Jorge

Business and no time = no excuses!

2006-02-28T13:50:00.001-05:00

Well, it's been so long since a new post has been up ... but that's not the real reason I'm blogging.

Truth is God has been challenging me in my life and I want to share this challenge with you. Business is a reality, loss of time is also an everyday thing. Having a lack of time isn't something new or even something old, it's just something that happens. But the real question we have to ask ourselves is are we using the lack of time as an excuse to not get close to God?

I had a dream a few nights ago, I can't go into detail beccause it would just confuse you ... but a lady came up to me and said that a Pastor needs to be a Pastor all the time, not just in front of people.

It hit me hard, because it's a truth. I've been blessed by entering into the title of Pastor at TACF and I shouldn't be different in front of people than when I'm just by myself. I know it should be a normal reality, but sometimes the things one should know and live aren't exactly the easiest ones

a success or not ... you decide

2005-09-14T17:01:00.000-04:00

So, it's been a day since my day off ... was I sucessful or not? Well really it's all in how you look at the deck of cards ... see for yourself.

Yesterday I slept in until around 11 am ... it was not easy too. Every few minutes I'd wake up and look at the clock and only 5 minutes passed, well until around 10:50 ... then I slept for like 10 minutes and didn't want to wake up but I told myself, "Ben, it's 11 am. Get the heck out of bed!" So I woke up, went downstairs and ate breakfast,

yes dear reader, Ben Kennedy ate a real breakfast. Cereal and a bagel with cheddar cheese! It was a new experience, but a good one. Well I got my room clean (though it's looking a little muddled up now) and I worked on some of my business stuff ALL day.

See I run a Book Keeping business which is fun ... it's a lot of data entry and sorting through paperwork and the like, but it's enjoyable. While working away on this stuff I also had the TV on ... did you know that between 1 pm and around 7 pm there is at least 1 Startrek show in the hour? Every hour was Star Trek: The Next Generation but in some hours there was others too ... it was pretty weird. Anyways I went out to dinner with the family which was good ... and then came back home, worked on more book keeping and then worked on some Blockbuster training materials. I even had some time to prepare a cell teaching this week.

So would you say yesterday was a success or not? You decide!

Krazyness, finally (hopefully) somewhat passed

2005-09-12T22:06:00.000-04:00

Wow, has it really been almost a month and a half since I updated? Well it certainly must be since I last posted from Ecuador. So sorry to anyone who's been checking every once in a while and I still haven't had a new post. Life has been a little krazy, so hopefully that helps explain a little.

Well after Ecuador (which was freakin' awesome!) I came back to Canada with a deeper passion for God and an unsatiable desire to sleep (which was not fulfilled!). I celebrated my 22nd Birthday with my family, BBQ style and then started my new job at TACF as the Youth Network Pastoral Administrator where I now have the priveledge of a greater area of responsibility. For the first few weeks it was super intense because we lost Robyn Day to Australia (but who wouldn't want to go there?) and Sarah Houghton to Wales (who had the most beautiful wedding in Woodstock a few weekends ago). We didn't have anyone really taking on their roles in the office so it was fun trying to juggle which responsibilites were most important and letting the ones that weren't so important fall. It was a great opportunity for God to teach me more about being able to let things go rather than trying to hold them all up. It was great actually because I felt released from a lot of stresses and had major support from my leaders (and bosses) Duncan & Kate.

The good news is that Stefanie Mumby joined our team which helps us out a lot. I started some training manuals for Management at Blockbuster which is a lot of fun too ... surprisingly working there relieves a lot of pressures from everything and I leave work at Blockbuster feeling more refreshed! Near the end of August was our Youth Camp where God continued his work in my life and Holy Spirit really showed me part of who He is. It's so fantastic because Holy Spirit isn't some "ghost" that floats around going "boo" but He is a real person who can touch us (physically) and even refresh us, so let's just say camp was fun because a few times I completely got blasted, lying on the floor for like 45 minutes and not even realizing I was there. There was one night where I was so touched by HS that I couldn't move ... Jon L and Anthony laughed at me but I felt so wonderful. So God did lots at camp, really put a passion in my heart for Canada.

