from chaotic to quiet

the last month has been a bit of a whirlwind. It started with a friend staying with us for a week and then going to Winnipeg for two weeks... then coming home with 2 Winnipeggers for a week and now my roommates have two of their friends here (who just got engaged last night at the Plaza). They are here til Wednesday AM and then the roommates (both) are moving out that same morning... leaving me and my apartment all alone.
I tried to post some photos of my last week...with Kristi and Steph... feeding the homeless, feeding ourselves, and oddly enough... eating... hmmm... maybe I'll eat a little less when this crazy month is over! ha ha! (but alas it isn't working... i will try again later!)

more hope city shots

One of the things I love about what we do at Hope City is praying with and for the people of the city... here are a few shots of that dynamic... and a shot of manny's awesome shoes!
and a one of a wall painting of the building in it's glory days and a shot showing the archetecture of the building.

I love having a camera... thanks again stephanie for the pics!

Ron and the girls at hope city

I took the girls to Hope City yesterday and introduced them to one of my favourite people... Ron. He is a homeless man who sits on the wall and survives on the money he receives. He has become a friend and he totally makes me (and the girls) laugh...



At Hope City on Tuesdays we pray for the city IN the city and often pray for each other as well... I LOVE IT




Ron was being so goofy... we thought that he was gonna fall off the wall...


these are shots of the building in which we meet... it used to be a classy hotel... with a very rich history... Al Capone owned the 8th floor, and the famous of the day (dean martin, bing crosby, sammy davis jr etc) stayed there whenever they were in Kansas City. I love it!

on the road again

yesterday morning at 7:30 am, Kristi, Steph and I headed out on the road...
this is the story...

We'll leave around six she said... well 7:30 is more likely
We got UP at six and quietly got ready as all exhausted travellers do...
"I can't eat breakfast because I'm yawning" "I feel Puffy" and "literally my pelvis is bruised" were all part of the early morning banter.

Then the driving began... let the following quotes tell the story...

"Dude, don't you like your brain?"
"Come on FIRM UTERUS you can do it!
"she loves herself"
"Let's send the whole province on vacation"
"Should I look at you or drive?"
"You know the pics have started when the trip have begun"
"is that the border? NO, those are silos"
"they don't usually have trucks in the car line... yes... i'm brilliant"
"i'm donating pee to the US sewage"
"Hey... it's the hot guy!"
"we've brought up the Goofy movie three times in already... maybe we need to watch it"
"She wants to be an accountant so she can have babies"
"I'm HUGE"
"I think of myself as a skinny person... and then I try to move"
"LOOK! Black cows... those ARE cows right?"
"LOOK! Boys without shirts..."
"WOO HOO! Where?"
"I wonder why martyrdom is on my mind"
"Oh yeah, you're a lovely diabetic we need to eat"
"I swear! At least once..."

Seen on a bumper sticker:
"guns kill people like spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat"

"I promise we won't dance on the table"
"If anyone asks, it's the joy of the Lord AND we are Canadians"
"That's so aggrivating I just annoyed myself"

Said as a rap:
Kristi - "I can do it"
Stephanie - "Don't worry"
Kristi - "I can do it"
Stephanie "I got your back"

"hahahahahhahahahahahahahah- hehehehehehehehehehehehe-hohohohohohohohohohohohohoho- woo hoo!" (Rest stop)

"Mike puts me to sleep when i listen to him"
"I need to make another donation"
"anyone want some sweet chili heat?"
"drinking propel is like drinking a bottle"
"Kansas City 183 miles"
"DON'T exit whatever you do til you see Redbridge!"
"we are entering Kansas city limits..."
"We are entering Kansas city limits... again!"
"70 or 71? I don't know... just don't exit!"
"Woo hoo... we didn't exit!"

Obviously we arrived safely... i took the girls downtown today... and there are many many fun pics to post... tomorrow!

"party all the time"

For those of you over twenty five, maybe you remember the song... well today I LIVED IT!

I threw what I initially thought was going to be a light, small, easy, early birthday party with my friends while in Winnipeg. I asked Yvonne if she would be willing to host it in their new home, sent out some emails... then more emails went out, then word of mouth... and well, it was quite a shindig!

These were some of the things I noticed:

1. MANY of my friends have little babies
2. I'm in Canada -- evidenced by the pile of shoes by both doors... in america... they just wear them... wish i would have gotten a picture!
3. Yvonne is an amazing hostess
4. I have some generous friends!
5. 10 years, living in one place, working different places, brings many worlds colliding in one house!
6. creme puffs instead of birthday cake with candles... ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA!
7. Chocolate fondu is the best way to eat fruit
8. when you ask people to bring snacks... they do!
9. Yvonne and Jason's house can fit over 40 people... comfortably... including babies and older children... okay... maybe comfortably is stretching... but we sure had fun!
10. Diet Coke will never run out in my house
11. When you feel lonely, and like you don't have a lot of friends... throw yourself a birthday party... you'll feel different when they all leave!
12. the "after party" is always an important and powerful time-- thanks ang and aj for sticking around til 1 in the morning!
13. friends are a good thing! so are creme puffs!
14. Yvonne and Jason are my new heroes... set up party... had party... cleaned up party... had after party... and were still smiling when everybody headed to bed.

Thank you to everyone that came. It was a great night and spoke volumes to me! For those of you who didn't come... well... my ACTUAL birthday is still 2 weeks away, so you have time! :)

GUSE outing

I went to the Guse's farm today. I don't have any pics right now, but hopefully later...

I didn't get pictures of this event anyway, so I will do my best to describe it.

Kristi, Shane, and I went out to the Guse's this afternoon. They are a family (for those of you who do not know them) that live on a pig/chicken farm. They have 5 children between the ages of 2 and 9, one large sheep dog cross shepherd(?) and one LARGE puppy of said sheep dog, whose father apparently was a HUGE sheep dog. They also have 2 LARGE 4 wheelers on which their older children often take rides to another farm close by.

