I was just sitting here trying to write and it isn't working. I've decided that trying to force lyrics out of my head just doesn't work, so I decided to post instead. This afternoon Sean and I went and rode bikes (complete with mostly flat tires and uncomfortable seats) around a lake that is about an hour away from my house. There were no cougers, the fish weren't biting (or at least they weren't for the one unfortunate fellow that I asked), and the great path had been covered up with gravel to make it more city-dweller friendly, but it felt good to get out and breathe the mountain air.

((note: the picture isn't from tonight, but it is from another nice spot about 40 minutes away.))

If I could have a pet>

And his name would be Glen. Just because thats at funny name for an alpaca.

Lots of writing, guitar playing, singing, and so on. It's been a pretty sweet time. A great group of guys, and a great bunch of songs. We're recording a bunch of them tomorrow (just ghetto recording) and then patrick and i are hopping back on a plane and coming back west. I have to say, Maryland is much nicer in the summer than the winter. nice warm weather. it actually feels like summer.

One more day. On wednesday my dad and I are headed to the east coast. we're going to be at the motherchurch (covenant life) at a songwriters retreat. i like traveling.

some recent photos...

I don't have too much to say, so here's a song that I just wrote a few minutes ago...

Verse:
Lord You hold my life in Your sovereignty
And I accept the plan that You have for me
When this journey's goal is obscured by night
When my heart would fail, Jesus hear my cry

Chorus:
Let Your strength be shown in my weakness
Let Your grace be known when I fall
Teach my heart to rely on Your promise:
That You'll never let me go
You will never let me go

Verse 2:
Christ You bore the wrath that was meant for me
You sought my wayward heart and You set me free
You put me on the path that would lead to You
But how I need Your grace to follow after You

Chorus:
Let Your strength be shown in my weakness
Let Your grace be known when I fall
Teach my heart to rely on Your promise:
That You'll never let me go
You will never let me go

off to kamloops to do some recording in my cousin's studio. should be good. should be fun.

Lately I've been struggling with legalism. I've been trusting in my own works to find merit in God's eyes, and I've been frustrated to find that, for the hundred billionth time in my life, I can't do it. I can't. I couldn't today, I won't be able to tomorrow or the day after. I won't ever be morally capable of gaining some sort of merit in God's eyes. My best deeds are stained with sin, and they can never atone for the things that I've done. The question that I've been struggling with is: Why do I do it? I'm like Paul doing his monologue on the connection between our minds and our hearts in Romans where he says:

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom. 7:14-24)

There is a disconnect between my heart and my mind. In my mind I say "I know that all that I have to do is trust in Christ's death," but in my heart my sin continues to rage against such a surrender.

Thankfully there is hope. In response to his own question in verse 24, Paul exclaims "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!". There is hope. It is in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross. That is the only hope.

(sorry for that long monologue of my own, but I was feeling encouraged and felt like doing a serious post on my blog...)
((i was browsing through some of the archives for my blog and found this little poem thing that I wrote and posted up quite a while back. as far as poetry goes, i don't really like it, but it fits in with the post, and it is written in a very similar manner to the way that my mind functions, as far as the logic goes...))

what would life be like if I,
loosened my prying grip to rest,
in faith on One who's promise never fails,
who's love can surely keep me through the test?
this life, where in my strength I can't prevail,
i long to cast myself on Him and yet,
my will is not so easily subdued,
restless it cries, "I can yet succeed",
and won't rely on grace, though it is free.
yet where is rest if not in Him?
or hope, if not within His wounds?
life is only found beneath His cross,
and joy runs freely from that fount,
Oh teach me Lord to bow,
my heart, my hope, and will,
Oh teach now me to lean on grace,
Oh teach me to be still.
this path would be a easy climb,
if I would only trust,
that Your own hand will guide me safe,
that You know what is best.

post?

i am guest posting for joe. and i am out of ideas. so. joe i love you

als-

Hindsight is 20/20

New (real) post coming soon.

:Send Out Your Light and Your Truth:

43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!

2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?

3 Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!

4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.

5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.

::truth is beautiful::

Sometimes you just have to go where the road takes you. Photographic recap of the roadtrip.

((some of them are my pictures and some of them are sean's))

Road trip begins today. I'm just guessing that it will be really cold. Next post probably won't be until monday>

Sam is cool. Railroad tracks and old bridges are also cool.

lights and arrows.

