No goodbye, you know I don't like goodbyes. See you later!

As some of you know by the main title on my blog, I am student youth and young adult leader. Going in to the job field that I am, I know I have student in the ministry I lead for about 4 years max. Then they move up to an older group. But how ever some of them leave and go to school, some where outside of the Hamilton area. And then we have to say goodbye to each other. This happened last night as one of the girls from my youth ministry is leaving to go to Africa for a year of school and ministry her name is Jade (this is a picture of me and her). Because of this it could me to think about goodbyes. And as you can see from the title of this blog, No goodbye, you know I don't like goodbyes. See you later! (This is quote from the movie John Q) I knew I heard this quote before but I have not seen John Q before so it is not from this movie but I could not find the one I was looking for so I went with that one. The quote says no goodbye, you know I don’t like goodbyes. I wonder why the kid in this movie does not like goodbyes. What about you how you feel and handle goodbyes? I think goodbyes can be the hardest thing to handle sometimes. I know it was hard to say goodbye to guys at work, because you spend 8 hours a day with one person and now you have to say goodbye for at least 8 months. But I like the second part of this quote. See you later! We now live in a time when it is not really goodbye it is more like see you later, because of things like the phone, msn, email and the internet. We might not be able to see the person but we can write them an email and get an answer soon I know it is not the same as seeing and talking to the person, but it only might be for a time, like a year. But it is still hard and that’s ok. I do not like goodbye were meant to be easy. We are people of relationship so when we say goodbye we feel like we are saying goodbye relationship.

Now time to bring the God part in I know you were waiting for this part. I started thinking about this whole goodbye thing. And I was led to think about when Jesus left his Father to come to earth as a baby what kind of goodbye went on in the heavens. Maybe something was said like: No goodbye, you know I don't like goodbyes. See you later! Maybe it was hard for him too say goodbye but the idea of see you later was maybe always in the back of his mind. I do not know I am just thinking here. Jesus had to say goodbye twice in his life that most of be the hardest for him. The first was when he left the Father to come to earth the second was when we had to say goodbye to his follows and return to heaven. He had spend at least 3 years with these people travelling around and spending 1095 days at least together you get to know someone and you are going to miss them when you leave. So he might have said something like: No goodbye, you know I don't like goodbyes. See you later! (This is not in the Bible word for word it is just an idea I have)

Therefore goodbyes can be hard and I do not want to down play them. But let’s try not to hold on to the goodbye but the see you later part, because we will see them again and it is ok to miss people and it ok cry when you miss the people you have said goodbye too. Try too holding on the memories you have with that person, but remember No goodbye, you know I don't like goodbyes. See you later!

So who is the person you will say No goodbye, you know I don't like goodbyes. See you later! To this week? Or maybe a friend going off to school? Or maybe you are saying it to your friends as you leave to go to school? Maybe parents as you leave to go to school? Or maybe you will just start saying it in general?

Thanks
Howden Matt Howden

Jones Soda

This blog is a bit late. It should have been done on Saturday sorry to those of you who checked the site on Saturday, but I hope you will forgive me and I hope you will like this one. Even though it is later than I said.

So this one is about Jones Soda as you can see by the title. I am going to talk about two bottle caps, if have gotten on my Jones Soda’s over the past few weeks.

First I do not drink a lot of soda because it does weird things to my body when I drink it. But I do drink Jones Soda, but not all of them really only Cream Soda and Blue Bubble Gum Soda.

The first cap says this accept a gift graciously, I think this is good advice. Have you ever gotten a gift you never wanted? Like black socks for Christmas. Do you accept the gift graciously or you say something like great socks. What about when someone gives you gift when you do not want anything? How do you accept it? What about if someone gives you gift when you do want it? What do you say? How do you accept it?

The one I would like to talk about is accepting a gift when you do not think you need a gift. This guy named Jesus came to the earth, he said he was the Son of God and that he would die and then rise from the dead. Because of this he offers this gift called forgiveness and relationship with God. Some people feel they do not need this gift. God is offering it us a gift, so the question to think about is when God is offering this gift will I accept this gift graciously? Or will you think I do not need this gift, much like I do not need those black socks you get at Christmas time. But one time you might need to use those black socks and you will be happy you have. One day you might need this thing called forgiveness and a relationship with God, and it is nice that this gift was offered to us, but we need to accept a gift graciously. Jesus offers more gifts than just these two.
But we must be willing to accept them graciously.

