A Long Time

Well, it has been a long time since I posted on here. Duh, you say. Well Trisha if you still read this thanks cause you are probably the only one.

I've be debating whether I should take the YWAM logo off here. I haven't really been with them in a year, but its sort of final to take it off so I won't for now. We'll see.

I'm not exactly sure what this year will bring for me. I'm still working at Tim Hortons (got a Christmas pin yay, my collar will look official now). It's still fun. This January I think I might take some correspondence courses from a Bible college. It all depends though.

So really this update has no solid information. Just speculation. It's kind of like watching FOX News or reading the Toronto Sun.

Would You Rathers (late night chocolate induced antics)

By Steph Kerr (typed by emily duffield)


Would you rather be pecked to death by a chickadee or suffocated with the slime of a snail?

Would you rather have no hair at all anywhere or have toe nails grow out of your head?

Would you rather be covered head to toe in boils or permanent cream cheese? (Herb and Garlic)

Would you rather be stuck to a Muskoka chair for the rest of your life or every time you sit down its always a cold concrete surface?

Would you rather sweat fish scales or cry mustard?

Would you rather eat a light-bulb or eat a giant clump of hair from the drain?

Would you rather be stuck in a car with Lindsay Lohan or Kelly from Regis and Kelly?

Would you rather have Thai food come out your nose or spend eternity only eating snails?

Would you rather be stuck in a barrel (about to go over Niagra Falls) or swing from vine into a pond of hungry hippos?

Would you rather be forced to send all your money to Oprah or have to be neighbors with Micheal Jackson?

Would you rather eat the computer you are reading this on or have it eat you?

Would you rather be told that you talk about your crush in your sleep or be told that you fart in your sleep?

Would you rather laugh like a hienna or Tickle-Me-Elmo?

Would you rather slide down a slide covered in fiber glass insulation or do the worm all the way to work (everyday of the week)?

Would you rather be a judge on "So you think you can dance?" or Clay Aiken?

Would you rather punch Sally Jessie Raphael or Dr. Phil?

Would you rather be questioned by Jack Bauer in a bad mood or go on a speed date with Chuck Norris?

Would you rather have no thumbs or a three inch outtie belly button?

Would you rather be forced to stick your fingers in a power outlet or read this over again?

Adventures in Manitoba

Hey Everyone. I am in Winnipeg right now, cooking food for people who don't have enough. It's pretty cool. I like it.
Right now we are just having some time for reading and relaxing. Tonight Matt and Kristie (our hosts) are going out for Matt's Birthday. We are taking care of the kids (doing crafts with them and then watching a movie).
When I get home I'll put up photos and explain more about each ministry. We fly home on Friday at 3pm EST with WestJet.
Thanks for your prayers!

Adventures with Sweet Tea

So here is the official sweet tea recipe straight from my brother (from another mother) in Virginia.

Take a coffee maker but put two tea bags in (instead of coffee grinds). Run the machine. Pour the water into a pitcher that has a LOT of sugar in it (no specific measurement.. just a lot.. maybe almost a whack but not quite a boat-load). Stir it up.... do not add ice. Put it in the fridge to cool off.
Sidenote: If you have a glass container you may want to wait for it to cool to room temperature before you put it in the fridge. Extreme changes in temperature can crack or ahem.. explode glass everywhere.
You should try it. Results may vary. But if it sucks, its your fault. Don't blame me. You probably put in the wrong amount of sugar or used crappy tea. Not my fault. Don't sue.

Adventures in Photo Shows

Ladies and gentlemen,
I am helping organize an event on the 21st of July. If I can get this computer working properly I will upload a poster here with the info.....

Adventures in Sketchy Internet

Soon, I will make a post of greater depth but at the moment I just wanted to share that sometimes low tech solutions can fix high tech problems. I suppose some of you may find this profound.
We receive our internet connection through a wireless antenna from another source. The antenna requires line of sight to function properly, and recently, hasn't been working to well at all. Today my dad discovered that since we installed it a tree has grown up. A tree was blocking our internet connection. So we moved the antenna (no sense maiming a perfectly good tree), and the net works much better.
If in doubt, check for trees.

Further Adventures in Nail-biting

Weeks with bitter finger stuff: 1
Bites since last post (day 3): 0
Chance of success: roughly good

Adventures in Airport Memories

Sept. 28th 2006. Pearson Int'l Airport. Saying goodbye.

Adventures in Nail-Biting

Days with bitter tasting anti-biting stuff = 3
Nails bitten = 58

(okay I don't really have 58 nails to bite... but it feels like it)

I'll keep you updated.

Adventures in Chasing Cars

Today is a weird day. I forgot to take my pills this morning, which always leaves me in a weird mood. Today I have been doing a lot of thinking though.

