Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Folklorama
This evening Aimee and I headed out to explore Folklorama. Due to the rain and the fact that we were on bikes we only made it to the Africa-Caribbean Pavillion. It was amazing. The dancing and the drumming was incredible. Here are a few pictures from the evening (sorry the pictures aren't that great because the performers did not sit still for at all).
The Rum Punch was EXTREMELY strong - I couldn't even finish mine - probably wise too because I hadn't eaten supper yet (Don't worry Aimee didn't have both of those glasses either. One was mine).
Reflections
I have been reading a book this summer titled "God is Closer than you Think" by John Ortberg. It's a good book so far (I'm only on page 49). As I was reading the other day something struck me that I thought I would like to share with you. This is what it said:
"Perhaps in God's hiddenness God is up to something. George MacDonald wrote a book about a pastor named Thomas Wingfold, who is troubled by doubt and is inability to know God is present. He decides to make his life an experiment in seeking simply to follow Jesus in spite of his doubts. At one point he is caring for a dying man who has come to faith through his infuence. "I wish I could come back after I die, " the man tells Wingfold, "so you could be delivered from doubts and know for sure about the faith."
Then Wingfold says the words that have stayed with me ever since. "No- even if you could, I wouldn't want you to. I would not see him one moment before he thought best. I'd rather have the good of the not knowing".
That little story intrigued me a little. I have been praying constantly for the right man to come along and sweep me off my feet. I admit that there are even times when I wish I could jump forward into the future to see the man that God has picked out for me and to see the path my life will go down. It hasn't really occured to me prior to reading this book that there might be a reason for the uncertainty and a good of not knowing. If I am too eager to jump ahead, who knows what I might miss out on in the process - the other God moments that I may miss out on because I am so focused on this one thing sometimes. I have been encouraged to enjoy the present moment - the ordinary if you will. God doesn't always speak with a megaphone (actually I have yet to experience that) so rather than focusing and constantly praying about the right guy to come into my life, rather I am praying that my eyes might be opened to the work of God in my life through the small things because chances are I am more likely to find God when he whispers rather than when he yells.
"Perhaps in God's hiddenness God is up to something. George MacDonald wrote a book about a pastor named Thomas Wingfold, who is troubled by doubt and is inability to know God is present. He decides to make his life an experiment in seeking simply to follow Jesus in spite of his doubts. At one point he is caring for a dying man who has come to faith through his infuence. "I wish I could come back after I die, " the man tells Wingfold, "so you could be delivered from doubts and know for sure about the faith."
Then Wingfold says the words that have stayed with me ever since. "No- even if you could, I wouldn't want you to. I would not see him one moment before he thought best. I'd rather have the good of the not knowing".
That little story intrigued me a little. I have been praying constantly for the right man to come along and sweep me off my feet. I admit that there are even times when I wish I could jump forward into the future to see the man that God has picked out for me and to see the path my life will go down. It hasn't really occured to me prior to reading this book that there might be a reason for the uncertainty and a good of not knowing. If I am too eager to jump ahead, who knows what I might miss out on in the process - the other God moments that I may miss out on because I am so focused on this one thing sometimes. I have been encouraged to enjoy the present moment - the ordinary if you will. God doesn't always speak with a megaphone (actually I have yet to experience that) so rather than focusing and constantly praying about the right guy to come into my life, rather I am praying that my eyes might be opened to the work of God in my life through the small things because chances are I am more likely to find God when he whispers rather than when he yells.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
A Mix of this and that
On Friday I had the privilage to go to Rosenort with my dear friend Kristy to visit my blogging friend Amber who is also Kristy's sister-in-law. It 
was a ton of fun. It's funny how you get to know a person, their struggles, their weekend plans, etc through each other's blogs but have not yet met in person. Other than meeting Amber and her adorable little girls, one of the highlights definitely was the cottage cheese perogies with white sauce & snickers pie at the cafe that we ate at the town cafe. Wow, were they ever good! It was a meal fit for a king (or queen). However, playing Ultimate later on in the evening didn't really agree with my heavy stomach from lunch. Oh well, the heaviness was worth it!
was a ton of fun. It's funny how you get to know a person, their struggles, their weekend plans, etc through each other's blogs but have not yet met in person. Other than meeting Amber and her adorable little girls, one of the highlights definitely was the cottage cheese perogies with white sauce & snickers pie at the cafe that we ate at the town cafe. Wow, were they ever good! It was a meal fit for a king (or queen). However, playing Ultimate later on in the evening didn't really agree with my heavy stomach from lunch. Oh well, the heaviness was worth it!
