You say; God says

You say: 'It's impossible'
God says: All things are possible
Luke 18:27

You say: 'I'm too tired'
God says: I will give you rest
Matthew 11:28-30

You say: 'Nobody really loves me'
God says: I love you
John 3:1-6 & John 3:34

You say: 'I can't go on'
God says: My grace is sufficient
II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15

You say: 'I can't figure things out'
God says: I will direct your steps
Proverbs 3:5-6

You say: 'I can't do it'
God says: You can do all things
Philippians 4:13

You say: 'I'm not able'
God says: I am able
II Corinthians 9:8

You say: 'It's not worth it'
God says: It will be worth it
Roman 8:28

You say: 'I can't forgive myself'
God says: I Forgive you
I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1

You say: 'I can't manage'
God says: I will supply all your needs
Philippians 4:19

You say: 'I'm afraid'
God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear
II Timothy 1:7

You say: 'I'm always worried and frustrated'
God says: Cast all your cares on ME
I Peter 5:7

You say: 'I'm not smart enough'
God says: I give you wisdom
I Corinthians 1:30

You say: 'I feel all alone'
God says: I will never leave you or forsake you
Hebrews 13:5

Short But Bittersweet.

This isn't gonna be a long post. Just something I need to get off my chest.

God has really been challenging me lately. With pretty much everything in my life. He's been telling me to let go of some things and hold on tight to others. He's been telling me to take chances but also to sit back and wait. It's really hard sometimes. Most of the time I don't want to listen. I just wanna do what I wanna do. But in the end, like always, He knows what's best for me. I've just been struggling with really giving my all to Him...just surrendering and fully letting myself be in His control. It's really tough when He tells me I need to let go of something. Especially when that something is actually a someone. Whether its a boy, a friend, someone that hurt me, or someone that's passed. I've always had trouble letting go. I keep telling myself "what if..?" and that keeps me going. But it's like a drug. I tell myself this, and it's almost like a mantra. And then I feel fine. But that feeling only lasts so long and before I know it, I find myself repeating my "mantra" over and over again. What if he changes? What if he comes back? What if she didn't mean that? What if, what if, what if? It's really hard to not ask myself those questions. I sometimes ask other people too. And I almost always got the same answer. "Just have faith in God." I was honestly starting to get sick of hearing that. Couldn't someone give me a better answer? Something more clear as to what to do? But recently I realized that that was the answer I needed to hear. And maybe hearing it over and over again, was God's way of saying "get it in your stinkin head!" I really do need to just trust in God. If I'm supposed to be with that guy, then it'll happen. If my dad is supposed to sober up, it'll happen. If I'm supposed to stay friends with that girl, then guess what? It'll happen! I am definitely still struggling though. I still find myself asking the "what if" questions. And I honestly don't know if I'll ever stop. But what I do know is that I need to just have faith in God.

"Sometimes God says no because He's preparing you for a bigger Yes."

Don't know if any of that made sense.

Jesus I run to you

There's this band called Lady Antebellum. They're country, but not twangy country. They're also one of my all-time favourite bands. They have a song called "I Run To You". Like most songs nowadays, it's a love song. The chorus goes like this:

This world keeps spinning faster
Into a new disaster so I run to you
I run to you baby
When it all starts coming undone
Baby you're the only one I run to
I run to you

As I was listening to it earlier, I started to think about the words. They're singing about how when things get rough, they run to the one they love for comfort. Now what if we sung this song, but instead of saying "baby", we said "Jesus"? I run to you Jesus, when it all starts coming undone. Jesus you're the only one I run to. Would the meaning of the song change? Or would it merely be intensified? Aren't we supposed to run to Jesus when our lives get tough? Trust in Him and know that He will guide us through? BUT we're also supposed to run to Him when our lives are good. He's not just there to rescue us. He's there to rejoice and dance with us as well! Next time you're listening to a love song, and that special someone comes to mind, try thinking of God instead. Try singing that love song to Him. Or imagine Him singing it to you. Try it. It's pretty amazing.

