Couldn't resist a camping shot...actually I think this was last May sometime...spring come quickly!
photo by Warren Thiessen Copyright 2004

Snowrunner

Got up bright and early today to go for a little jaunt at Lumgairs. Ran for an hour out and an hour back, and then tackled the tube slide ten times. There were a few other people out...one woman skiing solo, three guys from wpg skiing together, and two families tubing. After collapsing at the top of the hill after the tenth time, I was thinking 'why on earth would I do this"? As I walked back to my car, it came back to me...because I can. As I was leaving Mr. Lumgair came out, walked over to his snowmobile, then went to talk to the people at the top of the tube slide. Only he didn't walk, he more or less dragged himself over there. He's getting on in years, and though I only met him a year ago, he's really gone downhill physically in that time. He tried to talk to the people, but they only spoke german. I heard them say 'thank you', and he said 'you're welcome'. I could tell he wanted to say a lot more...he usually does, but this time it was enough...he could tell how thankful they were, and they could tell how happy he was that people were enjoying his little chunk of God's beautiful creation with their family. But it made me think. I run because I can. Who knows...ten, twenty, fifty years from now, I won't be able to any more. And the best way I can think of to thank God for the ability to run, and for allowing me to enjoy his marvelous creation is to run. or hike. or bike. or to try and capture the beauty with my camera.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship" - Romans 12:1

My kind of post but not my post

So my friend Jeremy has got a blog (actually he's the first person I knew who had a blog, and the inspiration behind mine) and he's got some amazing posts. Recently he wrote about mountains. I really like mountains. And I really liked his post. So check it out:

http://jeremysawatzky.blogspot.com/2005/02/from-one-mountaintop-to-next.html

Jeremy was the speaker for teens week at Beaver Creek this year. He's a really cool guy who had a really cool 'fro but he cut it off but he's still mostly cool.

Ridiculous

Ok...just read this in the Canadian Tire flier and I have no one here to laugh with and it is weird to laugh with one's self, so I will post it here. CT has a toilet on sale. And the toilet is called..........................................
..................................................
...................................................
...................................................
........the Marathon Toilet. Wow. Who comes up with this stuff??

Laugh.

It's good for you :)

25 DAYS!

It hit me this morning.

25 days until the final Bleach CD comes out. The last Bleach cd ever (unless they put out a greatest hits whatever).

Theses guys have been the soundtrack to my life for the last ten years. They introduced me to Christian Rock. I played "Space" for probably 8 hours a day one summer while I worked on bikes in the garage. I remember hearing "Race" for the first time at Supercross practice and thinking it was quite possibly the best song in the world. And I've listened to that song before every single race I ever ran or biked since then. I remember coming home with Again For The First Time and not being able to open the cd 'cause my hands were shaking so much :) And I was not disappointed. Mmmm. So many memories. It's almost like a breakup...you wonder how there could ever possibly be someone who could make you feel the same way. But there always is. I'm thinking maybe it'll be Sanctus Real...we'll see.

I'm torn...do I pre-order an autographed copy online which won't likely be here by March 1st...do I download it off of iTunes on March 1st (should be on there, I'd think)(but then I don't have the liner & artwork)...or do I buy it from Bible Bookshop or the Vault (not sure if they'll have it March 1st either...sometimes they do, sometimes they don't).

I think in honor of the band, starting on March 14th, I will feature, with one post each day, the lyrics to my top 15 Bleach songs. Should be fun. And maybe some of my favorite Bleach pictures.

Later.

Freedom Fighter

So it's 1:30 a.m. Tomorrow I work 12 hours. Just finished watching The Patriot with Beth, Tim, Ellie, Bruce, Liane, Ash, and Keith. Hadn't seen that one before. Can't stand swords. But I love movies where people are fighting for freedom. Can't stand bloodshed. My stomach was nasty queasy the whole time. But there is something so right about fighting for freedom.

One of my favorite movies of all time has to be Braveheart. I've only seen it twice, and I can't remember a whole lot about it, but I know it hit me in the gut like a sledgehammer to the head. The Patriot wasn't too bad either. But I think my favorite Mel-Gibson-leads-the-people-to-freedom-movie is the one where he doesn't even act. The Passion of the Christ. Think about it.

I hate movies where the hero dies. I think producers who make movies like that are sick. But in real life, heroes do die. Soldiers, martyrs, people who make a difference without ever becoming heroes...everyone dies. They say that everyone dies, few really live. Well I know of only one hero who really lived, died, and then lived again. To free people from something they could never free themselves from.

Whoa, I just opened my Bible...looking for a verse, but not knowing which verse I'm looking for, and here's where I opened to:

John 12:23-27
"Jesus replied, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? "Father, save me from this hour"? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour."

Here's another one of my favorites:

Romans 5:6-8
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But Christ demonstrates his own love for us in this: Wile we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

I don't know what else to write...sometimes I think it's so futile to try and explain stuff in the Bible...not because it can't be explained, but just because how can I expand on what God said so perfectly? And so now I will try to sleep. With visions of war in my head. Blood. Death. And ultimately, freedom.

Are you free? Are you thankful for your freedom? 'Cause it cost someone an awful lot.

Speedy

oK...30 seconds before I've got to leave for work (yes, I have it figured out down to the second!).

CELEBRATION NIGHTS RETURN TONIGHT! YESSS! It's been too long.

I can't wait. Cya.

"'Cause breakin' up is hard to do"

Hey folks,
My apologies again for not posting in almost a week. It's not like me, I know! But last week wasn't exactly a great week either. Liane and I broke up on Friday.

Yesterday (sunday) was a day full of mixed emotions too. Seeing Liane at church was hard, but I was glad we could both still come to worship. I had a really good time playing with the worship team...we played a couple of new songs which I really like. It was good to just focus on God for a while and forget about all the rottenness I felt inside. Mike was gone for the weekend, so my dad shared from Hezekiah. It was really good. I like it when he preaches, 'cause I can understand exactly what he's saying.

It was good to see Ellie and her family back in Canada, this time to stay. This made the whole break up thing even harder though, because I'm sure many people thought the timing of the break up was no coincidence. It's probably no secret that I used to have feelings for Ellie, but those days are gone, and the break up really had nothing to do with that.


So I'm single again. Being single sucks. And yet, after hurting Liane like I did, the last thing I want to do is be in a relationship again. I'm better off alone. At least that way no one else gets hurt. Not that I meant to, but it happened. And though I can't go back and fix things, hopefully I can learn something from it.

On a lighter note, isn't the weather awesome?! And January is over...done with...12 months away! Yee haw! So to celebrate, I went for a bike ride to Morden this evening. Haven't done that in quite a while. Miss it like crazy. It was good. When I ride, everything seems perfect. Maybe it's the cyclical motion...so repetitive and yet so refreshing. And the music. Always good. And time to think. Time to vent. Time to worship God. Good times.

Anywhoos, gotta go. Talk to you soon,