Xtend 07.. best week of my life!

I got back on saturday night at mid-night from what has to be one of the best weeks of my life !!

I learnt so much about God at this camp called Xtend (its a baptist youth camp held once a year, in tauranga!)

Things i learnt:

- Even though I thought that I'd stopped believing lies about myself, I still do, and I need to renounce those, and replace them with the truth that God wants to speak into my life.

- It is sooo important that you are a real, honest + open person, so that people don't get the wrong idea about who you are. It's sad, but true, that we act differently around different people, we shouldn't be afraid to let people see who we really are!

- Nothing that we ever do is worthy of Jesus. When we feel unworthy of God's love, its because we are! But only through JESUS! He makes us worthy, so when God looks at us, he sees something pure and blameless.

- The Bible is the living, active word of God, which needs to be meditated, chewed, eaten, consumed.

- If you think you can't hear God's voice are you listening?! Because you can't recognise a voice that you never hear. So spending time with God (in prayer + in listening) regularly is hugely important in order to actually be able to hear God's guidance for your life.

So yeah, that's pretty much what I learnt! And probably some other stuff too.

But it was so awesome spending time worshipping God with others, and seeing people support each other when their friends were suffering, rejoicing with one another, responding to God and actively seeking God

INCREDIBLE!

If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it!

Very special song..

Must have done something right - Relient K

We should get jerseys cause we make a good team
But yours would look better than mine
Cause your out of my league
And I know that it’s so cliche
To tell you that everyday
Spent with you is the new best day of my life
Everyone watching us just turns away disgust
This jealousy they can see that we’ve got it going on

And I’m racking my brain for a new improved way
To let you know you’re more to me than what I know how say
Your okay with the way this is going to be
Cause this is going to be, the best thing we’ve ever seen

If anyone could make me a better person, you could
All I gotta say is I must have done something good
You came along one day, and you re-arranged my life
All I gotta say is I must have done something right,
I must have done something right

And maybe I’m just lucky cause it’s hard to believe
Believe that somebody like you, end up with someone like me

And I know that it’s so cliche
To talk about you this way
But I’ll push all my inhibitions aside
It’s so very obvious to every one watching us
That we have got something real good goin on

And I’m racking my brain for a new improved way
To let you know you’re more to me than what I know how say
Your okay with the way this is going to be
Cause this is going to be, the best thing we’ve ever seen

This song is truly great :D

Masquerade..

meeks, me, chloe
its ha-uge
she is a strange woman that one.. no, the other one :P
le masque.

Masquerade.. paper faces on parade!

Fantastic, masqeurade formal dinner at church :D

was great fun.

spent the afternoon making masks/beautifying.

then dinner :D

then dancing like mad :D

Sometimes I wonder...

if God's the only one who thinks I'm beautiful.

And even that doesn't help much..


Don't comment on what I've said. i just wanted to complain.

bye

stolen from anchor and braille's blog:

when a scorpion stings your hand.
there once was a hindu holy man who saw a scorpion floundering around in the water. he decided to save it by stretching out his finger. but the scorpion stung him. the man still tried to get the scorpion out of the water, but the scorpion stung him again. a man nearby told him to stop saving the scorpion that kept stinging him. but the holy man said, "it is the nature of the scorpion to sting. it is my nature my love. why should i give up my nature to love just because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting?"it should be our nature to love regardless of who we are, regardless of what has been done to us. its hard. i know. trust me. people are always going to sting you. they are going to rip into your character. they are going to be the ones in the platform telling you that your views are wrong. they are going to be in the pulpits pointing fingers in judgement. they are going to be the ones who hold your whole race responsible for the actions of one person's actions.but that doesn't give you the right to despise; for hate for those who hate is still hate. in spite of those who may sting you remain in what you know to be your nature. love.

end quote.

this sooo fully applies to God too.
isn't that cool.

anyone who hasn't heard of anchor and braille, they should have.
it's stephen christian's (anberlin frontman/leadsinger) solo project.
it's incredible.

www.myspace.com/woodwaterrecords

www.myspace.com/anchorandbraille

what hurts the most.

