Happy New Year!

Here we are: a brand new year. The old year dies and a new one is born from its ashes. The rollercoaster ride of 2006 is slowly pulling into the station and preparing for a new run in '07. Looking back, 2006 has been characterized for me by something my friend Pam said, "Failure is just a messy way of learning." Not to say that '06 was bad, I just learned a lot of hard lessons. I grew and changed so much over the last year. And I expect no less from '07. Learn and grow always.

May your new year be a blessed one, one of growth (even in the painful moments), of joy, of change.

Cheers!
Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Happy (Belated) Christmas!!!

"On the Twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me/Twelve drummers drumming/Eleven pipers piping... [and all the rest]"

We are finally (past) there! I hope everyone had a holly, jolly Christmas; I certainly did. Anywho, let me finish this off so we can be done with it. Eleven pipers piping... aka the eleven FAITHFUL (12 - Judas) apostles. And twelve? The twelve points of doctorine in the Apostles Creed.

This year I didn't ask for many gifts. Getting gifts is something that is slowly waning in my life... it is really tough now to come up with things to ask for... But over my lifetime I have recieved so many gifts it is not even funny. But most important to me are the gifts that I have that are not material. Like my family. What can I say about my crazy family? I swear, every Foster has inherited some sort of gene that makes them crazy and wierd and however else you want to describe it. But no matter how zany my family is, when we get together we always have a good time. They are so special to me, and are the greatest gift I have recieved.

And then there are my friends...and what can I say about them? Guys, you have made such a huge impact on my life in so many different ways... and I thank God every day for blessing me with your friendship. Even when the F-gene comes out and I go off the wall. ESPECIALLY when that happens, lol. I don't have words to say how much you guys mean to me.

So, now comes the end. Unless something huge comes up, I'm probably not going to update 'till the New Year. So, until then, God Bless and I'll cya on MSN.

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

The 10th Day...

"On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me/Ten lords a leaping/Nine ladies dancing/Eight maids a milking..."

Don't hate me because I miscounted again... I should actually be on day nine, but seeing as I probably won't be updating for a good while yet, this will work. Man is it annoying when this happens... lol.

Catchup mode: The eight maids a milking are a reference to something which Catholics take great pains to teach in grade nine religion, but apparently get a wrong/incomplete meaning out of... the Beatitudes. The nine ladies dancing... hmm, for any of you who have team led at or been to a camp where they sing "The Banana Song," you should be able to get this one. For the rest of you, you're missing out. The Banana song rocks. However, the line of particular concern for this post goes something like "The Fruit of the Spirit/ From love to self control...". Yes folks, the nine ladies dancing are the nine parts of the Fruit of the Spirit. Numeros dix, the ten lords a leaping have to do with a bearded old man standing on a mountain and talking to God. Though that really doesn't help much I suppose... that could have been a couple other people as well. However, everyone should be able to guess what ten has to do with. The Ten Commandments. Fun fun.

Merry Christmas!

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Wherefore on the Day of the Seventh...

"On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me/Seven swans a swimming..."

Day number seven...we seem to be going through these very swiftly.... Seven swans a swimming is not as obvious as many of the others have been. It makes reference to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. But I have no clue what those are exactly because there are over 20 odd listed in various places in the New Testament. FUN!

In other news, life right now is really lazy. Things are winding down before Christmas. There are three more school days before we go on break, and one is a write off (Christmas assembly, one of the major highlights of the school year). Actually, today was a write off as well. My school ran Participaction, a day where we (the school populace) get out and do some good physical activity, or in the case of many students, go Christmas shopping. *shakes head* I suppose some might consider that physical activity, BUT... I went skating for the first tome this year/in a year. I get a massive blister, but other than that it was ama-za-zing fun!!! Skating rocks!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow... I white Christmases ROCK!

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Day the 6th

"On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me/ Six geese a layin'..."

Six geese a layin'... bet you would have never guessed what this represents (unless you are a cheater and looked it up...lol). The six geese are the six days of creation. Not seven, six. Before you say I'm wacko, think about it. What did God do on the seventh day? He rested. SO, He only created for six days. Eh, eh... isn't that clever???

Only seven more days...

Mike

Day 5/War of the Words

"On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me/ Five golden rings.../four calling birds/ three French hens/ two turtle doves..."

So, if you do the math, you may be thinking to yourself "But wait, Mike started his count 6 days ago...why are we only on day five??" If you are thinking that, my head is screwed on properly, I just started my count a day early (and no one told me!!). So, today is actually the fifth day (depending on how you count...).

