list

1. The building I live in has been sold. It will be converted into a condo complex. This is OK. I will not buy a place here, so in 3 months to a year I'll be moving out.
a. Do I move into a different apartment?
b. Do I buy a place?

2. I was talking to my boss today and he mentioned something along the lines of posting a position for a "buffer" between him and the rest of the staff. (Isn't this what a Head Teacher does?) Anyway, it seems he has me in mind for the role. That would be good.

3. Regardless, I'll still be teaching in the Fall. Hallelujah.

4. This also means I'll be working on my CERTESL (Teaching English as a Second Language certification) starting in September. I had been thinking of doing my MA-TESL, but Trinity still hasn't gotten back to me about some questions I had--it's been over a month. And my boss REALLY wants to make sure I'm registered somewhere so when we make the switch to faculty it'll all be OK (the faculty thing is a rumour/desire, but hopefully it happens!!)

So I'm really thinking & praying about #1. I would like to buy because rents here are so crazy that I would rather spend my money on an investment than pour it down a black hole and never really feel "settled in."

I don't mind being in a holding pattern. It's a challenge for me to keep God first and to keep doing what I'm doing--but better. I don't know if that makes sense. :) But it feels like there are some changes coming. In my book, that is usually an exciting thing!

Praise

Ten years ago I introduced a Hawaiian friend of mine in Japan to a restaurant called Kama'aina's. That restaurant became the practice location for the band he was forming called Kawaihae. A few months after the band formed, I was talking to the lead singer, Jeff. We were talking about church, God, being a Christian, etc etc. At the time I was attending New Hope Tokyo, a child church (correct term?) of New Hope Honolulu--the church of Pastor Wayne Cordeiro. I recommended New Hope to Jeff because he was looking for a church. He asked me to pray for the other guys in the band, including my friend Vance who was seriously not open to the Gospel and didn't even want to use "Jah" in any of their Hawaiian-reggae songs OR let Jeff put "Through Christ all things are possible" in the liner notes of their CD.

Vance has recently become a Christian and is now attending New Hope Yokohama. Honest to goodness, I think I'm rejoicing as much as the angels. :) It's amazing the infusion I feel in my own personal journey with Christ at hearing that this amazing man is even more amazing. :)

Now...if only I could move back to Japan, successfully stalk him, and marry him. ;)

Thank God for each day

I could listen to this song on constant rotation. It's such a GREAT reminder of how to live. To keep it simple.
Be strong in the Lord.
Never give up hope.
You're gonna do great things.
God's got His hands on you.
Don't live life in fear.
Forgive and forget.
Don't forget why you're here.
Take your time and
PRAY

I need these reminders today as I start my new job and embrace the busy-ness that is being a college teacher. It's easy even to come home and "veg"--read, watch TV, surf online, do anything & everything to avoid private time with God.

I'm reading "Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom and there's a part in there that talks about how our routines & traditions have stopped including God and I had to pause and think about that. It's so true! I think about my 'daily routine': get up, shower, leave for work (maybe taking out some garbage along the way), go through the drive thru at Tim Horton's on the way to work, work, come home, nap (? maybe), go to the gym, eat, sleep...lather, rinse, repeat. Sure, I'll pray throughout the day, but where's the time spent LISTENING to God or reading the Bible? Ummmm not in existence.

So. I need to make that a tradition. To build God into my routine, because really. He should be my priority. Everything I have is because of Him.

Your Hands

Not too much to write about, but wanted to post this video. Another of my recent Top Songs:

money

A little bit of a confession: I suck at money management. It's something that God has been err gently pointing out to me over the last little while. I've made a point to tithe, but it's the rest of it that I need to work on. It's not like I don't have enough money either, because I do. Or that I don't pay my bills, because I do (and I'm generally a month or so ahead in that department). Or that I'm deeply in debt, because I'm not (the whole idea of being tens of thousands in credit card debt scares the living crap out of me--heck, even thousands of dollars scares me!). It's just the whole SAVING money thing.

So that's my Easter Day Resolution :) To stop spending money unnecessarily and to really focus on being more accountable to myself about how I do spend money. I don't think it's about storing up "treasure" here on earth, but it's about being smart and grown up.

Man, being a grown up sucks sometimes. ;)

kindness

Oops. No devotional book today. I drove right past Dove Christian Supplies but ummm...I was in the wrong lane and there was a lot of traffic. Does that sound plausible? :) Another day!

