.: Narnia :.

Sometimes it's funny what God shows you at 1:30 in the morning. I can't sleep, due to some horrible dreams that have taken place in my mind the past few nights, including tonight. I am constantly reminded of things that I wish never happened. Even so, they did happen and God is sovereign. Nicole and I want to see the Chronicles of Narnia last night and when we came home, our front door was open...nothing was missing and no one was inside, but it was rather unnerving, as Nicole is sure she locked the door when she left. So someone was in our house...there's one of my biggest fears coming true. So tonight I am sitting here and I keep thinking about that movie. Those kids were in danger throughout most of it, and yet they knew that ultimately Aslan would protect them and things would be okay. It wasn't the first time I have heard the story but e gads and little fishes, the parallel of Aslan/Jesus and all the other Biblical references really hit me hard. It pretty much took a children's story for me to realize yes, God lets bad things happen, but ultimately He has it all under control. Aslan knew better than the witch what would happen through his sacrifice and for cryin in the night, if a fairy tale character can be wise enough to see further and outsmart the enemy, how much wiser must Jesus be? So with that realization in mind, I am going back to bed now. Hopefully my dreams will be filled with better things.

.: Things That Are Pretty Awesome :.

Things that are pretty awesome...

I just thought I'd share some places I have found joy today.

old friends
new friends
finally finding sheet music for "Carol of the Bells"
learning how to play the song
married people
single people
seeing my parents happy together
REUNIONS
weddings
a friend's new lil baby girl
HUGS
a 4 year old running across the room cause she is so happy to see you
volleyball
worshipping with friends
"getting it"
coffee
crazy stories
being real with people/them being real back
a race to see if it's faster to find the words in the book or "google it"
pictures
being with people you are totally comfortable with
christmas music
planning roadtrips
mr. wildschut's red car that takes the new couples away to their honeymoons
filling an entire church to the brim with wonderful friends

I hope this brought a smile to your face :o)

.: Rachel Got Run Over By A ... :.

(to the tune of...well if you can't figure it out...oui)

"Rachel Got Run Over By A Semi"

Rachel got run over by a semi,
when the car broke down at Many's,
you can say there's no such thing as loggers,
but as for me and Donna, we believe.

When the nurses gave her morphine,
they knew she couldn't feel a thing.
She has so much medication,
she saw Bin Laden in her wallpaper.
(oh wait, that was me...)

Emily got phone duty,
when she got home at five AM
she wasn't very happy,
when people started calling in around eight.

The later she went to see Arson,
who was doin pretty well,
and although she won't admit it,
she saw Osama just as well as I did.

Oh she wasn't very happy,
when the rumors started up.
Things just got so stinkin crazy,
it ticked off the entire family.

They say the Blazer caught on fire,
and Rachel dove for her dear life,
and when she hit the highway,
the logger goin 50 broke her legs.

We know lots of people love her,
she got tons of teddy bears.
And an allergy to flowers,
would have killed within just a couple hours.

Hailey really made her smile,
with that masterpiece of art.
She said not a single word,
but ate that cookie like she'd been starved.

Then there was this kid named Tony,
who was there when she got hit.
Good thing he's cool with trama,
he also witnessed gma's accident.

When Jake heard he hurried over,
poor kid forgot his socks.
Good thing the hospital has extras,
A fashion statement? no, but who really cares.

Rick and Dave told us some stories,
we just couldn't quite believe.
How could there be snow in summer,
and one hundred eighty nine degree heat?

Oh and then came time for dinner,
Jess helped her with the jello,
Should have had a bib to catch stuff,
all those crumbs fell on her clean nightgown.

Twas Ricky's job to bring his gma,
to the hospital.
Got there just in time for dinner,
fifteen minutes before nurses kicked us out.


So today Rachel and I found this song tonight... we laughed so hard!! I hope y'all find it funny and aren't too confused...I'm not sure what I was smoking when I wrote it, but yeah...enjoy :o)

Du Mon and Arson

.: Life is Precious :.

You really never know what tomorrow holds. Be sure to make the most of every moment you spend with friends and loved ones, you never know if you will see them again. Life is precious, we need to remember that. We miss you Troy.

.: We use love like what? :.

Ok so at life group last tuesday we read an excerpt from one of my favorite books, Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller. We were discussing love, and as pointed out in the book, we use love a lot like money. Here is a quote from that book that I thought was very interesting:

"Mr. Spencer [a man who was speaking at a conference] then asked us about another area in which he felt metaphors cause trouble. He asked us to consider relationships. What metaphors do we use when we think of relationships? We value people, I shouted out. Yes, he said, and wrote it on his little white board. We invest in people, another person added. And soon enough we had listed an entire white board of economic metaphor. Relationships could be bankrupt, we said. People are priceless, we said. All economic metaphor. I was taken aback. And that's when it hit me like so much epiphany getting dislodged from my arteries. The problem with Christian culture is we think of love as a commodity. We use it like money."

A few pages later, another truth was pointed out:

"Nobody will listen to you unless they sense that you like them. If a person senses that you do not like them, that you do not approve of their existence, then your religion and your political ideas will all seem wrong to them. If they sense that you like them, then they are open to what you have to say."

So anyway I thought that was interesting...

.: Good Friends, Good Times :.

Gosh what an amazing weekend this has been...and it's only half over!! I think one of the best things in life is having friends that you can go without seeing for months but catch up with in a few hours and just truly enjoy each other's company. Really, i am very grateful that God invented friendship...I was so good to see you all this weekend (roo, lucky, mandy, kelly, and kyle!!) and I really pray that God is doing amazing things in your lives...have a wonderful day everyone!! hopefully more reunions will happen soon :o) have a wonderful day everyone!!

