Happy Commercialized Holidays

The holiday season is once again upon us. The time to be with families, eat lots of food, exchange some wayyy too expensive gifts that no one ever actually needs, its the time of year to celebrate the birth of Christ...oh wait that isn't what Christmas-I mean the holiday season is about anymore. It seems to me that Christmas has become so commercialized. Everyone runs around the stores grabbing for everything for those they want to give gifts to, maybe getting a few things for themselves in the process. I am afraid that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost even to those who know what it is. Don't get me wrong I love decorating the Christmas tree, listening to the music, finding that gift for my favorite people. Its just that why we celebrate Christmas seems to have gotten lost somewhere in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of the season. We can't even call it Christmas anymore. Why not? Isn't that what we are supposed to be celebrating, Christ? If we take Christ out of Christmas it is like we are taking the love and joy out of it. I love the season but it breaks my heart to see what has happened to the joyous holiday that it is.

From the prairies to the mountains and a little bit of skyscrapers

Over the past few days I have been trying my hardest to get a new blog post up considering how long it has been. I have been struggling so hard with the words to say. Over the past 3 months I have been on a journey across central and western Canada and one trip down into Washington to see one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever been to. I started the journey in Winnipeg, MB with a group of 31 other students and 4 leaders. Out of that group I knew a total of 2 people and the rest were complete strangers to me. Its interesting to look back and see places where they have been and realizing that we maybe have crossed paths several times and never even realized that one day we would be part of the same family. It is such a crazy thought that each day we are constantly coming into contact with so many different people but when we look at their faces we don't know them and sadly don't pay much attention to the person who hides behind the face. The other day I was shopping in Winnipeg at the mall, waiting in line. As I stood there looking at all the people bustling by I thought of how each person walking by me has a family, friends, people who love them, each person has a past, a future, a story. We are all people in desperate search of relationships that change our lives. We rely on relationships and God is so amazing that He gives us the people that we need for all the things that we will go through in life. Sometimes the relationship is for life and sometimes its just for certain aspects of our lives. All the people in the mall were individuals but were also all the same. We are all people. I am not really sure how I got from where I started to this point but that's okay. So we began in Manitoba, close to Gimli. During the month we were there we had a canoe trip where they split our group up into two separate groups each with two guides. We paddled for four days and out of those four days we had one that wasn't windy, rainy, or cold. The rest of the time we spent paddling against the biggest waves I have ever seen on a lake. It was such a strong wind that you spend hours paddling as hard as you can and hardly going anywhere. I learnt that even when I think that I can't push myself any harder, somehow there is always still something left to give. I couldn't have paddled into those waves without God helping and protecting me.

I am going to apologize now for this post. It is going to get long but since it has been a really long time since my last one I think that's fine. That month we also did an Urban Plunge in Winnipeg. We went into the parts of the city that normal people would stay away from. Walking with the homeless, the prostitutes, the drug addicts, it gives a whole new perspective of who they are. They all have a deep and painful story of how they got there and that isn't the life that most would choose although some prefer living on the streets. From all the time that we have spent learning about homelessness and doing our two Urban Plunges my perspective about the way they live has changed so much. I don't even really have words to describe it right now but I look at them differently. So during that month we spent a lot of time at the camp near Gimli where we got to know each other and learn from instructors and such. It was an awesome month; it felt like summer just continued on into the fall. Right from day one (this is actually no word of a lie) I really liked all of our group and felt like even though I never felt God calling me to go to Outtatown this was where I was supposed to be this year. Looking back and seeing how after that month and into the Thanksgiving break we thought that we were so close, we were so naive because compared to now, we were mere acquaintances.

After the thanksgiving break we hoped into our two 15 passenger vans and a mini van and began the long drive from Winnipeg to Banff for the girls and then to Canmore for the boys. We had all 3 of the sites girls staying at one hotel and hanging out, listening to an awesome speaker, standing on a glacier, hiking, Zumba, and so much more. It was such an incredible week. Then we got back together with our boys (who I might add are the most amazing guys I have ever met and words cannot even began to describe the way they are appreciated). We spent the next night in a church, sleeping in their sanctuary. The pastor and his group were so kind. They made us breakfast and all they wanted in return was to hear our stories. It was such a blessing. Then we made our way to Blackfoot crossing and got to spend a very frigid night in a teepee (I seriously don't know the correct spelling). It was such a unique experience. After our adventures at Blackfoot crossing we hoped back into our vans and made our way to a beautiful lodge/camp in Sundre, AB which is like an hour from Calgary. That was possibly one of my most favorite places. The girls got to stay in the lodge in dorm type rooms. Each room had two to three people in it and each with their own bathroom. I was just with one other person and it was so dang awesome. That camp was beautiful and the people were so friendly. After a week and a half of that place then we got back into our vans and drove to Vancouver. As soon as we pulled up to our hotel on East Hastings I was terrified. I did not want to get out of the van. It was such an unfamiliar place, it was dark outside and there was so many people. Shockingly it wasn't as bad as everyone made it sound like it would be but I was still scared basically the whole time. We had a free weekend when we got there. The weekend was filled with footloose, public transit, the aquarium and many other things. Then we switched to a very sketchy hostel and headed into the Vancouver Urban Plunge. Before the week started we were told to priority pack into one bag for the week and the other bag would be left in the trailer. During one night of our free weekend the locks on the trailer were cut and 13 of us had our other bag stolen. I was one of them. I didn't lose anything too important but just the more expensive stuff. It was really upsetting to see how much value I had placed in those material items and how upset that I was when I lost them. Now I can look and see its okay because someone needs that more than I do.

So we did the Urban plunge which was quite similar to the Winnipeg one but yet quite different. I would tell about it but this is already super long and then it would be even longer. So after that we went to Twin Creeks lodge which is like a mansion and the people were so incredible. They just wanted to serve us all weekend and they loved us and made us food. It felt like Christmas. Sadly we had to leave. We went over to a camp in Hope BC. There were mountains all around us and a gorgeous, glassy lake. We spent our time learning from some instructors (one who fell off his box hahaha). Then we went to our all sites conference where we were all gathered for some sessions and hang out. We performed our epic flash mob that we had been working on for two months. It was so amazing. After this we headed over to Seattle...so beautiful. We had a semi free weekend. It was so incredible and the place that we stayed was an amazing hostel. So after Seattle we went back to the camp in Hope where we stayed for a week and a half or so. It was such a great time. We had a twin din and the our boys were so amazing and had a girls appreciation night. I was so overwhelmed we gratitude that I just started crying. We also got to go kayaking (I totally fell in the lake getting into the kayak). It was a great time with each other. Then we got back into our vans for the last time as a huge group and went back to Banff for some free time with each other and for some snowboarding in the mountains and debrief. The last night was a week ago today. It was so sad. It now is half over.

The last three months of my life were an insane adventure. I even went spelunking in a cave which I forgot to mention earlier. I grew to love the people (my second fam) so much that it hurts to be apart. I saw and lived in the mountains, fell in a lake at the end of November, served God, and served people. I never knew that I could ever love people that weren't my family as deeply as I love my group. Looking back to that first month of when we thought that we knew each other to now its crazy to realize that we barely did. It is super nice to be at home and see my other fam and friends but I am so looking forward to going to South Africa with OTSA 3. I feel homesick and I am sort of grateful. It means that we have strong relationships. As I am finishing this I am almost crying just thinking about it. I hope that I didn't bore those of you who made it all the way to the bottom of this. It got super long and took like an hour to write. This is just a small portion of the stories that I have and just a small portion of the memories and stories that are to come. Next stop South Africa baby!!!!