Brittany

Today as I was walking in the park someone asked me if I was memorizing lines as I was walking...and yesterday my friend died. It was such a huge shock to me - my roomie told me about it as I was sitting on my exercise ball, and yeah, I almost didn't believe her at first. So for the whole day I was kind of quiet, but mostly I was convincing myself that it wasn't really Brittany who had died because the paper this morning said that it was three people all in their mid-twenties, and I knew that she was only nineteen - I guess the paper was wrong.

Brittany was definitely one of my best friends from grades 5 to 7, we hung out together a lot because she only lived one bay over from me. I remember how unfair I used to think it was when my parents used to make me come home at 8:00pm from playing at her house, but she could stay out till 9:00pm! We used to buile snow forts and tunnels in winter, and walk to a from school together across the field. She was the first person to introduce me to email when we would email with her cousin Laurel. Oh yeah, and we always used to play this computer called Treasure Mountain (or whatever it was called) - that's probably the only computer game that I don't die in after 5 seconds!

In summer we would eat her mom's sorrel leaves from the garden and make boats out of milk cartons to sail down the ditches. And then we would have these massive collections of those sparkly rocks from the railroad tracks (which my mom used to secretly throw out!). I used to watch the Jetsons with her on our many sleepovers...which also included hot-tubbing! Brittany and Meagan and I used to practice skipping and all of our skipping partner tricks for hours, just hoping to make it onto the skipping team - eventually we all made it. I used to twist my ankle a lot during those times, so her family would eat supper with me downstairs since climbing stairs was hard then...and there was the time that Britt and I decided we should make up some menus and serve her family supper. We even walked around with these tea-towels around our arms like the professionals - but I think we ended up serving them soggy noodles!

And then there was the time we decided to make up a neighborhood newspaper and deliver it to everyone on her bay. I wrote the stories (which were continued from week to week) and she drew the pictures (amazing artist) and made up the games...we even bought chocolate bars for the prizes! Oh yeah, Britt, Megs and I also made up a newspaper for our school - which lasted for all of one issue, but we got to photocopy one copy for every family represented in the entire school - so exciting! We used to play kick the can in the dark, and drew with sidewalk chalk for hours on her driveway...as well as played Mennonite Madness at her birthday parties!

I can still remember her phone number and the color of her eyes...she came to Rock Lake with me once and we were so excited because we had walkie-talkies - so we both took separate pathways in the bush and made up these stories about hearing a bear in the bush and how we were going to get away from it and rescue each other...she was amazing at math, I used to wish that when our teacher changed the seating plan in grade 5 that I would be able to sit next to her because then I would get all the answers right! During grade 5 we also started band, and I remember we were both going to play french horn so that we could sit next to each other - but then the school didn't have any more for me to rent, so I ended up playing drums and she played french horn...

On one of our sleepovers we were reading our Bibles and then we had this conversation about how we decided which book in the Bible we were going to read - and that time she had decided to just open it up and whichever book she opened it up to, that was the one she was going to read at that time...I think it was Jeremiah. Oh yeah, our cat also had kittens one time and then she Britt got one of our kittens (for her birthday I think) and she named him Smokey...

So those are my memories right now, I sure did not get a whole lot of studying done today as I was walking in the park...she was someone who definitely influenced my life when I was younger, someone I had so much fun with! So why? Well the only answer I've found so far is...

Isaiah 57:1-2:
The righteous pass away; the godly often die before their time. And no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For the godly who die will rest in peace.

Worry? Naa...

So I had originally written this blog early in the morning after my Human Growth and Development exam was over...but then all of a sudden the computer that I was on decided that it would like to clear the screen I was working on - and then there was only a blank page and my class started after that, so now I shall write!

Wow a most interesting day I have already had...bought a U of M backpack on sale and then found out that the zipper of one of the small pockets didn't work, so then I returned it...went to Archives (the used bookstore) and found out that all of the textbooks I brought there earlier this year actually sold - Praise the Lord for that one! And then I went walking in the park and me this lady who used to be a professor at the U of M for a whole whackload of years, and now she retired! It's really neat, kind of like my other family in a way - because I sure do see some of the same people over and over again, and it only takes about a week or two of seeing someone consistently to decide that they're safe enough to talk to...or something like that anyway! Yeah, I guess the fact that I read while I'm walking does move many people to curiosity...and that's how it all starts! I guess it would be pretty funny though, like if I saw someone reading as they walk...!

