Words: How Do They Affect Us?

What Is The Thing That You Like Most About Yourself?

It’s sad that I can ask this question and a lot of people will have to stop and think about their answer but if I were to ask “What Is The Thing You Dislike Most About Yourself?” many people would have no problem coming up with an answer quickly. I think that this is partly because of the society we have been raised in and how it tells us that we need to be perfect in every way and it is partly because of these words that people have said to us, the ones that just tore us apart inside, the ones that we have hung onto for so long, the ones that we let define us. Instead of asking you what you don’t like about yourself, I want to ask you this: “What Is Something About Yourself That You Need To Offer To God In Order For Him To Change It?”

I have noticed throughout my life that we let the things that others say to us or about us define us. We allow the things that people say change us and shape us into someone different; sometimes we change how we act and think to make ourselves into the person that people say that we should be. This is something that I was thinking about all night last night while I couldn’t sleep. Right now I want to encourage those of you that are reading this to think about how you have allowed the things that others say to shape you throughout your life and then think about what God says about you in his word or the things that you have heard him say to you. Are we allowing ourselves to be changed for the better by what the people around us say? Or are we focusing on the words that have hurt us? What I think that we as a Christian community need to do is not  focus so much on the hurtful things that people may have said but think about the things that God has said about us and allow those things to change us for the better.

I know that this post is shorter and I hope that it makes sense to everyone. I just felt that I should write about these things that I was thinking about throughout the night. If you have any thoughts on this subject please comment on it. I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings about this!

Coffee House Talk

We had a coffee house in the administration building here at Bethany College. The coffee house setting proved to be a great place for amazing discussion and building friendships. We all ended up having some great discussions about different situations and feelings that come up in life and how those situations and the feelings that we have as a result of these situations change us and shape us into who we are as a person, as a follower of Christ.


Who Are We? Who Do We See Ourselves As?

I feel that it is important to start here with the questions “Who are we? Who do we see ourselves as?” I think that by allowing each of us to ask ourselves these question it helps us to really look inside of ourselves behind all of the masks, walls, defenses and fronts that we put up for people around us and really think about who we see ourselves as and who we think we are rather than who the people around us think we are because of the false masks and walls that we put up in order to please others. I really encourage anyone that is reading this to take a few moments and think and ask yourself those questions “Who am I? Who do I see myself as?” Our conversation lead us to the topic of drugs or alcohol and how some people say that when someone has been abusing one of these substances they say that the person revealed during the time that they are under the influence, is the person that they really are emerges. I believe this is because they aren’t thinking about keeping up the masks and walls because they are not thinking clearly during this time. In some ways I do agree with that statement but I disagree with it in many ways. I agree that when a person is under the influence that there are masks that come off and walls that come down but I have also seen that a person’s morals and how they will react to different situations changes as well. One example is that a person who has given into temptation and is under the influence will sometimes not stick to their Christian morals at that time and say or do things that they wouldn’t normally do because of their morals and Christian values. In this situation I don’t believe that what others see is who that individual really is as a person, but rather who we all really are as mankind. When someone is intoxicated I believe that what we are really seeing is how we as humans have been born into a world of sin, tragedy and devastation. So instead of seeing who that individual really is while they are intoxicated, we are seeing who we are as mankind; we are imperfect beings that have been born into sin and are in desperate need of a savior that will guide us and never run out of love and patience as we continue to make mistakes and sin throughout our lives.

Who Has God Created Us To Be?

Once we have allowed ourselves to ask who we are and who we really see ourselves as I believe it is important to continue on to asking “Who Has God Created Me To Be?” and “Am I Allowing God To Shape Me Into Who He Has Created Me To Be?” We need to make sure that we ask this question with an open mind and an acceptance of who God is shaping us into or we won’t get very far. We also had to be completely open and honest with ourselves when we asked who we really are and who do we see ourselves as and that is a hard thing to do a lot of the time because sometimes we find things that we don’t like or things that we know we need to change but aren’t quite ready to let go of. Asking ourselves “Who has God created me to be?” can be even harder than the previous questions in my opinion. I believe that it can be harder to ask this question honestly, and completely pursue an answer because all of us have things in our lives that we have planned out and sometimes our plans are not even close to what God has planned in order to continue shaping us into who He created us to be. Letting go of our plans in order to allow ourselves to be open to God’s work in shaping us into who he created us to be can be incredibly painful and scary because we need to just rely on faith that God knows what he is doing and will take us in the right direction at this point. One major thing that makes it hard for many of us is the fact that we are no longer in control, instead we just need to trust that God knows what he is doing. Even though this process is terrifying sometimes I believe that we as Christians really need to make an everyday effort to ask this question and then allow God to work within us.

