WIDOLIF

Let's just say I made a questionable decision and played one more game than I should have. So I'm now sitting on my bed waiting for hair to dry once again. I felt pretty tired throughout the day, so I don't think it'll be hard for me to fall asleep tonight. Waking up, though, may be difficult especially since it's supposed to be raining again.

There are a lot of times where something comes across my mind, or something happens, that I wish I would've written down so I don't forget. Moments that I think to myself, "oh cool!" There were several of those over the last few days, but of course I was caught in the moment and didn't actually write it down. When I was in school, one of my profs emphasized that we carry around a WIDOLIF (Write It Down Or Lose It Forever) with us for these exact times. I had one with me throughout the latter stages of schooling and on my internship, but I became less interactive with the new notebook that I designated as my WIDOLIF since coming down to Vancouver. Hopefully this is a push to get me to start doing it consistently again.

Usually, the things that I write down are little notes and scribbles of words, phrases, ideas, thoughts, and simplistic measures that I can attribute to a certain thing that I'm doing or involved with. From these notes, there have been sermons, devos, and other sorts of cool things that I can use personally and professionally. If a certain bible verse pops out at me, I'll write it down. If an idea sprouts from a reading, I'll jot it down. If someone encourages me with words or actions, I'll write it down. The purpose of me carrying a WIDOLIF around is to take note of the little things that can amount to bigger things. By doing this, it's trained me in becoming much more attentive to details.

I'm writing about my little notebook, not because I've run out of things to write about, but to remind myself that these VERY THINGS that I wanted to take note of, so I could blog about it, are now lost forever in my mind because I've forgotten what they were! Lost in the hustle and bustle of my day off, I seem to have wiped my mind of the things I found cool and wanted to talk about in my blog. Awesome job, Ps Nathan!

In other news, the part of my brain that still functions, I had a decently productive week! I got to lead worship on Sunday and it was a blast this time. I had the same group of youth with me as I did the previous time I lead, but this time we were able to expand ourselves a little more, now that they've gotten their first time jitters out of the way. I caught one of the youth's dad standing in the baby room and looking through the window into the sanctuary as we sang our songs. I could just see the beaming smile he had on his face while he was singing along, so happy that he gets to witness his child take a step toward being involved in the church. That little spark of joy really warmed my heart. Although, I'm not too sure why he stood and worshipped in the baby room and not in the sanctuary. Maybe he didn't want to make it too obvious that he was watching.

For myself personally, I continue to seek out what it is I need to bring so that my congregation, especially the youth, can be able to realize the impact of the gospel in their lives. The essence of the gospel is so simple, and yet, for whatever reason, it's so difficult to help people realize what it means to them as individuals. Unfortunately, I do think that living in a society where we have too much plays a big factor. It's not a far cry to say that if there is something we want, it is literally obtainable within some sort of means that doesn't require you to die for it. So if we have all that we can dream of, then there's no space for God. Too bad. It sucks that the media and other organizations try to sell us this idea that we can achieve anything we dream of.

The last thing I'll talk about, I guess, is that I have been missing Edmonton over the last few days. Not sure what it was that washed into my mind, but I encountered a few things that reminded me of home, and I definitely felt the nostalgia. I love Vancouver, but I just don't think there will be a city that can replace Edmonton for me.

And finally, I just really want the weather to be warm and sunny so I can play soccer and go to the beach.

P.S. If I suddenly remember those things I wanted to talk about, I will talk about them in another post.