"Our Eskimo Neighbors to the South"

there's long been tension between canadians and americans. canadians think americans are ignorant of all things canada and americans think canada is somehow VERY different than america.

i remember being in 8th grade and being very angry that we had to memorize all states and capitals and yet you'd be hard pressed to find an american who could correctly tell you canada's capital. i love america. i think great things come from it like jessica simpson and target. oh- and mcdonalds. but sometimes i wonder how (i'm about to make a sweeping generalization) an entire country can know so little about their neighboring country.

to all my lovely american friends. i love you. canada loves you. but sometimes i wonder.....

watch this short video. this guy is rick mercer, he's from a show called 'this hour has 22 minutes' and he goes to the states every few years and makes outlandish statements and get americans to congratulate canada on ridiculous things like legalizing dogs as housepets, protecting their national igloo and getting the 24 hour clock.

and if you don't get the prime minister poutine comment.....at the time this was filmed, jean cretien was prime minister. and poutine is a food. a yummy yummy mixutre of chesse, gravy and fries.

one of my personal favorites is how we've reached a population of 1 million.

On a personal note- one of my very best friends in the world is american. she is incredibly smart and goes to a prestigious university. i told her that canada's health care is so much better than america's because we have no nursing home. to save money- we send out elderly away on ice flows once they reach the designated age. we have big going away parties and then you say bye to grandma and away she goes! and she totally and completely believed me.


CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Does this make sense to you???

so i have this friend. he went to a foreign country to do missions and lived there for 2 years so this was by no means, a 2 week "lets travel for 4 days, work for 8 days and go to the beach for 2 days" kinda missions trip. this was an in your face, living the life, missionary LIFE.

we both went to this high school and church in a suburb where the majority of residents make over $100,000 a year. many of my friends lived in houses i would call extravagant (especially now!!) and driving cars that put my 1983 volvo glt to shame.

so when it came time for my friend to fundraise for his trip, he got shockingly little financial support from the church. its not a small church either. with a congregation around 1200 and a parking lot full of luxury cars and suv's, you better believe those people had huge checkbooks....but they all slammed shut. i know that appearances aren't everything and that potentially, a lot of those families that looked rich could have been swimming in debt but i know for a fact that tons of them weren't. they just didn't care/were too busy/a million other excuses.


then i have this friend who and is generous and giving, even when money is tight. when i told him about this friend of mine from Uganda who desperately wanted to go to university but there was no way he could ever afford the tuition making what he does doing children's village ministry, this friend barely blinked an eye before agreeing to pay for his tuition.

if i wasn't convinced of it before, i am solidly convinced now. money does not buy happiness. i have friends who buy 200 dollar pairs of jeans and i truly truly hope that even if i DID have 200 extra dollars just lying around, that i wouldn't spend it on jeans.

isn't it weird how you get back from third world living and tap water doesn't taste eggy?
and how turning on a light is a big deal sometime?
and how 30 dollars for this new shirt isn't a steal of a deal, its food, clothes, and school for a child for a month?
and how a dress that a friend got at her baby shower made you cry because you had bought the same one for your baby in uganda?
and how you just dont really care anymore if only wearing things related to africa isnt that cool your still gonna do it?
and how wearing leggings and looking good doing it just doesn't really appeal?
and how reading adoption blogs takes the place of perez hilton?


this is what i hope for:

i hope to grow up to be wise, and globally aware and concerned with social justice. i hope to give some awesome kids a forever home. i hope to become a nurse and run a feeding program in a refugee camp. i hope to marry a godly man who challenges me intellecually and spiritually. i hope to never be content with a north american life. i hope to remember every day how i lived in UG. i hope to be reminded often of how little i actually need. i hope to be able to recognize and differentiate between my wants and my needs. i hope to live in africa again. i hope to impact lives. i hope to be impacted. i hope to live passionately and compassionately. i hope to give freely. i hope to recieve freely. i hope to never forget just how blessed i really am. i hope to bless others through my blessings. i hope to be a part of a church that embraces and truly supports missions. i hope to life long and prosper.

My new shirts

Somedays i sit and google everything africa and find cool stuff.

today i was on this website and got linked to invisible children's website and they have sweet new shirts. so i bought two! i got the olive ' my heart is beeping' too and the cream gun and camera one and i'm so excited to get them and wear them!!!

Knowing the good

"So then, if you know the good you ought to do and don't do it, you sin." James 4:17 TNIV

I was thinking about this verse today between scooping and was just a little bit floored. Thats kind of an intense statement. I sin when i KNOW i should do something, and i don't.