The gifts (in catch-up order): Two turtle doves are the old and new testaments; Three French hens are the three "Theological Values" (Faith, Hope and Charity), which I really don't understand... mebbe I'll Wiki it...; Four calling birds are the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; aaaaand the five golden rings are, to use some Christian terminology, the "Pentateuch," or for us normal people the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).

So things have been kinda crazy lately. I've really been struck by how much damage we do with our words. I know a couple of people who are practically at war with each other over a whole "he said, she said" issue. And it is driving me nuts, partially because it is over something totally meaningless and partially because there is nothing I can do about it. I find that when I get frustrated like that, writing helps. I actually wrote this a little while ago, but it really has a lot of meaning now. And yes, the title is a play on "The War of the Worlds." But no fear, Tom Cruise isn't in it ;D.

Oh the discord of argument A bitter melody, cold fire The breaking of the world On the tongue of humanity A scourge on the soul, A deep bite forced by unruly emotion Fighting as a release Deep pain, shallow irritation Personalities clashing The battlefield erupts in flame Bullets whizz overhead Spit off the tongues of the spiteful Dear Jesus, what have we done? You tell us to love To act as we would have on us Instead we dig trenches Lines in our brows that mar our face We cry out to You "Holy!" And tell You of our love We cry to our brothers curses And flail them with our words This is our hipocracy We need to find Your love

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

1st Day

"On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me/ A partridge in a pear tree..."

Did you know that The Twelve Days of Christmas was created by Catholics to remind them of certain parts of their faith? Each number of gifts represents a different thing (note: the actual gift has nothing to do with it... just the number). So, as it IS only 12 days till Christmas, I'm going to feature a different gift from the song, as well as any other random thoughts/poems that come to mind :D.

(Note note: I am aware that this is in many ways considered to be mere legend. HOWEVER, the arguements against are not enough to dissuade the persuit of this topic.)

In the song, the part "my true love" refers to God the father. The first gift ("A partridge in a pear tree...") refers to Jesus. This is the easy one... :D

Ciao for now!
Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Exegit Monumentum Aere Perennius

Exegit Monumentum Aere Perennius

It stands tall and bright
Gleaming in the sun
A true testament
To all that they've done

It stands on a hill
For all to see
The e'er lasting monument
So great and free

But not of gold so bright
Nor iron thats strong
Is this statue made
But what lasts long

For the things of this world
Will perish in time
But what lives on is
More precious than rhyme

The love that was shown
Led a soul to the Lamb
And for that great act
So thankful I am

And 'tis in that thought
This tower is meant
A monument of souls
Lasting longer than time spent

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Weekend(ers)

So, this weekend was the weekend of birthday parties. I went to two of them, back to back. It was fun, albeit sometimes random... I love parties. I can't lie. There is something in the infectious-ly energetic and excited atmosphere that just makes me go nuts. I THRIVE on that kind of energy... but it is also that I just love hanging out with my friends. They are really one of the most important groups in my life.

Party no. 1: HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!

So I was very excited for this birthday party, esp. seeing as I hadn’t seen/hung out with Emily in, oh, almost a year (if you don’t count maybe five minutes in the summer…). Note: it isn’t such a hot idea to not hang with people for that long. So it was very fun, tho a bit chaotic… and I showed up on time (aka a half hour late…). We made cookies, which was über fun and watched Tomb Raider (avert your eyes boys!!! lol Sarah). Certain people played “connect-the-freckles” on my arms (*cough cough Seana and Bethany, cough cough*), WHICH by the way took 20 minutes to get off… and I saved Seana from bigger people (again lol). It was just overall a blast. I love these guys and it is always fun to hang with them.

Party no. 2: HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER!!!

I knew even before I showed up that this party was going to be a riot. And I wasn’t disappointed. From playing keep-it-up with a balloon (200 odd hits, and there were some intense saves due to challenging obstacles…) to punching bags (and punching Brocks) to some very cool conversations with Brock, it was F-U-N. And we played that most Canadian game in the most Canadian way possible: Road hockey in the dark with three hockey sticks, two goalie sticks, a broom and a rake. Oh yeah, is that dedication to the game or what?? That was quickly followed up with a game of basket ball (in which the Holy Cross bwoyz were flattened…lol) and then hot chocolate and marshmallows by the fire. We had some neat conversation there on the topic of religion. Brock was the only one there who wasn’t a Christian, but he had some very interesting things to say. It was good, and most importantly, it wasn’t a hostile, shove-our-faith-down-your-throat kind of talk. I can only hope that we in some way managed to plant some kind of seed.

