WHAT A SURPRISE

I just returned from a long tour of Ontario with some of Bethany's finest musicians. I was priviledged to be a part of the team for 2 weeks (and I think I accepted more thank you's and congratulations for a job well done than the actual singers...and I wasn't the one doing anything..and yes, that was sometimes a little awkward).

So, with being back from tour on Wednesday, spending one day in the office then taking both Friday and Monday off, you would think I would be relaxing or sleeping somewhere to recouperate. Surprisingly, I think I'm in the most unlikely place ever imaginable. I'm babysitting. All weekend. Not one, but 3 children.

It's actually not THAT bad.

HOME AGAIN?

It's true I'm gone a lot from my office and there have been a lot of changes in the Advancement Department this semester. One of the changes is that Cora Lynn has set up an office in the back corner of our department. I was going to feel sorry for her, having to sit back there all the time away from every one else.. but she really has made that space very warm and inviting. I notice the edge of her office everytime I walk out of my office door. Actually, when Cora Lynn just moved in, she put up a coat hook on the wall. Of course, this was a great idea... but everytime I walked out of my office, I was startled by the sight of her coat hanging on the wall. It looked like a person standing there!

When I came home from my last recruitment trip, I walked to my office and noticed, again, Cora Lynns jacket hanging on the coat hook.. but with a little added character:

My first view of the Jacket...

Yes.. that's my face.. on Cora Lynn's jacket!

So if any of you reading this work at Bethany, I just thought I'd remind you that Cora Lynn has access to ALL of your best AND worst pictures. You never know where your face might appear!!

TRAVEL POSTING

I'm on the road again. One thing I really like about this job is the road... until it gets really busy out here and plans don't work out and I realize that plans made haven't been confirmed and they mess everything else up and I end up staying up late at night and getting up in the early morning to make sure everything and everyone gets seen or phoned or has a chance to see me and Bethany College.. yikes. Still, though, it's enjoyable. One thing I really like about visiting youth groups is that I get to hear a lot of what is on the hearts of the youth pastors out there. I like hearing what they say to their youth and I like hearing what they say to me about their youth. It's incredible what kind of mission field is out there and how God really has brought a lot of passionate, creatively amazing people to work in it. I've been inspired numerous times after spending an evening in a church that I've never attended. God is good.

Recently, I was at a youth group in Wpg and ended the visit with a conversation with a great young woman who was seeking God's will in her life. She explained to me how she is waiting on God to lead her and, admittedly, her decision is pretty hard. She's not a Canadian resident, just on exchange and what she decides at the end of this school year could change a lot in her life. Does she stay in Canada or go home? I don't know if I would have been willing to make that decision as a 17 year old. But I can see God at the centre of her life and I could see that she was willing, though sometimes frustrated, to let God lead her. That made me happy! It also tied into a conversation I had with my brother in law this morning.

We have talked before about missions. My brother was asking the question "Why do we send missionaries overseas when there is such a need here in Canada?" Exactly something that has been on my heart for a long time. Exactly why I went into camping ministry for 4 years. Exactly why I support organizations like camps, YFC, inner city ministries... That's exactly why we need youth leaders like the ones I have met on my trips to be youth leaders. That's exactly why the girl I talked with was willing to wait on God.. she has a youth pastor that has a heart for serving Christ.

That's also exactly why I believe in Bethany's motto of "Nurturing Disciples and Training Leaders to Serve". We live in a country that is in need. We live in a place that needs Christ centred servants. If Bethany can help in the process of creating youth leaders that teach Canadian youth to trust Christ even when making the huge, impossible decisions in life, I'm there! If Bethany can help train people to be servants of Christ in whatever they do, where ever they go, in Canada OR overseas, I'm all for it! Maybe eventually we can just drench this country with people excited and passionate about serving God!

BRANDON WINTER FAIR

I don't know when it was the last time I attended the Brandon Winter fair. I think it used to fall on the same week as our school spring break and my family would trek out there to take it all in. I remember getting a white and pink starched cowboy hat there with a feather band. I also remember mini donuts and fair food. Of course, the best part though, is the horse jumping and the 8 horse hitches! I spent this year's final fair day with my cousins, Brent, Blaine and Darren, my uncle Phil and grandpa. Here is a taste of the 2008 Brandon Winter Fair :)
Brent and Darren and some sheep
Brent standing under the Kubota sign
Darren in a Kubota tractor.. I didn't even know Kubota existed until the Brandon Fair. What a sheltered life I live...
The Super Dog Show (for Lisa)
This was Tommie Tervie (I think that's his name). He had trained his horse to do some pretty incredible tricks (like rolling over and balancing upside down)

IF ONLY

I've realized that those two little words (IF ONLY)get in the way of a lot of things. Actually, they transcend work, home and just life in general. Recently I have said to myself "I could change some of Bethany's marketing strategy.. IF ONLY Briercrest wasn't already doing that" or "I would write a book about that, IF ONLY someone else hadn't written one already" or "I should write a new blog post, IF ONLY I had a great topic to write about."

My question, then, is do we let these words really get in the way of the things we do? Or, do we just steam right along and do things DESPITE others already doing them or despite flaws in our talent pool? And really.. when you think about those two words for a long time, as I'm doing right now, do they even make sense together??

I recently heard one of our great faculty speak at a student banquet. She talked about how in life, instead of agonizing over decisions and whether or not you are in God's will, to go ahead and make decisions and TRUST that God will check you if your decision is wrong. To be in a place where you are always aware of where the Spirit is guiding you by helping you understand where NOT to go. I like that. When I think of the If Only's in my life, are they there because I don't know if I should go that direction and am waiting, somewhat like a coward I think, for God to say in big bold letters "GO THERE"? Or what if I started down that road and trusted that if this is not in God's will, He would tell me? I think God would like it better that way. I don't think He would want me to paralyze myself with the fear that I'm not in His will. I think if my God is big enough to make this universe, He's big enough to let me know where not to go.. IF ONLY I listen to His Spirit.

PICTURES

Here are some more pictures, not to make you jealous.. just to make you.. well.. yeah.. jealous ;)

This was the building our suite was in.
A picture of the ocean from my shady spot on the beach (oh, there's a garbage can in the way)
There were a lot of beautiful ponds like this all over the resort grounds. This one has flamingos.
Me and my cousin, Peg, at a restaurant in the nearby town of El Corticito.

These kids were also in El Corticito.

And just a self shot of me on the beach.. I couldn't NOT put one of these on here :)

MY TRIP

Yes. I'm back from my wonderful trip to the Dominican Republic. It was so fantastic!! I'll post some more pictures soon.

Most of the time we sat around the pool or at the beach soaking up the sun, but occasionally we went walking down or up the beach. There was a little town, El Corticito, a little ways up from our resort. It was a cute little, sea-food smelly, friendly town. The second time we went, we ate supper there (ordered from a menu completely in Spanish.. that was interesting) and then decided to take a taxi back instead of walking back down the beach in the dark. We went to the taxi stand and were ushered into a van.. that didn't start! I thought maybe we would just get into a different vehicle, but no, we needed to take that one. They finally got it started and about 3 minutes down the road, the dash started smoking and our headlights went out. I thought then, that we would pull over and another taxi would come and take us back to the resort. Not so! We drove down the busy and sometimes very very dark highway without headlights, laughing hysterically to ease the tension. The taxi driver kept talking in Spanish (I think trying to assure us). All in all it was a very funny trip. I would do it again!