Toronto Airport Church, Conference...

Well I had a lot of fun with my friends late at nights and a couple other times, but the first two days we attended the conference I pretty much had fun with God. Thursday and Friday, I spent a lot of time with God, out on the floor drunk in His presence. Most of the time I'm not even sure what happened, but some of the time God showed me incredible things and just loved on me back!

<- Emily laying in God's presence
-> Tim trying to sit with Cathy's help

Saturday morning we decided to catch up on sleep and go only for the afternoon session and then ended up enjoying ourselves at the B&B instead and stayed in the kitchen till late into the night, talking, worshiping and all such fun and spiritual things we like to do together. Sunday, we accidentally slept in till 10am, and since we had missed church (which was 20 minutes away, and started at 10) and our hosts got back right then, we stayed and had a late breakfast and enjoyed another couple hours there. Then we all left and went our separate directions.

<- Em & Tim enjoyn picts
-> Dave takn picts Sat. night

<- Hosts: Doug & Janis
-> Tim leadn worship late Sat.


Sometime in there, late Thursday, the Ingole parents came with friends from their church--Russ & Marsha, whom I had the pleasure of getting to know during our week attending the Florida revival. Then they left before we were up Saturday to go to the conference in Toronto, but somehow got lost and decided to enjoy the day at Niagara Falls before heading back home to do church in the morning (Mike Ingole is the pastor of the church in East Liverpool; where we are having the ladies conference this weekend, too, by the way). Sadly, I didn't see them much, so no pictures of them...

OTHER RANDOM PICTURES:

<- Em, studyn Bible, Sat.
-> Getn ready, on way to Conf

<- Cole strangln Tim to wake him, Sat
-> Em & I at church b4 meetn

Our Gang before we seperated ways after noon, Sunday.
Top row: Tim, Emily, & I (all FOFs)
Then: Cole (friend of Ingole family & from OH)
Bottom Row: Dave (Tim's friend, and internet site manager), Cathy (his mom), & Michelle Harter (a FOF)

Golden Birthday...

Have you ever noticed its the simple things in life that make it better? small and simple can say more then big and expensive; if its with friends, sometimes it doesn't matter how much they spend on making a special day for you, its just special that they do...

Emily, Michelle, and Cole got lost on their way to the church--they tried a short cut, which added over an hour to their trip--and got there just as the service was ending. The first thing Emily told me was to stay put, and Michelle ran out to the car for something while we mingled and talked with Pastor Jun. Then my surprise came--and boy was I worried!

<- Em


->
P Jun
& I



It was simple really. A big-beaded pink necklace wrapped around twice, a cute pink tiara, and a little wand. (Have I mentioned that my least favorite color is pink? And all shades of pink! So by default, also red?) Of course I had to wear it all for pictures, and was supposed to keep it on for the rest of the day (thankfully there was only 3hrs left and that was how long it would take to get to the B&B in Streetsville, Canada!)...The funny thing is, that as much as I abhor Pink and don't like being too girly (Can it get anymore girly then all pink and a tiara?) it was somehow cool. I was the princess for a couple hours. And it was my friends way of making it special. Once we were downstairs in the coffee house, hanging out and eating, they handed to me a little Victoria Secret bag (it's an old joke, but I swore I'd never be caught be dead carrying one of those bags through a mall, and ever since then I've gotten gifts in those bags!). I was worried, again! (it would be like them put something "interesting" in there too) But all it was were a couple of those really cool musical cards about friendship (one was the show Friends, go figure), the Momma Mia soundtrack (woo who!), and a really cool picture of the three of us girls in Honduras together!

Then we had a really long, but really fun, road trip up to the B&B where we met up with Tim, his friend Dave, and his mom Cathy--who arranged this whole thing. Of course, once there, we stayed up another couple hours to laugh and talk with each other--as seems to be our habit whenever we're together!

Unless you count the fact that my friends drove a couple hours out of their way to stop by and pick me up on my birthday, it really wasn't anything too big. Yet somehow it was one of the sweetest birthdays I've ever had (the only other one was when I turned 19 and my dorm-hall went together and made a special scavenger hunt for my gifts and gave me a cake at lunch)...I think I'm beginning to understand it's the company that makes the difference, not so much the price or place of the event, it's the fun, the laughter, the craziness of our interaction. And of course none of that is possible without the company, the actual friends! Thank God for my friends!

To my friends & family, thank you for always making such simple days so special! I love y'all and I thank God for you, every day! May He bless you as your presence has blessed me!

The Day Ahead...

Well, today is my "Golden Birthday" (I'm turning 24 today, which is the 24th) and among many wonderful gifts, one of my friends is paying my registration so I can go to the conference with them in Toronto, ON, Canada! Its at the Airport Church up there, which oddly enough, I have never been to. I'm excited because I've always wanted to see Heidi Baker and she's one of the speakers!

The day is gonna go as follows (now that I'm all packed): at 3:30pm we are going to my cousins parent's house and having diner and hanging out because our pastor from the Philippines is here and we want to eat and commune with him every chance we have. Then at 6pm when we have our usual Wednesday night church meeting, we will go there and I will meet up with Emily & Michelle and a friend of the Ingole family. We will stay and listen to as much of Pastor Jun's preaching as possible, and then start our way up to Canada...There tonight Cathy Hoffman will being picking up her son, Tim Wright, and a friend of his at the airport. And tonight the FOF's (friends of Four) will be back together again and get to enjoy the conference together and with other friends and family also meeting us there!

Sadly, Sunday we will all be parting ways again and heading to our separate homes. Until then, I not only expect to meet God in a new and awesome way through the conference, But I also anticipate great fun and interaction with my friends!

