Sometimes you gotta let go...

All the promises I've broken
All the times I've let you down
You've forgot them
But still I hold on to
the pain that makes me drown
Now I'm ready
To let it go
To give it away

Take it all
'Cause I can't take it any longer
All I have, I can't
make it on my own
Take the first, take the last
Take the good and take the rest
Here I am, all I have
Take it all

All the roads that lie before me
All the struggles I go through
Every second I'm reminded
That it all belongs to you
Now I'm ready
To let it go
To give it away

Ever since I died to myself
You gave a better life to me
I give you my finest moment
I give you the last breath I breathe

"Take It All" - Third Day

Prodigals

I was tired of waiting
Playing all the games and
Living in a place that was not for me
So I thought it was time
For me to get what's mine
And to do it all, everything I dreamed
What I thought was the best
of me turned to be
All the worst I could find

If I run to you
Will you hold me in your arms forevermore
If I run to you
Will you hold me in your arms forevermore

Now I got a feeling
That I've got to leave and
Find a way back to where I came from
Though I don't deserve it
I know it's unheard but
Living here without you, my life is done
I confess that I shouldn't
have run from you
Now I know I was wrong

Nowhere to run to
And no one to turn to
I'm dying out here on my own
Long before I even thought of returning
Your arms are wide open
Waiting for me to come home

Run to You - Third Day

To whom much grace is given, much thankfulness is shown -- While it is vital to not be stuck in past, it also important to never forget where you have come from and the grace & love that Christ showed. It sticks with you and you want others to experience the freedom you have. There's no need of living in the gutter when Christ is extending His hand to pull you out.

By Your Side - Tenth Avenue North

God is for us, not against us. He loved us so much that He gave His son Jesus Christ to take our place and bear our punishment.

So many times, we think God is against us, somehow plotting to make our lives miserable.
If I only had a moment to share a vital truth with someone it would be that Jesus loves them so much and He wants them to take His hand. His hand is outstretched, He just wants us to grab it for dear life.

A holiday for the rest of us

November is National Beard Month. Could there be a better idea? Having already sported the playoff beard for hockey and the I'm too lazy to shave beard. I am debating which to go with. (Source: http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/guides/to_blunt_the_razors_edge.php)

Regular Beards

These are bland beards that eschew excitement: fine if you want to look like a Fisher-Price construction worker. A nice variation is the Miami Vice five-day growth (also called the “Indiana J.”), which offers a slightly edgy look, but risks associating its wearer with people who are—irremediably stuck in the 1980s.

Long Beards

These are your basic Santa Claus/ZZ Top full-facial hair shafts. Wearers account for 35% of official Sasquatch sightings each year. The only variant is the “Devil’s Fork,” a long beard divided in two lengthy tines. From the neck up, the wearer looks something like a freakish gnome: a large head hoisted above two furry legs.

Goatees

Today’s beard of the realm. There are no standard constructions—only variations. The most common goatee, a uniform growth fully covering the muzzle, is the one sported by the average computer programmer and his ancestral twin, Sigmund Freud (Dze Schmall Bart). The “Handlebar and Chin Puff” variant belongs solely to Col. Sanders. The “Petit Goatee,” aka “Chin Scruff,” is worn by teenage skateboard punks, acne-pocked grocery sackers, and anyone else who can’t manage more than a small patch somewhere in the vicinity of their chins.

The Beard of Great Substance

Currently worn by Mel Gibson, it is traded amongst celebrities (see also: Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt) when they are encumbered in meaningful work and/or deeper than usual thoughts. Designed for stroking.

Mutton Chops

Mutant sideburns all puffed up and ready to burst across the face, these barely qualify as beards. Elvis springs to mind, as do many snapshots from 1970s-era yearbooks. The only varieties are “long” and “short.” The more daring of our fellows, however, like to stretch the boundary of mutton and bring in the moustache. This so-called “Chop-to-the-’Stache,” a line of hair along the top of the cheek connecting sideburns with a Freddie Mercury moustache, is a risky endeavor. Styled incorrectly, it risks making the wearer look as if he’s donned a horse bridle made of hair.

Decisions, decisions, decisions! I may just let it go amok and see what happens.

Der Besuch - Trailer

This is a great movie...I gonna try to get it. It is based on a book by Adrian Plass called "The Visit"
The founder (Jesus) visits a church and surprises a lot of people with his actions.
What a great reminder.

Randomness

-- About a month and a half into my new job and my mind continues to go back to Germany. I still feel comfortable in the decision to return but things are just different. The work in Germany was vibrant, alive, & fresh but here it just is because it has always been. But they say change can start with only one person and so if I must think differently and act differently than everyone else around, so be it. I am a man with nothing to lose. It is an enviable position to be in.

-- The US election has a strange feel to it. Obama-mania has hit the world and everyone is touting this man as the saviour of a country. Having no stake in the election, I consider myself a fairly neutral observer. It is mass hysteria in the States for the man who can do wrong.
I am reminded of what happened on January 30, 1933 in Germany when the Nazi Party with its promises of strong government, civil peace, radical changes to economic policy and restored national pride took a country by storm and ushered in a new "era" Now I am not suggesting Obama is the next Hitler but one has to be worried when an entire country seems to be brainwashed by mass-media propaganda. It is of course impossible to change some people's minds so only time will tell who was right and who was wrong but I'll say it now...Americans may well regret the day they accepted short-term gains for crippling long-term consequences.

-- On a more positive note, my beloved Leafs are doing much better than anticipated. They are playing some tough hockey. They can lose every game but as long as they play hard, I'll be content.