The HCOS Weekly Vol. 2 Edition 8
Troubles An Article By Deanna Burmato Troubles. Problems. Tribulations. Everyone has gone through troubles, and some of you may be going through some right now. You are not alone. You are never alone. Sometimes you may have a friend listening to you and praying for you, or a family member. But even if there is no one physical to talk to, Jesus is always with you. He sees what you're going through, and He knows how much it hurts you. It may feel like the end of the world, but it isn't. Don't give up! Chances are there is some reason behind your going through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. When you are in the Pit of Despair, it may feel like you're the only one. But I'm sure there are lots of people who have gone through something similar. Those people can empathize with you and comfort you, and you can learn from their mistakes.
Psalm 31:7
I can't see my way out. They outnumber the hairs on my "I will be glad and rejoice in your head. unfailing love, for you have seen I have lost all courage. my troubles, and you care about the anguish of my soul." 13Please, Lord, rescue me! Come quickly, Lord, and help me." Psalm 34:6 But sometimes, God doesn't take "In my desperation I prayed, and our problems away. Sometimes we the Lord listened; he saved me need to go through those situafrom all my troubles." tions, so that we will know what it's like, and so we can help others Psalm 34:17-20 who are going through the same thing. 17"The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. 2 Corinthians 1:4 He rescues them from all their troubles. He comforts us in all our troubles 18 The Lord is close to the broken- so that we can comfort others. hearted; When they are troubled, we will be he rescues those whose spirits are able to give them the same comcrushed. fort God has given us. 19The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. 20 For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken!"
Let's take a look at Psalms. There are many chapters where the Psalm 40:11-13 psalmist cried out to God to rescue him from his problems. 11"Lord, don't hold back your tender mercies from me. Psalm 120:1 Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me. "I took my troubles to the Lord; I 12 For troubles surround mecried out to him, and he answered too many to count! my prayer." My sins pile up so high
Sometimes God wants us to learn a lesson from our trials. Maybe you need to have patience, or love for the people around you who may cause you strife. Maybe God wants you to learn how to manage certain issues now in order to prepare you for a future hardship later on in your life. Whatever the reason is, God knows best. He can see the bigger picture, while we can only see pieces at a time. We can trust that God knows what He's doing, and He won't leave our stories half-finished.
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2 Corinthians 4:17-18
2 Corinthians 4:8
"For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."
"We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair." This means that even though it may seem like the end, it really isn't.
couldn't do it. But that's why Jesus came, to show us the way to the Father. And when Jesus rose again, He gave us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Counselor. We don't have to go through life alone. The Holy Spirit is with you all the time, and waiting for you to rely on Him. Give your problems over to God, and trust that He will give you the strength that you need to get through them.
I'm sure there are many more places in the Bible that talk about As I was looking through the junk people and their problems. But if I drawer for some stickers, this one told about each one, we'd be here Let's pray. "Dear God, thank You address label sheet caught my eye. all night. that You are always there with us, I looked through the different dethrough thick and thin, even when signs, and noticed that some of the I am going to share a bit about it doesn't seem like it. Help us to stickers have little sayings on Paul though. remember this in our times of trouthem. This quote really stood out ble. Remind us to call on You to me: "The tests of life are not 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 whenever we feel that we can't meant to break you, but to make make it through the Valley of the you." -Norman Vincent Peale. I 7"So to keep me from becoming Shadow of Death. Thank you, Jehave no idea who this guy is, but proud, I was given a thorn in my sus, that You came down from I'm taking this as a message from flesh, a messenger from Satan to heaven to show us the way, and God! Of all the places to find inspi- torment me and keep me from be- thank you that You gave us Your ration. Awesome! coming proud. Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us. Please give us the strength we "The tests of life are not meant to 8Three different times I begged the need to deal with the problems break you, but to make you." Let's Lord to take it away. 9 Each time that we are going through right think about that for a moment. he said, "My grace is all you need. now. Please use our issues and My power works best in weakness." problems to draw us closer to You, In the Bible, it says that God So now I am glad to boast about for Your glory. Thank You. In Jesus' doesn't give us more than we can my weaknesses, so that the power name, amen. handle. He knows our breaking of Christ can work through me. point. He knows that it will make (Just as a side note: This topic is us stronger. 10That's why I take pleasure in my just one of many others that have weaknesses, and in the insults, been talked about in a Bible Study 1 Corinthians 10:13 hardships, persecutions, and trou- Group on Skype. If you liked what bles that I suffer for Christ. For you read, and would like to join the "13The temptations in your life are when I am weak, then I am strong." next Bible study, send me an email no different from what others exat deannaburma14@hotmail.ca, or perience. And God is faithful. He I really like this last verse. "That's send me a Skype message at deanwill not allow the temptation to be why I take pleasure in my weak- na.burmatoff14. Our meetings are more than you can stand. When nesses, and in the insults, hard- u s u a l l y o n M o n d a y s a n d you are tempted, he will show you ships, persecutions, and troubles Thursdays, at 4pm or 7 pm PST. a way out so that you can endure." that I suffer for Christ. For when I Times can be subject to change. am weak, then I am strong." "For Hope to see some of you there!) I know this verse is talking about when I am weak, then I am strong." temptations, but this can refer to God doesn't expect us to deal with troubles as well. Here's another these problems on our own one: strength. We most probably