I want to encourage the people that are reading this to think about all of the questions asked here and then use the comments box to respond to them. The reason that I think it is important to respond to the questions in the comment box is it will help us to have a better understanding of who the people in our community really are as individuals and I also think that the way we respond to each other and help others in areas that they struggle in will also allow us to see more clearly who we are as a community.

I also want to point something out before I finish writing this post and that is that what is written here is my own personal opinion and I am in no way saying what I think is the only truth, it is just my opinion and that is why I encourage people to read this and comment on it in order to share their opinion.

That’s all for tonight.

Have a good one!

-Aaron.

The Best & The Worst

The other night I met up with a few of the guys here at school and we decided to go on a burger run (when you leave the college and go to the city, eat some burgers and then come back). I went with three of the guys that are at Bethany this year, one guy that I know from last year and two of the freshman. It was an amazing trip to the city and back where we were able to learn about each other and start some new friendships. Even though it does cost money to hop in a car, drive to the city, get burgers and drive back it was completely worth it and I am confident that I couldn’t ever even come close to putting a price tag on the experience and conversations that we had while we got to know each other and build new friendships. The guy that came with us that I knew from last year was David and the freshman guys were Eric and Jeff.


Most of the conversation that I had was between Jeff and myself while I was driving us into the city and then we were all able to sit down and talk for a while as a group. One of the topics that we got into that I found really interesting and meaningful consisted of two questions; “What is the worst? And what is the best?” As each of us answered these two questions while munching on our burgers we were able to learn a lot about each other as well as ourselves. I decided to post my answers to these two questions on my blog and encourage others to comment and answer these two questions themselves.

What Is The Worst?

Personally, the thing that I believe is the worst is when an innocent person is punished or hurt in any way and they have no power to stop what is happening in whatever situation they are in and they don’t have the power to stop the pain that they are experiencing (When I say pain I don’t only mean physical pain but any kind of pain that a person could feel).

The reason that I chose this answer is because I feel that I can relate well to people and how they feel that may find themselves in a situation like the above. I feel that I can relate to these people and how they feel in some way is because I have to deal with physical and emotional pain every day because of having a serious medical condition that I will most likely struggle with for the rest of my life. I am powerless to change the fact that I am sick and in pain and I am unable to stop the pain that I deal with every day. I hope that answer and explanation make at least a little bit of sense.

What Is The Best?

I believe that the thing that is the best is being able to be loved and forgiven time and time again by God even though I continue to make mistakes and will never be perfect. It is the best to know that God’s love for me will never run out or stop no matter what happens and even though he knows that I will continue to make mistakes and need forgiveness from him in the future because we as humans are imperfect beings because we have been born into a world of sin.

I don’t think that my answer to “What is the best?” needs an explanation just because to me my answer seems pretty straight forward. If you are reading this and you do feel that this answer does require more explanation please feel free to post a comment and I will do my best to explain it more.

The reason I felt it was so important to post my answers to these questions on my blog is because I feel like these are important questions to ask ourselves and even others in order to get a better idea of where we stand and what we believe about the best and the worst. I am also just really excited to share this because it just goes to show how a person can start a sweet new friendship with someone or learn more about someone that they already know just by hopping into a car and driving from Hepburn to Saskatoon for a burger run. I’m not saying that burgers and cars need to be involved but what I am trying to get across is the importance of making an effort to spend time with someone that you don’t know or even someone you do know and just talk with them about anything. It is amazing what can come out of these conversations.

I want to encourage those of you that are reading this to post in the comment box what your answers are to “What is the best? And What is the worst?”

Time for me to go to supper.

Cheers.

The Invasion Of The Freshmen – Bethany College

The first move in the invasion was made by the freshman (well at least from my point of view). I was in bed and even though it was about 12:30pm I was still asleep (what can I say? There were a lot of old friends from last year to catch up with that I went to school with last year) when I heard the first car door slam. As I slowly managed to wake myself up I heard the clicking of someone trying to punch in the code for the men’s dorm and failing to gain access every time. As I sat up in bed I smiled to myself and thought back to my first day at Bethany College, I felt lost, confused and frustrated beyond all belief that I couldn’t get that stupid door to the men’s dorm open. Once I had the sense to go and ask someone what the code was and write it down on my hand, I decided to stop by the washroom in the main administration building quickly before heading over to the dorm to move all of my things in. Needless to say that after washing my hands the code was no longer there and I failed to notice this until I was once again standing outside the door holding as much of my stuff that I could possibly carry desperately trying to remember the code that I had written down just six minutes ago. Luckily for me, there just happened to be a returning student coming up the pathway to the dorm who did remember the security code for the day. Much of my first few weeks at Bethany consisted of events similar to this. I had an amazing ability to immediately completely forget most of the important information that was shared with me causing me to feel and I’m sure look like a complete fool.