I don't know why, but blogger isn't letting me upload pictures right now.

the really lame thing about posting scarcely is that when you do post you have a lot to say, and no more time to say it than usual.

here are some of the things that are going on: My dad and I are doing a cd through sovereign grace, steve and I going on an alberta road trip next week, and......umm.....josh came and left, beth and her mom also came and left, and I've been writing a lot, and trying to think of good arrangements for songs.

I really wish the pictures would work. maybe i'll try again.

sam and I went driving today, and I took some pictures of him.

hmm... isn't working. there must be some kind of bug in the system.

I'll post them later.

I went snowboarding today. Matt and I really thrashed up the mountain. We grinded some rails, took some jumps, ate some powder, twisted some limbs in directions that they were never intended to be twisted, and ended up back at the Festiva some seven hours (give or take a few) later feeling really sore. This is a lame post. I realize that. But I really need to sleep now.

5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings [1] and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

Revelation 4:5-6

I wrote a song from this verse. I want to try writing songs from specific books in the bible. I think that would be a productive thing to do.

16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. 17 “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. - Malachi 3:16-18 -

I just got back from soccer practice. It was the first one of the year. I'm thankful for the opportunity to get back into shape, but the process of doing so isn't pleasant. Thankfully this practice was more technical and there wasn't a whole lot of hard running.

Now I'm at home eating waffles and drinking a coke.

I don't know where the rest of the family is. they could've left a note or something. gosh!]]

I've become a really lame blogger of late. Actually, almost all of the people who run the blogs that I go to have become lame bloggers. It must be an epidemic. Unfortunately excuses are lame, and I've decided that if I'm not going to fairly regularly post on my blog, I'm not going to keep it going. However, because my blog has been up and running for over a year and i would be sad to shut it down, I'm going to do a month long test to see if I can start posting a bit more regularly. If the test goes well, I'll keep the blog. If it doesn't then I'm going to shut it down.

i'm watching U2 live in Chicago right now. the edge rocks. i think his toque has magical powers. haha.

I'm off to school in an hour. peace.

Till Kingdom Come

Sean and I made a movie. EEEEEEY.

The west is great.... let's separate!

Who needs Canada?

More posts and hopefully a documentary to follow.

"Yo, Yo, Yo, what up Joe?"

There's this one client at work that greets me with that on the phone every couple of days. haha. I always laugh. Can't help it. I just do.

I've been sick for the last couple of days. Nothing really cool to report other than that. . . . . .

so here i am at 1:00 in the morning, writing my essay that's due tomorrow, thankful that 24 was taped for me. I don't have tons to say. life has been busy, I have to finish my essay for tomorrow, I work tomorrow morning then have a class at lunch. On wednesday I work half a day and then have classes, and I have a 8 page short story due for thursday.

On top of all that busyness, I get to lead worship at youth on friday. It's not a bad thing though. I'm pretty excited. I really enjoyed doing it last time and it'll be fun to go at it again and smooth out some of the cracks from last time.

On one final note to the guy in the photographs: Come back to the Motherland you hoser!!!

MY winter adventure....

The "MY" is capitalized because i'm copying sean, who also had a winter adventure, and happened to post about it first on his (really good, unlike mine) blog. Just so no one mal compris (misunderstood). With my explanation out of the way, I'll begin.

It started out like any normal day. I woke up a bit too late and quickly realized that I would need to rush in order to arrive at work somewhat on-time. As I ascended the stairs the typical melodies of the morning rather rudely greet my ears. Sam is running (stomping) across the hardwood and Kayla is screaming at a frightfully high pitch at something.... I couldn't tell if she was happy or sad at any rate. The only difference to note about this particular morning is that there is well over a foot of snow outside. My face fell as I realized that there was an even greater need to rush my routine, but I shook this troubling thought of and got to it. When I left home it was 8:10AM. When I reached 200th Street, the traffic was stopped dead. It took me an hour to get from my house to the highway, and for anyone who does not know the area, or does not live in the area, it should only be a five minute drive. Traffic in Langley was utter chaos, but once I was out in Aldergrove it slackened a bit, and the commute-stress-level returned to average levels.

ok-----now skip ahead to 2:30PM....

I have to leave work now in order to (hopefully) get to a class on-time. It has been snowing all day, and (in Abbotsford at least) it is pretty much a white-out. It takes just over an hour to get back to Langley (about double the normal time) and I reach the campus only to hear that all the evening classes have been cancelled. "Hmm....", I thought, "what to do now....."

