Chapter 22: Meet With The Past

Well first off, sorry I didn't post last week, it is not that nothing happened but I just didn't really get around to posting one. So I guess I will start with last week.

Last week well.. I went home! Which was so sweet. So Erik (one of the Kaleo guys) joined me for reading break since his brother lives in Caronport (where YQ is). So we got home and embarked into town to visit PJ (my pastor) and get the mail. It was so great to talk to PJ again, and connect with him to see what was going on in our church and our community. Some of it was hard to hear though, to see where some of the youth are going and even some of my friends. It was a new realization for me the extreme need to be a light within my own (and small) community. Our youth group, which just a few years ago had around 24 teens in it has stumbled to around a mere 5. Things are really changing. It can be that our church is going through a different season but PJ thinks more that the party scene has become too tantalizing. There are some youth though that are standing up for their beliefs, and I am so proud of them for doing that, I know it is a hard battle.

After that, on Friday we, as in myself, Erik and my brother, made our way to Caronport for YQ. I got to stay with my Parakaleo/friend, Kaitlyn Cey and also Alysha, a friend from camp came to YQ and stayed with Kaitlyn. The weekend was pretty good, but I did realize I don't have energy like some of those kids do. I did a little moshing for The Almost, a band I adore, and I watched the Refined/Undignified dance team. So good! Also, Alysha and I did the dance workshop, not as good of a dancer as I used to be, I'll say that much, haha. At the end of the weekend, I was tired, but it was good to catch up with friends and meet new people. I think also my brother enjoyed it once he met up with a family friend, Graeson Bergen. I am so glad Graeson was there.

After we got home, I think I zonked out for the night. On Monday my extended family on the Elsasser side came and we had a legit German meal, I was so happy to have a homecooked meal. Then, my best friend came over and she brought one of her friends from CMU. I just love that girl. She is so great, and every time I see her I can tell that she is growing in her faith, and I enjoy having in depth conversations with her.

So for the most part that is how my time at home went, oh! on Tuesday Christie, her friend and I made Thai food for supper. Yum. Wednesday my grandparents took us back to Calgary to flight out and I arrived back at camp once again.

So far all we have done is homework. I am so swamped with it, and I am even behind, which is a hard thing for me to accept since I have been the studious type. I am not done one of my assignments that was due last wednesday yet, so I plan on doing that next. Please pray that I don't become overwhelmed! haha. Please also pray for our community, I feel like we are not really being the community we are supposed to be. Also, I am comparing our Kaleo to past Kaleos and seeing that we are lazy and do not bond or do fun things like other Kaleos have, and I know it isn't particularly a good thing to compare.

Lastly, as you know, I don't need money for my mission trip to Vancouver/Ucluelet. Although, our team has decided to raise money outside of our own personal funds to do some cool stuff for the people we are working with. One thing is we plan to do a "Extreme Room Makeover" for some kids. So if you would like I would greatly appreciate it if you would be willing to donate. There is a little under two weeks to donate. So sorry for the short notice. There is a few ways you can do this, you can phone the Qwanoes office at (250) 246-3014 and donate by Credit Card (just tell them who you are donating to which would be the Vancouver Team) or you can send a cheque but make sure it just says Camp Qwanoes, nothing else, and don't specify to who or which team you are giving to. There are forms to specify which team you are giving to in this link:

http://www.kaleolife.ca/kaleosupport2011.pdf

If you are able to support, thank you so much, and if you can't, I completely understand that also.

I hope you have a wonderful week! Next week for me is Gospels with Wes Olmstead. Opa!

Chapter 21: Casting Songs Out To the Sea

Well my Ukie (Ucluelet) trip is done!

To summarize it, it was probably one of my highlights for Kaleo (making my top three, for sure). Ucluelet is where my Vancouver team will be going for the second-half of our mission trip this March, and it is a three hour drive from Crofton.

On the way there we stopped at Cathedral Grove, the trees are.... awestrucking and huge! On the way back to Crofton we went through Cathedral Grove again and they were filming a movie, my guess? Twilight. On the way to Ucluelet we encountered snow, torrential rains, and a crazy storm on the sea. Once we got there we went on the Pacific Rim Trail and hiked out to the lighthouse there. If you don't know, I have an obsession with lighthouses, so I was of course, ecstatic. The waves were so powerful! They crashed against the rock sending spray flying into the air. It was beautiful, and I maybe had a slight adrenaline rush, just slightly. I just can't express how happy and excited I was, maybe if you ask my Vancouver team members they could tell you, apparently I squealed a lot. So anyways, after that we went to a church we were staying at and Tyler (our intern) cooked supper for us. It was so good too, the best meal since I have been home, and now I have an addiction to smoked gouda. Erin, the guy we will be working with in Ucluelet in March, came and told us about what he and his ministry does. I think it will be really great and am excited for what will happen. Today we went to Black Rock along the Pacific Rim Trail again and did some more storm watching. I absolutely loved it.

It was so incredible to see God working from the giant trees of Cathedral Grove to the powerful waves at Ucluelet. It was also a really great bonding experience with my team I think, and I am thrilled I get to spend more time with them in March.

I did seem to take over 200 pictures of waves over the last two days, may be due to that I am from Saskatchewan, but don't tell anyone that, haha. At points in the waves you could see the green and blue in the wave come alive in colour, and it was a challenge to capture that in a photo, and to be honest, I really don't think I did. My new camera is a little bit of a challenge at points, it may take a little getting used to.

Lastly, I get to go home tomorrow and YQ on the weekend! Eek! Have a wonderful week!

I will upload some photos once I learn how to upload my RAW photos onto here, or maybe I will just leave it with these ones.

Well, I am going to Ucluelet tomorrow with my mission trip team for some bonding time, so I will talk about my week and such after that... and maybe even post some photos! So check back on Tuesday or Wednesday.

chapter 20: Slink Past The Ocean

Wow, it seems time goes by so quickly without my recognition, another week, and here I am again writing my blog.

As I said in my last blog, I had this week Introduction to Christian Theology with Jim Paulson. Jim was such a great prof and to be honest, he was pretty funny. Especially the fact that he would refer to himself in third person sometimes. Very enjoyable. Since I read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis (last March) I've had an interest in Theology, so it wasn't hard to pay attention in class. haha. I did enjoy it though but definitely there were some big topics, and I was left undecided on many issues. I think I might be leaning towards the Arminian side though! But totally undecided for the most part. I think the only subjects I took a side on were in Believer's baptism (vs. infant baptism) and I think when it comes to creation I think I am Literary Framework and slightly Young Earth. But I am not going to get into all of that.

So you may be interested in my Kaleo name. Well it is.... *drum roll* Peacemaker. It is a wonderful name but to be honest I am still uncertain of what this will mean for me. I have thought about it a little and so far all I got is two Bible verses about it:

Matthew 5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God."

James 3:17-18 "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness."

Also I know this 'peacemaking' means I have to stop avoiding conflict and becoming more bold, other than that I've got nothing, but I will keep you updated on the situation.

As for those who don't know, I am coming home for my reading break and for Youth Quake at Briercrest. I am not a homebody but I am so excited to come back! Being away from home has made me so grateful for everything I have there, friends, family, my church and yes, even my small town. I like being out and doing my own thing now but that "coming home" seems so much more precious than it ever has before. I am not home for long so hopefully I get to do the things I want and see everyone I want to (and eat all the home-cooked meals I can).

Oh! Mary and I went for a walk by Osborne Bay Park and the guesthouse and took some pictures with our lovely cameras. It was a fair walk, made my cheeks rosy though.