For The WIN!

On Sunday I got back from a weekend of 18*32 camp!

It was my first time that I have gone to any camp other than family camp when I was really young. I was nervous at first because I wasn't quite sure what to expect since it was a new experience and a new location, but I ended up having a great time! I was able to met and get to know quite a few new friends! I was also able to share memories of Kamloops as I had the opportunity to talk with the worship leader Dan Bremnes during "Mug Up" the first night!

The theme of the weekend was "Winning." The speaker, Alison Springer, spoke on different aspects of winning, and I was challenged and encouraged to continue believing for a WIN in a particular situation that has been extremely difficult and upsetting.

Alison said a few things during the second session that was very impactful! That particular session she was sharing about praying a prayer of faith versus a prayer of hope in the situations we find ourselves in that become our causes. Anyway when talking about her cause she said "Devil, you've chosen the wrong girl!" and "Satan, you're going down...AGAIN!!!!" These two phrases really stuck out to me. I find it so easy to get discouraged when things are going badly...when people who know the truth are turning away from it. It is easy to become upset. It is easy to allow the negative thoughts to come in. Since that session on Saturday morning I have been saying to myself everytime I think of my particular cause "Satan, you've chosen the wrong girl. You've chosen the wrong family. YOU ARE GOING DOWN...AGAIN!!!! God is on our side and we are going to WIN this one!!!! Amen!!" Over and over again this is going through my mind as I declare that in the name of Jesus the battle will be won! We will overcome! This situation won't last forever. The unbelief won't last because God is greater! He desires everyone to love and serve Him, therefore He will battle with us!

Ephesians 6:12-13 says "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."  

God will give the ability for us to stand firm. He will give us strength to battle against the powers of this dark world. He will give us grace to walk through this valley to the other side. And we will get to the other side! We will!

This is for the WIN! Romans 4:20-21

Family Friday

Well Friday has arrived.  Today I leave for 18*32 camp.  Today I am writing my first "Family Friday" post.  I still need a better name for that...

I didn't know where to start with for my family, so I thought I'd start with the youngest in my extended family...my cousin Trae.

It's hard to believe that he is already 7 months!  Time has flown by! 

Trae is my youngest cousin.  He is the only one who I was able to meet while still in the hospital!  I've seen him grow and change...something I wish I could've seen firsthand with all my cousins. 

If I hadn't of moved to SK, I most likely wouldn't have even seen Trae yet.

Trae brings so much joy to our family!  I love little ones, and when they're family it's even better! 

I am so thankful to be your cousin, Trae!  I can't wait to continue watching you grow up and become the man God has created you to be!  I love you!!

No Matter What...

I'm supposed to be getting ready to go to 18*32 Camp this afternoon, but I want to share a song with you all that's been really speaking to me this week.

The song is "No Matter What" by Kerrie Roberts.

There's been so much going on right now that I don't understand.  I can't comprehend why some things are or aren't happening in my life.  For example, I was hoping and praying my good friends from Kamloops would be at camp this weekend with Dan Bremnes, but they aren't.  It's just Dan Bremnes coming and playing with some people from my church.  :(  I won't get to see my friends which saddens me. 

I also don't understand why I feel "silent."  For example, I've been trying to contact/stay in contact with different friends of mine but time after time again they've been either purposefully or not purposefully ignoring my attempts.  It hurts.  It doesn't make sense. 

This song has been a source of encouragement to me in these areas in particularly while reminding me that no matter what happens God is in control and I can trust Him...even when things don't make sense. 

So just sit back and let this song speak to you. 

Well...Youtube's embed feature still isn't working so you'll have to click here to listen to the song.  Sorry about that!

Here...There...

Is it normal to have waves of sadness over moving when it's already been 10 months? 

May and June have been unusually difficult for me.  It all started at the beginning of May when out of the blue I got extremely homesick for BC...  It still comes and goes, but I feel homesick more than I don't right now... 

I know God wants me here, yet I miss my 'other home' so much.  One of my closest friends in Kamloops had her first baby on Tuesday.  An adorable little boy!  I wish with all my heart that I could be there to meet little Nathaniel!  Yet, it appears I won't get to meet him at all this year...and maybe not even next year.  That thought fills me with sadness...  Time is going by, fast, and each day that passes is one day further from when I saw the people I care about. 

I wouldn't trade the months of joy I've had here, nor trade the time I've spent meeting the incredible people here, but all those months can't ever take away from the fact that I spent 9 years in BC.  9 years in the same city.  And in those 9 years I met people that I love dearly!  Being here can't take that away from me, but I feel that as time goes on and distance creeps in that our lives are going to change so much...too much.

I wish I could be in two places at once.  Here with the people I've met but also there with the people I love.  Here with the people that accept me and there with those who have watched me grow up. 

When I was there I wanted what I have now, but now that I'm here I want what I had there.  It's the never ending cycle of 'the grass is greener on the other side'...

I'm just rambling on now. 

Will life always be this way?  Being in one place but wishing for another?  Being tired of getting out of my comfort zone to meet new people and make new friend so I wish for being in my comfort zone with my old friends?  Seeing people walk in and out of my life faster than I can keep up with?  Watching friends lives blossom with marriage and children while feeling like I'm stuck in a rut? 

Ahhh...I don't know anymore.  This rambling isn't making sense!  Haha!  All I know is I'm feeling homesick once again...and I really, I mean REALLY miss my Kamloops friends!  All of them...but today especially Adam and Rachelle...and the chance to meet baby Nathaniel...while he is still tiny!

Book Review: Praying For Your Future Husband

I just finished reading Praying for Your Future Husband, (PFYFH) by Robin Jones Gunn and Tricia Goyer.  I have read many, if not most of Robin Jones Gunn's books, so when I heard about PFYFH I was excited to read it!

