prone to wander.

Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy praise
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy unchanging love

Here I raise my Ebeneezer
Hither by Thy help I'm come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

Oh to Grace, how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
Let that grace now like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above







If every a song expressed my thoughts, this one does now.

youth group camping.

that was an intense weekend. countless unforgetable memories.

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is with you

He is mighty to save

He will take great delight in you

He will quiet you with His love

And He will rejoice singing over you

He will quiet you with His love

Yes He will rejoice singing over you

For with you He takes great delight

He will lighten your load

Gather you

He will rescue you

He will rescue you

He will lift you up

Wipe away the pain

He will rescue you

He will rescue you

i found peace.

read Isaiah 40. I love my dad. He talked to me last night about my stress and stuff and suddenly, all stress and joylessness was gone. THANK YOU GOD!

"To whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?" says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel;
"My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God?"
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even the youth shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,

But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

venting.

3 days until Young People's camping:)


sooooooooooo . . . if I'm so excited, why am I letting the stress of planning and preparation and organizing it get in the way of joy? Not just excitement, but pure joy in the present, in what I'm doing, in little passing things of my every-day life.


Thank you God for people like my sister Amy, Brittni, Ben, Catherine and Justine who pray for me and try their best to help me with letting out my stress. Sorry for complaining a lot lately.

Amy just talks with me and sometimes gets involved with the organization even though she doesn't have to!
Brittni promised to set up our tent when we get there ('cause I hate that part) and said Ican sit on a chair and watch everyone else set up camp...i wish:)
Ben lets me vent and relieve stress; in other words, listens.
Catherine listens too, and gives me amazing Bible passages!!!!
Justine can feel when I'm down and spontaneously prays for me when we're hanging out. AND gives super, amazing, long hugs:D

Matthew 6:25-24 and 1 Peter 5:7 are my prayer and hope right now.




even though I love rainy days and we needed it, the rain isn't helping my mood.

camp

i'm back from camp. but i'm too tired to stay up any later and give any details, except that the one thing that i learned, yet again but in a much bigger way, is that the communion of the saints is one of the most amazing things about Christianity. and that God speaks through His Word and through prayer, yes, but He also speaks a lot of the time through people too.

Psalm 18 says something about leaping over a wall and running against a troop with God's help. i understand that passage more than ever.

love

love.



it is vital. it is hard. it is only possible by God's grace to even begin to grasp the meaning of it, let alone live it.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

Love is patient,
Love is kind.
It does not envy,
It does not boast,
It is not proud.
It is not rude,
It is no self-seeking,
It is not easily angered,
It keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil,
But rejoices with the truth.
It always protects,
Always trusts,
Always hopes,
Always perseveres.

*sigh* That's a lot to think about.

prayer request

Amy and I are going to Campfire! next week (tomorrow). Please pray for us in the following respects. Prayer is powerful!

- lots of sleep:)
- bringing the gospel in a clear way to both the street kids and Christian kids
- being a godly, Christian example to our cabin packs
- working well with our co-councillors
- safe travels to camp and back
- to be able to deal with possible difficult situations that may come up
- God's peace, joy, and love in everything we do, say, and think
- a sense of God's power and presence among us
- anything I may have missed that is important!

Thank God for friends.

They are, I'm convinced, one of the best gifts that God could ever give His children.



In family devos after dinner, we sang Nearer, Still Nearer. It reminded me of a conversation with one of my friends today.


Nearer, still nearer
Close to Thy heart
Draw me, my Savior
So precious Thou art
Fold me, oh fold me
Close to Thy breast
Shelter me safe in that haven of rest
Shelter me safe in that haven of rest

why does music have to be such an expensive career/hobby?

be still.

at Campfire! on Friday night, after we sang and had a devotion and sang some more around the fire, we put out the lamps and had five minutes of silence/prayer/standing in wonder of God's amazing creation and the beautiful starry sky. i don't think i can quite explain how awesome that was and just how at peace with God i felt at the moment. it was an amazing experience!

people don't stand still or just stop enough in this crazy, hectic world that runs 24/7. and if it ever did stop, i doubt it would be to reflect on God. I'm going to do that more often. i think it's a very important part of a Christian's life. silence and being still before God.



Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The Holy One is hear.
Come bow before Him now,
In reverence and fear.
In Him no sin is found,
We stand on holy ground.
Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The Holy One is hear.

Brittni

work on friday was totally wonderful. i worked with Brittni all day and it was really nice. she is an awesome girl and has such a great character and is just fun to work with. i like working with people that don't mind silence for a while, but also likes to talk about things besides things that are shallow. thanks for the great day Brittni:)

work.

We listened to both Casting Crowns CDs at work today . . . and lots of other stuff, like Oldies and Disco/Dance. Oldies music is awesome. One of the girls has a CD of all oldies, like BeachBoys and others. The harmonizing and background singing is absolutely amazing. It needs to be brought back. And I heard the "It's Your Birthday" song!!! The one dad sings to us when it's our birthday. Way too much fun:)

Anyway, their (Casting Crowns) music makes me happy inside . . . and also think a lot about myself and what I need to work on and just how much God loves me. It takes my breath away every time, especially when they sing "Who Am I".




Okay, so that did not at all do justice to how much fun and just . . . nice, work was today.

partay!

Psalm 139 / Psalm 52 / Ephesians 2

Lyrics: Mark Hall / Music: Casting Crowns

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth

Would care to know my name

Would care to feel my hurt

Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star

Would choose to light the way

For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am

But because of what You've done

Not because of what I've done

But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading

Here today and gone tomorrow

A wave tossed in the ocean

A vapor in the wind

Still You hear me when I'm calling

Lord, You catch me when I'm falling

And You've told me who I am

I am Yours, I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin

Would look on me with love and watch me rise again

Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea

Would call out through the rain

And calm the storm in me

I am Yours

Whom shall I fear

Whom shall I fear

'Cause I am Yours

I am Yours

the house.

So we finally got a highspeed connection! Yes!! And as promised, some pictures of our new house. We've been here for just over 5 weeks now and lovin' it:)

Our room - that is, Amy's and my room. This picture doesn't show the whole wall of closet space and the desk, but you get the idea.

And of course, a picture of the piano in the music room.

i am so exausted. i never thought i would enjoy even just one day off.

yawn...bed calls. it's a brand new day tomorrow, and brand new week.

AND:

FATHER'S DAY.

I LOVE YOU DAD

hey

good-bye life.

hello work.


6 days, 66 hours a week, 11+ hours a day

hot sun, burns, intense potting, 4000 plants a day (or so we hope, especially if we want to go home at night...no, seriously!) putting down plants, dirt (in every place you can imagine, including the nose, hair, ears, fingers, etc), drowning with all the water you drink, and living for break time.


I do it for the money...sometimes I wonder why.

Priceless Treasures...Friends

Friends are so amazing. That's an understatement...but I can't think of any other way that would say it better.

Hung out with some of my youth group this past weekend doing the 24 hour famine for Word and Deed. What a blast. I mean, I can't think of more awesome, godly people to hang out with! Cassy gives the best hugs ever!

And then I went to a friends profession yesterday and went to the party after too. There are just some people that are so encouraging and fun and sweet it makes me feel so loved and special. Justine, Cassy, and Tamara were just some of those people yesterday.

And yet funny how you can still feel lonely when you've been with such great people all weekend. I think I miss four of the friends that I haven't seen in too long. I'm in Amy/Maria/Jacinda/Naomi withdrawl I think.

- - - - -

But on that note, Congratulations to Amy and Steve on your engagement! God bless you're future together!

Update

Well, it’s been just over a week since we moved. So much has happened in the past week.

The house is looking really good. Most everything is unpacked and pictures and nick-nacks are on the walls and shelves. It looks a lot more like home now. Still no high-speed internet yet though. SorryL

We had a very nice week. Dad was home all week, so he got a lot of stuff done instead of going to work and doing it all at nights. And we had some family outings too. On Thursday we went to the St. Jacob’s Farmers Market. We had the most amazing apple fritters and cinnamon buns ever! And, bad me, I got two bags of candy, which I kept nibbling at all weekend until they were gone.

