Self-DisciplineGot 'a hate it! Strangely, God has been teaching me a ton about this lately as I balance four distance courses (one is Greek=death), work at the restaurant and a butt load of other teaching ministry responsibilities. Just as I begin to accept this season that I'm in God's sense of humor kicks in. My friend from work owns a candy store and asked if I would take care of it for a few days while she is away. Candy, candy, chocolate, and more chocolate...everywhere! I can't stand it. I have to use my self-discipline practices wisely. Eat the candy...go poor (an get fatter) or stare at it all day, breathe it in and wish I had it. Here's the solution: carrots. Every time I want candy I eat a carrot, I'll be orange by the end of the weekend but it works. That's the key to this self discipline thing, find boundaries and honor them. Even if it's with something stupid like candy. It only take one excuse to make an army of bad decisions.

My favorite dead guy...

Today I read Making All Things New by Henri Nouwen. I love his writing and every time I read another one of his books I continue to walk away with a clearer picture of Christ. My favorite one so far is In the Name of Jesus but this one comes close. Here Nouwen paints picture for the disciplines of solitude and community in the "spiritual life". He puts a strong emphasis on prayer and the often overlooked value of the Holy Spirit in prayer he writes, "A spiritual discipline sets us free to pray or, to say it better, allows the Spirit of God to pray in us." I really don't like books so if you want something little (its about 100pgs) and thought provoking pick this one up, you'll be surprised at how a book written in '81 can be so revenant to a culture 25 years later

What a day! I was reminded of this happy little creature as I was waiting at Future Shop and the hostility of this cat explains everything. I was supposed to go computer shopping with my friend and her boyfriend (who's a computer geek) this morning but due to very unfortunate circumstances they weren't able to make it. So I decided to go to the city without them. I knew what I wanted but the guy at Staples want helpful AT ALL so I walked into Future Shop thinking they would be a wee bit more cheerful....no way! I wanted to smash every computer in the place. That's a little harsh but really I was mad. There wasn't much Christian love oozing from me. So it seems that I drove to Halifax for a medium single single. Now I need to go back and find a different computer (and hopefully a different sales associate) another day so I can start my classes. Now I don't even know what kind of computer to get.... Arrrrg.