Reprinted without bothering to get permission, besides I wrote it in the first place

Trevor you'll never believe this but the strangest thing happened to me. I'm still not working because my leg isn't healed so I was just sitting around, but then when I looked at the mail I got all these bills to pay. So I had to drive to the bank and transfer some money. I was making my way over having fun with the windows down and my new Thrice CD playing loud when I got quite the scare!
What I thought was a green light fell down to the pavement and then got up and started coming right at me! It looked like a pair of light sabres flashing back and forth!
I had no choice but to slam on my brakes and frantically look behind me and DRAT IT ALL there was a vehicle right behind me. I was trapped! The lights stopped right in front of my car and with greater clarity I saw that it was a pair of pants! Pants! Whose neon pants could these be? Those pants must be psychic because right away they declared, "I am my own pants!"
Talking pants didn't really surprise me at this point because hey, these things just fell out of a traffic light and ran up to my car. So I said, "Get in the car." They started to protest so I interrupted with, "Don't give me that, you know who you are." They thought for a moment and then conceded with, "The answer is yes, it isn't that far."
Well I was worried a little bit, I had been trying to intimidate those pants with my quick authority grab but then they had to be all cryptic like that. What wasn't that far?
So the pants hopped in, and that's when I realized that these could only be girls' pants. At least intended for girls if you know what I mean...
But the temptation was overwhelming. I thought up a plan and I thought it up quick. I took those pants for a ride they would never forget.
I got those pants dizzy out of its mind. Then I stopped, and with blind emotion I grabbed them and hopped out of my car. I flung off my sandals with reckless abandon and didn't even bother taking off my shorts. I just wrenched those pants on. I got held up with my bad leg though. The bandage was too big. These were tight pants and they couldn't handle the extra mass. It was then that I heard all the laughing. I whirled around only to be face to face with the most beautiful girl I have ever smelled in my life.
She smiled and said, "Those are my pants. I'm sorry, I use them to trap guys sometimes. I'm just so shy-"
Well I don't know what she'd been about to say but as soon as I heard 'trap' my mind whipped itself into creative self-preservation. I dove straight into her head first. We collapsed into a whirlwind of flailing pants because those green glowing fabric wonders had gotten their bearings again and they were none too happy about my aggressive advancements.
I'll never get the savagery out of my mind no matter how hard I try. Those pants took one look at my leg and ripped the bandage right off with its zipper. I cried out in pain but I had no strength. The pants were about to commence with a full scale amputation when the girl snatched them to her chest and crying she ran away!
I lay there gasping for breath, my leg shooting fire, and wondered how paying bills could ever have come to this.

So if you subscribe to Trevor's Cantaloupe you already read this, and if you don't, then what are you waiting for? Anyway, Trevor often asks readers to answer questions that are usually total nonsense. Most of the time I just have nothing to say, but I wasn't in a great mood before I got Trevor's Cantaloupe and instantly I was thrilled and excited and then when I read it I was even happier. As a way of saying thanks I wrote him an elaborate response to his simple question of, "what would you do if you ran into a talking pair of neon green pants?"

Feel The Rain On Your Skin

So RJ comes back tonight. Then tomorrow I can sing,

Late last night when I should have been in bed,
Some one came to Calgary with no home, not a shed,
until September comes and then he'll have to fend,
for sorting through his own stuff
in the garage,
all right,
FIRE FIRE FIRE

So it was back to work for me today. I worked 7-6:30 by myself. It wasn't bad at all. I didn't even get wet. I must also give props to 88.9 for being the least repetitive commercial station in Calgary. I'm sure they'd seem almost as terrible if you listened to them every day, but as far as work day repetition, they are the easy winners. Of course they also win most annoying DJ voices and/or personalities... and other than an old Cadet song, none of the music got me too excited. I was pretty excited about that Cadet song though. Let me tell you, as I recall it was the only song on the CD my brother owned that I liked. But anyway, I was singing loud and proud and came up with some alternative vocal lines and I didn't even shame myself.

So yeah, working an 11 hour work day isn't terribly fun, especially when your leg gets sore for the last few hours. However when you've just repeated another $1000 goof-up, you're happy to be working. I don't know why my goof-ups are $1000 but they seem to be. Stupidly injuring myself and losing $1000 gross pay. Stupidly buying cars at auctions. Stupidly losing cameras & missing a flight in Europe. Oh well things seem to be looking up. My most recent stupid, which I still think isn't all my fault, only cost a hundred dollars. It was a long annoying battle with HSBC, but at least my credit rating is still mint.

