Interviewed by Brittany Goheen

1. List three or so of the biggest blessings God has given you in the past school year, and how they have changed/will change you.

a) Friends
i) Dorm 26 – my girls are amazing. As I have poured myself into them this year, they have poured back love tenfold which has served to make me grow (I love loving and being loved in return!!) – specifically giving me confidence to be exactly who God created me to be –myself. ii) Those who have been there to listen and support and encourage and love – this year has been a journey of discovering who God created me to be and to have confidence in that. A variety of friends strategically placed by God along the way have served to teach and bless me – encouraging me to be wholly myself in Christ

b) Purpose Driven Life – a certain blessing in disguise because I have never wanted to read it – I actually strongly dislike the book itself and avoid it – but twice over the course of this year I have been at “crisis” moments, have not known what to do and I have both times “randomly” picked it up and read a chapter begrudgingly, only to find that (despite any theological discrepancies) it has applied directly to my moment of crisis and has turned my focus back to Christ and trusting Him above all

c) Neo-Calvinism – another crazy blessing in disguise cause I used to loathe it, but further reading on this blogsite will tell the story – it has and is certainly shaping my life and deepening my understanding and faith

2. If there was only going to be one food on the new earth, what would it be? (and what memories do you attach to that food?)

German Pancakes. They are like crepes (very thin) and you roll them up with fruit or chocolate or whip cream or sugar and syrup inside. As far back as I can remember it is my dad’s specialty and no one can ever make them as amazing as he can. Often in my house, supper would be extra-special when it consisted of these pancakes along with waffles and special waffle sauce (the sauce made by my mother – mmmm) and it was great. My dad would make fun-shaped pancakes in our initials or snowmen or some random shape that we had to guess what it was…I think those ones were just mistakes but it was fun anyways! Now I have carried on the tradition of making German Pancakes, and my dorms throughout the past three years have reaped the benefits – but my creations have never come close to matching my dad’s pancakes!

3. What is your best Camp Kahquah memory?

a) Junior Teen Camp Week - Wednesday, July 24th, 2002 – Three of us lifeguard girls developed a skit that was a personal testimony of each of us and we presented it that night with extreme emotion and passion and God used both it and a guys testimony that night to impact about 70 kids lives for Christ – the chapel was so thick with the love of God and the joy of the Lord that night – I will never forget it and I have seen the ripple effects from that night spread and continue to spread to this day in the kids that were a part of it and in my own life.
b) Wakeboarding
c) Friends
d) Devotions on the Hiawatha Trail
e) Sunsets
f) This list could go on forever…

4. Describe your family (and family dynamics) in a paragraph or so.

There are 4 of us. Mom and Dad, Victoria (younger by 2 ½ years) and I. My dad is quiet. He is a mailman and is such an example of patience and love and servanthood. My mom is not quiet. She used to be a nurse, then became a stay at home mom. She is strict – when I was a kid I used to describe her as “firm, firm, firm!” – but more than anything I appreciate how she has shaped who I am – I would not be where I am or who I am without how God has used my mother to raise me. She, every morning before I would head to school, would pray a “hedge of protection” around me and I have over and over again seen the evidences of that hedge. She has shown me what it means to have God at the centre of your life. My sister, Victoria, is very different from myself. She goes to Redeemer as well and we have always done much of the same activities, but our personalities are VERY different. We don’t get along ALL the time, but she has served to challenge me in what living a selfless, others-centred life truly means by seeing through me to my “dark not-so-nice side” better than most.

5. How has music affected/shaped your life up until this point, and how do you see it shaping your life in the future?

a) I communicate through music – music touches my soul – sometimes I go to the piano rooms and play made up songs of worship that have no words – the notes simply fly from my fingertips as little praises and prayers to God
b) I release stress through music and relax – I don’t know what I would do without a piano – music is such a different sort of expression than anything else – it is beautiful
c) In the future I hope to be involved in musical ministry of some sort – whether it is leading worship within a church, writing, playing or performing songs or teaching this amazing gift to others

Anyone else interested? Send me a note or leave a comment. Here are the rules:1. Leave me a comment saying "interview me." The first five commentators will be the participants.2. I will respond by asking you five questions.3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.