Pictures are Posted!

For anyone who cares, a whole bunch of pictures taken on my last work trip in Ontario with the Christian College and University Fairs are now posted in my shutterfly collection.

As if by looking at that adorable shot you could resist checking out the rest of them!

Why I Try To Avoid the Doctor

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

...to all of my American friends! Enjoy!

Hope comes in the morning

From my morning reading:

"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling." Ephesians 1:18

The contrast between what we see ourselves to be and what God's Spirit promises we will be like blinding sunlight striking the eyes as the shades of a darkened room are suddenly raised. But the power and blessing of God are intended for you!

That's power - the power of God both birthing and bringing about. It's God at work in human clay, shaping, molding, and fashioning until the earthdust of our humanity becomes a treasure chest of diving wealth.

How Sweet It Is!

The battle of Alberta. The clash of the titans. The war of the worlds. Okay, so maybe it's not that big of a deal but as an Edmonton fan living in Calgary, anytime that the Oilers and the flames meet, it's a big deal.

It's even better when Edmonton comes out on top!

Thanks Sykora, Roli (my hero) and the rest of the boys in blue! Today, I'm a happy lady!

CCUF Final Thoughts

So I was cruising some of my favorite blogs - yes, I read yours - when I came across my friend Tim's blog about the fairs. I couldn't have said it better myself. Here's his final CCUF thoughts.

Current Read

Revolution Of Character, Dallas Willard and Don Simpson

As one of my fellow CCUF travelers said, it's one of those spiritual formation type books. Go figure.

Past Reads

Last Light, Terry Blackstock

Night Light, Terri Blackstock

I've read these in the last couple of days on the recommendation of a few friends. Interesting concept...

But I Like The Cookie!!!

This is one of my favorite scenes from Over the Hedge...once I found it, I had to share!

Home, home on the range...

Back on the prairies. Back in cowtown. My own house. My own bed. It's funny, reflecting on it, it doesn't seem like it's only been 10 days that I've been gone. We filled the days so full that it seems like I've been gone so much longer. It's like getting on the plane in the airport in Calgary (or off in Toronto) sent me into some sort of timewarp in which time moved in a much different way, only to be corrected when I got back on the plane in Ottawa and landed again in Calgary.

Coming home is definitely something I've met with mixed feelings. I know I've said it before but there's something great about the community that's built on the fairs. It's there that I find that I have peers. it's also on the road that I find parts of my job that I'm really good at and respected for...things I don't always see at home. It's funny because it always takes me a little bit of time to get warmed up to the idea of going away again, especially on this fall stretch. It's like I forget just how much fun it is until I get there and am back in the middle of it...plus it's a nice break away from the daily grind of the office.

My top 10 2006 CCUF East Highlights

1. As always, I am blessed by the recruiters and other enrollment personnel from across the country. Peers and friends. If any of you are ever in Calgary, you have a friend in me...can anyone name that song?
2. Starbucks...or, as I mentioned earlier, St. Arbucks.
3. My roommate, Steph.
4. Having my eyes opened to new possibilities.
5. Students and parents searching for next steps...and the role I get to play in it whether they come to ABC or not
6. Seeing God answer prayers in many ways.
7. Great coffee (or should I say Oh So Good coffee) in Ottawa. Thanks for the inside scoop, Tim. The Indian restaurant was amazing too! I guess it shouldn't surprise me seeing as how we were separated at birth and all!
8. My new scarf from a street vendor in Ottawa...oh, and the tea store!
9. Taking pictures, especially Ottawa at night.
10. My funny plane trip home. Quick story...one steward and I got chatting. He asked me if I was part of a youth group and somehow in conversation it came out that he thought I was 17. Sorry, just 10 years off. Anyway, it started this whole bet with the flight attendants about how old I actually was. I guess the guy that was the closest won $1 on my old age! I should be flattered considering I had only had 2.5 hours of sleep the night before after 10 days of travel and had almost poured all my water from my waterbottle on the floor at the security gate of the airport out of frustration!

Okay, I said that I would only use 10 but I just have one more that needs to be included.

11. The answers to the question of the day. While some days I racked my brain to find questions, it was continually a privilege to hear the answers of my fellow travelers and get to know them better by their responses. Yes, I know, I'm obviously too relational for my own good sometimes. So many good conversations came out of this. One that really surprised me was Friday's question. I had specifically saved it all week:

If money wasn't an issue but you still had to work a 40 hour work week, what would you do with your time?

