What Did I Do?: Ueberraschung!

Well, I feel like I'm finally getting caught up on things I was behind on and moving ahead. I must say I have been feeling a little computer illiterate trying to adjust to this new piece of technology. As you will no doubt notice, when I'm busy, I'm not very creative with new ideas. It's made even more difficult when I'm left without a computer to research anything on. I also lost part of my idea list, so I have to try to remember some of my ideas.

February 19: I won! 

On Thursday, I won an interesting Facebook challenge posted by my friend Kevin Abell. The prize? This Monroe thermometer. I don't think I've ever won a Facebook conversation before and it's also my first picture with Kevin.

 February 20: According to Knowledge Nuts, people have a false idea of how many rats there are in the world, particularly in big cities. News sources have exaggerated the numbers, saying there are twice as many rats in New York City as there are people, but it's not true. Personally, I think I only ever saw one rat while in NYC, that was running along the subway track. I admit I got pretty excited about it. Maybe it's because of signs like this one that I didn't see more.  Yep, I had to take a picture of one.

February 21: On Saturday, I learned about bed bugs, how to detect them, and identify bed bug bites. I had a bit of a freak out on the weekend, but now I can rest assured I don't have bed bugs.

February 22: On Sunday, I tried eating a kiwi with the skin. I really like kiwi when it's ripe and sweet and I've heard of people eating the whole thing, but the fuzzy skin has never appealed to me. Well, I determined to try it, especially after watching my nephew munch through the skin and explain how healthy it was. I looked at the kiwi before eating it with more contempt than a piece of raw fish. I managed one crunchy sour bite, then sliced it in half and scooped the inside out with a spoon. But now I can say I've tried it. If it had been a little riper, it might have not been so bad.

February 23: I can't wait for the day I can go to the pool in a T-shirt or even a sweater. It's way too cold. But to another swim class I did go, and it was rather grueling. I hadn't been to the pool in two weeks and not having exercised since my last class didn't help. I'm still learning not to drink pool water when I sink. When I came up coughing and sputtering to no end, people stared at me like I almost drowned or something. It reminded me of a similar experience I had a few years ago in the Atlantic Ocean. It was a little traumatic.

I also learned some interesting things about James Dole, "the Pineapple King" who turned the whole Hawaiian island of Lana'i into the world's biggest pineapple plantation. In 1927, he offered a $35,000 cash prize for the winner of an airplane race from California to Hawaii. The conditions were very dangerous. Add that airplanes weren't exactly what they are today and that nobody had ever flown to Hawaii before. Many entered the race but only two actually finished it. Ten people died trying. In the end, the winner shared the prize money with the second contestant to finish, but alas, they weren't the first people to fly to Hawaii. Two army pilots got there before the race started.

So that was tragic and James Dole felt really bad, for good reason. But back in 1913, his company made a machine that peeled 100 pineapples a minute. That's pretty cool. It would take me entirely too long to just peel one. I'm afraid though I might feel a little guilty from now on when I buy Dole pineapples. Not fair.

February 24: You know those annoying parking meters? Well, I found out who came up with that idea. Carl Magee, a U.S. reporter invented the parking meter. He was an interesting man who exposed corruption. However, he also shot and killed a bystander when he got into a fight with a corrupt judge he had just berated in his newspaper. The judge didn't get shot as intended, but someone else did. He was acquitted, however, and when he moved to Oklahoma City, he came up with the idea of the parking meter in 1932, in order to resolve the city's massive parking problem.

February 25: What I'm about to share next should be taken with a grain of salt. I apologize to my readership who won't be able to understand much of what I will share next, and to my Mennonite, Low German speaking readership, I apologize for my horrible spelling. I never did become proficient in reading or writing my mother tongue. Also, I can't use an umlaut, so I have to improvise. And I'm definitely about to become less serious.

I learned a number of new things through an afternoon of browsing a Mennonite cookbook compiled in Mexico. I must say it provided a fair share of amusement to me, a Mennonite born and raised in Canada. Although my roots are in Mexico, I've only been there to visit a handful of times. What made this cookbook particularly interesting was the different German words they use for things. It seems to have a wealth of great recipes if you can figure out how to read and understand them. In all likelihood, this cook book is correct in the German it uses, and the Low German language I'm used to is just so far removed.

Something I have often noticed is that our Low German vocabulary is rather small. We don't seem to have words for a lot of things, or we just take English words and pronounce them to sound German. And there are things that are just different between German and Low German. Well, to understand this cookbook, I think you needed to be proficient in German, Low German, English, Spanish and possess some imagination. It also seemed they have some food products in Mexcio that we don't have in Canada, or perhaps we just couldn't understand them. There were a number of canned milks that showed up in recipes, but we could only figure out evaporated milk for certain.

My favourite word I learned was ueberraschung, which means surprise. This was through a recipe for Schokoladenueberraschung. To learn that ueberraschung meant surprise was a surprise! I didn't know we had a word for surprise! Maybe if someone had thrown me an "ueberraschung geburtstag fest" when I was a kid, I would know this stuff! I also think the word sounds an awful lot like our Low German word for "backwards", but maybe that's just me.

We figured out that plaetzchen are cookies and kuchen is cake. To me, kuchen means cookies and cake is cake. And we figured out that kekse are cupcakes. Karrotten Kuchen is carrot cake, but I say "gelmehren." We eventually determined zimt meant cinnamon, since it was in with recipes for Cinnamon Rolls. At home, that's still just koernel rollen to me. When providing instructions for icing cookies or cakes, it uses the word "streiche", oba ekj do kuchen beschmeiren. Schokoladenschnitzel are chocolate chips. I get the chocolate part, but to me schnitzel is milanesa.


One of the ones that had us stumped for awhile was Schlagsahne, which we finally concluded was whipping cream, or whipped cream. To me, cream is Schmaunt, and if I'm reading a German recipe, it's Rahm. This made me wonder, if whipping cream is Schlagsahne, then what do they call Schmauntfaht? There are a lot more examples, but I simply can't write about them all.

Ah, yes, we Mennonites are a unique people with a unique language, and we could argue with no end about words and pronunciations! With this cookbook, the nice thing is if you need clarification on a recipe, it not only provides the name of the woman who submitted the recipe, but also her Campo number, phone number, and husband's name if applicable.

