Thoughtful

Have you ever received a present and then looked at it, thinking "what the heck am I going to use this for?" I am sure you have. Well, the other day, I was cleaning my room, right? When I finally came across two cabinet, box-like things, my first thoughts were "oh, where am I going to put this?" After I finished tidying up and looking for a place to put my stack of paper, which I still need but just didn't know where to store them, I looked at my boxes, and the epiphany hit! I ended up putting my little box cabinet together, and now I have a little storage area for loose paper and stuff! So, in the end, I was really thankful for this gift that I received last Christmas. It is then that you realize that whoever buys you those gifts that seem like they could never be useful to you, with the exception of those keychains and other random things, are actually the most thoughtful gifts, ever! You can really tell if someone really thinks about you when you get a gift like the storage boxes, from Ikea, that I got.

So, it's been a week since YC and I still haven't been able to record my thoughts down anywhere so I could revisit them later; so I guess I'll put 'em here, to share! Well, the Friday started off pretty sweet; I was actually really excited for YC this year. David Crowder started off the worship, and I had a blast. I think Crowder deserves more recognition up here in Canada. Then afterwards, Mr. Reggie Dabbs, the main speaker, spoke, and I listened to him for the first time. The best way to describe Reggie is the large, black, sweaty male that you see on TV that is yelling at the top of his lungs and has the ability to make the entire stadium stand to their feet: that is exactly what Reggie is like. Afterward, Relient K hit the stage, and it was a pretty sweet concert, I must admit; they did all their popular songs, and had an encore.

Saturday, I got to listen to Bluetree lead worship, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised and how good they are. But then again, to see the story that they carry around, it should have been expected that they are powerful worshippers. TFK was all the hype for me on this day! This was, by far, the best TFK concert I have been to. Trever McNevan is just too aweesome with his "Flame In All of Us" flag.

Then, Sunday arrived. I was so hyped for tobyMac that I could barely hold my lunch down. After all, Toby has been my favorite Christian artist since he went solo, so I had a blast during his concert. I was so pissed when Mike Love came out to end things after Toby's encore, because it appeared as if he was going to get a second encore, but I guess Mike had to do his job and end the conference.

So, all in all, it was a rather decent and refreshing YC this year. I am afraid do admit that this year was probably my last time at YC Alberta. I have grown out of the whole thing and it's time to move on; so, you probably won't see me at YC anymore, unless I go as a youth leader - which is likely.

Welp, I'm in the process of celebrating NEAC's 25th anniversary, and I need to get some sleep because it is 12:15am and I have a lot of worship practices to attend today!

Don't forget that you are made to love!

Stanley Cup Finals - and then some

A Stanley Cup rematch of last year, how much better does it get than that? The only significant difference is that the Penguins are much healthier, and Hossa is on the other side; man I am so stoked. I will try to watch every game, except I know I'm going to miss a couple.

Before, I get to my breakdown of the finals, I have never been so excited about the next NHL season. The Oilers just hired two new coaches with head coach status! Even though it's not even June, I am real hyped for next season; with Pat Quinn and Tom Renney in the house, I really look forward to how the Oilers will perform; I just hope they don't fail like MacT failed.

Third round record: 2-0
Overall record: 9-5

The conference finals weren't very exciting. In fact, they were way too lopsided for me, kind of like how the Oilers destroyed the Ducks in '06.

- . - . - Stanley Cup Finals - . - . -
Detroit Red Wings (2) > Pittsburgh Penguins (4) [7 games]
I am begging for Detroit to repeat. I'm not begging just because I chose them to repeat at the beginning of the year, but because the NHL could really use it; it has been far too long since the last team repeated as champs - oddly enough, they were the Wings. However, something in my gut is telling me that Pittsburgh will win, and there are many reasons to believe so, too. Pittsburgh is much more healthier this year than last year, and Detroit has run into some injury problems themselves. But, in the end, I'm going with my boys in red to repeat as Stanley Cup champs! This time, though, they will win it at home.

In other news, there is much to talk about, but I don't really know what to say. One thing, though, is that our church, NEAC, is approaching it's 25th anniversary celebration this weekend. I'm kind of excited. It will be pretty cool to take a look back into the past to see how our church has evolved, but all in all, I think it will just be another one of those things that I look at, and go, meh. Kind of like a "no comment" type of event, so to speak. "No comment" also speaks well of whatever else that has been on my mind lately. My patience has been running incredibly thin lately, mainly in myself. But I must remember:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight - Proverbs 3:5-6

Live It Loud

The annual YC Alberta is coming up this weekend, and I am pretty darn excited. I know, I'll admit, I am just a little bit old to be attending these things, but I wanted to make up for my absense last year due to grad. So, this year, when I saw the guest list, I just could not pass up the oppurtunity.

