"Across the Universe"

For what it's worth, I highly recommend the new movie, Across the Universe. Now...that being said, I have some "limitations" for you all....

1. Only watch if you enjoy Beatles music
2. Only watch if you can handle a little "artistic nudity"
3. Only watch if you enjoy artsy drug trips...not from experience, but as portrayed on film. Ahem.
4. Only watch if you want Beatles songs stuck in your head for the rest of your life. Or at least so much so that you buy the soundtrack the next day...
5. Only watch if you can handle 14 year old teenagers in the theatre giggling, throwing popcorn, and running up and down the aisles as you watch (and realize that you were once them...and maybe on certain days still are)

And lastly, only tell me if you watched it, if you enjoyed it. I don't want to lose your friendship. (And remember, I put limitations out there).

groovin.

Life is good.
I don't have tons to share right now, but felt like I owe you all something. I know what it's like to check blogs and think "update already!" (ahem, Jeremy Thompson and Laura Hooper, not to name names or anything). And I know people have better things to do than write in blogs - it's probably better to live what you're writing about than to write about what you're living.

Anyways...

I feel like I'm in my groove right now. I love my job, which after last year, is refreshing to say. I love my church, which after the last few years of feeling "unsettled" is also refreshing. I now am part of a great "life group" that meets Thursday nights...wonderful people. I really look forward to Thursday night. And I am also teaching Sunday School. Now maybe that's the one part that isn't "groovin" so well right now...but at the same time, it's my challenge and a passion to not give up (I teach ten 8-11 year olds...8 of which are boys...rowdy boys...who all like to talk at once, about anything, the entire 40 minutes that we are together).

I also love that I only work four days a week, and get to play with a fantastic one-year-old on my Friday off. And when I come home for work the other four days, she meets me with kisses...and giggles.

I love her parents - my housemates - who remind me what true relationship and love looks like...and have included me as part of their family. Carleigh told me yesterday that now that I talk about their daughter as much as they do, I am officially a family member.

It's a fun season...and I am very thankful for it.

Tomorrow I head home with my dear cousin for the weekend - a Thanksgiving visit (two weeks post-Thanksgiving) in an effort to avoid Thanksgiving traffic on the ferry. I'm excited to be home for a bit and remember what autumn on the Island looks like.

In two weeks I get to lead another 40 students into Vancouver on UMA #2 - time is flying! I just finished marking post-trip papers, and now the next batch of pre-trip papers are coming to my desk.

And...in just about four weeks, I head to Mexico to visit the lovely Sandra Plett , and to turn 26.

Anyone else groovin?

One down, three to go.

Well folks. I made it. First "Urban Mission Adventure" at CBC under my direction...and it all happened...smoothly...for the most part. I'm alive; so are the 47 other people I took with me. And ultimately, I think that God taught us all a little something, or a big something, depending on who you talk to. And for all of that, I am truly thankful.

The students spent each day differently, depending on which team they were on and what their schedule consisted of; some cleaned for Gloria at Living Waters, some worked with Dodson Rooms or MCC "More than a Roof Housing", cleaning and hanging out with the tenants, and others walked the streets around East Hastings, chatting it up with people who were busy shooting heroin or smoking crack at the same time.

I love it.

I love UMA because it changes our students' perspectives. It makes them question what they have always believed. It causes them to freak out a little, or get really angry - it makes them feel emotions about things that they may have never thought about before: poverty, addiction, sex trade, the upcoming Olympics and the plans of shipping the homeless elsewhere in order to keep up appearances, safety injection sites, methadone clinics, the response that we have as Christians, the responsibilities that we have as Christians. And ultimately, it breaks down those walls of fear that separates us from each other.

I also struggle with UMA because we "drop in" on the downtown east side, and then drop out again just three days later. But, until we can send students to be there full-time, I hope and pray that our presence there is a blessing, never a hindrance or curse to those that are there full-time.

May the lessons that are learnt this weekend motivate our students to action. They can no longer claim ignorance about the fact of poverty and pain that exists just outside our doors. And they can no longer claim that Canada is "pure" or free of these things.

Did you know that the V6A postal code - downtown east Vancouver - has the same percentage of HIV/AIDS infected people as Botswana? That V6A postal code has the highest percentage of HIV/AIDS infection in all of North America. It is one hour from my door to theirs. If that doesn't motivate me to be a part of positive change, I don't know what else will.

And so...one down, three to go. One quarter of the first year students now get it. Now know what is going on downtown. Now I get to share it with the rest. Another 50 are coming with me again November 1-4. That's one month away. But for today, I rest, and share some pictures with you.


This is Emily. She is a senior student at CBC and agreed to come along this weekend as my "assistant"...and she was a God-send. I appreciated all her help - there was no way I could have had it all go as smoothly as it did without her. Thanks Emily!