Auntie Kristy reading some bizarre fairy tales to Hailey
The 5 of us
Right: Me and Jayda
After Ultimate, Kristy and I met up with Steph and Aimee at Grant Park to see the movie "Becoming Jane". I must say that it was not a favorite of mine. Perhaps I was not in the right frame of mind to see a very slow and non-action sort of movie (after all the movie did only start at 10:05pm). Even if the movie was not a favorite, it was still good to be able to hang out with the girls.
After the movie we ended off the night at Boston Pizza with some drinks and some twisty bread - Yum!
Oh and girls, we are Definitely NOT Boring!!!!!
Saturday morning somewhat bright and early, my brother Derek and Courtney came by to pick me and Cole up to head out to the lake. We had some relatives out from Calgary so there was a ton of family out there. Thankfully I had Cole to distract me from all of the craziness and provided me with a reason to come home earlier.
Saturday the waves on the water were HUGE! It was not swimming weather not for me and certainly not for Cole. 
So instead of swimming and laying on the beach we played a lot of Bocce Ball with my parents and my grandma. The teams were "The Kids" (consisting of Derek, Courtney, Me and Cole???) vs. the Geriatrics (aka Mom, Dad & Grandma). Just so you all don't think that we are mean to our parents, they were the ones who picked the name out for themselves :)
Even Grandma got into the Bocce Ball
And when there are some close calls, it is always handy to have a tape measure around.
Right: Derek showing off his "style"
On Sunday the water was beautiful. We were able to put the jet ski into the water to do some tubing and waterskiing. By evening the lake was like glass - absolutely perfect. Cole made some huge accomplishments this weekend:
1. Riding a two-wheeler all by himself.
2. driving the jet ski (perhaps next time he will be confident enough to be pulled behind in the tube)
The reason for the big family gathering at the cabin was because my aunt and uncle from Calgary were out for the week to visit with their 2 kids Brittany & Brandon.
Perfect water skiing and tubing weather
Courtney and I
The weekend was jam packed and passed by extremely quickly. It's crazy how there are not very many weekends left in summer to be out at the cabin. I think I have 1 or 2 more weekends left. Very Sad.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Summertime Fun
Today I ended up only have 2 kids to take care of for the day - Cole and my friend Jenn's little girl Amelia. Jenn got off work at 2pm so we decided to take the kids swimming at this great little park close by that has waterslides. What more could a kid want? It was a beautiful day and the pool wasn't too busy which was very nice. Cole and Amelia just loved the pool and it was a nice time for Jenn and I to catch up. It's funny you go to school everyday for 10 months and then all of a sudden you don't see each other weeks at a time. Crazy!
Anyway, here are some of the pictures from our afternoon together at the pool :)
Amelia was off making new friends with the lifeguard.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Another Weekend at the Cabin
I had another beautiful weekend at the cabin. The weather wasn't always great, but for the most part, it was beautiful. I left on Thursday night after our church service and stayed until late this afternoon. Kevin and Dominika joined me and my parents and I on Saturday, which was nice.
The wind was quite strong most of the weekend, so jet skiing, water skiing and tubing weren't really an option this weekend, which was too bad, but we made our own fun in the water diving into the waves, playing many rounds of skip-bo in hopes of bringing Dominika off of her winning throne.
Even Dominika's dog Peanut enjoyed some of the waves ( or at least he put in a good effort despite his wishes).
Bocce Ball
On Sunday evening Dominka, Kevin and I decided to get out the bocce ball set and play a few games. It was myself and Dom versus Kevin. Sadly us girls lost badly, but I must say we gave it our all - it was an extremely competitive game, perhaps a little too competitive at times.
Our "intimidating game faces" ~ next time it is our turn to win
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