it's thursday afternoon - late afternoon. i am sitting in my room at the moment with a fan blowing a nice breeze on me. it's been quite hot over here the past 2 days. feels like it came out of nowhere.....not that i'm complaining. it's really nice.
i spent most of this morning in meetings. again, i can't complain because they were meetings with people that i both work with and love being around. there was some sort of sewage backup in our YWAM office so it was ridiculously hot (the heat was on to help dry the carpet?) and smelled pretty awful - so we all congregated at the coffee shop across the street - world cup - where the staff are very well acquainted with us. at one point there were 8 of us in there....
i had a 16 oz. decalf, iced white mocha, with peppermint & made with soy. in case you've found yourself curious ;)
this weekend we have a staff retreat in bellingham, WA. looking forward to spending some solid time with all of us together.
this tuesday i drive to vancouver with some friends and fly home to winnipeg for a 3 week visit. yay!
last night my friend Mel & I skipped our last crew class and went to the olive garden -yummmmmmm- .... crew class has been a lot of fun, by the way. but last week Mel & I had a miserable time. the guy behind me kept hitting me in the back each time he'd row, the girl in front of me was rushing, no one in the entire boat was doing a very good job at setting the boat & the entire time i felt like i was going to fall in the lake! i think i might have given up on my dream of going to the olympics for crew. sad.
speaking of which, i've always had a secret dream of going to the olympics....only originally it was for swimming. when i was young, i was never allowed to pass RED in swimming because i insisted on holding my nose while underwater. i wasn't afraid of water, infact, i even relished each chance to jump in the deep end and tread water. still, i never passed dumb level RED!
i can swim underwater without holding my nose these days.... i still love crew..... i still like to dream of going to the olympics... i love iced white mochas w/ peppermint...
That's right! I'll be coming home for a 3 week visit on the 5th of June! I'm looking forward to seeing as many of my friends and family as I can during my time there. I'm also looking forward to having some time to process the last 4 months of my life while sitting in the warm Winnipeg sun (i hope). Don't be shy - give me a call when I'm home. :)
Please keep me in your prayers - the coming home part will be a cinch, the returning to Seattle is making me feel a bit anxious as I will be applying for R-1 Visa Status. Over the past two years here, I have completely fallen in love with the culture, diversity, and community in this city. It has become my home and my desire is to continue doing ministry both here in Seattle and to the Nations. I am planning on staffing this upcoming fall DTS which is the midst of being lengthened from 5 months long to approximately 8 or 9 months long (I'll keep you updated on that).
also....the crew class i'm taking is going really well. No one has fallen in the water or gotten hit with an oar. We just got on the water yesterday (saturday). The rest of the classes will be rowing on Lake Union. Weeeee....
On Saturday, April 28th, myself and a few friends from YWAM Seattle joined our new friends touring with "Invisible Children" to help staff the "DISPLACE ME" event (I helped with registration). Displace Me was held in 15 cities throughout the US - and of the almost 68,000 people who showed up across the nation that night, Seattle had 5000!!!
Basically it was a bunch of people sleeping outside to simulate the IDP camps (Internal Displacement Camp) in Northern Uganda to protest the 21 year war that has not yet ended and bring political attention, awareness & most certainly, to bring AN END to those displaced for the last 10 years in Uganda. We built "homes" out of cardboard and by the evening there was a sea of cardboard at Seattles Magnuson Park. It was one of the craziest scenes I've witnessed and at the same time incredibly powerful. Also, it was a very chilly night. We were also given rations of H2O & saltines, the same way people would be rationed food within a displacement camp.
You might notice the red "X" on my shirt (below)...it was to symbolize our "displacement". There was also a sea of these and we took pictures of ourselves in them and sent them to senators demanding attention and peace for N. Uganda.
i am the 5th from the left in the above picture...check out the article written by following the link below.
i've been living in seattle for exactly two years today (June1'07)...and this is a place that i bring my thoughts on life, faith, sadness & hope. my desire is to share both the serious and the funny things that life brings our way from my 26 year old perspective both for my friends and family far away & for myself.