Guess what happened on Monday night?
My parents gave me their blessing! This is a big deal. Way back in the spring I'd asked my Dad to bless me before I moved out in the summer. I never mentioned it again, except to God a few times. He did not forget and so he and my Mom prayed for me. It was pretty cool.

Guess what happened on Tuesday?
I got to drive a 26' U-Haul van! It was pretty fun pretending to be a bus driver for the day. It was so weird going back to my Neon. It's been a day and a half now and I can't shake the priviledged feeling I get driving it. It feels like I'm driving a Buick now, even though I also got to drive Pam's Civic Tuesday morning.

My leg is looking good. No more bandages, now I just keep it soaked in Lotion or Polysporin.

Shay is not only fun to pray with. He's also fun to move with. We took Ang's advice and had some fun with the move and joked around tossing and throwing RJ's belongings. Shay got way too into it though. After we split up he got so excited throwing RJ's dishwasher that he went into the dumpster after it.

Agh!

Hi Jesus, this is me turning Syrian. So I'm going to vent out some stress and not even worry about whether or not it is appropriate or virtuous.

I hate worrying about bills. They just keep mounting up.
I hate being handi-capped. My need to GO is mounting up.
I hate the disconnection of the last week.
I hate how disorganized moving arrangements have been; how frustrating it is with this many people, and not everyone being around.
I hate how many times I get silence to my questions.
I hate how unnatural church services are.
I hate filing, paperwork and administrative organization of all kinds.
I hate this stress. I hate this attack trying to make me worry. I hate the accusation, did God really say?

Yes you did. Yes you are working everything out for good. Yes you are healing my leg. Yes you are taking care of moving details. Yes you are always with me. Yes you do speak. Yes you will defend us. Yes you will help me get all the finicky admin stuff dealt with. Yes you will provide for all the bills. Yes you love me.
Yes you love me.

Prayer

Saturday was full of prayer but first, something special from Friday night.

Friday I drove up with my family minus Faye & Melanie to my Aunt & Uncle's farm. It was a big family get-together with all my Dad's immediate family minus my Aunt Joy & Uncle Mike who live far away in the US. There was lots of fun and good food, as usual. The reason for this occasion was a visit from a pair of ladies who were good friends of my grandparents. My Dad and his siblings all knew them well and I remember only vaguely visiting them in Minneapolis on the our way to Ontario one summer (I didn't remember a dispute over which TV show we would watch, that ended in the plug being pulled).
At the end of the evening Lois spoke up as she wanted to say something. She thanked my grandparents' for all their friendship and all of us for making her feel so loved by coming up to make sure we saw her. My grandma had some wonderful things to say in response and then Lois did something wonderful. She prayed.
I got shivers up my leg (it's been doing this whenever the Holy Spirit has been prominent all week).
It was a beautiful prayer and I thanked her afterwards during the exchange of hugs.
It seemed so curious to me, thinking on the way home, that even though the whole family are Christians, the only time we pray together at these gatherings is before we eat. It is especially curious to me since I know for a fact how deep and wonderful everyone's faith is. My grandparents keep us all in prayer every day.
I need to go visit them again! It's long overdue. I should see about carpooling with Andrea on her visits up to Olds.

Saturday was fantastic. RJ phoned me up in the morning. Then I made some absolutely delicious pizza for lunch for my family (with the left-over dough from Melanie's party). Then I went over to Shay's and we got to pray before his realtor came over. Then we went off and celebrated the conditional sale of his house with ice-cream cones. Back to his house for some more prayer before I headed home to meet Jason.
Shay is such an awesome guy. I've had the pleasure of hooking up with him a good 3 times this week at least.
Very special to hear how interested he is in the UM. It was also intriguing to hear how closely we resemble an Aushur(sp?) in India, which is his dream to have in Canada.

