the last couple nights its been quite late before ive finally gotten to sleep..my mind has been going three hundred miles an hour...so i thought maybe itd be good to write it out and hopefully that will help me process better... here is some excepts my journel entry at midnight last night...

Jonathan, one of my biggest heroes...A man that I strive daily to be like, but it also feels that I daily fall short... A man that could have had, and rightfully should have had it all..heir to the throne, honor, riches, fame... A man that had all that at his fingertips..Yet that man said no, it wasn't God's will. A man that PROTECTED the one chosen to take his place on the throne. No jealousy whatsoever! A man that singlehandedly won a great battle on his own...fighting the fight with only his shield bearer behind him. Incredible courage! God I want that! To roar into today's battlefield. sword swinging, arrows flying, tearing down the enemies strongholds, even if it means I have to do it alone. But why is it so hard most of the time....all of the time! How could so many early Christians be so willing to die for the mere mention of Christ, yet I hesitate to talk to the cashier at Safeway about the hope Jesus has given me. God give me the courage to stand up, no matter what, No matter what! in a time when even among some mennonites, yes mennonites, its considered "uncool" to be too "spiritual" God help us..people are dying.... 

Summer rolls on...I love summer...I love Washington.. it' rapidly stealing my heart..

ive really got nothing profound to say..just that I love Jesus and He loves me!!

  

Here tis me digging holes the "cheap" way for North 40 Fence..this job..tho it can be frustrating at times is such a God sent. My boss and coworker are great which is a wonderful thing :) 

 

Other then actually moving here in Jan. and meeting the wonderful people in my church, kids clubs have been the highlight of my summer thus far.. Some of the kids are well versed in the bible and know many stories while others have barely heard of the name Jesus, much less any other bible stories...its been so exciting slowly working our way through the bible and seeing "lights" come on in kids. No they're not perfect, they don't always pay attention, but slowly, very slowly I believe we are are sowing little seeds.. and that makes it all so worth it...  ptl

 the kids project...Jacobs ladder

kayaking with kids in bonners..a perfect sunday afternoon activity

on tuesday tim chris and i met up with some kids from bonners and all went to silverwood (theme park) they were so brave :)

 "aftershock" this was before the ride..you shoulda seen their expressions once they finished :D

Rod, Tim and Andrew ready to take the panic plunge

 the supposedly romantic ferris wheel ride wasn't so romantic..

 tim and keri looked like they were having fun tho :)

Life is good and I am Not Of This World

Mothers day....for so many years those two words brought so much pain..anger..tears and questions.. why God, why, why me, how can I go on without her... 

Still, seven years later there is still that aching pain at times.. When I see a mother lovingly hug her son... speaking wisdom into her childs life... It hurts... not having that from my mother anymore...

I know that when mom was alive I never realized the incredibly precious treasure I had..the gift a godly mother is.. that is my motivation for writing this

...to plead with those of you that still have your mother... Please.. never. ever. ever. take her for granted....cherish her, talk to her, love her and tell her so, you really never know how much time you may have together..life truly is too short...

(heres a link to a video on youtube, the song is one that I've like for a long time...though I couldn't find one without the pics..so you can just listen and ignore those :)

A tribute to my own precious mother, Krystal Dawn

Mom... You, I loved, You understood me like no other, You always knew when I needed a hug, or just need to be near you, to hold your hand.. You cared so deeply for people, you were so ready to help and counsel others. You were so beautiful, truly thee most beautiful woman I have ever known inward and out. Though many times I felt cheated that I only got fifteen years to be with you, to learn from you, to love and be loved by you, Your life/legacy continues to challenge me to live life to the fullest, to be all that Jesus is asking me to be..like you did.. I shall love you forever and always

Thank you Jesus

As we had communion at our church this weekend I had to think of this picture and what the Last Supper might look like if it happened today…Now I want to clarify that I am by no means suggesting that if Jesus would "physically" physically be here today that He would chose a group of rough, godless and lawless men. Jesus disciples were led by a model of holiness and righteousness that convicted the religious leaders of their day about the hypocrisy of their outer white-washed lives while inside they were full of dead man’s bones.  Any group of true disciples of Jesus in any age may be rejected by religious leaders, not because of their unprincipled lives but because the lives of these ordinary, every-day guys demonstrated a holiness and radiance that exposed the ugliness of the hypocritical religious leaders lives.

