Orange (or copper) and Blue

I'm posting this picture for 2 reasons:

1 - to fulfill the promise I made in the last post about taking a picture of my orange bracelet. Sorry, you can't see the writing on it. Orange on orange is hard to see. (suck it up)

2 - to prove that I was at Rexall place with Robbyn to watch game 7 of the Stanley cup final. It was awesome. And crazy. Even though they lost. Don't worry -- the hockey season will start again in two months, and we can all go through it again. I give the Oilers 100 points for even getting to the finals, for beating the flu, and for overcoming the loss of Rolie. (Robbyn wants me to write: "Rolie for Prime Minister")

(actually, I'm posting this picture for 3 reasons: I wanted to figure out how to do it, and this seemed like as good a time as any. HA)

Here's to you boys!! {clink of glass}

my orange bracelet

I talked about this at church last weekend, and as promised, I am posting it for those of you who didn't hear it.

MY ORANGE BRACELET

Some of you may have noticed that I wear an orange bracelet. Lots of people wear stretchy bracelets for causes they're raising money for, but I don't. My bracelet reminds me of other things. This one came from Thailand, and on one side it says "Long Live The King", and on the other side it says "We Love the King" in Thai. (unfortunately, I don't have a Thai keyboard, and I can't type it out for you. Maybe I'll take a picture of it, and post it here so you can see it.)

When I lived in Thailand, I learned a lot about God through the king. The Bible refers to God as King, and I never really understood all the references until I lived in a country that has a king. And they LOVE him. And they revere him. For instance, if I was in Thailand, and I came into the king's presence standing, the guards would probably shoot me. And I'm not even kidding. To be in his presence, one must be lower than him; usually sitting on the ground, waiing. The respect that they have for the king is unbelieveable.

Then I see pictures of the king in America, shaking hands with dignitaries, at eye level with everyone. And I think "If only you knew. If only you KNEW that if you were in his country, you'd be treading on dangerous ground." And I think it's sometimes the same with God.

In his country, Jesus is revered and worshipped. The angels bow down before him. And he comes here to live with us, and we treat him like a geenie in our pocket, or at best, like a friend. If only we KNEW! If only we knew. Here's the difference though, we can know. And this is what I've been convicted about lately: God has given us his word and his Holy Spirit so that we CAN know.

Hosea 6:3 says, "Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him!" and I want that to be the theme of my existence here. That I KNOW my Lord, and that he knows me. I want to live, PRESSING ON to know my God. Reading his word with new hunger every day. Praying with passion, and living with excitement. I want to know what it means to really worship God in spirit and in truth, and to let God's word change my life.

Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise." That can only happen if I actually READ the words of Christ, and let them ruminate in my heart. That's the way to know.

May that challenge you as it has challenged me.

look at the time...

my, my.
It's been an embarassingly long time since I've updated this blog. I'm sorry, to all of you who read this on a regular basis. I haven't had a whole lot to say in the last little bit.

the 5 things making me laugh

Here are the top 5 things that have made me laugh this weekend:

1. a "pimped-out" 1970's VW Bug. yeah. that's what I thought. What are tires that size doing on a car that small????
2. a 70 year old lady riding a bicycle with pig-tails, a pink basket, and pink streamers. (no explaination required)
3. Our AISH neighbour, who consistently climbs out his window and lays on the grass, with his stereo pumping, without a shirt. (incidently, he was also the one who was YELLING about the oilers at 11pm. that did not make me laugh.)
4. a bumper sticker on an older car: "0-60 in 11 minutes" (I want one of those!!)
5. Riley, telling me that his new sibling could be a "cowboy, or a cowboy-girl, or just a baby"

And there you have it, boys and girls... the best of.

have a great long weekend.

The Ice Cream Man

I have never lived in a city where the ice-cream man came around on a regular basis. (I am ignoring the fact that there were ice-cream "men" EVERYWHERE in Thailand.)

I'm talking about an ice cream guy who comes around every day at 2pm. Yes, that's right. There's an ice cream man who comes around with a little motorized 'thing' every day, playing 'Music Box Dancer'. The first time, I couldn't see him. However, today he drove right by the bus I was on.

And I was shocked. Then I laughed. And now I don't know what to do.

The ice cream guy was driving an unmarked cart, had long, scraggly hair, and was wearing a belt pack, cut-off shorts and a Molson Canadian Beer t-shirt. Dude, the guy looked SCARY.

and I'm wondering: WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD LET THEIR KIDS BUY ICE CREAM FROM HIM?? Being origninally from a town where there were no ice cream men, I'm just wondering if creepy guys with belt-packs are the norm for ice cream men. The irony was hilarious to me, and still is.

And so I ask: does everyone's ice-cream man look scary? or is it just mine??