So then I went home just in time to get a call from Jason asking me if I wanted to meet him for supper downtown at an Iranian restaurant called Atlas. Off I went even though I was full from just having had icecream (it's easy to get full when you can't even walk all day).
I just ordered an appetizer, a fried eggplant dip with pita. It was good to hang out with Jason and his boss and another guy he works with.
Then we decided to head off to see a movie. We watched Miami Vice which I had heard good things about.
It was 14a for violence and sexuality and I had just figured it would be the standard 30 second avert eyes scene. I don't know where I've been but apparently there is no such standard anymore. So I don't recommend watching this intense crime drama / porno. The intense crime drama part? Very good. The rest, not so much.
So at the end I apologized to Jason for making such an assumption, and then I started praying as the credits rolled.
I don't often pray at the end of the movies. But I couldn't just leave it at that. And so I saw the beginning of fruit from praying every day, the written prayer Ricardo gave me.
And with such a simple beginning, God crafted a wonderful time of prayer that grew so much.
I drove Jason home and it was awesome. Warm with the windows down and Vheissu loud. The lights in the night seemed so pretty with such a soundtrack and fellowship.
We made a couple quick stops at banks and a 7-11 before hanging out at his house for some more prayer.
And I went home soaring (no not speeding).
God directed me on a short detour and brief stop for a sing and some final prayer, and then it was home with the piece of paper before the lights went out.

I wondered how it could be that I had just filled so much of my day with one thing. And the prayer was thick. It was like eating full meals all day, but I wasn't over-full.

Thank you Jesus. I need you and love you again today.

Light and Flouffy

So it's Thursday night, and my foot feels how an inflated dish glove looks. OK fine it looks similar too, except that it's a foot, not a hand.
My leg is now very bandaged up. I went into the walk-in clinic on Wednesday after skinning my leg on Saturday. Maybe for fun I'll go back and take them up on their offer to re-dress it. That way I could shower first. Maybe for more fun I won't use shampoo/conditioner and continue quite likely the longest run of unwashed hair my head has ever seen.

My time pretending to be introverted while I avoid activities not involving sitting is going alright.
I read an entire novel in one day.

I've listened to entire albums in my room while following the lyric sheets and listening for subtle music layers. Demon Hunter's Tryptich, Brandtson's Hello Control, Thrice's Vheissu, Number One Gun's something or another second album, and Mute Math have all been enjoyed. Actually I kind of napped through the second half of Mute Math but that's because I was tired and there was no lyrics sheet to follow!
I'll now take this time to fully endorse Thrice's Vehissu album. I read a wonderful article about them in HM, and then I read through the lyrics the night before actually listening to the album. The lyrics were brilliant and beautiful. Some of the best lyrics I've ever seen. The music following was fantastic too. They're obviously incredibly gifted and I will keenly look forward to more.
Demon Hunter's third album is quite easily their best. I absolutely love the lyrics and the music is incredible.
Brandtson's new album will need to grow on me, not that I'm opposed to it now, but it will get better. Number One Gun has definitely improved since their last album and still has room to grow.

U-Haul thrilled my heart today with some good news for moving next week!

I haven't even touched my guitar yet. I just can't bring myself to care without a band, or other people.

I watched Serenity last night with my family and Melanie's friends for her birthday party after home-made pizza and cake and ice cream and silliness. I'll have to thank my Dad for being pleasant at dinner about my pizza.

Today Trevor picked me up and we got slurpees and hung out at Prairie Winds park (not the hill). He got to tell me about his creative date for Melissa (it's their 6 month dating anniversary - they're 2/3rds through the 9 month 'brain damage' period of blind bliss). We chatted a little about what we'd been reading in the Bible, world travelling dreams, and rock star would-ifs.
His favourite non-Jesus story in the Bible features Elisha. I can't wait to get to 2 Kings now.

I made Salsa 6 with the help of Melanie, Faye, and my Mom. I'll hold off judgements until I try some cold but it's definitely not as fiery as I originally intended. My Mom thinks it's hot but Melanie doesn't even think it goes past Medium.
The problem is that canning salsa is life and death dangerous. Botulism goes crazy in oxygen free environments and the particular ingredients of salsa are especially prone for botulism due to the mild acid vegetables. So you have to guarantee that the PH level is below 4 and optimally less than 3.8. Otherwise you can blind, paralyze, or outright kill people.
The safest possible way of guaranteeing safety is to separately pour 1/4 cup lemon/lime juice into each pint jar with the salsa. This means that you can't conveniently season the salsa to taste, and also that the salsa will be runny with all that juice. To counter this, I tried to make the salsa extra thick, which is a fine solution except that you end up slow cooking it for more than 3 hours and it has a distinct cooked flavour.
Of course I did 3 batches of Salsa and each one I attempted something slightly different but I labelled them all the same so it will be rather random as to which results you end up having.
Making salsa isn't easy but each year brings new adventure and I'll probably do it again next year... Hopefully with two legs so I don't need as much help.
I still have 3 jars of Salsa 5, so don't be surprised if I break them and 6 out for a house warming party coming up. Everyone I know except Faye liked Salsa 5, most people quite enthusiastically.

