Loving Life!

I'm sitting in bed here, the moon light is shining through the bedroom window and tears are streaming down my face. Tears of thanksgiving, gratitude, happiness, joy, celebration, love, praise...you name it. As I lay here in bed, I've been thinking and reflecting upon this summer and how truly blessed I am. Blessed to be working for The GO Project, and for this amazing opportunity I've been given.

I remember the moment of awe and utter surprise I felt when Michael called to offer me the position back in February. The moment I packed my bags and Dad dropped me off at Islington United Church way back in April. I remember fighting back the tears as I hugged dear friends, babies and loved ones before leaving the province at the beginning of May. Arriving in St. John's and planning. Arriving in Vancouver and planning. Waiting for the site staff to arrive. Thinking the day would never come. Remember meeting these 3 amazing individuals, how scared I was to meet them for the first time and wondering how the hell I'd work with them for a summer, never meeting them before. I reflect upon the training week, how I felt like I was stuck on play and never shut up, but in the midst of trying to say everything exactly right, I learned it didn't really matter, cause were all learning together. The waiting for the youth. Wondering what they would look like, who they were, what gifts they'd bring to the circle. Then meeting them at the airport. Programs. Joys. Community formation. Challenges. Stress. Celebrations. Laughter. Learnings. Saying goodbye to youth who formed community. Saying goodbye to a city I had lived in for 7 weeks. Starting the adventures here in St. John's. Travelling. Time changes. Wondering if we'd find the energy for a 2nd program. Planning. Jellyfishing. Brick-Walling. Laughter. Nights out. Trips to Cape Spear. Shopping. Waiting for youth. Wondering what they would look like, who they were, what gifts they'd bring to the circle.  The arrival of youth. Instant community formation.  Growth. Moments of awe. Life giving celebrations. Dance parties in the car. Lunch by the water. Realizing that I am so proud of who I am and whom to I belong.

I remember thinking "I'm out of province for 11 weeks, how am I going to survive?", and now here I am thinking "I'm going home in 10 sleeps, how is this possible?".

I am greatly blessed. I am so excited to come home, to hug friends and baby Meredith at the airport, to see family and loved ones. To reconnect with those that I've missed. But this girl is also going to soak up every ounce of being for the next 11 days. To sit back and be very much present like I've tried to each day. To continue to listen deeply, love unconditionally, demonstrate gentle honesty, laugh, dance, sing and rejoice. I will continue to worship God with these young people who inspire me to be a better person, to serve the community of St. John's, provide pastoral care when needed, and live each and every moment to the fullest.

Tomorrow afternoon I begin my day off, and I'm not sure I even want to take it. I know I need to. That I need some time to continue to reflect, pray, have some alone time and sabbath with God, however I don't want to miss the 24 hours that I'll be gone from my little ducklings (the youth, in particular the guys, have started calling me 'Mom'. It's actually pretty funny, genuine & sweet- so my little ducklings/kiddies/sons they have become haha). 


My heart is overflowing with love and thanksgiving. I have so much to share, reflect upon, and bragging (because this morning's worship was UNREAL) but I also need as much energy for tomorrow as possible...so I'm off to bed, praising God for this life I live!

Thanks be to God!
More to come... be prepared! 

Happy Heart

*my apologies for this post not being published earlier. I've been too tired to finish it. Finally, a week later, it's up!

This birthday I was overwhelmed by how much love was sent my way. I do love a good birthday, but I never have imagined being away from home and receiving as much love as I did to celebrate my day. It started the night before and continued long into this week. My Facebook page was in flooded with birthday greetings, text messages were sent from friends and family, emails of love and wishes filled my inbox and my voicemail was overflowing with songs and beautiful voices...I even received a lovely card in the mail from Mom and Dad! 

Birthday's are the one day of the year that for some reason, and it's not from the influence at home whatsoever, that I feel I can be self-fish, and have the world revolve around me. It's the one day that I can say "...because it's my birthday" after every sentence, and where I can I choose what I want to do all day long. This will all change as I bud into a career, form deep relationships, start a family and grow old, but for now, my 23rd birthday was all about me!

My amazing team, co-workers, and now very much FRIENDS helped to celebrate the day Friday night so at midnight we could scream "Happy Birthday!"...plus working for the church and going out on Saturday night, maybe not the best combination. We headed to George Street and had a wonderful time dancing and singing the night away.