Now, to get to the point, so often I myself judge others based so much on their outward appearance and while I'm not saying appearance isn't at all important. I know that in my own life I often overvalue it… I have been often put to shame as I've worked with some people who from all outward appearance are "the least of these," the downcast, homeless…people that though they may be outwardly destitute, are inwardly radiant, displaying the glory of God… I never want to miss out on the blessing of fellowship I could enjoy with these fellow believers, yet often missed because of premature judging of outward appearance…anyway here is the picture now that you've read, or not read my ramblings :)

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. (Is 55:8)

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (I Cor 1:25)

I've been thinking on these verses quite a bit in the last couple days... As it seems I have been job hunting for ages now, I have often wondered and questioned why it seemed as though God brought me out here to sit for so long looking for work and find absolutely nothing..To be honest its been a pretty rough and discouraging time. I had/have no doubt this is where God has called me, but I just couldn't understand why to door always seemed to close whenever I got close to finding a job...until Saturday... when pretty much the perfect job came up for me. I get to travel all around Washington and Idaho with two other great guys, meeting lots of people, working in the great outdoors... building fences, plus this job makes alot more sense in the long term scope of things. I was willing to settle for a Subway/mailman type job, but God was like, "hang on Brandon, whats waiting for you.. you will like a whole lot more" :) thank you God...

Selkirk loopy thing

Newport Washington... my new home... its been really cool to finally get here and start getting to know the lay of the land around here and meet all the wonderful people here that have made me feel so welcome... My trip out here was quite uneventful...basically just lots of driving.. only once was the rumble strip on the side of the road required to keep me awake :)...not that there was really anything to hit even if I had gone off...

I did feel a bit insecure driving my little car going through western Montana and Idaho when EVERY single vehicle that passed me was a huge jacked up truck... I don't think they believe in cars out there..I felt like a mosquito ready to get crushed on the windshield of a semi..but I made it..PTL.. the rugged beauty of the west..gets me every time..

 the view I woke up to after an uncomfortable night trying to sleep in my lil car near Butt, Montana...

 

Newport, Washington... smack on the boarder between Washington and Idaho.. no, the fact the there is snow on the year round welcome sign doesn't bother me at all...nor does the fact that I have no idea what the Selkirk loopy thing is either..I'm just happy to be here 

The river that runs right along the boarder and is like a mile from where i'm staying..

Justin and Jalyn's place where i'll be living for a couple months till I find something else

 

so I'm here, and I thank you all so much for those that prayed for my transition out here..its really been going great and i'm excited to see what God has for me out here! I'm still looking for a job though so if you think of it, i'd really appreciate prayers in that regard.. its a difficult time to find work..in the dead of winter so I don't know what will happen there, ive applied everywhere from McDonalds, where i'd get to flip burgers to Zodiac where i'd get to build airplane interior stuff.. anyway until next time..NOTW

wow time flies and my poor lil blog never keeps up! A lot has happened since i've last posted..both very painful, and very exciting.. on November 6th my L.A. mom was tragically killed in a car accident, it was a horrible shock… Rachel was an amazing woman. I wrote this soon after it happened in remembrance of her.

Rachel Witmer

When I think of her a flood of thoughts and memories rush into my mind. Moving to Los Angeles in January of 2010 I was a young man in trouble. I was still reeling from the pain of losing mom and moving in with the Witmer family was exactly what I needed. I needed a mom. One that could love on me, correct me, guide me. And that is exactly what I got from Rachel. There were many nights where just the two of us stayed up long into the night doing a puzzle, talking, whatever. She really treated me as a son. When I was sick she would go way out of her way to help and care for me. She worried over me. She made my lunches and did my laundry, She was so hospitable to everyone she met, so gentle, so caring, and loving, She truly was an incredible woman of God.

