Dream Inspired

This was a piece inspired by our very own, Nathan Wolfe. He has very vivid dreams and this is a reflection of one of them! :) Have a good one!

Independence Igloos

Greetings all! I'll be posting up my prayer letter soon. The one for VTI. So, yeah, I've been chilling here this evening listening to 'GEtting into You' by Relient K... I've been lounging around laughing with K, and Dave Joseph, um... and Cathy, a friend of my mom's. Yeah, we've been laughing so much... I'd say that I've laughed so much I feel like I ran ten miles, but it's my face that hurts.

**
I just thought that I'd note that this blog is committed to the highest standards of broadcasting...and as such we've been eating all the freshest pineapples...
**

Don't ask...

It's one of those days I suppose. Yeah, those days where you wonder in your bed... 'Oh.. I hope I can get back those IQ points...' Yeah. It's tough, but I enjoy being me, and I enjoy it when people can be their me with me.

You know those zits that are really red, and you get them on your nose and they hurt alot? Yeah... They hurt a lot. That and I'm looking for a new job.

Did you know Karina has this thing with popping zits? That's why I don't tell her about the really painful ones on my face... *_^

Yeah... check out my photo webpage, I try to regularily update it with new ones, even if they're old ones. ^_^

Have a wonderful day everyone, I'll be back here soon enough. You all are awesome!


P.S.
Feel free to comment....

Anyone ever heard of...

Venture teams international? VTI for short of course. Anyways, I'm planning on going with them this year to, currently, the location is Ulan-Ude... just north of Mongolia in southern Siberia I believe...

In any case, it's Russia, and God's called me there despite the $15000 I'll have to raise... no doubt, soon I'll be sending out prayer letters asking for primarily prayer and secondarily money...

I'll keep you all up to date and I'm sorry I haven't updated this for a while. I'm looking for a job here in Prince Albert after I had another fall through. We'll see how that goes.

Thanks to all and to all a good night!
~J

AUGH

WEll, if anyone is wondering where I've been... I've been doing homework... Lots and lots of homework. That and I'll be doing my follow up check up in Saskatoon tommorow... so yeah, that's where I'll be... and for those who haven't yet... Check out my pics! I hope to have some new...old ones soon. :)

Have a great day everyone.
~J~

CHeck it out!

I have some pics up now! CHeck it out! It's that flickr button on the left side... :D
~J

GReEtings all to the WoRld

I am off to go touring with my team LIving Proof this afternoon. We have a banquet concert tonight, and then we play in Saskatoon tommorow. It'll all be good. In any case, I've been having a crazy time with homework and school. Of course there are always other things that crave attention in one's life that you just sometimes have to avoid.
Yeah, so I hope you all have a great day!
I'm looking forward to hearing how the new Superman movie goes. :D I hope it's good.

Anyways, I'm prayin for as many of you as I can remember. Please remember me! lol. I could use it...

~Brother James~

As a matter of fact...

I am alive! crazy eh? I am home for about20ish hours to relax after a great weekend at school doing three60five, the youth retreat at NBI. It was fun, and I think one of my favorite parts was seeing the movie thing we made. It was a bit of a matrix spoof, and several other movies/genres. It was fun.

Anwyays, I hope you're all doing well. I'm getting around, though I know I should be sleeping more. (I had to stay up all night to finish some work on the DVD) so yeah, I'm going to go to bed now. Check out Essy's page, she'll probably have some pics up soon if not already. Farewell!
(J)

Hey Yall

Well, here we are on a delightful Feburary the 25th, Saturday. I'm getting around the house now a lot better than I had been before. I've enjoyed the time resting, but now I'm getting very restless. Ergo, I am hoping to be back on campus at NBI but Sunday, like tomorrow, but we'll see how that goes. If I in fact go back, I'll be most likely be spending most of my time lying in bed. I really want to get back so that I'll have time to prepare a little for three60five, the youth event weekend there at school. I personally prefer to call it TSF. But meh...