Yesterday I was talking to one of my friends on the phone and what she said really made me think. She is giving up this really high paying job in the summer to go and work at a minimum wage job...and I asked her if it was kind of like a sacrifice to be giving up all that money and she said no, that God will provide for everything that she needs - which is so totally true, but so often I start thinking about how much I need to make in summer in order to continue going to University in the fall...really though, all I have to do is trust God because after all, he owns all the money in the world eh?! So here's to worry free living - thank you Jesus!

Star Light, Star Bright

Yeah I'm finally at home and now I can write again! So the last two weeks were filled with exams and studying and walking in the park for me. But I did hear the birds, that was one exciting thing - and then Jen my roommate took me out for my birthday to Montana's; they made me wear this funky hat with these big horns (I'm sure some of you have had the joy of this experience as well!) and then I had to stand on this chair in the middle of the restaurant and they of course had to get the attention of the entire restaurant...oh such a traumatic experience. No actually it was quite fun actually, and then yesterday I got to go glow bowling with my family from 10:30pm till midnight - oh so much fun, but no turkey for me! In bowling language, a turkey means three strikes...but one day it shall happen! Anyway, thanks to all those of you who made my day special - and I also realized something about myself, I totally don't like telling people it's my birthday, like if they don't know, I'll usually just leave it that way...going to figure out why that is now...

Oh yeah, I started reading in Psalms again, and wow I have not been there for far too long! There's this super neat verse in Psalm 104:2 where it says that God stretches out the starry curtain of the heavens, and I had read somewhere that the stars allow pieces of God's glory to shine through - and now I found the verse for it! So neat, that the stars are the curtain for heaven't glory, I sure do like those stars - and isn't is so neat that God has a name for all of them?! Well then, to wish upon a star is to wish upon heaven's glory, and since it is Jesus that makes heaven glorious in the first place...hmm yeah, time to go for a walk now!

Just to Be

So today I was walking around in my park and I actually walked around for one whole round without doing any studying! I had just come from my Native Studies exam and I had all this information in my head and I was not in the propler mood for studying...so I got to walk and talk with God - it was so good! And then He was reminding me that I do not do this often enough, like just walk and be with Him, yup, just to be. That's something that I sure had to learn again today, just to be His child and to stop my brain from always studying, to relax in Him. Such a good place to be.

Onto my funny story of the day...so there we all were in our Native studies class waiting for our exam to start, when all of a sudden over the speakers comes this voice talking all about anatomy and the nervous system; dendrites and axons and cell bodies - oh how I do enjoy that stuff! And so he just doesn't stop, and we're supposed to be writing our exam in silence! It was so funny, but my prof finally figured out how to turn his voice off, we still have no idea where he was really coming from.

And then today in the park there was this man with a cigar walking his big brown dog, and he asks me if I am birdwatching! Oh did that make me laugh, so I'm like nope, I'm just studying. Then there was this other guy walking a little dog and he asked me how I walked everyday without tripping over my feet...because he said whenever he sees me I'm always reading! So once again, I explained how I study best when I'm walking! Yeah, reminded me once again of how people notice my life and my actions even when I'm not aware of it. So thank you so much Jesus for parks and that I have legs so that I can walk - and yes, thank you too that I can go to University, I'm actually learning so much! Have a great day and remember to say hello to all those chipmunks you meet today - or people!

Racing a chipmunk!

So I was reading John 9 today, where it talks about the blind man whom Jesus healed my putting mud on his eyes and telling him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam - which I found out means 'Sent.' Anyway, in verse 3 it ways that this man was born blind so that the power of God could be seen in him. I thought that was so neat, since often I would look at blindness and see it as something bad, usually not even thinking of this as something that could bring glory to God. So he gets healed and then the Pharisees ask him over and over again how he got healed, they just couldn't believe that Jesus had the power to do this, mostly that He is the Messiah.

So they end up throwing the now healed man out of the synagogue because he claims that Jesus must be the Son of God in order to be able to heal. I was just amazed at this man, the boldness he displayed in his life all because he had become convinced of who Jesus really is...which made me wonder if I have that same boldness in my life. So the blind man became convinced of Jesus after he was healed, he had a very real personal encounter with Christ. And once this happens, life can never be the same - I too, have had a personal encounter with Jesus, but does my life always show that? Am I constantly aware of His presence and what Jesus has done for me on the cross? Yeah, definitely learning to see God and live for Him in every aspect of life, no matter how small or mundane.

And so yesterday I was walking and what I saw just made me laugh out loud. There were these three chipmunks, and one of them decided it would be a good idea to have a race with me. So off goes this chipmunk, running from tree to tree and just looking me every now and then...he was running at the same speed as I was walking - until he stopped, that is. And so I won, all because he decided to stop and sniff the snow, maybe go exploring for some of those lovely nuts they enjoy so much. Yes, that was my laugh of the day!