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.

Impartation Nation

Yet another eventful week at the internship! God's really been working on drawing us all together as a unit, as a group, as a family. The theme for this week, and this month for that matter, has been worship and impartation.

During September we went to a lot of worship events and had a number of good worship times at the house. Although all of us in the internship are at different places, it's been great to come together and just have some great worship times.

Early in the week we had Trevor Haug, a worship leader from Victoria, come and impart to us. Trevor used to be the worship leader for the New London Bridge in New Hampshire where my family lives, it was great to see him again and hear from again. After he played some good worship music for us he imparted and prayed over each and every one of us.

On Saturday we went to an event in Abbotsford called Worship Invasion. It's put on once a month and young people from all over come together for a great night of worship. It was a really free atmosphere. It was the first time that we had really come together to just be really silly and open at the same time, to dance like crazy, to go after God and have fun together. It was a great night.

Sunday night we went to see Graham Ord, another worship event. Graham is an awesome worship leader. Their music is so freeing and so open to move however God is moving in the moment. We had a great time and it was a really good worship time. Some of us were sore the next morning from so much dancing in one weekend!

Today we did some really cool exercises during spiritual alignment. Spiritual alignment is when we all come together and spend time aligning ourselves to what God wants us to do with this week or come into alignment with what God wants to do this week. Anthony and Jamie lead it this morning and we did some cool exercises that really brought us together and got us to know one another. We all stood outside and stared into each others' eyes and just asked God to show us how He sees them and where He is taking them and imparting to each other and seeing destiny and life in each other. After the exercise we were really feeling like we could see each other the way God sees them and where God is taking them. I'm looking forward to doing the exercise at the end of the year and really seeing how much everyone has changed.

Continuing with the impartation theme, Monday night was intern impartation night. On these nights two interns impart something to the group, sharing life experiences, something they love, something they're passionate about or something that they feel God wants to bring to the group that He has placed in them. Lucky us, Cameron and I got to go first for the year! Cameron shared some of what he felt like God was teaching him right now, and shared how we're called to live our lives for Jesus as a living sacrifice. My impartation was a little different. I shared how God has always been so faithful to me and my family. It was really something that was close to my heart and it was a little hard at first to be open and vulnerable with the group but everyone had nothing but love and acceptance for me and what I had to say.

I honestly just have to say how grateful I am that I'm here. I'm really loving my time here, even though God brings me through some difficult things and is constantly changing what's inside of me. I love that everyone is so for each other and that a lot of us are at similar places in life. I know that this is where God wants me to be and I feel good about that.

That's all for now, maybe, perhaps, there will be pictures... eventually. Seriously, next semester I'll be so much better with pictures and everything because I'll hopefully have a new camera by then.

Week one!

Hooray! We have survived the first week! As much fun as it has been, there was a lot of change to get used to. At the beginning of the week we were strangers, waiting to get to know one another and now that it's the end of the week, we're starting to feel like a family. We have only been here one week and God has already done so much in us. We're getting prepared for the times ahead, and God is giving us a lot of grace.


We really are so early in our stories... I can't wait for what's to come.




On Saturday we went on a lovely tour of Vancouver. We walked all along the water and really got a feel for the area. We also drove around downtown to see what Vancouver is really like. It was a beautiful day.



David (Canada) playing some good music.


Sorry I don't have good pictures for you all. I'm having a lot of camera issues. My Canon has been my good companion for the past 4 years, but I think it may just need to be replaced. I don't really know what happened to it. I'm praying that by Christmas I'll have enough financial freedom to buy myself a new one!

Thus Far

I thought I would give you all a look at what we've been up to recently. Although the program has just started, we've been up to quite a bit everyday. Everything can be a little difficult at times, and once in a while I find myself feeling really overwhelmed, but at the end of the day I really value my time here. God is really just working through a number of things as we go through the 101: The Art of Hearing God. We also started reading one of John Paul's books, Breaking Free of Rejection. It's quite a powerful book and honestly, I really didn't think I had an issue with that. But I've found it to be really good and helpful. I really think its worth the read, even if you think you have no issues in that area, you'd be surprised.