Emily and I had our own fun "urban adventures" - not being "City Girls" ourselves, we had some interesting excursions, and learnt to see the city in a new way. Part of our daily routine included heading to Safeway to pick up "extras" - jam, cheese slices, water - anything that we ran short on throughout the weekend. So our first big adventure involved our trip to Safeway. When we arrived, we saw this sign:

It peeked our curiosity. We don't even know how to pronounce it...is it a "Moo-vator" or a "Mauve-ator"? For those of you who are not city slickers, you would appreciate our curiosity and excitement when we learnt that it is this:

An escalator without stairs! Who knew? (Evidently, as I shared this with students throughout the weekend, quite a few people know this.)

Then, Emily and I, after figuring out how to use the water dispenser to fill the giant water jugs, were being laughed at by our friendly Safeway cashier, whose name (I kid you not) was Igor. So we took a sheepish picture of Igor:

Upon returning to the Ivanhoe Hotel (or hostel, really) where we housed our team for the weekend, Emily and I had some time to go wander a bit. We found ourselves in Chinatown, one of my all-time favorite places in Vancouver.

I was born in the Year of the Rooster. Guess there could be worse.

Then we came across the most beautiful park, in the middle of Chinatown, Dr. Sun Yat Sen Park. We turned a corner and found this path, which made me feel like I was in the middle of some storybook:

And then we turned another corner, and realized that it was even better:

One of the highlights of this trip for me was on this same day. Emily and I were walking to Chinatown, and first passed through a section of Main St., right near the Ivanhoe, and realized that they were demolishing, from inside out, a building on the street.

Wondering what it had been, as I was very familiar with the various buildings on this strip, I stepped back and looked at the sign, and was in shock. I had walked past this very building every UMA trip for the last 7 years, and every time, asked God to bring it down. And now, here I was standing in front of this "Adult" movie theater...a place that I had despised for what it produced, and represented, and allowed within its walls...a place of shame and perversion...now just a hollow shell of a building. And I marvelled. And then realized that I shouldn't have been so surprised. God heard me...and I'm sure the many others that uttered the same prayer under their breath as they walked past it. Now, I have yet to see what it will become.

Overall, it was a great weekend. I'm looking forward (wearily) to the next three. And hoping that the rat that ate a hole in my bag won't be there when I return.

I'm having a heart-attack...

Facebook won't let me log in.

Okay, so that's rather hideous - and embarassing that I'm reacting this way.

In real life...I've heard so many stories lately from friends about situations and relationships in their lives, or in the lives of their friends or family, that are so heavy and rich with sadness. Do you know the types of stories I mean? Stories of brokenness.

Interestingly enough, while it has attacked my heart and made me pensive, I am also rather light in it all. I would not presume that this has anything to do with me, but rather that my Creator is granting me this. I think that to be heavy with the brokenness I see in life right now would not allow me the opportunities to speak life into people and to lift them to the Father as trustingly. I thank God that He picks up the dingy, shattered, shameful, rusty pieces. Because if we had to do it on our own? The result would be gangrene.

"Perhaps everything terrible is, in its deepest being, something that needs our love." - Rainer Maria Rilke

My life...as it appears in photo form.

Here you go - the most exciting photos I could find of the last month.

When I first came home we had a birthday party for little Charlee who turned one at the end of July (she's the daughter of the couple that I live with) - and we had a blast watching her splash in the pool and drink out of a straw for the first time. One is a big deal. One means you're not as new anymore. One means you're cool...well according to Charlee anyways, it seems.

Here she is...exploring her environment. Don't tell her she's doing it in her underwear.

And of course, her friends came to join - including London, who's very mature now that she's a big girl. (Our parties have changed since college....)

And then, middle of August, I started back at CBC. My first day back was the Cedar Springs Staff Retreat (tough first day!). It was great to be back on staff and enjoying the "play" time with the faculty and staff, gearing up for a new year. And Cedar Springs is a pretty decent place to do that!

Of course the day was filled with bocci playing and paddle-boating. Here's what happens when the bocci playing is too close to the paddle-boating. The guys tried their hardest to rescue the ball, but while they provided great entertainment for us all (and soaked me), we had to say good-bye to a friend. RIP, silver ball, RIP.
Last week, I was hanging out at Misty's house having dinner with her and her sister, chatting about life, when all of a sudden the rain stopped, and the sun came out...and we had the coolest view. Funny as we'd been talking about some major life stuff, and actually feeling a little discouraged, and the double rainbow came out - in fact we even saw three at one point - and decided that it was a reminder of Who is in control...
And this is today - just so you remember what I look like. And I got my hair cut...and I think it looks pretty hot. So...I'm mostly just fishing for compliments. Anyone?
Ok...now for the best part. Gary and Carleigh had a photo shoot done a couple weeks ago (they are the couple that I live with...and they are great...and I am enamoured with their baby girl...we're best buds). Anyways, here are some of the best shots...

Here's Charlee giving her typical face. She's a ham.

With her hat...which she puts on just because we all say, "Ooooooh, you're soooooo preeeeeettty." Yeah, I'd wear it too if people would say that everytime I put it on.Here's the fam...along with Matty - he's considered part of the family as he lives with us every other week. We love Matt. Doesn't Charlee look so impressed to be sitting still?
That's about it for now...first "Urban Mission Adventure" is just around the corner - but I know it's all gonna work out just fine..I love my job!