I would post pics, but my camera is severely lacking in the department of batteries, so I don’t have any.

Ciao for now!

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Drowning

Pain hidden behind a mask of mirth
Unable to convey emotion
The truth behind the façade
Masked by twin mirrors that darken the view

Going through life like a zombie
Shallow relationships digging short in the well of life
Conditioned to hold back
Never trusting, never trusted

Consumed by a dream
The dream becomes reality
Reality the desire of the dreamer
A mind in chaos tortured by the dream

Succumbing to its pressure
Collapsing to its control
Reality calls, but the dreamer hears not
And turns to destructive friend the dream

Laboring through the vicious circle
Mind and emotions burned
The dreamer cries out for escape and healing
As he drowns under the dream

But suddenly loving arms enfold him
Pulling him up from the deadly waters
And in those arms release is found
As his Savior whispers “I love you”

And in that promise new ground is broken
A desert heart cracked
Revealing founts of life
Which flood the thirsty garden of the soul

And in that garden the dreamer walks
Hand in hand with those he loves
Forever in the embrace
Of the one who redeemed his life.

Michael
________________________________

By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

I Have A Dream...

Four simple words started a speech that changed the world. Said by a man that was out to change the world as he knew it. Changing the world is a goal often attributed to people who did great things, people who defied the box they lived in, who fought for freedom, truth, and the like. They are great people, Met by cheering crowds and adoring followers.

 

However, therein lies a problem. By putting these people up on a pedestal, we begin to think that there is no way we (the "normal" populace) can do the same. But when you really start to think about it, these people are "normal" to (note: normal is in quotes because who can say what normal really is?) I mean, who was Oprah way back when? A nobody. Bill Gates? He was (no offence Bill) just a tech geek with bad hygene. - (I would use Nelson Mandela, but he's special...) - Albert Einstein, George Washington, Chris Columbus, Lester Pearson, even Hitler in his own sick and twisted way... none of them were born any greater than any of us. They just took hold of a vision and ran with it. Some changed the world accidentally, some on purpose, and some in a way they weren’t aiming for. At the same time, the things they did were big enough to launch them into the limelight.

 

These well known “world changers” and their deeds aren’t unique. The world is changed every day, on a constant basis, but most of the time in ways that wouldn’t register on the Richter scale of world events. But those actions are like ripples on the water, or the beginning of a run of dominoes. Events can be set in motion that can get bigger and bigger as time goes on.

 

I heard a great example of this on The Rest of The Story with Paul Harvey a little while ago. Bear with me, as my memory is a little sketchy about all the details, but I’ll give you the rough outline. The story was about a young adult in the States who basically played chaperone for his friends. More importantly, he was a Christian. It came to pass that there was a tent revival in a nearby town (thus dating the story) and this guy (I forget his name, so I’ll call him Demetrius) decides to invite some of his friends to go. After much coercing, he manages to convince some of his friends to go. Well, one guy in particular goes and is totally affected and transformed by what he hears. Even in that, Demetrius has totally changed the world. But here is where the ripples come in to play. The guy’s name? You may recognize it, because it is the name of one of the biggest evangelists in Christendom today. Billy Graham. You want to talk world changing or what??!? And it was kicked off by the small action of Demetrius inviting his friend out. Wow.

 

All this leads up to one question: How? How do we actually go about changing the world? I think in the end it all comes back to leadership. I’ve already written about leadership, so I won’t beat a dead horse (or bet on one…lol, Relient K). But I will say that leadership can really be broken down into setting an example and the kind of example you set. So, how do you change the world? Through the actions you make and the example you set. After that, the ripples are in God’s hands.

 

On Doctor Who the other night the Doctor stated that “every man has the ability to change the world. I totally believe that. I have a dream… to change the world.

 

Are you in?

 

Michael

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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

CHRISTMAS!!!

