I got my heart raging in my head
And my tired body doesn't wanna leave this bed
Good enough for no one, not even my own master plan
My classic bun won't work out today
And my coffee addiction's getting the best of me
I haven't had a bite to eat
Neither have I brushed my teeth
Just laying around, watching my favourite TV show
Starting to remember those forgotten things
Lord, I still need you just as much now as on our first day
Jumped outta bed this morning
Have never felt so right
Dressed up nice and did my hair
Got all green lights on the way to where I needed to be
There was a sale at my favourite store
I beat my writer's block
Fell in love with another verse
Don't have a ton of cash, but I don't care
Made my girlfriend laugh while she was sad
I accomplished everything on my to-do list
Lord, I still need you just as much now as on our first day
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Back to the 204!
Bonjour mes amies!
Don't worry, this blog post won't be all in French. I don't know enough French yet to write my own French blog post. Maybe one day... someday.
The snow didn't stay. It melted. But it snowed again! How long will it stay?
Today is my last day at Capernwray for the year of 2011. Hmm, the sentiment! I just finished a half work day, and tonight we will party... partying the Christmas way! It'll be a crack! (Irish - good time!)
I've decided that this would be my term wrap-up blog. I won't post any pictures on this one, but one to come in the future, perhaps while sitting in Al McDicko's in Steiner using their wifi!
Here are some things I've learned in the past two and a half months:
1) God provides. God provided for me to go to bible school. Not in the way I really wanted, but that's okay. I was supposed to pay my parents back everything I owed them before I came, and there was a point in the summer when that seemed impossible! I was expecting a random cheque to come in the mail like I see on the movies, but nope, my boss just doubled my hours! Also, my roommate wasn't sure if she was going to come back for the winter term because of the finance situation, so we prayed about it. That same day, she got a call from her church saying that someone had donated $2000 to her. And just last week she got $500 more. It's still not enough to pay for the winter term, but it's a start. And it's super reassuring that this is where God wants her to be. Something I shouldn't, and everyone shouldn't, forget is that we thank God for the provision way too often. We should be thanking God for being the Provider!
2) Resting in God is super important. I am an extreme introvert, who has been living with 13 other girls in close quarters for the last two and a half months. At first, I didn't find it that hard to get alone time, because it was nice out so I just went for walks all the time. But now, when it's cold and everyone's inside all the time, it's super hard to find quiet time and alone time. I've really come to cherish my alone time with God because He restores me. I used to not think that alone time with God could actually be my alone time because I was under the impression that my alone time could only be doing things that I wanted to do. Pretty selfish, huh?
3) God equips the people He calls. I was chosen to be a part of the community help team. We often just raked leaves for people because there are TONS of trees around here. Raking leaves is hard work, especially when you have to carry the leaves uphill to where you dump them. And if you know me, you know that I don't have a ton of physical strength. I used to have some, from working at Smitty's and lifting 25 lbs. pans of bacon above my head every day. But by the time I got here, my muscles were sadly dwindling. But God equipped me with the strength I needed every time. And I think I was able to gain some muscle out of it too. But sadly, when I come back in January, that muscle may be gone again! Then I'll start the process over.
4) God uses community to smooth out rough edges in our lives. This is the very first time that I've been living in a dorm/community setting. I'm used to boys, not girls. I'm not used to having to strategically plan my mornings around when other people use the washrooms. Living in community is, by far, the hardest thing I've ever had to experience in my life, and it's not done yet, but I am grateful still. Living in community is like refining diamonds. Diamonds can only have damaged done to them by other diamonds. So, to smooth out the rough edges of diamonds, you place it with other diamonds. But if you don't add water to the diamond bowl, the diamonds just end up destroying each other. Water protects the diamond from not getting completely destroyed. Such is with living in community. Inevitably, people living together are going to end up irritated and hating one another. But having God at the center of community protects us. God is the water in this situation. That was quite a long analogy, I apologize. And I might not have told it right, but hey, it's just something I remember someone here at Capernwray saying.
So those are just four things I've learned here at Capernwray Fall Term. I've learned a ton more, but honestly, I can't really remember a lot of anything right now. Information overload, haha. I fear that I've lost knowledge of the things I learned in high school because I have no room for it left in my brain. So much biblical stuff, French stuff, and German stuff has been stuffed into my mind. I've even found myself forgetting when people's birthdays are, which I never had a problem remembering before! I used to be so good at remembering people's birthdays! (Thank goodness for Facebook and Moms!)
In light of all knowledge you can have with biblical stuff though, we musn't forget that Christ is truly the center of it all. We don't need to understand everything. We don't need to "get" all the doctrines or theology. We just need to believe. Believe Christ. Because He is what is true. In a world that strives on falsehoods, Christ is always true.
love,
Janessa
P.S. Manitoba, I'll see ya tomorrow!
Don't worry, this blog post won't be all in French. I don't know enough French yet to write my own French blog post. Maybe one day... someday.
The snow didn't stay. It melted. But it snowed again! How long will it stay?
Today is my last day at Capernwray for the year of 2011. Hmm, the sentiment! I just finished a half work day, and tonight we will party... partying the Christmas way! It'll be a crack! (Irish - good time!)
I've decided that this would be my term wrap-up blog. I won't post any pictures on this one, but one to come in the future, perhaps while sitting in Al McDicko's in Steiner using their wifi!
Here are some things I've learned in the past two and a half months:
1) God provides. God provided for me to go to bible school. Not in the way I really wanted, but that's okay. I was supposed to pay my parents back everything I owed them before I came, and there was a point in the summer when that seemed impossible! I was expecting a random cheque to come in the mail like I see on the movies, but nope, my boss just doubled my hours! Also, my roommate wasn't sure if she was going to come back for the winter term because of the finance situation, so we prayed about it. That same day, she got a call from her church saying that someone had donated $2000 to her. And just last week she got $500 more. It's still not enough to pay for the winter term, but it's a start. And it's super reassuring that this is where God wants her to be. Something I shouldn't, and everyone shouldn't, forget is that we thank God for the provision way too often. We should be thanking God for being the Provider!
2) Resting in God is super important. I am an extreme introvert, who has been living with 13 other girls in close quarters for the last two and a half months. At first, I didn't find it that hard to get alone time, because it was nice out so I just went for walks all the time. But now, when it's cold and everyone's inside all the time, it's super hard to find quiet time and alone time. I've really come to cherish my alone time with God because He restores me. I used to not think that alone time with God could actually be my alone time because I was under the impression that my alone time could only be doing things that I wanted to do. Pretty selfish, huh?
3) God equips the people He calls. I was chosen to be a part of the community help team. We often just raked leaves for people because there are TONS of trees around here. Raking leaves is hard work, especially when you have to carry the leaves uphill to where you dump them. And if you know me, you know that I don't have a ton of physical strength. I used to have some, from working at Smitty's and lifting 25 lbs. pans of bacon above my head every day. But by the time I got here, my muscles were sadly dwindling. But God equipped me with the strength I needed every time. And I think I was able to gain some muscle out of it too. But sadly, when I come back in January, that muscle may be gone again! Then I'll start the process over.
