I will serve You while I'm waiting ...

I know this song was used in the movie Fireproof that's about a couple that's going through marital struggles. At first this song made me weep because of the many couples I know that are going through times like these, however, this song has come to mean a great deal to me simply because I'm also waiting ... and not only for the obvious (although that's been on my mind a lot lately) but there are a couple of other things I'm waiting on as well. This song has helped me remember to be at peace even when I'm waiting and to continue to serve Him while I'm doing it because He's got my best interest at heart and knows what He's doing and will get me through it all. I'm glad God used my sister, Carolyn, to give me this CD. Thanks Care, for listening to God nudge you to buy it for me. I LOVE IT!




His song Cling to the Call is also really great. It talks about how one day you can feel like you're walking on water and the next day you're falling into the crashing waves. When that happens, I need to put my eyes back on Jesus and Cling to the Call.


You can click here to go to his website and then click on Music and you can listen to this song as well ... or I may have added it below as well (I'm not sure if the link below will work).


SongLyrics.com
Cling To The Call

Spiritual Goals

For our last Care Group we were asked to come with our spiritual goals, hopes or desires for this year. I asked God to direct me over these past few weeks to see where He wanted to lead me and I kept hearing, "Be open. Holy hunches. Follow through, even if they're hard or uncomfortable." I thought some more about what that meant and 4 hunches immediately came to mind. Stirrings that I've felt in my heart and mind that I should follow through on. I've already followed through on 2 of these holy hunches (both of which I'm nervous and excited about) and the other 2 are a bit scarier, but I'm praying about them and want to find God's perfect timing. I read a book awhile ago (I can't remember if I mentioned it here on my blog or not) by the Director of Urban Promise where I used to work with Inner City kids in Camden, NJ and the book is called Holy Hunches ... which is where I got that from. Funny story, actually. I can't remember why, but I was in our local Christian music/books/everything store not looking for a book. I have enough Christian books that I need to get through so I didn't need to buy another book ... yet I found myself in the book section. I just felt that I was supposed to be in that section, so I perused the aisles and my eyes dropped down to the bottom shelf and I saw his name ... Bruce Main. I didn't see what the title was or anything about it, but I thought, "I've got to buy this book! I know him!!!" Little did I know that I was led to this book called Holy Hunches, by a Holy hunch! Kinda funny. I read through this book in a day and because he used examples of people I know, it meant so much more to me than I ever imagined. Great book if you need a good, easy book to read. The thing with Holy hunches is you don't know how they're going to turn out, but the point is to be obedient to the calling.

My 2nd goal for this year is to read through the Bible in a year. I've attempted this before but didn't make it. :( Right now I'm only 1 day behind, but I think announcing it here so publicly will keep me more accountable. I'll be honest and tell you that I'm not a great Bible reader. Most of the time I don't get that "Whoo Hoo!" feeling I get when I read a chapter from "Walking with God" or like when I read "Blue Like Jazz" or "The Shack." Or like when I sit and watch the woodpecker outside and the birds take a dip in the birdbath or when I hear a great worship song. Why is that? Is there something wrong with me that I don't have a huge thirst to read the Bible? I feel bad, yet I still feel that I have a pretty good relationship with God. I've never felt His love as much as I have in the past few years. I've asked God to either release me from this feeling of feeling bad or to reveal the Bible to me in a whole new way this year.

My last goal is to say this prayer every morning:

Lord, heighten my awareness of Your encouraging voice in every intricate
activity of my life.

I believe this will give me a great outlook on the day and will help me to be more aware of God's Holy hunches.

Lost Generation

Wordless Wednesday

I saw this on another blog I was checking out and thought it was a good idea. On Wednesday's, I'll post just a picture. It can be a picture I took or a picture I found on the Internet that I like. I won't say why I'm posting that picture or what it means to me. It'll just speak for itself. Feel free to comment and let me know what the picture says to you, or simply just enjoy ... or not. I embrace that we all have different tastes.

I've pretty much ruined the "wordless" part for today, but I had to explain what was going on. Here's my first wordless Wednesday picture.

The Ultimate Wedding Invitation

Wow, what a lot of work, but fun!

http://www.jeffanderin.us/

Tag, you're it!

