Moving into a new home that's old comes with lots of little problems, and kinks. A lot of electrical outlets, and phone jacks don't work. Many lightbulbs are out, in hard to reach/change places. Once changed, you realize it's the wiring that's loose, and not the lightbulb's fault. Our fridge had some problem too: we couldn't control the level of coolness, and so most of our food, milk, eggs got frozen over! =P The wiring was loose on one of the elements on the stove, the thermostat always shows the wrong temperature, and we keep missing garbage day. hehhee, either that, or it changes every week. My walk-out bedroom is another story: I don't mind things being old, but does it have to be this dirty? Lots of cobwebs, and dead bugs to vacuum, and this yellow carpeting kinda smells. AIYA! I thought to myself, "what a heck-hole." = P Yesterday, part of the dry wall in the ceiling of our dining room collapsed...=O and it was due to the mildew built-up in the washroom upstairs. Fortunately, our landlord was prompt and came to fix many things.
I've come to realize that I'm like this old townhouse. So many things to fix and replace to make it habitable for the Holy Spirit. I can tolerate imperfections of this home, because I keep telling myself, "I'm only going to be here a short while." But the Holy Spirit's standards and conditions are perfect, and therefore leaps and bounds beyond what I am willing to accept.

The game of hockey will never be the same again. *sniffsniff* Patrick Roy announced his retirement today. =(
He leaves the National Hockey League as the greatest goaltender ever to play the game, and his regular season accomplishments can only be rivaled by his post season prowess. His regular season records include most games played (1,029), most minutes played (60,235), most wins (551). His marks on the NHL’s record books continue into post season play. Roy is the NHL’s goaltending leader for most games played (247), minutes played (15,209), shutouts (23), consecutive wins in the post season (11 in 1993), and has the most 10-plus win playoff campaigns (9).

“This is a tough day for me, but it is a decision which I took my time to reflect on and arrive at,” stated Roy. “When you spend 18 seasons doing something you love, it becomes a difficult decision. My family and I completely believe in it, and I am leaving the game with memories most are not as fortunate as me to have.”

Roy’s legendary career began in 1984-85 with one game for the Montreal Canadiens, and the following season he would win the Stanley Cup and claim the Conn Smythe Trophy as 20-year-old rookie. Over the course of his career, Roy has won four Stanley Cups (1986 and 1993 with Montreal, and 1996 and 2001 with Colorado), three Conn Smythe Trophies (1986, 1993, and 2001), five William M. Jennings Trophies (1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, and 2002), three Vezina Trophies (1989, 1990, and 1992), been selected to the NHL First All-Star Team four times (1989, 1990, 1992, and 2002) and selected to the NHL Second All-Star Team on two occasions (1988 and 1991).

“I’ve had a blast; it’s been unbelievable. I’ve been so fortunate to have lived a dream and have fun for more than 18 years earning a living by playing the game I love. I will remember the good days and cherish the great moments. I’m leaving with the feeling that I’ve done everything I could to be the best."

Good-bye Patty...

Here are some notes on "Boy Meets Girl".
Jesus is saying that what really matters in life is to love God with every fiber of our being, heart, soul, mind, strength, and to let that love spill over into the way we treat our fellow man. He's telling us that if we want to get life right, we need to make it about God. Another way to put it is that we need to see God's glory as the purpose of every part of life. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" 1 Corinthians 10:31
"Living to glorify God means doing everything for Him, His way, to point to His greatness and reflect His goodness. When our relationships are truly "for God", these essentials will be present.
1. Joyful obedience to God's Word. Deut. 4:2 says, "Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God."
2. The selfless desire to do what's best for the other person. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Luke 6:31
ie. Is starting this relationship now what's best for him/her? Will expressing my feeling now serve him/her? etc.
3. The humble embrace of community. We need our parent's wisdom, we need the support of our church, and to remind us God's commands. We need Christian friends to comfort and encourage us.
4. A commitment to guard the sacredness of sex.
5. A deep satisfaction in God. Before two people can please God as a couple, they must first be individuals who want God more than anything else and who know that only He can satisfy the longings in their souls.

Singles have one usual problem: Our mind-set is, "God, tell me who, tell me how, tell me when-and then I'll trust you." What God wants us to see is that if He did this, our trust wouldn't be real. We want a definitive answer so we won't feel vulnerable, weak, and dependent on Him. And it's only when we realize our true condition that God can demonstrate His strength and love on our behalf.
This is only the first of four sections in the book, so you're gonna have to read this book in order to get the whole picture. = P

This weekend has been very interesting. I came home on Friday, and I went to North York General hospital to feed my grandma, but they wouldn't allow visitors, and they didn't give me a reason. I was disappointed and a tad frustrated at the fact that I don't know when I'll see my grandma again. As it turns out, if I had gone in to visit on Friday, I would have to be quarantined like my parents, sister, and 5 other family members and friends. Looking back, it was God's protection over me, since I had to go back to London for school.

I also had a driving instructor 'prep' me for my G2 exit road test on Sat., and it's amazing how God can use you anywhere, anytime. My instructor asked me why I was doing the test at Morningside, and not Aurora. I told him it's close to my church and so I'm familiar with those routes, and the 401 there. That led to me witnessing to him about my faith. He's a Buddhist, and he was actually interested about what I had to say. The hard part was I had to speak in cantonese; so it was kinda challenging, but those hard chinese terms came to me somehow. Praise the Lord!