4) God uses community to smooth out rough edges in our lives. This is the very first time that I've been living in a dorm/community setting. I'm used to boys, not girls. I'm not used to having to strategically plan my mornings around when other people use the washrooms. Living in community is, by far, the hardest thing I've ever had to experience in my life, and it's not done yet, but I am grateful still. Living in community is like refining diamonds. Diamonds can only have damaged done to them by other diamonds. So, to smooth out the rough edges of diamonds, you place it with other diamonds. But if you don't add water to the diamond bowl, the diamonds just end up destroying each other. Water protects the diamond from not getting completely destroyed. Such is with living in community. Inevitably, people living together are going to end up irritated and hating one another. But having God at the center of community protects us. God is the water in this situation. That was quite a long analogy, I apologize. And I might not have told it right, but hey, it's just something I remember someone here at Capernwray saying.
So those are just four things I've learned here at Capernwray Fall Term. I've learned a ton more, but honestly, I can't really remember a lot of anything right now. Information overload, haha. I fear that I've lost knowledge of the things I learned in high school because I have no room for it left in my brain. So much biblical stuff, French stuff, and German stuff has been stuffed into my mind. I've even found myself forgetting when people's birthdays are, which I never had a problem remembering before! I used to be so good at remembering people's birthdays! (Thank goodness for Facebook and Moms!)
In light of all knowledge you can have with biblical stuff though, we musn't forget that Christ is truly the center of it all. We don't need to understand everything. We don't need to "get" all the doctrines or theology. We just need to believe. Believe Christ. Because He is what is true. In a world that strives on falsehoods, Christ is always true.
love,
Janessa
P.S. Manitoba, I'll see ya tomorrow!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
A Frank Sinatra Christmas
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
It snowed yesterday again in Quebec, but the real question around here is: will it stay?
I have played my Frank Sinatra Christmas album on my iTunes several times already. I'm writing this blog by our lovely Christmas tree in the main building, with the white lights bouncing off the coloured balls to create a really cool coloured disco ball setting. I've eaten my third chocolate from my advent calendar too! This is the life.
There's less than a week until I go home, which I'm super excited about. I'm excited to spend time with my family. To go to my home church on Sunday. To hang out with my friends. To see my friend who's pregnant. She's gonna be so big!
How did study projects go? They went fantastic!
We had our Christmas Open House last night. We had over 150 people attend. Which is wonderful for this area. Lots of them were from Renaissance, the church we attend. But there were lots from around the community. The staff were all very excited.
That's the extent of my blog today. I'm not really sure what else to say.
Love,
Janessa
It snowed yesterday again in Quebec, but the real question around here is: will it stay?
I have played my Frank Sinatra Christmas album on my iTunes several times already. I'm writing this blog by our lovely Christmas tree in the main building, with the white lights bouncing off the coloured balls to create a really cool coloured disco ball setting. I've eaten my third chocolate from my advent calendar too! This is the life.
There's less than a week until I go home, which I'm super excited about. I'm excited to spend time with my family. To go to my home church on Sunday. To hang out with my friends. To see my friend who's pregnant. She's gonna be so big!
How did study projects go? They went fantastic!
We had our Christmas Open House last night. We had over 150 people attend. Which is wonderful for this area. Lots of them were from Renaissance, the church we attend. But there were lots from around the community. The staff were all very excited.
That's the extent of my blog today. I'm not really sure what else to say.
Love,
Janessa
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Don't Blink
Wow. I only have one-ish week left! I won't give a term wrap-up blog entry because I'll probably do that next week, with some pictures posted from our Christmas party.
Today is Tuesday, but that's obvious, you know that. I've been slightly dreading this day for a long time (pretty well a month). Tonight I'm presenting my very first study project and I'm super nervous. My LTS says that I have no reason to be, but I'm still nervous. It's not the presenting that makes me nervous though because Capernwray Quebec is a very comfortable and familiar place, but it's the material that I'm presenting. I just feel like it's not good enough. But realistically, it doesn't really matter if it's not academically good. Study projects are just sharing with other people what God's been teaching you through a specific passage. There's no right or wrong answer really, but at the same time there is. Because people can right out tell if something is wrong. I'm just nervous because I hold some beliefs that I've found out that people here don't share.
So I'm just gonna keep telling myself this tonight: I'll be fine, if I let God do the talking and not me! Janessa's just gonna have to shut up for a little while and let God speak through her!
I realized today, while being driven around for community help outreach, that I really miss driving in Manitoba. Quebec is so hilly and curvy and twisty (which are all very beautiful things), but Manitoba's flat and straight. And Manitoba driving gets along with my stomach a lot better! I cherish the times when I would be driving without feeling nauseated every time. Oh, good old Manitoba.
Another thing I realized today was that I'm experiencing something totally normal out here. This is my first real adventure away from home. Even though my permanent residential address is my parent's house, I'm still living outside my parent's house. It struck me yesterday that I'm growing up. No more high school, no more junior high, no more being a child, and no more being tolerant to people treating me like a child. I really miss home. The funny thing is: I really thought that I wouldn't. But I do.
I thought that, if I did miss anything, it would only be the people I love. But I've found myself missing everything else, as well as those people. I miss the buildings. I miss the familiar atomsphere. I miss my church. I miss taking trips to go shopping in Winnipeg. I miss hanging out with friends. I miss going to see movies. I miss sitting down on a Saturday night around the television as a family and watching a movie. I miss watching Reba with my dad. I miss hanging around the junior high, bothering my mom while she works. I even miss working at Smitty's.
Something I never thought that I would miss is high school. But I do. Even though I'm at bible school and I'm actually doing something besides working the year after high school, I feel like I'm still experiencing the "post-high school syndrome", as someone I once knew called it. My coming years from now seems rather empty, not because I don't see life in them, but because I don't see new and exciting experiences in them.
Here's another thing that hit me today in the realization that I'm growing up: life's going by at a rapid pace! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was in grade 9. It's crazy because I've experienced SO many things since that time. I've experienced hurt, love, broken hearts, wonderful friendships, death, faith, Christ's love, Christ's grace, graduation, leaving home, Europe, and living in another province. All of which are things that I am more than grateful for, even if I wasn't at one point in my life. So this conclusion I have come to and this is my advice to you:
Don't blink. Or else you'll miss it.
Today is Tuesday, but that's obvious, you know that. I've been slightly dreading this day for a long time (pretty well a month). Tonight I'm presenting my very first study project and I'm super nervous. My LTS says that I have no reason to be, but I'm still nervous. It's not the presenting that makes me nervous though because Capernwray Quebec is a very comfortable and familiar place, but it's the material that I'm presenting. I just feel like it's not good enough. But realistically, it doesn't really matter if it's not academically good. Study projects are just sharing with other people what God's been teaching you through a specific passage. There's no right or wrong answer really, but at the same time there is. Because people can right out tell if something is wrong. I'm just nervous because I hold some beliefs that I've found out that people here don't share.
So I'm just gonna keep telling myself this tonight: I'll be fine, if I let God do the talking and not me! Janessa's just gonna have to shut up for a little while and let God speak through her!
I realized today, while being driven around for community help outreach, that I really miss driving in Manitoba. Quebec is so hilly and curvy and twisty (which are all very beautiful things), but Manitoba's flat and straight. And Manitoba driving gets along with my stomach a lot better! I cherish the times when I would be driving without feeling nauseated every time. Oh, good old Manitoba.
Another thing I realized today was that I'm experiencing something totally normal out here. This is my first real adventure away from home. Even though my permanent residential address is my parent's house, I'm still living outside my parent's house. It struck me yesterday that I'm growing up. No more high school, no more junior high, no more being a child, and no more being tolerant to people treating me like a child. I really miss home. The funny thing is: I really thought that I wouldn't. But I do.