I decided to go home. The only problem with that plan was that there wasn't a single road open in Langley by which you could get to my house. Cars were inching their way up, only to start sliding back down because of a lack of forward momentum. I tried a few times (unsuccessfully), and then parked and tried to think of what to do. I was all uptight. I'd been in the car too long. I'd been fighting the weather without any result. There was only one thing to do: Go to the mall.

The mall was basically the only place in Langley where the traffic wasn't too bad. Most people were feverously trying to get out of the city, so the mall turned into an unlikely fortress of solitude. (haha). I hung out for a bit and bought some jogging shoes.

Now I was ready for the final push, the climax of this epic tale of wintery weather woes. I got back into the car and proceeded to pound the steering wheel and shriek incoherently for five minutes to psych myself up. Then I drove one of the few roads that were open and leading up the hill. I pulled over to the side of the road and planned my move. I waited for all the cars to drive up and then slide back down in rejection, and then, when all was clear, I gunned it, picked up as much speed as I could, and burned up that hill without and issue. When I got to the top I pulled over again and shrieked and pounded on the steering wheel in my moment of triumph.

that's my winter adventure. pretty crazy....

iPhone

I know. I'm a geek. but I've been waiting for this day for a while. I'm going to stop before I start gushing in the language of nerds.

check it out at www.apple.com

/././././././ A new post. And it hasn't been 2 weeks since the last one.

Starting school this week. On tuesday. It's been a long time since I've been in a classroom. I'm excited. Should be good.

New 2007 garden gnomes for sale...... yes..... I know..... It's creepy.

Well it's been a long time since my last post. I've been busy. Deal with it. I've been busy.

This is something I've been thinking of lately: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to and end."
That wouldn't be a very radical statement if someone was to just make it up, because it might not be true, but the amazing thing about it is that God was the one inspiring the prophet to write it, therefore it's absolutely true. The other amazing thing about it is that God is not speaking of love as we define it. Human love changes, wavers, and is about as fickle as a Vancouver Canuck fan, because it is a feeling. God's love isn't just a feeling, but an inherent personal quality of His. His love is a part of His being, therefore while God remains, His love remains. I've been profoundly affected by this recently because I realize that my affection for Him has been far less than what it should be, but this is the amazing part: My affections for Him do not, will not, and cannot change His affection for me, nor alter His purpose in saving me to bring Himself glory.

Josh and I went and took photos in Abbotsford..... and it's almost Christmas..... just in case anyone forgot.....

Verse 1

In the desert place,
You have proven lord,
You are faithful,
You are faithful,
You shower grace on grace,
I find my strength within Your Word,
You are faithful,
You are faithful,

Chorus

You have been faithful again and again
And Your promises have never failed
You have been faithful again and again
And you steadfast love will never change,
You’ll never change,

Verse 2

And for all my years,
On this journey’s road,
You’ll be faithful,
You’ll be faithful,
All my storms and tears,
Will teach my heart that surely, God
You are Faithful,
You are Faithful,

This guy is a lot of fun./

I know, I know, I haven't posted in quite a while. The problem is that after you stare at a computer screen all day, that's not really what you want to do when you get home. I wish I had a good picture to put on or something. As for a lighthearted or funny post, that would be hard to work up because I'm not funny, I'm just odd, and oddness can't be worked up on demand any easier than funniness from a really lame not funny person. It's almost 2:00 in the morning. I'm burning this DVD that has been a major struggle to finish. It really should have been done a month ago, but with busyness, technical difficulties, and my own dumb mistakes, it has taken so long. finally tonight it will be finished. I was thinking about going to sleep and just getting up a bit early to finish it, but anyone who knows me well knows that I probably couldn't tell you what country I'm in first thing in the morning. My brain just doesn't function. So right now I'm writing a post to pass time and appease all you post-a-holics who have time for good posts....with pictures......and some level of reasoning that I can't possibly posess at this time of night......... Oh well. i have a sore throat. i feel sick....... I found this gross looking stacked soft taco thing on the counter in the kitchen, and being hungry, I heated it up and ate (half of) it. It was one of the most disgusting things i've tasted. I would probably rather eat vegetables of any sort. Hmmmm.... now that raises a valuable question. If it was worse than most vegetables that I don't like, and I still ate half of it.... that kind of just shows my willingness to eat anything that is dripping with grease and preservatives, and shows my stubborness when it comes to the more natural food groups.