Today was no exception... Phil and Trish Guse (mama and papa of said Guse gang), were on one of the four wheelers with 2 year old Zarah, pulling a wagon with me, Kristi, 2 of the Guse children Sheba (the big dog) and Zadok the puppy. (understand that I don't mean a little puppy that the kids can pick up and carry around...I mean a puppy the size of or bigger than the children) On the other 4 wheeler was the seven year old, the 6 year old and Shane. The seven year old was driving.

We make our way over to the other farm, down the gravel road shared with other vehicles. Kristi and I are keeping an eye on the dogs so they don't jump out of the wagon. Abbi has them both on a leash, but from what i could tell... well, let's just say that Abbi doesn't weigh too much more than the puppy, let alone Sheba!

We come to a corner and out of the field comes TOUGHY the neighborhood bully dog. He is baring his teeth and bounding toward us. Keep in mind... we have TWO large dogs in the wagon with us... and my life is beginning to flash before my eyes. THEN from the front of the 4 wheeler I hear Phil with GREAT authority, command Toughy to go home. Toughy stops and bounds back to whence he came. Talk about authority!

we get to the farm, meet "buddy" the girl dog who lives there and get introduced to Bluey and another horse I can't remember. after taking a tour of the chicken barn and watching Phil gather a bunch of eggs, we return to our chariot and head back to the first farm.

Arriving there much dustier and dirtier, and far more wind blown, we either dive in the pool or hang out in the shade. (Being sufficiently burnt from our last beach outing, i opted for the shade) then sat down to an amazing supper (barbequed prime rib, twice baked potatoes, grilled veggies, salad, and fresh bread!) and apple pie and brownies for dessert! woo hoo!

we spent the next couple hours chilling and relaxing as the children went to bed and we talked into the night. It was a good day!

Thanks Phil and Trish for your hospitality... It was AWESOME!

winnipeg party pics 2

so... here are a few more pics... still figureing out this picture thing... THANKS STEPH for loaning me your camera!

winnipeg party pics

it's been an exciting week in Winnipeg! everything from hanging out with the kiddos and of course their parents, to hanging out at Sanctuary House of Prayer... it has been and continues to be FUN FUN FUN in the SUN SUN SUN!

winnipeg party!

I have been in Winnipeg now for 5 days. time always flies when you are having fun!

I am loving surprising people and the different reactions to my showing up in places! Very fun.

I have spent many times having coffee at St. Arbucks (starbucks), walking to and through St Vital mall (staying on the south side week) seeing friends and all the new babies (there has to be something in the water.. or people are just getting busy!)

My favourite time has been discussing Israel and what it all could mean. We live in amazing times and it will be interesting to see how the Lord works it all out. The Soveriegnty of God is truly an awesome thing.

To those of you in Winnipeg... hope to see you at the beach! and to those of you in Kansas City... miss being there too. (Always missing somebody!) And those of you everywhere else... keep praying and interceeding for the world!

More pics coming... as soon as I have time to upload them!

Where in the world is Joyska?

Any guesses where Joyska is... i'll give you a hint... not Kansas City!

friday night quotes

Bob Sorge spoke on Friday night for the pastor's and leaders conference. He had an injury to his vocal cords 14 years ago and can only speak for about an hour with great pain and discomfort. As a result he doesn't speak often, but last night he spoke about the resurrection power of Jesus in our lives... it was wonderful.

Here are a couple of quotes from the evening:

"Resurrection is essential to validate the journey"

"If burial is the last word of my life then what God intended for my life is a like a still born child"

He spoke of the truth in his own life how he is contending for healing, resting in God, contending for healing all in the same day. But He knows that this is not the end of his story. There is a real king, he is returning, the journey ends in the courts of the king, healed, restored... RESURRECTED.

Good word!

pop pop pop pop whiiiiiiiiizzzzz BOOM snap snap snap

now add some pretty lights, yelling, ohhhhhhhs, ahhhhhhhhhhhs, and a few woo hoos and multiply all of those things by a whole block of crazies, a mom who has two children in the armed forces, a former cop and a very patriotic group of republicans, one democrat, (a token Canadian) and go for 5 hours.

Add statements like "what's the worst thing that can happen? you blow off an arm?"
and "ouch, I burnt my foot!"

And what do you get?

You have just experienced a fourth of July in Missouri.

true forgiveness

I was challenged strongly my last night of class last week.

Derek was talking about overcoming rejection and focusing in on the rejection that David and Jesus went through in their lives and how they responded. It was interesting to walk through the different scriptures that illustrated it. But then, it became very personal when Derek pointed out how Jesus forgave at the end of his life. He turned to the Father and said "forgive them, they know not what they do".

It wasn't about forgiving and then saying... "but I know what you will get in the end" it was about going the extra step and saying... I forgive you, and I want God to forgive you too, so that you can be totally free of this...

It is so easy to say in our hearts, yah, I forgive the offense, but I know that true justice is gonna "get em in the end"... but I rarely go the next step where I ask God to forgive them as well... that He would erase the sin completely...

That is easy enough on a small offense, like an unkind word, like an mean spirited action or two, but what about the bigger offenses? Betrayal, abuse, murder... what does it take to ask God to forgive them for those offenses... even when they aren't asking for it...

It's not an easy road... it's not an easy choice... but it is the road Jesus walked... and the road I need to walk as well. I once wrote a letter to someone saying that I forgave them for their offense, and yet reminded them that they were in the hands of a living God. I think I need to write a different letter. Jesus forgiveness included asking God to forgive them too... I need to pray for that kind of grace, because really... i NEED that kind of grace for me!