Quotes of all Shapes.

~Be still and know that I am God.

~Carpe-Diem! (Sieze the Day!)

~Start with the positives, then the negatives.

~There are very few things in life that are worth fighting about.

~To be mimicked is the most authentic form of flattery.

~SIMPLIFY! SIMPLIFY! SIMPLIFY!

~Don't try to understand me! Just love me!

~What to say about all these unsayables?

~Chocolate makes my clothes shrink.

~Hope and faith are focused and things greater; things beyond. Love is our reaction.

~I don't want to be crippled from action by fear of failure.

~Most things work the same at a micro level as at a macro level.

~Did Adam and Eve have belly-buttons?

~This too shall pass.

~The forgetting of God inevitably places us right back where we need Him again.

~Be someone worth remembering

~Following Christ is like riding a bike. If you are not going anywhere you fall off.

~Our marriage was made in heaven. So was thunder and lightning.

~If you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie-wipe the seatie.

~Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required.

~The life you live today is the life you live.

~If you think the same thought about an issue more than once you are likely worrying about it.

~ Focus on the things you can do and not the things you can not.

~Contentedness is not a product of circumstances but one of a positive, optimistic, contented attitude. It is a choice.

Dandelions

I wrote a blog titled 'Fake Plants'. I was thinking again about fake plants but this time I was thinking about real plants too. I like real plants. I like Hydrangea flowers, wild sunflowers, large acacia trees, large any tree and sometimes even dandelions. The thing that crossed my mind was that I desire something real but at the same time there is a big difference between reality and roses.
I am 21 years old now. I know that is not old and that I am just at the start of my adult life. My sister told me once that 20's are hard. I did not really put much thought into it when she said it but I am finding that she was right. This is the time in life where you set the foundations to a certain degree for the rest of your life. That seems like a pretty significant task. The more I dig into life and see what this whole living thing is all about, the more I realize life is not always roses. Nope, it is reality. It is disappointing sometimes. Disappointing that adults struggle with the same things that teenagers do. Disappointing that it all gets more complicated. Disappointing that people are still starving (in all senses of the word). Disappointing that I still can not seem to be the person I desire to be, and disappointing that life is not rainbows and chocolates. That seems like a whole lot of disappointment.
Now why is that way? I want reality but reality seems to let me down sometimes. My dad once said that in some ways the quality of life for people measures down to how they deal with disappointment (however he said it much more eloquently). I think there is a lot of truth in that. Life can be hard, so how do we deal with it?
I mentioned dandelions earlier. They seem to make their way into our lives the same what reality tends to strike. No one really loves dandelions after the point at which they no longer are good candidates for picking for your mother. They are a weed. However, have you ever looked at a lawn that is nicely speckled with yellow dandelions. Although they are ill-intended (if that is a word) there is something slightly lovely about them. How can it be that something that seems to cause so much trouble can actually have a hint of beauty to it? I think it can. I think it does. I think it is the same in life. We live in a cursed world, full of hardship and struggle. But none the less a loving God has still given us grace and hope. I see it all the time in the beautiful things all around. Reality may strike, but look around you! The world is filled with beauty! I desire to hang on to the one who created all the beauty, the one who wont lie to me about what life really has to offer.
I am having trouble in my mind pulling all these thoughts together. Perhaps I am missing the punchline. I think what I am trying to say is, I still don't like fake plants. I still want is reality. In the difficulty it I still want to find hope and beauty. Maybe, I should learn to enjoy the dandelions.

p.s. I hope that made sense but I feel like maybe it did not. Those who know me know that this is the story of my life.

Tried Tested and True

It is late again but I have found that once again just before I would like to be asleep my brain turns on and begins to think. I am sure I am not the only one who is wide awake when I should be getting sleepy. :)

I have found myself on this cold winters night thinking about genuine love and relationships. I have been thinking about how the two end up very directly in relationship to each other. I have been in several meaningful relationships. I am not just talking about romantic ones.

Take a moment to think about your relationships. Who are your best friends? Who is your closest companion? Who are your acquaintance's?

