Dare to dream

This last weekend I was at PromiseKeepers in Regina. It was my first conference and it was awesome. Among all the things God placed on my heart, God confirmed in me something he had laid on my heart a few weeks ago. God had reminded me of the dreams he had given me when he called me first into ministry and that there were still some to complete. Today I believe is the start of one of those dreams: Fill the Brain Ministry. I have always had a passion for youth, for equipping them, and to share with them in a broader perspective. Today is the start of this as I launch a new website dedicated to the pursuit of this, and to sharing resources to various age groups to equip them in their spiritual growth and ministry growth. So please visit the website:
Fill the Brain Ministries
and tell me what you think. Leave comments on this blog unless directly related to the content of the website.
Thanks.

How great the father's love for us is....

I just praise God for who He is and what He does. Something big happened in BH this last weekend and I'm not going to talk about it, but the results of it. It was something that I could have ignored or shunned the people involved, but that's not me, because that's not the God I serve. It's amazing how God can take something crappy and use it to remind us of His great forgiveness and love for us.
1 John 1 tells us that if "we confess our sins He(God) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness."
So no matter what you've done, God can take it and clean up your life. And no matter how bad things get you can realize that, if you are a Christian, God has saved you and redeemed your once hell-destined life.

So Long my car..

Well, another one of my junker cars have moved on unto another home. My Caprice Classic was sold for $20, that's right $20. I had discovered that not only was the motor almost shot, but the transmission could barely move the car forward. I actually was looking into moving it out to a farm to die peacefully; with all that was wrong with it, I didn't feel right selling it to anyone I knew. But...
This morning I received a call from a guy looking for a junker for a private stockcar race. He knew exactly what was wrong with it and picked it up for $20 cash.
The car was often made fun of by some of my friends. I enjoyed beating punks at redlights with it, and ripping donuts with it. But my favorite memory was when I surprised a bunch of youth. Someone was yelling at a guy who was biking near my car saying he was going to dent or scratch it. My response was a running kick at the door. The beauty of a junker is you don't worry about silly things like scratches and they don't owe you a thing and can part ways for $20.

Winnie's Bakery

This morning I became assistant baker to my Nana, Winnie. Those of you who are familiar with my family are familiar with my Nana's baking, especially at Christmas. As long as I can remember we have always had a great selection of goodies made by my Nana. Items such as Buttertarts, Spanish peanut square, covered cherries, Nanaimo bars, Peanutbutter Marshmallow squares, lemon loafs, and Christmas fruit cakes to name a few of my favorites. Nana always makes this large variety in large quantities not only for guests at her house, but makes portions for her families as well. You can imagine that such a task doesn't start the week before Christmas, but actually in December. The last few years we've seen the selection and quantity drop as Nana is getting older, but hey who isn't? She doesn't walk around as easily as she used to and her arms have given her trouble. Enter me. She wasn't sure if she could make FruitCakes this year, so I offered myself to help and learn this classic goodie. I really enjoyed myself! One of the highlights was when Nana answered the phone without a clue who it was, "Winnie's Bakery"
So if any of my family is reading this you can thank me and Nana when you enjoy FruitCake this holiday season.

Remember to brush twice a day

Isn't she a beauty? You are looking at the 3rd tooth I have had extracted in the last month. I have unofficially become the poster-boy for what happens if you don't properly take care of your teeth on a regular basis. This particular tooth was the one that was giving me the most problems; intense pain, swelling of my face, pus in my gums. The picture is a little blurred (cellphone camera), but the dark circle in the middle of the tooth is a hole that goes into the middle of the tooth. The other unique thing is that it has 3 roots (2 on the leftside, one in my fingers) and it was a test of strength to pull out. The other tooth they pulled was way in the back and was unusually curved making it difficult as well to pull; so my neck was killing me after over 1 hour of teeth jerking action. Big thanks to my friend Laura-lee Martin for pulling the teeth. She's a student at the dental school in PA and has been very professional in her extraction of 3 teeth. If you haven't heard of the dental school; it's a great thing. The local dentist gave me an aproximation of $180- $400 for the work I have done so far, and at the school it has cost me $0. Sometimes you're on display for other students, but it is really nothing. But the best way to save money and your teeth is to brush, floss, and use mouthwash on a regular basis.