2 Planes, 27 Hours, 1 Confusing Movie and 5 Secrity Checks Later. . .

. . .We are now in the Philippines! :)

And let me tell you, this jet-lag and gaining 12 hours stuff is confusing! ;P Conversation between my parents and I [Please note: This was after 15 hours in a plane, feeling sick, tired and jet-lagged. And legit, I was kidding 99% of the time. I'm not actually this dumb. :P]:

*At Hong Kong Airport, waiting for our layover flight to Manila, 9:30PM, Friday*

Parents: [Something, Something, Something...] Friday.
Me: What?! Today's Friday?!
Mom: Um, Yes.
Me: But we left our house on Thursday. So now it's tomorrow?
Mom: Huh?
Me: We've been traveling for like [counts on fingers] 30 hours?
Dad: No, 18.
Me: But we left at 3:30PM on Thursday, and now it's 9:30PM on Friday, so "technically" we traveled for 30. I know we travelled for 18.
Mom: That doesn't make sense.
Me: It's Friday.
Dad: Yes.
Me: So, tomorrow's Saturday.
Dad [Sarcastically]: Noooo... Thursday. The days go backwards in this hemisphere.
Me: -__- But Rebecca Black said that after Friday... It's Saturday.
Parents: -__-

Oh, and "SALT"? Most confusing movie ever. [Although I haven't seen Inception. :P]

That was just getting to the Philippines! :P Our first day was actually pretty exciting. First of all, the driving is insane here. There's no suck thing as "lanes" or "signaling" or "speed limit." :P And, seat belts aren't required. So, because of jet-lag, I decided to take a nap in the car and was told to just go to the back seat and lie down across the 3 seats. Moving car. No seat belts. :P LOL... And honestly, this is perfectly legal here in the Philippines.

We drove to Taal volcano, about an hour and a half away from Manila. It is sooooo pretty. I wish I could upload pictures for you, bit the internet is slow. :( I'll try again tomorrow. Taal volcano is in the middle of a lake, and all around the lake is mountains. On top of the mountain is a city called Tagaytay. We drove up there on the scariest road ever... :P It was too small for too cars, but cars were allowed to go both up and down, and it was under construction! Half way up, we just decided to go back down and go on a different road up. It was waaaay better. :P We're alive, and all is good. :P

That was the bulk of my day. I promise to try and get pix up tomorrow, but no guarantees. :P Oh, and WHAT?! Tomorrow, I'm going to see Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant and a bunch of other NBA-ers play against the Filipino National Team!!! So excited! :D

Thanks for reading! :)

:D x2

Shortest post ever:

Julius has been sponsored!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D <3

:D

^That's my facial expression right now.

I'm very happy to tell you guys that Jhon is now sponsored!!! :D

We get to tell him that he has a sponsor when we visit him!!! YAY!!! :D

Beyond excited that his life is now changed forever.

He's been waiting for a year, and finally, God matched him up to his sponsor, and let me tell you, him and his sponsor match-up in a very personal and special way - a way ONLY God could plan. :)

So, now I reallllly wanna see this little boy sponsored:

He's been waiting for a year too, and I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanna be able to also tell him that he's been sponsored!!!

So, are you ready to make a Jesus-diference? Yes? Then PLEASE don't wait another minute! :) You can contact me/my mom at compassion@mamaof2greatkids.ca!

"The difference between hope and hopelessness is more that education, healthcare and social programs. The difference is Jesus."

Waiting...

I was honestly so bored today... I practiced piano. ;p

I'm pretty bored. Just playing the waiting game for Thursday.

So, with all this extra time, I decided that I'm going to convince you guys to sponsor Jhon or Julius.

Sitting here waiting, I'm thinking, these kids have been waiting for sponsors for more that a year! They've both had a birthday since they signed up for Compassion's program! Imagine how that must feel, a promise for a sponsor, someone who loves you, but day after day after month after month no one responds? I would feel like a piece of trash. I would start to give in to the lies of poverty. I'm worthless. Nobody does or ever will love me. I'm nothing. I don't matter.

These two boys are each a treasure made by God, and each of them have a future. All they need to make that future brighter: YOU!