Paul commented that my condition must be seriously hampering my style (he also convinced me to go to the walk-in).
It's true. I like hard work. I like to move.
There is a unique joy in sprinting as fast as your body will let you; in running longer than you thought was possible; making your heart race; feeling muscles burn. There's simpler joys from common movements you go about every day. Jumping down stairs, casually bouncing to music. I'm very fond of those joys.

I don't know how or why particularly but I think fears tied to some of the expressions of these joys have chosen to abandon me. This leg below me wrapped in white isn't mine. I want mine back. Mine takes scrapes without notice. Pain is always temporary and acceptable and unimportant. Pain certainly doesn't cut you off from work for a week and prohibit you from actively enjoying the rest. Otherwise I wouldn't be invincible.

Pray With Shay

So Shay called me up last night and wanted to pray. So we went up to Crescent Heights, killed some wasps and prayed.

Before I even left my house I was singing, "I love to be in your presence, with your people singing praises. I love to stand and rejoice, lift my hands, and raise my voice. You set my feet dancing. You set my heart on fire. You give me reason to rejoice, rejoice!" Now any of you retro church music buffs will notice that I was singing it wrong. I was mixing another song in. The correct line in the chorus should be "You fill my heart with song." No matter, fire was to be a theme of the night.

After we had prayed for Shay's family during this strategic time, and for Calgary (who wouldn't with that view?) he was sharing some different things from the retreat he'd been on for the weekend. He brought up the much used phrase, "Come Lord Jesus Come," (in its many varieties) and how he really felt like God had said to him, I want to come, let me in.

So I asked Shay if he would pray about that for me too. So we went back to my car and prayed a long while. Shay is fun to pray with by the way. He will interject his prayers with song. Sometimes common praise songs, other times improvised melodies.

The following are some scripture passages that were either touched upon or are somehow connected in theme. Since my leg is on fire and I can't really walk I'm not working today. Instead I got to look up all of these. Now I'll try and paint them colours because currently their formatting is ugly and I can't seem to fix it. Take what you will.

2 Peter 1:3

³As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness!

Hebrews 12:2

²Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Isaiah 30:30

The LORD will cause men to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.

Deuteronomy 4:24

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Song of Solomon 5

Young Woman:

³One night as I was sleeping, my heart awakened in a dream. I heard the voice of my lover. He was knocking at my bedroom door. `Open to me, my darling, my treasure, my lovely dove, he said, `for I have been out in the night. My head is soaked with dew, my hair with the wetness of the night.

³"But I said, `I have taken off my robe. Should I get dressed again? I have washed my feet. Should I get them soiled?'

⁴"My lover tried to unlatch the door, and my heart thrilled within me. ⁵I jumped up to open it. My hands dripped with perfume, my fingers with lovely myrrh, as I pulled back the bolt. ⁶I opened to my lover, but he was gone. I yearned for even his voice! I searched for him, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I called to him, but there was no reply. ⁷The watchmen found me as they were making their rounds; they struck and wounded me. The watchman on the wall tore off my veil.

⁸"Make this promise to me, O women of Jerusalem! If you find my beloved one, tell him that I am sick with love."

2 Samuel 6

¹AGAIN DAVID gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000.

²And [he] arose and went with all the people who were with him to Baale-judah [Kiriath-jearim] to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts, Who sits enthroned above the cherubim.

³And they set the ark of God upon a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.

⁴And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, with the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark.

⁵And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord with all their might, with songs, lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

⁶And when they came to Nacon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled and shook it.

⁷And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for touching the ark, and he died there by the ark of God.

⁸David was grieved and offended because the Lord had broken forth upon Uzzah, and that place is called Perez-uzzah [the breaking forth upon Uzzah] to this day.

⁹David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, How can the ark of the Lord come to me?

¹⁰So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to him into the City of David; but he took it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.

¹¹And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.

¹²And it was told King David, The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing;

¹³And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.

¹⁴And David danced before the Lord with all his might, clad in a linen ephod [a priest's upper garment].