So i guess that means like when i hear my friends gossiping, and i not only don't tell them to stop, but i join in. And when i know i'm maybe didn't lie, but i definitely edited... And when i know i should be more patient with my sister but sometimes i just don't care?

Wow. this is kind of hard.

I remember when i was little, i used to have to memorize bible verses to get stuff. Like one time i wanted rollarblades so my mom said I had to memorize psalm 1 and when i could say it with no mistakes, i could get rollarblades.

I've always had a knack for bible memory. All through elementary and high school when we had memorize, i always did it. And never cheated....like a lot of my classmates. 2 reasons i probably didn't- one- theres something extra sinful if you cheat on bible memory and two- i kinda secretly deep down liked to memorize!

I used to love reading missionary biographies and stories and in a lot the people would get ready for prison by memorize whole parts of the bible. And while i've never memorized whole parts, there was a point in my life, when i could recite ALLLL of Philippians.

So now i get these random verses stuck in my head and i think about them all day. But maybe its not just a random verse. Maybe i'm supposed to be reading into this. This could be God telling me....uh amy- take a closer look at your life please...


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In my daily blog perusing, I read brandi's and she and some friends started a bible reading challenge. I've been really into my Message bible but I rarely read the old testament. So i'm joining her challenge! Here is the link from her site that i stole and am using now too. Thanks for the challenge Brandi!

A GENTLE REMINDER

There will be a last big picture post within a week...- from olegirlsmission.blogspot.com.


I'M NOT SURE IF YOU GIRLS ARE AWARE BUT A WEEK HAS COME AND GONE AND STILL NO PHOTOS. WHATS WITH THE SLACKING?!?!?

.....

- if someone claims "i know him well" but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. his life doesn't match his words. but the one who keeps God's word is the person in whom we see God's mature love. this is the only way to be sure we're in God. anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of like Jesus did.- 1 John 2:3-6ish

Lately i've been really into the Message. I love it because its easy to read and to follow, but also that its raw. It doesn't candy coat anything and everything is clear. Its black and white.

I've been feeling really convicted about my language and how i act. I don't by any means, swear like a sailor, but i sometimes let a f-bomb fly out of anger, pain etc. It seemed as though for a few days I was acutely aware of what words I spoke, and whats words people around me spoke and then BAM! I'm reading 1st John and those verses slap me across the face.

I claim to be intimate with God. Yet my like doesn't look like Jesus'. I'm pretty sure that JC never f-bombed when he was mad or frustrated or had just stubbed his toe. Heck! He didn't even THINK about saying it!! So here i am, claiming that i'm something, but my life doesn't back it up.

I really love my mom. I mean, really really really love my mom. We are super close and she gets me. She gives the best advice ever, is incredibly smart, is patient even when i go into 'what if' mode...

(side note- I get in these moods where i ask what if's a lot and today at home depot, my what if's were about cancer. mom- what if i had cancer, what kind would you want me to have. if i couldn't have skin cancer what kind would you want me to have etc.. also my mom is an oncology nurse and teaches nurses about cancer, hence the so smart part)

....and is an avid bible scholar. She's not the bible school professor type of scholar but she's the kind of woman who genuinely likes to learn about scripture, memorize verses, and she reads all these James Montgomery Boice commentaries on books of the bible and anyway! I want to be just like her when i grow up.

So yesterday we were talking and i was telling her about this friend that I feel like there is this competition between us and i was borderline gossiping/complaining about her faults and my mom said "amy- we've all sinned and fall short."

I've been taught my whole life to be careful what goes into my mind. My mom's 2 favorite sayings are "remember who you are" and "what goes into a mind comes out in a life". I lived a very sheltered life when it came to tv, music and movies and while i HATED it at the time, I'm glad i grew up that way and you can bet that my kids won't be watching 3/4 of what's on tv now! Anyway- I've always been sensitive to what goes into my head and heart and now that i'm older, I realize just how awesome that really is. While my mind has enough garbage in it, I try really hard not to add to it.

So back to these verses....I'm claiming to be intimate with God and my life is going to look as close to Jesus' as i can get it. One way i'm going to accomplish that is to tame my tongue. And not just with swear words. With hurtful words, gossip filled words, ignorant words, prideful words, etc.