Basically, this was an opportunity to give in to the passions and dreams on our hearts. A couple said they'd stay recruiting and that made me happy. While there are ways this could be integrated into my current job, I knew my answer easily. I would love to do something that got me mentoring, discipling and much more deeply involved in spiritual formation...in the life journey of those around me. What surprised me was my passionate response when talking with Nathan. It was then that I realized that I would specifically like to use this to encourage and build into the lives of young women and girls. I saw so many students on this trip dying for something more, lacking in confidence and struggling to find some purpose in life. I wonder how many of them doubted their worth and feared for them - what ways would they strive to find worth and to bury the doubt they feel? It rips at my heart. Yes, I ended up in tears it ended up so close to home. The thing is, each girl I met is a valuable, captivating daughter of the King and I want them to know that...and then I want to help them find their place in His Kingdom work.

Okay, that's enough for now. You'd think after talking all week, I'd be a little more at a loss for words. Afraid not.

*I was going to post pics but blogger is acting up again. I'll get them in asap!

Gridblog: Seize the Day

Okay, Tim, so I'm a little late on this - it's not Friday - but hopefully it's a better late than never sort of thing...you can't scare me away that easy.

Seizing the Day. Living in death's light. Living today...and loving it.

I wish I could say that this is where I live. That each day is lived in such a way that I would be satisfied if it were my last but I'm not, at least not as completely as I would like to.

I think of my grandma. Every time I see her, she talks to me about being thankful to live another day. After all she's been through in the last several years of her life, she realizes that each day is a gift from God.

I struggle with that right now. Whether it's that life just seems so hard or just so far from what I'd hoped it would be, I'm not living with near the God-focused contenment I wish that I could. Right now, life feels like a day by day, step by step trudge, an uphill battle with boots that are too big, carrying a load far beyond my strength...and so each day I come to Jesus and pray that he'll sustain me, knowing in my head, if not my heart, that He is far more able than I could ever ask of imagine.

See, here's the thing. As much as it's a struggle, I'm still struggling. I'm still looking to Him and trying to focus on the things that I'm thankful for. A while back I posted about being thankful. Right now, that's how I work to live today. Being thankful for all things, the big and the small. Each night, I make a list of the things I'm thankful for. I have a friend who asks me often, holding me accountable to living a life of thanksgiving. At the end of my life, when all is said and done, at the very least, I want to be known as someone who is thankful.

Right now, I think if I'm intentionally thankful, the rest of it will come...the contentment, the strength, the joy and peace that only God can bring. Only by living my life in His shadow will I ever truly be ready to live life in death's shadow...and be able to seize the day.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

We watched Mission Impossible III the other day and found a great quote.

"It's completely unacceptable that chocolate makes you fat."

Exactly!

Gridblog...the return

Okay, it's been a while since we've done a gridblog. For those of you who are new to this whole thing, we pick a topic and blog on it on Friday. It's a chance to do some discussion even though we're not in the same place. Join in. We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Here's this week's topic:

“Living in light of death” or “Carpe Diem” or “Sieza le day” or “In Remembrance.”

See you tomorrow (providing I've got internet access on this wild and wooly road trip).

My life's ambition

So today's question of the day was this: if you could have been cast in any movie, what would it be? It could be a cameo appearance just to get you on the set or you could go ahead and take over the lead roll. Remember, you're acting the part, not living it (big difference!).

This lead to a bunch of interesting conversation although don't they all!? Anyway, I had a hard time deciding what movie I would want to play a part in. Top Gun? Tomb Raider if it meant I got to tour some of the set locations and do some of the amazing stunts...providing I was in good enough shape. Pirates of the Caribbean or Lord of the Rings just because I think being a part of the process would be so cool.

And then it came...Finding Nemo. Cars. Little Mermaid. Shrek.

I COULD VOICE AN ANIMATED FEATURE LENGTH FILM!

How cool would that be!?

People say that I look like Cameron Diaz and if she can do it (a la Shrek) than so can I!!

So there you have it. My new life's ambition. I want to voice a cartoon...no wait, it sounds better if you say animated film. Yes. That's what I want to do when I grow up.

Welcome St. Arbucks*...

...patron saint of all things caffeiney, milkey, caremelly, and (at Christmas time) gingerbready goodness. Mmm...coffee.