Now take a moment to think about why those relationships hold the status that they do. In my life, my most meaningful relationships have been time, tested and true. My parents and family have put up with me through thick and thin. My closest friends have been the ones who have been accepting of me and I of them in hard and good times. These are the people that I have laughed with, cried with, resolved conflict with, and done dishes with.worked many hours to resolve conflict with. These are the relationships that have been tested.

I am not talking about fluffy feelings. I am not talking about affection. I am talking about genuine, profound, action love. The kind of love that could only be inspired by a being who has a heart that is love.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Wow! Either directly or indirectly every single adjective about love comes into play as an antidote to broken relationships. Could it be possible that discovering genuine love is really a series of tests? I mean, in most relationships, a lack of understanding of love or not responding in love is what breaks people apart. But when you come up against a situation where you choose to 'love' then you gain a more deep relationship but also a deeper understanding of genuine love. Think about it, maybe the relationships we have that are not as meaningful, or strong are the ones that have never been tested. Maybe love has not been tried in them yet.

Let me shift this to another level. We are all searching for true love. Seriously, who do you know that has no interest in finding true love. God truly loves us. He extends His love to us all the time. It seems that in the most trying times of our life we see most clearly how much we need to accept His love. When we accept it, we grow closer to an understanding of true love, we grow closer in relationship with God, we better know how to give love to others. I am having trouble fully wrapping my mind around the implications of this. Is are relationships ultimately a response to love? Think of how many ways this impacts relationships of all levels. Yikes.

All I know is that the love of God is and always be tried, tested and true. That is it.

I am not sure this makes sense at all. I am just pondering things that are bigger than me.

How do you respond when love is tested?

~Charis Vaags

Tis' The Season

As you may have noticed, I have written below two poems. They are both poems that a little bit fit with where I am at this Christmas Season. I am struggling to ignore the darkness that has so penetrated this world. I am finding it difficult to sit comfortably in my wool socks and sweater, fully loaded with Christmas baking without a second thought towards a large portion of the world. How many people have the opportunity to stop and actually celebrate Christmas? What about those who are frozen on the city streets? What about those who are fighting to survive until tomorrow, not to mention today. What about those who are losing their families to HIV Aids or war? Do most people on a global setting actually have time to think about what Christ did and what Christmas is about? I do not even know if I have taken sufficient time to meditate on that.
Why do I get to be comfortable?
I do not know the answer to why I have been graced with so much...but the only answer that seems to surface is hope. We have hope in Christ, even in the darkest circumstances we still have hope in a loving savior.
What about you; reader? What are your thoughts? Any advice or good solid theology?

Tale of Many Tales

Tales and tales of heartbreaks I hear
Though none bring true depth to what becomes clear
No words, no pictures, no stories would tell
The implications of when my heart shattered; fell.

A brewd of hungry lions less damage would do
than the pain inflicted on me by you
I refuse to drown in the ocean of tears
However my pain is the least of my fears

Explain the change that took on your heart
What stole you? Broke you? Then tore you apart?
I watched, and wept from the distance you held me
I prayed that it would leave you be.

I stare into your clouded, dull eyes
They tell tales beyond your attempted disguise
Where is the sparkle, the joy and delight
that through your eyes used to take flight?

What ales you and steals your very soul?
What has replaced the heart, the passion, the goal?
All that is worthy, noble and true
Not long has it been since those defined you.

A battle is raging within you and for you
Have your eyes been shut so you can't see through?
Someone is longing to protect you from harm
To guide you away from the devils charm.

I beg you to turn, to remember His love
To remember the hope beyond and above
A hope and a future;gifts that He offers
A hand to hold in a pit full of scoffers

Your heart, your soul, allow His love to save
Let Him rescue you from the place which you are enslaved
Focus your eyes back on truth and on life
Not on futile pleasures which bring endless strife. *

~Charis Vaags

Broken Unknown

This is where the rubber hits the road
All that is common is overload
Her timing in life has been misplaced
to her surroundings, she is disgrace

Does anyone hear her crying?
Does anyone know her pain?
Or does it all go unnoticed?
Does her spirit sink to a place of shame?