There are some pretty big Christian names attending this year - in terms of music artists. I have never been able to see both tobyMac and Thousand Foot Krutch in the same year, and these guys are my favorite Christian artists, so I am so hyped! Some other noteable names include: Relient K, who just don't seem to stop composing very addictive music; David Crowder Band, I love these guys, cannot say anymore; Hawk Nelson, I'm not the biggest fan of them, but they have catchy music; Bluetree, I am looking forward to seeing, because reading about them, they carry some really great stories in their lives and I love these kind of things, and I can often learn from them. There must be more that are good, but I am not on their website right now, and I can't remember. As for the speakers, I look forward to Reggie Dabbs, since everyone loves him so much, I'm interested to see how he's like.

Live it loud is the theme this year; I think it's pretty self-explanatory, in what it means, and something that everyone needs to do. Let me once again direct you to the quote at the beginning of "What If I Stumble" by DC Talk to see why.

Here goes to a fun weekend that'll rock my eardrums out and next to no sleep!

One Down

First of all, I want to give some mad props and congrats to Joyce and Cyrus for getting married this past weekend. Although weddings aren't something I usually look forward to, I always come out of them admiring all the work people put into setting one of these bad boys up. Let me tell you now, that there is no way I will ever have the ability to work out such crazy weddings - even for myself. My vision of my own wedding is like a small little ceremony with the immediate families and closest friends, maybe around 100 people at the very most, and then dinner at McDonalds. You like? I'll probably never get married if my banquet is held at McDonalds, haha.

Over the last 96 hours, almost 30 of them were inside a car going from Edmonton to Vancouver, and then back. I think I've developed such a hate towards long car rides that I'll never be driving such distances when I'm independantly roaming the world. However, the time spent in Vancouver was pretty awesome, even though it was short. To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to this trip, mainly because of the long ride there and back, but I always come back home after a visit to Vancouver learning something new and gaining some pretty good insights. Paying a visit to Vancouver always brings a refreshing experience for me, no matter how much or how little I look forward to it, and I guess that is a good thing for me.

Well, I'm really tired right now, so I don't want to take up too much more space. But, one of the most defining things about this trip is that I was able to beach it out with tshirts and shorts and then winter jacket it on with the toque all within a 24 hour span. Pretty sick to go from the beautiful sunny beaches in Vancouver to the piece of garbage slushy roads in Edmonton.

So, there you have it, the first mad weekend here and gone; there are still many funfilled weekends, that have yet to come.

God, please give us some nice weather, for the sake of which shirt I can wear without paying the price, not on looks, but on weather (oops, Freudian slip) I'll be able to rock them in the right weather conditions.

Stanley Cup Playoffs '09 [Round 3]

I have to make my predictions today, because I won't be able to do it on the weekend. But man, oh man, these playoffs have been incredible to watch. Luckily the Oilers aren't in it, so I can actually enjoy it as a hockey fan, and not as an Oilers' fan. But Carolina continues to shock, and I am very disappointed in Boston's inability to come out the champs. In the end, round two of this year's playoffs was a bunch of fun to watch; congrats to the Hawks, Pens, Wings and 'Canes.

Second round record: 2-2 (I got both Eastern Conference predictions wrong, dang)
Overall record: 7-5

Not so great anymore.

- . - . - Western Conference - . - . -

(2)Detroit Red Wings > (4)Chicago Blackhawks [7 games]
This series, perhaps, was the hardest for me to decide on. Chicago is an unbelieveable team, and much like Carolina, always finds a way to come back. Picking Detroit to win doesn't mean very much, because I could have easily picked the Blackhawks to win, too. This central division matchup will be stellar. Detroit is old, but they are experienced; Chicago is young and inexperienced, but insanely skilled - no disrespect to the Wings' talent. The reason, if Chicago wins, will be because of their skill and driven characteristics that propel them past the Wings; otherwise, Detroit should be able to beat them since they have been there before.

- . - . - Eastern Conference - . - . -

(4)Pittsburgh Penguins > (6)Carolina Hurricanes [6 games]
I really hoped that I was able to put Pittsburgh versus Boston, but that is too bad. Therefore, I am going to predict, for a third time, that Carolina gets beat. I think the only reason Carolina is in so far is because of Ward and Staal - and the unlikely heroes in overtime. The duo of Ward and Staal can only go so far; Staal conquered Chara, so he should be fine with the Penguins. The difference in this series, I believe, will be the depth in the Penguins' lineup with guys such as Crosby, Malkin, Gonchar, Letang, Staal, etc. I will admit, however, that if Carolina wins again, I won't be too shocked.

