Internship : Round 2

Hello, everyone. I'm just going to update you all about what I'm doing this year and some of the things that have happened in between. Last year I completed the 9 month program here in Vancouver. I went home for the summer to rest and work, spend time with my family and continue building relationships back at home. I spent the summer praying about what to do this year and seeking God for what I should do this fall. By the end of my internship last year I had a number of opportunities in front of me and I wasn't sure which one God was directing me to pursue.

After praying about it and receiving a number of dreams, I decided to come back to Vancouver to be part of the 2nd year program that Streams Canada is developing. God is teaching me and stretching me more this year than I thought was possible. I have a lot of peace about my decision to come back and I know that this is where the Lord wants me to be. This year I'm stepping into a greater trust in God as my provider and to be the One who is my everything.

I've been here for a month and a few days over and I'm already seeing in me the growth that's happened in a one year time span. I'm really excited about where God is taking me now and where I'll be at the end of my time here this year.

The end.. or the beginning?

The good news: The internship is over and I survived.
The bad news: The internship is over.

In truth, the end of the internship really is good news, the better part is that not only did I survive but I made it through and I conquered things that normally would have knocked me down. And though there were times where things took me off guard and I felt like I had been knocked down, I always got back up again and it was always because one of my brothers or sisters was there to help me up. I love them so much. This was a bittersweet chapter of my life. So much happened and maybe only 2% did I expect. At times dealing with everything hurts, but it hurts so good. I'm a huge fan of the internship. By dealing with things and different issues, whether I was aware of them or not, I was able to learn to walk in way more freedom in so many areas. The only reason I say that the end of the internship being over is bad news is because I'm a little sad to see this chapter of my life end, I loved it so much. Sometimes it's hard to see things while you're in the situation, but once I stepped back from the term I realized how much I really did enjoy the internship.



I'm pretty confident that without all of us being there for each other as much as we were, a number of us would have just quit. We need each other, and I'll take the intern program as a perfect example. But the thing is, we don't just need each other during times like the internship, but we need each other for life. We can't live this life on our own and I'm so thankful that people stepped up to the plate and put themselves out there and learned to be a family.

So....

Special thanks to: (in no particular order)



Christine Schiedel: for being the best big sister anyone could have. Thanks for always supporting me and loving me, for listening to me and always making me smile. For being open and honest, even when I'm completely ridiculous.

Danielle Wallander: for setting good examples for me. For being a great roommate. Seriously.




Erin Plester: for reassuring me that I'm not completely crazy. For being a good friend and knowing my secrets.. and keeping them! For letting me rant in the cave and knowing that I just need to be over-dramatic for a an hour or two and then relaxing and seeing things for what they are.


Anthony Acevedo: for always being there. For sincerely caring and being one of the best friends a girl could have. For looking out for me and making me smile. For all the things I've thanked you for and all the things I've wanted to, but just couldn't figure out how to explain. For being willing to teach me things, even if I'm still working on them.



Josh Hoffert: for pushing all of my redhead buttons and challenging me in ways that I need to be challenged. For making me think about things and not just accept big things as being small. For making me "get over it."

Justin Menzies: for keeping things real.. all the time. For never being fake and for loving me like a little sister. For being a big brother when I need one and for telling me like it is.




I'm home for the break and it feels so good to be home, to relax and rest and be filled up again. A few weeks ago I was thinking about how hard it was going to be to come back for the last trimester, the leadership training phase, but now I'm starting to think it won't be so bad and that if I've made it this far I can keep going.

I love all y'all.

Japanese Technology

What the heck is that? A question many have asked as soon as they spotted this inside our microwave or on our kitchen counter. The answer - Japanese technology, as some may put it. Some of us went over to the Aberdeen mall one night. This mall is primarily an Asian mall selling everything from the most sophisticated and definitely the most advanced toilets to authentic Asian teas, foods and clothing. I know it looks crazy, but its coffee flavored cake that you can cook in the microwave. Based on the little pictures on the back of the box you add the mix, one egg and cook it in the microwave for 2 minutes. And tada!

Christine playing in the snow one day when we drove up to the mountains.

I thought I'd share something fun first. So, I realize that it's been quite a while. And for the most part, I wasn't really writing much because I didn't really think people were actually looking here. But I've recently learned that people actually do. So, yes, here we meet.

Anthony playing with a big stick at White Rock.

The internship part 2 is about halfway over and that's kind of a sad realization. Time is moving forward so fast. Sometimes I want to step outside of time just so I can get a better look at what's actually happening around me and other times I want life to just be put on pause entirely for even just a moment. But that's the main thing about the internship, things that would normally take years to go through, can happen in moments.

For a little while I was thinking about what I've been through in the internship and I was really asking myself if I had really changed and wondering what I had actually learned. But God's funny and sometimes He puts questions in our minds to make us think. We recently had a "pop quiz" and our final question was "What have you learned in the internship thus far?" And to answer the question was definitely encouraging. I also realized that most of my change has been all the ways I think in my head and all the ways I react to things. I find myself in situations all for the sake of seeing how I'm handling them. It's definitely interesting to see how much everything has changed, and I really mean everything. We're not the same people who came here in September, or even the same people who came in January.


I think I might have more fun pictures coming.... soon...ish.

Hey Steve.

There was a hole in the rock! This is Noah.




It's like my camera's been healed or something.
It was dying, but now maybe it came back to life.
So yes, one of my favorite places out here.

All I have to say is that there are times in the internship where I have no idea what's going on, with me, with God, with everyone around me. I just know He's good and He's for me not against me. I just know He loves me.

"Of all the beings on or off this planet, the one who knows you the best is the one who loves you the most."

He's the perfect best friend. My one and only.

The Best Outreach Ever!

