I'm home!
I landed at 4pm on Wednesday (23rd). I spent the next couple days freaking out my friends and family who weren't expecting me until the 28th.
It was fun.
My Aunt Marg and Uncle Steve picked me up at the airport and drove me home. I walked up to the house and my parents were outside. Then they called up some of my family and invited them over and I surprised them too.
I had my friend Brandon waiting at the train station by my house to pick up a friend of mine (who doesn't actually exist) and I snuck up on him too. The next day I showed up at Dave's house and surprised him and his family. Then to Campden to surprise Jon and Stef. Stef freaked out.
Like I said, it was fun.
I still haven't heard any thing about the job in Nigeria. Until then I'll be working on trying to fix all the things my family broke of mine while I was gone. Such as my virus filled computer, over-frozen fridge, cracked cell phone screen (beyond repair)...
Saturday 26 July 2008
Saturday 19 July 2008
Here, there and everywhere!
Hey folks.
I've been a lousy blogger updater as of late. Sorry to all my fans. Don't know how the two of you have been coping...
Soooo.... you may know, but I'm no longer IN Nigeria. I left on Monday. Here's a bit of how things have been going and will be going from here, starting with last Sunday:
Sunday: travelled from Jos to Abuja, hung out with Corinne and Rene in Abuja.
Monday: Flew from Abuja to London, trained to Exeter
Tuesday: Hung out with Chris in Exeter.
Wednesday: Trained back to London, saw Les Miserables in the West End with Debbie.
Thursday: Flew to Belfast, hung out with Kathryn and Esther.
Friday: Toured Belfast, drove farther North. Saw some sights later in the day.
Now, this is all future plans:
Saturday: See Giant's Causway and the rope bridge. Also a whiskey brewery and some other Irish stuff.
Sunday: Meet up with Jayne, see more Irish stuff, fly to Amsterdam.
Monday: Dutch stuff
Tuesday: Dutch stuff
Wednesday: Fly to Roma!
Thursday-Sunday: Italy!! (I don't really have this all planned out yet. But I haven't actually planned out ANYTHING and it's all worked out REALLY well, so I think I'm just going to keep going like this for a while until it stops working)
Monday: Fly back to London, fly home!!
So, yeah. I've been having a blast. Enjoy this picture, taken in Belfast, Ireland. I swear it. No photoshopping was done.
Tuesday 1 July 2008
Looking back on the path God has taken me.
I can't stop smiling right now. Read on and you'll find out why.
I like that saying. I think it kinda reflects how I've been dealing with what has been happening in my life. I think I've come to terms the fact that God actually is the one running things and that, try as I might, I can't do a thing to stop what He's set in motion. I love looking back on the path I've taken in the past few years. How what seemed like such small details at the time, has ballooned out into these vital assets. After High School, I needed to go to college. Because that's what people my age were supposed to do.
There was nothing I felt passionately about enough to go into debt over, so I applied to the closest schools for various different things. Sheridan, Mohawk... and another one I can't remember. I wasn't one of those High School kids who knew exactly what he wanted to do with the rest of his life (was anyone??). I didn't even apply for the same thing twice at the different colleges. Sheridan for Art Fundamentals, Mohawk for Advertising and Graphic Design, plus I applied for Journalism (can't remember where) and something else somewhere else. I was just putting it all out there and seeing what happened. I figured I'd wait and see what I got accepted into and THEN make my decision on what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. Unfortunately(?), I got accepted into everything I applied for. Which meant I had to make a decision. I had to pick one of these 5 courses and spend the next 3 or more years pursuing it. That's a tough decision. So I made it easier. I picked the closest school.
Mohawk. Barely a 20 minute drive, 30-50 minutes by buses.
Advertising. I like commercials and I like to pretend I'm creative.
So that's what I did.
I took Advertising for 3 years. I made a lot of good friends. I had a lot of fun. I learned a ton. I learned a lot of computer stuff, learned how to write better, learned how to interact with people who AREN'T Dutch, had friends who weren't Canadian Reformed, and some (gasp!) weren't even Christians. I learned how to reflect Christ to others around me. I learned how to talk to people about Jesus. I learned that some people truly are curious about Christianity and want to know about it. But won't learn unless you reflect Jesus because if you don't, they may never know you call him your Saviour.
I see so much of what I learned coming back to help me now. Pretty much everything. If I hadn't taken Advertising, I wouldn't know PhotoShop, InDesign or Illustrator (computer programs), how to use a Mac (type of computer), or how to design and write something appealing to a wide audience. All of these skills I've put into practice here. And in using them here, even MORE doors have opened for me.
