dear diary #007
Today the sun was shining. I pulled down the top of the ol cabrio and put on my go to summer song, The Cure’s - Just Like Heaven. No other song can get me stoked for summer as that one. (A close second is Stacey Q.’s- Two of Hearts. Amazing video…I get all my dance moves from her) I can’t believe today is MARCH 28th (Happy birthday Mum!)…seriously, it’s the END of March. I can’t believe that almost three complete months of 2011 have gone by. Insane. A lot has happened in the past two months, maybe that’s a reason why it’s flying by so quickly?
So pretty much every weekend has been filled with oodles of goodness. A couple weekends ago I went over to Vancouver to visit my bestie Rachel before she moved back to VIC!!! and her roomate who happens to also be one of my closest friends, Courtney!! (She WILL be moving back very SOON…right Courtney?)
Such an amazing weekend, arrived late Thursday, slept in Friday, went for an afternoon coffee at Calhouns with Courtney who also happens to be my editor. Looove her. I conquered through some major writing block I was having (yet I need to get on my writing this week!!!!!!!!!!) I picked up a diana mini camera and am so stoked to see my pictures from my first roll, which is waiting for me at Walmart. They say your first roll sucks, hopefully mine turned out as I took a lot of pics that weekend in Van. Anyways, we did a lot of CADTOOL planning…OH MY GOSH we leave in TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and on Saturday me and Rach rented bikes and biked around Stanley Park. It was such a gorgeous day. Hopefully those pictures turned out. It was a beaut weekend. i was sad to leave Vancouver, knowing I don’t have a good place to stay any more. But I am WAAAY happier that my bff is now living in VIC! & Courtney is on her way.
I find myself battling a cold now, a well worth it cold though. This past week I spent the majority of my time with 14 teens. CITYREACH! They volunteered their spring break to grow closer to God through serving our Island! We served in many different ways including at Sanctuary youth centre, Glow Day Camp, Nanoose, at a farm that serves as a rehabilitation centre. (I legit stacked wood for 3 hours straight. I have never done that much manual labor in my entire life.) Ahhh but what an amazing time we had together. To finish the week off we went up to Nanoose to paint. That night at Nanoose we had an incredible time of worship & prayer. It’s so encouraging and amazing to hear the prayers of teens who have such a desire for God to change their schools,families,city. To finish off the night we had an epic bonfire….which also makes me sooo excited for summer bonfires! Ohhh summer, you really are just around the corner.
So yes life has been full. Full & beautiful.
still can’t believe i’ll be in california in two weeks!!!! COACHELLA!!!!!!!!!
until next time diary,
s.s.♥.
“Amongst the rush of a full blown digital age, it is refreshing to remember how music was once solely acoustic; instruments were made of wood, bone and forged metals. As a songwriter I am always under the influence of my surroundings, and when it comes to a creative burst, almost a heightened sense of things; taste, smell and touch. Texture can be a fascinating aspect of the musical journey often lost in mass produced, machine pressed plastic instruments.
Out of these thoughts came inspiration for initiative. I quickly searched the local classifieds for some previously enjoyed upright pianos in need of a new home. I borrowed a trailer from our principal Lee Burns, and enlisted the help of some of my housemates and friends; so began the adventure.
The goal was to combine the flexibility of software based synthesizers and the convenience of modern laptop recording into a unique experience that engages its user beyond their automatic interactions with a keyboard interface. The resulting product is a creaky, slow playing, less than perfect 300kg MIDI controller and a total success. The feeling of broken ivory keys on your fingers, a brass pedal at your feet, and the smell of dust and dirt from the last half century swirls together in a soundscape crafted in a digital universe.
The future of this creation is still undecided and is much less important than the encouragement I hope it provides for other students, or anyone thinking of coming here to Hillsong College, to unlock and express the God given creativity inside each of them.”
- Ian Locke
A special thanks to my good friend Matt Litow who was an integral part of this endeavour; your hard work and attention to detail was incredible.