I thought that, if I did miss anything, it would only be the people I love. But I've found myself missing everything else, as well as those people. I miss the buildings. I miss the familiar atomsphere. I miss my church. I miss taking trips to go shopping in Winnipeg. I miss hanging out with friends. I miss going to see movies. I miss sitting down on a Saturday night around the television as a family and watching a movie. I miss watching Reba with my dad. I miss hanging around the junior high, bothering my mom while she works. I even miss working at Smitty's.
Something I never thought that I would miss is high school. But I do. Even though I'm at bible school and I'm actually doing something besides working the year after high school, I feel like I'm still experiencing the "post-high school syndrome", as someone I once knew called it. My coming years from now seems rather empty, not because I don't see life in them, but because I don't see new and exciting experiences in them.
Here's another thing that hit me today in the realization that I'm growing up: life's going by at a rapid pace! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was in grade 9. It's crazy because I've experienced SO many things since that time. I've experienced hurt, love, broken hearts, wonderful friendships, death, faith, Christ's love, Christ's grace, graduation, leaving home, Europe, and living in another province. All of which are things that I am more than grateful for, even if I wasn't at one point in my life. So this conclusion I have come to and this is my advice to you:
Don't blink. Or else you'll miss it.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Never Been So Sorry
Today was Work Day. I thought I'd tell you a little bit about my work days, which I love. We have three different teams: kitchen, domestics, and maintenance. We usually switch teams every two weeks. For the last four weeks I've been on the maintenance team! Today, we completed our project from last week: digging out a trench for water to drain down in the spring. That consumed the whole morning, then in the afternoon, we stacked wood! Not gonna lie, I feel pretty beefy right now!
I've been on all three work day teams, and not surprisingly, kitchen was my favourite. We got to help cook stuff and do food prep stuff. I was in my zone!
I'm sitting in the designated "laptop room" within our girl's dorm, listening to The Band Perry, and remembering some good times. I'm pretty tired, despite the four cups of coffee I've had today. I usually only have two a day! My roommates are getting concerned about my coffee intake!
Today I was thoroughly disgusted by something I did a couple years ago. I was super close with this guy in grade nine and grade ten, and we had liked each other for a while. Well, you know how Facebook message center now stores all your messages from someone in one thread? Today I came across this thread, and for memory lane sake, I read it. I can't even describe what I read in correct words. I was SO mean to him. I lectured him on the tiniest stupidest little things. And in grade ten when I knew he liked me, I pretty much rubbed it in his face that I was dating someone else...
I know that this blog entry seems very juvenile compared to some others, but I thought I'd share that. I want this blog to be a place where I can be open about my thoughts and feelings. I wish I could go back and be nicer to him, but unfortunately life isn't like that. I can't apologize to him, because I'm fairly certain that he hates me now. (When he stopped talking to me, I was shocked because I didn't understand why. Now I know why...)
The one thing that really bothers me is this: I could've totally turned him away from Christ. I told him I was a Christian, we had amazing talks about Christ back in the day, but I wasn't living it. How I treated him could've been a factor in how he views Christ now. He wasn't entirely fond of Christ back then, imagine what he thinks now? After a supposed "Christian" treated him like dirt?
This whole thought process seems very selfish, but I'm just being honest.
I hope he knows that I'm truly sorry. If I wasn't actually sorry the thousand times I apologized to him, I am sorry now. I've been convicted. And I don't even think there'd be a 0.1% chance of him reading this blog, telling him how sorry I am. I feel horrible about this situation.
I pray that I'm not ever as mean to anyone ever again.
Sorry for the rather downer blog entry, but I needed to let out some built up emotion.
Thank you for reading, if you even made it through!
Love,
Janessa
I've been on all three work day teams, and not surprisingly, kitchen was my favourite. We got to help cook stuff and do food prep stuff. I was in my zone!
I'm sitting in the designated "laptop room" within our girl's dorm, listening to The Band Perry, and remembering some good times. I'm pretty tired, despite the four cups of coffee I've had today. I usually only have two a day! My roommates are getting concerned about my coffee intake!
Today I was thoroughly disgusted by something I did a couple years ago. I was super close with this guy in grade nine and grade ten, and we had liked each other for a while. Well, you know how Facebook message center now stores all your messages from someone in one thread? Today I came across this thread, and for memory lane sake, I read it. I can't even describe what I read in correct words. I was SO mean to him. I lectured him on the tiniest stupidest little things. And in grade ten when I knew he liked me, I pretty much rubbed it in his face that I was dating someone else...
I know that this blog entry seems very juvenile compared to some others, but I thought I'd share that. I want this blog to be a place where I can be open about my thoughts and feelings. I wish I could go back and be nicer to him, but unfortunately life isn't like that. I can't apologize to him, because I'm fairly certain that he hates me now. (When he stopped talking to me, I was shocked because I didn't understand why. Now I know why...)
The one thing that really bothers me is this: I could've totally turned him away from Christ. I told him I was a Christian, we had amazing talks about Christ back in the day, but I wasn't living it. How I treated him could've been a factor in how he views Christ now. He wasn't entirely fond of Christ back then, imagine what he thinks now? After a supposed "Christian" treated him like dirt?
This whole thought process seems very selfish, but I'm just being honest.
I hope he knows that I'm truly sorry. If I wasn't actually sorry the thousand times I apologized to him, I am sorry now. I've been convicted. And I don't even think there'd be a 0.1% chance of him reading this blog, telling him how sorry I am. I feel horrible about this situation.
I pray that I'm not ever as mean to anyone ever again.
Sorry for the rather downer blog entry, but I needed to let out some built up emotion.
Thank you for reading, if you even made it through!
Love,
Janessa
Monday, November 21, 2011
We Fall Down & All In-Betweens
We fall down, we lay our crowns
At the feet of Jesus
The greatness of mercy and love
At the feet of Jesus
Lately, I've found myself thinking about this worship song. And by lately, I mean for the past couple months, not just at Capernwray. The first time the lyrics of this song really popped out to me was while I was working at Smitty's. I often sang quietly to myself at work when things were slow and I was alone in the back cleaning or whatever. And I had this song stuck in my head.
And this hit me: what does it mean to "lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus"? What struck me is the word used in the song: crowns. Crowns are worn by kings, queens, and individuals of royalty. Crowns distinguish superiority and authority. When we sing this song, we're singing something quite heavy. We're singing about laying down our crowns, the things that make us feel superior and authoritative, at the feet of Jesus. We're laying down our pride.
I really felt like I should share that with you folks. Anyway, what's been going on at Capernwray lately? Not really that much... this past week we had Wayne Lee come teach us about the book of Job. Which is a rather heavy book. My perspective of Job's life has certainly changed now. The book of Job isn't a story about extreme suffering, but of extreme faith.
This week at Capernwray, the LTS (Leadership Training Students) are gone to Urban Promise in Toronto, so the dorms seem a little emptier. Also, Steve is teaching on 1 Corinthians for the first half of the week, then around Thursday good ol' Charlie Fordham is coming to teach us about the Holy Spirit, interesting week if I do say so myself. I've heard tons about Charlie Fordham... from Ethan and Missy. I remember once after church, I think it was in March, the three of us were having a discussion about Charlie Fordham and his teaching. So I heard lots. I am looking forward to what he has to say though. I look forward to all the speakers. Ultimately it's not about the teacher, but about what he's teaching us... which is Christ.