Over these past few months I really felt like I had no place here in Toronto. Some people might find this hard to believe, but I felt like I was dying out and with friends moving on (actually "trying" to move on) and everything that happened with Will, I really thought that Toronto couldn't hold a future for me and I didn't want a future here. I started looking and praying for a way out and one started to present itself. Well at camp God really did some good works in me and put a "burning" desire in my heart to see our nation (CANADA) grow in it's destiny and our generation take the high places of society for God. So watch out Media, look out education and business ... watch your backs Medical field! Politics get ready because God is raising up this generation to take back these fields for HIM!

So wow, not only all that but after camp Sarah got married ... congrats girl ... congrats! And then this past weekend Jonathan & Maija Puddle got married. I had the opportunity to "cater" for their wedding (nothing too fancy, just finger foods etc) but it was great. Then this past Sunday we had our Junior High kickoff where Carol Rigg and I got together with about 25 youth & young adult leaders who want to be involved (not counting some extra people who approached me later that day) in Jr. High Ministry and we had a blast with the new Jr Highers and had a lunch with a bunch of their families.

Look, I know this has been a long post, but catch this ... just grasp this a moment. I am different, I am a changed man because God is doing amazing things in my life and in the lives of everyone around me. I am excited because he is GOOD and he really is freakin' SWEET! I'm so passionate, if I can thank God for things right now, I'd say thanks God for:

My family (and my new nephew born on Sept 1 at 11:59 am, Blair Nicholas Taylor known as "Nick"), Duncan & Kate, the Newmarket group, my job at TACF & Blockbuster, my guys that are leading, the Jr. High Ministry, my cell guys ... there's so much to be thankful for.

People: Brandon Serez, Jonathan Schunker, Dallas, Chris & David, everyone that I know ... I'm blessed by your friendship and I ask God to give you FIRE!

Ok, so I'm going to close it off now, if you really want to hear / see ramblings from me talk to me in person.

P.S. I get a WHOLE day off tomorrow ... I'm so excited. I'm going to sleep in, clean my room, work on some cell discussion / teachings for my leaders, bike around the lake by my house and "maybe" clean my bathroom ... so yeah.

Ecuador Day 10 - Zoe Girl Concert

2005-07-24T08:38:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Well I have a few minutes and wanted to send you an update on yesterday. Yesterday (Sat) was our Zoe Girl concert which was a lot of fun. It started off with these Ecuadorian aerobics people leading aerobics ... which was very disconcerting. Honestly our entire team felt that no guys should be able to move or bend like that ....

Anyways we did a few drama sites yesterday and many people were healed through Jesus. Its been one of the most faith building times to see you pray for people and Jesus heal them through you. Everyone has had opportunities to minister healing, salvation and deliverances.

Yesterday Tyler, David & Ben P prayed for one our leaders on the OBF team who hurt his ankle really bad a few days back and he was healed! Its been amazing, yesterday we saw a man who had diabeties and had pain in his stomach be healed by Jesus. He said the pain completely left, we told him to go check with his doctor, once his doctor says hes healed to then tell the doctor how he was healed and share Jesus with him!

God is so amazingly good, we only have 2 full ministry days left and then we head to Otavalo (the largest market in Latin America!) so please keep praying protection, unity and blessings upon us.

God Bless you all,
We miss you all heaps!

Sincerely,Ben, Carol, Ramlin, Ashley, Amanda, Jessica, Ben P, David, Tokai, Tyler and the ¨gas¨(the official team mascot)

P.S. Im sure you thought the gas was gone, so did we, but its not ... its still around and kicking out just as good as before. When we fly in on Wednesday just beware when we get in the car with you!!

Ecuador Day Six,Seven,Eight & Nine: BUSY BUSY BUSY

2005-07-22T09:46:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone,

My deepest apologies that I couldnt keep up with emailing all the time. Weve been super busy ... so Im going to give a quick breakdown of whats been happening because were leaving in about 15 minutes for the day.

Day Six was pretty amazing. We started off by getting on the bus and drove to a small school that was inside a church. There were so many kids there that we got to pray over, do dramas for and even heal ... here is the breaksown

People who saw the dramas - 110
Adult Salvations - 6
Child Salvations - 57
Deliverances - 3
Healings - 17

The kids at this site were awesome, our lunch crew forgot to bring our PB & J so the church cooked us all chicken and fries ... after that we headed to a little school up in the mountains were we did ministry in a field of dust. It was definately the dirtiest weve ever been but it was fantastic, here are the statistics

People who saw the dramas - 91
Adult Salvations - 18
Child Salvations - 52
Deliverances - 3
Healings - 3

God was awesome, after doing our ministry we played a game of football (soccer for us) and played against a bunch of kids who definately let us win.

