Traveling Chickens - Life in a Rural Community

So I thought that it would be a good idea to have my internship committee over for dinner for our second meeting. I planned the menu, went grocery shopping in town on the weekend and got all set. The day of the meal came and I came home from the office at noon to get ready. I had mashed the sweet potatoes the day before so they were all set. When I got home I cleaned up my house, moved chairs up from downstairs and started to prepare the rest of the food.

At about 3:45 I put the chickens in the oven. I finished vacuuming and as I was putting the vacuum back in the closet by the front door the power flickered and went out. The chickens had been cooking for about 15 minutes and so I needed to put them in another oven or throw them out. I called another committee member who had called earlier to let me know she couldn’t come because she was having to pump out her basement because of all the rain. I called her and she told me she still had power, so I packed up the chickens and drove the ten minutes to her house, put the chickens in, saw her basement (only half full of water now) and settled to make phone calls to the rest of the committee and watch some TV.

About 20 minutes after getting the chickens in the oven the power flickered and went out at her house. She had spoken to another friend, a couple that I also knew and knew that they still had power so I called them and asked if I could use their oven. So again I packed up the chickens and headed over to their home.

I hadn’t been able to get a hold of anyone else on the committee and wasn’t sure how many of them had power. At about 6PM (when the meeting was supposed to begin) I drove back to my house to get the rest of the food and to see if anyone was there. Sure enough two members of the committee were just leaving my house and turned around to meet me at my house. On the way to the house I saw that the beaver creek beside my house was so high that the water was now running over the road instead of under it.

When I got to my house I realized that I had left the vacuum blocking the front door and my front door key didn’t work on the side door lock. We had to push open the front door carefully so as not to damage the closet door between the front door and the vacuum.

One of the committee (the daughter of the couple who had my chickens in their oven) also had power (my power still wasn’t on) so we packed up all the food and headed to her house. I got all the other food (chipotle maple sweet potatoes, broccoli & cauliflower, salad and buns) all set up and cooking and drove back up the highway to pick up the chickens. Brought them back and we sat down for a lovely dinner and meeting.

After the meeting I packed up all the dishes and headed home with a borrowed pair of men’s size 12 rubber boots and a copper pole to test out the road by my house to make sure the road was still there under the water. I went to the home of the second oven my chickens had been in (the woman pumping out her basement) and gave her some dinner and then headed to my house where I could still see the road under the water and decided to try it out. It was fine and I got home in one piece. I still had no power so I put all the food away and went to bed to stay warm and called a friend to share my story! As I was talking to her about 10:45PM the power went back on and I went to sleep.

Quote

A few of my friends have posted favourite quotes and poems on their blogs recently and so I thought I would follow their lead when I found this while preparing for a sermon:

“Even when we try to run away from our troubles…God will find us, and bless us, even when we feel most alone, unsure if we’ll survive the night. God will find a way to let us know that he is with us in this place, wherever we are, however far we think we’ve run. And maybe that’s one reason we worship – to respond to grace. We praise God not to celebrate our own faith but to give thanks for the faith God has in us. To let ourselves look at God, and let God look back at us. And to laugh, and sing, and be delighted because God has called us his own.”

Kathleen Norris

Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith

In her essay on grace.

Day off

So I took most of today off as I hadn't had a day off since last Saturday. I am still getting used to the idea that this is my home for the year and to make it more my space I hauled out all my pictures and put up my photo wall. A little different than last year but most of the same pictures. Tomorrow when I'm in Thunder Bay I'll have a few recent ones printed and add them to the collection.
Posting the pictures brought mixed emotions as I was glad for the happy memories that they brought but also hard because everyone on the wall is so far away!







I also baked bread solo for the first time in my life. Following my friend Alison's recipe I made 7 loaves and 1 dozen buns of whole wheat bread. I loved doing it and look forward to doing it again sometime. If you have a bread recipe you love please send it on for me to try!

Tomorrow starts a busy week as I go into Thunder Bay for clergy cluster and supervision and then tomorrow evening I have kids' club and confirmation (first confirmation class!). Two of the youth want to meet with me before kids' club to pitch an idea they have so I am looking forward to hearing their big idea.

Thanksgiving is this weekend and I'm not sure what my plans are. I hope that I will be invited somewhere! This is the first Thanksgiving where I haven't had good friends or family around.

I know I haven't blogged in a while and I promise a real blog soon but in the mean time here are a few paintings of my church in Pass Lake. They were both done before the addition so you have to make it a little longer off one side of the building but same colours. It's a wonderful building filled with lots of love! I promise to blog more soon!

More pics from my new home

Here are a few more pictures of my home for the year. This one is my home from the road.

















This is the view beside my house. This stream wraps around behind my house.



