I gave my word to someone. Someone I had never met before. Someone who I am not especially close to. I told them I would work for them until I left the country in September. So far I have kept that promise, but it's getting harder. I don't know if I can keep it up.

I keep hearing that "people do it all the time," come and go. Its not like I have a contract. I just wonder if my word should mean less to this person just because I'm not close to them.

The lines of Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol are rolling around in my head. I feel myself calling them out as a prayer. "If I lay here. If I just lay here. Would you lie with me and just forget the world?" I just want to sit with Jesus and forget the world.

Adventures in Nature

Just to prove it is so warm out that I am wearing flip-flops :)

Adventures with Crosswinds Kids

Today at church we did a Hawaiian Lu'au. It was lots of fun. We saw pictures of Hawaiian palm trees, did some Hula dancing, had a limbo competition, and got hula-hoops stuck in a tree. It was at that point that a 5 year old brought out the hose...I had to put the ky-bosh on that one.


Leesa helping with the craft.

Hanna led worship and did a little skit with my mom. I'm so proud of you bud :)

Pink

A lovely hybrid lilly

Adventures in Redecorating

Cath and I re-did my room this weekend. It is all moved around and I like it. Brit: now you can see what my whole room looks like :)

Adventures with Fairies, Dragons, and Heroes

Today I had an awesome belated birthday party. My sister Cathy came to visit for a few days after just getting home from Australia and Thailand. My friend Aira is visiting from Latvia and was able to come too!

Adventures in Being a Teenager

For my Birthday I recieved a T-Shirt that tells the world, although I am 20, I will always be a teenager at heart. I believe this is true. You can take the number away, but I will always be a kid.

If you don't believe me, take a look at my bedroom:



That's actually a little cleaner then it usually is.

Just incase I met you at YWAM and you've never seen my house, I just thought I'd put a little pic of my living room.


My family really likes Ikea.

Adventures in Tshirts and Setting Your Spirit Free

The ground in Toronto still squishes from yesterdays rain. The warm spring breeze hovers around that place where the adventureous bring out shorts. The Sun is alive and warm, breathing life into the long dead ground.

Cars speed over asphault, stop and go. Planes roll overhead, hanging in winter's leftover white sky. People come and go; the rhythm of the city.

Every year there is a day when the grip of winter breaks. Today is that day in Toronto. The Sun feels beautiful on your bare arms, warming them like a crackling fire.

Nature rolls on in its rhythms of grace; spring, summer, winter, fall. The cycle never ends, despite wars and corruption. Every season has its time under the Sun, then just like that, it slips away.

The first day in a Tshirt sets your spirit free. The moment your soul has been waiting for all season long is finally here. The crush of winter breaks. It's Springtime.

Adventures in Birthday Parties

Birthday dinner on March 6th

Rhonda, Isaac, and Eddie at my 2nd Birthday dinner

Me, Caroline, Josiah, Aaron, Brian, my dad, Rhonda, and Eddie


Caroline and I eating shrimp and roast beef :) yay beef

Adventures in the Morning Sun

[Note: This blog was originally published on my other site http://www.sydthesloth.blogspot.com on August 13th, 2007, however it seemed appropriate now too.]

The sunlight flickers through the trees like an old 16mm projector showing a film of the sky. As we drive by at 100km an hour, the world is a blur and the only thing constant is the morning Sun. The soft blue of the sky is politely interrupted by wispy clouds just above the treetops. The clouds themselves seem drowsy. Maybe they were up late chasing stars. By noon they’ll be all over the sky.

As we drive I think about people. We are on our way to church. Perhaps I should be thinking about God on my way to church but right now I’m thinking about people.

It’s interesting that all people are inherently flawed right from birth. I say it’s interesting not because it’s anything new, but because sometimes I feel lots of people aren’t flawed at all and I am. It’s weird to think about the faces at church, you know, the people who are always so nice and friendly even when you know they had a bad week. The people who offer to drive you home in a blizzard. They don’t seem as flawed as I am inside.

Recently I’ve been thinking about sin. About whether or not some sins are worse than others. If sin is essentially not relying on God for things, then the opposite of sin must be trust.

When I think about things like murders, suicide, wars, racism, I can’t help but wonder what I’d have done in their place. If I’d lived their life, would I have pulled the trigger too? Am I any better then the guy I see on TV hiding his face from the camera as he is escorted into court? I’ve never killed anyone, but I’ve never been tempted to kill anyone either. I’ve never beaten anyone but I’ve never been beaten either.

We live in a world where evil is relative. One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. One man’s rescuer is another’s enemy.

If two men shoot each other at the same moment, one because he is protecting his family, and the other because he is angry, they are both still killers. God says not to kill. Does it matter to God why we kill someone? Does it matter to God why we smoke drugs, get drunk, get in a fight, hurt someone, or even kill someone or ourselves? Does a good reason make it right? Or does it matter more to him that the real reason we are doing these things is because we don’t trust Him?