I've been thinking a lot about God's will lately. Mainly because I've been starting to worry about what my next year is going to look like. Right now, I don't have too many options. I could go to university, no idea what for, but hey, I could just take U1. I've been considering Providence, like I was considering before Capernwray came up last year. I could just work for a year. Or I could even go back to Smitty's, which I don't particularly want to do. For some reason Smitty's has been on my heart lately. There's been a lot of things and people who have been on my heart lately. There are also some other things that I've been considering, but I'm not going to list those out because I don't want to make a big deal out of them. That was confusing, haha, sorry.
I'm going to share with you an excerpt of the book we're reading as a student body at Capernwray, which has been on my heart lately, concerning God's will:
I suppose that one of the frequent questions I am asked, by young Christians in particular, is, "How do I know the will of God?" If we are concerned to be surrendered to the will of God, He doesn't always seem to cooperate by letting us know clearly what His will is! Is that how you feel somtimes? You ask for guidance and direction but appear to receive little. However, if God's greatest desire for you is that you fulfill His will, and your greatest desire is to do His will, there shouldn't be any difficulty. If there is difficulty, somewhere along the line you have created it.
The specific will of God for us will only be found within the general will of God for all His people. There are four things the New Testament states as being God's will for you and me, and it will be within obedience to these specific instructions that His will for us individually will be found.
1. That we be holy. "It is God's will that you should be holy; that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable." (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4)
2. That we be thankful. "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
3. That we are good. "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted amongst men... For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men." (1 Peter 2:13-15)
4. That we suffer. "Those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Peter 4:19)
Solomon wrote, "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6). We are not told to pray for guidance but to acknowledge Him, and in response He will direct our paths. Directing our paths is God's responsibility... What is more, in the process of guiding us, God is under no obligation to explain what He is doing.
© "Christ for Real" by Charles W. Price, 2011, Pg 61-63
Now, I know that everyone might not completely agree with that, and no one should believe just anything that they read, because it's not the Bible, so we need to line up what this says with Scripture. But, for the most part, I agree with what he's saying here. The Bible does state some things that are the will of God. And yes, the will of God could get messy in some circumstances, like if God's will is that I go back to Smitty's because I wasn't a good witness of Christ the first time I was there, then so be it. That situation would be particularly messy, because I wouldn't like it. Plus I made some mistakes while I was leaving there that I would have to own up to if I went back.
Something I've been learning lately: God's will isn't always what we want. In fact, often it's not what we want because our hearts are wicked and deceitful, and our hearts want things that don't line up with Christ. God's will isn't about us, it's about God and His work.
I apologize for the incredibly long blog post, but there was a lot on my mind. Also, I've just been learning so much! The awesome thing is that what I've been learning is way more than what I share in my blog! I could write a 1000 page book about all the things I've been learning. (I have to make this joke: there already has been a 1000-ish page book written about everything I've been learning, it's called the BIBLE lol). I commend all of you who actually made it through this whole post. My thoughts are running a mile a minute right now, so I should stop typing before I continue on a rampage of my thoughts, plus it's past curfew!
Bonne nuit, mes amis.
Love you all,
Janessa
P.S. I was inspired to clean up my portion of the room after posting the pictures of it! Just thought I'd let you all know, haha.
At the feet of Jesus
The greatness of mercy and love
At the feet of Jesus
Lately, I've found myself thinking about this worship song. And by lately, I mean for the past couple months, not just at Capernwray. The first time the lyrics of this song really popped out to me was while I was working at Smitty's. I often sang quietly to myself at work when things were slow and I was alone in the back cleaning or whatever. And I had this song stuck in my head.
And this hit me: what does it mean to "lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus"? What struck me is the word used in the song: crowns. Crowns are worn by kings, queens, and individuals of royalty. Crowns distinguish superiority and authority. When we sing this song, we're singing something quite heavy. We're singing about laying down our crowns, the things that make us feel superior and authoritative, at the feet of Jesus. We're laying down our pride.
I really felt like I should share that with you folks. Anyway, what's been going on at Capernwray lately? Not really that much... this past week we had Wayne Lee come teach us about the book of Job. Which is a rather heavy book. My perspective of Job's life has certainly changed now. The book of Job isn't a story about extreme suffering, but of extreme faith.
This week at Capernwray, the LTS (Leadership Training Students) are gone to Urban Promise in Toronto, so the dorms seem a little emptier. Also, Steve is teaching on 1 Corinthians for the first half of the week, then around Thursday good ol' Charlie Fordham is coming to teach us about the Holy Spirit, interesting week if I do say so myself. I've heard tons about Charlie Fordham... from Ethan and Missy. I remember once after church, I think it was in March, the three of us were having a discussion about Charlie Fordham and his teaching. So I heard lots. I am looking forward to what he has to say though. I look forward to all the speakers. Ultimately it's not about the teacher, but about what he's teaching us... which is Christ.
I've been thinking a lot about God's will lately. Mainly because I've been starting to worry about what my next year is going to look like. Right now, I don't have too many options. I could go to university, no idea what for, but hey, I could just take U1. I've been considering Providence, like I was considering before Capernwray came up last year. I could just work for a year. Or I could even go back to Smitty's, which I don't particularly want to do. For some reason Smitty's has been on my heart lately. There's been a lot of things and people who have been on my heart lately. There are also some other things that I've been considering, but I'm not going to list those out because I don't want to make a big deal out of them. That was confusing, haha, sorry.
I'm going to share with you an excerpt of the book we're reading as a student body at Capernwray, which has been on my heart lately, concerning God's will:
I suppose that one of the frequent questions I am asked, by young Christians in particular, is, "How do I know the will of God?" If we are concerned to be surrendered to the will of God, He doesn't always seem to cooperate by letting us know clearly what His will is! Is that how you feel somtimes? You ask for guidance and direction but appear to receive little. However, if God's greatest desire for you is that you fulfill His will, and your greatest desire is to do His will, there shouldn't be any difficulty. If there is difficulty, somewhere along the line you have created it.
The specific will of God for us will only be found within the general will of God for all His people. There are four things the New Testament states as being God's will for you and me, and it will be within obedience to these specific instructions that His will for us individually will be found.
1. That we be holy. "It is God's will that you should be holy; that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable." (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4)
2. That we be thankful. "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
3. That we are good. "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted amongst men... For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men." (1 Peter 2:13-15)
4. That we suffer. "Those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good." (1 Peter 4:19)
Solomon wrote, "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6). We are not told to pray for guidance but to acknowledge Him, and in response He will direct our paths. Directing our paths is God's responsibility... What is more, in the process of guiding us, God is under no obligation to explain what He is doing.
© "Christ for Real" by Charles W. Price, 2011, Pg 61-63
Now, I know that everyone might not completely agree with that, and no one should believe just anything that they read, because it's not the Bible, so we need to line up what this says with Scripture. But, for the most part, I agree with what he's saying here. The Bible does state some things that are the will of God. And yes, the will of God could get messy in some circumstances, like if God's will is that I go back to Smitty's because I wasn't a good witness of Christ the first time I was there, then so be it. That situation would be particularly messy, because I wouldn't like it. Plus I made some mistakes while I was leaving there that I would have to own up to if I went back.
Something I've been learning lately: God's will isn't always what we want. In fact, often it's not what we want because our hearts are wicked and deceitful, and our hearts want things that don't line up with Christ. God's will isn't about us, it's about God and His work.