Day Seven was our cultural day at the Andes Mountains in the Hot Springs ... boy was that good. It was raining, we were high up in the mountains and we were cold so the springs relaxed us all. It rocked majorly.

Day Eight was yesterday and we had a blast. We started off (all tired I might add) going to some rough neighbourhoods ... Im going to give you the stastics on all three:

Site 1
People who saw the dramas - 99
Adult Salvations - 15
Child Salvations - 61
Deliverances - 0
Healings - 35

Site 2
People who saw the dramas - 36
Adult Salvations - 3
Child Salvations - 20
Deliverances - 0
Healings - 0

Site 3
People who saw the dramas - 101
Adult Salvations - 21
Child Salvations - 30
Deliverances - 1
Healings - 9

Now a good point to make is that we finished Site 2 and everyone was tired. We could of gone back to the hotel, even the pastor suggested it but our team leader pumped us up, gave us the option and we said we have to do a third site. We gave it our all and God definately came through.

Well today were about to head out to who knows where. Not even our team leader knows and that is what makes it so amazing, our translators take the bus to a certain area (let me add that the buses are big, the streets are narrow and I dont know how we drive down certain alleys without scraping the walls!!) and we just pray about where to go.

Tyler got a prayer language a few days back, he also got healed last night from his cold hands ... in all the years Ive known him he has always had cold hands until last night! God is great ... please keep us in prayer, we so desperately want to see God move. The enemy is trying to scare us by sending distractions but were not giving in.

So please have everyone you know cover us in prayer, pray strength into us and give us boldness. We only have 5 days left and we want to give it our all ... when we get back if you have ANY pain in your body get your kids to pray for you ... our faith is through the roof! Were still waiting to raise someone from the dead, but seriously its one of our team goals so pray for us.
God Bless you all,
We miss you all heaps!

Sincerely,Ben, Carol, Ramlin, Ashley, Amanda, Jessica, Ben P, David, Tokai and Tyler

P.S. If you want to get ahold of us, call the hotel (its cheaper that way) at around 11 pm your time (that will be 10 our time). If were not there try around 11:30!

Ecuador Day Five - A real ministry day!!!

2005-07-17T23:32:00.000-04:00

Ola Families!

Hope youre all doing well ... today has been the BEST day so far in my mind. God has done amazing things ... us guys got up about 6 minutes before breakfast (because the clock didnt go off) but Ive never seen anyone get ready so fast.

Today we headed out for our first ministry day to three different sites and God did amazing things, here is the breakdown:

Site 1 - Marketplace
People there - 65
Adult Salvations - 20
Child Salvations - 14
Deliverances - 1
Healings - 6
Prayer Requests - LOTS

Site 1 - A Local Church
People there - 150
Adult Salvations - 75
Child Salvations - 20
Deliverances - 4
Healings - 13+
Prayer Requests - LOTS

Site 1 - Park
People there - 100
Adult Salvations - 35
Child Salvations - 16
Deliverances - 1
Healings - 4
Prayer Requests - LOTS

All in all, we saw over 23 people healed, by not only the OBF team but our team as well. Were all in mixed groups and were all growing amazingly. We had a fantastic service tonight and God is doing amazing things in all our lives. So keep praying for us, I will do my best to give you an update tomorrow.

But first a quick healing story, this one old lady Tokai and I prayed for today was healed from hand and feet bone injuries ... completely healed. Another girl had ankles swollen to twice their normal size, Ashley & Jessica ministered healing to her ... theres lots more stories but I wont ruin it for your kids.

By the way they ALL do amazing in dramas (David spoke tonight in a microphone) and Ashley wants her parents to send her money. Tokai wants to ask Millicent if he can get a blowdart thingy from a local market and Tyler wants his mom to wire him some money too ... but well try to get them to call tomorrow (hopefully!)

Sincerely,Ben, Carol, Ramlin, Ashley, Amanda, Jessica, Ben P, David, Tokai, Tyler and the "gas" P.S. Ive gotten email responses saying that some people dont believe the gas stories. Let me put it to you like this, the gas is so bad we now have a rule that anyone (out of the 28 in the team) have to leave the room ... its horrible ... especially the girls!!!