Hove you been waiting too long? Have you been thinking of sponsoring for some time now? Well, I might be slightly biased, but I think now's a good time as any. ;)

Is God calling you to one of these boys? Then please, please, please don't hesitate to contact my mom at compassion@mamaof2greatkids.ca.

The difference is Jesus.

Way Too Blessed, Part 2

4 days and 59 minutes 'til I'm on that plane!!!

So. So. So. Excited.

I cannot wait to visit Florianlyn. But seems while I was gone, some other developments happened as well...

My mom recently became a volunteer advocate for Compassion Canada. So as a advocate, you're job is to find sponsors, and to help you out, two kids get "assigned" to you for the month. So my mom requested that the two kids that she gets this month a from the Philippines. Here are their beautiful faces:

Jhon and Julius, both 9 years old from the island of Masbate [the very same island that Florianlyn is from! :)]. We just might be able to meet these two boys when we go on Thursday, and if we find sponsors for them before then, it will be oh-so-cool to be able to tell them, "You have a sponsor!!!" Both these boys have been waiting for over a year.

Is God tugging at your heart? Have you been thinking about sponsoring for some time now? Now could be the time!!! These boys need you, and honestly, you need them too! :) If you would like to sponsor them, please don't hesitate contact my mom at compassion@mamaof2greatkids.ca.

But these two treasures aren't the only exciting thing: Ever heard of Compassion's LDP (Leadership Development Program)? Well, I told my mom about it a few weeks ago, and apparently she began to think about sponsoring one of these university students. It is quite a bit of money, so my mom decided that if we ever sponsored one, "he or she would have to be hand-picked by God."

Fast-forward and she's on the phone doing her advocate training thing and her trainer brought LDP up. They went on the website and clicked to the page where you can browse through the kids waiting to be sponsored. To my Mom's surprise, a 18-year-old girl from the Philippines was waiting for a sponsor. She click on her picture and her jaw dropped. This girl was enrolled into the very same university that my Dad graduated from before coming to Canada! "Hand-picked by God"? I think so! ;) We will also be meeting this girl, and deciding if we can make the commitment to sponsor her or not.

God just loves having fun, doesn't he? And I'm so glad.

He loves having fun, and the things he commands us to do [serve and love Him and others] are fun! :)

Again, way too blessed.

Don't forget... Jhon and Julius need sponsors!!! Are you or someone you know ready to make a "Jesus-Difference"?

Way Too Blessed, Part 1

Hola!!

Boy, do I have A LOT to blog about! :) This week was definitely one to remember. It was SO awesome. Here are some highlight stories:

We were making bracelets out of gimp and we were trying to teach some 7-year-olds how to do the simplest kind called "zipper." Most of them got it, but there was one girl who really just could not do it. She asked me for help, and I agreed, asking her if she knew how to do it already or if she wanted me to teach her. She told me she knew how it do it and she just wanted me to hold the string. Looking over her shoulder, I could see one of the other counsellors shaking her head in warning, telling me with her eyes:

"She can't do it."

I dove in anyways, because I had already agreed to help her, and I really wanted to see her succeed.

So we began. It unravelled on her lots of times, but finally we got a pattern going, and she was able to do it, with lots and lots of help from me. I was basically doing half of it for her, but she was doing it, and when she got it, her eyes just lit up with so much joy and she exclaimed to everyone who was around us:

"Look! I can do it! I did this all by myself!!!"

It was so awesome to see this small victory mean so much to her. And I realized in that moment that it's the small things that make the biggest difference. The bracelet wasn't the most gorgeous thing in the world, and it took us a good 20 minutes to finish. But she did it, she learned something new, and she was so happy.

Here's another one, a not so happy one, but one that matters too: There's a little boy at the camp, maybe 6 or 7 years old, and he's one of those kids who are troubled, and take it out in bad ways. Last week, he set toilet paper on fire in the bathroom. Stop laughing.

This week, he was playing with a bouncy ball and was not stopping when counsellors told him to, so they took it away from him. He decided he was gonna fight for the ball back, and got a tad violent. They had to call the manager to come and get him to stop.

But he didn't stop. He began to be violent with her, and so she called his mom and told her to come pick him up. While waiting for his mom, he began punching and just being very, very violent.