Since January I have lost *drum roll* 20 pounds. Hallelujah (in English and whatever other languages you can think of!)! :) For the first 8 or 9 weeks I "worked with" a trainer. Meaning, he told me what to eat and how much to exercise and I paid him money to ignore what he said. :/ I did like having his voice in my head reminding me to exercise, but a couple of weeks ago when I told him about being sick (for 2 weeks) and not doing a lot of exercise or eating right as a result, he got a little snotty and all I could hear then was my dad's voice. And since my dad was an abusive shit, it wasn't well-received or appreciated. (I know, the trainer didn't know that, nor did I expect him to be enlightened) Needless to say, we are on a "break" and I have done quite well without him. :) Except for the consistent exercise. Here are my excuses :D 1-It's been windy. I don't do walking in Lethbridge Wind. 2-I've been busy. 2 jobs, need I say more? :) I do have a gym membership, I just haven't made the effort to go lately.

Anyway. I'm working on kindness to myself as I said before and not looking on everything I do in terms of losing weight as "torture." More like changing my perspective to embrace honouring the body God has given me. Health is an important issue for me and I STILL believe that God will heal my kidneys and I will have no more need of dialysis. Is that crazy? :) Ha. No, I guess that's faith! :) It's weird, but I really do believe it. But I also have this deep-rooted feeling that there has to be more health-wise stuff going on in my life--emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical. You know?

I think I need to find a devotional book to use. I don't have much in terms of "guided reading" at the moment and I would probably really benefit from having something like that during my devotional time. Lately I've just been flipping through my Bible and stopping to read passages I've underlined or put dates beside. Rather ineffective, no?

Before or after my massage tomorrow I think that's what I'll do: head down to the main Christian bookstore in town and see what catches my eye!

Today I focused on Matthew 6--always a favourite--because that's the passage Charles Stanley used in the sermon I was listening to while out walking. I didn't listen to the whole thing because I cut my walk short (too much wind!), but will finish it off tomorrow. Podcasts are a wonderful thing, they really are!

I bought a new vacuum cleaner today. You'd think that would put me in a frenzy of cleaning, but no. Not so much. I did my living room, scooted it around my kitchen and pronounced it in working order :) My other vacuum cleaner--an electrolux that belonged to my Grandma--gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago. I'll be a little sad to get rid of that one. Nothing like the old electrolux's!!

Busy day today. Work. A staff meeting (not a fan). Two workshops. The last workshop was on Conflict Resolution. It was one-on-one with the facilitator because I missed Tuesday's class. So definitely a treat! And wow. He was SUCH an encouragement. He suggested that I go see one of the women from our class for an in-depth career assessment. He said when I started the class he could see me going down two paths, but he wasn't sure. By the end, he could see about 4 different paths for me! :) He didn't say which ones & I didn't ask, but will definitely go for the career assessment. It's something I probably should have done post-high-school, but what did Guidance Counsellors really know? I mean, ours was the Physics Teacher..so really!

Plus, I've really been seeking GOD's guidance in this area because I feel so adrift sometimes. Like, I'm about 5 years "behind" everyone else my age. Thank goodness I LOOK 25!! ;)
Anyway, I was really encouraged by his encouragement. It's nice to have some validation that I'm not nuts, that I do have gifts and they just need to be channelled appropriately.

This song was my "encouragement song" today:

Day 1-ish of Be Kind

Today I cleaned out my fridge. I threw out rotten food, empty bottles, and a few things I was unsure of! I bought food I know for sure that I like and will eat: asparagus, mini-cucumbers, mushrooms, cara cara oranges.

This is Day 1 of working on eating foods I like that are also healthy. I don't much like fruit, but there are some I will eat. But I also want to try different kinds of fruit to see if there's more out there that I enjoy besides cara cara oranges, papaya, and persimmons. I am mildly allergic to all melons and for sure don't like kiwis.

I don't think my trainer's plan was harsh. He was working with what he knew. And he knows "5 meals a day rah rah rah." :) I don't work like that, nor did I really want to work like that beyond week...ohhhh....3? 4? Perhaps it's stubbornness, but I'm really coming to the conclusion that I have to look at food and eating and exercise NOT as torture to be happy. But give myself permission for kindness. This probably isn't making sense, but I'll be writing more on these lines in the future, so hopefully it'll get cleared up.

And thanks to Conan--who left his late night spot with the words "work hard. be kind." I like that philosophy. :)