Who loves Christmas? I love Christmas!!! And as long as my computer avoids blowing up again, I'll get to keep talking about it! Snow seems to have this exciting Christmas-y affect on me (xcept for after Christmas, when it seems to have this very exciting snowboarding-y (lol) affect on me), and we have just recently had lots of SNWO!!! I'm so excited I can't even spell straight!!! YAY! Relient K's Relient Christmas has become a permanent part of my music playlist, tho I have to be careful who I play it around, aka "LOOK OUT! NON CHRISTMAS-Y FEELING PEOPLE APPROACHING!!!" Hehe... I'm actually so stoked, altho my wishlist is quite short... just some CD's actually. BUT SOME FREAKING SWEET CD's. aka, new Newsboys, Skillet, and a plethora of others. (I really like that word...plethora...). AND, Switchfoot's new CD come out on Boxing Day!!! *excited*
But I must remember to keep it all in context... losing sight of the real reason behind Christmas would be total anathema (I like that word too...). So, as we get closer, don't get so wrapped up in the decorations and trees and tinsel (I love it so) and lights and Santa that you forget about a little baby. In the words of Dr. Seuss's Grinch, "Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

Michael

Computer woes

"If you ask me, the worst thing about PCs is that things go wrong more often than Ben Affleck makes bad career choices" - Kirk Steers, PC World

Ain't that the truth...

Michael
________________________________

By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

What's in a name?

There are two types of crisis that we tend to go through as humans, an identity crisis usually when we are in our teens and a mid-life crisis when we reach middle age. I never expected to go through either, but that could well have been a part of my teenage arrogance…lol. So maybe that is why my identity crisis took me by surprise. My anthropology (etc.) textbook says that an identity crisis has two questions attached to it: “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose in life?” Tough questions to answer indeed.

I have many names, depending on who you are. No, that does not mean that I change how I act depending on the company I am in, it just means that I have been introduced to certain people by different names. If you have grown up with me, I am most often called Michael or Mike. At camp, I am Flippy. Depending on my friends, you may get different names. I have a short list of people that can call me one particular name, but I won’t get into that…

But the point is, none of that makes me me. If I wrap myself up in my name, what happens when I get a label I don’t like? Do I let my labels control me? Does that make sense? If I move past that, who I am becomes based on my relationships, especially my greatest relationship, the one I have with Christ. Then, who I am becomes what He wants me to be.

Following that thread, figuring out my purpose becomes a little easier. If I let Christ direct who I am, then I already have several purposes to fulfill. The next step is figuring out how to work at these.

Michael

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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Terry Fox Run

DO IT FOR TERRY!!!
Ahh, how that rings in my ears...a day later. Yes, yesterday was the Terry Fox Run and IT WAS AWESOME!!! I had a blast of a time! It was great, our school raised $19,150 for the Run and the James Fund for Neuroblastoma. It's great... we are staying fairly consistent as a school, we raised about the same amount last year. Just another example of how a little goes a long way, how every bit we add can make a world of a difference.

It was also a great time to hang out with my friends from other schools. I love when I can get together with them and just hang out. It was funny, me and P-Biddy were just wandering around trying to find people when I got a brilliant idea: "Hey, if I yell out MARCO do you think they'll yell back POLO?" It was really just a stupid idea, I mean what are the odds, but we gave it a try and... shock! horror! People showed up!! I laughed about that for at least five minutes... :D. Anyway, it was a truly great time... friends find fun fast.


Michael
By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

Emo Me...

EMO ME!!!!
My school is getting to me...


This picture makes me laugh.

Summer

The golden sun in the morning
A warm breeze
An early morning walk
Fade like the mist

Camp with its kids
Golden laughter
The song of bannas
Memories mere echoes

Brilliant sunsets
Time with friends
Discovery
Set as prematurely as the sun
With oncoming winter

And so it ends
As frost bites the flowers
Black clad in sorrow
We bid you adieu
Goodbye summer, we shall miss you

Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

RE:Discover

This summer was a time of real rediscovery of myself and who I really am. I went through periods where I was feeling ever emotion I think a person can possibly have. Fear, depression, happiness, sadness, joy, et. al. It was a really eye opening time, and I discovered that through all these emotions, God was there with me. It is really humbling to realise that as insignificant as I am on a universal scale, the Creator of everything cares about how I feel. Its simply amazing. It was also really interesting because I started writing poetry again. I love poetry and the freedom it gives to express how you feel, so much of the poetry I write now has been influenced by my summer. SO, if I start randomly posting poetry, you now know the reason :).

Walk good,
Michael
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By the grace of God
Job.33.23-28

(Non) Ignoring

I have to apologise for not posting for a looooooong time. School has been hectic and my life after school even more so... I live a crazy life. Now that March Break is here I would try and catch up, but I'm going to Tennessee and I won't be able to get to a CPU (prob.) so the blog will be silent once again. But I will see what I can do when I get back.

