Watch and Pray

I suppose it's been a while and a lot has happened in the couple of years since I last posted. I won't get into it all, but I'll give you small update on what's happening in my life right now. Through the course of events this summer, I have gone from full time to part time employment, and because of this, I reviewed some options and have decided to go back to school. I will be attending Georgian College this fall to take 3 part time courses. I will be taking College Communications (a requirement for most programs) as well as Abnormal Psychology and Family Sociology, which are both General Education courses and can be transferred into most programs. I have not decided which program to take yet. I was looking at Child and Youth Worker, but it is a 3 year program and I'm not sure I like the outline of the program. I am also looking at Social Service Worker, which would have a broader range of jobs available once I'm done, because it's not geared specifically towards youth, and it's only a 2 year program. I've toyed with the idea of Veterinary Assistant or Veterinary Technician, but I'm not sure if that's really where I want to go. Too many decisions. I'll see if I like the Psych and Sociology courses over the next few weeks and go from there. It'll be interesting to be going back to school again, but also a little scary. I struggle HUGELY with time management, and I really want to keep on top of that this semester. I think that's about the biggest change in my life right now.

Most of you who would end up reading this, have probably already met my new "baby", Dozer. He's an English Mastiff who has just turned 6 months and is over 90 lbs.

This is him at 10 weeks on the day I got him.

This is him last weekend, at 6 months and 90 lbs, attempting to play soccer with the youth group kids.

He's a huge suck, and he loves me the most. I can't go anywhere without him on my heels. I'm lucky that he is so good natured. I expect him to weigh around 180 - 200 lbs when he's full grown. If at all possible, I would love to make a saddle for him for the nieces and nephews to ride him! If a saddle won't work, then I'll definitely have to get a nice cart for him to pull them around in.

This week mom and I started the Maker's Diet again. We've done it in the past, but haven't stuck with it as a continued way of eating. We've always managed to slide back into old, unhealthy eating habits, and sadly, I'm the worse for it. Over the past eight or nine years I have learned of many chronic illness that I have, that continue to get worse and cause strange health issues, even if some are just temporary. There's a continuous feeling of being unwell, a lack of energy, continuous exhaustion, as well as all the bodily effects from these illnesses. While I have recently been referred to a specialist for my newer most prominent symptoms (appointment for the end of September), I'm so tired of always feeling sick and having the doctors tell me that it will just keep getting worse and I can only take medications to help slow it down and relieve the symptoms. If you haven't heard about the Maker's Diet, it was put together by a gentleman who had a severe case of Chron's Disease. After many, many attempts at trying to gain some relief from the disease, both by medications and natural methods, he finally started eating based on the Bible. It was a lot of research for him, but he ate the way that God told the Israelites to eat in the Old Testament. The results were almost immediate after the initial "cleanse" of toxins from his body over the first few weeks. Within a year or so he was completely cured from the disease and was as healthy as he had ever been. Ever since then he has put together a book for others to follow the dietary measures that he followed and has helped so many people kick these illness that have so violently plagued them, cancer included. With that little bit of background info, this is what I'm attempting to do. I'm more determined than ever to stick with it, as I've seen a huge decline in my health over the past two to three years. The first four weeks of this diet are difficult because there are many restrictions on what you can and cannot eat. It's partly a mental thing, but the lack of refined foods and sugars make the cravings that much worse for the first couple of weeks. That's where I am now. I really appreciate fresh produce, and many of the other things we're eating, but goodness...it's so hard to resist some of those other foods. I'll keep updating on the diet as I am determined to stick to it, and hopefully start showing some results. I know I can't do this on my own and I'm going to be relying heavily on strength from the Lord to stick to this diet, and not make exceptions for myself (especially two months down the road after the initial cleansing is done). Your prayers would be appreciated as I attempt this. "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." -Matthew 26:41 Hmmm...how true is that! I know that Jesus spoke this to the disciples when he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and they kept falling asleep, but I think it applies to so many aspects of our lives. I desire so strongly to get rid of these illnesses, and I have the key! But no matter how willing my spirit is, somehow the flesh seems to always win and I slide right on back to the old habits and desires. Prayer is so important, and yet it can be so easily overlooked. I need to trust God FULLY to heal me and help me each step of the way to cling to Him through these trials.

off to Barrie

Things have a way of working themselves out and making you wonder why on earth you made such a big deal of it! My stressful Thursday night turned out to be for no reason at all. Just a lack of clarification on the part of my district manager. I guess he was planning on hiring someone to take my place, but was just hoping to find someone within the company who had some experience who was willing to move up to the area. So all is good, or at least should be within the next few weeks.

