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    Sunday, July 31, 2005
    Pottered Out
    Well, I would just like to say... holy crap.. i finnished the new Harry Potter book tonight and boy did it hit me smack in the face...

    After my all day reading, I went to the fireworks with some friends. It was fun except that it took us sooo long to get both there and back on public transit... nearly 2 hours coming home... seriously....not sure if it was worth it.

    Well, it's 1:40 am and craig and I are going to church in the morning so i better get to bed...
    posted by jamie @ 4:38 AM   2 comments
    Saturday, July 30, 2005
    a true day off
    Well I had a wonderful day off today. Craig came over for breakfast and we relaxed and read (He read Cider House Rules, while I read Harry Potter ;) and then went to the Library downtown, where I got the movie, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn", since i just finnished reading the book.

    We also went to the mall to pick up my ring, which i had taken in to get sized a bit smaller, and am very happy to have it back.

    We got home around 5, watched SVU (of course), and went to the park to lay in the grass and continue our reading, as we are both trying hard to finnish our books by tomorrow. All in all i'd say it was one of the most relaxing days i have had all summer and greatly appreciated it.
    posted by jamie @ 2:41 AM   0 comments
    Friday, July 29, 2005
    Top 4
    Hello Everyone
    Well, I am writing in very high sprirts here, even though its after midnight, for 4 reasons:

    1) The YWAM Staff and I worked our butts off today, moving out of our office storage unit, so i am so glad to be done with that and home resting, and my muscles feel like they had a good work out today.
    2) I just got back from a wedding shower for my friend ange and that was a lot of fun hanging with all the girls and celebrating her
    3) I get the day off tomorrow!!
    4) My friend Lindsey just lent me the new HARRY POTTER BOOK! yay i can finally catch up with everyone else!
    posted by jamie @ 3:03 AM   0 comments
    Tuesday, July 26, 2005
    first call
    Anyone catch Mariska Hargitay on Jay Leno tonight? They showed a clip of SVU season 7!! How exciting... ;)

    Well everyone, I did it. I answered my first phone call today on the crisis line. It went really well.. i was extremely nervous but God gave me tons of strength and encouragment in many ways today. The phone call went really well and I really felt like I was able to connect with the person I got to talk to. I count it an honor.
    posted by jamie @ 3:24 AM   1 comments
    Sunday, July 24, 2005
    waiting to exhale
    Hello everyone. It's been a great weekend with lots of relaxing for me. Today we are taking the Mission Adventures Participants up the mountain for a cookout and prayer time over the city. It's a nice day and hopefully i can get a good tan.

    Tomorrow I start my first monitoring session on the phone lines at the crisis centre. I am there from 4 - 8pm and then on tuesday from 4-10. It's going to be a long 2 days but after the first few calls i take and debrief with a staff member, hopefully i will feel like i have got the hang of it!

    p.s. has anyone ever read 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'? I am in the middle of it now..what a great book!
    posted by jamie @ 1:57 PM   0 comments
    Friday, July 22, 2005
    Well Everyone, here are some pics from this crazy week I have been talking about. What a blast.

    Today is the beginning of the outreach phase for the participants, where they will be working with a number of ministrys and doing various jobs serving the city of Vancouver. For example, they will be giving roses to prostitutes, serving many meals in local soup kitchens (as well as eating in them), cleaning, picking up garbage, putting on church services, meeting lots of people, and hopefully applying the things they have learned already.

    posted by jamie @ 4:40 PM   3 comments
    I made it!
    Well, my week is officially done tonight... it was a looong week, but so wonderful for many reasons. First of all, I am feeling more mental energy than i have in months. Which doesn't make much sense because we've basically been working hard from 8:30am till after 10 at night. But, THE LORD HAS TRULY GIVEN ME MY STRENGTH!