This is what you see looking down the side of my house. It's beautiful! I've been really enjoying the incredible beauty of this area. I'm getting used to living out in the country though really feel I'm a city girl at heart. I was officially installed today as intern at Salem Lutheran Church, Pass Lake. Tomorrow I head to Luther Village near Kenora for the church workers' study conference. Next week all the programs start and September comes to an end. It's pretty unbelievable how fast it's flying by!

Online again

I am now back online at home and so I don't have to drive into Thunder Bay to blog. I am on dial up in Pass Lake at both the church and home. I met with other Thunder Bay ELCIC clergy this morning for their weekly ministerial and then picked up odds and ends in TB before beginning to set up the office at the church this afternoon. I also met with my supervisor and got some of the scoop on how this year will look. Things will definitely be busy, but great! I am slowly adjusting to a very different way of life here in Pass Lake but so far so good! I will post pictures of my area soon.

Made it!

I have made it to Pass Lake. I arrived last night about 8:30 and have unpacked my car. Today I attended Salem Lutheran Church (my internship site) and headed into Thunder Bay to pick up groceries and various other household items. I've posted pictures of my drive and my new place here . I don't have my dial up working yet but will blog more when it's working. Right now I'm in a coffee shop in Thunder Bay but I'm getting very tired and I still need to finish grocery shopping so I will sign off now and blog again soon!

On the Road Again!

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a month since I have blogged. I have had a wonderful month (pictures to come!) off and on Monday I packed up my little civic and hit the road for the big move to Pass Lake. I drove Monday and Tuesday and visited friends in Saskatoon Wednesday and yesterday. Today I hit the road again for the last two days of driving. I had a nice visit with a few friends here and just relaxed. Today I'll drive the 8-9 hours to Winnipeg stay at my friend Jen's house as she and her husband set her up in Saskatoon and then do the last leg tomorrow and move into my new home! I'm excited, nervous and just wanting the driving to be over. I'll be on dial up in my new place so pictures will have to wait until I go to Thunder Bay and can access high speed but I will try to post text on a more regular basis.
I can't believe internship is here and yet I'm ready to do it. Talking to other sem students here about classes they're taking and the like I'm really ready not to be in class and to be on the ground doing ministry. So Pass Lake here I come!

Done CPE

Well I made it through CPE in one piece. After all the horror stories I have heard it wasn't as bad as I had feared. It was definitely challenging and exhausting but I would say over all it was a positive experience.
CPE is clinical pastoral education and I did the 11 week intensive. Three days a week I was on hospital wards at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital doing pastoral care and two days a week I was at St. Paul's Hospital for class time. One of the purposes of CPE is for students to become more aware of who they are and how the affect others. So we have group time where we discuss all of these things and our experiences on the wards. I have learned a lot but am ready for it to be over as I'm exhausted and need a break.
So I have about a month before I leave again. I want to spend time with friends and family and relax. I have plans to go camping with a friend and then to Victoria with other friends. I'm also hoping to do one or two more trips with other friends but we'll see what happens.
Now that I'm done CPE I can look ahead to the next adventure. In one month I will again pack up my little car and start driving. This time I'm driving twice as far. I'll be starting an internship in Pass Lake Ontario. I can't wait but I will be sad to leave Vancouver again.
I have been learning more and more about Pass Lake and the surrounding area and it's a beautiful place and it sounds like a wonderful community. I am looking forward to my time there. I will post lots of pictures. For now here is a picture of the church I'll be at.

Birthday Bash

I know I haven't blogged much recently. I will blog more soon. I just wanted to post this picture from my birthday celebration dinner tonight at Shabusen. We had a wonderful dinner and then some of us went back to Kat's for some birthday s'mores. I'm blessed with wonderful friends!

back in BC

Well I survived the drive. The first day was brutal. The drive from Saskatoon to Lake Louise is the most boring drive ever and it began pouring rain as I left Saskatoon and followed me all the way across the prairies. I got in in time on Saturday night to unpack my car, change my clothes and head out to see a friend's concert Musica Intima is the ensemble she sings with and they are amazing. Saturday night was incredible as usual. I went with a friend and we went for all you can eat Japanese afterwards - such a Vancouver thing to do! Sunday was church in the morning, baptism in the afternoon and back to church for a concert in the evening.
I went to VST convocation last night and saw all kinds of people. A group of us went to Sutton Place Hotel lounge afterwards and it was so nice to be back with my VST friends again.
This week is about relaxing and catching up with friends before I start an intense 13 week program on Monday. It has been strange to be back. So good and yet there are still the not so good parts of life here in BC that haven't disappeared just because I was gone for 8 months. Life is always so complicated! I'm looking forward to starting CPE next week and being back in a normal pattern with some purpose to my day!