There you have it, I'm predicting a Stanley Cup Final rematch of last year with the hopes that Detroit will repeat; afterall, I did predict, in the beginning of the year, that Detroit will win two in a row.

Here's to one of the most exciting Stanley Cup Playoffs in recent history.

Gone But Not Dead

First of all, let me mention that I love the fact that I woke up and saw the snow outside. It took me a while, but I had to remember that we are in the month of May. We haven't had snow in May for a few years, so it just makes me so much more happier to know that my summer is, yet, furthermore delayed unitl further notice. Why don't we just skip right to winter, again?

But anyways, I read what I wrote yesterday, and it is really hard to follow and understand. My attempt at writing differently failed me, which means I will have to resort back to my noob ways of doing things: direct and straight forward. The entry also got rather long, so I couldn't write about the other interesting stuff that happened.

Just to present what turned out to be my post yesterday a little differently, I think it's vital to give a bit of a prequel, or preamble, to it. First of all, it isn't a story that I just made up from under the cork tree. And no, it is not about me. The story is, indeed, true, but I wanted to keep it as annonymous as possible, because what if the person I was writing about came across and read it? Wouldn't be too pretty after that. Afterward, I was thinking to myself about my situation, and where I stand in the picture, and I see that everyone has one of these people that they know, too. I firmly believe that you know someone who is being described in what I blogged about yesterday. This person, like I said, lives in a very small world, and has his or her eyes only set on themself, with little care for anyone else. Innocence is what created this, so called, monster, and it links to ignorance. People say that ignorance is bliss, and I don't disagree, but there is clearly a line that you have to draw before you turn into one of these people I deemed as "the boy". So, in the end, I think that even though everyone falls at one point in time, or another, you cannot completely kill, what used to be, their former self. Just look at Sylar and Nathan in Heroes, yay! I'd like to think that I am a living example of that. My old bad habits, and such, still get the best of me, but I think the difference in me now, is that I am aware of who I am in comparison to the rest of the world: not very significant, as to what I had before.

Well, anyways, maybe that clears up some things, maybe it doesnt, but oh well, I hate it when I have awesome ideas, but then they don't translate well materialistically.

In other news, I will be in Vancouver from Friday to Monday. Realistically, I'm only there for Saturday and Sunday, I will be driving the other two days. Wonderful. I, occassionally, love for a road trip, but I think this time around, I just don't really look forward to it. On the bright side, though, I will be able to take part in my friends' wedding, and I am pretty happy for them because they are the lead couple to get this whole 'weddings bonanza', throughout the summer, going.

I also want to write another song, but I'm not very good at it, haha.

Dead and Gone

Today was an interesting day, but I must start off by writing something different.

There's a boy who had the faith he could move a mountain. This boy grew up a fearless little boy and had all the confidence in the world; he was driven to succeed, even though it might be far fetched. Growing up, this boy might not have gotten the attention that he needed, seeing that he was sandwiched in between, somewhere in the middle, all the time. Appearing as, though, a happy kid, most of the time, this boy made his journey through the first decade of his life as that adorable kid that everyone loves to be around. As most people have it, when they enter the ripe ages of their teens, they begin to change and grasp their view upon life in a new way. Unlike many kids in this modern generation, this boy, however, did not get the aid he needed as he began to take his side on the many places that values and beliefs have in our world; thus, everything the boy grew into, was something that spelled a disaster somewhere down the road. Years past, while people's eyes have passed this boy, by accident, many times. Being liberated in your own thoughts and platforms at such a young age, the boy was able to live life at his own free will.

I started to notice that there might be something wrong with the way the boy was developing: the way he viewed life, the attitude he possesses, the unrealistic goals that he is so firm in his belief that he could achieve, all of this lead to someone who had become so full of himself. When a child develops and grows psychologically by themselves in a majority of their life, their world and horizons are really small, and that is exactly the case of this little boy. As someone who is blessed to observe this boy so often, I could only see him going up and up until he falls down causing capital damage to his ego. The pride that was possessed by this boy can be paralleled to unconditional love; there was absolutely nothing the boy believed was wrong with himself and he didn't care. This boy learned to become so full of himself that it was as if he was a god: everything he said would automatically become truth, he got what he wanted, and what he says, goes. Things got so bad, it was as if there is nothing, of authority, that was above this boy.

