on the other side

Well here I am no longer a college student, after spending 1 year at a college program in B.C. and 4 years in Bible college in Saskatchewan. I am free from assigned readings, papers and due dates. People have been asking me, “does it feel good to be done?” To which I respond, “I won’t really notice till probably September, when all the other students are going back to school and I won’t have to.” But I do feel slightly relieved already. I wanted to take sometime now to reflect back on my school years and my family road trip that I have just come off of after graduation. So lets go back 5 years ago, I was a young 19 year old finished high school had gone on a missions trip to Panama that changed my direction in life, by changing my career from mechanic to youth work. I had applied and been accepted to the Kaleo Program in Crofton B.C. and was working my last summer at the lumber yard. I spent a full year in B.C. at Camp Qwanoes first as a student in the Kaleo program and then that summer I stayed as the Skate Park leader. During my time in Kaleo I learned a lot about community and sharing experiences with others. In February I attended Youth Quake for the first time in Caronport Saskatchewan. That is where God placed in me a call to go to Briercrest and help out at Joe’s Place during my time there. After camp that summer my roommate Tyler and his girl friend Robyn and our friend Keerstine loaded up into his buick station wagon and drove to Caronport. That year was a hard year as it was nothing like Kaleo there was still community but it was not the same. I almost gave up on school that year as well as my faith at one point because it was just so hard. But I still had connections with my Kaleo family and it really got me through the hard times. That summer I decided to stay in Moose Jaw to work and help out at Joe’s Place. I lived with a nice elderly couple, Lloyd and Hazel Rain. They taught me lots about hospitality and faith as they lived out there lives. They were Missionaries in India for 38 years so I heard lots of stories of their time there. I found that all vary encouraging. The next year I did my internship through Joe’s Place, I was a team leader and worked with three young guys that wanted to be volunteers that used to be youth and were young Christians. I was also going to school full time as well. The following summer I stayed in Moose Jaw again but this time in a paid position of student work skills and recreation coordinator. Which then lead to staying on part time through out the next two years of school. I have become really involved at Joe’s Place and in the lives of the youth that go there.
Now as I am done school I am looking forward to staying on at Joe’s Place as long as God allows it. And doing as much as I possibly can to introduce the youth to Jesus Christ. But before I start talking about those plans I would like to reflect a bit on my last family vacation. That all started on the Wednesday April 20th when they arrived. Dad, Mom, Brother, Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle all flew out from ON. They arrived on my doorstep as I was in mid transition of moving my stuff upstairs from the basement apartment to one of the rooms as well as helping other people move in to the house. I gave them a tour of Joe’s Place and then a tour of the school before we had our banquet dinner and alumni program. The next day was graduation and then a small reception at Joe’s Place. And then we took off after Good Friday for Grand Cache Alberta. We stopped over in Vaggervil and made it to Grand Cache around dinner time on Saturday. This town is a small little northern mining town in the mountains. My aunt and uncle had moved out there last year for a teaching job along with my four younger cousins. We spent 5 days there on easter Sunday we want to church and then on a Hike to some look out points on the out skirts of town. Monday we took a two hour drive to Grand Prairie to see my other cousins and my aunt. Then my aunt asked me if I was willing to drive my cousin back to school and back that night. I said yes and we drove a total of 18 hours from Grande Prairie to Rose Bud (8 hours) then back to Grande Cache to drop me off and then she drove back home. I did the majority of the driving from White court to Rose bud and then back up to Edson. That was probably 12hours worth of driving. Then after that trip we spent one more day in Grand Cache and I got to shoot some guns for the first time ever in my life. We shoot a .22 and a 7mm rifle that was fun then we drove down to Lethbridge Alberta to see some more extended family and friends that I have only met once before and some never met before at all. After being there we headed Moose Jaw and back home after making a short detour up to Gem to visit some of my grandparents old friends and sleeping over in Medicine hat. Over all it was a good trip with a lot of driving. I am now getting ready to start into this summer and beyond and can’t wait for what ever God is going to do. I might update this blog again this year but I think I will keep it to the mile stone times or times when I just need to sit and think through all that is going on. Thanks for reading check back again.