He was told that he was no longer allowed to attend camp for the rest of the summer because he was putting the other campers and counsellors in dangerous situations.

I heard this story second hand, from another counsellor who sat with him and the manager while they waited for his mother. The girl I heard the story from was close to tears.

I don't know what his boy's situation is at home. Obviously, not too great.

I prayed for him and his family, and I will continue to.

And don't worry, his family is not getting ditched by this organization. They are going to get the help they need, just not in the form of this day camp, because he was endangering the other campers.

I have hope that this family will be okay.

The next one's not a story, more like something that happened throughout the week. By Wednesday, our leader was sick and in bed. That's kinda okay, because we had four other leaders. But then on Thursday, two more leaders were sick and in bed. The one that was sick on Wednesday was better-ish, but we still only had half of her for the day. So we did Thursday with 2 . 5 leaders, and at least 2 of us fighting a cold.

We were worn out.

But God pulled us through. I don't know how, but Thursday was one of our best days ever. The only explanation is that it was definitely God, because there's not possible way it was us doing that work.

God just said: "Don't worry, My strength will get you through."

I'll end with a happy one: There's this little girl, 7 years old [I think all my stories have been about seven year olds! :P] and we asked who wanted to say grace before lunch. Her hand shot up and this is what her prayer sounded like:

Dear God,

Thank you for the sunshine today.

Thank you for our lunch.

Oh! And thank you for the counsellors who gave up their summer to come be with us, because if they didn't we wouldn't be able to have camp.

Amen

It was just SOOO cute and you could see her faith. "Faith like a child." Isn't that what Jesus said? Her prayer wasn't just "Thanks for lunch, Amen." You could see it: She was talking with God.

It was soooo awesome, and again, the little things.

So that's a small taste of my week. And really, people say this all the time, but it is just SO TRUE. I went into this week with the mentality of giving away my week, giving, serving, blessing others. But as much as I blessed others this week, I was blessed myself. I went to bed every night with a smile on my face and feeling filled to the brim. I gave it away, and God just filled me back up, with the kids' smiles, their crafts, their "I love you"'s and "Thank you"'s - everything filled me to the brim, and the prayer on my lips every night before I passed out was "God, you've blessed me so much. I am way too blessed. Thank you."

I tell God the "Way too blessed," phrase a lot, when I get material items, but I mean it most after I'm filled to the brim from serving others. I don't know if this is making any sense, but basically: Blessed and be blessed - No simpler way to say it. You feel the most happy, the most blessed, the most filled up, after serving others. And that can't be any truer.

Stay tuned for part 2... Because I'm going to the Philippines in FIVE DAYS!!! :D

T-47 hours and 43 minutes...

...Until I'm on my Compassion Trip.

The other countdown that's going on: Philippines. 13 days, 1 hour and 43 minutes until I'm on the plane! :) EXCITEMENT!!! :D

So this is why it's been quiet on my blog for the past few days: packing, laundry, shopping and compiling pictures for Ankong [that's chinese for grandpa! ;)], Florianlyn, and a presentation I'm doing for a youth group in the Philippines! It's been a busy few days for my fam!

So this is gonna be one of those random blog posts:

1. You might be wondering about the title of the post. Well, the "T-" part. [That's "minus" not "dash" BTW. :P] This morning I watched shuttle Atlantis take off for the last time. I wouldn't have watched it if my brother hadn't been so excited and determined to watch it, or I would've totally forgot about it... Actually, not known about it at all! :P I have to admit, it was pretty cool. But let me tell you, it takes patience. They'd be like, "T-9 minutes to launch!" and I'm like, "Can't you just press the gas pedal and go NOW...?" :P

2. I never really did a sports post about NHL free-agency or the draft, but let's just say my Leafs kinda underachieved in July 1st. No Brad Richards. No Max Talbot... No one, really. We signed ZERO people on July 1st. But it gets better[ish]. We got Tim Connolly and Matt Lombardi in terms of centres, resigned Bozak [he's a centre too, but he won't be our #1 centre this year with Connolly here.], resigned Clarke MacArthur, which was good, Riems got resigned [YEAHHH!], but that was a long time ago. Anyways, we have a shot at the 7th or 8th seed this year. [Okay, I say that every year, but still. I mean it this year.] Go Leafs Go! :D