Honk if you love Jesus.

Text while driving if you want to meet Him.

Pet Peeve alert!! People who text and talk on their phone and do their makeup and read the paper and tie their shoes and..and..where was I going with this? Oh yeah, people who do that stuff while DRIVING! Here's a solution people. Listen up. PULL OVER to text or talk on your phone. Get a bluetooth. Wait till you get where you're going. Tie your freakin shoes before you leave. Do your make-up before you leave. Read the paper while drinking your coffee or wait till you get to work. I really don't care if you're intent on risking your life by doing these things, but please PLEASE don't risk other people's lives. You may not think it's a big deal, but it is. You glance away to look at your phone or the mirror or the top story, and in that 2.7 seconds you're looking away, a child could run onto the road. Your car can go over the center line a tiny bit and hit an oncoming car. Another vehicle could be out of control and hit you. You never know what could happen, so why take the risk? Is that text REALLY that important? Can't your eyeliner wait another 10 minutes? Think about it. Think about it long and hard. The horoscopes in the daily paper aren't more important than someone's life, including your own.

Oh yeah...drinking and driving. Do I even need to explain this one? Don't do it...it's stupid.

Hello there.

I haven't really blogged in awhile. Like...3 months. So I thought maybe I should get back on the blogging train!

A couple quick things that I'll mention are some great opportunities I had over the last little bit. One was being able to attend Gold River's grad. That was great! Everyone looked so good and it was great to be able to see people again! Another thing I got to do was attend Matt & Deanna's wedding. Beautiful! I felt so blessed to be able to share their special day with them. PLUS, me and Matt Pow actually got a decent picture together! That never happens! Haha and a group of us had a photoshoot after, so that was a lot of fun. It was a great day for sure!

College! I am officially a college graduate! I now have two grad caps, each with a tassel showcasing a different year. So weird! College was an amazing experience for me. It was great being part of a class with such diversity. I was the youngest student in my course, and the oldest was 63! But you know what? I rarely noticed the age difference. I was worried about being the youngest, but I felt so accepted right away. It was great! I made some friendships that will last a really long time and I'm so excited about that! There was definitely some rough times throughout the year where I just wanted to quit and thought to myself "why the heck did I do this?!" But then I would pass a homeless man on the street. Or get a hug from a little boy in my practicum. And then I'd remember why. I'm not just going to school to get a title of some sort. I'm going to school to make a difference.

Katimavik! Wow, lots going on with that. In my last post, it said I was maybe in. Now I am FO SHO in! It's pretty exciting. But it's also been a crazy road with everything! I was supposed to find out last week where I'm going, but instead I received an email saying they didn't have the information ready yet. Then a few days later I got another email saying they had a funding cut, and there would be some changes. Those changes included cutting the program to 6 months instead of 9 months, which means 2 placements instead of 3, and I will no longer be receiving $1000 at the end. I will still, however, receive an "allowance" of about $20/week. I should be finding out tomorrow where I'm going...so I will *hopefully* blog again tomorrow with that information! Its gonna be tough being away for 6 months, especially not being home for Christmas, but it's also gonna be an amazing experience and I'm really excited!

Relay for Life! Once again, I entered a team into Relay for Life. Correction, I entered 3 teams into Relay for Life! About 30 people were involved with the Guardian Angel teams and it was great! We did tight&bright/superheros as our theme and we just had a blast. Around 1am, we got the music guy to announce us, and we did our Jump dance from Variety Night in front of the stage. After we finished, the crowd clapped and as we were walking away, the announcer called us back. Apparently about 30 seconds before we started, they had just decided to award the Team Spirit Award to our team, and then when they got to the stage to announce it, we were dancing! How cool is that?! Not everyone could stay all night, which was fine, and almost everyone made it the whole night without sleeping. I admit I fell asleep for about two hours, which is two more hours than last year! I'm not sure how much our team raised, but the whole Comox Valley raised over $100,000! So great!!