This is where she can't feel her toes
Under the winter-bitten bridge where she's stowed
Warn out finger gloves all full of holes
The shelter's free blanket wont keep out the cold

Can you see the frost bite;
Her skin pale white?
Do you realize how much
she tries to put up a fight?

If you meet her some day
what is it you will say?
Or will you walk by?
Will you pretend it's okay?

Read the story behind her broken eyes
Trace the lines on her face
Where are they from?
They speak no lies.

Who will tell the story
of the un-kept
the unknown,
unwanted
reject?

~Charis Vaags

Fake Plants

Hmmm...Let me ask you a question. What do you think about fake plants? Are you the type who likes to add a little green to your surroundings but do not want to have to water and care for green things that actually breath and drink? Or are you someone who loves to have a jungle in your front room? Big plants, small plants, exotic plants, red plants blue plants? What is your take on the situation?

I am personally a non-fan of fake plants. I like plants, they make living space feel clean to me. I find it nice to have something that is recycling and utilizing the air that you breath out. How cool is that. I like to have something that grows, and is pretty. Plants do not have a soul but they are alive. It is so nice to know that an inanimate object like a plant has still been given structure and ability to function. What is even more amazing is that there is the ultimate of creativity and science who has thought all this up.

I think sometimes we miss the point. What kind of mindset was formed prior to manufacturing fake plants? Why would we settle for a cop out of what has been created for us. Personally I would much rather immerse myself in God's intriguing creation than to settle on a fake version of it.

How many things in life are like this? How many things are we settling for sub-par levels on? Do we skirt around having real relationships and settle for shallowness? Do we strive to do the bare minimum rather than trying to be as productive in the life we have been given as possible? So we settle for fast food rather than taking full advantage of a nutritious meal? Do we watch movies rather than discovering our own story? Do we settle for an image that someone else has set and paint our faces before going out each morning? It would seem there are a lot of subjects in life in which we choose the fake. I do not know.

I really am not against people who like fake plants, or eat fast food, or even wear makeup. I do wonder why we do what we do. What worldview lingers at the root of these practices? I think it is a good thing to pull things up by the root and look at them. I apologize if I am rambling....but I think that that is what a blog is for not?

Enjoy your greenery!
*

Mama We! A cha cha cha!

Sometimes I like to pull out the very little kinyarwandan that I know just to add a little bit of diversity. The title directly translated means " Whoa Mama...hiyiyi".

If you are reading this, you have most likely noticed that I have only just began to post again since like 2 years ago. I was just reading some of my old posts and boy do things sure change. Watching others as well as yourself grow up in and interesting thing. It seems to happen very fast. Any of you with younger siblings would no exactly how this feels.

I sometimes like to look at where I have been and see where I am now because it enables me to be more thankful for how Christ has brought me so far. And in a few years it will be even farther. Just a thought.

It is good to take a minute to realize how much there is to be thankful. This blog is called Jubilation way. A way that is to be sought out and found. But it is a way of joy in it's most genuine form. Only a regular interaction with Jesus can manufacture this true joy. So here I am, continuing onward in the way of Joy, sometimes straying from it but still going.

Highschool....AGAIN?

Well hello,
I know it has been a long, long time since I have written on here. But I figured I would start this blog up again.
So this last year has been a roller-coaster of a year. From September of 2008 to June of 2009 I had the opportunity of traveling around with 11 other wonderful people. We were a traveling arts team, spreading the gospel and Christs love all over, including Rwanda, Africa and England. Yes, it sounds very exciting and let me tell you, it sure was. But I will try to write about some of my experiences with that another day. Today, I want to write about Highschool...again?

Yes, I have managed to land myself back in Highschool. No, I did not fail grade 12. I graduated in 2007 with all the required courses and marks. I am back in a highschool taking fashion design. I am taking five classes everyday, from 8:45 until 3:30. How weird is that. I am really enjoying it.

I am learning a ton and decided that gaining some more sewing and designing skills to the ones I have accuired would be a good thing to do. The funny thing is, I get to have this whole high-school experience from the perspective of someone who has been there and grown out of all of it.

