The Definition of Love

A while back I wrote in one of my journals my definition of love. Love is when you care about someone so much that you will go out of your way to make them happy and comfortable. You would gladly give up your own life for that person. To love someone is to be by that person even if they screw up cause hey we all do at some point. Loving a person is not how they look or dress, its loving and knowing their personality, their laugh, their smile, their ups and downs, their sense of humour no matter how lame it may be. If you truly love someone never hesitate to tell them because life is far too short and you never know when it might be your last chance. Love is a selfless act. Its the gift that you give when you have nothing left. When you are broken its all that you have left. Before saying "I love you" think about what you are committing to. Those words are powerful and cannot lie. This definition I believe can go towards a significant relationship or in a friendship/family. There is so much more that could be added to what love is because it is never ending and a person is so complex that you can never fully know them.

How can I even title this/

So its been a long time since I last posted. I really don't have an excuse since I have had access to the internet for a long time but I just haven't known what to say and haven't had the ambition to do it. Last week we stayed at this camp that is located about an hour and a half from Calgary, AB close to the small town of Sundre. We were there for about nine nights and were blessed to be sharing our rooms with only one other person and we all had our own bathrooms. When you go from sharing a bathroom with twenty girls and sleeping in a room with five others this is quite the difference. So we got to hang out, have a speaker and participate in the camps activities that they offer. We also had a day of silence where we were supposed to just spend the day listening to God and couldn't talk for the whole day. That is really challenging. After that we loaded up into our vans and we headed to Vancouver. We stayed at the Patricia Inn on east hastings street and got to have a free weekend. On the Saturday I went with a few people to see the movie Footloose which was absolutely amazing. Then in the evening we went to Gastown and found a cute, nice restaurant and had supper. On Sunday we were planning to go to Stanley park. We hopped on one of the buses and ended up in a totally not Stanley park area. After about 45 minutes of sitting on the Transit bus the bus went "not in service" and the driver kicked us off. Thankfully the last stop was close to the sky train terminal so we boarded and took about a twenty minute ride. Eventually we made it back to the mainland of Van, found the right bus, got on and about an hour and a half later we finally managed to get to Stanley park where we went to the aquarium. It was an awesome day. Especially since we did all that travelling on one bus ticket. So this morning we were starting our Vancouver Urban Plunge and we found out this morning that on Saturday night our trailer was broken into and they took off with hundreds of dollars worth of our stuff. Not everyone lost stuff just about thirteen of us. So we could use some prayer. Thankfully a few items were found being sold on the street and they were now returned to the rightful owners. God is awesome and afterall those are just material items. Well I need to go to bed now so I think this will be wrapping up this very abnormal post.

The Wonder of Life

Its interesting to look back on my short 18 years of life and to see all of the people that God placed in my life for specific parts of my life even if I don't really spend time with or talk to now. They all helped to shape me into the person that I am today and I am so grateful for all of my life experiences. God knew what I needed at every turn of my life and I feel that without certain things occurring throughout my life and with certain people I may not be the person I am today. I look forward to continue to get to know all of the people that He has placed in my life right now and see how they will shape my life.

Wind

There is something comforting about standing outside in a beautiful place when a strong wind is blowing. Perhaps its the knowledge that a strong wind is essentially what God is; so powerful that a house could be moved in an instant by an unseen force. Unseen in the way that it moves but not unseen in the things that it touches. Looking around at the faces of those around us we can see God moving. Those moments when someone spontaneously reaches out and helps a fellow in need but they had no idea that person was in need. The whole Earth is filled with God. Every person on the planet regardless of the religion they follow, ethnics, colour, or personality was created in the image of God; the unseen force that sweeps across this planet. A planet that personally knows God and is crying out for His Return. All the animals are touched by the Wind of God. God is the Wind; an unseen force that is impossible not to see touch everything around.

What happens when you throw 36 strangers into a community?

You experience a life of a beautiful community and get a new family. So this year I am doing something called Outtatown which is a discipleship program through the Canadian Mennonite university. Three weeks ago to the day I began this joyous adventure with a somewhat open mind and a stomach full of butterflies; unsure of what to expect. I looked at the faces of each of the people on my site and had no idea the personalities of anyone and could barely remember anyones name. Today I look at pictures of them and all that I feel is an intense love that I have only experienced with a few people. It hurts my heart just to think about parting with any of them. I am looking forward to basking in every single minute of this year and living life in the present moment with no specific plans for the future. I can't wait to experience many adventures with my lovely new family. Love you guys!

Why do you love nighttime so much?

The darkness opens our eyes to whats all around us. It allows us to see the tiny dot way high in the sky; the one that is so faint you can barely see it. We are one of those dots. He that is greater than anything holy sees that dot. He sees us; knows exactly where we are. No matter where we run to in the universe He can see right into our eyes. Knowing each one by name. He knows our hurts, our fears, our deepest love. Lover of my Soul. No matter where I run you will always catch me while I fall. Eternal Ruler. He knows my name. He chose my name; whispering it into my Mother's ear. Saying this one is precious just like you. This one is Mine too and no one can tell them differently.

So I say again why do you love the nighttime so much?

The nighttime opens our eyes to the glory of the All Powerful Ruler. The King who sees the speck and knows every person on that speck that you can barely see. The nighttime gives us a glimpse at His vast kingdom. The kingdom that no words in the human tongue can describe. Something happens that is indescribable every time I spend a moment staring at the beauty of the nighttime sky.

What would you give to have one night to spend dancing beneath the stars with a warm wind blowing?

I would spend the rest of my life in bondage to someone. Serving them with all my being to experience the glory and power of the King by looking into the vast universe and seeing what He, the Eternal Ruler is capable of. I would be beaten and tortured just to experience that wonder of looking into universe for one night. It is worth my freedom for without, there is no such thing as freedom. We would all be bound even those who truly were free would never be free without experiencing the freedom and power that comes from dancing beneath a star filled sky. Freedom here on Earth is worthless without the means to truly be free to ones self. Freedom can only come from one being; He is the Lover of my Soul and this is what my soul sings to Him.

Its interesting...

Its interesting that we all spend our time complaining about what we don't have instead of looking around and being thankful for what we do have. We think that our lives are terrible and we don't always think that the life of someone else might be worse than ours. Maybe rather than feel sorry for ourselves and spending our lives being greedy we should say "Thank you God, you gave me more than I ever deserved," then turn towards someone less fortunate than ourselves and bless them with the blessing bestowed on us.