10 years ago today...
- I was about to finish up working in Camden, NJ with Inner City kids
- I weighed a lot less
- I was anticipating Rachel's trip out to drive back home with me (we visited Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA, Atlantic City, NJ and NYC in 4 days!)

1 year ago...
- I was desperately in need of a new job (and I got it and I love it!)
- I was "only" in my 4th year of house sitting
- I was preparing for my trip to Ottawa

Yesterday...
- I should've gone outside and enjoyed the sun
- I really enjoyed Jeff's sermon
- I enjoyed giving and listening to the members of my Care Group give our spiritual goals for the year (I'll write about that later)
- I had a good talk with God but am no closer to figuring things out than before our talk ... although I do know that it's a good thing He's in control and not me.

Tomorrow...
- I'm going back to work (and will be alone in the office for 8 days - my supervisor is going to Mexico - I think the first few days will be great to catch up and then it'll get lonely)
- I'll maybe take advantage of the movie, pop and popcorn for $9.99 deal
- I will probably look on MLS for more real estate listings
- I'll hopefully walk "the hill" again
- I'm hoping it won't be raining

5 snacks I enjoy...
- chips and salsa
- blueberry/banana smoothie
- cheese and crackers
- popcorn
- Kit Kat chunk





Best impression...
I don't think I can do any impressions

5 things I would do with $1 000 000
- have a good down payment for a nice place to live











- tithe
- go on a GREAT trip ... maybe around the world, or maybe on an amazing safari in Africa
- spend some on a few fun things for my family
- be boring and save some

5 locations I would like to run away to
- Kenya
- south of France
- Italy
- Thailand
- The Cook Islands













5 bad habits I have
- I say, "Frick" or "Freak" a lot
- spending money (saving hasn't really been in my vocabulary a lot over the last few years - although I don't regret anything I've done and I did manage to save up enough for a down payment, so maybe I'm not as bad at it as I thought)
- being on time (which can be a bad thing if you're not laid back enough to not get upset when other people are late)
- eating
- gossiping (I know, it's not a pretty one, but if I'm being honest ... I'm working on it, though and trying to become more aware of it and STOP!)













5 things I love doing
- reading












- spending time on my computer either on FB or blogging
- quilting
- hanging out with friends and family
- travelling

5 things I will most likely never wear
- spandex
- my grad dress again
- super low rise jeans
- I'm tempted to say a wedding dress, but I'm trying to be positive about that one, so I'll say stiletto heals
- this outfit












5 movies I like (I LOOOOVE movies, so these are just the first 5 that come to my head ... there are MANY more)
- Slumdog Millionaire
- The Station Agent
- Lucky Number Sleven
- Godfather Trilogy
- Lars and the Real Girl













5 famous people I would love to meet
- Bono (or any member of U2 - I know, big surprise)








- Ewan McGregor (rent or buy Long Way Down or Long Way Round - amazing! - would love to talk to him about those trips)
- Heidi Klum (she just seems fun)
- John Krazinsky (who doesn't love Jim?)
- Lenny Kravitz (I'd ask him about his faith because a couple of his songs on his last album are totally about God)

5 biggest joys at the moment
- My relationship with God
- My friends/family









- That I'm not drowning in debt
- The thought of becoming a Big Sister
- Thinking about settling down (you never thought you'd hear me say that, did you?)

5 favorite toys
- my car









- my computer
- my sewing machine
- my Magic Bullet
- my iPod

5 people to tag (but honestly no pressure - only if you want to - it was actually a lot harder than I originally thought it would be)
- Sonya
- Jennie
- Rachel
- Keri
- Kori

Blogger girls night!

Just got home from a great night with my blogger friends. No blogger night would be complete without food ... and pics of the food, lots of pics. :)

This was a GREAT dip ... I think I ate too much of it.

Mmmm, chocolate cover pretzels ... with almonds. Yum!

I even shared my Dulce de Leche with them. :)

This was my plate of goodness.

Then we got down to business. The business of Dutch Blitz! A couple of us had blogged that we'd played it over Christmas with our families at gatherings, so we decided that we should get together and play as well.