What the boy didn't realize was that the world did not revolve around him. I wanted to help. I wanted to bring this boy back down to earth so he can see that he is not the king, that there is more to life than his ego. I prayed for wisdom. I prayed so that I could be of help and not have to watch him go higher and higher, because I knew that there would be one day that he will come crashing down; the higher he goes, the harder he'll fall, when it does happen.

I do have to give props, however, to the boy, because with the confidence he possessed, he was a very driven character. His self-value is beyond any that you and I may think, leading him to believe that he is able to achieve what only five percent of the world has done. When I was first told of this dream that he had, it was as if I was being pranked upon. There was no way I could come to accept that this boy thinks he is worthy of such a high status, but he was serious.

Then, finally one day, reality struck the boy as if lightning struck an unsuspecting person who is only trying to get home from the storm. All throughout the boy's life, there were certain restrictions that he could not help, which would prevent him from achieving that goal he so desired when he decided he would. This reality hits hard like a cat into a brick wall, but was so obvious that it was missed when he first believed. As these restrictions grow, the boy's dream grow fainter and fainter because his restrictions wouldn't allow him to be as effective at his job. In fact, it even inhibits his ability to do this task as regular people do, let alone, take this task to a higher level. Normally, you would think that because of this growing inhibition, you will come to be thankful for what you have, since afterall, it takes one to know the other. But this wasn't the case for the boy. The boy's ego got the better of him and took him even higher and forced him into hating those who like to practice their ability to choose. It seems that there is no end to what, and how high, this boy will instill onto himself, the deadly disease called pride.

At last, factual proofs came in, one day, confirming that this boy will not be able to reach his dream because of the level that his restrictions lead him to. In one, what seems to be, a huge collapse, the boy did what he would've laughed at, if someone else did in front of him: be humbled. This break down, to me, appeared as if the day finally got brighter for this boy. The boy finally came to realizing that he is only human, and the higher you go, the harder you fall, when you're careless. So now, the boy may have finally realized that he cannot be greater than what he is capable of. To be humbled, for anyone, is usually an embarrassing time of your life, because you must come to realize the mistake you have made, and what it did to you, and everyone gets their turn to be humbled.

From now on, the boy, again, is blessed with the choice to either try to build himself up like he did before, or to live a more open life and learn to be the man God wants him to be. Whichever path is chosen, his old self is dead and gone; whether or not he tries to recreate his past, is his choice.

Mommy

Happy Mother's Day!

A mother's love is the closest thing, in human form, to seeing God's love: the unconditional and ever-expanding love that we are so fortunate to have.

Thanks for being so awesome, mom!

Imagination

Today, I tried to run again. I did the exact same route as I did last Thursday, except, this time around took me nine minutes, almost doubling what it took last time. FML. Okay, in reality, it took a couple more minutes, but I wonder why I was so slow? I was dying just as badly as I was the first time when I turned back towards my house, but this time was so much slower! Maybe it was because that strong wind against my direction, coupled with the uphill, that KO'd me.

Well anyway, I came back into the house after making sure no one broke in while I was gone for, all of, ten minutes. I took some time to recover myself and then made my way downstairs to my lair, where I decided to beat Final Fantasy IX, once and for all, before I flipped the channel to watch Canada lose to Finland.

After beating the game, I have to say that I am very impressed with the storyline. Final Fantasy IX seems to be the most underrated of all Final Fantasies, perhaps, based on the impression that is given by the graphics of the characters. In reality, I am not very much of a game fanatic. I am nuts over RPG games because of the stories that they hold. Yes, that's right, I only play games for the stories. Why? Because I love to expand my mind to think beyond what I see in my life. A lot of times, these RPG's have a message that the creator wants to get out to the public, and that is what I play for: the single and simple message. Following these story lines, for me, helps me use my imagination and think about a lot of things in life, and I could go on and on about this; it really brings out the nerd inside of me, talking about this. Haha.

Well, you might think that I can do so many other things that can trigger my imagination and make me think about stuff. Why I stick to RPG's is because they are often taking place in fantasy worlds, hence the name Final Fantasy, and a lot of the supernatural occur. This helps me think outside of just the boring human life, and I love it. As of what and how, I can't really describe it because it's all in my brain, and translating it into human words just doesn't work very well. Imagination is very cool for me to have; not only does it keep me young, but some of the greatest artists and most influencial people on earth have awesome imaginations that bring forth these insane ideas that just might make a difference.

... And then my thought just died on me. Oh well, I feel like going for a drive.