CFS. 

My office. 

Here's a picture of Michael and Lindsay Decker from the day after their wedding.

Special moments...

I love special moments, especially special God moments. The latest came to me by way of e-mail. I got an e-mail from my friend Leslie yesterday, and in it she told me a story that really hit home for me. Interesting enough, the story was about something she heard that was really special for her. She wrote about a quote that she heard a speaker use during a talk she attended recently. Here's the quote: "Have faith that you are where you are meant to be." Those who have talked to me in recently months or have been reading my posts know that I've been struggling with things. I've been having a tough time finding my spot in lfe in Peace River. Work has been discouraging at times. But in the past few weeks I've been learning to accept life as it is for me right now. I've been learning to allow myself to settle into my life here. And really I've been learning to "have faith that I am where I am meant to be." And reading that little sentence in an e-mail meant a lot to me right now. It has helped to put into a single thought many thoughts that I have been struggling with recently.

It's kind of interesting how what one person said to someone impacted that person, but in sharing that thought another person is impacted. I have heard it said many times, that you never know what impact you have on others and what the cumulative effect of that imptact is.

I love my job!!

Well, for the past while a lot of people have been asking me how I am finding life in Peace River. And the answer: I really do like my job. I'm having a tough time adjusting to my life here. Not being able to get things easily at the stores I'm used to. Few choices at the movies (actually I haven't even gone since I moved here - and three movies without going to a movie is very unusual for me). No bowling alley. No Wal-Mart to pick things up at quickly. It's a very different life. And my family and the friends I have known and grown so close to over the past six years are all an eight hour drive away, which turns into a 13 hour Greyhound ride. It's been tough.

But I do love my job!! And this is where I am right now. I had started to get very discouraged up here, but lately things have started to turn around for the better. Here are some things from last week that have brightened up my life:

- New "after school program" for elementary age children 5 days a week
- Partnership with Katimavik to increase our resources and "people power" to make a larger impact on our community, as well as contributing to the leadership development of the participants
- Promoting Jr. Youth Councils (4 kids probably going already, my goal is 10)
- New drop-in centre service started last week
- Re-arranging Family Service hours to provide greater diversity in when our services are offered
- Going to get a car within the month (hopefully)
- All those little blessings that I generally forget but that help to keep me going day by day
- The support and encouragement of my parents
- Joshua 1:9 "Haven't I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don't be timid; don't get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take."

Labour Day Weekend

Well, I've been in Calgary since early Friday morning (5am). It's been a great weekend. I had two reasons to be in the city this week - firstly because it was a long weekend and I had an opportunity to get down and see my parents and friends and secondly because two of my very good friends were getting married on Saturday.

Mr. & Mrs. Michael and Lindsay Decker were united in marriage on Friday, September 2, 2006. The wedding started about half an hour late, no suprise there, but was absolutely beautiful. There is a profound difference between the wedding of a relative who you don't really know all that well and the wedding of two close friends who you've spent a great deal of time with over several years.

I actually got to see it several times, as I was at the rehersal Friday night as well. I ran the sound board for the wedding, so I needed to be there for the rehersal. But on Saturday I felt so happy for my friends as they took their vows and exchanged rings. I was so caught up in the ceremony that at the end of the wedding service I forgot to turn my father's (who was performing the marriage) microphone back on so that he could present the couple to the attendees.

The reception went well, and the food was delicious. The chose a roast beef dinner with gravy and veggies. The wedding cake was chocolate with blue icing (that stained teeth and tongues). And of course, there was a chocolate fountain...which I didn't get a chance to partake of. As Lindsay was born in Edmonton, Alberta and Michael is a Newfoundlander, it was necessary for Lindsay to be made an honourary Newfoundlander by way of the traditional ceremony. Lindsay's father, Kerry and his best friend (and Emcee for the night), both Newfoundlanders themselves, performed the ceremony. Lindsay was required to eat a Purity Lemon Cream biscuit, drink pure Purity Syrup, and kiss the fish. The fish is traditionally a cod fish, but as there are strict restrictions on the cod fishing industry they used a salmon, a 13-pounder.