Get one old deck and one new deck and you can easily have 6 players ... although, there's a LOT going on at the table ... so much it boggles the eyes at times ... and the people at the far ends have a loooooong stretch for piles at the other end of the table. We decided that we'd rotate after every round to be fair about who sat at the end of the table ... although some people actually won when they sat at the end ... but you've got to be a really good player for that!

I looked down at one point at the end of a round and this is what I had left. Yikes!

Thanks for the fun evening, ladies. Even though I ate too much (proven by the stomach ache I have right now - I think it was that one spoonful of corn/chile salsa that Kori made me try) and played hard (proven by the chipped nail polish), I'd do it again real soon. :) Rest up your filangies (sp?) for the next time! ;)

Great reminder to be intentional

If you walk with God, you will find yourself called up to the real thing. Intense battle. Authentic joy. The battle will find you. But you have to be intentional about the joy.

- John Eldredge - Walking with God

Acting opportunity

Now, that title may be a little misleading, because it's actually a work opportunity. In the government (and maybe elsewhere as well), when you get offered a chance to work in a job that's a level or more higher than what you're currently in, they call it an "acting" opportunity. Well, do you remember that job that I didn't get last year? I've just been asked to "act" in this position for 7 weeks alongside the person who got the job. She's been saying for awhile now that there's more work in that position than for just one person, so, with year end quickly approaching, they found some extra money in their budget and told her to spend it however she wanted ... and she wants ME! :) I've accepted and start on Feb. 8. I'm very interested to see what this job is all about and whether or not I'll even like it. I went back a year and re-read all my posts about applying for this position and all the tests and interviews and in the end ... how I didn't get it. It's yet again another great reminder of how God is in control. Just a couple of short months later I was offered the transfer to the job I'm at now and SO love it! I had always dreaded or declined working in a prison, but I'm loving it. It's SO laid back and the workload isn't overwhelming like it was at my other job. Yes, God knows best.

I had just been wondering how I would be able to make some more money because I'm really starting to think that 2010 will be the end of my house sitting reign. I know you didn't think you'd hear me say these words, but I'm starting to want to settle down, but to be able to buy my own place, I'd have to buckle down and start saving a little more then I have been. This acting opportunity will really help out in that department as well.

February and March will be an interesting couple of months. So strange how things work out. ;)

3 days - 3 movies = happy girl :)

I haven't really done any movie reviews for awhile, so I thought maybe it was time. And since I went to a movie a day this weekend, I thought I would share my thoughts.

Friday night I went and saw Ava.tar. NOT in 3D. We contemplated it, but as much as I loved the U2 movie in 3D, I did remember getting a little queasy at times and that movie wasn't near as long as Ava.tar, so we decided against it. In my opinion, the movie was definitely more impressive from a technical stand point then from the actual story side of it, but I would still recommend it. If you didn't know that aliens and the crazy creatures aren't real, you would think they WERE real. Does that make sense? It was really quite impressive and I might just try to go see it in 3D before it leaves theatres ... might.

When I first saw the previews, I had no desire to see it. Then came all the hype, so it piqued my interest. Then, at Christmas, my Dad started going on and ON about seeing these commercials with these blue people and couldn't believe that anyone would go see that. He asked my sister and I if we wanted to see it and I said that I hadn't really wanted to and my sister said that she did. He told us that if we went and saw that "garbage," he wouldn't give us another dime for the next 5 years ... we've both already seen it. :) haha He was just being silly, but it was funny after he said it that my Mom just looked at him and said, "They just won't tell you that they saw it." Well, I put it on Face.book the other day because there's NO WAY my Dad would be on Face.book, but of course that's the day he sits with my Mom at the computer and sees my status. Oh well. Apparently he just laughed.

On Saturday, my friend and I went into Vancouver to do a few errands, ended up going for supper at the Cac.tus Club and then, well, just 2 blocks up Burrard is a movie theatre. Hmmm, let's mosey on over there and see what's playing. We decided to go see The Boo.k of Eli. It's hard to describe this movie without giving anything away, so I'll just tell you that it surprised me with how violent it was (but in that "as if that could happen" kind of way so it wasn't totally disturbing), however, I thought Denzel did a great job. I was impressed that there was so much Scripture being "read" to the audience and hoped that it wouldn't fall on deaf ears. Not too thrilled with the ending, but I may have to see it again (once it comes out on DVD) as a couple of my friends picked up on something that I completely missed. Bugs me that I missed it. I would recommend it if you can look past the violence.