My bff is moving home after two years of living in Van! I could not be more excited!! This weekend I’m going over for one last adventure…sad to not have a place to stay but more excited for my bff to be HOME!
still stance.
"He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10 NIV2011
Sometimes we’ll run, sometimes we’ll walk, sometimes we’ll crawl and other times we’ll stand still. I felt the latter this past week. I first felt it on Tuesday morning. For the past year and a half, we’ve been gathering Tuesdays at 6:30am to pray for City Youth, for God to move and transform teens in our city. There was a moment where no one in particular was leading out, we all were in our own sanctuary with Jesus and there was stillness across the room. It was there in that moment that I heard Be still and know that I am God in my heart.
The second time I heard it was on Friday morning. My dad was in and out of the hospital and I was waiting to hear when I could pick him up. As I was waiting I turned on CNN. I was overwhelmed by the videos & pictures. I can’t even begin to imagine what people in Japan are going through. As I began to pray, I felt again, Be still and know that I am God.
The third time I heard it was on Sunday night at Adore. It was a beaut time in worship, oh, you know those times when you just feel Jesus so close, like His Spirit is just seeping through you times of worship? Well it was a golden moment and I just wanted to shout/reach/pace/kneel and then I heard it, Be still and know that I am God. That moment felt like a billion rolled into one. It was as if God shut out all other thoughts (which is incredibly hard for us girls, as we do not have a nothing box and can’t help but think of a billion things at once!), people, music, it was as if it was just me and Him. Incredible.
Among destruction, screams, heartache, tears, happiness, depression, joy, busy-ness…as the world spins around you, find the moment to be still and know that HE IS GOD.
stay gold,
s.s.♥.
ps. to donate to Japan relief click here. Keep praying.
Awake my soul.
Ahhhhhhh life,
Do you ever look at your life and say “I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS MY LIFE!! I AM SO EXCITED TO BE A PART OF THIS!!” Or do you find yourself saying “Why is this my life? Why can’t things ever go my way? Why is this happening to me? Woe is me.”
I’d like to say that I always opt to the first response but sadly I choose the latter response more than I’d like to admit. Last week, I was having one of those days. I was going through some personal matters, which I’m choosing not to divulge in as this is kind of like an open diary of my life. Anyways, I was spending way too much time, energy and thoughts on a topic that really didn’t need the time, energy or thoughts. I found myself complaining way too much and just plain depressed.
In the midst of all of this we had an AMAZING guest speaker at our church. One who I had heard before…basically this woman (Marilyn Skinner) is a legend!! Her husband and her founded Watoto Church (20,000ppl church) & Watoto Childcare ministries (rescuing orphans and raising up Uganda’s future leaders). I had heard her first in 2008 at Colour Conference in London and then again last year at Lifewomen Conference. She’s a gifted speaker who is just so anointed by God to bring news of what God is up to in Uganda and WAKE UP men and women.
So what an honour to have such a legend in our midst. The things we could learn from her! It was like a dream come true for me…you think I would be over the moon. BUT no, something was in the way…me. Isn’t it funny how we (our own selfishness) can get in the way of receiving something that is good for us. There I was having lunch with Marilyn, (sitting beside her!) and I was there soaking stuff in, but I was not fooling myself…I could have been more awake to the words God was speaking through her.
But good thing our God gives us a little slap when we need it. It’s not fun to be pwn’d by God, but it’s good. And I felt that wake up slap in a moment. It felt as if my reality had shifted, that He had given me new eyes to see things from a perspective that was beyond own. I felt Him say, "I’m going to be changing women’s lives tonight, whether you are a part of this or not." …
God is moving. He is moving in our world. He is moving in our city. He is moving. How awful is it if we aren’t even aware of what He is doing because we are so consumed with our own problems.
It is up to us if we are going to be a part of it or not. Don’t waste those precious minutes. And oh, the difference in your life when you choose to be a part of what He is doing.
Romans 13 MSG “But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!”
stay gold my dear ones,
s.s.♥.