Christmas Loot

I'm back at work today, and it's so quiet here - there's only three lawyers, me, the receptionist and the office manager here, out of 24. I want to go home and play with my new camera!



The camera is courtesy of my bonus and all my Christmas and birthday money combined, and I'm really excited to get out and start playing with it. It's got a lot of neat features and the picture quality is amazing, after Trevor's little 4mp Canon.

And I also got a lot of books, Super Scrabble and the Scrabble Dictionary, among other things, as well as a nice lamb dinner, church three times in two days, and some quality time with Trevor, so it was a good holiday!

And tomorrow I turn 26, and there will be some festivities on Saturday that I'm sure will be blog-worthy. :)

Break Forth

I got an email from the Break Forth volunteer coordinator today, saying that they still need about 90 volunteers, and a lot of those are needed to work shifts in the bookstore. If you're interested, you can get more info at www.new-creation.net.

Hope to see you there!:)

Baking Queen

It's United Way week here at the law firm, and today we had a silent auction of baked goods.

I made my famous peanut butter squares, and donated two plates of a dozen each, and some free samples. They decided to auction off the samples as well - there were a dozen bite-sized ones. The two plates of a dozen big ones sold for - get this - FIFTEEN DOLLARS each, and the little ones for about $8.00. I'm so proud! :)

Someone even told me that the squares are better then Crave Cupcakes, which is about the highest compliment I can think of...except for the time my chocolate chip cookies elicited a marriage proposal, but I was only 14, so I had to turn it down... ;)

Anyhow, I just had to tell you all how excited I am to have raised so much money for the United Way - it's very exciting! And if being a legal assistant doesn't work out, I could always sell peanut butter squares for a living!

Intramural Quidditch Hits U.S. College Campuses

This is AWESOME!!!


Intramural Quidditch Hits U.S. College Campuses

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/#article:9333

Today's edition of the Wall Street Journal reports that a new fad is sweeping college campuses across the U.S. -- Intramural (earthbound) Quidditch! The article is available online to paid subscribers, and TLC is happy to provide some highlights:

In Quidditch games played at Middlebury College in Vermont, one student IS the Snitch, and attempts to outrun the other players.

"Rainey Johnson, sporting a yellow shirt, yellow socks and yellow paint smeared on his face, darted across the freshman quad. Other students, in capes, ran after him clutching brooms between their legs and grasping in vain for a tennis ball stuffed in a sock hanging out of his yellow shorts."

At Marlboro College, a toy helicopter launched from a slingshot serves as the Snitch, and must be caught before it reaches the ground. Water-soaked foam balls become Bludgers, and a volleyball is used as the Quaffle.

Middlebury's model, though (with a student Snitch, Dodgeball Bludgers and a volleyball Quaffle "aimed at gold-painted Hula Hoops mounted on chairs"), is catching on at other east coast colleges: Bucknell and Vassar students are putting Quiddtich teams together for the spring using "Middlebury rules."

Middlebury student Alexander Benepe and friends started the Quidditch craze at their school last year, and have seen it grow tremendously this fall.

"About 30 Middlebury students played pickup games almost every weekend this fall, usually two or three matches, before heading to a 'Quidditch World Cup' that drew five teams and about 60 players this month.

"'We are the first college students who grew up reading Harry Potter,' says Mr. Benepe, a sophomore from New York City. 'It's very much a book of our generation.'"

Youth Party

Yesterday we took the youth skating and then back to our place for a Christmas gift exchange - it was fun, but pretty low-key. I don't think I ever remember them being that quiet before. I guess the skating must have tired them out...you can link to my web album below. I forgot to take the camera skating, so I didn't get any pictures of Matt and Anne Marie's attempt at choreograpy, or of the Cadbury's magical elves who were there giving away chocolate.

Christmas party

Christmas Party!

 

Awwww...

"I will not die but live, and proclaim what the Lord has done."

I don't even know where to start! Such an amazing weekend - God used our little retreat to do some pretty cool stuff, and I'm so honoured to have been a part of that. I took the title of this post from a Psalm - I can't remember which right now, but it was another verse that meant a lot to me back in the days when I was going through the darkest times in my life. I knew that God would use my struggles for good, eventually, and to see that all come together this weekend just blew me away. It's amazing to see the Spirit working in my life, and bringing all the crap to work out for good. I had some good feedback, and that was really encouraging to hear.

Survivor has been my baby for the last six years, and I put all I can give into getting the weekend off the ground. This year it was even more personal, because of sharing my story, and by the time the last session and prayer time was over on Saturday night, I felt like that verse in Isaiah that says "I am poured out like a drink offering" - not only did I feel like I had nothing left to give, I couldn't stop crying for more then a few minutes at a time! Then Scott, Sam, Trevor and I ended up doing a worship set for the coffee house, and it was amazing. You know those moments where everything just comes together in perfect alignment, and you can feel the hand of God putting it that way? That was one of those moments - if I could just freeze that time and live in it forever, I totally would!

That's what I hope heaven will be like and is my favourite thing about retreats - the two gatherings I've been to, Crew training, the Crew alumni retreat, Survivor every year, TEC - just worshiping with people I love, who also love to worship Jesus. That, blog-readers, is what it's all about! The new Chris Tomlin CD has this song that goes "you and I were made to worship, you and I are called to love" - for me, that's the purpose of life on this earth right there. I love all those kids who were there this weekend, and a bunch of my dearest friends were there, as well as some of my youth, and it was phenomenal. It's been such a privilege to work with the group of people we have planning Survivor - not only are we coworkers in youth ministry, we're all friends, and we all have different gifts that complement each other - God sure knew what he was doing when he put us together! :)

You can check out some pics of us using our gifts here, and stay tuned for updates as more pics come in over the next couple of weeks. http://picasaweb.google.com/michelleheumann/SurvivorVII

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"