It's been a while

Ikea is a dangerous store to enter. Back-to-school shopping has never been so expensive! But all I could think about when I saw the ad for the $1 breakfast was you, Steph....*tear*. I thought of you as I followed those huge blue arrows on the floor, carrying around my big yellow tarp-bag, and gazing longingly at the wonderland of lamps, storage bins, and colourful vases.

Since recovering from Jenny Tang's visit to the t-dot (just joking...it only took a few days), life has been quite relaxed. Almost too relaxed, like swinging from one extreme of pyschotic business in mtl to borderline laziness. I've been in cottage-mode right here at my own house, substituting the dock for my porch and the lake for my weed-infested backyard and back field (see pic). I finished a book my dad gave me a while back called The Great Dance, by Baxter Kruger...who my parents actually had dinner with last night. random. I highly recommend for anyone who's looking for their perspective of Jesus Christ and the Trinity to TOTALLY change!...one of those books that you read and your faith will never quite be the same...

My little sister and I have spent endless hours watching old episodes of Gilmore Girls (our family show) while scrapbooking from the summer. It's taking me FOREVER, but will hopefully be worth it. I'll be sure to bring it to Winter Conference and keep it handy for when all you West-ies come and visit!! As I was digging up all the notes from my 401 mailbox, I'm still so blown away by how encouraging and supportive you all were all summer long! Thank you so much, guys... you are truly amazing!

I've been spending some time thinking ahead to my ministry role this year @ Queen's, doing some practical and spiritual preparation. There're some fairly large gaps still in our ministry this year (weekly meeting coordinator for one, administrator, etc.), so just trying to discern where to step in, and where to let others be challenged to serve. Just because I think I'm able to doesn't mean that's where God can best use me...that's a hard thing to swallow when I'm a doer (even though my 'D' score was 2...go figure. I failed the DISC test...) and want to fill every need that comes up.

My grandma had surgery a week and a half ago on her knee, so I've been visiting the hospital a fair bit for endless games of Uno (a classic grandma game!) and then stayed with her once she got home to be her hands and feet around her condo. What else? Oh I realised that my childhood's officially over. My playground across the street is gone. Just dissappeared. I came back from Project, and all that's left is a massive sandbox. No slide. No swings. No steering wheel. No wooden stairs that gave you splinters. It reminds me of John Mayer's lyrics "Whatever happend to my, whatever happend to my, whatever happened to my lunch box?" It's a good question, eh? I sure can't remember...

At church this past Sunday, I walked into the sanctuary after the service and there were 2 of the kids (well teens now) from the orphanage in Trinidad that I'd been to on 2 Missions Trips 8 and 3 years ago!! So random...someone had sponsored them to come to Canada to spend a summer at Ontario Pioneer Camp (a Christian camp in Muskoka...that's north of Toronto for all you foreigners) and they were staying with a family @ my church until they went back to Trinidad this week. Then I ran into 2 friends from highschool today in downtown Oakville after dropping my sister off at ballroom dancing lessons (yes...that's right. ballroom dancing.) that i haven't seen since Prom. All this to say that I always find it curious who God brings back along your path years later...ppl that you never thought you'd see again. It also breaks my heart to think they were also ppl that I never shared the gospel with and still haven't. Yet our paths still crossed again today for some reason...maybe to put them back on my prayer radar screen.

So that's all for now....nothing too too exciting cuz as soon as something fun happens, I forget to blog it. Just a little update from the past while.

Take care all :)

Chara