Yeah, for all those wondering, I do still have leg nerve pain, and it's expected that it could be around for a while, short of the providence of the Father. I'm hopeful and I know it'll all work out right in the end. In any case, that's been annoying in general. The surgery did wonders for my left leg however, and that's been a real blessing, along with all your prayers and letters and many ecards, lol. Thanks everyone for everything. :)

Anyways, I'll be heading off now, take care everyone.
Farewell and xie-jin
~Bro J~

he's baakk...

Journalling by Karina Gradin
(Jan16/06--- "Uncut")
The Day of the Surgery...February 16, 2006...by Karina

It was a crisp, frosty morning with a chilly breeze. We left Uncle David’s house at 7:48 a.m. The temperature gage that was on the ceiling of the van said it was -32˚C. As we drove through Saskatoon to get to the University Hospital, Blaine had a hard time seeing outside the windows. Apparently some vehicles weren’t used to the cold weather and died in the middle of the road. That caused a barrier for us to maneuver around...a task not so easy when you cannot see who is coming behind you!!

After we escaped the rushing streets with the mystical, swirling snow, we finally arrived safely at the hospital. Blaine dropped Rachel, James and me off at the door and went on to find a parking spot that ended up being right close by. James laughed when I poked at his hand that was closest to me. He was carrying a bag of stuff. Finally I told him, “Switch hands,” in mid sentence of something else that we were talking about. We went inside and promptly found the admitting desk. This lady with white or blonde hair said to James, “Come with me!!” She reminded me of my dad’s voice in the morning...not pleasant, not angry, but a little gruff.

So James went to be questioned by the gruff woman, and Rachel slid over right close to my left side and smiled, bringing her shoulders up in a way that most females do. She said to me, “It was really good you could come!” Then we talked about how cold it would be at home and how my mom was going to manage today with the chores. Then Rachel jumped up and decided to see what was happening with the room situation. She walked over to James after the gruff lady had left to go print something off. Apparently, the semi-private room was $100 and the private room was $120. James chose the semi-private room. Hopefully he won’t have a roommate that is cranky and doesn’t like Winston (the small, nylon stringed guitar that we brought along).

After we left the admitting, we were told to go Same-Day Surgery admitting. We still hadn’t seen Blaine and we began wondering where he was. Rachel said, “James, he’ll see you with your orange scarf.” So James walked in the middle of the walkway. Up ahead, we saw Blaine come in and walk the other way. We laughed.

Then, when we got to Same-day Surgery, James got ushered into an interrogation...I mean, interview room. We were put in a waiting room that said “For the consideration of others, no food or drink in this waiting room.” And we hadn’t had breakfast yet. We asked the nurse if that would be a problem...she looked a little sheepish, but she smiled and shook her head and said, “go for it.” So now we amuse ourselves by Blaine flipping through the channels until he found the Olympics showing hockey, and I sit here and tell the story.

At 9:10 a.m. we were all invited to come into the interrogation room. James was given a stapled handout explaining all about his back surgery. We had fun trying to take pictures of his hospital wrist band that said all of his allergies: dust, cats (I thought it said rats...), and mold. He looked very lushing and dashous in his hospital garb. Then we all came and sat in the waiting room and stared at the lions...

At 10:20 a.m., we were joyfully joined at the hips...I mean we were joined by Tim and Nathan. They had gotten a little bit lost in the hospital. They ended up in the cancer ward...☺ Suddenly the room with the lions was no longer quiet. It began “roaring” with sound!!! We all laughed at the Olympic commercials of people running around and doing all their sports with a huge flame following behind them! At 10:55 a.m. we gathered and prayed for James. Meanwhile, as we continue to wait, Nathan amuses himself with his video camera. And Tim plays with a foamy dice...gambling.