In the end, what is my conclusion to this matter? Dit es bloss nicht wo wie dat gelieht han!

And for the song I was singing constantly this week.

"If you wanna know how far My love can go
Just how deep, just how wide
If you wanna see how much you mean to Me
Look at My hands, look at My side
If you could count the times I'd say you are forgiven
It's more than the drops in the ocean." --"Drops in the Ocean" by Hawk Nelson

What Did I Do?: Raw Sushi!

I'm finally back! I got a new laptop, had a busy weekend, and now I'm hoping to finally be able to reorganize and catch up on things. It was a hard week. If humiliation could kill me on the spot, I would have been done last week. I am thankful for grace, even when I lose sight of it and try to keep my head above the water myself.  A bit more on that later, but first, what did I do?

February 12: On Thursday, my whole morning started bizarre. I stole (I mean, ahem, picked up) a shield from somebody's car that had gotten stuck under my car and was dragging along the road, which made me stop on a busy city road to get out and dislodge it. Yeah, that's a mouthful. I also had a Coffee Culture craving for some time, which I don't indulge easily because it's a little more pricey. But I needed to try something new, so I got a Chocolate Chai Latte and a Spinach & Feta Twister. Two lattes and said pastry cost me a whopping $14. It was good, but certainly overpriced. I came home only to discover my laptop seemed like it had finally died. It lasted five and a half years and had given me fair warning that it was in its last days, so I had most of my important files backed up. Even so, such things are an inconvenience. And I learned, never splurge on unnecessary things because I think I'll be okay financially. Always be prepared for the unexpected.

February 13: Working at an arena, I serve a ton of fries with those little wooden fry forks. One of the condiments we put out is malt vinegar. I don't get what the deal is with malt vinegar, or why people want it on their fries. I couldn't recall ever having put even white vinegar on my fries. So, in a little time to breathe, I threw in some extra fries for me and ate fries topped with malt vinegar and a little fry fork.

Rest assured, I don't serve such epic proportions of food to my customers. I merely wanted a taste, lest I shouldn't like it. But I found it rather enjoyable. Then I took the rest of the fries and turned it into a poutine. I don't easily crave it, but did it ever hit the spot. And then my craving was satisfied for some time.

February 14: On busy days, I take it pretty easy. After having some awesome sweet potato wedges and ribs for dinner, I had a "double date" on Valentine's Day. Translation: I took my nephews to a hockey game and they loved it. I'm not sure I've had sweet potato fries or wedges before, but these were certainly the best ones I've had.

Also, just to fluff my day, I pulled out a dictionary. Yay for printed dictionaries when the computer is down.

curare: a resinous bitter substance prepared from certain S American plants, paralyzing the motor nerves, formerly used to poison arrows by Aboriginals of S America, and as a muscle relaxant in surgery

February 15: Sunday was definitely the highlight of my week! I heard a faculty member from Heritage College & Seminary, had a shift a work, and then had a special sushi outing for dinner. I had a Japanese teacher one year in grade school, and she introduced us to a California roll kind of sushi, so I had had sushi like that before. But one thing on my list this year was to try raw sushi. I had never been so excited to eat raw meat!

Of course, I had to take pictures for my readers. I started off with some sort of crab sushi.

This is a spicy salmon roll.

This, I believe, was the spicy dragon roll. This was one of my favourites. The orange sprinkles are fish eggs. They added some texture. So now I've had raw fish AND fish eggs.

A yummy fried tempura shrimp. It was so good I just kept eating. Then I noticed something crunchy.... Don't eat the tail!

I had some of whatever this is too.

This here was as hardcore as I was able to go: a slice of raw salmon on top of rice. I had two little bites of one piece and I was done. I determined I am not ready to brave sushimi, which is just a piece of raw fish.

I even braved a teensy tiny bit of green wasabi.

Fiddled with chopsticks and dropped one of the floor. Had a mango salad, which was good aside from the fact that the mangos were green.

I tried green tea ice cream for dessert and finished with a cream puff and some cheesecake. All that was missing was the coffee.

February 16: pareve: "(of food) being or containing neither meat nor dairy and so kosher for use with either, according to the dietary laws (includes fruit, vegetables, fish, etc.)"

Pareve is an adjective pertaining to Judaism, but does anyone else find that definition confusing?

February 17: I made Garlic Bubble Loaves on Tuesday to go with a pasta casserole for lunch. It was one of the funnest breads I have made. You shape the dough into little balls, and then roll them in melted butter mixed with garlic powder and parsley flakes, then place them in loaf pans. It was super fluffy.

Carbs are supposed to make up the largest part of my diet, right?

February 18: And finally, I was reading Anne of Green Gables on Wednesday, where Anne talks about a piece of poetry that she likes, or rather two lines in particular.

"Quick as the slaughtered squadrons fell
In Midian's evil day."

Anne doesn't know what 'squadrons' means, and it occurred to me that I didn't either, although I had a slight idea. So I looked it up.

"squadron n
1. a principal division of an armoured or cavalry regiment consisting of two or more troops.
2. the basic administrative unit of an air force, usu. consisting of two or more flights.
3. a formal unit in a navy consisting of a number of ships.
4. often jocular an organized body of people or things."


Now, back to one of my thoughts from the beginning. In the midst of a slightly crazy week, this song was on my mind a lot last week. I go to music a lot when I'm down. This is probably my favourite song so far from For King & Country.

"My help comes from You
You're right here, pulling me through
You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness all on Your shoulders
Your shoulders
My help comes from You
You are my rest, my rescue
I don't have to see to believe that You're lifting me up on Your shoulders
Your shoulders" --"Shoulders" by For King & Country

What Did I Do?: Eyeballs, Hockey, Pizza, and New Recipes

Well, Week 2 is finished. It was a bit of a challenging one again. I'm finding I need to have a small pool of ideas to work with on any given day, because my plans and schedule can easily change. A friend suggested different categories and doing something from each category every week. I've been working with that and putting my ideas into categories (there's currently 10).  I'm hoping I can use this strategy to plan and add variety to my weeks. That way you're not seeing too much of the same thing all the time, and I can balance my ideas out.  But, without further ado . . .