Sunday I went to church and then down to the Guy house for a late brunch, the gift opening and a Newfie coldplate dinner. Lindsay was given a set of plates from one of her grandmothers, which have been collected over several years. It was very moving to see Lindsay open that gift - more than one member of the family shed tears.

Sunday evening I watched a movie with my parents, which was nice. We haven't spent a lot of time together over the last few months since I moved up north - even though I've been down to Calgary 4 times in the past month.

Today we've just relaxed around the house. Mom and I had a game of Scrabble before lunch and then Dad joined us for a second game over lunch. In the afternoon Dad and I had a couple of games of chess out on the back deck - I let him win them both after I devestated him on Friday.

We're having a BBQ for dinner and then I'll have to get ready to head back up to Peace River. I kind of wish I could stay a bit longer down here. It's been so great to spend so much time around my friends and family. But I have a job waiting for me back up north and tomorrow there is work to be done. I'll be back in Calgary for Thanksgiving in mid-October and then again for Christmas, so I have those times to look forward to.

Music Camp was GREAT!!!

Wow, I'd almost forgotten how much I love working with kids!! It's been a long time since I had much involvement in young people's ministries. I've helped out with a few things since I got back from Australia, but not much, and certainly nothing very long term. But I've just finished a week of Music Camp, where I taught Bible class, level one instrumental (although we started on the level two book halfway through the week), helped with canoeing, worked with the "C" band, and to make the week complete was a cabin counsellor. I didn't get to teach theory class though, which I was disappointed about. It was a very tiring week, but I had a great time, and I am pretty sure the kids did too.

One of the things I love about Pine Lake is the pranks. I went to Music Camp at Roblin Lake Camp in Eastern Ontario for four years, and we never did things like we do a PLC. Thursday night Tom and I (counselling buddies), had a busy night pranking the junior boys we were counselling as well as a general camp prank.

Pine Lake is host to the Legend of the Goatman, and this year he was a busy guy. Thursday night we took a group of 5 boys out to go Goatman hunting, around midnight. 4 of the boys were extremely nervous to start with, and once we got to the edge of the path that led into the trees, they were ready to turn around. But with a little big of persuasion we did get them to go into the trees. We had arranged for a group of senior boys to be hiding in the trees, and as they russled the leaves and made some rather odd sounds our boys became very scared. The fifth boy, who wasn't so scared was actually in on the prank, and knew that he was going to be kidnapped by the "Goatman" that night. One of the senior boys ran out of the trees in disguise and grabbed our bait, sending the other boys running very fast back to their cabin. When I got there I found 3 in tears and another telling me that he was sure that he wouldn't live through the night. We brought in one of the faculty members who is a police officer to explain that he had notified the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police - for my American/Australian friends) and that they were bringing out the canine units. We took the missing boys sleeping bag and pillow for the dogs to sniff, and got the others settled down. Our bait spent the night in the tents with the senior boys, which was good fun for him. The others fell asleep eventually, and in the morning we did tell them the whole story, which was good fun.

Once the juniors were asleep, Tom and I were still not done for the night. We had recruited four intermediate boys to help us with our next job of the night. We quietly moved around 50 or 60 wooden stacking chairs from a junk pile to the flag pole and created a pyramid around the flag pole, duct taping the chairs together for added stability. This took us a quite a while, as we carried the chairs from the junk pile up on the top part of the camp, down to the lake front, and then back up a set of stairs to avoid detection. We did get caught by our police officer friend who was out doing his rounds, but he allowed us to continue, so long as he could switch the Edmonton Oilers flag that had been flying all day for Calgary Flames and Calgary Stampeders flags before we finished. It was a fun night, even if we didn't go to bed until after 2:30 in the morning...we typically got up between 6 and 6:45 in the morning...short night.

I'm back in Peace River again for a couple of weeks before I down to Calgary for the Labour Day weekend. Two of my very good friends are getting hitched on the Saturday, so I've got to be sure to be there for that.