Can it possibly be inside God’s plan for your life that you take another person’s life? Or even hurt them? Or simply reject them?

Did Jesus ever kill someone?

If someone kills us, does that mean they should die?

Did Jesus attack the Romans when they tortured and killed Him?

Adventures in the way I am made

I wonder sometimes why God gives people flaws, or if He even gives flaws at all... Maybe we just pick them up along the way. The way I am made is beautiful and true, it's just getting there that takes a while.

Sometimes God tells me to go somewhere, and then I feel like I am not right for it. It's hard to remember that God knows me better then I know me.

In the places where we don't feel gifted, but feel called, there is room for faith, but also for failure. We will fail. When our heart is not in it. When we don't truly believe God will do it. Or sometimes even when we do. What then?

What if we're relying on God and it all seems to fall apart? You know you aren't good at some things but you think God will make it work. Right? What if He doesn't? How long until we see the purpose of our failure; see that its not failure at all, but victory?

Adventures in Going Ahead

My counselor said something interesting today. She said that I shouldn't think of doing another DTS as going back. I should think of it as going ahead. It sounds kinda cheesy but I think I like it.

Adventures in missing my sisters

My bis sis Cathy and I at the airport, that fateful day in September when we said goodbye. Only forty more days til I see you sis :)



My sister Brit and I on the beach in Hawaii. I miss you dude.

Adventures with my Cathinator

In just under two months I will see my dear sister Catharine Elise Vanderlaan again. I cannot wait to see her. As of today is has been 150 days since I have seen her (almost five months). This is entirely un-acceptable.

PS

No animals were harmed in the making of the previous post.

Adventures with Cadbury the Bunny on Holiday

My sister Amy-Lynn has lent me Cadbury the bunny for a little while to keep me company. He's a pretty cool guy. I am really thankful to have him around.

Ready for his walk down the red carpet at tonights Oscars.

The little guy chillin at an after-party.

Cadbury relaxin' before the big event.

His post-Oscar-winning address to the media.

Adventures with my Jaimie

This is a long-awaited post. Back in January my beautiful friend Jaimie came to visit and here is a pic.

Adventures at Timmies

My first morning going to Tim Hortons. I'm not used to wearing my pants up so high and tucking my shirt in, but at least they aren't tight and the shirt and visor are also comfortable.

The people there are extremely nice and funny as well. It's slow right now because no one really knows the new store is open (so its a good time to learn). I ran the drive-through all afternoon basically by myself! I'm still getting the hang of some of the things on the till but basic things like coffee, tea, and cold drinks I can do no problem. The lady training me was so nice and patient. She will also be there tomorrow (I work 8 - 5). I think I'm going to be working there about three days a week.

Well, I'm off to practice saying "goodmorning, welcome to Tim Hortons drive-through, can I take your order?" Just kidding. I'm going to eat dinner. I'll practice later ;)

Adventures in Shopping

Today I had a very fun trip to Barrie to go shopping with my dad. He was very patient while I looked at clothes and didn't do any stereotypical things that you'd expect dads to do. It was like good friends hanging out.

I discovered something shopping today though. I am a cheap when it comes to clothes. I already knew it. The thing is though I somehow spend a lot of money on lots of things but now looking at clothes makes me feel bad.

YWAM did it too me. $15 for a skirt seemed like too much today so I didn't get it. $15 could buy three mosquito nets treated with bug repellent for children in Africa so they will be protected from diseases like Malaria and Yellow Fever. Do I really need a skirt?

Don't think for a second that I am good at this stuff. I didn't buy the skirt but I spent $50 on two CDs today. That would buy mosquito nets for 10 children. But instead I bought CDs because the 2,000 songs I have already just don't cut it anymore. I'm tired of them or something.

I'm not saying spending money is evil. God made money and He can use it for good. It's when I feel I need something that worries me. Do I really need new songs more then the kids in Africa need a mosquito net to keep them healthy?

The thing is too, I asked God if I should buy the CDs and I'm not 100% sure He said yes. My mind wanted that answer so badly that I couldn't hear anything beyond myself.

If you don't believe me about the mosquito net thing go here and see for yourself. Every 30 seconds a child dies from Malaria.

I could have stopped 10 children from getting sick today, but instead I bought new songs. The thing is I'm not really that torn up about it. If I was I'd take them back tomorrow, and I probably won't.

Adventures in New Jobs and Fancy Uniforms

I got a job at Tim Hortons today :)

I start on Monday at 7AM and they can offer me close to full-time, starting at $7.85/hour. Its a huge blessing that I got a job so quickly. There aren't too many jobs up here in the great white north. I feel encouraged that I am working toward my DTS again now. Thanks for your prayers, notes, hugs, and gifts. God is good.