I have officially started work in Barrie and am unofficially moved home. Actually I'm not moved home at all except for a suitcase of clothes. Right now I am sleeping on a couch in our sunroom (a room with 7 very large uncovered windows, a door to outside, and two doorways into the house), and trying to be of as little inconvenience as possible until a room is ready for me to move in. It gets very chilly out there at night (as there is no sun to warm it) and very bright and warm throughout the day. While not my prefered method of living, it isn't too bad for a couple of weeks. It looks like I'll be heading back to Owen Sound for the next two weekends to finish packing, and hopefully by then my room will be finished and I can move back home. :)

Bedtime for me now. Just wanted to do a quick little update so as not to leave things hanging from my last post. :) Toodles!

the decisions never end

Well the newest news is that I'm moving back to Barrie. At least I'm supposed to be! I took a position at the Fastenal store in Barrie, but it is only part-time for a while. There's a company wide hiring freeze and they're cutting a lot of employees, so I'm hoping that in spite of that I'll be able to help the Barrie store do well enough that I can move back to full time again. My parents have graciously let me move back home. Unfortunately I have to wait for a few weeks to move my stuff back home because randomly enough my brother and youngest sister both moved back home recently, and we have to finish renovations so I have a room to live in. My poor parents have a full house again.

Now things here in Owen Sound have been busy because I'm trying to get my store and customers as organized as possible so my transfer will be smooth for my manager, but goodness...it's sooooo much work! I found out today that due to hiring freezes and other such nuisances, my manager is not able to hire anyone to replace me, which means he will be the only full time employee and will only have a part-timer to work with him for 18hrs a week. Now that is hugely frustrating, and I'm suddenly wondering if perhaps moving to Barrie is a silly idea. You cannot grow a store if you can't service your customers properly. Now I know that I can't live my whole life for work, but if it helps my manager and my district manager and if we can get this store to a point where it's showing a lot of growth, then maybe it would be worth staying. Bah, I don't know...Tomorrow is supposed to be my last day of work here, and now I'm thinking about staying, if it's worthwhile. I'm praying I'll make the right decision....decisions aren't my forte, that's for sure. I'm stressed, and tired, and just wish I knew what the right thing to do is! Today has been a ridiculous day. Hopefully tomorrow will be much better, and I should know what is going to happen by the end of the day tomorrow.

Well, that's my news for now. I just need to rant a little, and I think I've said all I have to say for now. I guess it's pretty close to bedtime and I should probably go and read for a while before bed. My next post should be a little more positive than this one. God is great and all-knowing and He definitely has a plan for me. I'm just praying that it will become clear to me what that plan is. Jer. 29:11. Praise the Lord that we have Him to direct our paths and that He cares about our lives here on earth and every struggle that we face!

oops...:P

So I honestly thought I posted after the whole "I promise" thing. I guess I shouldn't make anymore promises. Still in Owen Sound, though very seriously thinking about leaving. Not sure where I'll go to, or what I'll do. Maybe stay with the company, or maybe do something completely different. Whatever happens, I would really like a chance to go away for a month or so....a missions trip somewhere would be ideal. Somewhere warm would be even better. :P I'm am completely frozen right now (obviously not literally...). Probably partially due to the fact that I just got back from a cruise to the Caribbean and I was getting used to the warmth. Temperatures have also been quite a bit lower here than they have been all winter. I hope it doesn't last too long. The days are starting to get longer so I guess that's a sign that warm weather should be following before too long. I like leaving work while it's still semi-light outside.

As previously mentioned I was on a cruise...with Nicola...it was a blast! The ship was massive and it was just so much fun to be floating out on the ocean! We started in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and went to Key West, FL, then to Grand Cayman and then on to Jamaica which was the last stop before we headed back to Ft. Lauderdale. Some of the places we saw were quite beautiful, with Jamaica definitely #1. There were so many things that I enjoyed, but oddly enough, one of my favourite things was getting to know some of the ship's employees. Out of over 1200 employees on our ship, the Carnival Freedom, there were 61 different nationalities. Every employee wore a name tag with their name (obviously), their position on the ship, and the country they were from. It was easy to strike up conversation with most of them (though some were a little harder to understand due to their accents), and it was neat to see what brought them to work for Carnival. Probably the biggest response we got was that they just wanted to see different places. Maybe I'll work on a cruise ship...that could be fun...but it is a lot of work. Long days and long weeks. They generally work for 8 months, then they get 2-3 months off because they're working so many hours in a week and they don't get much time off. I also wouldn't like having to deal with snooty people who want to be pampered. So maybe a cruise ship isn't the best place for me. :P Either way, Nic and I had fun...like we usually do. Amazingly enough we didn't get ourselves into too much trouble, which is saying a lot. :)

My apartment is a mess and I don't feel like cleaning so I am just procrastinating right now. I guess I should do something a little more productive than sit at my computer all evening. If anyone knows of any special jobs or interesting opportunities, please pass them my way...I'm quite interested in doing something different. We'll see what God has in store!