I'm getting down to work with week at work. We have a large amount of policy and procedure to write over the next few months, and I've decided that the best way to get going, is to pick an area and start typing. I can always go back and change things if needed, and I do have large amounts of time that I'm just sitting in my office during the week.

I'm also working on a list of people in the community that I want to start touching base with on a regular basis who might be able to help me identify some more pressing needs for service in the town. We are also going to do a community assessment sometime soon...although I don't really know what that entails.

I am also starting to look at getting a car. At the suggestion of my father, I'm looking at leasing something. A couple of Honda's and Toyota's have caught my eye...I really like the Yaris, and it is pretty inexpensive...

Anyways, I thought I'd get something of an update posted.

Take care all!!

A weekend away

Hi all,

Well, it is Monday evening and I'm getting ready to finish up a great weekend in Calgary. I decide Friday afternoon to catch the coach down to Calgary for the long weekend. I arrived in early Saturday morning and took a cab to my parents' house.

My brother was a little suprised to see me, as evidenced by him and the neighbour pounding on the bathroom door while I was in the shower demanding to know who was in there...

I had dinner with him and his girlfriend Saturday evening and got to know her a bit...as well as drive my brother nuts by threatening to grant her request for embarrassing stories. I also got to talk to my aunt in Florida on the phone that evening...something I don't get to do very often.

Sunday I was at my old home church here in Calgary and played in the band. I played first cornet after not playing an instrument at all for two months which was...interesting. But good practice before Music Camp later in the week. I spent lunch and part of the afternoon with a some friends, featuring a beautiful roast with veggies and Yorkshire Pudding, with fudge pudding for desert. I also got to see Michael and Lindsay's new house, which is very nice.

At 8pm this evening I will catch the Greyhound back up north, with an arrival time in Peace River at 6:45am tomorrow morning. I hope to get lots of sleep on the trip up, since I have to work in the morning. But I've had a very relaxing time and enjoyed myself.

Friday I will catch another bus down to the southern part of the province for Music Camp. I'll see my parents there, which I know they are looking forward to. They were disappointed that they were so far away when they heard that I'd come down for the weekend. I knew they weren't going to be here, I just needed to get away from Peace River for a few days.

Anyways, that's all from Calgary.

Take care all!!

Another me?

Well, it might just be so!! I met one of the pastors in town yesterday for lunch. He's relatively new to the whole pastor scene, as his background is in evangelism...namely, he was a travelling evangelist. He came up the the Peace Country to do just that, and somehow got convinced to take on a church in town. The church has just recently changed denominations and names, and is now the Victory Church of the Peace. It's a small church, about the same size as the one I attend, but has a slightly younger congregation, with more families.

Anyways, during our lunch we discovered just how much we have in common. To start things off, when he asked what I was going to order, I told him the chicken taco salad...which was precisely what he was going to order. We talked and got to know a bit about each other, and it was scary to discover how much we have in common. The purpose of our meeting was to discuss a possible partnership between Family Services and his church to run a Pioneer Club. While he wasn't sure if his congregation had any more time and energy to give, he assured me that he'd bring this up with them to see if it could work. He really likes the idea of the churches working together, which I was very glad to hear. But above all, this older man (compared to me, maybe mid to late-thirties) has all the energy, enthusiasm and passion that those who know me would expect to see in me...it was kind of scary...and very cool!! Two people like me in one town...what more could a person ask for.

Well, I've decided that I'm NOT going to try to get an apartment here in town. I've decided to hold on to that money to save for a dream of mine that I've been holding on to for a while now and not doing anything to work towards. Already I've begun to save and do some investigating to figure how to achieve this dream of mine. I'm not going to say exactly what it is, although some people already know, but I will say that this is a BIG dream!!

This past weekend was PeaceFest here in town. Main Street was blocked off to traffic, and the street performers, produce stands, and more were out all day Saturday. The fire department hooked up a truck and made a box that they filled with foam for the kids to play in. The Toys for Tots motorcycle run was also held on Saturday, which collects toys for the Salvation Army's Christmas campaign. 45 toys and over $500 dollars were donated by the community. Further donations will likely come in closer to Christmas time, when the Toys for Tots is usually held. The event is entirely organised by community members, for which I am extremely grateful!! Other attractions for the weekend included evening concerts on Friday and Saturday, horse riders on show in the Riverfront Park on Saturday, and other various events put on my local business to celebrate PeaceFest.