¹⁵So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

¹⁶As the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter [David's wife], looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷They brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

¹⁸When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name [and presence] of the Lord of hosts,

¹⁹And distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both to men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, each to his house.

²⁰Then David returned to bless his household. And [his wife] Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who stripped himself of his kingly robes and uncovered himself in the eyes of his servants' maids as one of the worthless fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!

²¹David said to Michal, It was before the Lord, Who chose me above your father and all his house to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord. Therefore will I make merry [in pure enjoyment] before the Lord.

²²I will be still more lightly esteemed than this, and will humble and lower myself in my own sight [and yours]. But by the maids you mentioned, I will be held in honor.

²³And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

Hebrews 3

¹Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. ²He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. ³Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. ⁵Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. ⁶But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

⁷So, as the Holy Spirit says:

"Today, if you hear his voice,

⁸do not harden your hearts

as you did in the rebellion,

during the time of testing in the desert,

⁹where your fathers tested and tried me

and for forty years saw what I did.

¹⁰That is why I was angry with that generation,

and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray,

and they have not known my ways.'

¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger,

'They shall never enter my rest.' "

¹²See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵As has just been said:

"Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts

as you did in the rebellion."

Hebrews 4

⁹There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. ¹¹Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Deuteronomy 33:27

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemy before you, saying, 'Destroy him!'

Jeremiah 10:10

But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.

2 Thessalonians

^{15 -17}So, friends, take a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your work, enliven your speech.

1 Timothy 1:17

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

I'm off to socialize despite injuries, but not to the full extent

Hello everyone I'm listening to Classic Crime because my parents and Faye are watching Tool Time (on DVD - my Mom gave it to my Dad for their anniversary - it's cute) and it was distracting me. So I feel the strange need to write something, anything. I suspect it has more to do with the annoyance that I don't actually have a real entry sitting here right now and I haven't written in a while but mostly it's because I snacked at Chad's birthday and I have too much energy and no way to vent it properly until tomorrow when I go hiking.

So life is flying fast. I'm busy as usual. I haven't had more than six hours of sleep in the longest time and usually less. I don't know how I manage to do this, especially with RJ gone. I used to think it was at least half his fault I was always out.

The Good The Bad & The Ugly

I need to somehow split things up to write.
And I need to be fast so I can go to sleep and get up early to go hiking.

The Good. God. He makes me smile. Such as when Sindy called and we talked for a while. Sure there are hard things but it's good. And my Dad asked if I was still enjoying my job and it's been making me think all week. I always come home and it feels like I've had a good day at work. At work however on a daily basis I get angry and upset and swear and curse and it's not very pretty. Usually it's nothing personal. It's a piece of wood. Or something's not going as quickly as I'd like me to be.
If it is personal I notice it so much faster and shoot it down. If for example I'm having proud thoughts or criticizing or being disapproving of Kyle or Jay, I go woah! Sorry God. Then I promptly try to move onto other thoughts. And yes I recognize when I'm cursing wood too, because fuck always seems to stand out in conversation because it's abhorrent. But usually I don't concentrate on the cursing itself or if I do I mock myself because I'm cursing wood of all things. But anyway I just try to calm down. Like today when the chain saw didn't want to start. So I stopped and prayed. And I remembered so long ago praying when I couldn't do things. Because God can do anything.

- So I was interrupted by Melanie calling and asking for a ride and when I got home I went to bed. Then I woke up and went on a hike. It was a rather nice hike. Full of good company and warm weather. However when we reached the destination, a cave, I met some unfortunate results. Well actually reaching it was fine, we all climbed in. I was so impressed with the group. It wasn't easy getting up there but they all did it. We had a devotional and this too was good. The view was terrific. Loveliness everywhere. Then we had to leave. Which actually wasn't very difficult. I made my way down quickly and safely and then there was the wait for other people. So what to do. Here's a bright idea, let's go back up and try the really hard way down. So I did. And predictably I fell and slid down. And ended up with considerably less skin on my left shin/kneee and hand and the right half of my bum declaring itself officially on fire.
So I had a very good reminder about pride, and stupidity, and respect for nature. Luckily I learned this lesson the easy way. It would have been far worse if I'd learned it earlier when I was haphazardly free-climbing.
It was actually quite scary (how foolish had I been creating a mess of problems for the whole group) when I wondered if I could indeed make it down. I felt very naseous from the pain and couldn't stand up. Similar to getting up too quickly after the hot tub, only more intense and it didn't seem to be fading at all. I tried twice and ended up sitting down again. So when it was finally time to go I had to wait 5 minutes or so holding on to Daniel and then Laura kindly gave me a juice box which instantly cleared my vision and I felt fine with much thanking of God.
Brad (Brad from Trevor's youth as a matter of trivia) didn't escape nearly so easy (by escape I don't mean to imply he was being foolish like me). He had quite the gouge in his ankle and yet still walked down! So you can pray for him for quick healing.