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Beauty A Piece of Creative Writing By Emily Pearson
As the endless torrent sea moves ever so rapidly in quick movements of freedom and strength, we watch in fascination. You see, the ocean cannot possibly be held down or set straight; no rules nor regulations can keep the rapid waves in their place. As we go on in life, we find ourselves being constantly berated and held down. We are told to be ourselves, but the moment we feel comfortable in our own skin, they scold and look down upon us as though we are greatly different. But you see, we were never meant to be a clone of everyone else. Our skin was never meant to be the same color or texture as someone else, nor the size of our bodies or color of our eyes. Why can't we be like the wild rushing waters of the Pacific Ocean? Free and wild, no one criticizes the water. It just flows on its own in confidence that is loud as rolling thunder. We stare in the mirror, disgusted by the reflection. But if we were someone different, we still would not be satisfied. No one can measure up to the standards of professional Photoshop; airbrushed skin and caked on makeup. Was it God's will for beauty to be defined by makeup and skinny thighs that have been minimized by computer technology? No. For beauty is not the shape of your
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eyebrows, nor color of your eyes. Beauty is as quiet and gentle as a sot stirring breeze . . . It is the way our eyes light up when we speak in confidence about things we are passionate about. It is the way we laugh and how unique it sounds. Beauty is the vibrant hue of the sun as it sets, dripping down the darkening sky like watercolors painted by God's hand. Beauty is natural . . . It is the scent of freshly fallen raindrops or budding roses. It is the sound of a baby's first laugh; it is natural. The waves swish back and forth against the shore; we walk across the sandy beach and run our fingers though the golden sand . . . What if freedom is loving who we are?
Random Facts An Article By Eva Umana Random Science Facts: It takes 8 minutes and 17 seconds for light to travel from the Sun's surface to Earth. If you could drive your car straight up you would arrive in space in just over an hour. Cells have tails to move around. Female black widow spiders eat their males ater mating. Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant in 1967 - the patient lived for 18 days. Garlic, hydrogen peroxide and cinnamon are good cold remedies. Random Disney Facts:
101 Dalmatians and Peter Pan are the only two Disney cartoon features with both parents that are present and don't die throughout the movie. The first animated film to be nominated for an Oscar for best picture was Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" in 1991. Disneyland, California, was built in the early 1950s, opening in 1955. Anxious to be on site as much as possible, Walt built an apartment for his family above the 'Fire Department' on Main Street. A lamp in the window signaled to staff that he was in residence, and this is now always alight in his honor. Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck, created the dog barks for 101 Dalmatians. While we're on the subject of animal noise, tiger roars were used for the Lion King, as lions weren't deemed loud enough. It would tale 9.4 million balloons for Carl's house to float in the sky in Up.
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The Ukrainian War An Article By Adley Soames The Ukrainian war has been going on for some time now, creating a lot of attention. However, most facts about the Ukrainian war are incomplete and confusing, which reflects the very nature of the war. So what exactly is going on in Ukraine? This article is my attempt at answering that question. Please note most of this article is based o of speculation as this is a very complicated and secretive situation. To understand the situation between Russia and Ukraine, we go back to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ater the collapse, war began almost immediately between the countries, disputing over this and that. The countries disputed over Sevastopol, a coastal city located on the Black Sea. The situation eventually ended with Russia renting Sevastopol from Ukraine. From 1990 until 2000 they engaged in several gas disputes. Ukraine joined a nation group called GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, which was seen as a direct challenge to Moscow's CIS and Russian Trade Group. These are just a few of the situations causing tension between the nations. In 2010, a pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovich, was elected as leader of Ukraine. President Yanukovich renewed the lease of Sevastopol, which was illegal acco r d i n g t o U k ra i n i a n l a w. Yanukovich's main opposition, Yu-
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lia Timoshenko, was jailed on presumably made-up charges. To make matters worse, Yanukovich backed down from an agreement with the European Union, which he had approved a few years earlier. All these biased decisions, favouring Russia over Europe, aggravated protestors to oust President Viktor Yanukovich and take over Kiev, the capitol city of Ukraine. Yanukovich fled to eastern Ukraine, where he has received more support from the Russian population located in the area. Yanukovich was declared "removed from power" however, he refused to resign and many eastern provinces remained loyal to Yanukovich. In Ukraine's state of confusion, they declared Oleksandr Turchynov as acting President, who stopped a language preference bill, which would have furthered the tension between Ukrainians and Russians.