Just to give you a little background, I went to a Christian private school with approximately 300-400 students for my entire school career. That's right, kindergarten to grade 12. So unlike all of my four older sisters I did not get sent to scary public school in Oakbank in grade 10. I have always sort of miffed about that however because I have always felt a little naive to what really goes on outside of the bubble and how to respond to it as a follower of Christ. Here is the funny part. I've gotten to have a solid foundation in my faith in education for all those years and now I am at a huge....900 student public school. It is like culture shock but not really. I have to learn all those hallway traffic rules so that I do not keep getting run over by people. There are SO MANY PEOPLE! It is crazy. I am loving getting to know them.

I am in classes with grade niners, tenners, eleveners and twelvers. So I get to know a lot of youth. Which I love, because I love youth!

Funny story. I went to a grade 12 assembly where they were talking about new rules and how the grade 12's had to come to class or they would fail and all that good stuff. It was like a blast from the past. They were talking about feild trips to universities and representatives from those Uni's coming to persuade you to go to their university, and how they were the oldest and needed to be good examples. Already they are talking about grad dresses and parties! Yikes. Apparently, Graduating from Highschool is one of the most powerful experiences...snicker snicker*

Well, I just thought I would share some of this blast from the past experience with you.
*

Winds Blow

WE CANT CHOOSE WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS,
BUT WE CAN ADJUST OUR SAILS. *

Mexico!

So I have not posted for a while. Partially becuase my life is normally quite time consuming, partially because I simply have not been in the mood to write. Generally, I love to write. However, I find it almost pain-staking (however that is spelled), to write when I am just not in the mood. It is like forcing words that just dont seem eloquent in the least. Anyhow, I am at this point in the mood to write. I am in a bit of a thinking mood, thus, writing is good.

So a couple of weeks ago, I went on a short term mission trip to Mexico; Juarez, Mexico. Juarez is a city that is just across the US border. It is a city that is almost connected to El Paso. Anyhow, it is a very poor city in some parts. The theory behind some of the poverty is that many Mexicans spend their money to move to a bordering city to the US in hopes that eventually they can find themselves a life in the United States. This creates a lot of people moving in and out of Juarez. Anyhow, I went there with my school and built six very simple homes for six different, wonderfull families. It was a very good experiance. You might be wondering, "Was it life changing?" This is a question that people keep asking. For myself, I am not sure of the answer and I dont know if that is a bad thing or not. I went to Haiti in 2001 with my family to help out in an orphanage (in, I think, Port du Point). Now that was a life changing experience for me. I think that, that trip opened my eyes to the fact that there is an entire world out there. It is a world that is completely different than my North American World. The world is full of colour. It's a world full of unique and different cultures, and different ways of life. It is a beautiful world full of diversity and I love it. However, much of the world is also full of issues that I have never had to deal with, such as poverty, disease, malnutrition/ malnourishment, crime, ect. These are some of the things that have allowed me to have a bit more of a global perspective. I think that with the Mexico trip, I already had this perspective and awareness developed. I am very thankfull that I have had some opportunity to travel. As for Mexico, I found that I really loved it there, like I really felt like I was doing something that had a purpose while I was attempting to speak spanish and talking to the family I built a house for (not just me...my whole house building team). I fixed a tiny, tiny little bit of poverty, but more importantly, I showed that there is a God who creates a desire in someone to love a complete stranger. The families that recieved new homes, hopefully felt the love of God and found hope in it.

*I would insert a picture here but I dont know how. HA who would have thunk it?

I am leading a discussion in my Sunday-School class tomorrow and I decided to discuss poverty and how God has commanded His followers to treat the poor and the needy. I am hoping that It will go well. In the last couple years I have put a fair bit of thought into how I need to treat the poor, in my everyday life, and in my views and such. I think I have come to the conclusion that I most definately need to help the poor and the needy, and if God calls me to sell all that I own to do so, then I should. But in the mean time, I need to approach my own wealth with the adittude of gratitude. God has given me what I have, and for that I need to be gratefull. There is a verse in Psalms that says something about praising God for the lot in life that He has provided and how pleasant it is. I like that.

