Typo

There was the most awesome typo in the bulletin yesterday - they've made gluten-free wafers available at communion now, but the bulletin said that now glutton-free wafers are available! Haha!

In four and half days, we're heading into Ultimate Survivors VII! I'm excited - it's going to be great! We had our "dress rehearsal" yesterday, and Prince of Peace is really a great facility for this kind of thing. There's a group coming all the way from the Okanagan, so hopefully the roads improve - I would not want to drive through the mountains, with a van load of youth, with the roads the way they are right now!

We took our youth to Operation Christmas Child on Saturday - every year we go to the warehouse and help prepare the shoeboxes for shipping - it's great fun, and this year PAUL BRANDT was there! He's the celebrity spokesperson for OCC, and he was there playing some Christmas music - just him and his guitar. It was very exciting for me... ;)

Life continues to be interesting - a few things have happened in the last week that have really hit close to home, and kind of re-awoken my passion to do something to help victims of abuse. I still don't know what, but I'm keeping an eye out to see what God brings along. It just makes me soooo cross that there's people out there putting up with crap that is totally inhumane because they're ashamed and/or they don't think anyone will believe their story. I guess I've started to do something, with sharing my testimony for Survivor this weekend, but I want to do more! So it will be interesting to see where God is planning to take me on this part of my journey.

Stay tuned for crazy pics from Survivor - coming soon!

Oooh la la!

http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2006/11/09/luxury_lcdequip.html

I'd love to find this under the tree on Christmas morning! All it's missing are cup holders!

A great debate...

In Remembrance

This coming Saturday is Remembrance Day, and it's something I've been thinking a lot about in the last few weeks.

Every year for as long as I can remember, I've gone to a Remembrance Day service. I'm an airforce brat, so it was a really big deal for us. I don't think I've ever actually missed one, except for the year I was 9 or so and sick, and I was really upset that Mom wouldn't let me go. I've read so much about the wars, and how much pain and suffering they caused, and it's really made an impact on me - I can't imagine living through that.

I really feel that taking a couple hours out of a day, once a year, to pay tribute to the sacrifices that so many people made so that we could live in our nice free country, is really a small thing to do. But it seems to me that not a lot of people nowadays feel like that. I could be wrong, so I'd really like to hear some reader input on this one.

I have noticed an increase in the number of people at the service since 9/11, but what really just makes me HOPPING mad is the companies that don't close down on Remembrance Day, and instead give people an extra day off at Christmas. HELLO! That totally defeats the purpose! It's not about having a day off, it's about REMEMBERING. It makes me really cross.

A Remembrance Day service is pretty simple, but so moving, and somehow so Canadian to me. The trumpet playing the Last Post, the flags snapping in the wind, the poppies, the Scouts, cadets and vets on parade, the prayers and the singing, the time of silence, the wreath-laying - it's all so important to me, I can't even explain it. So many people have died in war, and with them the dreams of their families for their lives. So much pain and heartbreak!

Anyway, on Saturday we'll be at the Museum of the Regiments on Crowchild Trail at about 10 or 10:15. The service starts at 10:40, and lasts about an hour. It would be great if you could come! But dress warm - it's Canadian winter, eh!


This is the page from the Book of Remembrance in Ottawa that shows my great-uncle, Thomas Bennetts, who died in 1944.

Wow...talk about the Bible being relevant to my life...

VERSE:
A man finds joy in giving an apt reply -- and how good is a timely word!
Proverbs 15:23

THOUGHT:
Knowing the right word at the right time is a great gift. But even the best of speakers has to admit that the best of his or her words are not nearly as good as those the Spirit gives. Nevertheless, we must not excuse ourselves for our insensitive speech, unkindness, or missed opportunities. Not paying attention to what was said is no excuse. Not being spiritually in tune with the needs of our companions is a cop out. Simply not knowing Scripture well enough to bless others with gracious speech at the appropriate time is self-deception. Listening to others after having listened to God in his Word is what tunes our ears and our hearts to bless others.