I just watched a bruce lee movie. It must have been from the 70's. It was amazing. It was a biographical film about himself. He stared in it. So it wasn't like a documentary... it was like a real movie of Bruce Lee's life. Amazing. The overdubs on the audio were all at least 2 seconds off. The plot never changed: Bruce would travel to some new place and beat up anybody who challenged him. I think it must have been filmed on 16mm, but the quality was almost as bad as a good 8mm. It was hilarious. The dialogue. The overdubs. I watched the whole thing, start to finish. The funny thing is that they could have got through the whole plot in 10 minutes, but the film was about 2 hours long. So basically they were just replaying the plot in different locations. Seattle, San Fransisco, LA, Hong Kong, Thailand, and then back to LA.... it was truly inspiring....(not). But probably the funniest thing about the movie is that he predicted an early death for himself, so he put that in the movie too. I think in the movie it said that he died at the age of 35, and in reality he died when he was 33, although he also added to the movie that some people think that he faked his death and just left the public life....... hmmm..... sounds fishy to me. So basically Bruce Lee probably isn't dead, he's probably just a 67 year old man who's beating up any young punk that gets in his way in the backwoods of China.

yeah. and with that-I'm done

The Grinch who (wishes he could) steal "commercial christmas".

My heart must need to grow a few sizes if you're using the remedy set down by that classic film about another grinch. I don't like christmas lights, christmas trees, or christmas cards. I abhor christmas films, (secular) christmas music, Santa Claus and seasons greetings. It has nothing to do with what christmas is actually about. It's just another sick case of North American commercialism. Traditions are made into advertisements, and the mystery of God becoming a man is eclipsed by chubbiness of an old man in a red suit. For these reasons, the "Christmas Season" that most people really get into doesn't really thrill me all that much anymore-in fact, it's pretty sad.

now we're soarin', flyin' (....i'll spare you all by not inserting the rest....)

I'm no longer sick.

it's friday and so far i've eaten less than my regular portion of junk, so I plan to consume some artificially generated food tonight.

Sick. the word says it all.

This is amazing. Watch the video. You'll be encouraged.

http://www.worshipmatters.com/

Alpine Adventure.

Today steven and I courageously faced hordes of angry drivers and drove to cyprus mountain. we went snow shoeing....without snowshoes. We were exploring in the name of exploration. It was cold. We were unprepared. We had touques and big coats, but no gloves or or snow pants or boots. Personally I was sporting some converse and jeans. After doing some spin-outs in the parking lot we headed for the woods. We struggled to the top of a hill, up to our waists in fresh powder. It was so cold. SO COLD. After we reached the top of the very steep hill, we trudged around the woods for a bit and then went back to the hill and i tried to start a small avalanche by jumping and rolling down it.... it didn't work. then we drove home.
It is snowing. RIGHT NOW!

Yesterday I was thinking of an away message for my gchat. I had the songs from the wizard of oz stuck in my head all morning, so I decided to (in a minute and a half or less) write an aussie punk song about the wizard of oz.

I think there might be wicked witches,
Somewhere over the rainbow,
oooooh yeaaaaaaaaaaaah,
And metal men, and talking lions,
that chill with scarecrows,
yeaaaaaaaaaaah,

Oh somewhere over the rainbow,
somewhere over the rainbow,
someday, oh somedaaaaay,
I wanna go,

Oi!!Oi!!Oi!!

You gotta fight the flying monkeys,
Somewhere over the rainbow,
ooooooooh yeeeeeeaaaaaahhhm,
And the little guys who say they're wizards,
Really they're just trying to get rid of you,
Oh yeeeeeeeeeeeeahhhhhh,

Oh somewhere over the rainbow,
somewhere over the rainbow,
someday, oh somedaaaaay,
I wanna go,

Oi!!Oi!!Oi!!

hahahahaha. that's the non-serious section of my post. here's the more serious side. i'm trying to re-train myself to be writing deeper lyrics again. For quite a while I was really into getting good melodies for my songs and I barely cared about the lyrics. I'm trying to correct that, and write more thoughtfully. this isn't really a song, I never put a melody to it, it's more like a prayer. I sort of like it.

take my heart lord jesus,
take it and reign supreme,
strengthen my weak affections,
and point them, lord, to thee,
oh guide my faltering footsteps,
till faith has gained it's sight,
and in the morning's glory,
I will see you, jesus, my delight,

planning a big post on creativity.
i need to organize my thoughts better, so right now isn't the time to do it.
for now, anyone who thinks that they are creative watch this video and be humbled....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7Ny5BYc-Fs&mode=related&search=

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey.
rocketman.
tonight.

