I made it!

I made it to Saskatoon late Sunday night. We left Richmond just after 7AM on Saturday morning and made our way to Calgary. "We" being myself, my friend Lorraine and my dad. Lorraine and I travelled in my honda civic (it made it!) and my dad drove his mini van with all my stuff. In Calgary we stayed with my friend who is attending VST Betty & her husband Alan. Then Sunday morning we went to church with Betty & Alan to their church where another friend of mine from VST is priest. Afterwards we all went out for lunch before we hit the road to go to Ikea and then on to Saskatoon. Yesterday was spent putting together lots of Ikea furniture, shopping for a bed and a bunch of other stuff and unpacking boxes. My dad left early this morning to begin the drive back. Lorraine is here until Saturday. School begins with a BBQ on Tuesday evening and a couple of days of orientation beginning on Wednesday. I still don't know what classes I am taking and am hoping to find that out soon.
I love my place. The girls that live upstairs are great and my space is bright and beautiful. I have put up pictures and put candles out everywhere today to make it more my own.
I will be keeping my same email address so please email me lots! If you want my home # or address please feel free to send me an email. I'll also be updating this lots (I hope) so keep on checking back!

Thank you!

A huge thank you to all of you who were able to make it last night. It was a very special evening. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to have good visits with all of you but it was good to catch up even briefly. It was a wonderfully overwhelming evening, you are all very special people in my life.
Today I'm packing like crazy and having a family dinner tonight before I head off bright and early tomorrow morning. It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm really leaving, it probably won't until my dad leaves on Tuesday morning.
Thank you for the CD's and other gifts and especially for the notes and cards. I will treasure those forever.
I carry each one of you with my as I continue my journey! Don't forget I have a great futon and you are all welcome to come visit (but maybe not all at once)!
Love to you all!

Time is Ticking Away

Well, in two days I get in my car and head for the hills, literally. I have been home since Monday and have been madly packing, running errands and getting ready for the big move. It hits me in waves that very soon I will be living on my own and in a completely different city. In Winnipeg I saw some friends who also will be starting at teh seminary in the fall and we have made plans to get together next week when I'm moved in. I also have another friend from Smithers who I have been emailing back and forth with and she is already in Saskatoon and so we will get together next week as well to explore the city.
My dad, Lorraine & I head out bright and early Saturday morning and drive to Calgary. Sunday morning we're going to the church where my friend Christine (VST) is the curate and another VST friend, Betty attends. Then it's on to Ikea and back on the highway for the last bit of our trip to Saskatoon. My dad will stay on Monday and help put stuff togehter, buy a bed and do a big shop to get all the supplies I need and then he'll head out on Tuesday to drive back home. Lorraine will stay a few days and then fly home. I'm really glad that both of them are coming to help me get settled in my new place.
Tonight I'm having about 30 people over for a BBQ (come on sunshine!) to say good-bye. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone but saying good-bye is going to be really hard. I just keep reminding myself that I will be back often over the next year. And if anyone wants to come visit, I have a great futon you're welcome to crash on!

In Winnipeg

Well, someone mentioned to me today that people have been checking my blog and waiting for an update. I have been run off my feet since I left last Sunday. We met Sunday night and spent the next few days frantically preparing for 1200 youth to arrive on Thursday morning.
Thursday morning 1200 youth arrived to register and participate in welcome activities in various rooms. The afternoon began with a "Large Group Gathering" which is a combination of keynote speaker, worship led by our very own gathering band, presentations by the drama team and video presentations put together by the volunteer production team. The theme was introduced briefly and information about the national youth project that has been promoted over the past 2 years, the Habitat for Humanity House was presented. Youth then were sent out in batches of 200 to do a "Faith Walk" where they walked through the city of Winnipeg carrying banners and chanting chants about affordable housing. They stopped at stations along the way where each of the 7 bishops (1 National, 5 Synodical and 1 Anglican) present spoke to the groups about various poverty and housing issues. All 1200 of us gathered in front of the Manitoba Legislature to hear read aloud a proclamation urging Stephen Harper to keep his promise to provide funding for affordable housing. Along the way youth also filled out postcards to send the Mr. Harper to share their feelings. We were all dismayed to hear that coincidentally that evening Stephen Harper cut his affordable housing project and all the funding that had gone with it.
Friday was a day of fun in the sun. Youth attended another Large Group gathering in the morning and then head out to various workshops and forums. Topics covered included internet luring, a panel by the bishops, African drumming and many more. In the afternoon everyone headed down to the Forks and enjoyed an afternoon of activities, a live concert and a BBQ dinner. One of the activities at the Forks was a dunk tank where youth were invited to make a donation to throw balls at pastors, leaders and youth. Over $500 dollars was raised for the Habitat for Humanity project.
Today (Saturday) was a serving day. We met in a large group gathering this morning where youth washed each other's feet. This afternoon everyone was sent out to various parts of the city to serve the community in different ways. The two largest events were car washes, one at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' stadium where over $1300 was raised in just over 2 hours which will be split between the United Way and the Blue Bombers' charitable foundation. The other large car wash was at the Goldeyes' stadium where just over $800 was raised to also be split between the United Way and the Goldeyes' charitable foundation. Youth also collected garbage, cleaned churches, painted and sorted items at CLWR and the Habitat Restore.
It's hard to believe that it's almost over. After two years of serving on the National Planning Committee I have become friends with the people I serve with and we have all worked very hard to make this event happen. Tomorrow we will have our closing worship and bid good-bye to the youth and their leaders and then celebrate our successful event. Monday we pack up and say good-bye to each other.
This weekend has again reaffirmed to me the incredible gift the church has in our youth. They are passionate, enthusiastic and faithful men and women.
I am completely exhausted and often have to deal with a variety of frustrations, issues and problems which cause me to sometimes wonder why we do all of this but all I have to do is talk to some youth and it quickly becomes clear.
For more news and some pictures of the event please go to http://youth.elcic.ca/FSLive/index.html .
I fly home Monday and then have a few days at home before I begin my next adventure moving to Saskatoon to finish seminary. Life is definitely an adventure right now!

Off to Winnipeg

Yes I know Winnipeg is not on the way to Saskatoon but before I can move to Saskatoon and begin seminary I am attending the National Youth Gathering "Full Serve". I have been privileged to be the BC Synod rep on the national planning committee for this event which has meant many trips to Winnipeg at all different times of the year (even February, yuck!). I'm really excited about this event. It is the culmination of hundreds of hours of planning and working and the people working on it are pretty amazing. You can see what's happening by going to the Full Serve Live Website. I come back on August 21 and head off to Saskatoon on August 26.

Wisdom

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. It has been a week of preparing. Preparing for Winnipeg and the youth gathering there and most importantly preparing to say good bye and move to Saskatoon. I have just over two weeks left until I go and I'm getting very excited. Within those two weeks I am in Winnipeg for 8 days and so I have a lot to do in a very short time. While I'm rushing around getting ready to go I've also been spending time with friends and had many good visits with many friends.
I really believe that God puts people in our lives for specific reasons. And through out much of my life I have been blessed to have friends who have spoken wisdom to me on a regular basis. These people have been different people at different points in my life but I always seem to find that there is one specific person who speaks wisdom to me on a regular basis. Last night I went for dinner and a walk and coffee with one of those people. What a gift she has been to me over the past two years. I am grateful for all of my friends but was really struck last night how grateful I am for the friends in my life who have spoken wisdom to me over the past years. We spent 4 hours together last night talking about everything and anything. She left me with a lot to think about and with a clearer outlook on some of the aspects of my life and I am grateful for that.