On Sunday I went with another friend to see Le.ap Year. Very, very cute. It was what you would expect from the commercials. Again, I would recommend it, however, am a little sad that I've never come across such a cute, Irishman in all of my travels. :( I guess I'll just have to keep travelling ... and maybe be a bit more of a damsel in distress. ;)

Family gathering

I know this is late, but better late then never. :)

My sister flew back with me to Abbotsford so she could come with me to the gathering for my Mom's side of the family. I'm on the younger side of my million and one cousins from this side, so I don't know them all as well as I know the Borne side. It was good to see them and catch up a bit. Here I am with my cousin, Josh's son, Joel. Isn't he a cutie?!

Josh also has twins and this is Angelina. Josh and Sheryl definitely make CUTE babies!

Food, fellowship and singing!

I would say that I hung out the most with Josh while I was growing up ... him and his brother Graham, but Graham couldn't make it to the gathering. Love ya, cuz!

Here are the 14 of us cousins that made it to the gathering. We had representation from 8 of the 12 families. Not bad, but we've got a reunion in the works to see how many more we can get out ... hopefully this summer!

Family's great, isn't it? Even if you don't know them super well, they are a part of who you are and it's interesting to see the similarities.

Hoarfrost!

Christmas!

This year, luckily, there was no drama at the airport (in case you don't remember, last year my flight was cancelled on Christmas Eve because of all the snow). My flight was only delayed about half an hour and I landed in Calg.ary with no problems.

On Christmas, Eve my Dad wanted to take me to show me this new mall they have and this new store called B.ass Pro Sho.p. Yes, my Dad wanted to go to the mall on Christmas Eve. This didn't please me greatly, but one good thing about going shopping with my parents is that they have a handicapped sticker. I know that doesn't sound like something to be happy about, but my Mom broke her foot recently and my Dad's had both knees operated on, so if you have walking issues, believe me, I'm happy they have it. :) Don't worry, I would NEVER use it if one of my parents weren't with me. Can't stand when people do that. Anyway, that made it easier for me to think about battling the malls on this special day ... plus, my Dad wanted to spend some time with me and that made me happy in and of itself.

When I asked Mom why Dad wanted to take me out to the mall on Christmas Eve of all days, she said, "This store has a lot of nice stuffed animals that Dad wants to show you." I thought, "I'm 37 years old. Why do I need to see stuffed animals?" Well, let me tell you, these were no teddy bear stuffed animals as I was thinking. My jaw literally dropped when I walked into the store. It was an outdoor paradise ... INSIDE!!! My pictures will never do it justice, but here's a taste of what you can see.

These are REAL animals ... stuffed. I don't think I could ever shoot an animal, but I realize that people do it and hopefully they do it for the meat, not the sport of it, but they sure do make this store what it is.

Everywhere you look ... and I mean everywhere, you will see some sort of creature. I didn't take pics of the little weasels or marmots, but they go from big to small. Don't forget to look up ... waaaaay, up.

There is also a shooting range like at the fair and a couple of months ago my nephew bought a bow and arrow there (not something little like we grew up with ... this thing is serious ... and deadly) and he was allowed to use their practice room for 2 hours before he left. Pretty cool. I highly recommend stopping by just to see this place. It's just north of Cal.gary. Ok, enough free advertising.

That evening I went with my parents to their church for a lovely service. My Mom was in the choir so it was nice to watch her sing with the joy she has for singing. We lit candles and sang Silent Night and remembered the gift that God gave us in His Son. We were reminded to go out and be a light to this dark world. After the service we drove around and looked at Christmas lights. It was a nice night.

The next morning we took it easy, packed up the truck and drove to my sister's place. The roads were nice and clear and we stopped for a nice Christmas Day lunch at Den.ny's in Red De.er.

