Merry Christmas from TO!

I'll be in Toronto until Thursday, Dec. 29th. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

...time to gain a coupla pounds. Heheh.

Turning frowns upside down... Music heals the soul...

*LISTENING TO:*
Song: Praise You In This Storm
Artist: Casting Crowns
Album: Lifesong
Quote: "I'll praise You in this storm and I will lift my hands, for You are who You are No matter where I am. Every tear I've cried, You hold in Your hand. You never left my side and though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm."
* * *

Wow... a very odd weekend that has seen a wide spectrum of moods for me... from pure frustration to pure joy... hard to put into perspective. Only thing I can do is praise God for teaching me to rely on Him more...

Friday was Murphy's Law in full effect. Friday was the day of my morning exam (my 3rd) and everything that could have gone wrong that day just proceeded to happen. Having gotten "maybe" 2 hours of sleep the previous night, I woke up early to make some coffee and just refresh myself by going over my notes. Of course, it just happened to be snowing very heavily, the most we've seen so far... meaning bussing was going to take longer than expected. So I decided to leave a couple of hours early to account for the extra bussing time... only to find that the car was snowed in and the driveway had to be shovelled. No prob, I thought, the snowblower will have me outta there in 15 minutes max. Went to start up the blower and *snap*... the pullcord broke. Wonderful... that meant I had to shovel it by hand... with very little time to do so. So I shovelled the driveway as fast as I could and drove to the park&ride to catch a bus ('cause I assumed the Queensway would be at a crawl if I drove). ....and of course, with my luck, there had apparently been some accidents with the busses so our bus was stuck at around Bayview for a long time. Wonderful... I constantly checked my watch as my exam time approached. 10 minutes late... 20 ... 30... 45 minutes late... before stepping into the exam room. I was hoping that due to the weather, the exam would be postponed or something, but the prof decided to just give us an extra half-hour. At this point, I'm exhausted from the shovelling and lack of sleep, stressed out because of being late, and to make matters worse, my head was throbbing like crazy... probably from my lack of sleep and the early morning physical exertion. Needless to say, the exam did NOT go well... I just had a hard time concentrating and thinking. I walked out pretty sure that I bombed that final... and now I had to cram for the next morning's exam. Bussing home was still slower than normal and back at the park&ride, helped a poor lady get her car out of the snow (thank goodness for my emergency shovel in the trunk). Getting home, the plow just went through our street, leaving a large barrier. Just great... had to shovel that and by the time I was done, it was nearly dinnertime before I could crack open my books... with my headache still present. I was just in a horrible mood and didn't want to talk to anyone for the rest of the day and the next morning... my day couldn't have gotten any worse...

Saturday morning, my mood was unchanged... still thinking about the exam from the previous morning... got to my exam room fine this time and took my exam with some confidence. Finished early (125 M.C. questions) so as soon as I got home, I took a long nap since I didn't get much sleep the past few days. I awoke with the realization that I had a worship team practise in the evening... I was scheduled to bring a full team to Celebration Church as sort of a "treat" and really enjoyed planning it and practising with the team. All I could think about was that in my current mood and state, how could I possibly deal with people, let alone lead them to worship? Funny thing though... when we were done setting up and a prayer was said, just starting to play music and sing praises uplifted my spirits tremendously... pretty soon, I was just lost in the music... not even thinking of my frustrations. My team (Serena, Chris, Kevin, Jerry) was awesome, as usual, and the practise was efficient and smooth. We all gel well musically and people were devoted to the team and real "professional" about it... which made my job a whole lot easier. Afterwards, I went with Serena, Kevin, and Jerry to Summerhays for some late-night wings and dessert (mmm... honey garlic wings... mmm... deep-fried ice cream). After pretty much isolating myself to my bedroom and Zavida's like a hermit the past couple of weeks studying, it was refreshing to talk to friends and fellowship with them... Plus, just seeing Serena's smile is enough to warm anyone's heart. Hard to imagine that I left the house with such a frown and depressed attitude, yet returned with a grin and a much more peaceful heart.

Sunday, did some studying in the morning but was pretty much just filled with anticipation for the upcoming worship service. Got to Celebration early for setup and sound check... did group prayer... greeted some welcome faces that decided to visit (yay, Karen, Steph, and Carmen!) and then put my game-face on as worship service began. I'll tell ya... when I started leading worship, the music was flowing, the praises were being lifted, and the congregation was worshipping... all my troubles and worries just melted away. At that point, I was totally focused on praising God and worshipping him, even through my frustrations and deficiencies. I hope we did a good job in leading them in worship... and I hope we weren't too loud... heheh. We got a good response from people though, which is always encouraging to see and hear. After packing, went to dinner with my parents at The Fish Market before heading home. Checked my e-mail before going to bed and found an e-mail by Ashley, one of the leaders at Celebration, that was full of encouraging words about the evening's worship. Hard to imagine that I woke up with a reluctant grin, and went to bed with a wide smile on my face...

I think that through all of this, God has taught me to depend on Him more and less on myself. With my exam, I now realize that I really tried to do well by myself... that I could get through Friday's obstacles by myself... when I should have just relinquished control and let God take over. Yes... that horrid exam probably means I'll need to take a summer course before graduating... yes, it'll be a hassle...yes, it'll suck and yes, it was unfortunate... but none of it mattered when I was embracing God's presence, being submissive to Him, and lifting up praises to Him for all He's done for me and the love that he's shown me.

Less of me, more of You.
His story, not mine.
I am weak, He is strong.

I'm reminded of this every day... and sometimes it takes a struggle like this to make me realize it.

What's quicker than fast?

The new 2007 Bugatti Veyron 16.4.

These stats are staggering:

- 1001 BHP (!!!)
- 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.5 seconds
- 0 to 200 km/h in 7.3 seconds
- Top speed: 253 mph (407 km/h)

Its engine consists of two V-8 engines joined together and 4 turbochargers in order to produce it's 1001 BHP (that's over 5 times what a new Civic Si produces and double what a BMW M5 would produce). Its 0-100 km/h time beats a Ferrari Enzo hands down (the Enzo only does 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds) and its top speed is a new world record for a production automobile (beating the previous record holder, the Koenigsegg CCR, by 11 mph and the former well-known record holder, the McLaren F1, by 13mph).

...the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive production automobile in the world... for now.

As Jeremy Clarkson would say, "...the speed is biblical!".

Twas a night before...

Twas a night before finals and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The coffee was brewing, a mug lies in wait,
Hoping it'll keep my mind and vision straight.
Textbooks and papers lay on every surface;
The impending doom starting to make me nervous.
Focus, Tim, focus... focus, I say,
No movies, shows, or games can I play.
Which one should I start with, which one should I choose?
All I really wanna do is collapse and snooze.
Black ones, blue ones, both thick and thin,
With all the answers, lying neatly within.
Yet I take a moment to type this on my computer,
'Cause heck, who am I kidding, I'm still a procrastinator...

:)

...ok....NOW, back to studying.