Ecuador: Day Four - Cultural Day

2005-07-17T09:45:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Sorry that I didnt get to email last night but we were super busy. We started off with INTENSE drama training until around noon ... ate some PB & J and then headed to the Equator Monument. We got back a little early (around 4 pm) had some pool time, dinner and then our evening service. During the service we washed the feet of your kids and it was an intense time. After that (around 10 pm) we worked hard on our dramas until 11:30, why you may ask?

We have 4 ministry sites this morning to go to ... we learned 5 dramas in 1 and a half days (normally it takes 3 days) and were leaving in about 7 minutes to go to our first ministry site (of four).

Please keep us in prayer, I will do my best to email tonight.

God Bless we really miss you all!

Sincerely,
Ben, Carol, Ramlin, Ashley, Amanda, Jessica, Ben P, David, Tokai, Tyler and the "gas"

P.S. Please pray for an abundance of energy and protection and a BIG harvest!

Ecuador: Day Three - A New Experience

2005-07-15T23:08:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Well its the end of a new day and let me tell you (all you parents too) that God is awesome and is already doing amazing things in the lives of everyone on the team, especially the kids. Carol and I were commenting on the fact that at all the camps weve been to, the great "God times" always take place on the last night. Well tonight was only the beginning of the trip and God showed up amazingly ... Ill get to that part later.

So we had an early morning, the Oklahoma team arrived late last night, we shared breakfast and headed into some "intense" drama training ... now Im not just meaning "oh no, were tired" but Im meaning we are POOPED because weve learned 4 new dramas today. We went right at it after some God time and went from around 9 am until lunch (PB & J) and then after lunch till around 6 pm. We had some great dinner (were not sure what kind of meat the hotel served, but it was good. Cristin Budd thinks it may of been goat ... oh well ... it was meaty and all organic!) and then planned on learning a new drama after dinner, but God had other plans.

What started off as a normal worship service (which should of been about 20 minutes) turned into an all out God Fest of powerful intersession and warfare, worship and most of all intimacy with God, from all the kids!!! Everyone had an encounter with God and Tyler and Ben P both got an amazing prophetic word from God that was EXACTLY the same but they didnt know the other person had said it. Tokai let me know that he heard God call his name and last night Amanda spoke in tongues for the first time! Jessica was blasted by the Holy Spirit and was just going wild in Jesus. Everyone of your kids were doing warfare ... Ben P, Tyler, Tokai and I were dancing like mad ... its been amazing!!!

Did I tell you your kids would be changed?? If you didnt hear me say it, I really did and its happening right before our eyes. God is great and were excited because tomorrow were heading to the Equator monument. Anyways, I will let you all go ... the "gas" is telling us its time for bed.

So good night, keep praying for protection and unity among our team ... no major issues have come up (okay the "gas" isnt looking at the moment, pray that it will go away, its really bad ... mostly with the girls though!) and were all really tired and its 10 pm. So bed time for us ... we have to be up at 6 am tomorrow ... God Bless ... we have AMAZING footage ... and have gone through over 2 1/2 hours of camera stuff ... so yeah.

God Bless we miss you all!

Sincerely,
Ben, Carol, Ramlin, Ashley, Amanda, Jessica, Ben P, David, Tokai, Tyler and the "gas"

P.S. Anthony, could you call Ramlins sister and let her know shes okay ... her number is 416 895 6351

Ecuador: Day Two - A day off

2005-07-14T22:33:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Well I guess you weren`t expecting another email from us so soon ... well I figured it would be nice if we try and update you all as much as possible, so here is another update.

It`s after 9 pm and still no sign of the team from Oklahoma because their flight was delayed 24 hours. So they wont be here (sorry I cant use apostrophies!) for another few hours. So today we had time to go out and enjoy the sights.

We woke up and had an AWESOME buffet breakfast, only because the other team wasnt here so the hotel set us up in this amazingly fancy restaurant on the highest floor of the hotel. We then had some great swim time (no rain) and God time. We went out for a walk around Quito from around 1:45 (because the girls took an EXTRA hour to get ready!!!) until about 5. We stopped for hamburgers and cheeseburgers at this great little joint (there was a little mold on the bread but we all got through it and it tasted great) and had dessert at Baskin Robins. There we sang Happy Birthday to Tokai (for the 4th time this trip) and then came back, had a good team meeting then some free time and just before dinner we had an AWESOMELY intense God time, full of prophesy, prayer (Korean Style : where everyone prays at once), some soaking and just an amazing time.