Tonight we had a guest speaker all the way from Africa! Samuel is a pastor in Kenya and his message was so good. I really loved Samuel's passion for not only Jesus, but for the word of God. I'm not sure I've ever met someone who loved the Bible and God's word as much as Samuel. It was really good to hear a lot of what he was saying. Most if it was things that I had already head before but for some reason I saw it in a new light. It's like I had finally gotten it, finally believed it. I took notes like crazy so maybe after going over them a few times I might add some tidbits of what Samuel shared tonight.

Tomorrow we have morning prayer (which I actually really like) and then we start up again with the 101 class. We started on Tuesday and we'll be having it 2 days a week until we finish up with it. Joni Cooper has been teaching it and its been interesting. I hadn't heard her teach before and she's a good teacher. I took the 101 quite a long time ago, almost 4 years ago so I'm pretty familiar with the material, but now that I'm older and I've experienced so much more as far as ministry goes, I'm really able to understand it and get so much more out of it. When I was younger it built a good foundation but now its so much more than that.

It feels really good to be here, knowing that this is where God wants me. Although I still might struggle with things, God has grace for us because we've been obedient in coming. The process of getting here wasn't easy, but if this is what God really wants for me, than there's no place I'd rather be. Although sometimes I feel all out of sorts as God totally rearranges everything in me, I'm happy and just so thankful.

The Arrival

Here we are! We've finally made it. Early in the morning Hannah and I set out to Boston airport to fly to Chicago, change planes, and fly to Vancouver. The day was a little stressful and we were definitely nervous about running into problems and just the overall experience of doing things that we've never had to do before. The first leg of the journey went over quite smoothly and we had high hopes that the rest of the day would go just as well. When we got to Chicago, it was a little rocky while trying to find out if we were going to be able to get on our scheduled flight or not. We definitely had some favor at the airport when Hannah, Ashley and I got bumped and were each offered a free round trip ticket on United!! How could we pass that up? Sure we had to wait around at the airport for another couple of hours while awaiting the next flight but it was worth it!

The flight from Chicago to Vancouver was the longest part of the trip. It wasn't until this part that I had begun to really feel just how tired and exhausted I was from the traveling and probably the lack of good sleep over the past few days. I was starting to realize just how far from home I really was. But it wasn't long before the excitement and curiosity about what's going to happen this year got to us and our spirits were lifted!



Hannah and I on the plane, feeling pretty fabulous.

When we landed in Vancouver we got through customs and everything quite quickly and easily. After customs we made a number of silly mistakes and stood in lines that we didn't need to. But it all worked out in the end and needless to say we were all more than relieved.

Bethany and Tyler Schiedel (Vancouver) picked us up at the airport and it was wonderful to see them again!! Jamie Bower (Canada) and Rebecca Wallander (Sweden) also met us at the airport in Jamie's truck to take all of our luggage and whatnot to the house. At the house we met up with the rest of the second year interns and we were reunited!

After such a long day we did a little bit of unpacking and went to bed. Rebecca Wallander's sister, Danielle, will be my roommate when she arrives from Sweden, but as for now I'm flying solo in our room!


I still have a lot of mixed feelings about everything, but as more things fall into place and I get more used to the house and the time zone, I'll be feeling much more settled.


When I have more time and patience, pictures will be added!!! Sorry, for now.

Tomorrow

As of 33 minutes ago, it's Tuesday, not just any Tuesday, but my last day in New Hampshire, and the United States for that matter, until I come home for a short break in December. I find myself sitting on my bedroom floor trying to sort out my feelings about leaving as I pack all of my favorite belongings into a big blue suitcase. For the past 2 years that we've lived here, this place hasn't completely felt like home. But now that I'm leaving, there's no other place I'd rather rest my head.


"And ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."- Kahlil Gilbran


Sums it all up.


For Jon, I think I'll miss him the most. Who said brothers and sisters couldn't be best friends too?