"if I were the king, of the foresssssssst! I'd ough, and I'd raough, and I'd rouhahahahahaha!!!!!"

preparing myself for much laughter.
out.

P.S> I'll come to texas ricky. one day../

First picture: me (please don't bug me about the self portraits.... josh does far more of them.)
Second picture: my desk at work. the ugly computer soon to be replaced by a gleaming 20inch iMac.

Life is really interesting for those who pay attention. Most people don't. I don't most of the time. Thus I will write on this short, lame post (except for the pictures) that nothing interesting has happened to me recently, which is a lie because interesting things have happened to me, but I haven't noticed them. Unfortunately. I'll be working on that. out.

Hey.......!
I just got the cable for the camera. Finally I can actually put some pictures on.

My favorite time of year....

But just so I don't confuse anyone, I didn't take that picture today. Or even this past year or the one before it....wait....maybe the one before. haha. it's raining constantly here. flooded streets.... some guy out in the country caught a salmon that was swimming up his street.

out.\
oh. wait. blow up the picture by clicking on it. it looks better and you can see the snow better.

I just went and bought a sweater from the gap.






it's green.




that is the most interesting thing that happened all day.

Ah.
no time to post.
I'm such a dumb blogger
a dumb, dumb blogger
I don't use time when i have it
and i try to post when i don't have any.

fdasjkfjkdskjlfdjklfsdkdfssdkfjlfkjlsajkldfsaklsdfjasdfkljdfjslsdflkjasdfkljafds;lkj!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't sleep last night. There were such long periods of exporting and rendering and such that I watched Saving Private Ryan (for creative inspiration, and because it's a long movie...), cleaned my room, posted on my blog, checked and replied to emails, did some reading some praying, some writing, and some quiet guitar playing until 4:00 am. After four, all the exporting was done and I started working hard on the DVDs. They're still not done, but almost. It was a long night. A long day. Now I'm going to work in a little bit. AH. I need to sleep tonight. Definitely.

BUT....I discovered something really helpful yesterday. Those little starbucks drinks that they sell in jars are good. and they're cheap. they taste like melted ice capps. So I'm going to stock up on a bunch of those and just chug 'em throughout the day.

I'm sitting here at 11:02 pm with another all-nighter looming in front of me and I want to think that this is a very bad thing. I want to say that it really stinks that there is some unknown error in my file that I've tried to export several times without success. I want to believe that it's bad luck that when I went to clear some disk space I happened to delete several files from the movie, and because of that I have to re-capture much of it and do a little extra editing. I really want to. I really, REALLY, want to say "bad luck, this stinks, I'm mad". But somehow I can't, and that's a really good thing. First of all, when compared with what I deserve, I'm really doing well.... no little man dressed in red poking at me through the flames with a pitch fork.... and acceptance and fellowship and a relationship with the eternal God, and not eternal separation from Him. That's one reason to be glad in spite of my predicament. And secondly, i know that He is working all things for my good and His Glory. He knows what the issue is, and the fact is that what might seem like an extremely fruitless waste of time to me, is actually a test, and an opportunity for me to grow in Godliness for His glory. I'm really grateful that He showed me that.

Last night I went to guitar lessons. At my teacher's house you wait in this room off to the side until the person who is getting lessons before you is done. There was something new about the room today. There was rabbit in a cage on the floor. I stuck my finger in to pet it and it bit me. No wonder it was in a cage.

an explanation of "rad"

Rad,
An abbreviation of 'radical'--a term made popular by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Still primarily used by people on the West Coast who find words like 'cool', 'awesome', and 'tight' to be tired and overused; 'rad' is generally considered to be a much higher praise than the aforementioned superlatives. Also used as a general expression of awe.

"Those are some rad shoes."
"Oh, RAD."

Yes. It's true the days of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are over (....well at least I thought they were over until I just recently saw that somebody decided to make a movie......) but the popularity of words cycles like the popularity of certain fashion trends. What was cool in the 80's (for some reason unknown to me) is cool again (minus the bright pink short-shorts guys, and we should be thankful for that....). Even though Rad most likely dates back to the early 90's I think it's about time it resurrected from it's temporary grave and again overtook those other sorely over-used superlatives. Josh and Steve are helping to make this a reality. Join the Rad Revolution. Rad is going to be a rad word once again.