At 11:27 a.m. the physio nurse came for James to talk to him. Tim, Nathan and I began to lip sink the people on T.V. as it was muted. Much to the amusement of the other waiting patients. Then we left the Same-day Surgery waiting room at 11:37 a.m. They were slightly behind schedule...typical Saskatchewan. The nurse took us all to another waiting room. There, all the doctors and nurses involved in the operation came and talked to James, telling him all what they would be doing. They gave us a really warm blanket! It must have just come out of the dryer. Everything in this hospital is warm!! Even the toilet paper!! (It was sitting right above the heat register.)☺

They took James to the operation at 12:26 p.m. We then went to yet another waiting room. Tim and Nathan parted our company to go shopping. Rachel decided that she was going to go start the van to make sure it would not freeze up. So Blaine, Rachel, and I prayed for James together, and then she left. So Blaine and I passed the time drinking our frozen juice boxes and listening to a family talk and laugh in French. Apparently they were from Prince Albert as well. They were waiting for someone who was coming out of ICU from heart surgery. His operation was 5 hours!! I’m glad that James’ surgery isn’t supposed to be that long!

At 1:45 p.m. I decided to have a nap. I sat with my head resting on my hand and Rachel read the paper and Blaine wandered and looked around. At 2:00 p.m. Dr. Griebel came in and said that it was a very successful surgery and that James is in the recovery room and is waking up now. So soon we will join him in his room upstairs. Praise the Lord!!

At 2:50 p.m. we finally got a phone call saying that James was going to be taken up to room 6315 in “5 minutes.” So we packed up all our things, and I grabbed Winston and started walking. I stopped and asked Rachel, “Do you think I can walk up with him?” They figured “why not?” So I stood at a corner a little ways away from the recovery room and waited for about 15 minutes. I heard his voice once when the door opened, and soon enough he came out with a couple of nurses rolling his bed down.

I called out and asked, “Is that James Witherow?” And the one nurse asked me back, “Are you part of his family?” I answered sheepishly, “Yeah...” So she waved her hand for me to join them. So I got to be the first person to see James!! Yay!! And we got to the room and no one was there yet. So the nurse came and cleaned up around the dressing...James warned them, “WARNING...I have NO pants on!!” They laughed. Then after about 20 minutes, Blaine, Rachel, and Uncle David came in. We all talked for a bit, then Uncle David left.

Rachel left to go get the Lindor Chocolates from the van, and actually ended up going to sleep listening to the radio in the front seat. Then a couple of nurses came in to do an “assessment” so Blaine and I were asked to wait outside. Then all these ladies came in and there was a big “party”...poor James...he still didn’t have any pants on...evil women!!! Grrr! They were trying to “help” him “void”. But one good thing was the LPN named Renelle grabbed some pants.

I asked James what happened when he woke up. The first thing he could think about after he woke up, was that he was hungry. His tummy was growling a lot, too. Rachel and Blaine left so James could sleep. He wanted me to stay with him. And about 5 minutes after he closed his eyes, “knock, knock, knock...Supper!”

whickwhack

So here I am, today is the day I head down to Saskatoon. My dad, mom, Karina, and I think some of my family, of whom, I am not sure, are all coming along this evening. The surgery is tommorow morning.

I had just realized that I haven't been able to post any pictures for a long time, and so I suppose this is to 'make up' for some of the winter pictures that never made it here to my blog. Oh, by the way, the pic above, if it has three people in it, is part of 'Stupid Mondays 2' our official homemoviemaking extravaganza. Yup, I'm a version of James Bond. Karina is a Russian spy, Tim although he looks dangerous is actually trying to steal a rubber ducky from a clueless fellow played by our esteemed director Nathan Wolfe, he, Tim and my brother Luke who's been doing all the filming for this deserve the most credit, namely for ideas and secondly for putting up with me being out of commission for the last while. There are also guest star appearences in this particular part of our movie. Luke and Nathan Siemens both play valuable roles! :D It's great.

Have a great day everyone, and I hope I'll be back soon to talk more. I AM ON READING WEEK!!! :D YAY! Fare thee well!

~Bro Jam~

It's nearly here!

Today is valentine's day! :D

Yeah, I got her roses for anyone who was wondering... hehehe...

But anyways, my surgery is on the 16th, which means two more days, though I must be there in the evening on the 15th. We'll have to see how that all goes. I'm praying that this will fix my pain problems, but it's kinda, I dunno, sad in a way. Being in pain so often helps one to focus more on God. Pain does that. But I'm glad this time has come and I'm awaiting good news with a thankful heart and an open mind. Thank you all so much for your prayers!!!