Praise God for His many blessings!
<>< HJ

Planned Philippines...2008

This is just a note to keep us in your prayers. Half of the medical team has dropped out of going to the Philippines in October, and the lady who was going to lead the Bible School for the kids has dropped out too. We can still manage, but most of us who are still planning on going are very very short financially and all of us are wondering when--not if--God is going to provide; we need $2400 for the plane ticket in two weeks! Emily and Michelle could also use extra money to come up with the medical supplies they plan to bring...We appreciate and envy your prayers, so keep it up. In the end, The Lord will have just the right people going and all the things we need, right now we just need more faith!

I love y'all and pray God blesses you back, continuously...

<>< HJ

The Wanderer's Adventure Continues: Virginia Times: Worship Monday Night

I finally got some pictures from the prayer meeting we had on Monday night, and I thought I would share them with y'all so you can see it. As you can see, the FOFs (Michelle, Emily, Tim, & I; see TEAM: Africa 2008) are back together again in VA. But we are joined by a bunch of new friends we met while there, and I would like you to "meet" some of them! However, I don't remember everyone's names, just the ones I've hung out with more since then (so bare with me if I don't mention everyone in the pictures!)

Above (L to R): David, Shannon, Dee, and Michelle Hartley...Don't you just love that stained glass window? Too bad there isn't a full picture of it!

Below is Paul playing guitar. He worships spontaneously, like Tim, and it's great!

Above is Faith, who is a great leader and friend with a heart of gold and solid after God!

Below, on the bench (L to R) is Dee, Michelle Hartley, and Me. On the floor curled up in a tiny ball is Shannon, then two guys, then Emily Ingole and Tim Wright...I would've been on the floor then too, but Em had just beat me to the last spot I could slide off a bench to.
Above is that row of worshipers on the floor again, but all of a like mind. Pretty cool picture, eh?

The Wanderer's Adventure Begins: Traveling South

So, Sunday I found out my friends, Emily & Michelle were headed to Virginia Beach to meet up with Tim Wright and hang out. Well I wanted to go too, not only to be with them but to see me long-time college friend "Sooki" too (I haven't seen her in a year and they have an adorable little girl now). But the plane tickets to meet them were out of my price range, and I felt at peace with God--if that makes any sense--so I just went to bed figuring God knew what I wanted and if He wanted it for me, He's work it out. After all, I have also been dying to go down to Lakeland, FL too, but that will have to come in His perfect timing too...

Anyway, I woke up early yesterday morning at what I jokingly call an "un-Godly hour in the morning" (I'm a night person). While laying in bed, feeling quite peaceful and having had one of the most restful nights of sleep in a while I thought briefly of VA. Then had an odd thought: "wasn't there someone I knew going down?" I tossed the thought aside, and then it persisted. And with a name: Christopher!

Now I don't know why I had not thought of it sooner, he had been with us for the weekend and was leaving to go home soon! So I jumped up, asked Aunt Deb if he was heading out today and going straight through. She said "Yes" and that he was leaving in an hour. Well, I juggled my cell phone trying to get a hold of my friends--make sure they were serious about me staying with them in the their hotel room, and see if maybe they could get me back home later--while packing exceptionally fast!

Then another thought hit me fast. A friend of mine, Erin, in Lisbon OH, had been begging me to come and stay with her and her family. Her mom (Erin's a younger friend) had said she would drive out and pick me up and take me back later. So I called them up quick to ask if I got a ride back up there later this week, if they would get me back to Olean next week sometime...I got another voice mail.

I finished packing, asked Chris for a ride and we left shortly afterward. Thankfully, Erin got back to me just before we left so I knew if Emily & Michelle would take me home with them when they returned to OH, they could get me to Erin's (who lives near Emily's parents) and sometime Erin's mom would get me back to Olean.

I've never done anything so spontaneous in my life! and I still had not got a hold of my friends who were in VA when we left! And we were near DC before they finally called and said it was fine with them! My response was "Well, I sure hope so, 'cuz I'm on my way already!"

So last night, Chris dropped me and my small bags off on the Regent Campus where I met up with my friends in the Library's Prayer room where I then met several more cool people and had an awesome time of prayer, praise, and fellowship well into the AM hours. Then we went to a restaurant and hung out longer. And now, I'm off to bed and a wonderful time with my friends in VA till late Thursday night when we leave for OH...

I'm finally traveling on the road, on my own, just like me dream! Like Aunt Deb said: "and you thought you needed a car to do that?"

God...

Have you ever just stopped and listened? Focused on the past, but the good and not the bad? Just stopped, or even kept going, but thought of God as you did?

I'm excited. In about two days I'll be on the road for six hours with nothing but music, God, and a friend who enjoys both as much as I do. Then we'll meet two other friends and hang out with them almost two days, just us four (yes, it'll be another reunion of the Friends of Four, or FoF--see TEAM: Africa 2008). And I know God will show up in amazing ways! Even when it is just the fun of hanging out with close friends, it is still God-ordained! In laughter and fun--clean, Christian fun, that is--with friends, God is still glorified and always shows up. After all, He's not just a judge, He's our savior and I'm certain He takes joy in our joy just as much as in our sacrifice. Think on this: if when we give a coat to a person in need of a coat we give God a coat, then in pure fun, laughter, and hanging out with friends, whose to say you are not also doing the same with God? Especially if He is everywhere? And He should be in you, and in your Christian friends. So are we laughing with our friends, or are we Christ in the flesh, and truly just laughing with Him?

Can you tell I'm excited to hang out with my friends?! I see them as a blessing. Each one different, unique in their own way. Each one stretches and strengthens me in different ways, and I pray I do the same with them...

May God be ordained in our friendships, daily! And may this conference coming up this weekend, which the FoF will attend, also be a blessing...To everyone in attendance, and hanging out afterward! ...Thanks You, God, for Your many blessings and gifts!