In February 2014, Russia began sending unmarked troops and military equipment into the Ukraine, beginning a stealth invasion. Russia then seized the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, claiming to be uninvolved. Vladimir Putin has since admitted involvement in the capture and annexation of Crimea. This began a pro-Russian rebel group known as Donbass, which declared war on Ukraine. Despite Russia denying involvement with Donbass, many sources have ac-
cused Russia of supplying the rebels with weapons and soldiers. In September, a ceasefire was declared, which Russia took advantage of by repositioning their troops to bring pressure on Mariupol. Rebels continue to claim they are armed only with equipment captured from Ukrainian forces, however the sheer scale of their armaments have strained the credibility of the claim. Currently, there are over 7,000 Russian troops within Ukraine and approximately 45,000 Russian troops posted just outside of Ukraine. There have been convoys of unmarked tanks and weapons spotted within Ukraine and trucks carrying dead Russian soldiers spotted leaving. Russia continues to claim minimal involvement in the Ukrainian war, while they quietly take over and impose a vast army along the border. The situation is quickly growing and will likely result in Russia completely annexing Ukraine. The best we can do to help the situation is give it as much attention as possible, which will prevent Russia from taking the country unnoticed.
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Book Review: The Hobbit By Bryce
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"Harvest", was Lael Louw! She won a $40 Amazon git card. In second place was Kiara Miekle with "Picture #2". She received a $30 Amazon git card. "Fall Harvest" by Rachel Scuka was in third place, winning a $25 Amazon git card. And finally, in fourth place with an Amazon git card prize of $20, was Samara Paine with her entry, "An Autumn Walk". We at the HCOS Weekly would like to congratulate all of the winners, as well as the
runner-ups as follows: "Falling Leaf" by Lael Louw "Train Bridge" by Ethan Johnson "Don't Leaf, I've Fallen!" by Jubilee Chiu It was super fun to go through all of the contestants' photos this year to vote, comment, and admire. Everyone did an amazing job, and we can't wait to see what talent arises next!
Bilbo Baggins was a young hobbit who was happy to stay home in his comfy hobbit house, but when Gandalf the great wizard comes along with a group of homeless dwarves, Bilbo gets sucked into a great adventure. Battling giant spiders, goblins, and other fierce creatures, Bilbo learns to conquer his fears. It is then up to Bilbo alone to talk to the great dragon Smaug and comfort him. Read this book to find out what happens in this perilous and exciting adventure!
HCOS NING Photo Contest Results By Jennica Wlodarczyk As most of you NING-dwellers know, the end of 2014 held an exciting event for us on the HCOS social site. The results for the So You Think You Can Photograph contest came in, and I'm excited to announce the contest's winners. In f i r s t p l a ce w i t h h e r e n t r y, Harvest by Lael Louw - 1st Place Winner
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Photo #2 by Kiara Meikle - 2nd Place
Fall Harvest by Rachel Scuka - 3rd Place
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An Autumn Walk by Samara Paine - 4th Place
Falling Fall by Lael Louw - Notable Runner-Up
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Train Bridge by Ethan Johnson - Notable Runner-Up
Don't Leaf, I've Fallen! by Jubilee Chiu - Notable Runner-Up
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Fragments on Fridays An Article By Jennica Wlodarczyk To many of you readers and forum-dwellers, Jesse Ongkili is a name you might hear and go, "Oh yeah, that's the orange grub guy! I talked with him once; pretty cool person." Perhaps you've even seen some of his music videos or cover performances on YouTube. If you enjoy his work, (or if even if you've never seen his videos before) I would highly advise you to check out a series on his channel, ogwardproductions, called "Fragments on Fridays". Not only is this series humorous and inspiring, but the way that Jesse ties in Biblical lessons and Christ-centred stories is really a work of art.
reach him over the HCOS NING, Looking To Showcase Your Moodle, or his YouTube channel it- Talent? self to comment or ask questions about his videos. If any of you fabulous readers are interested in getting your Below is a link to the full playlist of drawings, poems, stories, articles, all 21 Fragments on Fridays videos essays, photographs, or other meto date. Thanks for taking the time dia seen by some teachers and stuto check this out; I truly hope dents of HCOS, the HCOS Weekly is something in these videos will in- a great place to start! Feel free to spire you and make you think out- contact us at any time either on side of the box. Moodle, the HCOS NING, or over email athcosweekly@outlook.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=rdxbRggNepA&list=PL_7hUB- We hope to hear from you soon, I can say from personal experience h0Z2gTGssPsAlcfETrCFvhPTkur and wish you the best in this new that Jesse loves to discuss a wide year. Enjoy the rest of the edition! variety of topics. You can always - The HCOS Weekly Team
2015 - A Comic By Joshua Wlodarczyk
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Student Photo & Art Gallery
Hulk Buster - By Joshua Wlodarczyk
Photo taken by Deanna Burmatoff, Grade 11
Eagle Feather - By Deanna Burmatoff
Photo taken by Deanna Burmatoff, Grade 11
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Weekly LOL
by Jennica Wlodarczyk