Because I just let things fall where they lay, I went to Mohawk.
But that's not it, God's path for me hasn't been that straightforward. So much led to so much more. Had I not gone to Romania, I wouldn't have heard about Nigeria. If I didn't learn to drive a standard transmission back home, I wouldn't be able to drive around here, and would've had much more doors closed. If I didn't buy Rachel's laptop at the last minute, I wouldn't have been able to do... pretty much any of the work that I've been able to.
Let go and let God.
I like that saying. I think it kinda reflects how I've been dealing with what has been happening in my life. I think I've come to terms the fact that God actually is the one running things and that, try as I might, I can't do a thing to stop what He's set in motion. I love looking back on the path I've taken in the past few years. How what seemed like such small details at the time, has ballooned out into these vital assets. After High School, I needed to go to college. Because that's what people my age were supposed to do.
There was nothing I felt passionately about enough to go into debt over, so I applied to the closest schools for various different things. Sheridan, Mohawk... and another one I can't remember. I wasn't one of those High School kids who knew exactly what he wanted to do with the rest of his life (was anyone??). I didn't even apply for the same thing twice at the different colleges. Sheridan for Art Fundamentals, Mohawk for Advertising and Graphic Design, plus I applied for Journalism (can't remember where) and something else somewhere else. I was just putting it all out there and seeing what happened. I figured I'd wait and see what I got accepted into and THEN make my decision on what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. Unfortunately(?), I got accepted into everything I applied for. Which meant I had to make a decision. I had to pick one of these 5 courses and spend the next 3 or more years pursuing it. That's a tough decision. So I made it easier. I picked the closest school.
Mohawk. Barely a 20 minute drive, 30-50 minutes by buses.
Advertising. I like commercials and I like to pretend I'm creative.
So that's what I did.
I took Advertising for 3 years. I made a lot of good friends. I had a lot of fun. I learned a ton. I learned a lot of computer stuff, learned how to write better, learned how to interact with people who AREN'T Dutch, had friends who weren't Canadian Reformed, and some (gasp!) weren't even Christians. I learned how to reflect Christ to others around me. I learned how to talk to people about Jesus. I learned that some people truly are curious about Christianity and want to know about it. But won't learn unless you reflect Jesus because if you don't, they may never know you call him your Saviour.
I see so much of what I learned coming back to help me now. Pretty much everything. If I hadn't taken Advertising, I wouldn't know PhotoShop, InDesign or Illustrator (computer programs), how to use a Mac (type of computer), or how to design and write something appealing to a wide audience. All of these skills I've put into practice here. And in using them here, even MORE doors have opened for me.
Because I just let things fall where they lay, I went to Mohawk.
Because I went to Mohawk, I learned Advertising.
Because I learned Advertising, I learned even more.
Because of all I learned, I was able be an intern at Rurcon.
Because I was able to be an intern at Rurcon, I was able to be an intern at Beacon of Hope.
Because I was an intern at Beacon of Hope, I've been offered a position at Beacon of Hope.
But that's not it, God's path for me hasn't been that straightforward. So much led to so much more. Had I not gone to Romania, I wouldn't have heard about Nigeria. If I didn't learn to drive a standard transmission back home, I wouldn't be able to drive around here, and would've had much more doors closed. If I didn't buy Rachel's laptop at the last minute, I wouldn't have been able to do... pretty much any of the work that I've been able to.
It's quite the path.
And I thank God for every step.
Especially the hard ones.
Those were the ones I learned the most.
I've learned to depend on God for so much more.
I've learned to let go
and let God.
Back to my ever-present grin.
Maybe you caught it, maybe you didn't. The clue was in the last bit of my path, where I wrote:
"I've been offered a position at Beacon of Hope"
This happened last Tuesday. And I haven't stopped smiling since. It's an opportunity that has come up that would start in October and go for a little under 2 years.
I don't know if I'll take the position. I'm not even sure what all the details are yet. (I still haven't seen a job description). What I do know is that this is another part on the path of my life that God is leading me.
And He's an incredible guide.
Especially the hard ones.
Those were the ones I learned the most.
I've learned to depend on God for so much more.
I've learned to let go
and let God.
Back to my ever-present grin.
Maybe you caught it, maybe you didn't. The clue was in the last bit of my path, where I wrote:
"I've been offered a position at Beacon of Hope"
This happened last Tuesday. And I haven't stopped smiling since. It's an opportunity that has come up that would start in October and go for a little under 2 years.
I don't know if I'll take the position. I'm not even sure what all the details are yet. (I still haven't seen a job description). What I do know is that this is another part on the path of my life that God is leading me.
And He's an incredible guide.
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