so i was playing risk the other day with quinton, joey and andy. Before I continue I just want to annoucne that I won the game, and allthough Andy may choose to differ and say we ended the game with a mutual win, we both know that if we played it out fully, I would have without a doubt taken his guys out.

So what was my strategy, how did I win. It was simple...having alot of troops. I had so many troops on the board that I had to use three different colors becuase i ran out. And all i did to build up in numbers was wait. I didnt attack the whole game (well except for the one man places so i could get my card). And just did that all the time, trading my cards in and getting 20, 35, 50 extra men. And doing that was intimidating to the other players, just seeing my army grow, that they didnt attack me out of intimidation. (and the fact that they would loose)

i know it...your waiting for the Spiritual Parrell...i suppose that waiting upon the Lord will bring victory. By not stepping out in battle prematurally, for when you step out into battle without enough backup, defeat is in the air...

hmmm

I met someone new at the bus stop today. His name was Myles.
I was waiting for my transfer. Again the transit system here is nothing compared to Vancouver. My one bus dropps me off and my next bus doesnt come for 23 minutes later. So I was sitting there waiting for my bus reading my Bible.

This guy walks by, then 2 minutes later comes back and asks me what Im reading. I siad the Bible...he said what book...i said Ezekiel and he said cool i know that book. Then said its not everyday he sees someone reading a Bible on the street. Then he asked me if i was a christian...i said yes. I asked him are you, he said yes and no...he said he didnt like the term christian but loves Jesus. i said cool, thats all that matters. Then he mentions how he is involved with YWAM. And then, i didnt wanna ask him for contact info, cuz that would have been wierd, but it would have been cool if i could have recruited him.

Anyways, you meet alot more ppl at bus stops in Victoria then you do in Vancouver becuase in Vancouver you dont usually have to wait long for a bus.

Oh I now have a myspace!!! Click here to see it.
And if you have one, please add me as a friend...i dont have very many!

I was at a bus stop tonight on my way to work and this young girl (later she told me she was 15) was waiting with me. She strikes up conversation by asking if i had a cigarette she could buy off me. I told her I didnt. And then we started talking back and forth. The bus we were waiting for didnt come for 23 minutes. Thats one thing that isnt great about Victoria...its there transit system. Anyways, so we had some good time to talk. She pulls out a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka from her bag and starts drinking it, and offering some to me. I deny, but was thinking how sad it was to see a young pretty girl, not only drinking at her age, but drinking by herself. I then mention how making friends is harder when your not in school, becuase you dont have lots of people around you, and that I work alone at work, so I dont really make friends at work either, she tells me about her alternitive education school, and her hour a day job. Then as shes drinking she mentioned she was drinking to celebrate her release of custody from juvy. Curious I asked why and she said assult. Then gave me some details on how her and some friends beat up some ppl they knew. She was with these two other guys...having an unsettling feeling in my spirit I asked her if the guys she was with were minors too and went to Juvy...she was like oh no...they're adults, 18 and 21. All i could think is why is she out at 530am attacking others with these older guys. I asked her if this was her first time in Juvy...and she said no, i asked her what else for...and she started listing of robbery, shoplifting, theft over $5000, assult, threatning and something else i think. After I was thinking...how did I escape this and why is heather (that was her name) not?

Then the bus came and we stopped talking. Do you do that too? Everytime I make a friend at a bus stop, as soon as our bus comes, we stop talking...its weird, why not keep talking on the bus too? Anywayys it was then her stop and looked at me and said...hey it was nice meeting you...in the sweetest 15 year old girls voice. In a voice she should be speaking in always.

On a totally differnt note...i think i broke my big toe.

Well today,

I was all excited. I was going to be alone. Not a common thing for me to disire, I love being with people, and if I happen to wind up being alone Ill pop online or the phone or go for a walk and find someone.

Yes, I know, Im never alone cuz Jesus will never leave me or forsake me. I mean I wanted alone time...me and Jesus time.

So that opportunity came about...my friends wanted to go to X-Men 3...now my LEAST favourate thing in the entire world is to watch movies, and worse then that is to go watch a movie in a movie theater and even worse then that is watching an action move in theaters...so I stayed home and had a whole evening planned...just me and Jesus...until...

The son of the family I am house sitting came over. It was akward. And like a recent post of mine...I allowed myself to be manipulated by the distraction and avoid time with Jesus when I still could have had my party in my room or something.

Grrrr.