It's been a busy last little while. We're trying to get ready for the big youth event that will take place in the first week or so of March. I'd like to be back for that. It's called Three60Five and we're hoping that we'll get around 250+ kids. but that also is a prayer that will have to be answered, being that as of now there are roughly 30. In any case, we're hoping and we all hope that i'll be a fun time, though tiresome.

I sang a new song for class today and it went over very well. I had many people come to me later and encourage me. That was really great. Perhaps when I'm supposed to take it easy, I'll write some more. I want to get a few songs that are really good and done well so that when the time comes, I'll be able to record some more songs if there is given oppertunity. In any case, we'll see what transpires and I shall bid thee all adieu... I think that's how it's spelt... And farewell from the capus of NBI. Fare thee well.

~Brother James~

Chezigndnks

Well, there we go. Sitting here in the basement of NBI . My speeling is being corrected by none other than Elly from Melfart. There are about 12 of us here trying to think of anything we can do other than homework.

We are watching Brad for entertainment.

watching watching wattching.watshing.

Perhaps we shall overcome the fear of being stuck in the void of .... something... as Mike the Gandalf would say.

Farewell.
~Brother james~

Back to school... and homework

Well, I was down in Saskatoon for my appointment. Thank you to all who prayed. I'm on the surgury waiting list, but it's looking like if I get in sorta early, it'll be in the middle of Febuary and I'll need 2-3 weeks bedtime.

We'll see what happens. In any case, it is a herniated disk that is ailing me. Thanks all, and I'm sure I'll let you know what is going to happen again soon... There's always a lot on the go. Have a good day everyone!

xie-jin
~brotber James

Razzle Frazzle

Today was a good day. It's sunday, and tommorrow I've got to write a song for school. I'm at home and not in school because I'm waiting for a surgery consultation which is on Tuesday. I'll perhaps update some more when I wake up and if not, I'm sure I'll add something when I've found out what is going on with my health status. Thanx for all your prayers! :D

Have yourselves a great day.
~Brother James~

By request from the guy...

...who finally learned how to tie his tie right, comes this, uh, picture.



Yup, there ya go man. I'm leaving yer account now...
-e

This is my 65th Post~!~

Hey there to everyone! I'm now 20. Wheee. Today we have a day off so I'm using it to send some mail out and to do a lot of homework. WE'll see how that turns out. I'm anxious for Christmas and hoping that we get a whole whackload of snow soon!

have a great day y'all!
EH!

Go in Peace
~James

Happy birthday to moi!

Hey hey! I'm 20 in ... um... 2days! So.... yeah! that's my update. That and I'm almost unsick... :D COUGH COUGH!
~Have a good one!

Don Diego de la Vega

Out of the night, when the full moon is bright,
Comes the horseman known as Zorro.
This bold renegade carves a Z with his blade,
A Z that stands for Zorro.


Zorro, Zorro, the fox so cunning and free,
Zorro, Zorro, who makes the sign of the Z.


He is polite, but the wicked take flight
When they catch the sight of Zorro.
He's friend of the weak,
And the poor and the meek,
This very unique senior Zorro.


Zorro, Zorro, the fox so cunning and free,
Zorro, Zorro, who makes the sign of the Z.
Zorro, Zorro, Zorro, Zorro, Zorro.




Obviously, this was an American song or the Z wouldn't rhyme with free. As it is, I do not mind Americans at all. Therefore, I can sing this song with a certain joy in my heart. Oh, and by the way, HERE'S A NEW POST! I'm sorry it's been so dreadfully long... It's just that I always have so much on the go that I run out of time for things like this. Well, here I am in any case.


School has been very busy, but I've enjoyed it. We've been having a lot of 'revival' talks and whole whackload of prayer. That's been really kewl to see. All the work there dictates that I will have very little time, and goodness my socks, I should practice my pianoing today too! Yeah, there's a lot of things on my mind... do you know how to tell? You can tell by the observation that I begin to write things down. If I don't do that, I'm not nearly as stressed or anxious.