We just got back from dinner (again super fancy with lots of video tape recording on the side and ANOTHER birthday song for Tokai!) and were all pooped enough to want to sleep at 930. Funny thing is, most of the kids were upset that lights out on the trip would be at 10 pm yet its only the second night and they want to go to bed now ...

So please keep us in prayer ... the "gas" situation is still not getting much better ... no one has needed their immodium yet, but there is definately some prayer requests for Beano and perhaps some Dr. Scholls foot stuff ... some of the guys have stinky feet.

So well let you go, hopefully well email again tomorrow ...

God Bless!!
Miss you all already,

Ben, Carol, Ramlin, Ashley, Amanda, Jessica, Ben P, David, Tokai, Tyler and the "gas"

P.S. Seriously you think the gas thing is a joke, its really not ... its super bad and we ALL have problems

A post from EEcuador

2005-07-13T22:31:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Well we`re here in Ecuador but we don`t have access to phones until tomorrow morning (Thursday). The team from Houston is delayed overnight because of really bad weather so we`re going to have the day tomorrow to do nothing but relax and move all our training by one day. The grace of God has been with us in all things, no trouble through customs and we had a great bus driver who we prayed for him and his family.

Everyone here is doing well, no one had any major problems or need for immodium (yet!) although a few people are having a few problems with gas ... ... I won`t continue on with it ... but we hope you`re all doing well.

Miss you all already,

Ben, Carol, Ramlin, Ashley, Amanda, Jessica, Ben P, David, Tokai, Tyler and the "gas"

The BIG Day

2005-07-12T23:26:00.000-04:00

So it's finally here ... the BIG day. What BIG day you may ask? Well then, let me tell you ...

Dude, ECUADOR!!!

Oh yeah, that's right. I'm heading to Ecuador in just under 10 hours. It's going to be fan flippin tastic. I'm taking a team of 9 others (7 kids, aged 11 - 15 and 2 adult leaders) and we're going until July 27th. It's going to be a great time ...

So today, I was in the office because I needed to get a few things done. Jamie N, Ashley Bergner, David Schunker and Tyler Thomas all came by and helped out ... boy did I need it. I get in the office, thinking it's going to be a slow day ... do a few things leave at noon ... I didn't leave until about 2:45 pm. I had a whole pile of voicemails, one of which was from BigWorld (the trip organizers) saying they didn't get any of our paperwork ... know what that meant? Yeah, I have to redo all our notorized forms (about 25 of them) and get parents to sign them too ... not an easy task.

Anyways, we're leaving soon ... I'm packed ... got my immodium, no wait I don't ... dang it, I think I forgot my immodium (y'know, for diarhea) but please keep us in prayer. We all need it ... already the enemy has started to attack our team and so please as soon as you read this, stop and pray protection and favor on us ... you guys rock ...

Love and miss you all already,

Uncle Ben

C'mon People, C'mon!

2005-07-05T11:35:00.000-04:00

So I'm sitting here asking myself, "what is up with this eh?" and the only answer I can find is that some sort of mental retardation syndrome has taken over the lives of my friends.

I know, I hadn't posted in a very long time, but HEY ... that's not an excuse anymore ... I HAVE posted, so why, my friends who have been overcome with mental retardation, has no one commented in a long while? (no mention to you Mr. Poulsen & Neugebauer ... you two have posted).

How can you overcome this problem you may ask? Some might say the quickest way to recovery from mental retardation syndrome is to read a book, possibly two books ... others might say, you have no hope ... sorry :( ... others might even laugh at you ... (I know I already did ...) but I ... yes I have a solution. Throw off the accursed crutch of mental retardation, hit comment ... and post a reply on my blog and then, only then shall you be set free from your problem of not posting on my blog ...

Thank you, that is all.

*May you be free from the curse of mental retardation syndrome*

A Well Deserved Rest

2005-06-29T23:39:00.000-04:00

So, it's only been about a day and yet here it is, an unheard of thing. Another post from Ben Kennedy!
Well that's because today I got a day off of everything. Because I was in Michigan over the weekend I got the day off at TACF today (which was awesome), plus I wasn't scheduled to work at Blockbuster, which added together means a whole day off!