 

  

On my birthday I slept in, woke up to snuggles with Paige and Melissa and spent the morning outside in the sunshine. We took a mini-road trip to Cape Spear, the most easterly point of North America where we continued to soak in the sunshine and the amazing beauty of this earth. It was so wonderful to spend the day looking out into the ocean, listening to the waves crash on the roads, all while being surrounded by such wonderful friends. This water baby LOVED the day!

 

 

 

So to celebrate my 23rd birthday, I thought I'd share with you 23 things that make a happy heart 

1. Laughter 

2. Community building

3. Painted Toes

4. Phone calls and video text messages from those I miss the most

5. Family and friends

6. Feeling of freshly brushed teeth

7. A mug of tea that's been sweetened with honey

8. Big fluffy colourful beach towels

9. Meaningful conversations 

10. Braids

11. Kitchen dance parties

12. Driving with the windows down and music up

13. Ocean, beaches, pools, lakes- just watching, listening and swimming

14. Stripes, plaid and bright colours

15. Shaved legs

16. Ice cold lemonade 

17. Singing, no matter how good or bad one may be

18. Photography

19. Sharing God's amazing love with others

20. Feeling complete and confident as I start my day

21. New undies

22. Quilts

23. The GO Project

This list could go on and on, however right now, these are the things that came to mind.

And...because I can, I must share this story: On Monday as the leadership team was in the kitchen preparing lunch, I walked into the large common space, to place juice on the table and turned to see this...

 

Tables pushed together, laughter in the air, all the youth gathered around playing cards. Together. They set aside differences, joined in community, celebrated one another and joined together as one. I stood and watched them, listening to their conversation, seeing them support and play together. As coordinator my biggest dream for each program is for group dynamics to form and for friendships and community to grow. When I saw walked into the room to see exactly that, without any instructions or push from leaders...my heart grew 5 sizes. This made for a happy heart.

My heart is continuing to grow as this program unravels. These 12 youth and 3 leaders, plus the other 3 staff, are absolutely amazing!! I really want to pull a "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" because there are no other words to describe this group. The maturity, love, connection, understanding, eagerness, energy, openness and willingness is out of this world. I wake up each morning ready to start a new day, excited for what it will bring, and eager to watch as these young people continue to inspire and motivate me. My heart is happy!

 

Friday Nuggets: Missed Nuggets

So as this week rolls around I thought I would go through some of the fun adventures myself and site staff have taken within the past couple of weeks. Its been a whirlwind of an adventure and its hard to believe that we're near the end of July. I miss the beach, moments of lying around a pool doing nothing, or evenings spent by the campfire enjoying a beer or two. It seems Summer on GO flies by before your very eyes but I wouldn't change it for the world. I trade days at the beach for days with youth who are full of energy and life. Lazy days by the pool for busy days bringing love to a community in need and evening campfires for late night worship in a new and rich GO community.

Before I dive into another GO starting on Sunday, I thought I would go back and look at some missed nuggets from the past couple weeks

::Football game! WHOO The team was very fortunate enough to receive free tickets from a congregational member. We had the time of our lives cheering for BC Lions and livin the football dream! It's far more fun watching the game from the stands then it is the couch in the living room!

 

 

:: Vancouver is very much smack in your face beautiful! If you can't see the beauty in the city, you clearly have your eyes closed. As I was going through my pictures I was noticing the many different sunsets I saw, the same sun, on the same water, but each very different, beautiful and unique.

 

 

:: Before the program began I had the opportunity to head out of town and visit a dear friend Nancy. It was SO great to visit her, see where she grew up and reconnect again after not seeing one another for awhile. I find such joy in visiting with those who are close, who have so much wisdom and where we can just relax enjoying a cup of tea and one another's company.

 

:: Oh baby! I miss my little people. Miss them like I've never missed them before. In 4 months little people change. They grow, learn new tricks, language develops...little people are constantly changing. In the 4 months that I'll be gone I know 3 new babies have been welcomed into the world. Luckily I was able to get some baby fill with Max and Chloe. The two of them were so cuddly, full of smiles and filled the void of baby missin. Plus I had a great day with their beautiful Mama Meredith!