Other than that, there hasn't been anything BIG going on that's really blog-worthy. Oh, and I'm blonde again :) I didn't realize how much I missed it!

I'm really really really stoked for summer. I'll end my post with a list of things I'm looking forward to this summer!

Summer 2010:

- TAN! my shorts tan has already started!
- Lake with Tianna this weekend
- Lake/beach/river as much as possible
- Canada Day festivities
- Fireworks in Campbell River on Canada Day
- New camera
- CAMP!! July 11-24!! So stoked!!
- 19th Birthday
- Getting my leather jacket
- Big Time Out
- Multiple camping trips
- Babysitting
- Getting ready for Kaitmavik
- Hanging out and being a teenager!

Summer 2010...its gonna be a gooder!

Brightest Stars

A friend of mine was a little down and I asked if there was anything I could do to cheer him up. He said "write me a song."


I remember it clearly, it was a beautiful day
Sun shining, faces smiling, people laughing
My wrist band was too loose, you offered to hold it
You made me laugh, and I haven’t stopped since

They say good friends are like stars
You don’t always see them
But you know they’re there
And I just wanna say thanks
For being one of my brightest stars

Before that day, we rarely spoke
Mere acquaintances in the world of camp
You like to play tricks on me
Including one involving your truck
But every time, without fail, you apologize

They say good friends are like stars
You don’t always see them
But you know they’re there
And I just wanna say thanks
For being one of my brightest stars

Through the good times and the bad
The fun and the canteen line-ups
We got to know each other
Between the cookies and laughs
The tears and random conversations
We became friends

And they say good friends are like stars
You don’t always see them
But you know they’re there
And I just wanna say thanks
For being one of my brightest stars, brightest stars
I just wanna say thanks
For being one of my brightest stars

Times are a'changin

Funny how things can change so easily and so quickly.

A few months ago, I was set on moving to Victoria this summer with two of my best friends. I was planning on getting a job and living there and having a great time.
Now I might be spending 9 months abroad in Canada if I get accpeted into Katimavik (http://www.katimavik.org/). If I don't get in, I'll be getting a job, but still living at home. I may move out in town somewhere. I may not.

Friends have changed. Some changes good, some not so good. Some changes I hope don't last forever. Some changes I hope last a lifetime.

My medical record has changed. I've had a swollen gland for over three months. I may have to get surgery.

I've changed. I've come to realize some things. Like no matter how good a friend is, they're gonna hurt you sometimes. And when God says something will happen, it will, even if it takes awhile. I've grown into a better leader. I've noticed who my friends are and how amazing they are. I've changed because I've learned to accept things as they come. I may not like it, but sometimes there's not a lot I can do. So I'm just gonna keep smiling and going forward. If I fall, I know who's gonna be there to catch me. And that gives me hope.


“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction”
- Winston Churchill

Why Wait?

I'm going to start by saying in NO WAY am I saying this whole Haiti ordeal isn't a big thing or important. And I'm not sure if this will all make sense, I'm just speaking about how I feel.

But what I wanna say is I don't get why when something big happens like this (Haiti), that it becomes the ONLY charity. Everyone's telling everyone to donate to Haiti (again, I'm not saying don't donate or anything like that, its a great cause) but what about the other charities and causes? Cancer, MS, AIDS, Poverty in our own communities and SO many more. They're all put on the backburner. Haiti becomes "more important". Just because one thing happens, doesn't make all other problems disappear and I think some people don't realize that. Don't just think "Oh someone else will donate to cancer research, so I don't have to." If everyone thinks that, then nothing will be done. Cancer won't be cured, and neither will other diseases or causes.

Why do we have to wait for something like an earthquake to step into action? Why wait for the explosion before we lend a hand? Are we going to wait for the death rate of AIDS infected people to sky rocket before we decide to help? Are we going to wait till 80% of our population is living in poverty before we offer our resources?

Why wait, when you can help now.

Pit Stop.

I have some time between classes, so I decided to do a new post, since I haven't in close to a month!

