Quick note here. We leave for Illinois and the Cornerstone festival tomorrow morning. We still have some things to do before we go, most importantly of which is getting some sleep. I was up till 3:00 AM last night writing and spending time at Denny's. Mmmm, breakfast... at midnight. There will be lots of good stories to tell when we get back. Good times.

So last night, Mike was down from the Dids to visit. Because Stephen was working late and Michael didn't want to spend the money and other circumstances, we decided to not go to the Moneen show so instead Mike, Mike and I went for supper at Wendy's. It was a good time of conversation and food and we were all stuffed. We were there for at least an hour before we started to head home.

As we got home and were getting out of Mike's Corolla, I had the pinky finger from my left hand get caught in the rear door which my brother was just closing. It didn't hurt much at first and I was able to calmly ask that he unlock and open the door in order to get my finger out. A few seconds after though, it started hurting quite a bit more, but still not too much because it is only my pinky finger. So I went in the house and started for the freezer to get some ice for it and just as I was getting to the fridge, I started to feel faint and the room started to go black. Since I felt it coming on and had a couple seconds, I was able to get to the rocking chair to sit down.

It was right then that I had this great dream. I don't remember anything about it except that it was really relaxing and interesting and I didn't want to leave. It was like I was feeling really comfortable and getting rest that I hadn't had in a long time. Unfortunately, that dream was interrupted by my brother and some other guy standing over me in my chair yelling for me to not move and that I just had a seizure. It was strange because I had lost track of time during that dream. I didn't recognize the person on my right and in the few seconds after regaining consciousness, I thought that maybe he was a paramedic, since they were telling me that I'd had a seizure, but I realized that probably wasn't the case because he didn't have any uniform on. I slowly recognized him to be my friend Mike but didn't figure it out at first because things were a bit hazy and he was standing over my at a strange angle and I didn't really see his face straight on. One of the things that went through my mind as I was coming out was that if I had had a seizure and a paramedic had come, I must have been out for a few minutes at least. Even though I realized later that it was Mike and not a paramedic I still had no idea how long it had been. Judging by my dream, it could have been hours. They told me I had just been out about ten or fifteen seconds. It was about the best, most euphoric ten seconds that I had ever spent. I heard later on that our bodies can make us a type of morphine in certain situations that is ten times stronger than anything made artificially. I don't really know what happened exactly, just that like any other drug, the few moments of high are paid for by the hours of recovery and hangover. I spent the next hour in the bathroom heaving up the last bits of my supper, sweating horribly and sitting on the floor in a dizzy, tired state. It was horrible but I finally managed to get to my bedroom. After one more hurl of my supper I was feeling extremely tired and was ready for bed. The guys woke me up briefly at midnight to check on me but other than that, I slept well the rest of the night.

Even this morning I still feel a little woozy. I'm not dizzy but I get the feeling today that it wouldn't take much for me to be really disoriented. Nonetheless, I managed to get to work fine and will be alright.

The guys said that just as I was sitting down in the rocker, I was out and started to fall to my right. Just as that happened I tensed up extremely, so much so that my friends could barely hang on to me and weren't able to move any of my limbs. I shook violently a couple of times and then started to come to. That is definitely the first time that has happened to me. I still don't and probably won't ever know just what caused it exactly. All I know is I will be really careful to never get my pinky caught in a car door again.

Dang. I love summer.
Cute. Really, really cute.

I'd like to write a children's book.

Kayley's Super Power

It's looking more and more like it will be a great, great summer. Mike, Stephen and I are planning to go to Cornerstone down in Illinois the first week of July. That will be a lot of fun seening bands that we wouldn't ever see up here in the great white. I can't think of anyone better to go with also. We'll have a great time. I just need to find a good car now that can get us there and also get James and I to the Maritimes.

I guess Jerrod got some feedback about the youth newsletter on Sunday. One older lady said that she enjoyed it and would like to get a 'subscription'. She also said that she enjoyed my column, but thought the title was inappropriate and should be changed. Hah. 'Tales from the Jon' and Jerrod put some clip art of toilets in the title also. I said that if we were just to remove the clipart we would be alright. It is kind of weird to me to think that the newsletter's audience includes 13 year old guys and also 75 year old women. That is a good challenge to make the articles relevant in some way to everyone who reads it.

One more thing: Jerrod and I were leading chatroom this weekend and I was impressed by the broad range of behavior among the kids. We had some bored because they were disinterested, some bored because they had heard it all before. Some were disruptive and loud and had to be threatened, but would come out with some keen insight into our discussion with greater clarity than any of the others who may have been very attentive. There were some also, that were mature, responsive, interested and were involved, even more than perhaps they have been in past weeks. For some, the lesson meant nothing, and for others the light seemed to really come on as they realized just how much God loved them and would be faithful no matter what situation. As one expressed it in that beautiful and simple way only a teenager can express such a thing: 'Wow'. Nothing more needed to be said. Also, three of them closed in prayer and I was impressed by their faith and willingness to be honest and also by their simple eloquence. It was a great lesson.

The Mikes: Mike Bidell is in town this week. Mike From will be back to Alberta by this time next week. It will be good to spend time with both those guys whom I rarely see anymore but still keep in touch with.

Listening: Cursive - The Ugly Organ
Reading: Adventures of Tom Sawyer