The first night we opened presents and I didn't take a single picture. Can you believe it? I don't know what I was thinking ... or obviously, NOT thinking. Sheesh! I got The God.father trilogy (yippee!!!) from my sis and bro-in-law, my niece gave me The Of.fice calendar and a bookmark of the Cu.llens. She was so sweet to buy me gifts with her own money. My Mom made me an afghan out of my favorite colour, purple! I love, love, LOVE it! I will treasure it forever.

The next day while we were waiting for the turkey to cook, my Dad brought out his slides. Maybe I'm a bad kid, but I used to really groan when my Dad pulled out his slides. I've been told by 2 of my blog readers that they've always loved looking at their Dad's slides so like I said, maybe I'm just a bad kid, but we used to have to sit through COUNTLESS pictures of all my Dad's construction projects ... most of which were from before I was born and were done in far off locations. Anyway, this year I was very excited to look at them. It was a lot of fun.

Here we are all set up in our own theatre.

We'll start off with the patriarch and matriarch of my Borne clan.

My Dad and his siblings. I don't think it was allowed to have small families back then. :)

My Dad in his young, handsome years.

My Mom in her young, teeny, tiny years.

I just LOVE this picture of my parents. If I'd seen it before, I didn't remember it and now I want a print on my wall. What does this picture remind you of? Sing it with me now, "The hills are alive, with the sound of muuuuuuusic ...." :)

I don't know how to put whistling down in print, but that's what I want to do for this next picture. :) Isn't that awesome? That's my Uncle Abe and Aunt Jess with their daughter Jan while walking around Harriso.n Lake. Oh, and my Dad isn't carrying a purse, those are binoculars which we still have somewhere.

Then came along my sister, Carolyn. Chunky monkey, hey? But I think chubby babies are WAY cuter then skinny babies, so it's ok, Care. :)

Then came my adorable brother, Donnie. Don't you just love that picture of him laughing? Can't wait to meet you some day in Heaven, Donnie. Oh, and Care and I figured that she must have done something bad for Mom to give her that nasty bowl cut on the right. haha! We've all been there, right?

Then came my sister, Jodi. In this first picture with the horses, my Mom is pregnant with her. See the maternity dress she's wearing? After Jodi was born, Mom made it into a dress for Care ... that she's wearing in the next picture. Always a true Mennonite. :)

Then came me and the invention of film, so luckily, there were only these 2 slides of me. :) What fun it was looking through these. I hope my Dad brings more next time and I can keep taking pics of them.

After we were finished the slides, the house smelled amazing and we had our turkey dinner ... which I also forgot to take pictures of. Crazy me. I'm slipping in my old age. But I did take a couple of pictures after supper.

Since this is the usual occurrence after supper (which is TOTALLY fine and well deserved),

Carolyn, Bailey and I headed outside for some fresh air and to feed the animals.

I wondered how close my new zoom could get me to actually seeing the man on the moon and I must say, I'm pretty impressed. Can't wait for the next full moon.

My beautiful niece, Bailey and I. I think I'll be framing this one.

Their fun, chocolate lab, Deano. I don't know if I've ever met another dog who loves to play fetch as much as him. The first picture is after he dug his toy out of the snow and the second picture is of him anticipating his toy being thrown again. Fun for hours ... or minutes as that's really all I could stand out in the -14 degree weather (which I know I shouldn't complain about seeing as it was -40 the week before I got there, but I'm a wimpy BC girl when it comes to the cold, ok?)

Walking in the winter wonderland.

The next day was all about the games. Ski.pBo, Gue.ss Who?, Croq.uenot and Dutch Bl.itz were the main winners ... oh, and Sor.ry as well. I really like board games, so this was totally fine with me.

After we were all gamed out, my nephew, Clay had to show us how good he's gotten with his bow and arrow. My Dad told him that if he could hit a grapefruit in 4 tries, he'd give him $10. I'm proud to say that he hit it on his first try. Way to go, Clay!

And while I was outside, might as well take some more pictures of the moon. :)

And no Christmas post would be complete without some tree decoration pictures.

This was my favorite picture I took and it really is what I wish for all of us in 2010.