Anyway, just a parting thought; the difference between a leader and a non-leader is that the non-leader will talk about something meaningful (ex. bullying) but will shy away when they can do something about it because they are afraid (of what others will think, about the self reprocussions, it's just scary, etc.). The leader will fight the fear and step up. Everyone has a little leadership in them... let it out! Make someone who always seems depressed smile, or hang out with the "losers". It's a world-changing idea. Go for it!

Michael

Hey!

KK, I know I haven't updated in a while, but I've been quite busy. First there were exams, a free-time minefield filled with studying and the eventual writing of said exams... followed by a period of Sr. High Retreat. Which was awesome. Now we are into the season of Second Semester and the workload is already high... I think I'm dead.

Michael

Wierd Typing Habits

Hi...

Ok, so I recently discovered that I have this kind of habit of going off in the little...little(looking for the term)...(not finding a good one) the tripple dot thing. It's like when I talk, I go off into my own little world sometimes and just trail off...... Like that..

Michael

Good things can come in forwards!

Cool, so this is a forward that I got today (or so) among the mess of mail I had after being parted from the internet for a while... I thought it was pretty good... so I thought I would pass it on.

Michael

srry if it is a repeat if I already forwarded it to you!

Ask yourself the question if "you would run" after you read this!!!


Imagine this happening to you...
One Sunday morning during service, a 2,000 member congregation was surprised to see two men enter, both covered from head to toe in black and carrying submachine guns.

One of the men proclaimed, "Anyone willing to take a bullet for Christ remain where you are."

Immediately, the choir fled... (assuming we're all on retreat this weekend)

The deacons fled...

And most of the congregation fled....

Out of the 2,000 there only remained around 20.

The man who had spoken took off his hood...
He then looked at the priest and said "Okay Father,

I got rid of all the hypocrites...

Now you may begin Mass.
Have a nice day!"

And the two men turned and walked out.

TOO DEEP TO NOT PASS ON...

*Funny how simple it is for people to trash God, and then wonder why the world is in the condition it is today....

*Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says...

*Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven... provided they do not have to believe, think,
say, or do anything the Bible says.

Or is it scary?

*Funny how someone can say "I believe in
God"...

But still Follow Satan (who, by the way, also "believes" in God).

*Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread
like wildfire...

But when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, you think twice about sharing.

*Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through
cyberspace...

But the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and work place.

*Funny, isn't it? Funny how someone can be so fired up
for Christ on Sunday...

But be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.

Are you laughing?

*Funny how when you go to forward this message...
you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure
what they believe... or what they will think of you for sending it.

*Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me...
... than what God thinks of me.

Are you thinking?


Will  you share this with people you care about?
Or not? I picked you.  May the Lord bless you and keep you,
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you,
And be gracious to you; May the Lord lift up His favour upon you
And give you His peace

Think About It

Showbread - "Matthias Replaces Judas"

It is so that my transgressions have born a withered fruit,
The sun has scorched the rising plans;
Alas they have no root, the bleached bones of animals bound by leather strips,
Dance through the air with laughter as I wield this wicked whip.

As you did warn me carpenter, this world has weakened my heart,
So easily I disparage, self-seeking the work of my art,
And there you have come to me at the moment I bathe in my sorrow,
So in love with myself, sought after avoiding tomorrow,
Where do you find the love to offer he who betrays you?
And offer to wash my feet as I offer to disobey you,
Your beauty does bereave me, and how my words do fail,
So faithfully and dutifully I award you with betrayal.

The weak and the down trodden fall on broken legs,
As I walk past a smile I cast, fervor in my stead,
But my bones like plastic, do buckle backward now,
I lay in this field by Judas and anticipate the plow,
I can not be forgiven; my wages will be paid,
For those more lovely and admirable is least among the saved,
And where would I fit Jesus?
What place is left for me?
The price of atonement is more than I've found to offer up as my plea.

Jesus my heart is all I have to give to you, so weak and so unworthy,
This simply will not do, no alabaster jar, no diamond in the rough,
For your body that was broken, how can this be enough?
By me you were abandoned, by me you were betrayed,
Yet in your arms and in your heart forever I have stayed
Your glory illuminates my life, and no darkness will descend,
For you have loved me forever, and your love will never end.


Michael