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Finding a Needle in a Haystack

This past weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Kicking Horse Ski Resort with a group of Young Adults from First Alliance Church here in Calgary. Overall, the whole weekend was so amazing. Good times, good friends, good fellowship. I got to meet some new people and I got to know others better. Community and snowboarding, both wonderful things that I enjoy.

Now onto an experience that I need to share or would like to. I’m not sure how well you will be able to relate or even identify with the experience I had over this weekend. Not to say that no one has ever found a needle in a haystack, but try to imagine this scenario with me.

It was the last run of the day. If anyone is familiar with Kicking Horse it’s a beautiful gondola ride up to the top, with mountain ranges surrounding and a view of Golden, BC. This day was a beautifully exasperating day, if we can even put those two words together. There were so many great things about this day. The weather to start was just below zero, it might as well have been above zero as some points I'm sure. There had been a decent amount of snow over the past couple of days. The clouds throughout the day had slowly become less and less leaving more of clear sky as the day reached the end. The sun had finally broken through for the last couple hours of lift operation. Now I know the stigma with the last run. The bodies exhausted, the muscles are sore, and the brain is tired. Last runs usually don’t go to well. Well not today because I was stoked and far from tired at all. (Must be the P90X…haha) Adam Kroeker and I decided to take the gondola up and do a run from the top. The ride up was great. The clouds were gone from around us. We could see all the mountains around. I was listening to M83 – We Own the Sky. The hill was looking less populated. It’s going to be a great run down.

Adam and I are at the top, and I remembered that early today the ratchet buckle on the toe was loose. Adam pointed out that they kept tools at the top so we proceeded to walk over to the tools. As I was going to tighten the buckle before we went down, I put my board up on the table and lo and behold the buckle was gone. My heart dropped. Really? Was this really going to happen? Of course! I was beginning to feel like bindings and I don’t go to well together. Last time I went was to Sunshine and the ankle strap fell off while getting into the gondola up the main base from Goat’s Eye. The lifty was kind enough to pick the solo strap and put it in the gondola behind us. This was my board that broke at Sunshine. Now, using Jeff’s board, his buckle broke. Not only did it brake, but I lost it. A white ratchet buckle somewhere on the mountain, this could be fun. I joked with Adam and asked him to keep a look out for the buckle on the way down because who knows where it could’ve have fallen off. So with that I looked around a bit in the snow on the top and on the platform for the buckle with no avail. Then, I got to take the beautiful gondola ride down. Now don’t get me wrong, it was unfortunate that I didn’t get to get my last run in, but if you have any idea what I’m like, things like this don’t bother my at all. I know that my God is bigger than a buckle and He is the director of my paths and my path, was the gondola ride down. I said good-bye to Adam, went over to the lift and knocked on the window and the lifty gave the thumbs up to hop in. I put in my board, proceeded in to the gondola, and away I went. The ride down was just as good as the ride up. Still just as beautiful. However, the ride down gave me some time to contemplate what just happened, to thank God for His guidance in my life, and to relax.

I got down to the bottom, smiled at the lifty, grabbed my board and started to search for others in the group who were at the bottom. My day ended well. I was happy that I had no accidents, the weather was good, I was around wonderful people, and God was with me. So I went to the Day Lodge, found everyone else, and just waited to leave.

Everyone grabbed their bags and headed out to the cars. I had already dropped my board off at the vehicle so I wasn’t in a hurry to leave. I have this tendency to double check rooms after leaving places because I’ve just forgotten so many things and I like to feel secure that nothing was left behind. I’m walking back with Jonathan, just chatting about the day and such thinking nothing of it. We head outside and are walking back in no particular hurry. Then in one moment, my head glances down, and there it is. The white buckle, snugly placed in a vast amount of snow, right below my eyes. Now, while in the gondola, I had this very image of the buckle sitting in the snow. The interesting part was both the images were the same. Some call it Déjà vu, I’ll call that the Spirit. Here it was, the buckle no bigger than an inch that I had asked for, right in front of me. The needle in the haystack.

I doubted God.

I doubted that God could get me this buckle, as I'm sure most of us would. When will we stop doubting God. Why would God do this?

Because He loves us with an everlasting love and because we are His children. We are not mistakes, we are not here by chance, even the hairs on our head are numbered. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

God is here, God is with us, and He wants to show us his love in even the most smallest of ways. Are you listening to the people around you? Are you watching the world around you? Are you being aware of the work that God is doing in your life and in the people around you? People, let's think. Don't let life pass you by.

Don't miss the buckle on the mountain.

I hope your challenged. God bless.

A can of soup!