The next cap says a new chapter in your life is being written, this is cool because I believe new chapters are always been written about ours. A lot of you guys are writing new chapters of your lives by moving up in high school now. So what will you chapter of high school be about? When I first read this cap, I thought to myself I wonder what this new chapter is going to have in it. Maybe it will have me growing my leadership in area a live that does not have any leadership going on or my it will involve an road trip to somewhere I have never been before, maybe it will involve new relationships. I can not wait to see what this new chapter is going to have in it. I have always joked around with people that are taking writing classes in school that they need to write a book about my life. The title of the book would be the life and times of Matt Howden. But who knows if it will get done ever.

Now I am going to bring God and Jesus in with bottle cap, who thought I would do. When reading this cap about a new chapter was being written in my life made me think, that when I enter in a relationship with God that a new chapter is being the Bible says that we are made new when accept the gift God gives. Out of that we have a new chapter being written about our lives and what we do since we have been in relationship with God. And the fun we have with new people we meet in this new part of lives. We are writing new chapters to our lives. Chapters that have relationships, road trips, love, helping people, forgiveness, peace, joy, fun, laughing, purpose, a reason to live, and not to say you do not have these things in past chapters of your live, but these are new things you might not have had before. So what is this your new chapter going to say? What will it involve, who will be in, where will it take you, and how long will it be?

I want you know I just look at these bottle caps a just ideas, I do not want you think I look to the bottle caps for answers to life. I look to the Bible for that.

I am sorry if there are spelling mistakes, I was half a sleep when I wrote this. I hope it flows and you get something out of it.

Thanks
Howden Matt Howden

So close yet so far

I thought I would post another blog, so here it is. This not the blog I was planning on writing today, but I have been thinking about this all week, and I fought against to post it but as you can see I lost the fight and this blog won.

As you can see by the title, I am talking about something that is so close yet so far at the same time. Have you ever had something that was so close but yet it was so far at the same time? Maybe it was school for some of you this year it was so close to summer yet still so far away. You could see the end but you will still away from it. Maybe you have done a race before and you see the finish line and you begin to think I am so close yet so far. And you start to think when will this be over I can see the end, but I am still so distance away from it. Personal this is where I am in life. I gave my two weeks notice to my summer job that I will be done on August 17/18 because I work the night shift it is going to carry over to the 18. So that means I have one more week of work, I can see the finish line in the distance but I am still far enough that it is not close yet.

Now this is when I am going to go on my tirade, not a lot of my blogs will be tirades. I like my job it easily, you can get away with not doing a lot of work (which a lot of guys do). And one guy on the day shift thinks I am lazy and do not any work. But now to reasons why I am happy to almost be done work:

1. I will get to sleep normal hours

2. My weeks will not be messed up any more

3. It will be time for school again

4. I can get my life back in order

5. My body will be warm again (I work in a freezer and refrigerator)

6. I will get to watch baseball games

Another reason I am happy to be leaving my job, is I get the chance to work with someone who likes to talk all the time and has to be the center of what everyone is talking about and he adds his stories and tries to one up your story. This is more the tirade part, I am sorry if you do not like this part. So yes I work with someone who is older than but acts younger then my which is weird, when you say that. This guy needs to be the center of everything when you talking to people in the lunch and if he not part of the conversion he makes himself part of the conversion. Have you ever met someone like that? Have you had them in your class at school? I do not know about you but they bug. It was alright when he worked 6:00 pm to 2:30 am I only had to listen to his stories for one 15 min break, but now he is on my shift. So I get to hear about them from 10:30 pm to 7 am. And at 3 am I do not like to hear for 10000 times what you still need to do to your car to get it on the road. I came to a conclusion over the past couple of weeks he bugs me and I do not know what do about it. I have tried my best but I can only handle so much. So I am happy that the end is so close but yet it is so far.