PRAYER:
Loving Shepherd, I will spend much of my time today with people. Some of them know you, but most do not. Please give me wisdom to say things that lead people closer to you. Give me words of help and hope for the broken. Give me words of tenderness for the fainting. Give me words of direction for the confused. Father, I pray that whatever words I do say today may reflect your will and may be led by your purposes to bless others. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

www.heartlight.org

Golfing fun

I can't believe it's already been over a week since we left! It was a good weekend, and the golf tournament raised over $8000. Trevor got the worst score, and Scott was only two strokes behind him, and then they took out the score card and argued over who was the worst, which I found highly amusing, or would have, if I wasn't so tired! It was a loooong day, but I got some good pictures, and while I nearly froze, at least the sun was shining!
You can check out my pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/michelleheumann/CrewGolf2006

I had my Real Estate Law midterm this week, but I'm really sick with a cold, and I was not in a good space that night, so I don't think I did very well. We'll see in a couple of weeks when I get my marks back if the cold got to my brain as badly as it felt like. I even stayed home from Bible study last night to get some rest. Stacey and Clinton picking on a fashion victim are just what you need when your nose is running like a faucet and your head is pounding!

In other news, and this made me both excited and sad at the same time... (this article borrowed from scifi.com...)

SG-1 DVD Films Get OK'd
SCI FI Channel's original series Stargate SG-1 will wrap up its 10-year run this spring, but that's not the end of the saga. Executive producer Brad Wright told TV Guide that MGM has granted a green light,and enough money, to produce two movies, most likely for DVD. The first film will tie up most of the finale's loose threads. "It's the climax of the Ori storyline," Wright said, and will be written and directed by executive producer Robert Cooper. The second film, written by Wright, will involve time travel, and both projects should debut in the fall of 2007. Though no deals are signed, SG-1's stars are said to be "very eager"to continue, Wright added. "They're not big-budget [films] by any definition, but for us it's pretty good," he said. "As we've proven over the years, just give us little more money and we can make pretty good television or DVDs."

And Gilmore Girls continues, although at this point I'm starting to feel like the writers should just stop with the drama and let them live happily ever after, already...oy...

Stop the madness!

I feel like my life is a three-ring circus, and I'm the main act in all three rings! This weekend should be fun and relaxing, but getting ready to relax sure is a lot of work!

But I wanted to my faithful readers know that I'm going out of town tomorrow, so there won't be an update till middle of next week now, but I'm sure I'll have lots of stories when I get back! Won't you miss me? :)

Did you see the headline of the Sun today? Gave me GREAT joy, let me tell you!
Huzzah! I can't wait to go for wings...

Anyhow, off to finish packing and then to bed...so much to do, and not enough time to sleep! I HAD to give up one of my commitments - maybe I'll have to give up another one as well, just to find some sanity!

Fun Pics

You can check out pictures of the last TEC weekend here...there's lots of Foothills people in these pictures!

http://picasaweb.google.com/TeensEncounterChristCalgary

TEC 44 was the one we just had, and Trevor and I worked 41, and Trevor worked 40 (I was in Victoria that weekend).

There aren't any pics up yet of 42, but we both worked that one, and there's pics up of 43, which neither of us worked, cause some crazy people we know decided to get married that weekend... :)

CREW Ministries Golf Tournament

The 2006 CREW Ministries Fundraising Golf Tournament, in support of the ongoing music and drama ministry, will be held on October 21 in Kelowna. Scott Refvik and Trevor Heumann will be participating in the tournament, and is currently collecting pledges. All donations in the amount of $10.00 or more made to CREW are tax deductible, and pledges may be made by contacting Trevor, Michelle or Scott before October 20. More info on the ministry is available at http://www.crewministries.com/.

Scott's CREW team...

Trevor's and my CREW team... (Scott's team got a better picture...)

Next Bethel Service

Sunday, October 15, at 11am
Lake Chaparral Rec Centre
http://www.bethelmissionproject.ca/

3/5 of Rice Omlet and the ! Woo (otherwise known as the TEC 44 worship team) will be playing, and there'll be snacks afterwards, so I hope to see you there!