So to return to my earlier topic. I think the hardest thing I fight with, and it seems to stick around, is hearing God. It doesn't seem to make sense, and yet I'm not doing anything to fix it, because I just don't understand. I love prayer. It is the most natural reaction for me in the world towards anything. I hang out with friends and they tell me about what's going on and I want to pray about it. Things can come up while we're hanging out and I want to pray about it. This is the unselfish side of my prayer. I know that God loves them. And God knows I want to help them and the best way seems to obviously ask Jesus to help them. Because I have observed that God's ways are higher than our ways. He has a great deal more wisdom and regardless, what he wants to do, I want him to do. So while helping them practically is good. It feels dangerous to me because what if I'm helping them towards a false end. So prayer is essential, and delightful.
But then comes the famous words I dread, "pray about it." I can distinctly recall talking to Janna about something and her answer was just that. My response is, yes, quite right. Of course. But then I ask God. And I am afraid. The fear hits me before I can even utter the prayer. And so usually midway through the prayer I am telling God I'm sorry for doubting he will answer me.
So as an example. Andy emailed a group of us this week with an event he's going to. Might we pray about what God has to say about it, and relate any impressions we receive.
Yes, quite right. Of course. Such a stand-up kind of guy that Andy.
And then I pray, as above.
And I have yet to receive anything.
But as James writes, I must expect an answer. Otherwise I am tossed about like being in waves and I should expect to hear nothing.
Perhaps this is why I hear nothing, perhaps not.
Maybe I should pray about it.
AGH! The circle!
It's like when I told James I was so frustrated with God not speaking to me so long ago, and he asked if I'd asked God why he wasn't speaking to me.
The answer then was that I wasn't listening.
And how I try.
Turn down the music if I'm driving. Is it OK low? I don't know, but if there's any chance of it being a distraction at all, let's kill it and not take that risk.
Let's have perseverance. Let's ask every day for months, such as in the case of praying for Shay while he was gone. Jesus says to keep asking and God will give in just to make you stop asking.
But I don't know as I ever received anything specific for Shay. Fine then I always said afterwards, I won't let that stop me from praying. I shall just keep praying the same things over again. Maybe Shay didn't need prayer for anything else?
I don't miss God. I still feel his presence now and again, and know he never leaves me or forsakes me. I see him work and I love him. I am thankful a lot. He can still bring me to tears.

1 Samuel 3

¹NOW THE boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare and precious in those days; there was no frequent or widely spread vision.

I have been reading through 1 & 2nd Samuel at work on breaks and this stood out to me very much. As compared to when I wondered?
Later on however we find this:

1 Samuel 19

¹⁹And it was told Saul, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.

²⁰And Saul sent messengers to take David; and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed head over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul and they also prophesied.

²¹When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.

²²Then Saul himself went to Ramah and came to a great well that is in Secu; and he asked, Where are Samuel and David? And he was told, They are at Naioth in Ramah.

²³So he went on to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went on he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴He took off his royal robes and prophesied before Samuel and lay down stripped thus all that day and night. So they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?^(A)

Yes God sends his Spirit to people and prophesies through them just to stop them and allow David to escape. Perhaps this is when God's word is more common.
There is certainly a long list of occasions involving David asking of God (with and without the ephod) and God answers.
Perhaps right now in my life is a time of rarity.
But I notice that when David doesn't inquire of God, bad things happen. And I also notice that minus the Bathsheeba incident, God doesn't take it upon himself to discipline David with words, while or while-not David is inquiring of him.
It's actually a very brutal and terrible and confusing pair of books.
It leaves many questions, but not the child-like kind - more so an admission of my lack of knowledge and understanding.

I mean David took off his clothes and put on the priestly ephod (which is an upper garment) in public and gets reprimanded by his wife who he then rebukes because it was in pure joy of the Lord. The only other reference to nudity is Noah and that was very seriously shameful, and he cursed his son.