January 8: I learned why your eyeballs don't freeze when it gets really cold.  I saw this link on Facebook and thought it would be cool. It was pretty interesting. You should read it too. So, yes, the weather has been freezing lately, but don't fear. As long as you're alive, your eyeballs will be okay!

January 9: I ate a slice of pizza upside down. Meaning, the pizza was upside down, not me. In my 23 years, I have eaten pizza many different ways. For a long time I ate it crust first and worked my way to the point. There was a time as a kid when I peeled off the toppings, ate those, licked off the sauce and then ate the rest. I think that grossed out some other kids at school. I have eaten it with a knife and fork. When in New York, I learned to fold it and eat it New York style. But, I had never turned over my pizza so my toppings faced my plate and tried it that way before. It was tricky figuring out how to hold it right. It wanted to fold over at first.

Starting out with eager anticipation!

I'm starting to lose it!

 And then I was taking pictures and texting while eating it, so that made it a little more interesting. Getting close to the end! I had to resist the urge not to turn it over and eat it the right way. Fun, but I'm not switching permanently to this new method. There were some casualties left on my plate afterward.

January 10: I went to watch a hockey game for the first time! I used to watch Hockey Night in Canada all the time, but that doesn't count. Now I work at an arena, and when I'm not busy, I'll watch games from my concession or from the lobby, but I had never paid to get in, sat in the bleachers and watched a game. So Saturday night, I went and watched our "Junior C" team play. Most of the time when they're playing at home, I'm home or working at the concession, scrambling through intermission rushes.

If I was going to go to a hockey game, I wanted to get the full experience. I froze through the first period, and at first intermission, I went to stand in line at the canteen like everyone else for a half coffee, half hot chocolate. This helped keep me warm. At the second intermission, I had to go get popcorn and put the dill pickle seasoning on it.  It was a good night.

January 11: Sunday was a little more low key. I went to visit a local church where I hadn't been to before for a service. It's good to get such experiences sometimes and worship with other believers. I also tried a new smoothie combination. Vanilla yogurt, frozen mangos, banana, strawberries, and orange juice makes for a good tropical flavour. I made another one the next day again for work.

January 12: Well, the cold, snowy Monday morning started again with my trip to the pool. It was a productive swim class, which I know because of how sore I was after. I learned that if you wipe the inside of your swim goggles with spit, they don't fog up! Who would've thunk?! Afterwards I headed to a music store . . . to shop! I've only ever been able to admire in one of those stores. Monday I let loose and got some new tools and music for my flute practice. I walked out with a music stand, metronome, maintenance kit, music and a whopping bill! Then I had to figure out how to put the music stand together. It required a little head scratching, but no tools were involved. As there were no "constructions" in the box, I had to figure it out on my own. It took about 10 or 15 minutes of fumbling with the parts, but in the end I had a functional stand!

I also tried a persimmon on Monday. You're probably like "What's a persimmon?" And I be like "Oh, I don't know!" They were on sale at No Frills, so I bought one over the weekend and checked online how to eat this fruit. After the first half, I figured out eating out the inside with a spoon worked best. What does it taste like? Oh, I don't know. There's nothing to accurately compare it to. It's kind of like a mango, and the flavour is sort of like an apricot. I know. That makes no sense. You pretty much have to try it to know.

January 13: I made oat biscuits for lunch. I have only made biscuits once before, so I'm a very amateur biscuit baker. The dough had rolled oats and oat bran in it. Mixing that up was easy. It was patting out the dough and cutting biscuits that proved to be a little more difficult. After assessing my sticky mess and knowing there was no way I was going to be able to cut out and transfer dough to a baking dish looking anything like a biscuit, I declared the first attempt a practice round, scraped my dough back into the bowl, and started over using a little more flour. The end result certainly didn't look impressive at all, but they tasted a lot better than they looked. They complimented the meatballs, mashed potatoes and broccoli reasonably well.

In the afternoon, I had to write an English exam, and then use up some time before going to work. So I headed to Slice of Aylmer Deli & Imports to search for a type of Dutch candies, and was successful in my search. I had never been in there before and needed some of these candies for one of my new things to do. But you will have to check back next week to see what that's all about. I'm hoping to do a video of that one, and I think it will likely be worth checking back for. Then I headed to a craft store in town to look at what they had available for another one of my plans. I can't do everything right away. I have to space my ideas and spending. And I can't have seven days of new food related things going on here. So you have to wait for some.

January 14: I made Huevos Rancheros! I had never had this before, but I had thought about making it a lot and just never done it. As I'm writing this, I'm having a cup of tea after enjoying this pretty awesome lunch. Huevos Rancheros is a Mexican breakfast dish made of tortillas, eggs, cheese, and a sauce similar to salsa. But breakfast is good any time of the day. I used a recipe, but also took some tips from my sister who makes this quite often.  Definitely going to have this again. The crunchy tortillas made me wish I had made some chips while I was at it.

Cooking the sauce:

And the end meal with refried beans and avocado. Fat and protein. Mmmm.

Another week down. Only 50 to go!

What Did I Do?: Selfies, Swim Class, and My First Flute

So my first week of trying to learn, try, or do something new every day has been quite adventurous so far. It's been a challenge already, but also a lot of fun.  Here's the recap of my first week.

January 1
I learned where New Year's resolutions started and shared about that in my introductory post. Later in the evening, I was reading The Locust Effect by Gary Haugen. It's a pretty research intense book dealing with a lot of global issues, particularly the issue of violence against the poor. I came across a number of words I didn't know and looked them up: counterinsurgency, ad hoc, and opacity. Mind you, even though I wrote down the definitions, the next day all I could remember about counterinsurgency was guerrilla warfare. Ad hoc didn't stick. Opacity did. It's when something is opaque. I guess you can't say "opaquity".

January 2
On this day, I was going to go sock shopping, and I thought it would be awesome to get toe socks. They were such a fad when I was a kid, but I've never had a pair. So I headed to Ardene, thinking that would be the sure store to find them. But they didn't have any. Neither did Marks or Wal-Mart. I learned that Wal-Mart continues to disappoint when I couldn't find some of the products I was looking for. I also wanted a beach towel for my swim class and was really hoping for an Olaf or minion one.  Yes, I think Olaf is like the cutest snowman ever and I'm also partial to minions for their cuteness. I'm convinced big eyes, over-sized heads, and cute voices and giggles sell, and not just to kids.  The closest thing Wal-Mart had was an Angry Birds towel. I'm not a Star Wars fan. The Angry Birds one made it into my basket, but I ended up settling for a blue and green crocodile print one that was more adult sized instead.