So far, 2010 has been a pretty good year. School started again and it's been alright up to this point. Haven't done a lot of assignments yet, but I have quite a few on the way. I really like my classes. This semester our program was split, so instead of having 25 people in my class, I now have 15. We got some new people as well so it's been really cool getting to know them. In a couple of my classes, we sit in a circle instead of at desks and I find that so much better because I can see everyone and it just makes the whole atmosphere comfortable. We have some really great discussions and I love learning all the stuff I'm learning. I have an interviewing skills class, which I didn't think I would like at first, but I LOVE it! My other classes are Ethics in Social Work, Psychology, Social Welfare in Canada, Foundation of Social Work, and my practicum.

My practicum! I'm doing my second practicum at Wachiay Friendship Centre in the Homeless Outreach Program with Miranda Blomquist. I've gone 3 times now and I'm loving it! And I love it for multiple reasons. One, its different everyday so I'm never really doing the same thing all the time. Two, it's getting me closer to what I really wanna do, which is work in a woman's shelter. Three, it's just so much fun and Miranda is great to work with, as well as the other people who work at Wachiay.
I get to work with homeless people, as well as people who are just struggling to keep their homes. I've met some really inspiring people so far. One guy, Gabriel, is awesome! He's in his twenty's and he's just gotten a place to live. I got to meet him on my first and second days. He's got a great sense of humour and is really sweet. It's amazing because if I had just seen him on the street, I probably wouldn't have given him a second look. But now that I know him, I see what a great person he is even with his disabilities.

Well, I gotta head to class soon. So I will end my post for now, and hopefully I'll be back on before another month has gone by!

I hope everyone is having a great week so far and that all is well!!
I will leave you with a random quote.

It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear.

Cool eh?

TwentyTen.

New Years Eve was pretty fun. Hung out with a couple friends, Ashley and Save, and we went to Nanaimo to go shopping for a bit and then later in the evening we got dressed up and went party hopping to see some people. Once we got back to Ashley's (around 2) we had Iced Tea and toast, then went to bed. A lot of people don't believe us that we didn't drink any alcohol. Silly people.

This morning I was awake at 9am getting ready for the annual New Years Day Polar Bear Swim! We were part of the Lucky team, so as "Lucky Girls", we got to wear Lucky jerseys to the swim. We didn't wear them in the water though. As we were waiting, we were wearing sweatpants, sweaters, and housecoats over our bathing suits. Then when there was 5 minutes left, we all went down onto the beach. This year the swim was at Saratoga Beach. I think it was worse waiting to go in than actually going in! As soon as the guy yelled go, at least a hundred people ran screaming into the water. And let's just say it was good surfing weather! Windy with lots of waves, and a bit of rain.



We ran in till we were about waist deep and then dove in. And HOLY POOP ON A STICK it was cold! But it was so worth it! It was a lot of fun. Ashley and Save had to go in twice cause they skipped out on it last year. After we dried off a bit, we put our Lucky jerseys and sweatpants back on. Then we headed to Ashley's parent's friend's (thats a mouthful) place for chili, hot dogs, and beer. I took one tiny sip of the beer cause I was a "Lucky Girl" and then a big mouthful of chili. I hate beer. It's disgusting. We hung out there for a bit and it was really cool cause I had just met most of these people but it didn't feel like it. I felt really welcome there.



After a but we went back to Ashley's. First thing we did was crawl into Ashley's bed and have a 3 hour nap. It was MARVELOUS! I love naps! Unfortunately we had to get up cause I had to go home. Except for a quick stop to pick something up last night, I hadn't been home since Wednesday morning. So I got home, had dinner, and now am doing this. I'm thinking it's just about time for bed!

I'll finish off this post with some New Years Resolutions/Goals:

- Get a job
- Save money
- Get in better shape by June
- Finish my first year of college
- Stay involved with Thrive.
- Do more with my friends and family
- Move out successfully in August
- Find a good job in Victoria
- Stay alive