I apologize for the incredibly long blog post, but there was a lot on my mind. Also, I've just been learning so much! The awesome thing is that what I've been learning is way more than what I share in my blog! I could write a 1000 page book about all the things I've been learning. (I have to make this joke: there already has been a 1000-ish page book written about everything I've been learning, it's called the BIBLE lol). I commend all of you who actually made it through this whole post. My thoughts are running a mile a minute right now, so I should stop typing before I continue on a rampage of my thoughts, plus it's past curfew!
Bonne nuit, mes amis.
Love you all,
Janessa
P.S. I was inspired to clean up my portion of the room after posting the pictures of it! Just thought I'd let you all know, haha.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!
I just took a picture of the map my mother and I had for getting to the school. Capernwray is about 6 kms south-east of Chertsey. The church I'm attending is in Rawdon.
I just had to add this picture! My mother and I were driving through a town called St. Espirit, and we were behind this truck that had tons of bags of carrots! It was awesome!
This is this front of the girls dorm! There's about seven available dorm rooms in there, but only four of them are being used right now. 13 girls live here, at the moment.
These lovely ladies are my roommates. On the left with her hands in the air, picture taken at High Point, is Stephanie. She's from Ottawa, Ontario. She's 22. In the second photo, is Yemima and Megan. Yemima is on the left, she's 17, from Terrebonne, Quebec (a suburb of Montreal). Megan is on the right, she's almost 19, from Okotoks, Alberta (I hope I spelt that right).
There are a TON of kids running around the school campus. Steve Thiessen, the director, has 4 kids; Joshua, Anna, Mary, and Timothy. And Matt McLean, the principal, has 4 kids also; Milly, Catherine, Theo, and Adalynne. This picture is of Catherine, she took a walk up to High Point with us.
This is a picture I took of the trees, the first week I arrived. My camera just doesn't do the beauty of Quebec justice. God certainly knew about He was doing, because it's beautiful. Red leaves on the maple trees are so pretty, even if I may be allergic to them.
This is Stephanie and Yemima's half of our room.
And this is my bed. Megan's is above mine, but the camera didn't get it. I know, I know, quite disorganized... I feel not-so-much like a #2 over here, ladies. My stuff is EVERYWHERE lol.
The second snow came last night. The first snow didn't last very long, maybe an hour. But this snow managed to stay overnight. The snow here is interesting... it's little pellets, not flakes.
This is essentially where I live. The building on the left is the main building, with the dining room, fireplace, kitchen, and home-y living room upstairs, and the laundry room, classroom, and student lounge downstairs. The brown building on the top right of the picture is the guy's dorm. There are only 3 guys here this year. Beside the white tree at the right, is the house of Andrew & Lisa, the head maintenance guy and the head cook. Behind Andrew & Lisa's is our girl's dorm.
This blog entry is specifically just for some pictures, because people have asked. I apologize if these pictures are really small. The Internet here can't really handle uploading tons of large pictures. Later on in the weekend, I will post another entry of what God been teaching me this week, and what I've been learning.
Love,
Janessa (:
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Dream Conviction
I'm terribly sorry that I haven't written anything on this blog lately, but Capernwray life has gotten really busy! Things are really starting to pick up now… with study project preparations, lecturers, and just having personal devotions. It's really starting to feel like reading God's Word is all I ever do! Which isn't a bad thing at all. I could get used to this kind of lifestyle (:
I just can't get over this dream I had last night. It's so weird, yet so cool. I dreamed that I went to heaven. I was waiting in a line of lots of people to go into this building to get judged by God. When I got into this building, there was God and two doors. One door said "heaven" above it, and the other said "hell" above it. I went up to God and He read out to me EVERYTHING I'd done in my life, good and bad, excellent and evil. Then He told me I was good to go and pointed me towards the "heaven" door. Now the rest of the dream is kind of a blur. Basically, heaven was just like earth in my dream, except better. But it essentially looked the same. And I remember my good friend Elijah was in heaven with me. But there's this one part that totally stuck out to me: I was hanging out with Jesus, looking down at the people on earth, and you know, watching them. Then someone on earth said, "oh my word" (in replacement for 'oh my god' or likewise), and Jesus said, "there they go. Talking about my Bible again." Now, the reason why this stuck out to me so much was because I often say that as a replacement for 'oh my god' or 'oh my gosh' or likewise. It's like God was convicting me in my sleep! Anyway, something to ponder for me. It was really strange, but kinda cool at the same time.
What's been going on at Capernwray, you might be wondering? Well, since I last wrote, we've had three full weeks. The week of October 24-29, we had Bill Hall come teach us on Joshua. That was pretty great. He has lots of interesting stories and whatnot about how God's provided in his life. I have to admit though that he wasn't my favourite speaker. Then the week of October 31-November 4, we had Lawrence Jensen from Capernwray Harbour come teach us on the first half of Acts (just Peter & the other apostle's ministry). We'll be getting the second half (Paul's ministry stuff) later in the year. Lawrence has been my favourite speaker so far this year. He did a whole class on baptism and what it really is and what it really means to be saved. It was really cool and reassuring. This past week, our very own Steve Thiessen started teaching us on 1 Corinthians, which was also super cool. Steve is definitely one of my favourites, and it's not because I'm biased, he's just that good (:
Last weekend, November 4-6, Capernwray shipped us out to volunteer at Missions Globales! Now, I wasn't very excited about this because my French is incredibly lacking! I was at the Info Center all evening on the Friday. Thankfully, I had another woman with me who spoke French and a little bit of English. Smart, because I speak English and a little bit of French. We complimented each other! She took care of the French people and I took care of the English people. And seeing as it's in Montreal, I sat there most of the time with simply a smile on my face!
There were lots of interesting kiosks and stuff set up there. There were actually 3 kiosks from Manitoban organizations. I only recognized one of them though… Canadian Mennonite University! They were advertising their Outtatown program. One of my friends is actually doing that program this year. So I thought that was kinda cool. The lady at that kiosk was actually the same lady that came to the SR on Options Day to talk about CMU. Funny to see a familiar face in a foreign province!
I'm quite looking forward to this week in classes because Wayne Lee is coming to teach! My brother says that he's the best. And everyone else I've talked to always talks super positive about him. Many lecturers just stay in their room the whole week, except for some meals and while teaching, but apparently Wayne Lee's the kinda guy that will pick up a tea towel and dry dishes with you! I think that's pretty great!
I suppose that's it for this blog entry. It's less than a month until I come home for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to being in Manitoba with everyone I love so dearly again! For those wondering, I'll be flying home on December 8th. And for those EFCers: I will be in church that Sunday, the 11th!
Love,
Janessa (:
I just can't get over this dream I had last night. It's so weird, yet so cool. I dreamed that I went to heaven. I was waiting in a line of lots of people to go into this building to get judged by God. When I got into this building, there was God and two doors. One door said "heaven" above it, and the other said "hell" above it. I went up to God and He read out to me EVERYTHING I'd done in my life, good and bad, excellent and evil. Then He told me I was good to go and pointed me towards the "heaven" door. Now the rest of the dream is kind of a blur. Basically, heaven was just like earth in my dream, except better. But it essentially looked the same. And I remember my good friend Elijah was in heaven with me. But there's this one part that totally stuck out to me: I was hanging out with Jesus, looking down at the people on earth, and you know, watching them. Then someone on earth said, "oh my word" (in replacement for 'oh my god' or likewise), and Jesus said, "there they go. Talking about my Bible again." Now, the reason why this stuck out to me so much was because I often say that as a replacement for 'oh my god' or 'oh my gosh' or likewise. It's like God was convicting me in my sleep! Anyway, something to ponder for me. It was really strange, but kinda cool at the same time.