So what does that mean?
Obviously it hasn't happened to you while I was there because I have yet to see someone strip nude in a worship time due to the pure joy of the Lord.

Bizarre.

And God says that God gives Saul's harem to David, yet God himself is the one who said that Kings should not have multiple wives in the Jewish law, that David meditates on day and night so that he will not sin. Yet having the large family leads to a lot of problems.

And Samuel's sons were evil just like the priest's before him. Why? Because he didn't grow up with his family but rather grew up in the temple and the only example he saw was a bad one? But the Holy Spirit leads into all truth. Why couldn't God have taught him to be a good father? Or maybe he was and his sons were just rebellious and evil.
Who knows, but it's very sad.

Reader's Response

My answers to Lisa's challenge:

Answer 1: I know what you mean by this question but the trouble is that I've hit upon a few of these books. Books so important to me that I've gone out and bought friends the book and lent out mine countless times until usually it's lost.
So since I will be one of the few people who posts an answer I'm going to cheat and steal other people's potential posts and list a list:

Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Why: Hmm, hard to explain without explaining the premise of the book. Why, because it will drastically improve your relationships with other people.

A Long Obedience In The Same Direction by Eugene Peterson
Why, because it's very wise and patient, and encouraging

The Birth Order Book by Kevin Leman
Why, because it's incredibly fun, and educational.

Developing Your Prophetic Gifting by Graham Cooke (and all his devotional books)
Growing In The Prophetic by Mike Bickle
Why, because the church needs these teachings.

Life Together by Dietrich Boenhouffer (sp?)
Why, because it's so good I've just committed a year of my life and probably longer to living out this lesson.

I'm sure there's many more, but looking at my bookshelves is hard to judge by because as I said, they get loaned out and lost if they're good.

Now onto far more valuable books, novels!

Again I'm going to write a novel of a response:

All of Frank Peretti's books. These books have ruined me because they make other books seem so lacklustre by comparison.

Stephen R Lawhead's Empyrion omnibus(that means two books - like a trilogy only with two). He's written some fantastic historical fiction, revolving around the Crusades, Ireland, Arthur & The Round Table / Merlin, etc.
but my favourite books are his science fiction.

Ben, I can't even tell you who the author is of this book which is quite tragic because otherwise I could purchase it. My mom loved it too. It's about two boys growing up in the church. One is the pastor's son, who has a heart condition, but they get into crazy mischief and cause a commotion every Sunday.

Heaven's Wager and When Heaven Weeps by Ted Dekker. The first one was great fun and the second one is greatly sad. I have to pick his first two books because after that I continued to enjoy his novels but they all border being incredibly cheesy/predictable/rehashed and I have to choose to enjoy them & take the spiritual lesson contained. Actually I really enjoyed Blessed Child too.

Without Remorse by Tom Clancy. Definitely the saddest book I've ever read. I spent a whole summer reading all his books after this one which was recommended by a friend.

I have to throw in a plug for something by Gilbert Morris. Oh oh! Barney Buck ! I LOVE THIS SERIES!!! Yes yes I read a billion and one of his romance/historical fiction books too (starting in grade 3) but Barney Buck was awesome!
Of course I read a billion and one Hardy Boys books too. And a billion and one Jeanette Oak books, and not even because she went to my church.

Sigmund Brouwer's Winds of Light series was pretty cool when I was a kid. He came to my elementary school.

I'm mentioning children's books because they're so much cooler usually. And because I was actually a bookworm back when I was young. Now books all seem so underpar, probably from overdosing previously and becoming critical. And I like doing stuff with other people now so much more than by myself.

Roald Dahl is an amazing author.

The Hobbit is better than all of the Lord Of The Rings books combined so there!

I liked that book about the kid who is a con-artist genius and makes a ton of money but then eventually gets caught by the FBI and all the fines he gets takes out all the money he made.

The Forbidden Doors series by Bill Myers

Walt Disney's The Penguin that Hated the Cold (about Pablo the Penguin)

The Giraffe Who Went To School

Asterix & Obelix

Tintin

Just let me into Chief Justice Milvain's library and I could find a hundred awesome books.

If I could pick any book - as in any type of book? or as in a book I want to read that I haven't? or as in re-reading my favourite book which would make this question rather redundant since theoretically I should have already listed my favourite book?

Um probably the Ben book or any of the Barney Buck books I don't own.