Lots of love,

Nick

Back to Work Again

It seems no matter how good my intentions, I continue to fail at updating this regularly. My original plans to go to NS were postponed, and then all-together cancelled. It was for the best as Luke was able to get a round-trip ticket cheaper than it would have cost to drive. This past week and a half was spent hanging out and visiting friends all around Ontario, and most importantly making the trip to Toronto so Luke could pick up his missionary visa at the Ecuadorian Consulate. The week was very enjoyable, and along with encouraging conversation we had a lot of fun with friends we haven't seen in quite some time. Unfortunately this week of play has come to an end and I'm left, a. wishing I didn't have to work tomorrow, b. saddened by the fact that my friends all live too far away, and c. wondering what I'm going to make of my life in Owen Sound. I've got a lot to think and pray about, especially regarding God's plan for me. I'll update more soon...I promise. :)

Lost in a familiar place

I'm starting to feel alone in life. I have wonderful family and friends, but everyone is so far away. It would be an excellent time for me to put more time and energy into focusing on my relationship with the Lord, but I tend to have an incredible knack for procrastinating. Due to my lack of Bible reading and prayer time, I've recently been feeing more confused, discontented, and frustrated with myself and life in general. I think it's time to change that. Quite often it's easier said than done, but it's time to make an effort to live right and serve the Lord in every aspect of my life; no more pushing Him aside!

Work has been wearing on me quite a lot lately for many reasons, and I'm happy to say I get to take some holiday time next week!! I'm thrilled! I haven't had much of a vacation since the beginning of last summer, so I'm over-due I think. My wonderful plan for that week will be to make a bit of a road-trip out East to steal Luke away from his family and bring him back to Ontario to hang out with all of us cool Ontarians. Unfortunately my poor little car has a few issues, but she should survive the trip. My dear father spend most of last weekend doing some repairs on her, and there are still more to be done!

I was at Rachel Henderson's wedding this past weekend in Peterborough. It was a very ceremony with a small lunch reception afterwards. She looked beautiful and I'm glad they're both so happy! :) Here's a picture of the wedding party:

Sarah Hele and I got to have a lot of fun that weekend. She's such a sweetheart! We rented a hotel room for a couple of nights and really enjoyed hanging out there. They had a pool and a hot tub that we made good use of, and the room we were in was pretty nice! I'd do it again in a heartbeat if it wasn't so expensive! We hung out with Sarah's friend Steve, Andrew, and Dave for a little while on Sunday, and I also got to see Laura jay which was an awesome surprise! She's so much fun and I really miss hanging out with her!

Well that's another quick look into my life right now. Perhaps one day I'll get better at making more frequent blog posts! :)

What's next?

I'm still in Owen Sound, now living in my own apartment, which is terribly disorganized right now...even though I've been here since January! It's been nice having my own place, though I suppose at times it's a little lonely. It wouldn't be so bad if I actually knew people here. I am attempting to find a church to be a part of. So far it hasn't resulted in anything promising. A lady accross the street invited me to her church this Sunday, and the dear old lady who lives below me has invited me to her church at some point too, so I'm hoping something will come of these visits.

Work has been keeping me busy. My manager quit in the middle of February. It's been tough because we hired a new manager and a part-time employee, but I'm the only employee in our store who knows the ropes. Makes things a little stressful at times, but things are now going in a better direction, so once our little team is all trained up we'll be doing really well. The new manager is awesome. I really enjoy working with him, and his enthusiasm is very encouraging!

I'm not really sure what's next though. I enjoy my job for the most part, and the company is great to work for, but I don't want to do this forever...it just feels like a step along the way to something else...I just have no idea what that something else is. I'd like to go on a missions trip sometime, but I don't know where to, when, or for how long. With all the changes at work I would like to stick around for a while to get our store back on its feet, but I don't want to feel like I HAVE to stay...or to just settle in thinking that I'll leave someday, but not actually do it. I don't want to miss out on whatever it is I should be doing.

I guess the key to life and being content is following God's will and living for Him. I don't know what He wants me to do. Though, if I spent more time with Him, some things in life might be a little clearer.

I want to ranch...I think that would be fun! At least to try for a while. :P And by ranch I mean that I'd like to live on a ranch with horses and what not....I don't really want to do any cow herding....though maybe it would be fun too...I think I can probably convince Crystal to come with me out west and do some ranching! We can become real cowgirls! Woot! :P

Nic and I are supposed to be going to Jamaica on a cruise with her family next January...still a ways away, though I'm sure it'll be here in no time. I'm quite excited about that! I don't really have any set plans for the summer yet. I'm just glad that spring is finally here and the snow and cold will be gone soon!! And for now that is all I have to say...for the few that read this. :) I should now try and organize this pig sty I live in! God bless...