I'm so sorry this has taken a while to get up. Stuff has been happening in my life personally and I've been trying to sort it all out. Needless to say, this leaves my brain feeling quite fried and unable to properly write. But that is no excuse, and I am finally sitting down to write.
On Monday (7/1) we all arrived safely back to Vancouver from the camping trip in Squamish. As much as I hated sleeping on the ground in a tent, I honestly didn't want to leave. I love the forest, mountains, nature, and the feeling of being physically closer to God when you aren't surround by high rises.
So on Friday, after the boys got on the wrong train and my group of kids from Richmond all arrived at our meeting place late, we all met up at Patterson Sky train station, packed up the bus and headed out on time at 1 o' clock. When we arrived, Seth, Austin, and the Abilene group were already there with the sites and tents already set up.
We got settled in, had worship, then split into small groups. I was in charge of leading a group of kids going into 9th and 10th grade, and they were very curious. Since they were younger, we ended up getting done a lot sooner than the other groups simply because they didn't have that much to say about the lessons. They did, however, have a lot of very good questions about a broad range of subjects, including abortion, gay marriage, and Satan's power over sin and temptations. I don't know if any of them actually listened to what I had to say, but it was very encouraging to know that they were investigating their faith for themselves.
Saturday, we woke up, had breakfast, worship, study groups, then a group of us went hiking down to some railroad tracks we found. Being the fearless explorer (or the stupidly curious mind) that I am, I found a little walkway down from the tracks where the waterfall emptied into the lake up there. There was a little "beach" that was really just a smoothed over rock, and some driftwood. I went back and called everybody else over, and we all had a grand time climbing and exploring and having a fun time getting to know one another.
Sunday, after morning stuff, we all went and hiked a mountain! There was a point about ten minutes in where most of the people stopped, but the older kids and adults could keep going if they wanted to. So I did. It was simultaneously the worst and best decision of the weekend. While I was the last one to the top of the mountain (and I mean all the way up the peak) I did make it all the way up. And it was so worth the tiredness, shaking legs, and sunburnt face. To get to the top and to see the entirety of the area was absolutely astounding. Words cannot describe the beauty in which God moves and creates. I can never understand how people who have experienced Creation in this way could look at it and say there is no God. To look at the sheer enormity of the mountains and realize how comparatively small you are, then say there is no way you could believe in an almighty, beautiful Creator is beyond me.
Anyway, it took me two and a half hours to climb all the way to the peak, and about an hour and fifteen to come back down. Along the way, I learned something very important, something that God has been trying to tell me for a while. I learned that I was not made to be stationary. I was made to move, to be the hands and feet of God. How can I do that if my daily routine consists of sitting on my bed with my laptop on my belly? As absurd as it sounds, God has been trying to get me to be active, and in a city like Vancouver, you can't not be active. Yes there is public transit, but you have to walk to a majority of the places you want to go. My legs are in so much pain right now. It hurts to stand up, I can't seem to fill my stomach because my metabolism has increased with the increase in simple physical activity. I'm trying to not eat a lot of food because I don't want to eat myself out of house and home. But yet I need that energy to continue. It is a strange problem, now that I write it out, but I think it's a good problem.
Monday was also Canada Day, which is their Independence Day. Needless to say, after this weekend in the mountains and Monday in Vancouver, I definitely could be Canadian (or at least apply for dual citizenship, but that wouldn't make my parents very happy, would it?) After we all got back to our houses and recouped for a little while (which translates to charged our phones and tablets), we all met back up at the downtown street fair that was going on. We were going to meet back up with the Abilene, Texas group, since they had gone kayaking earlier, but they ended up staying on a mountain to watch the fireworks. So it ended up being me, Stephen, Morgan, and two of my kids from Richmond. It was a wonderful time and the fireworks were some of the best I've seen in person. Since I'm probably not going to be able to watch the Independence Day fireworks from D.C., I was more than willing to sit and wait in the grass by the water for two hours.
On Tuesday, I met with Seth and the boys to talk about plans for this week, then the three of us (the interns) went and met the Abilene group in Gastown so we could spend one more day with them before they left on Wednesday. It is incredible to see how quickly and deeply we formed bonds and friendships with these people, and I can truly say that I already miss them. I grew very close to several of the students and have come to love all of the adults who came. All I can say is that I'm thankful for Facebook!
Tuesday night, I received news that my music minister would be taking up a new calling in South Carolina. He and his family will be gone before I return, so I am very emotionally upset right now. Brian and Kerri were some of the most influential people in my life, and not having them there to see me come home is going to be very hard. Wednesday, I told the boys, and they met up with me to simply be there for me. As thankful as I am that I get work with them to minister to the youth, I am equally as thankful that we are here to minister to each other.
Please pray for me as I continue to form deep relationships with the youth and minister to them. Pray that God will continue to encourage me and protect me while traveling solo. Please pray for my students, because several of them have problems deeper than those I can handle. Pray that I have to emotional, spiritual, and physical strength to do what God places in front of me. Pray that He continue to strengthen and build up Stephen, Morgan, and Seth as we work together to grow.
In Christ,
Emily E.
No comments:
Post a Comment