Worthy is the Lamb

*NOW PLAYING:*
Song: All of the Words
Artist: Kutless
Album: Strong Tower
Quote: "All of the words in all of my life that could never explain and never describe. All of my love, which is nothing to hide. So I lift up my hands and I worship, I worship You"
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Parentals were out of town starting Thursday to go visit my grandma in TO for Easter... leaving the house all to me... whuhahaha.... heheh, oh no worries, I behaved. But the freedom was very nice.

Thursday night, got called to Cal's place to hang out with him and Jason. "One more round!"... 11:00am... "One more round!"... 1:00am... "Come on, one more round!"... 3:00am... "Wanna make coffee? sure."... 4:00am... "k, gotta go home, daylight is starting to break and I've got a worship team practise at 9am tomorrow"... 6:00am. By the time I got home, it was 6:30am!!... yeeeesh.... but twas fun, nonetheless, as usual. Heheh. Got to practise on time after a much needed cup of coffee and a quick nap. Practise was to prep for the Good Friday service... a small team, nothing special. Steve and Noreen were very nice and took me to brunch after the practise at Denny's. Went home to recover some sleep, woke up to do some work, then got a call from Sam, who was in town from Toronto for the long weekend. Though tired, chilling and jamming with Sam at home was cool and it was great to catch up with him. Good Friday service was nothing special... a little dull, unfortunately... but still served it's purpose... to get me to think upon His sacrifice. Went home to catch a few episodes of 24 (can't believe they used F-18s, sooooo cool!) before calling it a night.

Saturday, decided that I needed to get work done... so I worked in the morning and afternoon to get work done (assignment and presentation) before Sam came over again to chill. We grabbed dinner (mmmm... shawarma... sooo much garlic...) before heading over to Citywide Worship & Prayer. I had to pick up a few youth from my church on the way, but it was all good... I've been looking forward to attending one of those things for months... I knew I desperately needed to be led worship for a change. And how refreshing it was! It was exactly what I needed and exactly what I needed to focus on the purpose of Easter weekend... to focus on God and His tremendous sacrifice. When the team played The Wonderful Cross, it just moved me to tears... Worship team was solid and it was a joy to be surrounded by fellow worshippers. I will definitely try to make more Citywides in the future... but I also hafta keep reminding myself that I shouldn't seek these little worship "boosts"... that I should be living a life of worship every day. After I took the youth home, Sam and I went over to Zavida's to meet up with the Zoo crew. Haven't seen that bunch in a while!... they decided to go catch a movie but I had to take Sam back to my place to pick up his car and by the time I got home, the movie was about to begin. But at home, my parents were back from TO, so it was nice just talking to them about their trip. All in all, a great evening. :)

Sunday and Monday were all work work work as my assignment and presentation NEEDED to be done.

Tuesday, met up with my church's university fellowship again with Paul Racine leading. This week, Paul challenged us to think about what we could do to improve on hearing God's voice. For me, I've known the answer for a while now but, sadly, have yet to take action... I know I am very week in my bible knowledge... and if the bible is the word of God and his channel to speak to me, that channel is really closed off right now. ..."The sheep know the shepherd's voice"... I know my excuses are always school, school, and school but I really have to plop down and start reading. We were talking about how God speaks to us and all I know is that, although I have never really "heard" him per say, I feel I am most connected to Him when I am engulfed in worshipping Him... but I also want to be able to connect with Him in the silent times as well... I think it'll take some diligence, but I know that in order to improve my relationship with God, I have GOT to start studying His Word more intently. This summer, it'll be one of my goals for sure.

Wow... only a couple weeks till school's done. Then finals. Then Vancouver for 10 days. Then my summer course. And hopefully, I'll have my B. Admin. Hopefully I'll be able to finish an Honours option in Marketing or Human Resources... one more year of school... and THEN I'll be done my undergrad. err.... now what? God, I'm listening... :)

Dreams...

*NOW PLAYING:*
Song: I Still Have A Dream
Artist: Michael W. Smith
Album: This Is Your Time
Quote: "For He knows the plans He has for you. A plan to prosper and not harm you. To give you a future and a hope"
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It's been a busy busy BUSY week... a week where seemingly everything was due and little sleep was accomplished... and much coffee was consumed. Now, after Monday's presentation, it should die down for a bit before finals. Heheh, hopefully. But yeah, it's been crazy...

Today, my church's university fellowship had our first meeting with Paul Racine on campus. Was a good session where he just asked us though-provoking questions and we were encouraged to share. Only a few of us made it, but I was glad they were there... hopefully, the others will make it too in our new time slot. Paul spoke of dreams... specifically, the dreams Joseph had and the reasons behind them... that they had a purpose and were placed there by God. Then Paul popped the question: is what you're doing now your dream? ...and to a lesser degree: does God give you dreams? Oddly enough, while others took a while to ponder (or stay silent), the answers quickly came to my head. "No" and "Yes". In school, I still feel like I'm going through the motions, doing what every good student my age should do... strive for an education and then a job. While switching to the Management department has been much better than when I was taking EE, I'm still not sure if this is what I'm meant to do for the rest of my life... or if it's what I'm good at (my marks certain don't reflect it). But when Paul popped the question if God has placed dreams in my head, it didn't even take a second for me to respond in my mind... "to be a worship leader in front of thousands of people and impact them in a positive way"... whether it's a boyish dream or not, that image of a crowd so engrossed in worship and me leading them (with others, of course) has always been a daydream I've returned to every time I listen to music on the bus, at home, or watch worship videos and watch 7:22. Is it a calling? I think it probably is... but is it feasible? I personally don't think I'm talented enough to do such a thing (being very realistic here)... but why would God place the dreams and ambitions in my head if it wasn't for a purpose. Paul spoke of how we often fall into the rut of routines and schedules and that we've lost the will to dream, a gift that God has given us. As I walk around campus and observe people, I wonder how many of them are living their dream and how many are just going through the motions just like me? How many aspire to be so much more and yet are afraid to take the risk and take that extra step to really make it happen? There are many things I want to do and if it weren't for school or the "worldy logical reasons" such as money and time and responsibilities, I would love to really pour my heart out into them.... worship leading, music writing, and definitely short-term missions trip. I know we should never stop dreaming big because God dreamt big when he created us and created the universe... I know I'm just ranting right now, but for anyone who's reading this, I just thought I'd share what Paul Racine made me think about today and perhaps you could apply that same question to your life... Are you living God's dream?... or are you just going through the motions that the world tells you are the proper things to do right now. Hrm....something to ponder... and something I'll definitely think about for a while. Paul recommended us to read Joseph's story... something I hope to do during the week. Heheh...wonder what challenging question he'll pose us at our next meeting? :)