A week in Cow-Town

This past week Charity and I flew out to Alberta to spend some time with her family. We arrived into Calgary last Friday night and then drove to Peters' Drive In. If you ever go to Calgary this is a MUST! We snacked on Milkshakes & Onion rings at like 10:30pm...mmm! We then drove to Lethbridge where I was able to connect with some good friends who are in the trenches of youth ministry alongside me. It was a great time to share what God has been doing in my life, and in the church...

Monday my friend JiMi and I headed up to Calgary for the day. We spent some time in IKEA, walking throuh Chinook Mall, and then headed to my hotel. Thanks to my brother's fiance who works for Delta...I got a sweet room overlooking the Bow River. The hotel is also right next to Calgary's China Town...and since my buddy JiMi is chinese he took me to this amazing Chinese Restaurant where we gorged on some greasy, yet very delicious food.

The reason I was in Calgary was for a SonLife Youth Ministry Training Seminar. It was a small group of people (4) who signed up for this...so it allowed us to have some really deep conversations. The whole seminar was really relaxed and casual. Our facilitator was an awesome guy, and I really appreciated his layed-back style.
I was able to take some walks around downtown Calgary to see the sites...and I was quite impressed. Downtown Calgary is quite similar to downtown Vancouver. I walked to a place called Eau-Claire Market which reminded me of Granville Island. It was a good week...but it's great to be back home in BC.

Peace:

Ty

Happy 1st Birthday Blog

Yup, today is my blog's 1st birthday. Wow, I can't beleive I've wasted an entire year blogging on this site. Now to sit back an imagine what this past year could have been like without me spending insane amounts of time posting comments, stories, rants etc...

Thanks to all of you who have frequented my site. It's all beacuse of you that I do this...well that and it's another excuse for me to make people listen to me! Let's be honest now!

*On another totally different note...tommorow Charity and I fly out to Lethbridge. She'll be spending the entire week out there, while I will be heading back up to Calgary on Tuesday April 24th for a 3 day Youth Ministry Conference. I'll be sure to post something while I am away. I hope that my brother's fiance was able to upgrade my hotel room so that I get free Wi-Fi. *FINGERS CROSSED* Have a great week...

Blessings,

Ty

GREAT WASTE OF TIME!

For all of you who have fallen in love with websites like despair.com now you have the opportunity to create your very own! I could create these things for hours! Take the time to really get your creative juices flowing for this...

Click here:

Enjoy,

Ty

What were those Amish thinking?

picture taken from pomomusings blog

Seriously? I know that there are some pretty bad town names out there...many of which are right here in Canada: Uren, Piapot, Lower-Sackville, Crotch Lake, Dildo...but you have to giggle when you look at that sign. And to think that this is located right smack-dab in the middle of Amish Country!!! For a more detailed explanation of why this town is called Intercourse please click here:

Many of you are probably thinking "you have way too much time on your hands" to be looking up this stuff...but I would argue. The guy who wrote the song about Intercourse, Pensylviania has WAY more time on his hands. To listen to the song follow these directions:

1) Click here:
2) Scroll down the page
3) The song is 4th from the top in the blue "Silly Con Queso" section.

Anyways, that's my entry for today. Yup, it's one of those days where I just don't feel like posting something serious. I hope you had a good laugh.

Peace:

Ty

faith like a child

is it just me? is there anyone else out there in their 20's, 30's those years where we are seeking meaning, purpose, direction--anyone out there who's a little stressed, overwhelmed, heavy-burdened, lost, confused?

for many of us we've just spent the last 4-5 years cramming an infinite amount of knowledge into a brain that seeems to clearly have a finite limit of space. some of us are still cramming (i love you sweety & i'm really proud of you.) and in our overly educated culture there are words that don't seem to fit...yet they came from someone who i feel diffinately understood people, culture, the needs & wants...Jesus.

here's what he said:
"Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom"

what does this mean for us today? i can assure you that it's no stretch for me break out in some childish antics....i still enjoy living like a little kid...goofing around...making *noises*, and all that fun stuff. but the preasures of being an "adult" sure seem to suck to fun out of life sometimes. how do you deal with this apparent dichotomy? have you found a way of becoming elemental again like Jesus said?

maybe some of these pictures will help us become more elemental and re-focus our lives into the simplicity of a little child... pure... honest... real... blunt...




(click on the pictures to see them larger)

i think that i would pray more if i didn't still have these pre-conceived ideas that prayer was supposed to be some formally crafted--eloquent--rehearsed--perfect choise of words. ever felt this way? i ask myself if i can remember the last time that i just talked with God...can i remember that. can you? how can a relationship be expected to grow if there isn't communication? how else do we truly get to know someone if we don't talk, listen, spend time with?

i want to live a life that is real, authentic, random, somewhat chaotic. i feel that God wants us to live a similar life...one where we realize that all these "adult" stresses that we have are mere blips on God's radar...yet to us it seems like the end of the world as we know it.

i want to live a life like that of a child...Jesus help me figure this out...help us all figure this out. help us to become elemental and simple...teach us to live a life like that of a child again...

trying not to grow up...

ty