But I still had to do something new, and Day 2 was coming to an end. As I headed back into the mall and looked at Ardene passing by, my eye caught something. One of the things I wanted to try this year was going to a mall and trying on a bunch of fashions I despise. Go in and search out ugly. And now my eye caught it. (Please don't take offense at my fashion opinions. I'm rather conservative.) I picked up the article of clothing and headed for the fitting room. I chose to consider this my first fitting room selfie, since I still want to indulge in more of this activity.

The tag said "THIS IS FOR YOU". No, it's really not.

Afternote: This photo was not the first one I took, but it was my favourite. It took me a few shots to figure out how to get the one I wanted, and I had to play with facial expressions. :)

January 3
I tried a pomelo, which I bought the day before. I had never had one of these giant citrus fruits before. It's similar to a grapefruit and it's so big, I ate from it for days, with help. The hardest part is peeling the really thick skin. But they're good. I would get one again.

  
January 4
This day was already a challenge with my schedule. I want to sleep a little later, go to church, then I had to go work right after church and only got home from work at 9:45pm. So what I did was, instead of reading my Bible as I usually would, I read the first verse of every book of the Bible and wrote down notes about what I learned. I did the Old Testament in the morning, and the New in the evening after work. I had to check the Table of Contents to make sure I didn't miss any, which was good, or else I would have missed Ruth. My notes are pretty long, so I will share them in a separate blog post later on. I also plan to do the same thing with the last verse of each book.

January 5
It was a freezing, windy, blustery winter morning and I packed my beach bag. Oh yes, that was one cool thing I got at Wal-Mart, on sale for a buck! I started my first swim class on Monday. Swimming was an activity not encouraged when I was a child, but I've really wanted to learn for years. I can't swim yet, but I'm working on that. Since I'm the only one that registered for this class, I have one-on-one instruction. My instructor told me that your eyes don't actually burn from the chlorine in the pool water, but from the difference in pH.

 January 6
Tuesday was an unbelievable highlight and I was able to take a big one off my list, in a different way than I had anticipated. I turned 23 a week earlier and spent the day with an awesome friend. We've exchanged gifts for our birthdays for years. She told me I had take a rain check on my present, since it hadn't come yet. Hmm, what could she possibly be ordering that she was waiting to ship? Well, it arrived Monday and she wanted to get together as soon as possible to give it to me. She came over for supper and I made one of my favourite soups (see recipe here), and made cornbread for the first time. I'd had cornbread before, but never made it myself and had a recipe from a health book I wanted to try, which called for cornmeal and whole wheat flour, as opposed to white flour. A successful new recipe.

It was good, but that isn't what I want you to get all excited about.  This is what I want you to get excited about!

This shiny silver instrument is my very own Andreas Eastman flute! I had this feeling for a couple days that this was what my friend was getting me, but I wanted to be realistic and not be too hopeful. One look at the package wrapped in pretty pink paper told me I was right! I used to play the flute when I was in school, but was never able to get my own and I forgot how to play. It was amazing to put it together that night and play it for the first time. I kept a lot of my music from school, and I was surprised how quickly it came back, although I have a lot of practicing and re-learning to do before I can play like I once did.

January 7
I took it a little more chill this day. I sat down for over half an hour in the morning and worked on learning to shuffle a deck of cards properly, which I could never do before. I'm still no pro at it, but I certainly improved. And I learned that after shuffling cards for half an hour straight, your fingers get sore, especially when you have dry winter skin to begin with.

I also picked up my book The Locust Effect again. This time I learned about how corrupt the New York City police were in the 1890s, and the meaning of the word "pogrom," which is the organized murder of a lot of helpless people, typically for ethnic or religious reasons.


Hopefully this gives you some inspiration and new ideas. If you ever want recipes for anything I post on here, just leave a comment and I'll post it. Try to do something new this week, eat, play music, or whatever. Or just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming . . . .  Now you'll be thinking about Nemo. Hehe. :)

Adam Young: Music and Blog

Today I reveal another one of my secrets.  That is, my enjoyment of Adam Young's music and blog.  Owl City, for those of you who don't recognize the name.  There, I said it.  I don't doubt some of my readers will be surprised at my interest in his genre of music (electro pop), but truth be told, it is just SO MUCH FUN!!!  It has a happiness effect.  Yes, I know there are many starry-eyed girls out there who dream of marrying him, but rest assured, I am NOT one of them.

Adam's music is hard to describe.  It's like he lives in a totally different world.  His imagination is simply incredible!  His lyrics range from fun, romantic, colourful, thoughtful, intense, to just plain cute and sweet!  Sure, half of his lines don't make any sense, but that makes it all the more fun!

I can't remember when I was first introduced to Owl City, but I'm guessing it was likely when "Fireflies" became a hit.  Shortly thereafter, I was surprised to discover that the singer, Adam Young, was a Christian!  The only song on his album "Ocean Eyes" that reflected his faith was "Meteor Shower."  His new album "All Things Bright and Beautiful" reflects his faith much more, which disappointed many of his fans, but I for one loved it.  The most overtly Christian, and probably also my favourite song on his recent album is "Galaxies."  The song is actually about Adam's perspective of the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion, and he also has an introduction fitting for it.  He also does a beautiful cover of the hymn "In Christ Alone".  I could write brief commentaries on almost all his songs, but then this would get entirely too long.

I've also been following Adam's blog.  Did I mention he was an excellent writer?  His blog displays his imagination and creativity as much as his music.  Being an extreme introvert, he shared an article a few months back called "10 Myths About Introverts."  Almost everything in that article describes me.  I loved it!  He writes romantic little stories like "I'll See You in My Dreams" and "I'll Follow You" that will make any girl's heart flutter.  He also writes about his trusting God to be bring that special girl into his life.  I was so encouraged by the following words at the end of his article "Sharks Keep Moving":

"Above and beyond all of this, I take great joy and comfort in knowing my Savior has it all blueprinted and planned down to the tiniest detail, and that my job isn’t to blubber and worry about the design — but to hush. To be concerned with the principles of morality, servanthood, discipleship and character, and ultimately, to trust.
For what is faith without trust?"

