I’ve always meant to send a Christmas letter but never got around to it. Since so much has gone on in my life this past year and there is so much to come I thought it would be best to send one this year to catch everyone up at once. In the past twelve months I have lived in three provinces.
From January until August I completed the last two thirds of my twelve month internship at Salem Lutheran Church in Pass Lake, Ontario, 45 minutes north east of Thunder Bay (down the road from the Sleeping Giant!). I enjoyed my time there and had a variety of new experiences including living in the country, snowmobiling, living in a house completely alone, preaching on a regular basis and leading services at the church each week. One of the many things I learned was how to do genealogy. I continue to enjoy being a detective and piecing together parts of my family’s past.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and think about the wonderful people I met and adventures I had there on a regular basis. Pass Lake, and especially its people, will always hold a special place in my heart.
While on internship I had a number of opportunities to travel. In February I returned to Saskatoon for an opportunity for interns to gather together and share experiences. I stayed on a few days longer to visit with my former roommate Sarah and other friends. In May I travelled to Minneapolis, Minnesota with a few colleagues from Thunder Bay to attend a conference with an amazing array of speakers. But the best trip of all was a trip in late August that you’ll have to keep reading to hear about!
This summer was very busy for me. I was back home in Richmond for the first week of July helping my sister get ready to marry the love of her life on July 6. The wedding was gorgeous and I now have one more person in my family who is taller than me! Tim is a wonderful addition to the family. Jennifer and Tim took possession of their house in Pullman, Washington about a month before the wedding and have been busy renovating since then. They have recently welcomed a new addition to their family a labradoodle they have named Austin Aloysius. I look forward to all three of them coming up for a week over Christmas. Jennifer is an assistant professor at Washington State University and Tim works in the computer field in Pullman.
A couple of weeks after the wedding my parents made the long trek out to Pass Lake to come for a visit. We had a great visit while I showed them the beauty of Northwestern Ontario and we made a quick trip down to Duluth, Minnesota while they were visiting. They also helped me buy a new (to me) car and pack up my house in preparation for leaving in August. We had a great visit and I was sad to see them leave with their van packed with a lof of my stuff some of which they dropped off in Saskatoon and some they took back to BC with them.
While they were visiting we received news that my Nana Nikki (dad’s mom) was not doing well and not expected to live through the night. She made it through that night but didn’t survive the week. At the beginning of August she passed away after declining for many years. It is comforting to know she is finally at peace and reunited with my gramps.
In August before leaving Pass Lake I travelled with 4 youth from Pass Lake, 1 from Sault Sainte Marie and 3 leaders and 5 youth from Thunder Bay to the National Youth Gathering in Whitehorse. After months and months of fundraising (15,000 perogies!) we flew to Edmonton and joined up with almost 600 other youth and leaders from across the country and traveled on 13 buses through Alberta and BC to Whitehorse. We spent 4 days in Whitehorse with over 1200 other youth and leaders. It was a trip of a lifetime and the youth are excited about attending the next gathering in 2010.
Upon returning to Pass Lake I had five days to sell my car, pick up my new car, pack up my house and hit the road. The last week of August I drove over 3300km, stopping in Kenora, Saskatoon, Calgary, Golden and then back to Calgary to fly home for my grandmother’s memorial service and then flew back to Calgary and drove back to Saskatoon to start school!
This fall I completed my last semester of my Master of Divinity degree at Lutheran Theological Seminary, Saskatoon. It was a busy semester that included a trip home over reading week to visit friends and family, a weekend trip to Calgary to see a friend ordained and help another move and of course the many papers and assignments to prepare and a lot of wonderful times with friends.
This past week I yet again packed up my car and hit the road. This time for BC! I made it back to BC just in time as the snow hit the interior of BC and the very cold weather has hit Saskatchewan and Alberta!
I will be spending the next few weeks visiting with friends and family. I have my “colloquy” exam on the 29th of December. This is the final process where I am approved for ordination. I prepared a written exam in November and have submitted this as well as my evaluations throughout my degree process to an examining committee. I will meet with them at the end of December to discuss all of this.
After my colloquy I will pursue a call to a congregation. Once I have a call to a congregation I will be ordained. I wil let all of you know when this is to happen, I would love to have all of you there!
Throughout this very busy year (these stories are just a small part of all I’ve been up to!) I have over and over again been so grateful for the love and support of my friends and family. I would never have been able to get to this point in my journey without all of you. Thank you for your support, love, hugs, caring emails, great chats online, in person or on the phone, prayers and all of the other wonderful ways you have supported me this year!
My parents are doing well. My dad is adjusting to retirement rather well photographing up a storm and doing some travelling. My mom is looking forward to retiring this June.
My brothers continue to make my parents life interesting. They are both living at home. David is working construction and finishing his apprenticeship hours. Ryan has been working a variety of jobs this year.
I invite you all to check out my blog www.canadianlutheranchick.blogspot.com to find out what I’m up to!
Many blessings to you and yours this Christmas season!
Kristen