    All that makes saying goodbye that much harder. As the tears flow down my face, my heart is screaming, “why, God why?”  How could you do this to my “family,” - to me?!  I know You are good, but do You care? Really care that this breaks my heart? In the days and nights ahead when I sob myself to sleep are You there? When I ache to hug and talk to her, and she’s not there, do you feel the pain? DO YOU GOD?!”

    My thoughts go to the song that helped get me through the pain of losing mom, and now Rachel, It goes:

   Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?
 Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
 His heart is touched with my grief;
 When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
 I know my Savior cares.

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?  Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—
Is it aught to Him? Does He see? 

Though there is still a lot of questions and pain, its so comforting to know the He is in charge and DOES care! If you think of it please remember to continue praying for the Witmer family as they continue adjust to life without their wife/mother!

The Lord provided amazingly cheap ticket so dad, Sharilee and I were able to go to Colorado and be there for the funeral and also Rachels son, and my good friend, Asher's wedding. After returning to Thailand, we finished up the last semester of IGo before I had the incredible opportunity of visiting Egypt for ten days. I absolutely loved the trip! We had lots of touring and sightseeing mixed in with meeting many local Christians. I was so blessed to met them and see their faith and how bold they are despite the many pressures and persecutions again them. Heres one picture of the team I went with, if you'd like to see more I did put more on Facebook.

After wrapping up our final IGo term my family took a vacationing trip to southern thailand. We were at a beautiful Christian retreat for a couple days. It was wonderful!

Caden adored the monkeys and loved feeding food to them :)

 dad, de, and I kayaked out to a island a couple miles away...after almost capsizing a couple times and a few sore muscles we made it back :)

On my final day in Thailand my brother took my zip-lining in northern thailand for the day. it was so much fun and great just to spend one last day with him!

After once again flying the long flight back over here to america (the 22nd time i've done the 13 hour flight) to where I am now, still barely struggling with the effects of jet lag. Its been wonderful reconnecting with my friends and family here again, and being here for Jesse and Charissa's wedding…after like 20 years of liking each other it was about time they got married :)

Ice fishing for the fourth time...i think it'd be one of my favorite things to do if it wasn't always so frigid :) i guess thats why they call it "Ice" fishing

 some of my favorite people! :)

I'll be here for another week before heading out to Washington where I will be starting a new phase of life and hopefully helping to further God's Kingdom out there in Newport, WA. I'd appreciate prayers as I make this adjustment. I'm very excited about it and yet there is a lot of unknowns as well.  

shanna n me

"Good day mate" ah man i'm gonna miss that! Whether it was day or night, or wether you were their mate or not, it didn't matter… Thats what we heard all the time :) It was great… Oh and there wasn't any garbage or junk there either, just "rubbish" most of which was covered in blood, go figure :)..

I told Shanna I'd like to live there for servral years just so I could learn to speak their accent! :) I love it… anyway yes it twas a totally grand trip! I love Shanna dearly, she's fun to go anywhere on this earth with!!!.. Thanks all for your prayers! The crutches stayed in the hotel pretty much the whole time. So praise the Lord for that! 

On the train headed for Bangkok/ Malaysia/ AUSTRALIA! :) yea we were excited :)

One of my lifelong dreams finally fulfilled! Even the crutches couldn't dampen my excitement!

no its not photoshoped :)

Taking the subway to Bondi (pronounced BonDIE :)(apparently Aussies hate it when you mispronounce their city names, not that I would know :) 

beautiful Bondi beach

this cracked me up :) not only does this happen in america, it happens in australia too! :) btw this doesn't capture it all, there were tons of ladies lined up that aren't on the pic :)

and heres the gents bathroom line :D

Whale watching, a bit of a substitute for scuba diving since my foot condition didn't allow it. great fun... 

three humpback whales....humping :) 

I could have almost jumped onto this guys back he got so close to the ship! 

my dear sister that put up with all my limps, slow walking and quirks.. 

somehow I ended up on the bottom of the line and she got the top :)

We pretty much lived off of subway and mcdonalds :)

"rubbish" my new favorite word :)

and now after two days of traveling were back in Chiangmai once again...Thank you God for a dream come true!