On Saturday we went out for breakfast at Smitty’s Family Restaurant in Burlington. The waitresses there were absolutely hilarious. They had waaaayyy to much energy and the one who showed us her table actually Ran, or rather, ran-skipped, towards us when we got there. And then proceeded to offer the kids beer and stuff. It was very comical. I don’t think I have ever seen such hyper waitresses in my lifeL So then we went to IKEA to get some stuff for the house. That was fun. I love seeing all the different set-ups of kitchens and little mini apartments. Makes me want to buy a whole bunch of stuff and furnish an apartment . . . without worrying about the money of course! That would be soo much fun.

On Monday, my family went for a biking tour of the houses and trailer park around the lake near our new house. Wow! I had no idea we lived so close to a "cottage" world. The houses surrounding the lake are basically glorified cottages. We even saw some people toobing on the lake! And to think that that is only a 2 minute bike ride from our house!

Working at the greenhouse has been pretty good so far. And in only three days I have already almost done everything there is to do there. Weeding in the field (woot, woot), moving plants, potting, staking, sawdusting, seeding, throwing out dead plants in the compost pile, and shipping. Quite the variety. And the people I am working with are pretty awesome (on the most part). Mostly girls, which can be bad. Sawa likes to comment on all the talking and giggling that goes on while we work!! “It makes me dizzy.” lol Sawa is awesome. He is so much fun.

On Sunday, our Young People's went to a church service at Streetlight Ministries in downtown Hamilton. It was very interesting. The people there are pretty friendly. I hope our YP gets more involved with them. They have some amazing opportunities for us to help them in their mission, like being a big brother or sister to a kid, or helping with the children's programs or Bible studies. It was definately a good experiance.

Anyway, I leave you with this: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15) I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately because one of the people from Verbinnen’s has been coming to church and stuff, and it is pretty awesome. And I wonder if I would be able to actually give a “defense” if someone who was not a believer came up to me and questioned me about “the hope that is in me”. Would I balk? Would I suddenly clam up? Not know what to say? Say the wrong thing? Be too blunt? Sometimes I wonder just how strong I am. In being able to witness, and proclaim who I dedicate my life to.

Happy 17th Jacinda!!

God bless.
I love you:)

Well, I started at my greenhouse summer job today, so I'm kinda tired out. This will probably not be too long. Sorry for all you guys just waiting for details and news about moving. Maybe later on this week. And if we get highspeed, which my mom still has to look into, I'll post some pictures of the house. We'll see.

But as I'm sure you've guessed since I'm posting, we have finally settled in a bit after moving this weekend. And I have time to sit down and get on my email and stuff again. This weekend has been sooooo long! And tiring both physically and mentally and somewhat emotionally. Tomorrow morning, the old house is officially not ours anymore.

I'm okay with that now though, after relaxing yesterday in the new backyard...or back field...whatever you want to call it. Anyway, it was nice. And we are setting up our beds tonight, so our room will look a bit more organized and cozy.

Hmmmm...I think I'm going to like living here.


All I have to do is look out my bedroom window...I have a bedroom window now!!...and I think, "yes, I like it here. I think I can handle this!" and here the wonderful sound of the piano in the music room with the beautiful wood floor and say "wow, this is sweet!"

But it is still weird to be living in another house after all those years in the other one...and call this one HOME.

Two more days until we move.

Amy and I were sitting on our beds (or rather, our mattresses on the floor) last night doing devos before bed and we were talking about moving and we realized that we only had three more nights left sleeping in this house, in our room. Ahhhh!! Talk about scary. But oh so exciting at the same time.

Actually, I'm sad. I didn't think it would affect me this much to move, but I think I'm really going to miss this house. I mean, after living here for 11 years, it is all I've known for over half of my life!


And two more days until I write my music history exam and get it over with! Two more days of intense studying and then I can put my books, papers, and study notes away forever!!

Until next year when I start the next history course.
But I'm not going to think about that right now. That's too depressing.


AND . . .

only 5 more days until I start working at my summer job in the great outdoors (and greenhouses) of the awesome tree nursery! Yeeeessssss!!!!!!!