3. Saw Lady Antebellum's music video for "Just a Kiss," and I thought it was SO good and way cute, so here it is:

Isn't it sweet? ;)

4. My parents found out this week that the plane we're were supposed to take to go see Florianlyn got cancelled... So now we're taking this bush plane thing... :S Maybe I'll just sleep the whole way there to avoid throwing up...! :P LOL... Maybe I'll be okay, I usually do okay with planes. As long as we don't have to take a boat, I'm good. :P

So, this is goodbye for at least a week, because I have a basketball tournament all weekend, and there is no iPods on my Compassion trip! :( So I will tell you guys all about it when I'm back on Saturday! So until then, au revoir and please keep me and the team in your prayers! It means a lot, thanks everyone! :) <3

Twitter!

Hey, this is gonna be a really quick post, possibly my shortest ever...

If you're on Twitter, follow me! I don't tweet every five seconds, don't worry. ;D But I tweet about a lot of the same stuff you see on this blog: Sports, Music, Changing the World, and Life. So follow up: @_godsgal4ever!

There You'll Find Me by Jenny B Jones

The book's not even out yet, and I already have a blog post about it.

Can't wait for it. It comes out in October! I can't wait that long! :P Read Chapter 1 yesterday, and boy, is it good. You can read it too, HERE.

There You'll Find Me is a spinoff of Save the Date, which I read earlier this year, and it promises to be just as good... Maybe even better! ;D

And while you're waiting for October, check out Jenny's website and blog: www.jennybjones.com!

Thanks for reading! :)

One Week!

One week today, I'll be going crazy doing last minute planning for a full week of camp for kids coming from low-income families in our city. And I couldn't be more excited!!!

I can wait to meet these kids, show them love, and just hang out with them. It's gonna be so awesome.

Unfortunately, I probably won't have internet access throughout the week, so no blog updates! :( [I don't even get my iPod! :O LOL.]

Please keep me and the team in your prayers for the next two weeks, and please pray for the kids that will be coming to the camp: that they would see God's love and hope. Please pray for safety and a smoothly-run week and that God would just work through us. Thanks so much! <3

July 1

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Today is Canada's 144th birthday. No, not as old as our next door neighbours, but still. ;)

I am beyond blessed to live in this amazing [and free!] country. Really, I couldn't ask for anything better. Best country ever, though I might be slightly biased.

And, in the spirit of Canada Day, I thought I'd bust some widely believed myths about Canada, some are a joke, some I'm being dead serious:

Myth: We ride polar bears to school and work and everywhere else.

Truth: Okay, so I'd actually like to find someone that legit believes this myth is true. But it's just a joke among Canadians that Americans think we have polar bears instead of cars. We don't. I've seen a polar bear in real life only a few times... At the zoo.

Myth: It never goes above freezing here.

Truth: If that was true I would not be saying how great of a country it is. Sure, our winters are cold, but our summers are just as hot [sometimes hotter!] than in the USA.

Myth: We live in igloos.

Truth: I've never seen an igloo up close before.

Myth: We have pet beavers.

Truth: No. Just no.

Myth: We eat raw seal meat.

Truth: All the animal rights activists just cringed. I've never eaten seal. Ever. Except for those animal crackers, I've never eaten a seal. Ever. That's.... Ew.

Myth: We say "Eh?" at the end of every sentence.

Truth: This one is actually partly true. Here's a conversation among two Canadians: ;)

Canadian #1: You know what's funny?

Canadian #2: What?

Canadian #1: People think the we say "Eh!" at the end of every sentence!

Canadian #2: Haha! I know, eh?

I'll be the first to admit it: I am a Canadian, and I say "Eh," just not at the end of every sentence.

Myth: We all speak French.

Truth: You're reading this blog in english, so no, this is not true. Although, French is our other national language and all kids are required to take French class from grade 4 to grade 9 [with the option of French immersion, which is all French, all year, grade 1-12, and the option to take a french class past grade 9.] and just over 20% of Canadians speak French as their first language.

Thanks for reading! (: