a pain that is in your chest. Pain is something I can normaly get over pretty easy, but this was different. The more I thought about it the more it hurt, looking back in my life, I relize I have felt this before, but only a few times and were times in my life I will never forget.
So although it was probably the hardest time of saying goodbye, I was and am still so glad to be back in the Philippines, and most of all, to see Jess. And not only to see Jess but to think that in less then a week I will be in Vietnam hanging out with another amazing group of people. So honestly I am so stoked to be where I am at, it is hard sometimes but I am so glad that I have people all over the world that when I say goodbye to them, it actually hurts my heart. I hope this last bit does not sound to pansy but it is true.
So ya, sorry this was so long and I will add pics and stuff later, I can't get it to work right now so that will come soon. Since being back in the Philippines I have just relaxed at home. I will be doing a bit of stuff this weekend and hanging out with some people tomorrow while Jess is at school. So I am excited to be able to see friend I have made here and am getting stoked for taking off for Nam. Hope all is going well at home and just to let you know, it was 85 degrees when I flew in at 6pm at night. So I am hoping for snow for Christmas but not sure if it will happen :-)
Alright, I will talk to you guy's later.
Christ in ALL.
Will
My flights went well and had some good talks with the people next to me. During the long flight from Manila to Sydney (about 8 hr) everybody was sleeping and I had been trying to for a while but just could not shut down. Then I looked to the left, and since I was in the middle isle, looked past 4 sleeping faces and as I was looking out side I witnessed a lighting storm from above the clouds. This did not just happen once, it was off and on for about 2 hours, it was really cool and for some reason really calmed my spirit. I spent my first few day's up in Auckland helping and hanging out with Forrest. It was pretty funny because during this time I actually talked to two of the girls at the school that I was going to surprise and they had no idea I was in NZ.
Forrest and I jumped on his CBR 900 RR fireblade (amazing bike!) and on a crisp Saturday morning, headed down to Cambridge. We took turns driving and I think I spend most of the way because I was so excited. Some of the people that I would be seeing I had not seen in almost a year and was really excited. So after the hour and a half ride down Forrest droped me off at a back door and from there we really didn't have a plan of how I was going to surprise people. Forrest went to the front and said I to people and acted like I was not there. It ended up working out very well and it was a really good surprise for people. One of the girls that I wanted to surprise was actually not at school when I came and she didn't get home until later that night. Right before she got back to school we move Forrest bike around to the back of school and after she pulled up I drove up pretending to be Forrest. Then as she was walking up to say hi I took off my helmet. It worked well and over all surprised a lot of people
I stayed at the school for about a week and a half. Since I am a poor traveling bum I ended up working in the mornings and because of this I was able to eat for free. I was staying at a staff members flat so I just paid a little rent for the time I was there. Over all the staff of the school really helped out and it was huge blessing for me. After work in the morning most my time was just spent hanging out. Not really doing anything amazing or traveling a whole lot but that was not the reason for my trip. I have so many stories that I could tell you of crazy and fun and amazing times I had. From sneaking out and going to a sheep graveyard, to rupturing a tendant in my figure playing rugby in the pouring rain. From staying awake for over 30 hours to straight to almost falling asleep in the top of a tree. I honestly could go on for hours upon hours of stories but this is getting long already.
As soon as I steped of the plan in New Zealand, I was hit with a fact that I had thought about before but this time really hit deep. I flippin love New Zealand. It is in my opinion the most beautiful country there is and the people and just the atmostpher is something that I have not felt or seen anywhere else in the world. I took some rides on Forrest bike and seeing the rolling green hills and other natural beauty I have no doubt that if I don't end up living there, I will for sure be back for visits.
And speaking of living there, as I was spending time with Forrest in a town called Papakura, he started talking about a plan that his boss and him are working on. Papakura is more of a lower end part of the Auckland and has a high population of youth. And at any given day after school, there will be 30 plus kids hanging out at the local skateboard park. So in light of this Forrest and his boss are looking for either a large building to rent or but, or a plot of land that they could build a large building. In the building they would start a skate park so that on rainy day's the youth would have a place to go. Along with the skate park there would be a rock climbing wall and turn it into a kind of place that kids and the youth of the area could come and hang out. Forrest skates a little bit but as we were talking agreed that he would need to get somebody who know how to skate and know the cultur a little bit. And since I know how to skate and know to a point, how to fit in the skate scene we started talking about me coming back down and either helping or running a skate church. This all depends on if they can get a building and even at that not sure if I would head down. But still, something for me to think about and something that could posibly happen.