What's been going on at Capernwray, you might be wondering? Well, since I last wrote, we've had three full weeks. The week of October 24-29, we had Bill Hall come teach us on Joshua. That was pretty great. He has lots of interesting stories and whatnot about how God's provided in his life. I have to admit though that he wasn't my favourite speaker. Then the week of October 31-November 4, we had Lawrence Jensen from Capernwray Harbour come teach us on the first half of Acts (just Peter & the other apostle's ministry). We'll be getting the second half (Paul's ministry stuff) later in the year. Lawrence has been my favourite speaker so far this year. He did a whole class on baptism and what it really is and what it really means to be saved. It was really cool and reassuring. This past week, our very own Steve Thiessen started teaching us on 1 Corinthians, which was also super cool. Steve is definitely one of my favourites, and it's not because I'm biased, he's just that good (:
Last weekend, November 4-6, Capernwray shipped us out to volunteer at Missions Globales! Now, I wasn't very excited about this because my French is incredibly lacking! I was at the Info Center all evening on the Friday. Thankfully, I had another woman with me who spoke French and a little bit of English. Smart, because I speak English and a little bit of French. We complimented each other! She took care of the French people and I took care of the English people. And seeing as it's in Montreal, I sat there most of the time with simply a smile on my face!
There were lots of interesting kiosks and stuff set up there. There were actually 3 kiosks from Manitoban organizations. I only recognized one of them though… Canadian Mennonite University! They were advertising their Outtatown program. One of my friends is actually doing that program this year. So I thought that was kinda cool. The lady at that kiosk was actually the same lady that came to the SR on Options Day to talk about CMU. Funny to see a familiar face in a foreign province!
I'm quite looking forward to this week in classes because Wayne Lee is coming to teach! My brother says that he's the best. And everyone else I've talked to always talks super positive about him. Many lecturers just stay in their room the whole week, except for some meals and while teaching, but apparently Wayne Lee's the kinda guy that will pick up a tea towel and dry dishes with you! I think that's pretty great!
I suppose that's it for this blog entry. It's less than a month until I come home for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to being in Manitoba with everyone I love so dearly again! For those wondering, I'll be flying home on December 8th. And for those EFCers: I will be in church that Sunday, the 11th!
Love,
Janessa (:
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Ste Agathe des Monts
Oh my lanta, what to say? Well, Capernwray life has been really crazy this past week! I'm not even sure if I'll cover a majority of what's been going on.
Tuesday, October 18:
Outreach Ministries! Me and Katia (one of the staff members here) went and planted a whole bunch of plants in Pierre's garden (another staff member). We had SO much fun. We also got really really dirty. It started to rain in the middle of our gardening, but we kept on going. The rest of the team was at someone's house raking leaves, again (it seems like that's all we ever do here haha). Eric (the other community help staff) said we looked like we went rolling in the mud. My clothes are still dirty!
Wednesday, October 19 - Sunday, October 23:
Off to Ste Agathe des Monts! All of the 17 students this year got billeted out into local peoples homes. We then had classes every day on evangelism at this pastor's house (where I actually stayed). His name is Michael Gagnon. He taught us what evangelism really is. I think it's pretty important to know what it actually is, seeing as I come from an evangelical Christian background (:
On Friday, we were given a mission: to go out into the town of Ste Agathe des Monts and discover things about the town. Where there's spiritual needs; the things to do around the town; what kinds of people live there; what the youth do; what types of shops there are; the history of the town; the geography of the town, etc. Stuff like that. Because when you're going into a place to evangelize, it's really good to actually know the place you're going into. From experiment I learned: I really don't know Steinbach, my hometown, that well. I don't know what the spiritual needs are. Everyone is trying to evangelize in Steinbach, but no one really knows what kinds of things they should be doing. Who they should be reaching out to.
So this is my idea. When I get home at Christmas, I'm thinking about taking the time and some people (because it's more fun with more than one person) and walking around Steinbach, getting to know the place I call home. So that, one day, I can evangelize in my hometown. I think it's important to actually take the time to discover what needs we have in the town and just going out and talking to people! Evangelism can be as simple as just taking the time to talk to people around the town.
Simple ways to connect with people:
1) Instead of going to the ATM, go to the bank teller and actually have a conversation.
2) Doing the above at the grocery store, instead of going to the self-checkout in Superstore!
3) Talking to the person beside you on the airplane. You're with each other for quite a while, might as well spend the time getting to know them.
4) Strike up a conversation with someone who's sitting by themselves at a restaurant or coffee shop.
Someone once said (I don't know who, but I'm gonna quote them anyway, haha)... "Jesus did most of His ministry, on His way to doing ministry". Why can't we? Why can't we do ministry while grocery shopping? Why can't we do ministry while running errands? Why can't we do ministry while sitting down to have a coffee or a bite to eat? At our workplace? In our homes? In our schools? Also, ministry does not limit itself to the non-believers. We can minister to believers as well, by encouraging them in their walk and actually taking the time to walk with them on their journey towards God. As they do with you as well...
I'd just like to end off this blog entry by thanking some people. I'm sorry if I miss some people (because there's lots!), but just consider yourself included in this list if you're reading this blog entry. My parents, Abby, Missy, Mo & Karen, Melissa, Joylyn, Maddy, Amanda, Justin, Cynthia, Elya, Kaitlyn, Bobbi-Jo, Nat, and tons more! I just wanted to say THANK YOU for caring enough about me to not let me walk this journey of faith on my own. Thank you for always teaching me new things and guiding me along the way. Thank you for coming alongside of me in my walk with God. And I hope that I can do the same for you guys someday.
Love,
Janessa
Tuesday, October 18:
Outreach Ministries! Me and Katia (one of the staff members here) went and planted a whole bunch of plants in Pierre's garden (another staff member). We had SO much fun. We also got really really dirty. It started to rain in the middle of our gardening, but we kept on going. The rest of the team was at someone's house raking leaves, again (it seems like that's all we ever do here haha). Eric (the other community help staff) said we looked like we went rolling in the mud. My clothes are still dirty!
Wednesday, October 19 - Sunday, October 23:
Off to Ste Agathe des Monts! All of the 17 students this year got billeted out into local peoples homes. We then had classes every day on evangelism at this pastor's house (where I actually stayed). His name is Michael Gagnon. He taught us what evangelism really is. I think it's pretty important to know what it actually is, seeing as I come from an evangelical Christian background (:
On Friday, we were given a mission: to go out into the town of Ste Agathe des Monts and discover things about the town. Where there's spiritual needs; the things to do around the town; what kinds of people live there; what the youth do; what types of shops there are; the history of the town; the geography of the town, etc. Stuff like that. Because when you're going into a place to evangelize, it's really good to actually know the place you're going into. From experiment I learned: I really don't know Steinbach, my hometown, that well. I don't know what the spiritual needs are. Everyone is trying to evangelize in Steinbach, but no one really knows what kinds of things they should be doing. Who they should be reaching out to.