Jordan and Jeremy part 2

So this is what happened. Jordan was given a list of questions to ask, and Jeremy was only told that he could say those certain answers. So it was all rigged to look like Jordan was going to kiss him, but what he was actually supposed to do was put his fingers in front of his lips and blow on them to make that fun "pfffitt" sound. There was some misjudging of distance and timing, and there you have it - a situation that looks worse on camera then it really was, and a classic moment that Jeremy will be teased about for years to come - but only because we love him, of course! :)

Jordan and Jeremy

Jordan: "Do you know what this is?"
Jeremy: "Yes"
Jordan: "Do you know what it can do?"
Jeremy: "No"
Jordan: "Do you want to find out?"
Jeremy: "Yes"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jordan: "Do you know what these are?"
Jeremy: "Yes"
Jordan: "Do you know what they can do?"
Jeremy: "No"
Jordan: "Do you want to find out?"
Jeremy: "Yes"

Let the Countdown Begin...

Did you know I turn 26 three months from today? Only 4 years and three months to 30...sad day!

This year is going by so fast I can almost feel the wind rushing by - I've had a lot of internal change this summer - it's been very interesting for me to look back at and see the pattern emerging.

I think I have a better idea of what the next few years will look like now, God willing, and it's very encouraging. I've always been a dreamer, but the last few years I've stopped dreaming, partly because of the baggage I've been hauling around, and it's such a great feeling to have rediscovered that part of myself. God is so good, hey. He used someone in my life that I've been friends with for a long time to bring about the changes - I'm sure this person has no idea just what an influence they've been on me over the last few months, but I can see how God has used things they've said and done to get my attention. It's pretty cool, and I'm feeling very blessed to have such a great bunch of friends here.

I have an idea about what my next career choice is going to be, but it's a few years off yet, cause it involves a big time and financial commitment, not to mention a huge lifestyle change. This is something I've never really wanted to do before, but now I'm feeling kind of excited about it, and it's all because I dealt with so much of my crap this summer. Now I just have to wait for God's timing - I'm TERRIBLE about doing that! Well, doing it patiently, anyway. Once I've decided what I want, I like to just go for it, you know? I know God will do a better job of bringing everything together then I ever could, but it would be great if he could hurry up about it! :)

Change of Number

If you've known Trevor for very long, you know he has a habit of losing things - well, this time he's lost his cell phone, and had to get a new one. He got a better deal from Bell then Telus, so he's got a new number. The 875-4264 one isn't working anymore, so if you want the new number, please email me and I'll give it to you.

He's happy with the new one, cause it's also an MP3 player, which means I'll get his mini disc player, which makes me happy, so it's worked out ok! :)

You know you're busy when...

...you forget it's Friday! Can you believe that I did that? I'm really loosing it this time...sigh...and I'm developing a somewhat co-dependent relationship with my laptop - I hardly go anywhere without it, and the mere idea of something possibly happening to it makes my ulcer act up. Can you say "too much stress"?!!!

The Light the Night walk is coming up soon, and I'm still collecting donations! I have to hand in all cash and cheques to my team captain on Monday, but you can donate online up until Saturday...
http://www.active.com/donate/ltncal/1986_mheumann
It's for a good cause, and it's tax deductible! And you'll be making me walk 5k, which I'm sure will be very good for me...

Tonight!

You want to hear some good music?

One of my best friends, Sarah Wemyss, is playing a couple coffee houses in Calgary this week. On Wednesday she's at the Starfish Cafe, which is at 4510 Macleod Trail SW, in the rear basement-walk out, and that starts at 7 pm.
On Friday night she's playing at the House, at 7 pm. I'm told the House is on 10th Street NW, in Kensington area, but I can't find it on Google or in the phone book, so if you know where it's located, please let me know!
Then on Sunday, Sarah's playing at the 10:30 service at Foothills.
And she has this great CD, so if you can't make it, you can order her CD from www.qsarah.com!

(This post is by special request of Pastor Mike, who said he'd write down the dates if he read it on my blog. Makes me happy, that does! Nice to know that someone's actually reading this thing and I'm not just talking to myself... :)

In case you were just dying to know, the first service for Bethel went pretty well. It was a small crowd, and there were some logistical issues that need to be worked out, but it was a good start. There'll be another service in October sometime, and I'll be sure to let you know when that will be.

Oh, and the National Youth Gathering planning was great, apart from my personal revelations. We have a lot of good ideas that I'm excited to see take shape. We're doing a lot of things that we hope will capture the attention of the youth - today's youth are more and more ADD, and if we want them to hear what we're saying, we need to think more outside the box. It's going to be FANTASTIC, and it's only 290 days away! (That's probably a scary thought for those of you with more work to do then me... :)

The Survivor publicity is going in the mail today - such a huge stress that's been this last week! But it's done now, and if you're a youth leader, look for it in your mailbox by the end of the week. And if you don't get one, and want one, please let me know! It's only 73 days away, so get those registrations in quickly. I sent out 79 publicity packages, and I think we'll only be able to take about 150 youth and leaders, so get your registrations in as fast as you can!

