Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Words on a Wednesday Afternoon

The other night I heard someone reading a text on the radio. It said, "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." John 10:11. Then I knew that if He laid down His life for His sheep, there is no way He will ever let one of them go. If one of the sheep strays, He will search him or her out until he or she is found, just like in the parable in Luke 15, when the one sheep strayed and the shepherd left the ninety-nine to search it out. Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am persuaded that neither life nor death, angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor life nor death, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." There is great comfort in this.
You should listen to this song. There is so much simple joy and praise in it. :)
Justine

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Well now.

Because Hi is too boring a title.
~I burnt my finger at work tonight. I wanted to know if the stove was still hot. It was.
~Consolation for that: I saw a beer ad that said, "It's okay to have a blonde moment."
~Someone should start a radio station in this area that plays some of my favourites, such as Stuart Townend, Keith and Kristyn Getty, Jamie Soles, Casting Crowns, etc. Then they should get a good strong transmittor so I can get it in a back kitchen sandwiched between two buildings.
~Today I chatted with my friend who lives seven hours away via facebook. I miss having her ten minutes away, but I'm glad I could chat with her.
~Tonight I worked with a girl who I'd never worked with before. She is taller than me!!! Okay, so I'm not that tall, but most of my coworkers are shorter than me. She's also a lot of fun. So, after working alone two nights this week, it was great working with her.
~These last few days it hasn't been humid. I am enjoying it.
~My sister is reading "The Help". When she is done I get to read it. I read the first few pages, but I better not keep reading because she won't be very happy.

Okay I'm done with point form. :) So we had a sermon on Sunday about friendship, particularily the friendship between David and Jonathan. Now in such a deep friendship, people share the deep things in their lives. My question: how much is right to share? Should we fill our best friend in about all the little details? When we are sharing what is bothering us, what is the line between appropriate sharing and complaining? How do you find a friend who you can open up to like that? Now here's another topic for questions. To what point ought we to express ourselves? Where is the line between being too self-centred/whiny and not bottling it all in? Where is the line between being strong/good/cheerful/caring and showing others the weakness and troubles in our lives? At what point can I stop trying to be a strong big sister and helpful daughter and actually speak of my weakness and messed-up-ness? Ok I better stop before I say too much. lol
On a lighter note, we were reading about the creation of Adam and Eve the other day. Mom asked Nadia what God took from Adam to create Eve, and Nadia said, "His ribbons." When Emily was about that age, she said, "He took a piece out of him."

Justine

Saturday, July 7, 2012

What I'm Listening To:

Howdy... and some ramblings

No, I'm not American. Howdy is a normal part of our family's vocabulary. It is not unusual for one of my brothers to say 'Howdy' with a perfectly serious look on his face, speaking to someone outside of our family. People may give them an odd look, but they see nothing strange about using the word. :)

The last time I posted was January 30. Since then I have: taken part in a play, started working as a cook/waitress in a small town restaurant, finished grade 12, graduated, participated in my last trip with our homeschool group :(, gone camping, and perhaps most importantly, confessed my faith before the church.

I am excited to be done school. I am hoping to be able to work full time for a while, and after that I plan to attend New Life Midwifery School. (I'm not sure if their website is working right now as I can't seem to get on to it, but hopefully it will be soon?) This school is in the Philippines! It is run by a mission centre. The funds to run the clinic come from the students' tuition. All the information is on the website. I just found the blog of a woman who went to school there and now works in Sudan, and another blog of a woman who just moved to the Philippines to attend this school. The exciting thing about the second blog is that the woman who writes it will likely be there when I start!! Now I must clarify that these plans are what I believe the Lord is leading me to right now. They may change. Having this goal has given me peace and motivation. It sure helps on a day when I don't want to go work in a busy, hot, steamy kitchen to know that it has a purpose: saving for school. However, I know God has a plan for how I can best serve Him. I hope it includes going to this school, but His will be done.

Now for a picture. Two very good things late at night: The Lord of the Rings trilogy and chocolate. ♥

Monday, January 30, 2012

Pretty Pictures (for lack of a better title)


Notice the rainbow in the bottom left corner above. Below is a close-up of the rainbow.



The picture below is one I took at camp in July.



And this is something that hangs on my bulletin board. A friend wrote it out for me.


Justine

Friday, January 20, 2012

Crazy Life in a Big Family

We have so much to laugh over, living as we do in a house with 12 people. Some days it seems more like so much to sigh over, but hey, that happens.
We have a little girl. That means cute little dresses, dolls, an imaginary world where everyone is some animal or other, Papa Rabbit and Mama Puppy and Grandpa Squeaky (why do I have to be Grandpa Squeaky?). It means excitement over pretty shoes, crying for chocolate at 2 am, and loving going places and seeing people.
We have four young boys. Boys mean noise and rowdiness. It means telling lame jokes on the way to church, forming a choir to sing Jingle Bells when a big sister comes in to put them to bed, arguing over Fords and Chevys and Dodges, pretending to be mountain ibexes on the stairs, and always making the sound effects of a whole battalion of artillery.
We have five "big girls". We stress over what we are going to do with the rest of our lives (as if it's in our hands), jostle for the mirror on Sunday mornings, have late night conferences sitting on the bed talking about anything, get hyper over card games, and generally have fun. Another thing we do is silent communication. One time our family was at our cousin's place and there were quite a few other people there, most of whom we didn't know. The five of us were hanging out with three other girls whom we had just met. I came in with a coke. Leah raised her eyebrows and gave a little smile. I shook my head. Leah gave me a pleading look. I rolled my eyes and went out to get her a coke. The other girls said, "Whoa, what just happened there?" We thought, "What, we do that all the time."
We have two amazing parents. The best thing about them is they are strict but reasonable. We have rules, but they are not arbitrary. They make sense. My parents love each other and us a lot.
We have so much to be thankful for in our family.

The main floor part of our addition has been finished for quite a while and we are enjoying it. The basement is almost finished and then we can move in! So exciting!

I have a new watch. My parents found it in a parking lot. :) Now I have a watch that is fancier than I would have bought myself, and I got it free. :))

Justine