Hello, Again

Aside from melting and dancing like a dork to some addicting music, today was a day that I needed - I danced like a dork because I can. Usually, when I don't really do anything productive during a day, I feel a little guilty. Not today, though.

Today is a good day to blog because of a couple of things. The first one is that I am more or less kind of halfway through my internship now. I arrived in Assiniboia on May 18 with half an open mind and a challenge laid out before me, to fulfill the internship aspect of my education degree and to gain better experience of what being in ministry is like. A second reason is because VBS has finished; and to my expectations, I'm very glad that the week went well. Finally, the end of the summer is approaching, meaning the start to a new school year again. For the second time in my life, I won't be going back to school like a lot of people are.

I remember back in April and in May, before coming here to Assiniboia, asking a lot of people and hearing what they have to say about internships and all that kind of stuff. At the time, I did my very best to listen and take note of as many things as I could have in order to prepare myself. As of right now, I honestly cannot even recall anything that people told me. There was advice, expectations, goals, all kinds of different things that I wanted to know. I don't know if those things have been tatoo'd into my brain or something, but I can't even remember 90% of what was said to me. Quite frankly, I think that it's nice to ask people to see what they think about things, but when you're actually immersed into the process and into the thing, most of that stuff is a wash anyway. Practice and preparation helps you through a lot of things, but I always feel like that's only half of the story. The other half, of course, comes with how you are able to handle yourself in the situation. I could have had the best advice in the world (and I actually feel like I did get some of the best), but I don't know how much of it actually has affected me or played a role in how I did something. What's been more important in my ministry here is that there have been people who have been by my side, walking with me, and helping me through every step. That guidance has been far superior to anything someone might have said way back when.

What this means for me particularly going forward is that I hope it reminds me that when it comes a time when a situation presents itself in front of me where I can help someone, do more than just give advice: walk with them, care for their needs. James 2 talks about what good is it if you see someone who is struggling to meet their needs, and all you say to them is "be well." In a modern day context, that is like seeing someone struggle with something, and all you say is, "I'll pray for you!" Scary how true it rings for many of us.

So VBS went quite well despite all my anxiety and nervousness. We had, on average, 11 or 12 kids each day of the week. I wasn't expecting more than that, but we had 16 or 17 kids in an overall attendance. That means that if they all came every day, we'd have had a few more. All in all though, I'm again thankful for the help that I'd gotten because it continuously felt like I didn't do a whole lot other than to make sure that the thing was actually going. We had Kendra and Sonnie come from CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) to lead the program throughout the week, while the church provided the filler activities such as crafts, games, and other things. I was blown away by the maturity level of both Kendra and Sonnie, and it was really sweet to have had them come to hang out with our kids.

I still don't really know what I should have done better for this VBS. Perhaps better advertisement could have helped, but I still think our numbers wouldn't have increased very much. There were a whole bunch of other factors that played into the attendance that we had. So I guess that at the end of the day, it was a neat experience having something just kind of dumped on me and seeing how I handled it - not very well, haha.

On Tuesday, I will be flying back to Edmonton to spend a couple weeks at home! It's my parents' 25th anniversary this year. And as many people have already seen on Facebook, my dad's been doing his thing already. I'm not too surprised that my dad's like this, but having talked to my mom, I know that she is just a little embarrassed. Haha. Anyhow, I'll get to spend some time with my family before the Fall things kick in. And I do have to give my parents props, because if they never got married 25 years ago, I'd never have been born.

So yeah, I'm excited to go home, mainly for a few things: the city life, cellular reception, and Tales of Xillia. As for everything else, I think I will confess now that I don't really have much inclination left to go home. I've realized that I really only want to go home for my family. When I first heard my cousins describe Edmonton after having left for several years, I've finally gotten to that point now. I will acknowledge the place that Edmonton has in my heart, but I don't really find much need for me to go back for an extended amount of time anymore. There is nothing against my friends there or the city itself, but I realize that life is about forward motion. If life brings me back to Edmonton for work or something else, then I'll fully embrace it. But as of now, there's no point me me getting all tripped up in the nostalgia of what the city means to me.

For my final thoughts, I'm at a good place right now. All things considered, I think life is fantastic. I love the fact that I don't need to go back to school immediately this September. Rather, I can focus more of my efforts in getting the ministries at church back into the school year routine. I told Greg this a while back, but serving in a church feels way too natural to me. I think this has been one of the most confirming aspects of my internship. I love doing this job so much that it doesn't even feel like a job. It's kind of like a dream job. Well, making music all day would be my dream job, but you get the point. It's not easy, but I really can see myself doing this for the rest of my life. And I'm not backing down.

Good night, friends!