Also- Tomorrow my mission, before work, is to get the cutest, cards I can find, and write to Isaac and Eman because they are sick in the hospital and I'm addicted to their mom's blogs, and also to MC and Jackson because i love them to death, and I want to be just like their mom when i grow up too!

Letting Go.

Its time for a confession. A sad, emotional confession.

For the last few years of my life, I'd be involved in a tumultuous love affair. I met this man one day at my friend Angela's house when he came over for supper and I was immediately hooked. I was in love and from that point on I could not get enough.

For awhile I had to be near him all the time. He hung out at home with me and many times i would visit him at work, sometimes just driving through quickly but often staying and sitting down for a while. I would get mad at him and keep my distance for a while but I'd always come back to him.

He was so faithful and stuck by me, and to me, always. When i was sad, he was there. When i was mad, he was there. When i was happy, he was there.

But over time we began to develop an unhealthy relationship and it was taking a tole on me physically. Lately I've been relying on him a lot more than I should and tonight I've come to peace with giving him up. Its time I make a change in my life and sometimes when you just NEED to do something, you have to give something up.

It's hard to explain my love for him, the majority of the world doesn't understand why I love him, but I have never been a follower and I've stuck by him through many scandals and defamations. Some people don't believe in him, but I do.....but not anymore.

So I'm giving you up mister! You no longer are a part of my life. I will not go to you for comfort. It may seem like I'm being harsh but I have to do this. I need to make a clean break or I wont be able to make a break at all.

You are being replaced by a healthier choice.

Goodbye Ronald McDonald.

My Good Deed....

Tonight was an adventure. Mollie and Matt (my 2 cousins who are living with my fam for the summer....so fun!!!) and I went for a run a little after 10 tonight. We all did pretty well considering what terrible shape we are in and after me and matt did some hard core sprinting, we decided that we needed slurpee's from 7-11.

When we got there, this kid comes near us at the slurpee section and says, "watch out for that dog pee on the floor" and i got kinda mad because who lets their dog pee in a store and doesn't clean it up! So i asked the kid who owned the dog and he didn't know and said it had been hanging around the 7-11 all night and had followed his friends home and they brought it back to the store. So me mollie and matt get our slurpees and start walking home.

The little dog follows us and so we name him Kiki after our friend Jessica and Kirks cat that we love. He followed us all the way home and so we got him some water and cheese and i made a little doggie house outside complete with a roof and covered porch because it was going to rain tonight and i wanted him to stay dry. So me and mol go inside and kiki starts whining and barking and wants to come inside. By now its after 11 and so we decide to drop him back off at 7-11. I let him out of my car and he looked SO sad so i called him back in and we drove home. I thought i'd let him sleep in my car but after about 5 minutes of LOUD barking, i got annoyed and me and mol took him BACK to 7-11. By now i was crying because i felt so bad for this really smelly, little dog that just wanted his family back and I felt horribly about just abandoning him so after another failed attempt at dropping him off, me and mol decide to take him to the police station.

Its 1:30am right now and i'm wide awake because of Kiki. When we got to the police, the lady was super nice and we brought kiki back to this kennel with a nice red blankie and they ahd food and water and in the morning i'm going back to take him to the humane society.

But i just thought, if that was my dog, i'd want someone to take good care of him while he was lost and i'd be SO MAD if someone just let him hang out at 7-11 all night.

So there you have it.

Mollie and I potentially saved a life.

i get it!!!

i feel like most of the time, when God has something he needs me to understand, he doesn't do it gently. and most of the time, i need something big to get my attention. but today was different.

i have this deep need to be in control. i know whats going on in every area of my life and i'm a detail oriented person.

today at church we sang this song we always sing but one line kinda spoke softly to my heart instead of hitting me like a ton of bricks like usual.

"all of my ambitions, hopes and plans, i surrender these, into your hands"

i need to do that. i know i need to do that. i forget sometimes that i'm not the ultimate controller of everything in my life. God is and the majority of the time i give him no room to work. i imagine him just sitting back with his arms crossed, smiling saying "ok amy, go for it, and when i all goes crazy and you need help, i'll be here, and maybe next time you'll ask for my help before hand and save yourself a load of trouble..."

Pray

This is weird. and its going to be hard to understand but bear with me.
My friend is trying to adopt a baby that is very very very dear to me but we've been looking for her father so he can sign his rights away or something. He's been in and out (99% out) for a while and has kinda gone MIA in the last few years.

Anyway. She needs this guy to sign the papers so she can be her mom. She needs a mom.

And we all need to pray!!

Thanks guys!