Silly Me...

You ever have one of those moments when you realize something, and wonder why on earth it took you so long to figure it out? I had one today - actually a couple, one led into the other.

I'm part of the team planning sessions for the National Youth Gathering in Ottawa next summer, and we spent last night and all of today brainstorming for it. One of the other people brought up a speaker he had heard once, named Dan Allendar, who has a book called "To be Told". Basically it sounds like it's about being at peace with the story of your life, and seeing the good that's come from the bad. It really affected me, just the way he said it, and later when we were praying, I was kind of mulling it over, and something hit me.

I know that I feel called to tell my story at Survivor, and I've come to terms with the fact that that's what I'm going to do, but I haven't liked the idea. I guess I've felt somehow like that would be self-promoting somehow. But the fact of it is that it would be God-promoting! My story is basically about how I was sexually and verbally/emotionally abused, and how God is healing me from the burden of that pain. My story is about what He's done for me, and why on earth would I NOT want to share that? And that led in to why am I so worried about what to say? There's a verse where Jesus tells the disciples to not worry about what to say, because He will give them the words. I KNOW that, I just forgot. I just make me shake my head...sigh.

Anyway, I'm going to tell my story, and I'm excited about it, cause God is using me to bring Him glory, so that's darn well what I'm going to do! And I'm not feeling quite so nauseous about it either, which is nice. And praise God for cool Christians who you learn stuff from - He's really blessed me with a great bunch of people to hang around with, work with and learn from. And you know what? I'm happy with my life, and with who I am, and I wouldn't be who I am if I hadn't gone through all that crap - God has brought good from bad and I'm not going to be so shy about sharing that fact from now on.

The song that was running through my head was "My Redeemer Lives", in particular the lines that goes: "My shame He's taken away, my pain is healed in His name, I believe". It's such a joyful song, and a lot of the time I get so busy I forget to be joyful, you know? And considering how much I have to be joyful about, that's kind of sad!

So those are my new goals - to be more open about what God has done for me, and to be more joyful about the life that He's blessed me with. Yay God!

Woe is me...

...I think I'm getting the flu. I won't get sick - I can't! I SO don't have time. It started today with a really bad headache - the kind where it feels like someone's got your eye sockets in vice grip, so I went home early. As I was leaving, the girl who sits next to me, who had the flu this week, pointed out that her early symptoms were a brutal headache and back pain. Since I always have back pain, I wasn't worried. Till I came home, went to bed, and got the chills. Then I went burning hot, and now I'm a little panicked. So I took two Advil liqui-gells, three Cold Fx, three echenacia capsules with garlic and ginger, and a large glass of orange juice.
I have an exciting but busy weekend coming up, and I won't give in to the germs - never give up, never surrender!!!

Back to school...

My first class was tonight, and I learned something I've never figured out in the five years I've been hanging around SAIT - the Heart building has a basement! Go figure! I was nearly late for my class it took so long to find the room. Sigh...the instructor seems ok, anyway. He's got an interesting way of looking at things, but I feel that Real Estate law isn't very exciting in general. Oh well, last class, and then I can get my certificate!

I'm now officially a Commissioner for Oaths in and for the Province of Alberta, which is very exciting. I swore my first affidavit yesterday, so now I feel like a real legal assistant. Hooray for swearing! :)

A couple of weeks ago, we had a youth event at which much chaos ensued. Some of it was captured on a camera phone, and I share the pictures with you for your amusement.

This is Chris and Matt - wonderful youth leaders, eh?


This is Chris and Jordan...really, what else can I say about that?

I'm mostly doing this to bug Chris... :) Hehe!

I just downloaded MSN - sigh. Years of holding out, and I finally broke down. I can now message you with MSN, Google chat or Skype! I have a lot of crap on my computer...

Ah well, past my bed time! Big weekend coming up, and I've got a lot of projects to get through so I can focus on it!

Oh hey, one last thing...nice, hey? I really like...