So today, was like every other day, well not really. It was my lunch break and I was without my pizza pops! I had an hour break, so I decided to head over to the Extra Foods and grab a box for the next week or so. As I was walking over, I turned down one block to early. Instead of entering from the front, I ended up entering from the back of the Extra Foods downtown Yellowknife. There was a man sitting there and he asked me for a can of soup, homeless or not, he looked like he needed a can of soup. I continued in, thinking that I probably can just exit through the front if I don’t want to walk past him again if I decide not to get the can of soup. Something else happened, after I grabbed my pizza pops and was about to head out, the Word spoke to me. “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” The first part spoke to me with great conviction. I decided that I was going to go grab a can of soup for this gentleman. I went and grabbed a Campbell’s Chunky Classic Chicken Noodle soup. When picking the soup, I thought about price, but then I decided to grab something I would enjoy, the big chunks of chicken on the label caught my attention. The labeled price was 2.89, no biggie. As I was going through the till, I noticed that it was $3 and change and not the 2.89 price..hmmm…So I took my receipt and soup to one of the cashiers to see what they can do for me. I felt like a cheap customer, but I wanted to let them know that the price was wrong, right? Lo and behold, I got the soup for free! So I walked out, handed the guy the soup, he smiled, I left. I basically walked into the store, grabbed the guy a can of soup of the shelves, and walked out and gave it to him. This all happened because I took the turn to early. Simple, what seems like mere coincidence was God working. I walked away thinking about the turn a block to early, the Word speaking, the free soup, and the smile. Everything happening for a reason. Makes my appreciate the way life works out some times, even when we are not expecting it! Just a neat little story, hope you enjoy it!!

To Build a Home

Well, where to begin! The last time I wrote was February 28, and I usually have never gone more than a month without writing. That goes to show how busy it has been the past couple months. I would love to share with you about everything going on in my life but I don’t want to write that much! This entry is mainly just going to be about what I’ve been doing for those family members who I didn’t get a chance to visit and talk with and for everyone else that might be interested. [I’m not that interesting ;)]

I just recently finished my second year of University at Ambrose this past month. It’s still hard for me to believe that I have only a year and a half of schooling and a year internship then I’m done! So I’m pretty much half way there!

This past year of school has been challenging. Just when you think school can’t get any harder…it does! I also know now I was over committed which proved to be a little difficult and disastrous in some areas. I found myself being spread a little thin, and we all know that it is not healthy for me, or the people I am interacting with. I am grateful for all the areas I got to serve in, but I’m realizing that as a human, we can only do some much, while continuing to stay healthy. Our bodies and minds are capable of amazing feats and for that I am thankful! I never really wanted to be that person that was involved in so many areas which wouldn’t allow me to fully participate in the areas that needed it the most. I found this is where neglect came in and neglect can ruin things, even our walk with God. You become so bogged down that you really just do what’s necessary at hand and move along from task to task, and I do not like living like that. Neglect can be a scary thing; it can ruin a person’s life. Let’s be more aware of our relationships and take care of them. Be aware if your neglecting someone and make amends! If your being neglected, speak up, let them know, and if nothing changes, you have your own life to live, so don’t let other people bring you down! When I neglect people, it hurts them, and I can’t live like that. As I try to be more careful with my relationships, I hope you will. I want you to enjoy the life you live! As for myself, next year I will be committing myself to one leadership role and school. I do not want to be neglectful anymore. I'll try, okay? That’s it, that’s all.

Something very cool that God is allowing me to do is be a part of the Central Planning Team Legacy Youth Conference 2011 at our school. You can check out the website at http://www.legacyyouthconference.com/ The website is pretty basic right now, until we figure a few things out. I’ve been involved in LYC for the last couple of years, I’ve been involved in their entertainment team, and as well as ushering. It will be great to take on a leadership role in LYC and be able to continue to serve the High School students.

So where am I now? I am currently sitting in Yellowknife, NWT! I’ll be here for the next four months working at Scotiabank, doing my teller work. I’m still quite amazed that I work at Scotiabank, and I don’t think I’ll ever get over how God put this together! I’m really looking forward to the summer up here; it’s a nice change to Calgary.Well, the snowboarding season is over, but the long boarding season has just begun! I want to encourage you all to get outside, walk somewhere instead of drive. Get a dog or three! Tell someone today that you love em!

What am I listening to now? The Cinematic Orchestra – To Build a Home

Love you all, and thanks for being there for me!

Olympics

The Olympics were awesome. Canada got the most Gold out of any country ever in Olympic history and the most on hosting territory. Canada also beat the USA in the Gold match hockey game both women's and men's hockey. What a great Olympics for Canada! I love Canada!