What hurts the most

Was being so close

And having so much to say

And watching you walk away

And never knowing

What could have been

And not seeing that loving you

Is what I was tryin' to do

Rascal flatts. - What hurts the most

has any one else seen this series of brilliant! cards.
they are brilliant!
like emo spiderman.
in fact the whole spiderman movie. brilliant. just brilliant. * sweeps fringe over forehead while pouting *
by brilliant i mean, that you can not keep a straight face or take it seriously because it's just so funny.
no matter if it's meant to be or not.
like my reading story today (thanks to sam's strange/sick? mind)
i could only keep a straight face wen reading it to a 3 and a half year old.
or the quote "run into a friend in the street"
i was going to add a slightly insensitive equation here. but then decided not to.
i could do some hand motions.
but you wouldn't see them
so i give up.
that is also brilliant.

refuse to be put in a basket.

is brilliantly ambiguous.

which is a brilliantly large word (Although not funny, maybe the normal definition of brilliant applies here).

is anyone else confused?

I would just like to ask this simple question for your comments: Is it ever possible to seperate your perception of a certain 'truth' from the truth itself.
could you ever know the 'truth' of something without your perception getting in the way?
contrast how you can know 'love' or how you can know 'how a car works'.
interesting isn't it.
would be keen to hear your thoughts.
my horse is pretty too.
prettier than yours.

and you are brilliant.

BRILLIANT!
don't worry. i don't actually think the question is simple.

i am being cheeky/annoying.
from time to time this is allowable.

My meta-narratively shaped chemical romance

"Son when you grow up, will you be the saviour of the broken, beaten and the damned"

doesn't that just make you think of jesus... it does for me anyway

and trust me, i had plenty of time to think about it in the 36 hours that this song was stuck on my head!

oooh dear

hugs all round

Chasing sheepies....
Soooooo purdy

hugs all round

by the way, this is my horse

haha

The product of a days hard lectures....

an earthquake...

and i didn't even feel it

how sad

in other news,

i have a horse!

time for some sanity sleep... see ya

Mountaintop Addiction

It's easy to get addicted to the mountaintop experiences of God - the camps, the spiritual highs
This is my pondering on the topic...

Mountaintop Addiction

Mountaintop firelight
Fan the flame in my soul
Now I know he’s alive
And I’ll run by his side

Easy come, easy go
Not that way, I will grow
Through the pain, through the fight
Though nothing goes right

When I can’t feel a thing
Everything’s gone, There’s a hope
Still alive, I know deep inside
That its worth holding on

Through nothing at all
When everything’s gone
No trace, no shadow
Played up on the wall

Still I hold on
Still I hold on

Through the flood, through the fire
Through the desert, the plain
Till the numbness subsides
I can feel him again

Valleys of daylight
Dull warming glow
The flame in my soul
Still alight, heart afloat
I know my redeemer
Is with me still now
As I walk by his side

I’ll hold on
I’ll hold on

When I say..

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not shouting "I'm clean living" I'm whispering "I was lost" Now I'm found and I'm forgiven.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need CHRIST to be my guide.

When I say.... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need HIS strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say.... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartaches So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian" I"m not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow.

I wish more people would have this humbler view of our christianity, although it's of course so easier to slip into 'holier than thou' thinking...

wat are your views?

Me on molly...
Peace...

Some photos from horse camp...

Me climbing hill on Lady Bug
Three of the (many) random random peoples at camp... haha Sam, Jesh and Beth ...
Aren't we all so hot... actually it was rather (Rach, Me, Katie, Alex, Kat and Betty in the front)
Pretty morning... J-dog's photo
Greased lightning... what more can i say!

Um... a post... mmm... wat to say....

eerrrrrr

ummmmm

not like it matters... no one reads this anyway.

How about I say: HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Now...

Well, life is good... i'm about to leave 2mrw for horse camp!

And then i'm back for a week - working all week!

And then i leave for another horse camp! This time I'm a leader at a little (y7-9) girls horse camp which will be fun!

Then parachute...

Then i work for 3 weeks before uni starts again!

That's life.