I've also appreciated his more devotional like posts, where he shares his insights on scripture and also his recent thoughts on John Piper's book Desiring God.  It made me want to read that book again.

Christians have varying thoughts on Owl City, but there's much I have learned and appreciated through him.  I think he sees beauty in this world that we often miss and he knows how to capture it and put it into words.  Sometimes that means it doesn't make any real sense, but it places in me a sense of wonder and awe.  I'm inspired to dream and use my God-given imagination and open my eyes to the beauty around me.  And, well, like I said, it's fun and makes me happy! :)

Courageous Review

I went to see "Courageous" yesterday afternoon.  It was about time.  I had been hearing about this movie for nearly two years and had people asking me about it frequently recently, thinking it was already out on DVD.  I didn't think they would play it in Canada, since none of Sherwood's previous films had so far.  But "Courageous" did come to Canada, and I drove an hour with some friends to see it.  Was it worth it?  Yes!

This story was based around four police officers, who through tragedy, make a resolution to be the men and fathers that God has called them to be.  There's another family involved as well, which I appreciated.  It gave the story more depth.  I also appreciated the fact that the men all had different family backgrounds and their stories ended differently, making it more realistic.  It wasn't a movie about five guys signing a Resolution and it all being smooth sailing thereon in.  It showed it for the tough stuff it really was.  They touched on a lot of different topics in the movie, but I never got the sense that it was too much.  The film also contained a salvation message, but it was worked into the story better than in their previous film.  In "Fireproof", I kind of felt like they stopped the story for a minute to preach a salvation message, which, don't get me wrong, was good, but could have been done better.  Overall, "Courageous" was a good story, filled with action, humour, and tear jerking moments.

I had determined before going to see this movie to pack tissues in my purse.  And sitting in the theatre just before it started, I remembered I had forgotten.  I could have used them.  I was a very emotional movie, but it also contained some great humour and I enjoyed the best, although most painful laugh I had had in a long time.

On the downside, the acting in some scenes was a little weak but it had a good script.  There's nothing worse than watching a low-budget Christian film with bad acting and a bad script.  Also, I found that in some places, the mood changed too abruptly.  I wished at times they would have given us a little more time to enjoy the happy moments.  Probably, one of my greatest disappointments was the fact that they left the "theme song," if you will right until the end of the credits.  Casting Crowns wrote the song "Courageous" for the movie, and it's an excellent song, but many people don't stick around to the end of the credits to actually hear it!  Here are some of my favourite lines of the song that apply to all of us:

"The only way we'll ever stand
Is on our knees with lifted hands"

"In the war of my mind
I will take my stand
In the battle of my heart
And the battle of the hand"

No, this wasn't a movie directed at me.  It was a movie mainly about fathers, but I believe there's something in there for everyone.  I walked away thinking about areas in my own life I need to work on, areas where I need to strive for more honour and godliness.  It made me want to hold out for a godly, courageous man and to be deserving of him.  It made me want to pray more consistently for my future husband, that God would prepare him to be that courageous leader of our home.  Frankly, we all need to be courageous.  We all need to take back the fight in some area of our life.  I know I do. 

If you haven't seen "Courageous", I would encourage you to go see it.  If you don't want to spend the money, wait til it's out on DVD.  It makes a good family movie, although some of the action and themes may be too intense for your young children.  Either way, it's a film we can all benefit from in some way.  Now I'm ready to see Sherwood make a movie for the women.

Christian Singing for Queen?

Marc Martel has finally made the news!  The lead singer of Canadian Christian band Downhere has loads of talent, and I've enjoyed a lot of Downhere's music for several years. (I say a lot because there's next to no artists of whom I can say I like all their music.) The band started at a Bible school in Saskatchewan, brings a unique style to Christian music, and has been active for the past 10 years.

Many fans have thought Marc Martel sounded a lot like Freddie Mercury of Queen, and so now Marc decided to audition for a Queen cover band recently.  His "Somebody to Love" audition went up on Youtube last Tuesday and in one week, it has gotten nearly 3 million views.  I don't listen to Queen, but I must say he sings it very well.  I don't have to hear an original to know that.

Now, as I said, Marc's talent isn't news to me.  He has sung several different styles of music and I was long ago introduced to his cover of the Bohemian Rhapsody on Youtube, which I admit I enjoyed for his talent, not because I care for the style.  He's also done excellent covers of a couple of Keith Green's songs and performed the opera piece "Nessun Dorma".

So, he sings Christian stuff, opera, and songs by Queen.  That's an interesting combination and he's doing it well, in my opinion.  But I'm sure there's a crowd of Christians expressing their disappointment or horror.  How can a Christian sing songs by Queen?  How could that possibly glorify God?  I mean, have you heard some of Freddie's lyrics?  Some may say that listening to it is bad enough, and now he wants to be part of a cover band?

It could be very controversial.  Would I do it or recommend it?  No, I wouldn't and I won't expect you to listen to it. But I appreciate talent when I see it, and through a lot of hard work, Marc has done some amazing stuff with his voice.  I've enjoyed a lot of Downhere's music, and I will continue to do so.  You should check it out.  Some of my favourite songs by them are "Calmer of the Storm", "So Blue", "Great Are You", "Not About Wings", and "Unbelievable".  Enjoy!

They Don't Believe It Anymore

I've been writing about books a lot lately, so now I'm going to focus a little on music.  I've been noticing a trend in music lately.  Not in Christian music, but rather in "secular music", if you want to use that term.  I don't usually hear a lot, so maybe I'm not a proper judge in the matter, but it seems that there's a lot more songs out there these days about broken relationships than beautiful love songs.  Probably the closest thing to love songs I hear when I go to the mall are sexual. 

Basically, the world doesn't seem to believe anymore that love can last, that marriages can stay together, and it's largely reflected in the world's music.  Yes, I could easily mention a number of songs that do still believe in a sweet, lasting love, but I think heartache may be fast taking over.  Music seems to be stripping away the fairy tale dreams many girls have and forcing a reality check.  Prince Charming doesn't exist and neither does Cinderella.