Yes, the freshman experience is an amazing one, filled with adventure, confusion and a lot of desperately trying to remember everyone’s names as well as where everything on campus is. I am really super excited that the first years showed up today. I have met all of the guys in my dorm unit and even though I have only spoken to each one briefly they seem like a really cool and fun group of guys. This year my RA’s (Resident Assistant) name is Eric Penner. The RAs in the dorms are a group of guys that each live with and oversee one unit of the dorm each. The reason I am so excited for Eric to be my RA this year is because he was in the same unit as me last year and he is just a super sweet guy with an amazing heart for God and serving others. Even though Eric is a second year student here at Bethany and I am a fourth year student I have no problems with him being in an authority position over me because we are friends and I know that he is not the kind of guy that makes sure everyone he has authority over knows it and acts like he is superior to us. Eric is the kind of guy that is always there to talk if you need him; he is always willing to help out anyone with anything anytime no matter what and he is an amazing man of God that allows God to show his love through him all the time with everyone that he comes in contact with. All these qualities that Eric has are a big part of why I am excited to have him as and RA this year but the main reason that I am happy about it is because he had a bottle of ‘Green Apple Jones Soda’ and a note saying “welcome home Aaron!” waiting for me in my room on my desk when I arrived at school on Friday …. Lol Just kidding that’s not the main reason but it does play a pretty big part in my excitement.

I am really looking forward to how God is going to be working in my life throughout this school year even though I have already been turned down to play in the main chapel band here already without even being given a chance to prove that I can do it (you can read about my feelings about that in my previous blog that I believe I wrote and posted yesterday). Despite this setback I still believe that God will have big things in store for me as an individual and Bethany as a community this year.

Before I finsh up this post I do have one confession to make especially for any freshman that are reading this; even though this is my fourth year here, I still had to go back and ask someone to tell me what the dorm code is again and or let me in several times since Friday afternoon already. Oh the humility …. I am pretty sure I have it memorized now though however, I can’t share it with you in this post because it is very much against the school rules and I would have to pay $250.00 that I don’t have for a fine for distributing the code publicly. Sorry first year guys, you are on your own there unless you really can’t get in I would be more than happy to help you out if you personally come and ask me to let you in (only if you are a student living in the dorm).

That’s all I have as far as insane ramblings about that first day at Bethany College for now. Good luck first years! I’m really happy you guys are here and I look forward to getting to know you!

Rejected …. Again

The Question Of Why God Gives Us Gifts And Abilities Just To Allow Us To Get Rejected From Opportunities To Use Them....

Today was the orientation and registration day for the returning students here at Bethany College. It is one of those days that I dislike the most about the beginning of the school year. The reason I don’t like it is because for orientation all of us returning students have to sit and listen to announcements about the upcoming year. Some of them are new information that is very helpful but a lot of them are just things that we have heard and been through already in our past few years here. After the announcements and such we all have to go and register for classes and give all of our student information that the school needs as well as sign p to try out for sports teams and music teams like hockey or chapel band, stuff like that.

This is my fourth year here at Bethany College. Every year I signed up to try out for chapel band (the main worship team that represents Bethany when they go play at churches, at the school or for Youth Advance) and every year I try out and I don’t get picked. This year was different though, this year I went and saw the person in charge of the tryouts to get onto the chapel band and I wasn’t even given a chance to try out because I have a physical medical condition and therefore I am unreliable.

What I don’t understand is why does God give us gifts and talents and then allow the door to be slammed shut in my face when I want to use them to worship him? Why doesn’t he put it on people’s hearts and minds to just give me a chance and trust him that he won’t allow me being sick to get in the way of being on a music team that worships him?

Why has God allowed me to be rejected again just to walk back to my room and break down while wondering if I am really so useless because of my medical condition that I can’t even play drums on the main worship team here at school?

Rejected …. Again

You Know What It's Like To Believe....

The ash set in then blew away
It's getting lost into the sea
I grew so close to all the thoughts I had, to leave forever.
I left the chill and voice of screams and kids,
And ran for shelter.

You know I won't say sorry.
you know I won't say sorry.
The pain has a bad reaction.
A blend of fear and passion.
You know what it's like to believe,
It makes me wanna scream.

I see a glow from far away
A faint reflection on the sea
I left some words quite far from here to be a short reminder.
I laid them out in stone in case they need to last forever.

You know I won't say sorry.
you know I won't say sorry.
The pain has a bad reaction.
A blend, of fear and passion.
You know what it's like to believe,
It makes me wanna scream.

