Goings On & Etc.

Soooo... lots has been going on!  Life is busy as usual.  The blog has been neglected lately, but I thought I'd give a bit of an update on things here in the north.  We don't have much snow.  It was cold on the weekend, but it's warming up again.  The weather is calling for some snow today, but nothing is happening yet.  I think I've shovelled my driveway a grand total of 3 times this winter! You can't get much better than that for a northern Ontario winter, and I'm not complaining at all.  Although, I don't the skiers and snowmobilers are too thrilled with our weather.  Oh well, too bad for them!  I'll take it :).

Work is going well.  My business is growing, and that is always good :).  I've been greatly blessed with a good staff, and a Mom who helps me a lot!!!  I've been trying some new things lately at work, one of which is incorporating more technology into the studio.  The internet is amazing, and it has so many free resources for music teaching.  I've been following some blogs, getting ideas, and working on using more "fun" stuff in my studio.  We've started a contest this week, and another thing I want to do more is record my student's lessons, both so they can hear what they sound like, and so I can go back and listen for anything that needs improvement.  I've even set up a youtube channel for the studio!  I haven't uploaded any videos yet, but hopefully there will be some soon :).  And, I got an Ipod for my birthday... to use at the studio ;).  What a cool gadget!  I had no idea they could do so much.  There's some neat video editing apps that I want to try out.  The other thing I like about it is that I can upload videos from it directly to my youtube account.  Very convenient!

My sister and nephew were up last weekend.  It was nice to spend time with them.  We played cars a lot!  Seth loves cars, and Grandma's house has tons of them!!!  And we also played outside, but it was quite cold on Saturday!   Oh, and I beat my Mom at Scrabble, although she says she let me win since it was my birthday. Whatever.

I've now officially entered a new decade!  Yay!!  And NO I don't feel old.  Why do people always ask that?  I thought turning 30 might bother me, but so far so good... haha!  Although it's only been three days.  When I was seventeen the idea of being thirty seemed old, but it's not so bad now :).  Besides, no one believes me when I tell them I'm 30.  Except one little boy at church on Sunday heard someone wish me happy birthday and asked me how old I was.  I asked him to guess, and he said 20 hundred :P.       Oh well... he's only four, so I'm sure in his eyes I do seem old!

God has given me some pretty amazing opportunities to witness to and encourage some of my students and friends lately.  They way that God brings things together is so beyond me sometimes, but at the same time it's such a testimony of how He can use those who are completely surrendered to His will.  The personal experience of God working in my life is often beyond what I can express in words, but it is wonderful.  This past Sunday we had a guest missionary at church.  At one part of his sermon he spoke about how things happen to us so that we can use those experiences to encourage and teach others.  I can see that in my life and in some relationships I have with other people.  I'm always excited when people ask me to pray for them, or when they ask me questions about spiritual things.  I love talking about God, faith, and the Bible, and I love the fact that I can see how God has enabled me to use the things I've learned about Him in speaking to others.  I know God is working in hearts of people that are around me, and I'm praying that He will continue to use me to reach them for Christ.  It's an awesome responsibility, because I am very aware of my weaknesses. It's often easier to say nothing or to just say the easy things, like God loves you, and leave out the parts about sin, death, hell, etc.   However, sin is THE issue, and it has to be dealt with.  That often means saying the hard things that may cause people to get upset.  Here's the thing though.  God is teaching me HOW to say those hard things in a way that still reaches people with His compassion and love.  I haven't got it all figured out yet, but I'm working on it, and He's teaching me.  It's pretty cool :).

Today is Valentines day.  I have a post I'm working on about the top myths of being single.  Maybe I'll post it later today or tomorrow.  I figure I have lots of experience in that area, and they always say to write about what you know... LOL!  I did hear an interview on the radio yesterday about how single people are stereotyped and actually discriminated against.  I thought this just happened in some Christian circles, but it happens out in the world too.  Now I don't feel so bad... LOL :).   Anyways, Valentines day is a good time to reflect on the greatest love of all!

Here in is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

I John 4:10