I dont want to be all over the place and hard to follow in my writing, but do you ever feel like you just need to travel? I have itchy feet! Meaning I really want to travel. I love traveling! I love that you can discover different cultures and lifestyles when you travel. I love seeing something new and different than what I am used to. I like the Southern States in the US. Everyone seems to have a front porch. I was at a gas station in Georgia one time and I saw a bunch of old men sitting on an old tire in the middle of some yard chatting. It was like seven in the morning. I just thought that was so cool. Another thing that is cool is that you dont even have to travel to find different cultures. Just go the the inner city in Winnipeg. I volunteer in the inner city of Winnipeg and I have found it so interesting that there seems to be a whole different culture there, than what I am used to. I guess I am just a culture nerd.

Anyhow...time to end this mammoth. Goodbye and Have a lovely time.

WHITE OUT

Wow, once again, we have had a huge downpour of snow. Everything looks so clean. I love it. So, as you probably know, St. Valentines has come and gone. Luckily for me, I have a boyfriend, hee hee, not to brag or anything. Anyhow, I decided that skating is one of the most wonderful things to do with a boyfriend. I have always loved skating, but add a boyfriend to the picture and it is like the cherry on top of the cake....well except I dont like those cherries. Anyhow, Happy Valentines Day even though it is late.

So my school put together a fantastic fashion show to fundraise for the trip that I, and my classmates are going on, to Mexico. It went very well. I was one of the Models and it was a very fun experiance. Maybe I will take up professional modeling......well probly not. Ha! I think being on stage is something that, even though it scares me, I really enjoy. You should try it sometime. It can be intimidating but it is really a very rewarding experiance. Well...thats all I have to say. Since it snowed so much, I feel like I should say Merry Christmas! But it is the wrong month, so, I will refrain. Goodbye

Jubilation Way

I was reading a friends blog, and her expression of the hurt in her life actually comforted me in the way that I feel less like I am the only one who feels the way I have been feeling lately. (Thanks Julie) I am beginning to realize that life is full of pain and hurt and that this part of life is inescapable. God is near during the pain if I let Him be near. However, life is full of wonderfull things as well. Wow! If anyone is reading this they are probably like, "Yikes! that person must have had her head in the clouds if she is only beginning to realize this obvious fact of life! " :) I guess I could expand on my thoughts in saying that I am learning that it is, most definately, how you decide to react to life that makes it a joyous one or a miserable one. I councelled at Simonhouse Bible Camp this year and in 'Singsperation' (Chapel) We sang this one song. It was called the glory song. It was a very funny song where these little creatures called the glories would react to everything in life with a Hallelujah!Glory! These creatures live in Jubilation wood and had bedsprings for legs so that they could keep jumping around. It was just a kids song but it was actually a very impacting song for me. You see, I really struggle with seeing the bad in life, rather than the good. Now in this kids song, the message was, Life can be misery or life can be Glory. This is completely true. Not to say that life is never miserable or hard. I dont know if I am making any sense at all because lately I cant speak very clearly.

Anyhow, this discovery was the reason I decided to call my Blog, 'Jubilation Way'. In my life, I am longing to discover the way of joy, or the Jubilation way. So far what I have discovered, in short, is that the way of Joy is a life of Christ; a life for Christ. More specifically, I am discovering that joy comes with a thankfull heart. Also, joy comes with a giving and a loving heart, and a serving heart. The one I think I need to work on most is learning to live my life with an adittude of greatfullness to God for everything He has given and done in my life. This a view that is not conducive to the North American, or just the human view that we should always want more. It has been more and more apparent to me, that being a little Christ is really not so different than being an alien to the world. In other words, being a Christian really does look much, much different than being someone who fits neatly into society. So, that is my babble for today. blahblah blah. Goodnight.