Taylor Swift's song "Love Story" was followed up by songs like "White Horse" and "Mine".  In "White Horse" she sings:

"I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet
Lead her up the stairwell
This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down
Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around."

"Mine" ends much more positively, but near the beginning she says "I was a flight risk with a fear of falling, wondering why we ever bother with love if it never lasts."

Mat Kearney's song "Ships in the Night" echos a similar message:

"Like ships in the night
You keep passing me by
Just wasting time
Trying to prove who's right
And if it all goes crashing into the sea
If it's just you and me
Trying to find the light"

"How many of our parents seem to make it anyway?
We're just fumbling through the gray
Trying to find a heart that's not walking away."

Josh Groban sings a touching song called "War at Home" centred around families.  Yes, there's pain, but in the midst, there's still a willingness to fight.

Yes, these are only very few examples, and the lyrics I provided are only snippets, but a recurring idea in many songs is the fact that the artists haven't seen it work out.  Children grow up seeing their parents' marriages fall apart, their friends marry and the same thing happens.  Girls grow up to believe that guys are only after one thing.  Guys think they have to "conquer" the girls in order to be a man.  So they settle for casual dating or one night stands.  Society really hasn't offered us much hope.

What about the church?  Are Christians offering us hope?  Divorces among Christians are increasing all the time.  Do our young people have reason to believe that a lasting love is possible? 

I'm speaking from a single young woman's perspective.  I'm a dreamer, just like countless other girls who long for a happily ever after ending, but many have tried to crush that dream.  No, I'm not deserving of the man I hope to marry, but I want to be.  No, he won't be perfect, but I admit I do often have that idea.  Yes, I know it takes work and although sometimes I wonder how it's possible, I understand there will be rough spots in the road.  But I know it is possible.  I know we can prepare now for a beautiful future and God-honouring marriage.

No, the world may not believe it's possible anymore.  They may give up on love songs and happily ever after.  But I'm not giving up hope yet.

Let's Not Talk About That

Have you ever been in a Christian meeting or study where the leader has asked if anyone has input or questions and the silence is so thick you're afraid to breathe?  It's hard to believe after what you've just heard nobody has anything to say.  Were they even listening?

They're all doing the same thing you are.  Listening to their heart pound as they turn around that one thought they wouldn't dare ever say out loud.  Everybody's afraid.  Scared about what other people will think.  Embarrassed. Ashamed.

I've noticed something as of late.  I've read or looked at books and endless resources for Christian youth and singles and there are certain issues that are evidently big problems within the church, but I have rarely, if ever, heard them spoken of in person, face to face.  Why is this?

One thing I do know is that we are all humans born with very much the same tendencies.  No problems are new, unique, or limited to certain groups of people.  But there are certain things we shrink away from, avoid and simply hope for the best. 

We all know these problems exist in the world and in the church, but we don't talk about them.  Do we simply hope that our teens or youth don't have problems with these things?  Do we think that our church or group is better than all the rest?  Are we afraid simply because it's uncomfortable and you might have to say words you nearly blush to think about?  Why do we stay quiet about certain issues? 

All people, not just young people, have questions about a whole host of subjects but everyone's afraid.  Afraid to stand out.  Afraid of what people think.  Afraid of being vulnerable.  Afraid of what would happen if anyone knew.  So we protect our questions and secrets, bind them up with chains of steel and ache alone.

I love Tenth Avenue North's song Healing Begins.  But it also often makes me uncomfortable because it's so true and frightening.  In this video journal of the song, lead singer Mike Donehey talks about how confessing something to God is easy, but having to tell someone else freaks us out.  People scare us a lot more than God does. 

The truth is though, keeping things quiet doesn't fix anything.  Knowing something you're doing is wrong doesn't fix anything.  It's only when you start talking about downright scary stuff though that people can find freedom and healing.  And nobody's ready for that.

Laura Story - Blessings

In times of loss and grief, life is difficult to understand. God is hard to understand. This song articulates our pain, but it also offers hope. In our trials, we must believe that God has a plan, and a good one at that.

They'll Call Me Freedom

There are certain songs that somehow have a way of touching my heart and then I tend to want to write about them. I wrote an article like this last year on the song "Where is the Love?" and you can read that first if you so wish. Lately, the song that I've really been pondering is Wavin' Flag by K'naan. There has been different mixes of this song for the World Cup, but I'm talking about the original album version, which you can listen to in the previous link. And yes, I encourage you to listen to the song before you read this post.

Every time I hear this song, I can't help but feel that it was written out of experience. When I looked K'naan up, sure enough, he grew up in Somali during the Somali Civil War before he later moved to a Somali community in Toronto with his family. Although I couldn't find any solid information as to the story behind the song, I believe it is deeply rooted in personal experience.

The song starts off with the following lyrics:

"When I get older, I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag."

Right off, you catch sight of a dream. The dream of a child longing for strength and freedom. Somehow I can imagine a boy watching a flag blowing in the wind and longing to be free like it. He knows there's more in the world than his present state of weakness and longs for it. He has even put a new name to himself: Freedom.

"Born to a throne, stronger than Rome
A violent prone, poor people zone
But it's my home, all I have known
Where I got grown, streets we would roam

Out of the darkness, I came the farthest
Among the hardest survival
Learn from these streets, it can be bleak
Accept no defeat, surrender, retreat

So we're struggling, fighting to eat
And we're wondering when we'll be free
So we patiently wait for that faithful day
It's not far away, but for now we say"

What I absolutely love about this song is that even in the midst of their poverty and oppression, they're still holding on to hope. There's no indication that they're giving up or resigning themselves to this idea that this is the way life will always be for them. They know that freedom is possible. There are other songs that open to us the reality of suffering like James Blunt's "No Bravery" but they don't all offer hope like this one does. What is their hope? I believe to some extent, we are. We can help give them that freedom if we so choose.

"So many wars, settling scores
Bringing us promises, leaving us poor
I hear them say "Love is the way"
"Love is the answer," that's what they say

But look how they treat us, make us believers
We fight their battles, then they deceive us
Try to control us, they couldn't hold us
'Cause we just move forward like Buffalo Soldiers."