I got to sleep in today until around 10 am when my mom asked me to babysit my nephew (who is SOOO cute and already 1 year and 29 days old!) So I played with him most of the morning, then I played a video game ... yes ... a video game! How long has it been since then? I don't know ... but then I got to look after my nephew again, except this time he was half naked. Apparently he had a bad rash so my mom took off his diaper, took all the things out of his crib and got him to sleep with only a shirt. Well when he woke up ... he started peeing. So I ran him to the bathroom sink (thank goodness it was only pee and nothing from the other end!) and let him finish. So I thought of putting him in a diaper, but my mom had said she wanted him to "air out" so I let him be.

Over the course of an hour, he peed 6 times in his playpen ... each time I kept cleaning it up until I finally said, "Screw it" and I put him in a diaper. He was much more easy to play with once I didn't have to worry about being peed on (which by the way, everyone in my family has had happen to them, except me. I don't know why, it could be because I hold the philosophy that babies should be in diapers, not left to run / play / eat naked because then of course they'll pee on you).

So that was most of my day until Dallas came over. We had dinner, played a bit of this video game, hung out with my nephew and now I'm at his house for the evening. Since we both work at the same place and he's all alone ... I came back to his place to spend the night.

He's actually sitting behing me at the moment staring at me ... he just said "Do you have this all planned out in your mind" and just now he said "What the hell are you talking about". He is a little curious, isn't he? Well Dallas, you have to read my blog to find out, you have to read ... my ... blog ... to ... find ... out ... ... (that was supposed to be a dramatic pause, if it didn't work, try re-reading the sentance dramatically, with pauses).

Well goodbye, until the next blog!

A New Post

2005-06-27T20:22:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone,

So yes, it's been a little while since I've last "blogged" but I have legitimate reasons for not doing so. Life has been VERY busy, not overwhelming yet (I hope it never becomes that) but very very busy.

The precious few moments I have in the evening I say to myself, "Ben, you should blog something" but then other more important thoughts pop up saying "Ben, you should sleep" and we all know which thoughts take priority. So my apologies for no recent blogs but this should make up for it. Since I write, I hope you'll read.

Two weekends ago I went up to Stayner and stayed at a camp I went to many times as a kid. It was the first real place away from home that I was familiar with and almost every summer I'd be up there for a while with my friends, most importantly Will. It was so awesome to go up after 5 years of not being there with Mel and Meg (Will's twin sisters), Nicola and Jon (Schunker). It was pretty emotional for me because everything looked the exact same, but at the same time it was pretty awesome to see how everything looked so much smaller, but maybe it's that I've become much bigger.

This past weekend I went to Taylor, Michigan with Duncan, Kate, Abby & Nat (two of their girls) Sarah Nickling, Kevin & Lissa and Audrey Bergner. We had a fantastic time in this "Assemblies of God" church and it was so cool. It was pastored by a family of pastors (Father - Pastor of Church, Son - Youth Pastor etc.) and so they all called each other "Pastor (name)" instead of just (name). To me that was a little weird, but I asked "Pastor" Heather and she said it was a respect thing. I stayed with the COOLEST family ever (hope you're reading this blog!) who had 7 KIDS! Can you say I was in my enviroment? The mom and dad (named Tom & Laurie) were SO hospitable. Their 7 kids were named Rachel - age 11, Matt - age 10, Jefferey - age 8, Derek - age 7, Ben - age 5, Angel - age 3 (or was it 4?) and Aaron - age 2. I hope I got their ages right, but they were so much fun to be around. I got attacked by pretty much all the kids when we were in the pool, probably serves me right for throwing Audrey in their pool while she was in jeans, but hey it was a blast.

Holy Spirit showed up so powerfully in this church, I got blasted, the team got blasted and most of all the church got blasted. The last night Duncan & Kate started imparting the Holy Spirit into everyone and it was just Christian Chaos ... it was soooo amazing to see everyone so full of joy and laughing.

Anyways, I'll probably get responses to this blog on how long it is, so I shall end it here.

Busy night, I have a room to clean, a suitcase to unpack but most importantly, sleep to pursue. So tonight it's sleep, tomorrow it's work and then Blockbuster till midnight, but Wednesday, SWEET Wednesday, it's a DAY OFF! So if anyone wants to hang, drop me a call (416) 737 HERO / GERM (4376).

God Bless everyone!

Life Carries On

2005-06-01T02:59:00.000-04:00

It's now 2:31 am on Wednesday June 1st 2005 and I'm not sleeping so I'm going to post on my BLOG. So thanks to all you "faithful" people who keep checking back to see if I've posted anything new but I haven't published anything in a few weeks. Well it's mostly because I don't know what to say ... no forget that ... I do know what to say I'm just hesitant to say any of it ... but if I don't then I know that it's just going to suck even more so here goes.