Aysha says:
hey!
Aysha says:

listen
Aysha says:
Jesus has somthing to say to you
Aysha says:
hang on
nicole says:
yay
Aysha says:
he wants you to know that he is working through you he wants you to rest through him
Aysha says:
and
Aysha says:
he wants you to know him and spen time with him all the time everywhere
Aysha says:
think about him often
Aysha says:
talk to him
Aysha says:
he loves you
Aysha says:
and he doesn't want you to get stressed
Aysha says:
he's gonna make time for you to be alone
Aysha says:
thats all I think
Aysha says:
oh and read
Aysha says:
hang on
Aysha says:
Matthew 6:25-34
Aysha says:
its a good uptifting passage, food for thought
nicole says:
thanks a ton
Aysha says:
BLESS YOU UP!
Aysha says:
LOVE YOU SOO MUCH!

This was an msn converstaion i just had with some 614Vancouver Teen Cell girls. Its really neat...when talking since we have moved its always about Jesus....im really excited for them.

Teen Cell...i love you! But not as much as Jesus does. Keep praying for eachother. Im really excited to see where Jesus is going to take you guys and teen cell during the next while. Keep pressing in and dont give up. He has amazing things planned for you. He has amazing things planned for teen cell. You guys are strong and faithful and have alot to offer the world. You can change the world. Be strong.

And Beccah...send me your blog link!

I'd like to point you out to Matt and Andy's recent post.

On a different note.
Hmm i dont know if i have one. Im coming down with a cold if you could pray for me that would be awesome.
Oh and I have unlimited North America where I am staying...so yee haw.

Well, what to write.
...

I dont like confrontation one bit but i know im going to have to call some friends and comrades on a few different things, so if you could pray for me there too that would be awesome.

Wow, this is just a selfish post, askng you to pray for me...hmm lets see what else i can write.

Oh, upon reading Travis Roberts recent post i was reminded that love conquers all. He wrote about kids who have been in sin, and have generational ties attached and stuff, and that humanly we figure nothing can help. Ive been struggling with that somewhat here aswell. We are working with hard kids. Not that they are hard, i love them and are great friends but the flesh in me often will think, there is no hope, nothing can be helped...

hello!!! do i remember where i came from and what i came out of. yes there is hope. thats my mission and vision too...plans, hope, future. 5...6..years ago i would have looked at myself and said, yup, there is no hope...

thanks travis for reminding me LOVE CONQUERS ALL....

"I am the Lord, if i said it it will happen" Ezekiel 12:25.

Keep looking at Yahweh, keep looking at Yahweh, keep looking at Yahweh. The enemy throws out a bunch of distractions to take your gaze off Yahweh, and because he is so darn manipulative I often dont realise i have taken my eyes away until i am in the mist of deafeat. But even in all this, just return to looking at Yahweh and everything else seems to fade away.

Sometimes I am too eager. Like, I will see what the Lord wants to do now...and what the Lord wants to do then...but the journey between now and then is a mystery. And becuase I see what God has planned, I just want to get there and sometimes forget that the process to it is sometimes the most important and vital part. Like when i am praying for someone and i get a word of knowledge about where pain roots from (for example), I will want (and sometimes do) tend ask questions that lead or manipulate the person into saying it, as opposed to being there to support as the other person discovers truth. But God is so gracious during this learning thats for sure.

Here is another picture (im going to run out of these soon...ill try and get some up that arent of me!haha)

Haha, this picture thing is awesome.

So I was sleeping this afternoon (relax, i do night shifts....i usally dont sleep the day away) and my phone rings, I answer it and my friend Phil Marriott is on the other line saying...hey what are you doing right now...good, ill be over in 30 mins to pick you up. No, he doesnt call the day before, or even while on the ferry on his way over, he called while in the city giving me little time to get ready...just like the guy. But it was great to see him though. I knew he was in town, and I knew he was planning on visiting Victoria...but the timeing..haha....it was great.

Thank you everyone for your support. I am being so supported right now and it feels good. I had shared some concerns with some freinds and leaders and recieved the support and encouragment i needed. We are even supported with material things...like Beracah and I move into our new place this month, and we have people saveing up appliences, pots, pans, dishes, and furntiure for us. It is a wonderful feeling not haveing to everything on my own. Thank You everyone.

Allright...I finally figured out how to put up pictures...now all i need is a camera!!! Haha.

Anyways, back to the blog. I'll try and get some more pictures up.

Dont go forward? We have been hearing this in our leadership and at first I thought...thats a silly, lazy exuse to stay comfortable. But my friend went on to eleaborate. He recently heard a preach by General Shaw Clifton about not going forward. In it, Clifton parrelled it with Josheph? (i might be wrong on the leader, perhaps it was Joshua) and when the Israilites were on their pilgrimage in constant moving forward. And that one story when that one guy stole some gold cups, and jewels from this other guy and hid them in his tent. And Josheph (was it Joeseph, now im jsut getting plain confused) anywyas the point is, the leader was like..allright, everyone, we need to stop going forward, stop where we are, there is sin in the camp and we cannot go on till it is cleared out.

We are dealing with some heavy sin here in Victoria with the teens we are working with and with the leaders we are trying to raise up. We cannot go on and advance till the sin in the camp is cleared out.