In our comfortable North American society, we are pretty sheltered from the bondage so many people find themselves in. They live in poverty, are forced to fight in wars, struggle to eat to stay alive, fighting disease and so forth. Many of these stark realities don't make it to the top of Yahoo News. That spot is saved for the latest article of how bad a celebrity looked in the dress she wore to an event. When we do hear of these things though, we try to shut them out because it's quite uncomfortable.

The fact is, suffering is real and as Christians, we can't sit back and do nothing about it. I'm not even going to pretend to be the right person to talk about this issue. I don't know how to end the suffering in this world and thinking about it isn't going to do a thing. The further I go in life though, the more I know that I need to do something.

Sometimes I think I need to go somewhere else to make a difference. That simply isn't true. There are people that are going out that need our support in the form of prayers, finances and practical aid. In America, we can so easily waste so much money without a second thought. But add up some of those small expenditures and you will be surprised how much you're really spending.

In October I started a budgeting plan and began to record every dollar I spent. Yes, I wrote down every coffee, smoothie and pastry purchased as well as money spent eating out. In October, I spent about $43.00 on eating out and snack food combined. Close to $25 was spent on recreation. In November, I again spent close to $40 on snack food and eating out.

Now if you go to Thirst Relief, you discover that a donation of $5 can provide a long-term clean drinking water solution for one person. That means that because of your donation, somebody (likely a child) in a third-world country doesn't have to die because of a contaminated water related disease. I know that one life doesn't sound like much, but what if I take those $40 I carelessly spent over the course of a month and donated it for a year, I would have saved $480 and in turn impacted nearly 100 lives.

Now, $40 does sound like a lot of money, but say you only donated $10 a month. You have still saved 24 lives for just a small sacrifice. So what if you don't get your Timmies coffee, fancy Starbucks drink or go to see every latest movie? You can make that coffee at home for like 5 or 10 cents and rent the movie later for cheaper. The fact is, you have helped someone else in desperate need.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:42 "And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is my disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward." (ESV)

I may not be able to put an end to the suffering described in "Wavin' Flag." I may not be able to end modern-day slavery, feed every hungry child or care for every orphan. But by small sacrifices, that really aren't sacrifices at all, I can make a difference in the life of someone else. And if I can encourage others to do the same, we can multiply that impact.

"When I get older, I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom, just like a wavin' flag."

Let's go give somebody back their freedom!

What is My Cry?

Last week one day, I hopped into my sister's car to make a quick trip to the store, as I needed a few things to make supper.  I could have walked, had it not been for the rain.  I turned on the engine and the radio came on with it.  What I heard were the final stanzas of a secular song that I hadn't heard in years.  And I must say they hit me hard.  Now, I stopped listening to secular music a long time ago, but I clearly remembered this song.  Just to make things clear, I still generally don't listen to secular music, nor do I encourage it.  However, that night, after trying to place the title of the song, I looked it up.  The song is "Where is the Love?" by the Black Eyed Peas.  When I listened to this song again, I found myself wondering, "Why isn't this the cry of the Church?  Christians could really learn a lot from this song!"  Pretty sad, isn't it?  (By the Church, I am referring to the body of believers around the world as a whole, but I guess my thoughts pertain more to the North American church.)

"Where is the Love?" is a song that really speaks about the injustice of the world we live in, and throughout this post, I'll be quoting various lyrics from the song.  The chorus of this song probably has the strongest Christian tone, although I don't think it was written from that viewpoint:

"People killing people dying
Children hurtin you hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?"

I think here we already fail.  The world around is lost, dying, and crying out and yet it seems like we fail to hear.  How often doesn't our walk contradict our talk?  How often don't we rather want to get even than turn the other cheek?  The song also speaks of how we discriminate and the things it leads to.  There are many lines that divide Christians, although God never intended it that way, and we often tend to be critical of others, Christians and non-Christians alike.  I must confess that I fall very short on all of these matters, and it should not be so. 

Why isn't this the cry of the Church?

"So I can ask myself really what is going wrong
With this world that we living in
People keep on giving in
Makin wrong decisions
Only visions of them livin and
Not respecting each other
Deny thy brother
The wars' going on but the reasons' undercover
The truth is kept secret
Swept under the rug
If you never know truth
Then you never know love"

And all too often, we give into the pressure around us, fail to stand our ground and rather compromise our convictions, make decisions we know are wrong, have a vision that only includes ourselves, and we bear lies and do all we can to cover up the truth.  But until truth, God's Truth is brought out, applied and lived out, we'll never get anywhere.

Why isn't this the cry of the Church?

"Most of us only care about money makin
Selfishness got us followin the wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting their young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what the see in the cinema
Whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness and equality
Instead of spreading love, we're spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity"

Sadly, we often see in the lives of Christians a strong desire for the gain of material wealth.  There is nothing wrong with money, and if God has blessed you financially, praise Him for it.  But also use it in a God-honouring way.  The Bible speaks way too much about giving to justify hoarding everything you make.  Many of us live self-serving lives.  I myself having realized lately how self-serving my life has become, how I think I should have it this way, have that, be able to do that, having special privileges and exemptions.  But this is far from what the Christian life is all about.  It's a life of service and sacrifice.  That's what we have been called to.

Why isn't this the cry of the Church?

Media is a subject all of its own.  We are surrounded by it: magazines, billboards, radio, music, television, movies, internet and the list goes on.  We live in a world that screams sex; live for yourself; if it feels good, do it; if you've been wronged, get even; you deserve more than you have; you need more to make you happy and this list goes on.  This is an area that I have a strong opinion on, because I've learned from experience and still feel the effects all the time.  Growing up, I listened to all the secular music, watched all the TV shows and movies, and just soaked it all in.  When I became a Christian, entertainment was one of the hardest things for me to break free from.  I knew most of it was ungodly (evil, really) and that it had a very negative influence on my life.  I would erase many things from my memory if I could, and all the years of entertainment is one of them.  I still have lines and images coming back to me all the time, often at random times as I go about my day and I hate it.  So yes, I can definitely say, media is a big problem in our society, and it does ruin children.  I'm not against these various forms of media in themselves and I still watch movies and such sometimes, but I'm careful about my choices.