This weekend all 26 of us packed our bags and crossed the water over to Victoria! We left early Friday morning and returned home four days later on Monday night. It was a great weekend, so much happened that it's hard to remember it all! Not only was it the best outreach to read about, but this time I finally have pictures! WOW! I've been having some camera problems, but it takes ok pictures if you give the camera a little love.

Crossing the water to the island

We got to spend some time with Bruce Friesen on Friday after we arrived that afternoon. We spent most of our time with Bruce and serving the church he pastors, Lion of Judah. It's a great church, there's a lot of freedom and a lot of room for God to move how He wants to. It's a different atmosphere than most are used to and I really liked it. I was really able to see Bruce's heart this weekend and that was one of my favorite things about the weekend. On Friday we also spent some time cleaning up and doing whatever the church needed us to do to get ready for a womens conference they were having the next day. With all of us working, everything got done really fast.

On Saturday all the girls attended the womens conference at Lion of Judah. Heather Clark was the speaker and she gave a lot of insight on the the many roles women have and how she sees our ability to "do it all." Some of the girls stayed at the conference and a few worked in the nursery and child care just serving and helping out as we could. It was a good day. While all the girls were at the conference all the guys were out in Victoria doing an outreach ministering to homeless teenagers and children. They had a number of really good encounters there and it was great to see how they were a light to those kids.



Sunday we helped out with Lion of Judah's morning services. After the services we did prophetic teams and were able to encourage people, it went over really well. That night Heather Clark did a worship night and spoke again. I really enjoy ministry so Sunday was great!

all of us spending some time with Bruce

Monday was our free day in Victoria! In the morning we spent some time with Bruce and that was another one of my favorite parts of the weekend, that's when I could see Bruce's heart the most. He's a great guy, he's one of my favorites. After spending some time with Bruce we went downtown and shopped a bit and walked around and got a chance to see the city. I spend the day with Anthony and Chris, it was a fun day. I love Victoria!

Ronny and some of the guys enjoying yet another great meal at the Steepers!
God bless the Steepers for their great hospitality!

Not only did we have a great time in Victoria, but an engagement came out of it! Cameron proposed to Julie and of course she said yes! We're so excited for them. Just thought I might throw that in at the end of this wonderful update.

Thanks to Anthony Acevedo for some of the pictures.

Busy, busy, busy.

We've been doing a lot recently, more than usual. Our schedules are always so packed that I haven't had a lot of time to update you all that often. Actually, I don't have a lot of time to talk to anyone at home, with the combination of the time change and a busy schedule.

So since the last time I've posted anything, we've taken the 102 with John Thomas. It was really good and I got more out of the the second time around than I did the first time. I like John Thomas, he's a great guy and he's really after the very different and very unique things of God. A number of the things he had to share with us that weekend were eye opening.

Last weekend all of our guys went to help some friends of ours unload boxes for a thrift store in North Vancouver. The profit from the store all goes to help SOS ministry that reaches out to homeless children in other countries as well as people in Canada. The guys had a great time and they worked really hard.

Since the guys were there last weekend, all of the girls went this weekend to help set up the store and give them a hand with sorting and whatnot. It was a good day and it was nice to know that we were a blessing to the store and SOS. After a long day we came home to the blue house to find that the guys had prepared a spectacular evening for us. We were escorted from the car with flowers! They washed our feet and served us dinner at a wonderful table setting in the studio as Noah played his violin. They did this all just to honor us girls and it was really wonderful. I felt really blessed and loved by them all. I love my brothers! It was a great time for all of us to just be together.

Tomorrow some of us are going to an art gallery with Joni Cooper and some of us are going on a hike in Vancouver. I'm going on the hike and I'm pretty excited about it. I'm sure I'll have pictures for you all!

At this point of the internship and this particular time in my life, I'm really weighing my options as to what the next step for me is. Something John Thomas shared when he was here really got me thinking about what was next to come. So, if you're wondering how to pray for me, please pray that God would show me where I should go and what the next step is. Pray that I might be encouraged and that I would have peace.


John Paul Jackson said this, "God will move Heaven and Earth to get you to where you need to be." Nothing is impossible for Him.

Dang!

I know I haven't updated in a while, things in the internship get pretty busy pretty fast. Things have been a little tough, but I'm finding everything to be so much more worthwhile. We took some time off to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving or Columbus Day for the Americans. We had a nice weekend and a few days off to rest up and to get ready as God was shifting and preparing to move through us even more.

We've been learning the art of spiritual listening and how to really hear and listen to each other. It's really surprising when you stop and think about how well you really listen. I think a lot of us have been surprised in that we thought we were better listeners than we really are. It's been really good to work on that and see us all changing in that way.

This week there's been a serious step up in the way that God is moving in all of us. I'm so happy to see everyone changing so much and to see how God is molding us and shaping us differently. Some of us look brighter, physically brighter and its really cool to watch the change. God's really having us focus on dealing with ourselves and laying down our own ways and chasing after his ways. It's been a little intense at times and God is really healing a lot of us up.

God has really pointed out that I need to focus on what Psalm 46:10a says, to "Be still, and know that I am God." I need to step back from myself and know that God is for me and just really see all that God is - faithful, unconditional, and always fighting on my behalf.

On Wednesday we had Bruce Day! Bruce Friesen come to share and impart to us. Everything Bruce and his son Caleb had to say was so timely and were things that all of us needed to hear at that time. Bruce spoke on a number of different things, but one of my favorite things he touched on was seeing the purpose in what you are going through right now and how to not lose heart in the midst of challenging times.

Soon we're going to finish up the 101 and then next weekend we'll start the 102. I'm doing well, and things are always changing but things are really good right now. Even when things are hard they're really good. I really am enjoying all of my time here.