    I don't know how to explain this well, but this group of young people we had this week are so amazing... they are kids from all over the States and Canada, who came on this 'mission trip' to serve. Little did they know that the first 4 days of their 10 day work trip, is purely just for them... it is full of teaching - on prayer, worship, and life. It is challenging for them and refreshing...and I tell you these kids have CHANGED since monday night. God has SPOKEN to many of them for the very first time... they have allowed themselves to be challenged in how they live thier lives, and have layed down shame, fear, anger, and many things that have been holding them back. They have gotten a new look at what Jesus did for THEM on the cross...they've gotten a chance to sit alone before God and wait in expectation for Him to speak... they have allowed Him to speak truth over them, and bring out passion. Some have even had COUNTRIES put on their hearts!! I can't beleive I get to do this for a living!
    posted by jamie @ 3:15 AM   0 comments
    Wednesday, July 20, 2005
    keep truckin
    Well, things have been going pretty well so far this week. We've already had 4 sessions with the 60 participants for Mission Adventures, and we have 2 more still. It's been busy, but fun. And last night I had a break from MA and went to another trianing night for the crisis centre. My first time actually taking calls will be this monday!!! ahhh! i am nervous but excited to get going with it.

    I am going to try and get some pics on here of us playing in the Worship band tonight. Thanks everyone for reading and supporting me in all this!!
    posted by jamie @ 6:06 PM   1 comments
    Monday, July 18, 2005
    BEAutiful

    Today was an abslolutely beautiful day! It was hot and sunny and not a cloud in the sky. I spent the whole morning laying out on my deck that overlooks my beautiful city, feeling great about life. Got a little sunburned (dont tell my mom ;) but it will turn into a nice tan i think.

    After a morning of relaxing, i went to The Drive where I caught the end of Craig's basketball game, hung out with him for about 45 minutes in the park while we watched the kids in the park run through the sprinklers, and then it was off to more training for the crisis centre. It went well tonight, more observation on real calls coming in. i can be on the lines as early as wednesday! Yikes! But I am definetly feeling more ready by the day...

    This picture here is a picture of my mom walking on the beach in NY. Wish i could teleport myself there!! But, its going to be a good week, and starting tomorrow morning I will be pretty much full time with Mission Adventures for this week. We have 6 large group sessions where I will be leading the musical worship, between now and thursday, so I am glad i got a restful weekend cause things are going to get busy in about 8 hours from now.. yikes i better get to bed...
    posted by jamie @ 3:01 AM   1 comments
    Saturday, July 16, 2005
    Potter Craze
    Good morning everyone,
    just wanted to show you all my support for the new Harry Potter book that came out today! In honor of that i will be wearing my Malfoy shirt MWA HAHAHAHAAAAAA
    posted by jamie @ 10:46 AM   1 comments
    sol.i.tude
    1. The state or quality of being alone or remote from others.
    2. A lonely or secluded place.


    This weekend all of the YWAM staff went to Whistler to stay in a hotel, for a mid- Mission Adventures retreat. I wasn't able to go with them because I have more training for the Crisis Centre tomorrow that I couldn't miss. So i will be spending the majority of this weekend alone, which in one way is sad, but hopefully it will be relaxing. I plan to do a lot of reading and sleeping in between my training tomorrow morning and sunday evening.

    Craig and I have been thinking alittle more about a wedding date. Ideally for us, we would like to get married in april or may. But because of some of my family's school schedules, this would be nearly impossible to get everyone here. So, I think we will try to have it in June, as soon as school is done for everyone. That is still 11 months away, which seems like an eternity...but you gotta do what you gotta do. And my family is very important to me and I definetly want them all there. So, as soon as we know more and talk to my folks, we'll start letting people know.

    I cannot wait to marry the love of my life ;)
    posted by jamie @ 1:18 AM   0 comments
    Thursday, July 14, 2005
    rockstar
    For our next Mission Advnetures Program, I am going to be leading all the musical worship. The team arrives monday, and leaves 10 days later. I am alittle nervous because it has been awhile since i last led worship, especially for 70 crazy teenagers. But I think it will go okay, and one thing that is neat is i have a violinist that is going to play with my team, which really adds alot. Only thing we don't have is a bass player, which is a bummer.