By the way, I put that picture in because it is rad.

this blog has lacked color of late....

So I'm posting pictures.
These were from a while back.

this picture just popped into my head. don't ask why. but I'm in the mood for writing humorous nonsense.

Turtles are crawling from holes in the ground,
Where insects and wriggling creatures abound,
As they turn their questioning faces about,
They ask if indeed they are on the right route,
And I say, "keep going, I'm sure you'll find out."

First of all, turtles don't live underground. moles do, but turtles don't. So I don't know why I thought of them coming out of the ground. If you're wondering where they were going, don't worry, they said they were headed for tennessee, and I told them to keep going south until it gets hot and then turn right. I'm sure they'll get there fine.

it didn't work. I don't know why. I posted this morning and it's not there.

I need to echo what josh said on his blog. time is an issue. a real one. but I've been convicted that God gives enough time in a day to do what needs to be done, and it's my fault that I don't get things done. I take away the time that I could have by spending too much time on things that don't need to be done.

so... speaking of which I need to go edit a bit.
out.

identity-part 1

what do you find your identity in?
how do you try to define your identity?

honestly. I wouldn't mind hearing.

Due to a lack of battery power, I'm going to have to type fast. Therefore if this makes less sense than it should, please forgive my rushing, and just try to understand it.

Now, the battery's about to die and I won't actually get to write it. maybe later. hahaha.


whatever.

Notice the new things saying that you can sign into blogger with your google account? that's because google owns blogger. They are taking over the world. They already have maps, searches, movies, pictures, a religion (seriously. the church of google), and tons of other seriously useful junk. Except for the church of google part. it's not useful, but then, google doesn't actually own it...they're not affiliated.

I got G-mail today. I figure: "why fight'?. You can't beat it so you might as well join it. And my hotmail is bugging me with dumb ads and junk. So for those of you that have my hotmail, I'll soon be sending you my G-mail address. i'm not going to put it here because then I'd get tons of spam.


peace out.

(as I write this google will most likely purchase a small country, but rich in natural resources. Googleland. hahah .joke.)

does anyone else know what pickleball is?

if you don't you should learn about it.

it's a great game.;

but it's been quite a while since I've played.

i want to play again but I don't know where to find a court.

if you know where one is, tell me. I'll teach you how to play.

it's a really rad game.

out.

As much as I really like florida, I want to go home. And that reminds me of a M. Bubly song, but I'm not going to post it (a sigh of relief goes out from the guy readers and unhappy wail from the gals.,.;... haha.)........ yeah. florida has been great, the people are great, the theme parks are pretty good ((if you're older than ten Sea World is better than disney)), there are ghetto hotels, and there are nice ones.

we went to metro life church this morning and dad led worship. it went really well. got to see some friends from a ways back.

but at the same time I miss the north. I don't know why I love the north, but I do. even though vancouver is pretty far south for canada, when you come this far south you begin to realize that you love the north.

so I put that picture on because kayla is cute as always, and because it was taken in the winter. out.

no pictures. bad posts.

MAN!

I'm a bad vacation blogger.

the truth about the pictures is I don't have a USB cable.

not much other interesting news.

\........
sorry.

out.s
]

Oh man..... it's hot. and it's like 11:00 at night.

So this is fall in the sunshine state. I'm all for the sun, but I sure wouldn't mind them turning down the humidity.


More posts will come (at least i'm thinking so unless the place we head next has no wireless.)) and they will have pictures. I don't have one on this post because I hardly took any today. soooooooo.......


yeah., anyways....we're in daytona. I think that's just for tonight and part of tomorrow. After that we head back to Orlando.


out.

well......tomorrow vacation starts.
it will be fun I'm sure.

here's an interesting thing that I was thinking about today: People are really good at talking. We're really good at making conversation (well, some of us at least//..... meaning not always me but sometimes.......maybe....yeah.....whatever), talking about whatever we like, or bashing what we don't..... but this is what occurred to me the other day: people these days (including me) are terrible at saying anything of importance. I don't really know why either, but if you listen to yourself and really try to gauge the worth of what you're saying I'd bet you'll find that you don't say much that really means anything. again, I don't know why..... it's weird though, now that I've noticed.