As most of you know about 13 days ago (on Thursday May 19th 2005) one of my good friends William Crawford Storey Elder left this earth to join his Heavenly Father. He was 22 years old and a great friend. Will and I grew up together at TACF and I was priveledged for almost 15 years to call him not just "friend" but a true "brother". 15 years ... geez that's such a long time and I don't know what to say or do.

I don't know what I should be feeling, I don't know what I should be saying. The reality of everything is that I feel that I've been royally gipped with not getting to see one of my closest friends run through life, and not only that, he doesn't get to stand here next to me seeing me pursue my dreams. I don't have a way to describe what goes on in my mind, or even in my heart but all I know is that I feel empty inside. I feel like there is a small gap and hole in my life that I don't know if it can be filled again. I know that God is amazing and sovereign and I love God so much, I just don't know what to feel. I'm soooo gloriously happy that my friend is no longer in pain and he is set free from it all, but at the same time I'm so sad that he's gone and even more angry that I won't be able to share great moments with him.

I'm lying awake at 2:40 in the morning just crying because I feel so crappy. I can't even imagine what's happening with his family. Will has two sisters (Melanie & Meghan, both twins I might add) and they are so brave and courageous. I saw them last Friday night and I was so glad to see that they were doing well. It means a lot to know that they are doing well ... I really want to be there for them but I don't know how to really. Schunker is doing an amazing job in supporting them and I'm glad.

It seems that in all the hustle and bustle of my life, from TACF, to Blockbuster, to Family, to life, to everything that I just haven't had enough time to stop and think. That's mostly why at 2:45 in the morning, I’m having trouble sleeping because I’ve finally stopped and my thoughts catch up with me. I wonder how Will is doing, is he glorifying God? Well of course he has to be … if Will is living the way up there the way he lived down here than he is most definitely glorifying God and that’s awesome. I look at his “celebration” we held on Tuesday May 22nd 2005 and 20 people gave their hearts to God. That’s so cool.

The words of a song by a random band named Faceless saw me through a tough time when I lost my GrandMother and now when I’ve lost a brother (Will … in case you weren’t following) but it helps me to realize that I’ve gained an eternal brother in heaven. So here are the words:
------
Don’t let your light just fade away now,
Don’t let your soul just drift away
Let me show your heart the truth
Let me show you why I made you

‘Cause I can see that you’re broken
and the pain just rips so deep
But if you’d let me rescue you, I know you’ll rest in me, rest in me

So now is the time,
That you’ve got to turn
Fall on your knees
And embrace all of the grace that is coming your way, your way

So don’t be scared, I’ll help you stand
Be the things you never had, just know that I’m here walking with you child all the way, all the way, all the way

Don’t let your light just fade away now,
Don’t let your soul just fade away
Don’t let time steal your days now
Don’t let all just slip down the drain
For every tear you cry, two run down my cheek
For every door you can’t open, I am holding a key
Trust in me, I will lead you

Now is the time, that you’ve got to turn
Fall on your knees and embrace all of the grace that is coming your way, your way.

Don’t be scared, I’ll help you stand,
Be the things you never had, just know that I’m here walking with you child all the way, so know that I’m here by your side all the way.
So know that I’m here, walking with you all the way, all the way.
------

William Crawford Storey Elder, you make sure that you tell Elijah about me, and I want you to know that I still expect you to be there beside me as I run the race of life and to see how good a job I've done, I just pray and hope that I can finish as well as you did. You've done me proud, you've done us all proud and you have made your mark on history.

Bless you my friend, my brother
Uncle Thomas Benjamin David Kennedy Jr. II

The Link?

2005-05-06T17:34:00.000-04:00

You must ALL check out this link!

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/numa.php

It was found by ME ... through a link on Dallas' Xienga ... or Xylophone ... or whatever the heck it's called.

It's really funny ... props to Dallas yo!

P.S. Ben is Great!

Me Casa = SWEET!!!

2005-05-04T11:19:00.000-04:00

DUDE!!!

In the words of a famous actor, Peter Griffin "This House is freakin ... SWEET!". So what's all the fuss about? Well on Saturday afternoon my mom took me out to Future Shop and I got a freakin' Mini Fridge!