Take care everyone!!

Am I becoming a cat lover?

As impossible as it sounds, I might just be falling in love with cats...at least one in particular. For those who aren't aware (if that's at all possible), I am VERY allergic to cats. My symptoms generally consist of difficulty breathing, itchiness, and if I'm very lucky (and have taken an Extra-Strength Reactine recently) I might get away with sneezing (very loudly) and itchy eyes. Despite all this, I agreed to help out one of the families in my church by feeding their cat while they are away this month. It's been one week and I am totally loving this cat. When I go over I spend a bit of time playing with her. She's very affectionate and sociable and loves it when I stop by each day for a bit. I can only stay for about half an hour before my allergies start to get bad...today I stayed a bit too long and I'm suffering for it...not to mention that I forgot to take my Reactine. Sorry Dad, but I think I'm going to have to give up the family motto now...I know, Grandpa would be disappointed.

I'm very excited about Music Camp now that I know that I can go on faculty this year. I've known for a while that I was accept for faculty, but I wasn't so sure about getting the week off work to go down, but I know for sure now that I can go, so that's really cool. I was on faculty two years ago and LOVED it!! It's even more fun than being a camper, so I wanted to go back this year. I missed it last year, even though I was having a great time in Australia while it was happening back here in Alberta. If I remember correctly, the week of Music Camp last year was the week I was out in Forbes with Bart...that was a great week.

Well, Peace River continues to be a great place to live. There have been a lot of forest fires up north here, although none are directly threatening the town. However, the air quality dropped a lot this week with a lot of smoke blowing in and affecting our air. The rain for the past couple of days helped to clear a lot of that up, so things are a bit better again...although fires continue to burn. I'm planning on trying to get an apartment for the start of September or October (depending on how quickly I can get a couple months rent saved up). While the arrangement I have right now is good, and saves me a lot of money each month, there are certain draw backs that are making life less than great for me (although not bad). So I think I'd like to get a place of my own. It'll also be a good experience to have to look after my own utilities and all that fun life stuff.

Lately I've been thinking about friendship and other relationships (work relationships, family relationships, etc) that I've had during my life, and that people I've known have had. I've been thinking about what those different relationships and different types of relationships mean to me and what kind of affects they've had on me. And I've started to think about how being seperated from the people that I've had some of the most meaningful friendships of my life is affecting me. I have some absolutely fantastic friends, but I don't see any of them on a regular basis anymore, since the closest are an eight hour drive away, and others live even further away. Some I wonder if I'll ever see again, while others I just can't wait until the next time I know I'll see them. And while I treasure those friendships, I also hate having to leave those friends behind when I move. It's been the same story my whole life. And everytime I move I wonder, do I really want to form new friendships, so that I'll be hurt again next time I move? And now that I've moved up to Peace River, I'm asking myself the same question. Really, it is very easy for me not to make new friends here. I go to a small church with no one my age. My only co-workers are my officers, who are a lot older than me, and while I enjoy working with them, I'm not sure I'd ever regard them as friends...there just isn't much common ground on which to build a friendship. And so, unless I make an effort to get out and get involved in things that will bring me into contact with people who I could build friendships with, I could easily avoid forming new friendships. But at the moment, not having any friends here, I often am very lonely and bored. I want some new friends, to be able to hang out with people and get to know them and for them to get to know me...but I only plan on being here a few years at the most, so I continue to debate with myself as to whether or not I really want to do that.

Well, it's Saturday, and I really shouldn't be at the office, but I wanted to come in and do more of the work I was doing yesterday. I've been digging through all the stuff in the building and trying to organise things. I've been finding things all over the place that just have no use here, or that have various components scattered in various rooms...so I'm trying to make things easier to find by organising things and getting rid of the things that just aren't needed. And seeing as I was here, I thought I'd write up a longer post. So I'm going to go home now and relax some more.

Take care.