Done, Packing, Internship, Moving

Well the last two weeks have been a wild ride. I finished classes and most of my assignments about a week and a half ago and then took off to BC for a study conference for 4 days, came home and began packing and moving stuff around. Sunday I met my internship supervisor and we clicked so well, internship retreat went until last night. I'm really excited about my internship now. I got all kinds of information about Pass Lake, the congregation and where I'll be living (a house by a pond). I will move in September 1 and start work on September 4.
I am in Saskatoon for two more days before I will start the trek back to Vancouver. This will be the longest drive I've ever done solo. Two solid days of driving. I will stay over night in the hostel in Lake Louise which is about half way.
I can't believe my year here in Saskatoon is coming to an end. It's been hard to say good-bye to a few people and I know that moving out of this place permanently will be hard. Sarah, my housemate, and I have become close friends.
I'm excited about what the next part of my journey will bring me but will never forget my time here in Saskatoon.
Even though there are a lot of reasons why I'm glad it's over there were some good times and good friends in the midst of the chaos.

What a week!

Well it's been over a week since I have posted about anything that has been going on in my life. What a week it has been! Easter weekend was full of church services, one on Thursday, Friday & Saturday and two on Sunday. I was a server at Easter vigil on Saturday night which meant I also had to be at a 2 hour rehearsal for it on Friday afternoon. We had two Easter dinners. Sarah and I had decided we weren't going to cook a big dinner but rather go out to a nice Japanese restaurant with another friend of hers so we made reservations for Friday night but then her brother came for a visit so we did a big Easter dinner anyways on Saturday night. It was lots of fun, a nice group of people enjoying a meal together before I had to head off to the seminary for the 3 hour Easter vigil and party following. Sunday night the tension that has been existing upstairs for months exploded and on Monday evening Sarah evicted the couple who was sharing the upstairs with her. So the tension level went even higher!
In the midst of all of this I am finishing up papers, presentations and other assignments and beginning to think about moving back to Vancouver and then to Ontario and how I will get all my stuff to all these places!
I head to BC for 4 days a week from tomorrow for a conference so I have to have all papers done before that. Then I'm back in Saskatoon for about a week before I pack up my little civic and hit the road. SO much to do, so little time!

Christ is risen, Alleluia

For us, the faithful, Christ has begun a bright new day, eternal and extinguishable. God is the author of this wonder. From impossible beginnings God has produced wonderful results.
Anonymous hymn - Second Century

Holy Saturday

For this is the time of Holy Saturday
Christ comes to inhabit our tombs
And when the hour has come
He will roll away the stone for us.
Taize Prayer

Good Friday

The Church is the cross on which Christ was crucified. One could not separate Christ from his cross, and one must live in a permanent dissatisfaction with the church.
Romano Guardini

Reflecting

Well I'm starting to reflect on my time here in Saskatoon. I can't say it's been a wonderful year but it has been a good experience. I have many pictures and special words on my wall. The one above my computer means a lot to me and is a daily reminder for me. So I decided (with permission) to share these words with you. They were written by my friend Jason the day after I left Vancouver in August.

this road

like dorthys

goes to emerald palaces

that lose their luster

that are ruled by little

men behind their collars.

do not pay attention to

the emerald palace

shun its false luster.

life is not in the journey,

that is a lie,

life is in the companions.

keep one eye on the road,

an ear open for God

and the rest of your sense

looking for your own

straw man and tin man.

why else travel?

~ Jason Derr

I'm going to.......Pass Lake Ontario!

Well I can now finally tell people where I'm going on internship. I will be in Pass Lake Ontario for my internship this fall. I'm really excited about this site. I have heard many wonderful things about it and it's in part of a country I've never even been to never mind lived in!
Where is Pass Lake Kristen?
As you can see it's just outside of Thunder Bay, about 40 minutes in fact in Northwestern Ontario. It is about 8 hours east of Winnipeg.
Click here to see where it is in the province and in relation to other cities in the country.









I believe this will be a 12 month internship so I will be there until August 2008 when I will return to Saskatoon for one more semester to finish up my MDiv and God willing be ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.
I'm really excited about this site. I've heard amazing things about the landscape as well as the supervisor and the congregation.
It's hard to stay focused on the last two weeks of classes and the 8 assignments I have left but I will get there somehow!

Internship News

Well I know where I'll be on internship next year. Unfortunatley you'll have to wait until Monday or Tuesday. The internship director wants us to wait until he has had a chance to let supervisors know who their intern will be so I can only tell my spouse, grrrr! Let's just say I'm very happy and excited and I can't wait to tell people.

Readng Week trip pics

This is the view from the place we stayed at on the Sunshine Coast.

















Kat & Jason checking out the view from the pier by Molly's Reach (think Beachcombers).











The three of us.