.: SC :.

May I just say that I can identify with almost ALL of these ...

1. If you surf or have at least 3 friends who surf.
2. If you can name three of the towns up in the hills.
3. If you know that "tranny" is not refering to transexual
4. If you can name at least 3 beaches on the eastside and 3 on the westside.
5. If the difference between Pizza My Heart and Pleasure Pizza is obvious.
6. If people walking around with extremely high lacy underwear sticking out rapping about a nickel doesn't alarm you.
7. If the difference between longboard and shortboard is obvious to you.
8. If you can get fresh sushi from your grocery store.
9. If you are/know a Vietnam War veteran who hates George W. Bush.
10. If you don't say bro, you say dude.
11. If your favorite bands are bands that your parents like.
12. If winter clothing consists of jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie sweat shirt that says SC on it.
13. If a $1.5 million home on the West side doesn't surprise you.
14. If you are or know someone who is vegan or vegetarian.
15. If you know someone who has gotten into a philisophical argument over whether or not cows have feelings. (or something similar)
16. If you own more than one pair of flip flops.
17. If dressy shoes for you are sneakers or fancy flip flops.
18. If when you walk down town you see more than 5 people asking for money on the same block.
19. If you know what the "Keep Santa Cruz Weird" shirts are talking about.
20. If you have been or know someone who has been in Junior Lifeguards.
21. If you know where the best place to see elephant seals is.
22. If you know why Ano Nuevo is not a popular swimming beach. (besides the distance)
23. If you know what the Wharf to Wharf is.
24. If you can name at least 3 surf shops.
25. If you think that seeing a hundred foot redwood is not unusual at all.
26. If you know what it means to be anti-urban.
27. If casual wear for a day on the town could easily be bikini top and shorts.
28. If there are so many VW hippy vans that the local car workshop specializes in Volkswagons.
29. If you know where all 3 locations of Marini's are.
30. If you know what SLV stands for.
31. If you know the difference between Seacliff and Seabright beaches.
32. If you've visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium more than 3 times.
33. If you think of the Big Dipper as something other than the constellation.
34. If you know what brings tourists to Natural Bridges in the Spring and Fall.
35. If you have at least 3 articles of clothing with SC on it.
36. If you think of the word typhoon as something other than a monster wave.
37. If you know someone who wants to run their car on french fry grease.
38. If you are used to a select group of women who don't like to wear bras or shave, but it still disgusts you.
39. If you know of at least one supposedly "nerd school" in Santa Cruz.
40. If you know who robert is.
41. If you know a homeless person's name.
42. If you can name at least 2 health food stores downtown.
43. If you know where the Metro is, and go there every now and then.
44. If you can easily distinguish the tourists from the locals.
45. If you are able to completely ignore the noise of the street performers downtown.
46. If seeing people wearing clothing from every single decade in the last century in the same block doesn't surprise you.
47. If you've been to the Boardwalk at least 5 times.
48. If you know people who go to UCSC and/or Cabrillo.
49. If when someone tells you to meet them at the lighthouse, you know exactly what they mean.
50. If you know what downtown is like on Halloween and First Night.
51. If you know when a big swell is coming through even if you have nothing to do with the ocean.
52. If you know what the orange flowers that cover the hillsides in spring and summer are.
53. If you know why local surfers aren't tan.
54. If you can't give directions, but you could walk directly to somewhere.
55. If it's freezing at 40 degrees and hot at 85 degrees.
56. If a water temperature of 60 degrees sounds balmy.
57. If you know what brussel sprout fertilizer smells like.
58. If you wear wear flip flops, not sandals.
59. If wearing a mini skirt or boardshorts in the middle of January is normal.
60. If you know the difference between sushi and sashimi.
61. If you can name at least 2 Taquerias.
62. If you know what UCSC's drug reputation is.
61. If you know a street performer by name.

.: Peace, yo :.

Ok so tonight I was looking for a verse that I really cannot get out of my head...you know, like you know one line of a song but can't remember the rest or what it's called or who it's by? Yeah it was sort of like that. So I did what any college genius would do - I Googled it. Google is an amazing thing, really....put quotes around anything and you're sure to find where that saying is from. Ok now back to the point, which is God. The line I had been searching for was "let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" and is found in Colossians 3:15. I have been praying that God will calm my heart and give me peace a lot lately, about various things...and I thought this passage was a good reminder of how to keep our priorities in check and helps give us the peace that we are after. Just before this verse, Paul instructs us on how to treat others, telling us to be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient. He tells us to bear with each other and forgive each other, and above all to love each other. Then he says, "and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...and be thankful." This sounds like a pretty good set of instructions for a peaceful life...Paul tells us what qualities to attain, the result (peace), and then reminds us to be thankful to God who makes it all work out. It's amazing how God makes things work out just as they should. And that my friends, is why we can have peace...He's got it all under control.

.: Send Us With Fire :.

Ok so tonight was one of those, "Lord, this is why I am here.." nights. I have been thinking a lot about this song we sang, "send us with fire to go love the world"...its actually called sending, by charlie hall...i was thinking about what a profound statement/request that is.. asking God to send us with fire - in our hearts, in our lives...amazing... and to go love the world, what in incredible task we set out to do!! sometimes i have trouble loving some of my friends, it would be absolutely amazing to love the whole world and yet thats exactly what He wants us to do!! May the peace of Christ rule in your hearts....

.: Some good quotes i've come across lately :.

I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.
-Henry David Thoreau

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way."
-C. S. Lewis

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone.

If you take it easy and enjoy life, Love will find you.

It was said that people are often content to stay in the city making mud pies, when God wants to take them to the seashore to make sand castles. I hope I'm not one of those people.
-C. S. Lewis