    We play during the first week about 2 times a day, in the morning session and evening session. They have done a really good job putting together the training sessions this year, and each day focuses on a different topic. Kids lives are changing and they are gaining a clearer understanding of who they are and the calling on their lives. It's exciting to be a part of.
    posted by jamie @ 5:59 PM   1 comments
    Wednesday, July 13, 2005
    grace

    grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us MORE
    no amount of spiritual calisthenics and renunciations,
    no amount of knowledge gained from seminaries and divinity schools
    no amount of crusading on behalf of righteous causes.

    and grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us LESS
    no amount of racism
    or pride
    or pornography
    or adultery
    or even murder -phillip yancey



    was watching oprah today, and there was an interview of a
    husband who had murdered his wife. He was a pastor, who had been depressed for a while. He finally snapped. while he was in prison, he prayed to God for forgiveness. He brutally murdered his wife and tried to hide it. Does he still get to go to heaven?

    i dont understand grace... it is truly much bigger than anything this world can imagine. All i want to know is how can anybody not beleive in God, not try to begin to accept and understand his grace?
    posted by jamie @ 7:38 PM   1 comments
    home sweet home
    had a good day today....slept in, went to work, went to training at the crisis centre, and back in my appartment by 11pm.

    I think things are really starting to pick up here in YWAM Vancouver. It seems that we are all getting more involved in our community. You know most of us came here right after high school, and it's taken some time to really settle in Vancouver, far away from our homes. I would say the change for me really started happening after my 2 year committment ended, and i decided to continue working with YWAM because of my love for the mission and the city, and for what i was doing. And now even more so as i involve myself in the crisis centre, my heart continues to grow not only for people, but for vancouver.

    I miss my family though, and am looking forward to seeing them at Christmas. The picture is of me and my brother, Jason. He's a great guy and i wish we could hang out more.
    posted by jamie @ 2:15 AM   1 comments
    Tuesday, July 12, 2005
    my community

    Just feeling sentimental tonight... craig, audrey and I just had a great conversation about changes we've seen and want to see here in YWAM Vancouver. I am very greatful for my community here.

    I had a good day today, got up at 5:45 am to do breakfast prep for the 65 youth we have serving with us this week, and then went into the ministry centre for the first time in a while. I appreciated the night off from the crisis centre, though i must return tomorrow night for more training.

    Just wanted to give a shout to my friends Audrey and Rachel, who on wednesday, depart on their journey to Japan. Way to follow your dreams girls, God is giving you the desires of your heart!!!! They are naming their outreach "The Eve Project" because the name 'Eve' means 'life'. They are going to bring life.
    posted by jamie @ 2:36 AM   1 comments
    Monday, July 11, 2005
    wow..

    tonight i went to my first observation meeting for the crisis line... I honestly do not know how i am going to be able to go on with this. Yet i know God wants me there so that i can hopefully be a light to some people and be able to pray for them... i dont understand how i will be able to talk to the callers without desperetly wanting to tell them that there is hope and that God loves them so much and wants to help them and heal them....

    what do you say to people who are hopeless, without sharing with them your own source of life? I am at a loss...and as far as i know, i am the only christian in my group that i am training with right now.

    We listened in on 5 different callers, and surprisingly the first call was someone wanting to committ suicide. I basically cried through the whole call. It wasnt just hearing about callers anymore - it was a live and hurting human being on the other end. I am so glad we didnt have to answer the calls yet.. only listen on speaker phone to our instructer answering them. I feel like i need weeks more training and listening to other people's calls before i am ready to answer them on my own, yet i only get one more observation time with a few days more training before they put us on the lines. wow.... God i need your strenth to get through this.......... I will not give up though -- and dang it if i feel like i am suppose to share the gospel with someone on the phone i will have to do it even if they kick me off!! Imagine getting to heaven and hearing about all the people that just needed to hear that there was hope, and that there was a God who loved them and died for them?
    posted by jamie @ 2:08 AM   1 comments
    Sunday, July 10, 2005
    A New Experience
    well, today i had my first training day at the vancouver youth crisis line. it was very interesting... I was surprised to find out that it is really just 90% repeating back to them how they are feeling and validating that... It feels alittle funny saying every 2 seconds, "so it sounds like you are feeling..." but i guess it makes sense because most of the people that call in are really just looking to be heard. I have my first monitoring session tomorrow night where i will be listening in on real calls, so i am looking forward to that.