So... Happy New Year!

the thief

Your eyes are full, full of the future of us
The air changes as you look across at me in that wondering way
it is as if I knew you before we spoke
Do our hearts know something we don't?
Conspiring, converging without giving us any say

You sing me to sleep, talk down my walls
Look through my windows as I wait
You could be the thief I give the key to

You're ruining me with secrets and gestures and looks
With sonnets in second-hand books
Playing the chords in me nobody knew how to play

You sing me to sleep, talk down my walls
Look through my windows as I wait
You could be the thief I give the key to
It fits in your hand like the water in rain
It unlocks our two different selves and shows we are the same
Rather than wait til I put me out for the taking
You're breaking
You're breaking into my heart... and I'm letting you

Your eyes are full, full of the future of us.

Ah Brooke Fraser and a guitar... one of my favourite sounds!

This gorgeous song of hers can speak for itself....

I'ts been a month and a day... did you miss me?
Bet you didn't...
Well the reason that I've been so slack at updating lately is because life has just been sooo freakily stressful! Uni has been hectic, and i had a piano exam on wednesday, and a few stressful weeks at work to add to it all!
Anyway, it's over now!
My piano exam went ok... altho i forgot easy scales, which sucks.
Uni is finished!!! I survived first year uni!
And work... well got lots to do still, but oh well.


Here's some lyrics that kind of express a very common situation in christians, and i guess kind of describes the place that I have been in lately, and am trying to get out of!

Be my Escape - Relient K

I'm giving up on giving up slowly
I'm blending in, so you won't even know me
Apart from this whole world that shares my fate

This one last bullet you mention
Is my one last shot at redemption
Coz I know to live you must give your life away

I've been housing all this doubt, and insecurity
I've been locked inside that house
All the while you hold the key
I've been dying to get out
And that might be the death of me

And even though there's no way of knowing
Where to go
I promise I'm going because

Oh, I gotta get out of here,
I'm stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake
Oh, I gotta get out of here,
And i'm begging you, i'm begging you, i'm begging you
to be my escape

I've given up on doing this alone now
I have failed, and I'm ready to be shown how
You've shown me the way, I'm trying to get there

And this life sentence that I'm serving
I admit that I'm every bit deserving
But the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair

I've been housing all this doubt, and insecurity
I've been locked inside that house
All the while you hold the key
I've been dying to get out
And that might be the death of me

And even though there's no way of knowing
Where to go
I promise I'm going because

Oh, I gotta get out of here,
I'm afraid that this complacency, is something I can't shake
Oh, I gotta get out of here,
And i'm begging you, i'm begging you, i'm begging you
to be my escape

I am a hostage, to my own humanity
Self detained and forced to live in this mess of me
And all I'm asking is for you to do, what you can with me
But I can't ask you to give what you already gave

I've been housing all this doubt, and insecurity
I've been locked inside that house
All the while you hold the key
I've been dying to get out
And that might be the death of me

And even though there's no way of knowing
Where to goI promise I'm going because

Oh, I gotta get out of here,I'm stuck inside this rut that i fell into by mistake
Oh, I gotta get out of here,
And i'm begging you, i'm begging you, i'm begging youto be my escape

I fought you for so long, I should have let you win
Oh, how we regret those things we do
All I was trying to do was save my own skin
Oh, but so were you,
So were you

Top 10...

Bad pick up lines.. except not 'pick-up' in the bad sense of the word.... 'pick-up' in the sense of getting a girl to notice you...

anyway here goes

sorry me and monique came up with these... and it's sad the number of these that came out of things i said to her brother haha

1. Hey you're pigeon toed

2. You have a wart on your elbow *in a creepy french accent*

3. IT's not what's on your head that attracts me to you, it's whats in it.

4. you're like a flash of lightning, but not as bright

5. My grandma and her friends were looking at photos of you the other day and were amazed at how good looking you've become

6. I didn't mean to play footsies with you

7. You look like your mum/dad

8. Do I look good in your sisters hat?

9. Light travels faster than sound

10. You're so smart

i apologise profusely (hehe i love that word...) i wrote another post on paper... and was saving it until i could be bothered typing it up and now i've lost it!!!

sorry... you'll have to survive until i find it :D

bye for now

i'm not tired, really

woweee

i am so tired

thus, this post is boring

night night