baby mania.

Tonight marks baby shower #2 of the week, in addition to a coffee date which was partially spent planning yet another baby shower.

I feel like I blinked, and everyone got pregnant.

The night I read The Shack.

The other night, I read this new book called "The Shack" - I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to think outside the box.

Sure, it's the next big book on the Christian market...but ignore that fact, and just read the book for what it's worth...okay?

And then we'll chat.

The new Hans Christian Anderson.

Today is Monday, March 10th - the day that I've been looking forward to all last week. I can't say that last week was a good week...planning for the trip into Vancouver that I just did with 50 students was not going smoothly. My car broke down in the middle of it all...so not only was I coordinating this trip, I was coordinating how to get to and from work each day, and doing "emergency" planning in case the mechanic's verdict was not good.

However, God is gracious.

Thursday afternoon at 3:15, I was coordinating all the students who were meeting to leave for Vancouver - which included two unexpected additions (go figure) - when my cell phone rang. It was my friendly mechanic, Scott, letting me know that my car was ready...and with inexpensive repairs. I let out a huge breath of relief...and headed into Vancouver with my students.

This weekend was another great eye-opener, not just for the students, but for me as well. This weekend, due to some difficulties in finding leaders, I ended up leading my own team, as well as running the 5 teams that were there. It was slightly chaotic, but my team was great, and understood when I had to run off, or answer my phone mid-sentence...

Let me share with you a highlight of the weekend (which I think was also a highlight for my team)...

Saturday night, we were scheduled to go to Union Gospel Mission's Maurice McElrea Place - a subsidized social housing initiative on Hastings, which has been running for a few years, and which is always a treat to go and hang out at. We made lasagna and ate dinner and watched a movie with few of the residents...which is always fun. However, this Saturday, we were blessed to meet Ross. Ross has lived in the building for a while, and has a great sense of humour and overall just a warm heart. He had been chatting with a couple of the guys on my team, and after we had cleaned up and kinda finished the "event" for the evening, he invited all 10 of us up to his little apartment for some story-telling.

Now, one never knows what this all will entail. Sure, a guy says he writes children's stories...but what will that look like? Will they be any good? Will it be an awkward few minutes in his apartment as he shares? Will we have to feign interest and approval of his stories? (I was slightly nervous as to how this would all work out.)

I was blown away.

Ross is a gifted story-teller. We sat in his apartment for over an hour, as he shared tale after tale. My tiredness lifted, and I sat with a smile on my face as Ross's eyes lit up, and his stories came alive as he told them.

Ross carried us into his imagination and his passion. He put on his story-telling voice. We were swept into the life of a bumble bee who convinced an elderly lady to play her trumpet again and share her love of jazz with others....we got caught up in the investigation of a lobster detective as he tried to locate a missing "Pink Pearl", the daughter of a loud-mouthed oyster...Ross led us even further into the depths of his imagination, as we witnessed the theft of leprechaun-protected gold by pirates, and the story of the dream fairy and her broken dream-making machine.

I loved every minute of it.

It was hard to leave, for the team to pull away and return to our hostel for the night. And it was hard for Ross to let us go. We had connected through his stories. He thanked us...he had not felt so at ease in his apartment before, especially with 10 people there...and I felt blessed. I love human connection. I love learning what makes the human heart passionate, and being able to relate to that passion for even an hour of an evening.

And with that, I have lived through organizing and leading four "Urban Mission Adventures" into Vancouver this school year. I am happy.

Props to my co-leader Jason for being truly awesome, and to my team for making this weekend a fun time...

anxiety

About this time each year, I get anxious. I start planning my summer - heading to Costa Rica - and try to make it work financially in my head. It doesn't. It never does. But somehow...it always works out. I know the provision will come...but my human mind still suffers the anxiety, knowing that it doesn't "make sense".

In other news, read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" - you will be thankful.

The thing about roses...

I've finished with UMA #3...and have come out better for it.

My mind has been swimming all day, the last three days, with thoughts planted by people who work full time downtown Vancouver in various capacities.

Friday afternoon, I was privileged to take about 30 of the students to a workshop by PEERS Vancouver (standing for Prostitutes Empowerment and Educations Resource Society). I bring a group every UMA to hear these ladies (who were once sex-trade workers) share their stories, and the students are always impacted.

These women found themselves in the trade (often by the age of 12 or 13). By grace, they made it out. Someone gave them a way out. And now today they help others do the same.

While this is obviously, by nature, an emotional workshop, something happened on Friday that I still can't put my finger on; somehow, in some way, there was an even stronger connection than the "usual". I noticed that it was not just myself that felt it, as I noticed a number of students lingering...even though we had told them it was time to leave. A number also approached these ladies, thankfulness on their lips, but not exactly sure what else to say, not even sure that there was more to say, asking if they could offer a hug - it just seemed appropriate.

I have been reflecting the last couple of months on the fact that "story" is something that connects and binds us together. We find a united understanding in story. We can relate to story. It resonates in us. It sticks with us. I can't for the life of me remember three-point sermons, or the table of elements, or the description of a trapezoid; I can recite for you other's stories.

On Friday, Cee Jai and Ty shared with us the most precious thing they could - their stories. In amongst Cee Jai's, was the time she was on Pickton's farm, a place where many women lost their lives, and she ran. She ran for her life, and she got it. Today she helps others, and I believe without a doubt that she was saved with purpose.

There was also an addition to her story; knowing that we were a group of Christians, Cee Jai shared her experience with Christians when she was on the streets. I have to admit, I was expecting her to share a negative experience that she had had. I guess I'm getting a bit cynical.

Instead, she shared a time in which a couple of youth, probably about the same age as our students, walked up to her one cold night, and offered her a rose. They lit a candle, and offered to pray for her. She said that for this moment, after hours of standing, having pennies thrown at her, being sworn at, and used, she felt that someone had recognized that she was a person, a fellow human being. She was astounded. Some 10 years later, this is still imprinted on her mind.

I shared with my students today, how this moment, this weekend, put me in my place. You see, I doubt the effectiveness of such acts. I pair our students with organizations that hand out sandwiches, and as I send them off, I wonder, "Isn't there a better way?" I do believe there is.

But I also have learnt that in the meantime, not doing anything is not the better way. My first year at CBC, I was one of these people who wandered into the "low end", and handed a rose to a sex-trade worker. I, along with two others, offered to pray for her. And then I went on with life.

Since then, I have recently been known to share with others that I think that was one of the stupidest things we could have done. Wasn't it belittling? Wasn't it pointless? Weren't there better options?

And then there's Cee Jai's story. It humbled me.

Steve Klassen came on Thursday night to open our time in Vancouver. He shared on the first two books of Mark...but before he started he said, "You just never know what God is going to do." As soon as Cee Jai shared the story of the rose, that was all I could hear in my head..."You just never know...You just never know" I felt as though God was saying, "Kathleen, YOU, my dear child, you don't know what I am capable of."

There's a million other things I could write about...but I think this will do for now. I am again, reminded, changed, and blessed.