Why isn't this the cry of the Church?

What happened to the values of humanity?  How about what happened to the values of Christianity?  Our society is in rapid moral decline, but so is the Church.  As we see all the things that are wrong in this world, are we setting a different example?  Many are not.  But God's call for our lives is a set-apart, sanctified one that is distinctly different from the lives the world leads.  Many Christians and churches nowadays are doing things in order to attract unbelievers or be culturally relevant.  However, I don't believe this is biblical.  I read a book this year called Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different by Tullian Tchividjian, which I would definitely recommend.  I was surprised to learn that non-believers that are seeking are actually not attracted by Christians who take part in many of the same or similar things the world does, by rather repelled: "serious seekers today aren't looking for something appealing and trendy.  They're looking for something deeper than what's currently in fashion." (p.9)  In other words, if they want their life to change, they will want a complete turnaround, not just "Christianized" versions of what they already have.  Tullian also included a reader's response to a magazine article about modern churches trying to reach people by “fitting in”, and a portion reads as follows:

"I can't stand the phoniness, or trendiness, or sameness--or whatever I'm trying to say here--that the church seems to catch onto at the tail, not even aware of how lame it is....It makes me want to throw up.  It's buying into some kind of lie or substitution of cool culture as being relevant when it isn't." (p.16)

There's more to that where she describes the kind of Christians she can't stand, but I think we can say the world has spoken.  The world wants change too, but we often fail to deliver. And we definitely aren't always the best examples of love and unity.

I never would have thought I could learn so much from a secular song. I never would have thought that it would bring out so many problems in the modern church or areas of my life that needed to change. But the more I think and talk about this, the more I see how wrong I really am. I've asked the question “Why isn't this the cry of the Church?” But what it really comes down to is “Why isn't this my cry, or rather, what is my cry?” The more I look at the Word of God and learn about what it means to follow Jesus, the more I see how very far away I am. I can only point to myself. Nor is what I have thought about and said here enough. No head knowledge is worth anything until it is put into practice and lived out. My earnest prayer and desire is that I would not just think and talk about things, but actually do something; not look at anyone else, but to myself and how far I fall short, because before I can do that, I will not see change. May this be the earnest desire and prayer of each and every one of us. Blessings to you!

And my sincere apologies for making this so long, although I could have said much more.

So Much to Learn at a Concert

So, I went to see The Glorious Unseen in concert last night. If I had the choice to go again, I probably wouldn't. I like their albums, but the concert was just not my thing. Altogether, it was really, really loud. I think I felt just about every organ in my body vibrating. And although many of the songs had beautiful lyrics, the singer's voice was at times drowned out, and all I was hearing at times was just a bunch of noise. Some people may wonder why I don't like the really hard Christian music, and it's really just that; a whole ton of noise.

Now, I'm by no means "dissing" this group; I like their recorded albums and will continue to listen to them. They have some beautiful, very prayerful songs. But the thing was, I found myself thinking, how is God possibly going to speak and make His presence known through all this noise? However, I prayed that God would allow me to not be judgmental and show me something through it; to truly look past what I saw and heard around me. He didn't speak to me through the music, but through other things and in thinking over things later on in the evening.

Actually, the first thing was really the noise. I didn't think the Spirit could speak through the noise, and although I'm sure He can, I believe there is some truth to that. I was reminded of an account in the Old Testament where God displayed some mighty things to Elijah:

"And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD, And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."
--1 Kings 19:11, 12

When I read this passage, I hear a lot of noise, but God didn't speak in the midst of any of that. He waited until it was calm and quiet. And seeing as He spoke in a still small voice, Elijah wouldn't have heard it anyway. Now, music aside, what kind of "noise" do we have in our lives that may prevent God from speaking? Maybe it is literal noise, maybe you always have music playing, whatever it is you're doing. But what about the other things that fill up and clutter your life, things you constantly have going on, things you're always busy with? These things may not necessarily be bad; they may actually be very good. But could it be that you're surrounding yourself with so much "noise" that God is unable to speak, or that you are unable to hear Him when He does?

The other thing that stuck out to me was the Gospel message shared at the concert. At first, I kind of groaned within myself for several reasons: the man used a different Bible translation I wasn't familiar with and wasn't sure I liked, I wasn't crazy about the way he started off, and it was based on the parable of the prodigal son, which I was all too familiar with and hear the passage spoken on all too often, or so I thought. But I learned something very unexpected: it's great to hear the same thing again from a total new perspective. He brought out new points and insights that were totally new to me, things that I had never thought of or heard anybody speak on before. It gave me a new appreciation for the passage and for the insight of other teachers.

Last, was not really something I learned, but rather something I was amazed and challenged by. During the concert, The Glorious Unseen sang the song How He Loves Us, which was not written by this group. It was not my favourite song, but has an amazing story behind it, which you can hear from the writer personally here if you want, but I'll share the gist of it as well, as well as my thoughts. The morning before the person wrote this song a few years ago, his best friend who was a youth leader was in a prayer meeting. And he prayed that if God would shake the youth of the nation, he would give up his life. He said he would die today if it meant that God would shake the youth of the nation. He died that night in a car accident. The writer of this song trusted that if God heard the first part of the prayer, he would follow through with the second. And although this man, who became a youth leader himself, saw many wonderful things, he didn't see a movement happen. This song that he wrote the morning after his friend's death, actually did end up changing the lives of many teens.

I believe this song is only a small part of that man's prayer. I mean, here was a man who not only prayed for change, but laid His life before God, ready to die, if it only meant that God would bring change. It's amazing for me to think of the possibility of our generation turning their lives over to the Lord and living lives surrendered to Him is because of a man's prayer and sacrifice. I also believe that the Rebelution is one such movement that is an answer to this man's prayer and death. I believe that God is working and He will fulfill that man's request. His death shall not be in vain. How will you respond? Will you surrender up your life to God, living it fully for Him, laying aside all the cares and things this world has to offer, and follow Jesus no matter what the cost?

To close, I apologize for my lack of blogging this year. It has been a busy one, but it's also been a good one, in which I have seen many amazing things. I'm done school now, and with having some more free time on my hands, I hope to post more consistently, if anybody's still paying attention. Blessings!