babble

I was reading a friends blog, and her expression of the hurt in her life actually comforted me in the way that I feel less like I am the only one who feels the way I have been feeling lately. (Thanks Julie) I am beginning to realize that life is full of pain and hurt and that this part of life is inescapable. God is near during the pain if I let Him be near. However, life is full of wonderfull things as well. Wow! If anyone is reading this they are probably like, "Yikes! that person must have had her head in the clouds if she is only beginning to realize this obvious fact of life! " :) I guess I could expand on my thoughts in saying that I am learning that it is, most definately, how you decide to react to life that makes it a joyous one or a miserable one. I councelled at Simonhouse Bible Camp this year and in 'Singsperation' (Chapel) We sang this one song. It was called the glory song. It was a very funny song where these little creatures called the glories would react to everything in life with a Hallelujah!Glory! These creatures live in Jubilation wood and had bedsprings for legs so that they could keep jumping around. It was just a kids song but it was actually a very impacting song for me. You see, I really struggle with seeing the bad in life, rather than the good. Now in this kids song, the message was, Life can be misery or life can be Glory. This is completely true. Not to say that life is never miserable or hard. I dont know if I am making any sense at all because lately I cant speak very clearly.

Anyhow, this discovery was the reason I decided to call my Blog, 'Jubilation Way'. In my life, I am longing to discover the way of joy, or the Jubilation way. So far what I have discovered, in short, is that the way of Joy is a life of Christ; a life for Christ. More specifically, I am discovering that joy comes with a thankfull heart. Also, joy comes with a giving and a loving heart, and a serving heart. The one I think I need to work on most is learning to live my life with an adittude of greatfullness to God for everything He has given and done in my life. This a view that is not conducive to the North American, or just the human view that we should always want more. It has been more and more apparent to me, that being a little Christ is really not so different than being an alien to the world. In other words, being a Christian really does look much, much different than being someone who fits neatly into society. So, that is my babble for today. blahblah blah. Goodnight.

Twelve

YIKES! Twelve people in one family is a lot of people! Yes, I do have twelve people that are in my family now. Before today there were only eleven and now there are twelve. You see, I have four biological sisters, two foster siblings(a brother and a sister), one adopted sister (all of them would be adopted if it were possible) , one brother in law, two parents, and now a newborn baby girl who we will hopefully adopt as well. So that is the newest thing in my life. It is exciting and a little bit frightening at the same time, newborns and toddlars make for a busy life. I am excited to see how much more God will work in my family. He has done so much to shape and mold my family into something more than anyone could have ever imagined. Well, I just felt the need to share that bit of information with my blog viewers, which there arent very many. goodnight, or whatever the time, I hope it is grand.

Shopping?

Oh my! I have not written since October and it is December. That is ridiculous !
So I embarked on a trip to Albertsville, Minnisota along with a bunch of my Aunties and female cousins. It was a shopping trip and our goal...well the point of the trip was to find as many deals as possible and also to spend time with eachother. So I went and thought it would be a grand old time to hang out with my reletives..and it was..I quiete enjoyed the company that I was in. Now the thing that troubled me when I got there was that I was in basically the temples of materialism. You see, Albersville is an outlet mall town and we went during thanksgiving weekend..so it was incredibly busy. This last year escpecially, I have been feeling really convicted about the issue of matirialism and the over-consumption that North America partakes in. So I felt a little disgusted actually at the fact that their were long line-ups into a "Choach" store at twelve o'clock at night. (Coach is a major brandname store with purses and shoes and stuff that is incredibly expensive...even in the thousands of dollars). So yah...the whole scene just urked me a bit. It also urked me that I was in that and I was shopping. In the end I did end up buying stuff and spending lots of money but I wasn't being ridiculous about it...most of the stuff I bought I needed and a lot of it was Christmas presents. Dont get me wrong...I dont think it is wrong to buy things. God has blessed me with wealth and has placed me in this culture not another for a reason... I have the capability of being well fed, healthy and clothed and educated. I think it is wrong to over consume. I think that God wants us to live simply and care for the poor and be consientious about the poor. Now on the other hand God chooses to make some people very rich. It is entirely possible that there are very God loving millionaires out there. So it is a very complex issue and I am personally haveing trouble explaining how I feel and where I stand on it. Any thoughts?
*sorry about the poor grammer and spelling**

YUCK!!