Since that last short post was so popular and because I don't have any time anyways I'll do another short one.

yes, got the iPod.
steven!
joseph!
maxwell!

those are the nicknames. no one should add to them or take away any one.

umm....

I'm really busy. I haven't yet eaten dinner.
my guitar needs fixing or else replacement.
I'm thinking replacement.

tele?
les?

I don't know.

ok.
I need to go back to editing if I'm going to finish by tomorrow.

high school musical.............Oh my goodness.

So Steve and I are alive. We made it back. We ate Nandos. It was a good trip. Very long. But good. This week is going to be brutal. I'll try to post on stuff every once in a while but won't have much time. Just so you all know.

Steve and I are biking to white rock. It's many miles. no sidewalks. big hills. it'll be a workout. i probably won't make it back.


if I don't, keep my blog going. if I do, I'll post about it later.

out.,

such a good song someone should bring it back again.

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.

Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,
With His blood He purchased me,
On the cross He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.

I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant pow'r I'll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin, and death, and hell.

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav'nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.

so good.

There's a scheduled outage at 4:00 today for anyone who didn't know. haha.
I had something I wanted to say. I think it was important. I can't remember what though.
So I'm going to go to work, have my starbucks, have my buck-a-slice pizza, then come home and if the outage is over I'll try to remember what I wanted to say....

I just ordered a 30GB video iPod. 3-6 days.......can't wait.

this came about because my green jurrasic park edition iPod mini breathed it's last a couple of weeks ago, I've been missing it, and because the new video iPods got bigger batteries, apple is selling the old ones for less than an iPod nano. cheap. so I ordered one. I'm definitely looking forward to getting it.

I got to play E-guitar in church today. In fact, we had 2 e-guitars. that was a cool experience. Patrick said something about having 2 ADD electric guitar players, I laughed. I couldn't help myself. I was ready to rock.

and just to make this a somewhat serious post here's a song I wrote this week. i don't know for sure what I think just yet, but I like the melody so.......


Verse 1

Looking through the past,
Time and time again,
You’ve been faithful,
You’ve been faithful,
When hope is fading fast,
You give strength to run again,
You are Faithful,
You are Faithful,

Verse 2

When my love grows cold,
I will wait for you,
For You are Faithful,
You are Faithful,
You make me overflow,
With joy and wonder at Your truth,
For You are Faithful,
You are Faithful,

Chorus

From everlasting,
To everlasting,
You are Faithful and true,
Though my grip fails,
Your hold prevails,
You’ll never let me go,

Verse 3

Throughout all the years,
On this long, long road,
You’ve been faithful,
You’ve been faithful,
All my storms and tears,
Have taught, and proven surely, God
That You are Faithful,
You are Faithful,

cheers.

I was so busy yesterday. Work was busy. Calls never seemed to stop, people never stopped giving me things to do.....it was good. then I came home grabbed a quick lunch and then ran to the church office and spent the rest of the night recording two songs that I wrote. it was funny. I sang, played acoustic guitar, played electric guitar, played bass....(I don't have a clue how to play bass but if you have rhythm it's not too difficult), and got the computer to play drums although I recently discovered that I can (sort of) play them too.

Now I'm going to have another mocha, answer a bunch more calls and start it all over again. except that tonight I'm (possibly)going bowling. should be fun.... it could get a little crazy as I'm a terrible bowler.....oh well.out.

The great dilemma.

I like coffee, sort of.....I don't absolutely adore the the taste, but I love the mental stimulation it gives....to be able to think clearly in the morning is well worth the price of a white chocolate mocha. But here's the dilemma: Now I want that kind of alertness all day, so I want to drink multiple coffees. But there's no way I can afford multiple mochas so I'll either have to settle for the unthinkable (cheap coffee), or find some other option. Any ideas?

oh yeah almost forgot. I got my glasses today. maybe I'll get pictures....

busyness.
I think that's what you would call it.

Here's a song I wrote this morning during my quiet time in a park across from where I work while sipping a hot (but unfortunately quite strong) coffee, which thankfully provided a small amount of mental stimulation. It's from Psalm 139.

You've searched me,
And You know me,
You have planned out all my days,
You're behind me,
And before me,
You are with me all my days,

Where could I go from you?
If I rise with the dawn still You are there,
Where could I hide from you?
Even in this raging sea You're here,

So search me and know me,
Expose my anxious thoughts,
Then lead me and guide me,
To a perfect trust in You my king.