Dude, it's soo cool! I'm now in my room and I have like yogurts, bottles of water, cans of powerade, some coke bottles and even left over food all in my mini fridge. So now when I'm up in my room and I get thirsty or yes ... even hungry ... I don't have to make that long trip downstairs to the kitchen. All I have to do is get up or if someone else is in the room, offer them a drink and say "Are you thirsty? Help yourself to a drink in the fridge ... really take a look ... (unsuspecting guest stands up and walks to fridge) dude, while you're up, do you mind passing me a (insert name of drink or food item that you want here)". Then they grab it for you ... Now I don't know if all the ladies will be as happy ... but every guy who reads this should appreciate the beauty of having a mini fridge in one's room. So yeah.

I'm super excited ... thanks mom!

P.S. If any of you want to come by, watch a movie or play some video games ... you're invited. Just call first ... and pretend you didn't read my little "tidbit" on "How to get a guest to get me something from my own fridge because I'm lazy".

P.S.S. Check out my new quiz ... found in the links section. Also check out other people's cool BLOG'S / Xienga's

The Natural "bulge"

2005-04-28T12:26:00.000-04:00

Now before you get all freaked out and wondering what the heck this is about ... let me ease your mind. It's exactly what you think it's about!

Why the heck is it on certain pants that no matter what you do, they have a natural bulge in the front? It doesn't matter how you sit, it doesn't matter if you iron your pants or not, they just naturally have a bulge right in the area that you don't want there to be a bulge.

It's not noticible until you sit down, or until you're walking. But it's a huge pain in the pants because it's right there and everyone thinks that something else is bulging when really it's not.

Now girls I don't know how well you can relate to this, but I'm sure every guy can totally understand and stand with me in saying that "It's not us, it's our pants"!

Blog Back!

2005-04-25T18:12:00.000-04:00

Uncle Thomas Benjamin David Kennedy Jr ii (2002)

Sunday Morning Blues

2005-04-24T09:44:00.000-04:00

So it's Sunday Morning, it's almost 9:40 and I'm NOT in bed still ... wow this has got to be something new. So I'm teaching this morning in our TACF SOC (School of Champions) 3 this Sunday. I was asked on Thursday if I could teach for a friend of mine, this Sunday morning. I figured, Hey no problem. I teach the Junior High SOC almost every week ... even though it's a half hour teaching and the Youth one is one hour, I'm sure I can do it.

Silly Ben, I didn't even get the title name and I didn't realize that the teacher who can't do it this week (because of an Encounter) was teaching TWO lessons today. So last night, I was up late preparing two teachings "The Calling of a Leader" and "Ministering the Holy Spirit (Part 2)" and I'm about to head out to church to teach for 2 hours.

So this is a small stretch, but I know it's a good thing. So this morning when I got up, I hopped into the shower and it was freezing cold. When I was done like 10 minutes later and I was drying off, I was shivering. There was no steam in the bathroom and I felt like ice. When I voiced my complaint as I was walking back to my room, my dad said "Well you're the fourth person to shower", I said "Well buy a bigger water heater" but alas my dad trumped the argument with "Put some clothes on!". So yeah, that's what happened this morning.

I should go now ... goodbye

A Bio for Ben K

2005-04-21T14:57:00.000-04:00

Hey so it's been like 3 minutes since my last posting but I thought, "Well since I have one ... why not use it?!"

So from the title I'm sure you can see that Ben K needs a Bio. So if you'd like to help me write a bio for myself that would be awesome. The purpose for it is because I'm in Duncan & Kate's G-12 at TACF so I need a bio for our website.

Send me what you think!

If you want to see my "humerous" fake bio ... check out my personal profile. Also send it in the 3rd person narrative (ie. Ben is ... rather than I am ...)

The Original Log In

2005-04-21T14:27:00.000-04:00

So yes, it's finally here. A blog from the brain of Uncle beNK ... it's taken 21 years to finally open but now it's here and with this great event a dire need arises. We need to change our laws in Canada to encompass my personal needs. I just had the worst experience today that no Canadian should EVER have to endure.

I came to sign up for a blog with the full intention of using the "Original Log-In" that I have used for EVERYTHING since like 1993 and the rise of Hotmail ... ... yet Blogspot let me know that I could not use this name because it was not available.

How can it not be available? I am the one who came up with the name? So I figure if we approach parliment in Canada with a new law that would protect our rights to keep original login names as copyrighted material then that would help make things work better in Canada ... especially for me on blogspot.

So yes. Let me know what you guys think.