Please pray for us.

wow! God is good.

thanks for your prayers everyone. since we have been here in victoria beracah and i have both scored jobs and a place to live. you can really see Gods hand in all this...the favor he has bestowed and the grace he has given. thank you Yahweh.

the relationships we are making are accelerating. we are making firends fast, and the trust seems to be there so quickly...this is awesome. please keep praying for us that we dont loose sight of Jesus and that we continue to seek wisdom and to be guided in humility.

Heres a little somethign i read this morning that was pretty darn encouraging...
"I am the Lord. If I have said, it will happen" Ezekiel 12:25

Oh why do I contanstly forget that!

so we had our first drill tonight. we began playing soccer at this highschool we want to gain territory in, and where some of our contacts go...and we got to thinking that this is pretty cool, we can simply just have fun and play sports and have our righteous presence on school ground and were thinking that doors will open....so we had about 7 ppl show up for drill...which it was cool cuz we only gave less then 24 hour notice...but while we are at the school we realise that there is an Esquimalt HighSchool Talent show...so we went to it, and it was soo funny. great way to get in a school and meet a bunch of teens.

We found a great apartment today...please pray for favor.
Location is great, layout and size are great for those living simply and planning on having cells and squads, and the price is one of the cheeper places we have seen.

Today was a very effective day. We had a meeting with the corps officers to plan some of Andy's summer and then after we had another meeting with Beracah, myself and Andy to plan the rest of the summer and start some outposting. Im excited to work with BWW and AM, they keep me in line...im the type of person to just start and go...but there wisdom on being led by the Holy Ghost proves true everytime...i have a lot to learn from there intamacy...im so excited. While we met today, the Lord really showed us some strategic moves when it comes to starting things up. We have set some things into place.

We have our first prayer walk tomorow...anyone who wants to join call me 85-PEACE becuase we havnt nailed down a time...likly early afternoon.

We have our first drill tomorow. So anyone from Victoria reading this...6pm at Esquimalt High Feild. Soccer or Football it is.

We have our second prayer walk on Thursday @ noon. Meet at HighPoint.

We have our first street combat Friday night at 8pm. Meet at Johnstone street bridge.

We have our second street combat Saturday night at 8pm. Meet at Johnstone street bridge.

how did you wake up this morning?
did it involve a screaming 14 year old...cuz mine sure did.
i had pulled an allnighter at work, and got home at 8am and was sleeping when at 930 my phone rings and i ignore it...not once, not twice but 5 times in about 2 minute intervals..so i begin to think a possible emergency is arising, so i go answer it and hear about 5 teenage girls screaming in my ear. it was a beautiful wake up call...God bless you 614 Vancouver teen cell. note to self...do not publish phone number on blogger...
i fall back asleep only to be awoken with 2 more phone calls and alot more screaming at 11.

for real though, teen cell girls, if you are reading this, i love and miss you very much! keep it real and stay close to Jesus...you are all beautiful and you will change this world! (and dont forget to add my nexopia!!! username = nicole?)

Today Beracah and I looked for housing. We came accross two good lead possibilities...but we didnt have peace...please pray hard that Jehova Jira will provide quickly.

Hey i got a new phone number! Everyone should call me...its
1-250-85-PEACE (73223)
i tried to get life, hope, light, truth, yhwh, but they were all taken...so peace it was.
so ya, thats my new number...call me! and you can reach andy or beracah there too.

so what is Jesus teaching me these days...
alot about balance...the balance between friend and spiritual authority, the balance between being a people pleaser and helping people be normal, the balance between forgiving and trusting, ...just alot about balance...and staying even with out become too weighted on anyside. also He has been teaching me about boundries....

actually lets talk about boundries for a sec.
boundries are MUCH easier to set up at the begining of relationships then trying to reverse them. but what if you dont know what your boundries should be....what are your boundries when you are making friends...how do you encourage relationship and friendship at the same time you want to rebuke behaviour that is of the world??

i just read the previous post...and im not deleting it becuase its funny...
can you tell is 2am and im tired! haha

i forgot to mention to check out (to the right) Hannah and Dom's blog...they are girls from my Vancouver teen cell!!!

im not just saying that because they talk about me...im saying it more so you can look at previous posts and see how great these girls are!

hannah and domi and the rest of ya guys i miss you like crazy come visit soon!

okay...im at work and im a little tired...but thats okay...im getting payed right now to blog...i like my job.

so i got this new nexopia thing....i got it becuase all my victoria friends have it and its a great way to stay in touch and stay in there lives...and the cool thing is..its like an online answering machine...you can leave a message to change plans or whatever...aparently its like the new thing...

anways, if you have nex...add me becuase so far i only have 9 friends...and im one of them...haha...my username is "nicole?" (minus the quote marks)

you can view my nex at www.nexopia.com and searching user nicole?