In the silence,
In my darkness,
You are the light that guides me,
In the moment,
Of my weakness,
You are the strength that holds me,

Where could I go from you?
If I rise with the dawn still You are there,
Where could I hide from you?
Even in this raging sea You're here,

So search me and know me,
Expose my anxious thoughts,
Then lead me and guide me,
To a perfect trust in You my king.

I didn't necessarily try to fancy it up as far as words go. I was more just trying to catch the gist of the Psalm.


new iPod Nanos.
iTunes 7.


....yes......!!!!

Good Hymn.

1. Let us love and sing and wonder
Let us praise the Savior’s name
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame
He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood
He has brought us nigh to God

2. Let us love the Lord Who bought us
Pitied us when enemies
Called us by His grace and taught us
Gave us ears and gave us eyes
He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood
He presents our souls to God

3. Let us sing though fierce temptation
Threatens hard to bear us down
For the Lord, our strong salvation,
Holds in view the conqu’ror’s crown
He, Who washed us with His blood,
He, Who washed us with His blood,
He, Who washed us with His blood,
Soon will bring us home to God

4. Let us wonder grace and justice
Join and point to mercy’s store
When through grace in Christ our trust is
Justice smiles and asks no more
He Who washed us with His blood
He Who washed us with His blood
He Who washed us with His blood
Has secured our way to God

5. Let us praise and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high
Here they trusted Him before us
Now their praises fill the sky
You have washed us with Your blood
You have washed us with Your blood
You have washed us with Your blood
You are the Worthy Lamb of God.

Sorry that my recent posts are weak.
Really the problem is that I'v had no time at night, so I post in the morning before work.
I have ten minutes left now, so I'll just do a quick update of life...

The new job is going well.... I'm reading a lot, learning the systems of the company, and learning html and css code. (if you go to your view menu up at the top and click view source, you can see all the coding that goes into webpages....)(well, I guess that's on a mac, on a PC just find something about viewing the source or source code)).

I don't have to start till 8:30 am, but i'm usually there about an hour early so I walk to starbucks (and by the way I'm just starting to get hooked on coffee...) get a coffee (or I will until I'm so broke that I can't afford it anymore.), then walk across the street and have a quiet time in the park.

and for lunch I usually have buck-a-slice pizza.

other than a new job nothing too interesting is going on other than Youth meeting tonight, Florida in a month, and dad and I are co-writing another song. I like it quite a bit.

there. boring. not cool, I know. but that was ten minutes unfortunately. now you can see how slowly I think before 7:00 am. it's scary. out.

six days......

until new macs? new iPods? the long awaited Apple cell phone...?

for whoever doesn't know, I like macs. On September 12 apple is having a media event, which means they'll be releasing new stuff. Touch-screen iPods I hear, and very possibly cell phones and a 23inch iMac.

sweet stuff.
out.

what would life be like if I,
loosened my failing grip to rest,
in faith on One who's grip can never fail,
who's love could surely keep me through the test?
this life, where on my strength I can't prevail,
i long to cast myself on Him and yet,
my will is not so easily subdued,
restless it cries, "I can yet succeed",
and won't rely on grace so free.
yet where is rest if not in Him?
or hope, if not within His wounds?
no true life can be but for His cross,
nor any joy that runs not from that fount,
Oh teach me Lord to bow,
my heart, my hope, and will,
Oh teach now me to lean on grace,
Oh teach me to be still.
this road would be a easy climb,
if I would only trust,
that Your own hand will guide me safe,
that You know what is best.

---------------------------------------
sorry that there haven't been any pictures. josh has our camera. I need to get it back soon.

out.

Off to work. Sore neck. Sore back. I was thrown from an inflatable blob of rubber into the water while traveling approximately 35 mph. It was fun. we were tubing at a lake. it was especially sweet to just roll of onto your back because you would slide along the top until you slowed down enough to sink in. But the one time I actually unwillingly got tossed we were going too fast and hit a fairly large wave (for a lake at least) which caused the tube to flip over in the air sending me in head first. I was actually grateful to be wearing a life jacket because I just floated there limp for a few minutes while the boat turned around.

And that's all I have to say for now. Not very interesting, but it's 6:30 in the morning so cut me some slack.

We did the wave in church today.....

I can't even understand it myself.