I'm not in the top of my class by a long shot... But I'm hanging in there and doing my best. I really enjoy the teachers and it's been a lot of fun to get to know them. That's really kewl.


Recently, I've been doing a lot of thinking... heh, and those of you who know me know that it isn't always a good thing! However, I need to start to think of next year. My plan standing right now is to go with VTI this next year. This has been my plan from before I went to NBI, but I would VERY MUCH appreciate prayer on this matter. Finances, social life, school, degrees, work, and education are all pressing matters... By the way, if the person(s) who ever sent me $3000 for school happen to ever read this, thank you with extreme gladness. I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard... and I guess I'll have to ask God to bless you since it was so very well concealed. Thank you very much!!!


Missions has been on my heart for a long, long time, and so it's with Venture Teams International that I want to go. They use the arts to spread the gospel, and their role isn't so much church starting, but their purpose is edification, or building up of the church that is already there. I'm up for that, so this is something I hope to do. And if all goes well, I'm going to send off my application in a short while. Tonight I'll see the group and I'll see if I can steal an application from them. :D In the meantime, all I can say as far as the most important things I will need are: Prayer, Prayer, and Prayer.... everything else falls into place when the most important things are taken care of...


In any case, I'm already getting restless. This is missions week coming up to the school there, and wow, there are so many things that I would like to get into. Sometimes I wish there were 3 000 000 of me so that I could join all these missions and touch all the world with God's love. Unfortunately there's only one of me. Therefore I'm going to have to wait of Him until he shows me where he wants me to be. If I can stress one thing to you in this post, I ask you to consider your thoughts on prayer... do you use one when you eat and when you go to bed? Is that all you do? Prayer is the most important thing one can do in the Christian walk, it may seem like foolishness, but time changes that. Prayer is not just sitting there talking to God... Prayer is fellowshiping with Him. It means sitting with Him in silence, it means talking to, it means listening, it means warfare in the spiritual realm, and it means that we can learn to see that God is not the God somewhere in the past or the future. He's the God of now too! I urge you to give prayer some trying and some persistence. It will change your life into something so amazing that only God could have known.


And if in the end you do in fact to decide to pray, please remember our brothers and sisters around the globe who are persecuted and die for their faith... remember to keep this country that is falling apart in prayer...only God can save it now. Keep me in prayer as I try to do what I have been called to...and as you do, I hope I can pray for each of you as well.


It's strange... for the first time in my life, my eyes have been opened to the awesomeness to God as he really is... this is what it was like...


When I was young, people could tell me about the mountains in BC and Alberta, and I was like, 'wow' that would be kewl to see. Later, I finally had the chance to go. Then there finally what I thought was a dark horizon, I realized was a huge line of mountains all of them huge and ominous. That was overwhelming... but then as I got really close, it became that much more real. Then it was like I went and tried to climb one of the mountains thinking that this much be all there is, but then as I reached the top, all I saw were miles upon miles of sharp rocky peaks....... there is so much more to God than any of us can see unless we try. We will never see everything, but as you learn more, you eyes will see more and then you will learn to live a life full of strength, power, joy and love. I'm still learning, but wow, it's great to be learning.




And now may you learn to pray with the one who made you. May you learn to listen to His voice and wait on Him. May he open your eyes to the wonders of Himself...
And let God's grace and peace be with you all!
Keep striving for Christ!!!
-Your brother James

Ok, so I heard this joke....

How do you catch a unique rabbit?
U-neak up on it!!!
How do you catch a tame rabbit?
The tame way U-neak up on it!!!

:D:D:D:D

Oh, and Karina's blog addy is: www.spuddingplace.blogspot.com
:P

Thanx! :D

Hah!

I'm posting on a blog that isn't mine. But you know, I'm testing the layout. Do you want me to change the font, or is it a ok? Oh, and I couldn't recall Karina's blog url. You'll have to change that. Adieu.

essy :D