    I do have to say i am a bit nervous about working on the crisis line. But there is a lot more training that will give us steps to handle any and every case possible... I'll keep you posted as to how it goes.
    posted by jamie @ 3:20 AM   1 comments
    Friday, July 08, 2005
    Check 'em out

    i just wanted to give a shout out to my good friends elliot and olivia...

    just incase any of you havent met them yet, you can check them out at 10pm tuesday nights.

    I promise you you will not regret it.

    peace

    jamie

    posted by jamie @ 3:16 PM   3 comments
    Tuesday, July 05, 2005
    wow..
    Chaos & Order

    hey wow diane mcmahon replied to my entry, that was really cool. Thanks diane, sorry i wasnt at cornerstone... i wanted to be there so bad. We sent some other staff to go this time.... dang...

    well just wanted to say today that once again I am reminded that my God is a provider for his children. Why do i let myself worry - he hasn't failed me yet...i have never gone hungry or missed a rent payment...
    posted by jamie @ 2:41 PM   2 comments
    Monday, July 04, 2005
    Thinking...
    Chaos & Order

    Last night was a really good night of many realizations... i woke up this morning with a renewed trust that God really does have a purpose for me on this earth, and he wants me to find that out little by little, day by day.

    It gets confusing because i dont exactly feel like i am living 'my dreams' because i am not exactly sure what they are. I know i love psychology and child social issues, criminal psychology and justice. But how do i work in those areas? Do i want to get a degree? Do i need a degree? I know that school is not the answer to everything... but it might be good to get the education and training. I dont know though.. i love missions, i am a missionary at heart...and as hard as living on support is, living by faith is very fulfilling. And it's good for me to develop self control and character by going through tough times.

    The only other place i could see myself living right now is New York City...I love that city. But Craig and I looked at NYU this morning and it is nearly 40,000$ a year!! yikes...impossible with man, but with God all things are possible! who the heck knows what will happen..
    posted by jamie @ 9:10 PM   0 comments
    Sunday, July 03, 2005
    We're engaged!

    Hey everyone! Well as most of you may have heard, Craig and I are engaged as of July 1st!

    I'll tell you the story... turns out he's been waiting to do this for a little while now. Bought the ring back in early june even! But during the time he was originally planning on proposing, i had gotten sick so he decided to wait for the perfect time. Well, friday honestly had seemed anything but perfect... it had been raining all day, i was in a bad mood from having to work on a holiday (canada day), yadda yadda....But finally around 8:30 or 9pm he got me down by the water where we sometimes like to sit and watch the sun set. At first we were just talking... and then he said "i have a question for you." when he said that i all of the sudden got really nervous, cause i was just like..no this cant be...and then he got on one knee and right away i said "Are you serious?!" befor he even said anything! He asked me to marry him...and i was in shock but said "Yeah!" It was cute and very surprising. I wasn't expecting it thats for sure. But I am happy and would be honoured to be his wife. We arent sure on a date yet but are thinking about getting married some time this spring/summer. We will see though.
    posted by jamie @ 2:53 PM   1 comments

    About Me

    Name: jamie
    Home: St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
    About Me: I am an American living in Ontario. I've just recently started going to school again for a BA in Human Services. I like mexican and indian food and watching tv way more than the average individual. I absolutely love talking to my parents on the phone and my brother is one of my best friends. I'm married to a great guy whose pretty much the exact opposite of me but he loves me and makes laugh and we have a lot of fun. I didn't always feel this way, but these days I'm feelin' pretty good. That's my life, welcome to chaos and order.
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