Some would say this is a funny storey...and perhaps some day I will laugh at it but I still think it is gross. My mom just recently baked some pumkin pies and they were sitting on the counter when I got home from school yesterday so I took a tiny slice. It was delicious! So I took another tiny slice, it was also delicious. So I took another tiny little slice...they were really only slivers...now this slice was also quite enjoyable....until..I felt my teeth crunch on something hard. So I took that hard thing out of my mouth and while rushing out the door so that I wouldn't be late to where I was going, I realized what it was. IT WAS A TOOTH!!! GROSSSSSS!! What an unpleasant experiance. So you see, my little sibling is at the tooth-loosing age and I guess one of her teeth found its way into my tiny slice of pie, how does that happen? I guess I will never know. Certainly I must not be the only one who runs into these odd experiances. Doesn't everyone?

Puppies For Sale

About eight weeks ago nine little puppies were born to my lovely dog, Abbey. However, only six of them lived past the first week. But that is alright because that is how it works with puppies sometimes. So I now have eight gorgeous, fun, friendly, wonderfull puppies but I am at a little bit of a tough spot with them. You see, they are right at the age that they need to be trained and I am unable to train six little puppies all at once, well actually only five because one of them already is in a new home. So my puppies are quite expensive to feed and I am not exactly raking in the cash, hence I am trying to sell. However, it would be my preference to just give them away but I have to somehow pay for the food that they have been eating. It is to bad. Everyone who wants a dog seems to be set on having a purebred dog...why? My dogs are fantastic dogs and they are very well tempered, plus, they look nice and they dont cost tons. Oh well. Oh yah...back to my need to sell my pups. So I made some of those signs that have the rip off phone numbers and put a couple of them up in my neighborhood but I only got one phone call. I also put one of those handy signs up in my school. The funny thing is, is that all the little phone number stubs have been ripped off but no one has called me....yeeshkers...at least call me if you are going to destroy my sign!!! I still would really like to randomely give my puppies away so maybe I will try to strike a bargain that makes that possible. We will see. A neat idea that my boyfriend suggested was to give them out in Osborn Village, possibly to street kids. That sounds like a good plan to me. Well we will see what happens. I would put a picture on here to show you what my puppies look like but I dont really have a way to do that. So I will just tell their genious names.
Ok, there is Layla (she is white with freckles on her tummy and some beige spots), Philip ( probly the sweetest dog you will ever meet. He is a little bit shy. He is black with brown eyebrows), Then there is Theo ( Which is short for Theodore. He is beige and very, very cute. He will probly look like his mama someday.), then there is Phoebe ( she is an incredibly cute puppy, she is a little bit more fluffy than the rest and is blond) Then, lastly, there is Toby (which is short for Tobasko (isn't that cool) He is incredibly friendly and he is brown and has really cool eyes) So those are my puppies. Yay! If you want to buy one, let me know.

AID

Well hello there reader, is that completely nerdy to adress the reader that way? Oh well, then I am indeed, a nerd. So, I went to "Third Floor" today and it went great. In this last while I have been finding myself amazed at God's way of preparing us to do things. For instance, today, I had to be a little bit administrative; you know, stern and all that. One of my club girls needed some of that. Now you see, I really dislike that part of leadership in children's ministry. Normally I would struggle with it and I still do struggle with it. However, today God helped me through being all stern and it didn't really even stress me out. How does this relate to God's preparation in my life? Well this past summer I worked as a councelor (in training) at a Bible camp and I was working with kids all summer. I was doing a similar thing to what I am doing with clubs. So, that is just a little, and I mean little, taste of how God prepares me. It really is a very amazing thing to know that He knows what He is doing and He knows how he is going to form me and and grow me into a strong woman after His own heart. It excites me. I would say more but I need sleep. Oh, you probly want to know what "Third Floor" is. Well, it is a program with inner-city kids that happens once a week. It is a Christian, Children's clubs program. I along with another young lass lead a club. Anyhow, gotta jet.

Me:)