Sitting at my makeshift desk in my walk-out basement bedroom: looking out to see the splendor of the God's creation. *sigh* you can never get bored with nature. = D I still have yet to see Grand Bend beach in London, which claims to be as beautiful as beaches in California. My backyard is home to many creatures who live in the shed. I see countless squirrels daily, chipmunks, sparrows, a cardinal, and a chubby mole-like creature with a tail like a beaver. I call him Mr. Beavmol; but I suspect that he's a groundhog. He likes to eat those yellow dandelion flowers.
My street is seems pretty quiet. It's a safe neighborhood, because many of our neighbors leave their front door open, and there are kids playing outside.

I've finally started reading Joshua Harris' "Boy meets Girl". It's very inspiring and encouraging to Christian singles who want to put their trust and faith in God. I will post notes up soon on it, as I have with "I Kissed Dating Good-bye".

I watched Smallville last night: what is going on with Clark? Why is he so dumb? I'm not very amused with the way things ended, pretty lame cliffhanger too.

Must-see summer movie: Matrix Reloaded
great action, great fight scenes, and of course Keanu was great too.

Praise the Lord! I have finally been adopted into sonship with the Lord! I have been waiting for a little more than a month now, wondering when the Holy Spirit will cry within me "Abba, Father", to testify to me clearly, and consciously that I am God's child. It happened today when I was on my own, and unaware of my surroundings, and just lost in random thoughts. It was so simple, yet so amazing how it spoke to me.
It says in Romans 8:15-16 "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him, we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."
When we become Christians, we are not 'sons' of God immediately. We first receive the Holy Spirit, that teaches us and guides us in our walk, and we learn how to be humble servants. Then we become slaves of righteousness.
Romans 6:18 "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness."
I only wish I could explain more clearly of these things I've learned at Pam and Roger's Bible studies. I have been waiting to be adopted as a 'son'. As a son is to his father, I am a co-heir with Christ, sharing in his glory. While I was a servant of God, I was not an heir, I was waiting on this hope that I will one day enter sonship.
Romans 8:22-25 "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope this is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

For the first time in a long time, my spiritual health has deteriorated. The scariest part is that it happened so slowly, that you don't even begin to realize it until it hits you one day. It finally hit me hard yesterday, when I found myself wanting to do something for all the wrong selfish reasons. This wasn't a total shock, because I knew that I haven't been growing spiritually at all, and I never even saw that as a problem. The worst part is, when you think you have everything right with the Lord, that's when you're most vulnerable to slip up or be attacked by the Devil. This has been my mentality for the past two weeks, believing that my walk with our Heavenly Father was fine and dandy, not feeling the need to change or spend more time with Him. By the grace of God, the Spirit has not given up on me, and is continually revealing to me my heart and the things in it that must be thrown out. In the Bible, it is promised to us that we can be made new again, completely cleansed from all unrighteousness. Humans on their own will always have sin in their lives, but with the Holy Spirit, we children of God can be free and blameless. Without even the slightest blemish of sin! I WANT TO BE SIN-FREE!

"Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."

2 Corinthians 7: 1

What a pleasant Mother's Day weekend. I hope it was pleasant for my mom as well. = ) Mom's have it the hardest, it's a never ending job, and it blows my mind at how awesome they really are. They really do exemplify God's love for us. = )
Jo's and Caleb's B-day dinner was at Marche's on Sat. Who knew their crepes has skyrocketed to $10?
Two weeks really do fly by. I'm back in London again, for a statistics course. Moving in was quite tiring yesterday, my mom and sister would agree. I realize there are so many things I can't do for myself, and I depend on a lot of people to help me. For example, I don't know anything about my computer and 'routering' it to the modem and other computers, we had no heat or hot water for a day because the flame in the furnace was out, and even something as simple as locating my keys, I need assistance to find. = P And I thought I was pretty independent! hehhe, I'm really glad to have good roommates and friends to help and teach me do a lot of things, because I'm far from being self-sufficient. heheh.

Nine cats in one home = crazy kitty reunion. Yup, that's what happened on Monday night. My family brought Simba and Nala over to Kim's place (she has 3 cats), then the owners of all our kitties' mother brought 4 new kittens for us to see. One word: AAaawwwww!! They're soo cute! They all have the most adorable blue eyes, and they fit right in your palm. = D I wanted to bring one home, but my house has enough people as it is, let alone all the pets we have. If anyone would like a kitten, let me know! hehehhhe. The funniest part was that Simba who weighs 17 lbs, was afraid of his 1/2 lb siblings. He squeezed himself under the couch for most of the evening. What a 'mo dam fay lui'.
I saw X2 last evening, and it was pretty good. Lots of action, and the plot was interesting.

What an atypical week this has been. No worries of school, tests, zip. = D Did a lot of catching up with friends, family etc. Highlights have been the IKEA shopping day, going to the driving range, and eating out A LOT. So much for watching my weight. =P
I'm looking forward to summer school, and working in July and Aug. It'll be great. Last night, I went to nat's b-day get together at her house, and it was different (but it was a good feeling) seeing all your university friends together outside the usual setting of our campus.