today was a great day.
i got up and had some good devotions, rations, prayer, worship...its been nice being able to spend more time with Jesus and not having a schedule to get too...then i got ready for the day...and got somewhat aggitated with myself, just girl stuff about looks and appearance tried to speak truth...but didnt get over it so then i met my friend Andrea Brown for lunch, it was nice getting to catch up on what happened over the last year...then i hung out wiht my friend Samantha Roberts and ate dinner with her family, this is who i spent last summer with...then i went to Highpoint corps for a family bible night...that was awesome really great to see everyone again!, then i went out for coffee with Sammie and Amanda, then now i am at work....im really cold right now too and i dont know how to turn the heat up.

so today was great...tomorow im excited for..and saturday will be amazing!!!

So in the last 24 hours I have..

had my first minute in Victoria, my first rations in Vicotoria, my first prayer walk in Victoria, my first blog in Victoria...(more firsts to come, i havent been here that long yet)

So I have had to say alot of goodbyes as of recent and rumers true it was somewhat emotional for me. My mom dropped me off at the ferries yesterday and again emotions ran wild...i was by myself and heading into the waiting room, i was there crying all by myself, I felt silly and thought i had to call someone...because i would rather be crying while im talking on the phone, then crying while im alone...so i gave my good friend Matthew Champ a call and made him stay on the phone with me until the boat left the dock. so im still all sad and stuff in the waiting room, but as soon as i got on the boat and started heading off, i was filled with sooo much excitement and joy.

God is good. And now I am still really excited to be here in Victoria. God has huge plans for this place and I am honored to be a part of it. I start my job in a couple hours, that shall be fun.

Oh, and I am being treated like a queen! Temporarily, (until Beracah comes joins me and until we get our own place) I am staying in a basement suite to myself really. I have a queen size bed...did you know i have never slept in a queen size bed alone before...i didnt know what to do with all the room...and my own bathroom, and free long distance, and cable tv, and yup it is grand!

So things are great...and ill keep you updated on what happends.

And one more thing...

ASHLEY PHILIPS, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

so in the past 36 hours i had my last...

harbor light meal, knee drill, phase 2 seminar, disipleship group, teen cell, disipleship with haven, open air, breakfast with Karyn Baker, friday night outing to Dennys to see Helmuth, lunch with Xander, and I had my last minute in vancouver.

But man, what a way to go. We had our corps 4th anniversary yesterday. Everyone was there from 614 Vancouver cellmates to having Charlotte represented too. What a way to leave the city then with a bunch of my friends together. Then I had a sleepover with some of my girls from Kids Cell...what a way to spend my last night in Vancouver...with 13 girls, 2 hours of sleep...i love it!

For the record, Nicole Brindle doesnt cry, what you might have seen last night was simply a figment of your imagination.

Im off to Victoria in less then 24 hours...im super pumped.

so today was filled with more lasts...

my last pray the bible, my last class, my last discipleshp with kath, my last trip to army and navy, my last coffee with melinda peters, my last disipleship with ashley, my last trip onto the roof, hmmm

and i say all of these are lasts, but in reality i will likely be involved in some of these things on visits and all.

so today i met cheryl, as i was out for coffee. she was walking by the starbucks window and pacing...she looked hurt. she was very thin and her legs were pretty bruised up. i then saw her sit down on curb and cry. i said iwould be right back and whent out and sat beside her. she was greatful to have someone to talk to. she told me how she has lived here on the streets for the last 8 months, spent the winter outside, how when she was 16 her mother was too sick to work, so she would sell her body to make money and buy her mom drugs. she has been an adict since she was 14. i asked her if she wanted to come inside and meet my friends...at first she was shy and didnt want too, but after i told her i wanted her to meet them she brightened up and desided to come inside. after that we whent for a walk and hooked her up with some other pepole becuase im leaving here in 4 days. she was really sweet...and to top it off, she wanted to hear about whats stressing me out...im not homeless, im not broke, im not in addiction, im not without jesus, in comparison, i have very little stress factors, yet she wanted to know how i was doing...it was nice...shes going into detox soon and recovery, when she gets saved and clean her merciful heart will take her far.

Its been a time of lasts.

In the past 24 hours i have had my last war room shift, my last squad, my last macschool, my last time with Cory Fifield and Darren Baker, my last coffee with Cathy Simms and my last cell...oh everything is sooo sad.

what a last cell it was though...man was i ever blessed...it was all about me! stories about me were told, everyone said what they liked about me, they made and baught me good healthy food, pineapple!, i got prayed for and blessed...man i felt so loved this past hour and a half...thank you tuesday 5pm cell!!! i love you!

man, and only more lasts still to come! but alas, next week i will be blogging about alot of firsts!!!

if you wanna say bye to me...come to my surprise going away party...this friday at like 10pm at denny's like burrard and robson...