 

:: Our team spent a full day travelling. From one coast to another. We did the long trek from Vancouver to St. John's without loosing luggage or one another, however I think we may have lost our sanity by the end of the day. Thank you for all the prayers of safe travels, we are so grateful.

:: If you know me, I'm not the biggest dog fan, so I find it really funny that I'm even posting 2 pictures of dogs. I swear St. John's is the land full of small dogs and here are 2 of them. Meet Oliver on the left and Bella on the right. Oliver belongs to the family I'm staying with, and Bella is his cousin. They are such funny little dogs, however so tiny. As Mitchell said one evening when staring at Oliver "I could EAAT you". Haha

 

:: Sky lanterns at Middlecove beach! What a peaceful and beautiful sight!

::The best days of prep-week are the days of shopping! Costco and Dollarama are our favourite. Seriously we run around acting like 4 year olds and pushing 3 carts full of delicious foods! Good times all around! 

 

:: Thursday night Paige, Melissa and I joined the Pike's as we went to a benefit concert in honour of their daughter Bethany who passed away 4 years ago. The money collected went towards Project Grace which helps fund an after school program for children to learn how to play musical instruments. During this concert some of the children from the camp played and sung. It was so amazing to watch theses kids belt out the words and be on stage as they stood so proudly and had smiles beam across their face. To think that without this project all these kids would never have had the opportunity. Simply amazing.

:: This hair dryer = BRILLIANT! My dryer will be left here in St. John's as it's about to die. I borrowed Rebecca's and seriously, within 3 minutes my hair was dry. I'm now on the hunt to figure out where I can get one. BaByliss- anyone?

That's all from me. I'm off to enjoy my birthday celebrations!

Cheers for a great weekend!

Vancouver Adventures!

I'm lying in bed here with Melissa and Paige. The two of them are working on their evaluations from the past 3 weeks, and so I think its appropriate for me to reflect and unravel the past 7 weeks of my life, where I've been and how I've grown and been changed. Its been a whirlwind and I remember thinking back in May 'am I going to make it? how can I possibility be gone till August?' however, here I am, a week until St. John's GO begins, less then 4 weeks until I am home, but right now enjoying a day of relaxation and rest with the site staff.

 

Time and time again I close my eyes to give thanks for how blessed I am, for the people in my life, the challenges that I have been faced with, moments of success and celebration, and rejoicing with God and others that I am making a difference in the lives of others. I have lots of goals in my life, however my main one is to make a difference in at least one person's life. There are days where I have felt that goal has not been reached, however as I sit and reflect upon the past 7 weeks, most importantly the past 2, I know that goal has been accomplished.

   

Vancouver GO was my first GO Project where I coordinated. Where I organized the program with the support of the congregation of Ryerson United, Michael, Alana and Andrew, the other coordinators, the amazing site staff Paige, Mitchell and Melissa and with the Holy Spirit walking with me throughout this journey- and I did it! The program was a success, friendships were built, memories made, communities transformed and a difference was made in the lives of youth and leaders.

 

I find it so inspiring to see the Facebook status' changes and picture uploads the minute the youth come home. Changes that let you know how meaningful the experience was for them, pictures of moments you didn't know existed. There was such a strong and meaningful, powerful and spiritual community created- its so wonderful to see that community continue even miles apart.

  

Of course there were challenges, but when is there a youth program that runs so smoothly and there aren't any challenges? We faced challenges of division, lack of connection, stress and sleepiness. Challenges that were hidden and revealed later and some that made a grande appearance. Each challenge allowed me to grow and discover, help to unpack more of who I am, gifts that I can share, and help me to become a stronger, more passionate leader. I have taken these challenges as moments of opportunity and trust that with God's guidance I can learn from any challenges and grow for the future.

 

We connected with many amazing organizations this year in Vancouver, giving the youth and leaders and opportunity to see the many needs of the city, and wonderful outreach opportunities. We worked in partnership with youth shelters, First United, community gardens, soup kitchens and lots more, giving all of us an idea of the diversity within the city. I found it so amazing to see and hear what mission sites the youth felt the most connection to, or ones that made them open their eyes to lifestyles far different than their own.

 

In and amongst mission, we had many great moments of laughter, fun, worship and games. It was so fun to hang out with the youth from all across North America, share stories, laughter and have tons of fun. It was a great 2 weeks of GO and I'm excited to do it all over again here in St. John's!

  

Let the adventure continue...