Clarity amidst Confusion

Have you ever said a prayer about something that was troubling you, or you didn't have the answer to at the time, and when you received an answer you weren't sure exactly what the answer was, but somehow knew that it was an answer?  I have recently experienced such a predicament and I am not quite sure how to deal with it.  On the one hand I would love to jump into the one solution and achieve a sense of accomplishment.  On the other hand, I have already gone down that road once before and only really experienced frustration and disappointment.  But I feel that God is calling me back into that same situation as before.  I don't know if He really is or not, thats my predicament, but the situation has changed slightly.  A different position I could take that wasn't available to me before hand.  Was God just saving me from getting into a position that didn't suit me?  Was I just not made to fit in with that situation?
Doubt is what causes you to ask questions like these.  And we all know where doubt comes from.  The strongest thing that anyone alive can have is Faith in Jesus.  A big part of faith is Trust.  The satan knows that when we doubt are own abilities, which God gave us by the way, that our strength in Jesus greatly diminishes.  Not because Jesus' strength is affected by doubt, but because we as doubters stop trusting the strength of God and start relying on our own strength to get through life.  Our strength is nothing compared to God's strength.  So I don't know why others or myself get worried over these little problems in life, but  I know that I will try to start trusting in God's strength more and His plan for my life.

World of Walmart

I just recently started working at Walmart and, for the first time since I started work, I worked in Electronics.  It's very different from working in the Meat Department.  But that difference seemed to energize me for the whole day.  I was working with what I love, as in electronics, doing what I love, in helping people, and as a result I made it through the whole day without one gripe or complaint.  I really do love working in the Electronics at Walmart.  In fact, it was slightly depressing when I ended my shift.  Once I got on my bus ride home I realized that my feet hurt, I was no longer serving peoples needs, and my energy level dropped significantly.  Today I found a goal to strive for while working at Walmart.  Whether or not that's where God wants me to finally end up, I don't know.  But as just as the poet John Bunyan says, God will provide the means to do His will.  Just so you all know what I'm talking about, here is the poem.

Run John run the law commands
but gives you neither feet or hands
Better news the Gospel brings
It bids me fly and gives me wings.

So, I will try and not listen to what the world tells me I should do for my life and try harder to hear what God wants me to do, knowing full well that He will provide the way.

The Timmie's Fellowship Church

I just recently got a job with Walmart in their "fresh" section of the store.  So today I had to go in for for Food Safety Training.  To make a long story short, it was a very long day.  When I got home I really felt like doing something with my friends, who I only ever really see on Sundays anymore.  So, I put on my balaclava, hat and jacket, and pushed through the cold wind of an Ontario December.  Finally getting to the school, my legs practically numb, I get to the youth group just as they were doing their discussions, near the end of the night.  After they were done praying, I decided to surprise them with my arrival.  Once we all had a few laughs we spontaneously decided to head on over to Timmie's to hang out and talk.  It seams like whenever I go out with friends, usually to Timmie's, I get revitalized and energized.  We don't, usually, talk about anything spiritual, we just talk.  Sit down and chat about past experiences, future events, and just plain random stories.  I guess it's that little bit of chaos that energizes us.  Everyday, in our daily lives, we are told to act a certain way, dress a certain way, arrive at a certain time.  Through all the busy order we go through in a week it's nice to be able to just be you, relax,  and just have fun.  People these days tend to worry to much about what other people think and forget to just be themselves.  Well, if you are like me, and have picked up on this direction our lives have taken, then I will encourage you to find yourself a body of Christian believers(Church) get together with them(Fellowship) at Timmie's one day.  I don't get to do it half as often as I'd like to go these days.  Maybe I'll work a little harder to get out there.

Operation Sharing

Today my youth group and I went to the Operation Sharing warehouse in Kitchener, ON.  When we got there, I thought we would just look in some boxes and see if there were any knives or other such items.  I always seem to go in without an abundance of enthusiasm, but always end up feeling the passion and excitement in the moment of the act.  There was a lot more to this evening then I thought.  My friend and myself were charged with replacing the empty boxes with full ones.  All the while more people were emptying them a lot faster than we were replacing them, it seemed.  Time flew by, and a voice came over the PA System, saying that we have shipped 26,000 boxes this evening!!!  At that moment, it hit me.  All that work we had just done, was being sent to people around the world who couldn't have a nice Christmas otherwise.  We became a beacon of joy and a comfort to those children, by letting them know we care.  A lot of good people showed up tonight.  I just want to say, thanks for all the help, and may God bless your lives.

My Testimony

Hello, My name is Chad. I was born with epilepsy in the frontal lobe and had about two or three seizures a week. I grew up in Sutton West, Ontario in a Christian home. My dad was a full time Pastor, Dairy Manager for IGA, and full time father. My mom was a missionary kid from Peru, a stay at home mom, and she taught the Sunday School class on Sundays. We never had a large amount of money growing up, but God always provided enough. I became a Christian when I was ten, and was baptised by my dad. Throughout my life, I have had seizures about two or three times a week until I was 14 years old. When I was 14 we had to move for a job position at another church. About a week before we moved, I read Matthew 17:14, the story of the boy with a demon, and I prayed that God would cure my seizures. After that I had one last seizure and have been seizure free for 9 years now, since April 2000. Since then, I have been involved in youth ministry, worship ministry, men's ministry, and on the audio visuals team as well as the ushers team at the church that my dad worked at. We ended up getting burnt pretty bad by our church and was later let go. My dad fell into some bad health problems and my mom had to get a job. We found a new church that has really been there for us and has really helped in our recovery from our last church. At this church I have gotten involved in the youth group as a Leader/ Technical go-to-guy for the sound, video, and computer systems. I have been to two different school, one for religous education and the other for technology. It took failures at both schools for me to figure out that I didn't fit into the cookie cutter shape that was expected of a college student. But it gave me some great resources and a lot of friends. I am now working on getting an Apprenticeship in Construction and am planning on going over seas once I am done.

That is my life in a nutshell. If there is anything that is unclear to you or you would like to know more, don't hesitate to ask.

Chad