I see the stars they’re in your eyes
A playful kiss, can't you tell I'm excited?
A fast escape in the nick of time
You lost your wish, can I help you to find it?
I'm on my knee, just one to start
A fresh new start, Don't be undecided

If love’s a word, that you say
Then say it, I will listen

If love’s a word, that you say
Then say it, I will listen

If love’s a word, that you say
Then say it, I will listen

If love’s a word, that you say
Then say it, I will listen

If love’s a word, that you say
Then say it, I will listen

If love’s a word, that you say
Then say it, I will listen








Start The Machine - A&A

I QUIT!

So apparently my debit card is completely useless now which is just fanfrickentastic (yea it’s quite the word). I think that it’s just wonderful that the bank didn’t bother to call me to tell me that they were deactivating it so I could tell them I QUIT! and then slam down the phone. Heck even a letter would have been nice so I could have looked at it, slammed my fist down on the table and then angrily torn the letter up but of course they didn’t give me the satisfaction of being able to do either of those things that I so dearly love to do. When I did call the bank they told me that it was deactivated because it was used at a place that is suspected of skimming which is apparently when the debit machine is tampered with to record the card information and then if they get your pin number they can empty your account. Lucky for me I didn’t lose anything but the convenience of having a debit card that works.
So for those of you that were bored enough to read through that whole pointless story about what happened to me today here is an explanation for why I wrote it: My grandma insisted that I play a card game for a long time that she finds entertaining but meanwhile I’m sitting there bored out of my tree, heck I won’t even have a tree anymore by the time this ends. Anyway the reason I wrote it is because I was bored and apparently somewhat distracted.

Back To School – Year Four At Bethany College

Tomorrow, Friday September 3, 2010 is the day that I go back to Bethany College in Hepburn Saskatchewan and move back into the dorm for another year of school. The moving part is the least fun and then once I get to the paying for it part I’m not having any fun at all any more especially because I don’t have any money to pay for school with this year because I worked at camp for the summer. Right now I am just trusting that God will provide the funds that I need in order to pay for school. I trust that because he called me to work at camp this summer where it was obvious that I wouldn’t make much money that he will somehow help me find a way to pay for school this year. Overall I am really looking forward to being back at Bethany and seeing my friends from there again but at the same time I am really missing my friends from Camp Evergreen. That’s all I feel like saying right now.

The Loss Of A Wonderful Friend & A Wish To Stop The Pain That Comes With That Loss

As some of you may know a good friend of mine passed away on Thursday, August 19th 2010. At the time I was working at Camp Evergreen in Alberta. Christina was an amazing young woman with a passion for telling people about God and helping others. She was going to the U of S in Saskatoon to become a nurse. This choice of career fit right in with her personality and her passion for helping anyone in need no matter what. Christina grew up in Austria with her Mom, Dad and younger brother. She had gone back home to visit them for a few weeks before she would have to move all of her belongings into her dorm room and prepare for her final year of training to become an RN. As she was driving to the airport to fly back to Canada she was involved in a car accident and unfortunately died while the EMTs were working on her at the scene. This loss of a wonderful twenty year old woman who loved Christ and never hesitated to put others before herself has shocked her friends and family. Personally I can’t help but ask God why he would allow this to happen. Why would he let such a wonderful young woman that was an example of his love in everything that she did and everywhere she went die so suddenly at such a young age? I can’t even begin to understand his plan in this situation or how he could possibly make something good come out of this. In the aftermath of her death her father gave his life to Christ and that is amazing but my question for God is this: Could she have not lead so many more people to you and spread your love in so many more places if she were alive today and she didn’t have to die so young? This is a question that I don’t know if I will get an answer to in this life. As her friends and family grieve her loss and try to make sense of a difficult situation I just pray that we can have faith in God and find comfort in him.

Sometimes There Are No Words, No Clever Quotes To Sum Up What’s Happened That Day. Sometimes You Do Everything Right, Everything Exactly Right, And Still You Feel Like You Failed, Did It Need To End That Way? Could Something Have Been Done To Prevent This Tragedy? I Miss You Christina....

Figure It Out, Try To Set It Up, Get Mad At It, Get It Done Right And Finish It

So today I set up my first blog. It was an interesting eperiance to say the least. Due to this site having everything that has to do with setting up a blog so "user friendly" and easy to do it makes it harder for those of us with advanced computer skills to get everything exactly the way we want it because the silly site won't let you! Anyway I just thought I should throw my first post on here and then go do something else because I'm tired of the blog thing for right now after getting it all set up. I'll be back tomorrow with a real post about what may or may not be going on in my life.

I QUIT!!

Goodnight All.