Like the other Robin Jones Gunn books, this one was an easy read full of many points that made me stop and think.  I have prayed for my future husband throughout my life, but this book showed me that there is more to praying for our future husbands than just praying for him.  By praying for him our lives will be changed and molded into who God has made us to be.

Both authors, Robin Jones Gunn and Tricia Goyer, shared stories from their individual journeys of life and love, while describing how they came to a place where they began to pray for their husbands.  They broke their life stories into thirteen key characteristics that we need to focus our prayers on.  They describe each area by telling their stories and then give outlines and sample prayers to give the reader ideas to begin praying about.  Throughout the book it becomes evident that if we are open to God working in our lives He will take our love story and make it His love story for us. 

There are so many things I enjoyed about this book!  In fact, I enjoyed every part of the book from the layout, to the incorporation of scriptures.  I definitely would encourage every woman to read it, single or not.  The key characteristics are ones that every woman should focus on praying for their husband, whether they know him yet or not! 

Personally this book reminded me of the importance of setting time aside to pray for my future husband.  I look forward to the day I meet him and see the results of those prayers!  The following remark is from the closing thoughts of PFYFH and it beautifully describes how incredible praying for your future husband is:

"When the day comes that your love story is celebrated by your closest friends and family, you'll know that every prayer was worth it.  Every whispered word from a tender heart is precious to God.  No request is ignored.  No moment spent with your Heavenly Father is wasted.

You might even wish you had prayed more.  Why?  Because your prayers are the first gifts you will give to your future husband.  Gifts in which heaven participates.  Gifts sent ahead before the two of you have even met.  How cool is that?"

Praying for Your Future Husband, page 192

Wow!  Just to think that God takes the prayers we pray and uses them to unite our hearts to the man He has in mind for us excites me!  In the process He also takes our prayers and brings us closer to Him!  It is incredible!

*Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers provided me with a complementary copy in exchange for an honest review of the book.  All opinions about Praying for Your Future Husband are my own.

Friends...for Life

Here is my very first "Peculiar Treasure Tuesday" post!! 

I am going to start this series of posts by writing about my first ever 'peculiar treasure' Megan! 

(At my third birthday party.  Megan on the left, me on the right.)

I honestly don't know when I met Megan.  She was the first friend I ever had!  We probably met shortly after Megan was born...so a few months old or so!  (Okay...so my mom corrected me and told me we were probably two when we met...)

(Me, James (a friend of ours), and Megan at church.)

I have many good memories of the times we spent together when we were young!  When I moved away to a new town at the age of 5 or 6, Megan and I kept in touch by writing letters, and later emails. 

(Megan and I won the church picnic race against our two friends James and Jordan!)

When we were 10 my dad was speaking at the camp Megan and I had gone to in the past.  It was so good to see her again!  I remember camp that year as if it happened yesterday!  I am so thankful for those memories! 

Somehow once camp was over we lost contact for 12 years!  It was unintentional but looking back I wish I hadn't of let the years pass without communicating with Megan!  Yet, God knew how thrilled I would be to get back in touch with my childhood best friend!  (We used to have a pact saying "best friends for life" or something along those lines!  I'm sure she remembers that better than I do...)

(At camp when we were 10.  The last time I had seen Megan.)

This past April my mom and I went to my birth town to see an Easter musical that our old church puts on.  It was going to be showing 3 times.  We went to the Saturday night showing.  When we got there so many people recognized my mom.  I remembered a few of them, and a lot of memories were brought to mind!  There was one lady that I didn't really remember but I won't forget what she told me that night.  She is Megan's grandma and she told me Megan was going to be coming to the church to see Hosanna that night!  I was so excited!  I hadn't seen Megan in 12 years and I was going to see her again!! 

Seeing Megan was like time hadn't past!  Our moms both said we look exactly like we did when we were little!  It's true!  Haha!

(April 2011)

Megan, I am so thankful I saw you at Hosanna in April!  Though many years had passed, when I saw you it was like I had seen you the day before!  That's the beauty of a childhood friendship like ours!  NO matter where life leads us, when we see one another again we can pick up where we left off!  I'm grateful I only live 4 hours away from you now, and I can't wait until you possibly move to my city!!  :)  I am forever grateful for your friendship!!

Honouring Friends and Family

I have officially decided I am going to do a version of "Friends and Family Friday" but I am going to change things up a bit.  If I only do a Friday post it will take forever to go through all my friends and family, so I am going to do two posts a week.  One on Tuesday.  One on Friday.

Tuesday will be "Peculiar Treasure Tuesday."  I love the Robin Jones Gunn books and two of the main characters refer to themselves as 'peculiar treasures' taken from Exodus 19:5: 

"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine."  (KJV) 

"Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession."  (NIV)

I really like the message this verse brings across and I like to claim this Word of God over my life and my fellow 'peculiar treasures' who are the people God has brought into my life!

Friday will be "Family Friday" but I'm still trying to come up with a nice descriptive term to go with it, so if you think of one feel free to let me know!  I need ideas!  Haha!
So tomorrow I'll write my first "Peculiar Treasure Tuesday" post!  I've been afraid to do posts like this because I am afraid of forgetting someone...but I apologize in advance if I do!  There have been so many people who have impacted my life and I want to honour them!  I'll write about the person who God lays on my heart each week...because He constantly brings people to mind.  Some of those people I haven't seen in years, and may never see again, while others are people I see every week.  It will vary.  I am excited to start these posts! 
Oh, and if you ever want to go back to the various posts, I am going to have headings in my linkbar where they will all be listed for easy viewing!