Even with the posibility of someday coming back to the county, it still did not make it any easier to leave. The 3 weeks went by incredible fast and I felt myself wishing for more. The last few day's I spent with Forrest in Papakura and some friends from school came up to hang out. We went to the beach and just spent a lot of time talking and hanging out. These 3 people that I spent the last few day's in NZ with mean a lot to me. Two of them I will be be able to see at home with in the next 7 months but I have no idea how long it will be until I see Forrest again.
As we had been talking though out my time there, one of the girls had said a statement that I didn't understand. Talking about past times in her life and the future of when she leaves NZ, she said that her heart hurt. I just had never thought about this before. I mean, yes, I have been sad before and all that, but what does it mean for your heart to hurt? I really don't think I know what it meant until I had to say goodbye to these 3 people, then I understood. It is not just something you say, it is actually a pain that is in your chest. Pain is something I can normaly get over pretty easy, but this was different. The more I thought about it the more it hurt, looking back in my life, I relize I have felt this before, but only a few times and were times in my life I will never forget.
So although it was probably the hardest time of saying goodbye, I was and am still so glad to be back in the Philippines, and most of all, to see Jess. And not only to see Jess but to think that in less then a week I will be in Vietnam hanging out with another amazing group of people. So honestly I am so stoked to be where I am at, it is hard sometimes but I am so glad that I have people all over the world that when I say goodbye to them, it actually hurts my heart. I hope this last bit does not sound to pansy but it is true.
So ya, sorry this was so long and I will add pics and stuff later, I can't get it to work right now so that will come soon. Since being back in the Philippines I have just relaxed at home. I will be doing a bit of stuff this weekend and hanging out with some people tomorrow while Jess is at school. So I am excited to be able to see friend I have made here and am getting stoked for taking off for Nam. Hope all is going well at home and just to let you know, it was 85 degrees when I flew in at 6pm at night. So I am hoping for snow for Christmas but not sure if it will happen :-)
Alright, I will talk to you guy's later.
Christ in ALL.
Will
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Brazilian Bikini model and the love of photography
As Tita Alice and I were heading home from the 2nd mile campus (last blog) we started talking and I told her that I was interested in Photography. There had been a film crew at 2nd mile and I have followed them around and it was cool to see everything behind the scenes that went into the shoot. While Tita Alice and I where talking she said that since she used to work at
So we headed over mid morning to the studio, Tita Alice knew everybody there since she used to work with them for like 20 years so she introduced me to the photographer and he showed me his website and a bunch of pictures he had taken. He is one of the best Photographers in the 
But it was fun, it was really not dodgy in anyway and it was really cool to see everything that goes on behind a shoot. All the lighting and set up is crazy, the camera that he had was amazing and as soon as he took a picture it showed up on a computer screen in the corner. Really cool set up, and was a cool experience. It also mad me think about how much I like to take pictures and I have started thinking about maybe pursuing this when I get back home. Maybe take some classes and see where that leads. I for sure want to get a good DSLR when I get home and if nothing else just do it for fun on the side. It was a good day.
Then for a funny story, this evening the whole family is in the living room watching TV and I am on the computer checking email. I had asked jess for a CD so I could burn a program and she ended up dropping a piece of plastic on the floor. I am sitting cross legged on the swivel chair and as I leaned forward to pick it up for her, I find my self falling and sitting on the floor!! I had totally broke one of the legs of the chair!! Straight up snapped it off, right in front of the whole family!! It was pretty funny, they just kept asking if I was ok and I said that I was just embarrassed that I had just broke there chair!!! They said it was ok and they had had the chair for a while so it was about time for it to break. I think it was just built for Filipino’s not big white guys!
Anyway, that is it for now, still loving it and having an amazing time. So many good experiences.
I am, as I am typing downloading a program that should help me get my files back from my computer. So I hope that works and then I should get a copy of vista on Saturday, so hopefully it will be back up and running sometime soon. I still might lose some if not all of what I had on my computer but what can you do. Anyway, I should head to bed, be blessed and keep in the word.
Will
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