So this is my idea. When I get home at Christmas, I'm thinking about taking the time and some people (because it's more fun with more than one person) and walking around Steinbach, getting to know the place I call home. So that, one day, I can evangelize in my hometown. I think it's important to actually take the time to discover what needs we have in the town and just going out and talking to people! Evangelism can be as simple as just taking the time to talk to people around the town.
Simple ways to connect with people:
1) Instead of going to the ATM, go to the bank teller and actually have a conversation.
2) Doing the above at the grocery store, instead of going to the self-checkout in Superstore!
3) Talking to the person beside you on the airplane. You're with each other for quite a while, might as well spend the time getting to know them.
4) Strike up a conversation with someone who's sitting by themselves at a restaurant or coffee shop.
Someone once said (I don't know who, but I'm gonna quote them anyway, haha)... "Jesus did most of His ministry, on His way to doing ministry". Why can't we? Why can't we do ministry while grocery shopping? Why can't we do ministry while running errands? Why can't we do ministry while sitting down to have a coffee or a bite to eat? At our workplace? In our homes? In our schools? Also, ministry does not limit itself to the non-believers. We can minister to believers as well, by encouraging them in their walk and actually taking the time to walk with them on their journey towards God. As they do with you as well...
I'd just like to end off this blog entry by thanking some people. I'm sorry if I miss some people (because there's lots!), but just consider yourself included in this list if you're reading this blog entry. My parents, Abby, Missy, Mo & Karen, Melissa, Joylyn, Maddy, Amanda, Justin, Cynthia, Elya, Kaitlyn, Bobbi-Jo, Nat, and tons more! I just wanted to say THANK YOU for caring enough about me to not let me walk this journey of faith on my own. Thank you for always teaching me new things and guiding me along the way. Thank you for coming alongside of me in my walk with God. And I hope that I can do the same for you guys someday.
Love,
Janessa
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Walk on the Water
The air was very crisp. The breeze coming off of the lake was cool, just a hint of the temperature of the water. The waves were softly crashing against the boat I found myself in. The boat was gently rocking, as if it was rocking itself to sleep.
One look up at the sky and I knew what to expect in the near future. Dark clouds were forming in the lowest places of heaven. The crackling of thunder haunted the other side of the lake, my destination. Suddenly, a streak of lightning shot through the pitch black canopy above my head.
I needed to get to safety. I looked ahead; the storm threatened what lay in my future. I looked behind; the storm taunted what I put in the past. There was no way out of this storm.
The waves turned from softly crashing to violently galloping at the sides of my boat. The crisp air turned into a musky fog. The breeze turned into a full-force wind that had the temperature of death in it. It was freezing.
I saw a figure walking towards me, within the storm. At first I thought I was going crazy, that it was only a figment of my imagination. The storm was making me think things that I shouldn't. The storm was giving me one more reason to fear.
But this was real.
“Come out onto the water.” He said to me. “Come out onto the crashing waves.”
I was frightened. “Are you insane? I can’t leave this boat. I’ll drown!”
That’s when I saw him fully. He was walking on the water. “Come out into your storm. Just keep your eyes on me and I’ll keep you safe.”
I stepped out onto the rolling waves. To my surprise, I didn't sink. I kept my eyes on him.
I began to look down at my feet. Surely enough, I was walking on the water towards this man that I never knew. Or maybe I did know him. But as soon as I focused my attention on my walking, my feet began to be immersed in the salty water below.
I focused my attention back onto this man, just enough so that I’d get back on my feet again, so that I could continue walking on the water. I didn't need his help. I could do this on my own.
Eyes on my own feet, I paced faster. Only the faster I walked, the faster my feet sunk into the water. It was beyond frustrating!
“Why aren't you listening to me?” The man said. “Keep your eyes on me and I’ll keep you safe.”
Once again, I focused my attention on his face. My feet stopped slipping and I regained my balance. This time I kept my eyes on him for a little bit longer so that I could completely get back on my own feet. I left his eye contact.
My feet began to slip faster than they were before. I can do this on my own! I can do this on my own! I only need to think hard enough about it.
Suddenly, my waist was submerged in the water, too far for me to pull myself up. I needed help now. I called to him. “Please, save me. I’m going to drown! I shouldn't have tried to do this by myself. I should have listened to you! Please, I don’t want to die! I’m drowning!”
Immediately, a dry hand grabbed mine. He pulled me up, and then pulled me close to his chest. He leaned in to whisper something in my ear. “Why did you doubt, you of little faith?”
I started to sob. “I thought I could do it on my own, but now I realize that I can’t.”
“Don’t cry, dear one. I've got you now.” He said softly, wiping the tears from my eyes. “Now, let’s try this again. This time… keep your eyes on me.”
Thursday, October 6, 2011
This Crazy Adventure Called Life
The past two weeks that I've been here at Capernwray, I have learned only one thing. That one thing that I've learned is this: I haven't really read the Bible. There is so much stuff that I've been missing all along, so many things I've never realized about God and His character.
First of all, the whole entire Bible talks about Jesus! Even Genesis! I mean, the first reading that I've found about Jesus in the Bible is in Genesis 3, when God curses the serpant. And I've encountered Jesus several times in Genesis. It is incredible!
Secondly, people always talk about the "God of the Old Testament" and the "God of the New Testament" and how they're not the same. They are totally the same! God in the OT is still the loving, merciful, patient God we've grown to love in the NT.
God is so amazing.
One thing really caught my attention lately. So, remember the last entry? If not, go read it, haha. I asked you to pray for what outreach I should do. After that post, a friend texted me and told me she thought God was calling me to do Heather Manor. Before I even posted something on here, I thought God was telling me to do Ministry Team. One of my roommates here thought that God wanted me to do Sunday School. So I put down on my paper "I'll do anything, put me anywhere you need me". And guess where I ended up? On the Community Help team. The only one that God didn't mention to someone in my life that told me (sorry if that sentence didn't make sense). Interesting, isn't it?
So on Tuesday afternoon, the six of us who are on the Community Help team went out to rake leaves for an old widow who lives in Chertsey. She had a really large yard. And the work was very hard and very draining and I went home wondering why God put me there because I have absolutely no physical strength or skills in anything but being in a kitchen.
Then this morning in class, Steve (the director) was talking about Abraham. Now, think with me about the story of Abraham. God promised Abraham, a 75 year old man who had a barren wife, that he would be the father of a nation whose descendants would outnumber the stars. Was Abraham at all equipped to even fulfill that promise by himself? No. He was an old man and his wife was unable to have children! So that gives me hope in knowing that God will equip me for whatever He wants me to do. Obviously, he wants me to be on this particular outreach team for a reason.
I just want to end off by thanking everyone that prayed for me in this situation. I also want to thank those who just simply read my blog. It means so much to know that someone cares enough to follow me in this outrageous adventure God's got me on.
Love,
Janessa
First of all, the whole entire Bible talks about Jesus! Even Genesis! I mean, the first reading that I've found about Jesus in the Bible is in Genesis 3, when God curses the serpant. And I've encountered Jesus several times in Genesis. It is incredible!
Secondly, people always talk about the "God of the Old Testament" and the "God of the New Testament" and how they're not the same. They are totally the same! God in the OT is still the loving, merciful, patient God we've grown to love in the NT.
God is so amazing.