Finally when thinking about this so close yet so far. It made me think of the return of this guy named Jesus Christ; this guy was the Son of God, he died on a cross and rose from the died 3 days later, spent some more time on earth and then returned to his Father (God) The Bible says that the Son of God does not know his return but only the Father in Heaven does. However Jesus did talk about signs that would point to his return. Some of those signs are going on today. And it makes me wonder does Jesus still not know his own return but he is seeing the signs that point to his return. And there is the Father maybe saying to himself so close yet so far. So close for my Son to return and to fix the world we live in and yet so far for his return. He can see the finish line it could be so close yet so far at the same time. But He does know this that there is coming a time when it will be close and not far, and then it will be finished. Much like this Friday at 7 am I will be done another summer of work at Maple Leaf till next summer when I do it all over again. So what is the thing that is so close yet so far for you? Maybe like me it is the summer job. Maybe it is a relationship with the Creator of this world (God). Maybe it is the end of summer and the start of the school. Only you know what your thing is. Try to find it today but do not let it effect the way you live your life, let it add to it. When Jesus saw his thing that was so close yet so far the cross he let it add to the way he lived his life here on earth and he completed his thing that was so close yet so far. Will you?

I am even though this week with be hard, last week was to sometimes, I was really to walk in to the office and say I QUIT and I knowing I am so close, I can be come lazy in doing my work, this happened when I was close to finishing high school, I went back after I was finished for what was going to be a year, I only did one semester. But never the Christmas break I stopped caring and did not want to be there, after the Christmas break and I did not want to be there even more, I would go to class and sleep. I did not care about the work; I just wanted to be done and my marks were affected because of that. So I learned that I need to finish it all the way to end. Let doing a race you will better when you finish the end strong with your hand up and feeling good about your self, not when you are dragged across the finish line. So finish you're so close yet so far strong, you will feel better about it.

Thanks
Howden Matt Howden

Good News

As some of you know, I work nights (10:30 pm to 7 am) at Maple Leaf Meats LTD. in the Burly town. When today I was driving to work I do not remember the exact date so do not ask please, but it was a couple weeks ago (and I was going to blog about it then but I did not have the time). I thought I would put in a CD that I had not listened to in a long time. It was Something Corporate and the song that made me think was Good News. Here are some of the words from the song:

I wanna read good news good news
I wanna be innocent again
I wanna read good news good news
But nothing good is happening

nothing good is happening
nothing good is happening

I wanna read good news good news
I wanna be a little kid again
I wanna read good news good news
But nothing good is happening
I wanna read good news good news
I wanna go to sleep at night again
I wanna read good news
But nothing good is happening
But nothing good is happening
But nothing good is happenin

As you can see by the words of this song, you can tell what I was thinking. I was thinking about reading good news again. When you read the news papers now, which I do when I am in the washroom at work. Not to much good is being printed. It seems every page you turn it is about kilings, war, death and stuff like. However I do know of a book that does talk about good news, that book is the Bible. It talks about this guy named Jesus we came and died so that we might be able to be in relationship with this thing known as God who created this world and also created us. He did this by dying on cross to give us something known as forgiveness, and because of that we can ask God to forgive us when we have done something wrong, and like the words of this song say: I wanna be innocent again you can be made innocent of the wrong things you have done by asking Jesus to forgive you. I do not know about you but that is an awesome feeling.

Now back to the song it goes on to say:
I wanna read good news good news
But nothing good is happening

nothing good is happening
nothing good is happening

So thing good could be going on in your life you just might not know where to look, because we are blinded by all of other stuff that is going on around us that we miss the good news. Something good could be going on right now just like at the world around us God is always working in it, and His good news is being talked about almost every of world, and people are getting hope from it, people are getting and giving forgive, people are getting back into relationship with God, people are finding their purpose on the plant, people are finding joy, people are becoming alive, and new things are being created and life is happening all around us. I do know about you but that sounds like good news to me, I think reading about that kind of stuff. It would awesome for someone to make a newspaper like that people can buy and read about good news happening around the world.

What is the good news you are going to read today? Maybe you will read about the good news of Jesus Christ. Maybe you will read about forgiveness, and maybe you will start giving and getting forgiveness? Maybe you will read about joy? Maybe you will read about something and find your purpose on this plant? Maybe you will read about something new being created? Or maybe you will create something new?

But remember good news is out there when you look for it. The Bible says that is you look for something you will find. What is the good news you are looking for today?

Thanks
Howden Matt Howden