HBC and China...BFF

It's bad enough how commercial CTV has made the Olympics, hawking their "I Believe" soundtrack every commercial break...yes unfortunately Lost is on CTV so I must endure it...well maybe now I will just pirate it with no commercials and in HD...much better plan...anyways

The Olympics is a time of intense training, fierce competition, and of course human rights violations. Who could forget all the controversy surrounding the last Olympics in China with protestors still sitting in cells and with all the tiresome labour the country put into it. Oh China you superpower you.

Now it's Canada's time to shine. We have the Vancouver Olympics and it's time to show off our beautiful country. With our official clothing sponsors HBC (The Bay) we can wear our Canadian flag proudly. Thank you American owned HBC for being the Canadian sponsor. Also thank you HBC for showcasing all our fine apparel talent...oh wait everything was made in China. Nobody seems to notice that all our products were made with good ol' 18 hour days.

I know HBC, you and China will be BFF's, but for the sake of all that is just and right, please break up. Please for the Canadian economy, let a Canadian company take the reigns for one Olympics.

Anyways my friends this is the way it should be:

Canadian Olympics + Canadian owned and operated company + Canadian made apparel = <3

Throwback

Once upon a time, I was a little girl. A girl who dreamed of meeting her prince and while I had much of a crush on Felix, I soon came to realize he was quite the brat. I could hope bigger, older, and wiser. I decided to deflect my crush onto Gus.

One day my mother decided to take her weekly trip to the chiropractor/health food store. "Yay more whole grain rice and lentils. YUM!" I thought sarcastically in my head. The chiropractor adjusted my neck. I really didn't like the sound of my neck cracking but my desire for that lollipop was greater. As we finished and exited the chiropractor onwards to the health food store, I noticed something, someone. There was a bench outside and there was Gus sitting on a bench. My eyes widened and my jaw began to drop. I stopped dead in my tracks while my mother tugged on my arm to keep walking. I just stared and then Gus looked at me! He noticed that I obviously recognized him. He smiled a huge smile and then....ladies and gentlemen....Gus Pike winked at me!

It was as if time stopped, until my mother took me onwards and I would only see Gus Pike again on Road to Avonlea.

True Story.

A Tragic Loss...or simply growing up?

I guess I am back on the blogging front again, now that I have a little more free time and some more time to think.

Recently something has been tugging on my heart. I have become so depressed that it has kept me up at night, made me cry, and made me fall to my knees begging God to change it. Maybe it's because my heart has changed over the years, but I don't really think it's changed since I was about 18. Sure things have come and gone, times have gotten worse and times have gotten better, I have been rude and ignorant, I have been compassionate and polite, but my heart has always been after God. Recently I have been completely broken by the things going on around me and I have to wonder if there is a great loss here or am I just growing up?

I became serious about God when I was about 14, learned some extremely difficult lessons during 16-18 and from then on never looked back. The one thing I was sure about was the community in which I became involved in. I made friends who I looked up to, who I could pray with, who prayed for me and uplifted me. These people were the church, they were making a difference in my life at the very least and they became the friends I thought I would always be able to entrust my spiritual journey with. Recently I have been overwhelmed at the many people I have met over the years. One by one they fall away from the Lord. My brothers and sisters have begun a descent into spiritual silence and I cannot bear to watch it. It's not necessarily dramatic, but anything you choose over God is turning away from your purpose and the life He has chosen for you. So many I know are trading in God for sex and companionship but that is not all. Whether you choose sex, family, education, a career; it doesn't matter what it is. If you are putting anything above your desire for the Lord, then your heart is in the wrong place.

I have to wonder were my friends ever serious? Did they just grow up and grow out of their hormonal imbalanced teenager self which the church so preys on? Or is there something more going on here? Are they losing something they so desperately once needed...or are they just growing up?

Nobody said it would be easy to follow the Lord. I never have thought so. But I used to always have a community of believers to help sharpen me, pray with me, and have friendship with. Now as I lose so many friends, I feel so completely isolated and depressed. We were not meant to live alone like this. We were meant to live in community for many reasons. We need to uplift each other, keep each other accountable, be there through the good and the bad, pray for each other. I am lonely and I am saddened by this loss, both for my sake and for theirs. Nobody said it was easy but I never thought I'd have to go at this alone.

Is this just life?

"You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth?" -Gal. 5:7