A welcome guest on our bus trip today!


*Thanks to Joe for the new name!

On the Road Again

Yup, on the road again - not the Willy Nelson song but it's my life. Currently in snowy Barrie, ON for the Eastern portion of the Christian College and University Fairs. It seems to always snow when I'm here. It didn't start until after the evening and so it didn't have any affect on our event today...still lots of interesting people to chat with. Other than that, it's pretty safe to say that so far the trip has been good...did I mention flying into TO with Lanny McDonald on a trusty Westjet plane? He was going to the Hockey Hall of Fame inductions this weekend.

The one thing that really surprised me when we got here is just how much this seems like home; "this" being this group of people. I only see most of them on these tours and yet in many ways I feel more at home and more myself here than anywhere else. Perhaps its the shared experiences of both travel and work. Perhaps its that we're all brothers and sisters in Christ. All I know is that I am thankful for these friends and am looking forward to enjoying the good times ahead.

Happy Belated Birthday

To all my childhood friends on Sesame Street - they celebrated their 37th birthday yesterday!

I Live By Grace

Silently Affecting Others For Christ. Check out this article by Gary Thomas.

Starbucks anyone?

The funny thing about this cartoon is that it showed up taped to my office door thanks to some anonymous newspaper cutter-outer...I didn't do it. Even better is that I had this same conversation with a friend of mine not that long ago...why is it that a tall is a tall if really it's a small?

Congrats, Keith

One of my favorites, Keith Urban, won male entertainer of the year at last night's CMA awards while Rascal Flatts, another fav, won group of the year!

Here's the rest of the award winners.

Bond, James Bond

All I have to say is:

Casino Royale

Nov. 17, 2006

Who's with me?!

In the news...

It seems like this has been a long time coming and yet here it is in the news. Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity on Sunday and sentenced to hang for the 1982 killing of 148 Shia Muslims in a town north of Baghdad. I don't know how I feel about capital punishment but I am grateful to know that the reign of tyranny at the hands of this man has been stopped...how many will follow in his foot steps is yet to be seen.

Welcome, little friend

My good friends, Fred, Tasha, and Samantha Best

welcomed

Nathan Mark Best

into their family this past Friday, November 3, 2006.

He weighed 8lbs 7 oz

and is perfect!

As I looked down at him, holding him my arms, I couldn't help but think of the Psalmists words in Psalm 139, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be," and be thankful.

*Tash, I hoped the pic was safe to post since you already had it online...if you want me to change it, let me know!

Coffee Art

Even my good friends at Starbucks don't serve it up like this!

I Love Football

Especially when turnover mad riders stun the stamps - if it's not the Eskies, a girl can still go Green! Besides, it's NOT the Stamps - and I get to watch a fourth quarter thriller in the East - even if it was the Argos that pulled it out. Wouldn't it have been something to watch a Winnipeg-Saskatchewan Grey Cup. I would have loved it. Mmmm.....Grey Cup! I love being Canadian!

Yuck!

Heather and I have mice in our garage. I'm not talking cute little mickey-mouse type mice. Not Stewart Little. Nope. Just plain old rodents. Truthfully, they've been there for a while but we pretty much just hoped that they'd go away. No such luck. Last night, however, we came home to find that our peanut-butter baited traps were quite effective...two mousetraps, two dead mice. We got 'em. The problem is that now we have to get them out of the traps and set them again. Now I may be a farmgirl, I'm willing to kill them with a broom if I have to, and I don't crawl up on the table when they run by but somehow the idea of possibly touching one, even a dead one, to let it out of the trap, completely grosses me out. I guess a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do...here's to two more dead mice tomorrow.

It's So Scary

I hope everyone is recovering from their post-Halloween sugar hangover. Once again, the little kiddies were out in full force getting treats and playing tricks...although neither happened at our house!

In honor of the "holiday," I figured it would be worth sharing some of the scary Halloween trivia I found over the last 24 hours.

• Halloween is the second highest spending holiday for North Americans, second only to Christmas
• Halloween ranks 8th on the list of card sending holidays. Who sends cards on Halloween is what I want to know?! (You can admit it if you're a card sender.) Seriously, I don't want cards when there's that much chocolate around!
• British Columbia is the province that will spend the most on Halloween
• Quebec is the province that will spend the least
• Only 54 days left until Christmas...