One thing really caught my attention lately. So, remember the last entry? If not, go read it, haha. I asked you to pray for what outreach I should do. After that post, a friend texted me and told me she thought God was calling me to do Heather Manor. Before I even posted something on here, I thought God was telling me to do Ministry Team. One of my roommates here thought that God wanted me to do Sunday School. So I put down on my paper "I'll do anything, put me anywhere you need me". And guess where I ended up? On the Community Help team. The only one that God didn't mention to someone in my life that told me (sorry if that sentence didn't make sense). Interesting, isn't it?
So on Tuesday afternoon, the six of us who are on the Community Help team went out to rake leaves for an old widow who lives in Chertsey. She had a really large yard. And the work was very hard and very draining and I went home wondering why God put me there because I have absolutely no physical strength or skills in anything but being in a kitchen.
Then this morning in class, Steve (the director) was talking about Abraham. Now, think with me about the story of Abraham. God promised Abraham, a 75 year old man who had a barren wife, that he would be the father of a nation whose descendants would outnumber the stars. Was Abraham at all equipped to even fulfill that promise by himself? No. He was an old man and his wife was unable to have children! So that gives me hope in knowing that God will equip me for whatever He wants me to do. Obviously, he wants me to be on this particular outreach team for a reason.
I just want to end off by thanking everyone that prayed for me in this situation. I also want to thank those who just simply read my blog. It means so much to know that someone cares enough to follow me in this outrageous adventure God's got me on.
Love,
Janessa
Friday, September 30, 2011
Outreach Ministries?
An update from Rawdon, Quebec:
I just wanted to give you a little bit of an idea as to what's been going through my head lately. Before tomorrow night (Saturday night), I have to decide which outreach ministry I want to be a part of. Here are my options:
1) Community help - cleaning houses, repairing fences, tidying yards, painting things, etc.
2) Heather Manor - this is an old-folks home, basically we just go there and visit the old people; this is also a pallitive (sp?) care home.
3) Teaching Sunday School - we can take on teaching a Sunday school class at a local church
4) Ministry team - my school organizes a ministry team where we go out to different churches and youth groups, etc. and lead worship with them, share our testimonies and maybe even give a message. To my understanding, we mostly do this with youth.
Those are my four options. I do believe that God is calling me to one of those. I won't say which one, but I would appreciate it if everyone reading this would pray for me, and if you feel like God is speaking to you about which one or just a Scripture or something comes to mind, I would love it if you could email me about it. The decision has to be made by tomorrow night, but if you only message me about something after, that's totally okay too!
Thanks everyone!
Love,
Janessa
I just wanted to give you a little bit of an idea as to what's been going through my head lately. Before tomorrow night (Saturday night), I have to decide which outreach ministry I want to be a part of. Here are my options:
1) Community help - cleaning houses, repairing fences, tidying yards, painting things, etc.
2) Heather Manor - this is an old-folks home, basically we just go there and visit the old people; this is also a pallitive (sp?) care home.
3) Teaching Sunday School - we can take on teaching a Sunday school class at a local church
4) Ministry team - my school organizes a ministry team where we go out to different churches and youth groups, etc. and lead worship with them, share our testimonies and maybe even give a message. To my understanding, we mostly do this with youth.
Those are my four options. I do believe that God is calling me to one of those. I won't say which one, but I would appreciate it if everyone reading this would pray for me, and if you feel like God is speaking to you about which one or just a Scripture or something comes to mind, I would love it if you could email me about it. The decision has to be made by tomorrow night, but if you only message me about something after, that's totally okay too!
Thanks everyone!
Love,
Janessa
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Oh happy birthday to me!
Oh it's my 18th birthday! And I'm so far away from home, just trying to celebrate it with people that I hardly know. But that's okay. The people here are pretty sweet!
Quebec is a really beautiful province. Capernwray Quebec is located in the "mountains" of Quebec. It's so very different than Manitoba! I've seen my first maple tree with maple leaves! And it's so amazing how red the leaves get! In Manitoba, our leaves just turn yellow then brown, but here! Oh my word! They get sooooo red! Like almost firetruck red! It's so beautiful.
So I just thought that I'd post a little blog thing, just to let you know about the place and to inform you about the fact that I now have Internet access!!
Au reviour (if that's how you spell it lol. i still have some learning to do!),
Janessa
P.S. For you EFC ladies, I've figured out that one of my roommates is a #1 and one is a TOTAL #4! I do have a third roommate, but I haven't quite figured her out yet. She's French and I can hardly understand her. But she's so cute!
Quebec is a really beautiful province. Capernwray Quebec is located in the "mountains" of Quebec. It's so very different than Manitoba! I've seen my first maple tree with maple leaves! And it's so amazing how red the leaves get! In Manitoba, our leaves just turn yellow then brown, but here! Oh my word! They get sooooo red! Like almost firetruck red! It's so beautiful.
So I just thought that I'd post a little blog thing, just to let you know about the place and to inform you about the fact that I now have Internet access!!
Au reviour (if that's how you spell it lol. i still have some learning to do!),
Janessa
P.S. For you EFC ladies, I've figured out that one of my roommates is a #1 and one is a TOTAL #4! I do have a third roommate, but I haven't quite figured her out yet. She's French and I can hardly understand her. But she's so cute!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
10,9,8,7,6... Things About Me :)
Hi hello, this is Janessa Friesen. I am embarking on an adventure to Capernwray Quebec in 9 days and I would just like to invite you to come along with me through this blog. As a little bit of a "let's get to know Janessa" thing, I came up with some lists and things to get to know me a little bit better. If there happens to be anything else you'd like to know about me that is not included on this list, please don't hesitate to ask. Here are some random things that you may or may not have already known about me:
10 Things that I love:
- my pet cat Dorian
- my stuffed penguin family
- the smell outside after it rains
- the song Reign In Us by Starfield
- sweet chilli sauce
- Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory TV show
- the TV show House
- the theory of evolution (I DO NOT believe in it, but the "science" behind it I find fascinating)
- my church family :)
- British people
9 Things that I hate:
- spiders
- rude drivers
- Twilight (because of the obsession around it)
- people who update their FB statuses five million times a day (ok a bit of an exaggeration… but you get the point)
- thunderstorms
- 30+ weather
- stick-thin girls who complain about how fat they are (actually pretty much every girl who complains about how fat they are )
- outrageous gas prices
- people who lie to advance in any area of their life
8 Bible verses that have impacted my life:
- Psalm 18:6
- Jeremiah 29:11-14
- Ezekiel 36:25-26
- Psalm 63:3
- Colossians 3:12-14
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
- Philippians 4:8
- 1 Peter 3:4
7 People/Couples who I look up to in my life:
- My parents
- Kris Duerksen
- Mo & Karen Friesen
- Abby Peters
- Missy Kroeker
- Missy Bartel
- Nicole Dyck
6 People who inspire me:
- Jesus Christ
- the Apostle Peter
- Taylor Swift
- Max Lucado
- John Lennon
- Bono
5 Favourite Single Music Artists:
- Ellie Goulding
- Ingrid Michaelson
- Taylor Swift
- Colbie Caillat
- Jack Johnson
4 Favourite Musical Bands/Groups:
- Marianas Trench
- Shane & Shane
- The Band Perry
- Death Cab for Cutie
3 Favourite TV shows:
- House
- The Big Bang Theory
- The Vampire Diaries
2 Favourite Movies:
- Life as We Know It (with Josh Duhamel & Katharine Heigl)
- The Proposal (with Ryan Reynolds & Sandra Bullock)
1 Favourite Author:
- Ted Dekker
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