things have been a little crazy recently with the demise of my laptop comptuer a week ago. i’ve been trying to get it back up to speed, and am slowly making strides.
i promise to have a real post up within the next day or two!
canada, part 6 – the conclusion
our final day in canada was saturday, which we spent hanging around toronto. our first order of business was to see the CN tower, which none of us felt inclined to pay 20 dollars to ride to the top of. after that, we hiked to the eaton center, and split up from there. katie and i travelled back to union station, where we got these shots:
afterward, we met up with a large portion of the group for the best gyros on the planet. out of the chester subway station, we went in search of greek food. we detoured to a tim horton’s where we were the only english speakers in the whole place, save the people behind the counter in order to kill time waiting for the restaurants to open. our patience was rewarded by magnificient greek food at alexandro’s, home of certainly the best gyro and souvlaki i’ve ever eaten. after that, we headed back out to the airport and were on our way home.
Thanks to delays and such, we finally returned to College Station at around 1:15 am, with a little assistance from Starbucks and NPR’s Most Emailed Stories.
it was a fantastic trip, and hopefully a blessing to all. at some point i’ll attempt to post a compendium of pictures from the trip and post the link here.
suicide
posted on postsecret this morning:
Dear Julie,
Thank you for sharing your inspiring story.
Like you, I have felt hopeless at times too. During those moments it’s important to remember that there is always someone, a family member, friend, or stranger on a phone line who cares and is willing to listen.
I find it so moving to hear from people like you who look back on the dark and painful times in their lives and are thankful that they did not kill themselves. However, in America, we do not often hear stories like yours. People rarely talk about suicide.
For every homicide committed in the US, two people kill themselves, but you will not see that truth reflected in national newspapers or on the local television news. Suicide is America’s Secret.
Julie, I am sure that your story has not just inspired me. I hope others, like you, will find the help that is waiting and share their stories too.
Be well,
-Frank
canada, part 5 – naigara
yesterday was a fantastic birthday, and was our “tourist” day on the trip. first off, thanks to all of you who called or emailed for helping make it an extremely special day.
our day started off rather early with a trip to st. jacobs, a local mennonite village and market. it was a neat little town and a fun market. there was a wide variety of food available for sample. most people tried apple fritters, but i was drawn to the egyptian pastries (quite tasty, i might add). After purchasing some maple syrup that was made earlier this week and some raspberry rhubarb and black currant and crabapple jam, we proceeded on down to downtown st. jacobs.
bell peppers at the outdoor market, st. jacobs
in st. jacobs, we ate at a local mennonite restaurant called the stone crock. there was an all you can eat buffet there that was fairly good. the dressing was without doubt the most dense food i’ve ever eaten. it seemed to grow on your plate. certainly it was exactly what you wanted before a nice afternoon drive…
rainbow at naigara falls
we drove the hour and a half down to naigara falls, which was, as always, very impressive. it was made more impressive by the large amounts of ice at the bottom, frozen over from the winter.
on the way, we made a stop at tim horton’s. i feel this might be an appropriate time to rag on canadian coffee. tim horton’s is basically the canadian equivalent to krispy kreme or dunkin’ donuts. the main difference is that tim horton’s is everywhere. i mean everywhere. think starbucks in america and multiply it by three or so. the canadians love it. i suppose it’s not *that* bad, but out of the three tim horton’s experiences i’ve had, only one has been good, and the one time was when i got apple cider.
first the positive: it’s cheap. really cheap. large cafe mocha for 2.50 (canadian). when measured against a 5 dollar mocha from starbucks, you think you’re getting a great deal. then you watch them make it. there is no espresso used in the process. neither do they use milk. the tim horton’s process of making a mocha is to take some hot chocolate, and pour in drip coffee, at which point we all can see why it only costs 2.50 to make. i think the best way to convey the taste would be to say that it’s very similar to going to an american gas station, filling a cup halfway with the cappucino machines that are there, and then pouring in drip coffee for the other half. clif’s description of “hot chocolate watered down with coffee” is fairly good as well. bottom line: it isn’t a real mocha.
end rant.
naigara falls was beautiful. our group had a great time just looking at the falls. it’s difficult to take in how big they actually are, and how much water is going over them.
group overlooking the falls
katie at the overlook point.
when we came back, most people went over to the toohey’s house to watch the ag’s beat up on syracuse, but some of us decided the day had been long enough and headed home to get some sleep.
today we’ll be working with some of the youth in the local area, and tomorrow we get on a plane to head back to america.
hailey and katie
may you be constantly aware
may you be constantly aware of His unfailing love.
may you live according to his truth.
may you sing songs of thanksgiving and tell tales of miracles.
may you love the Lord’s sanctuary – a place where His glory shines.
and in his mercy, may you take a stand
and publicly praise the Lord.
– traci eicke
canada, part 4 – church
tonight was a fantastic evening of praise and fellowship. it’s always wonderful to travel thousands of miles and find there are people who God is touching and working through.
while most of the group engaged in visits today, I stayed at the building to help prepare for tonight’s service, making powerpoint presentations. my hope is that what was done was a blessing to all who were able to be there.
i was reminded of a song today and the words were particularly poignant:
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I standIn Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I liveThere in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of ChristNo guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
canada, part 3 – waterloo and curling
monday was spent on the campus of the university of waterloo. the university seems to be a really neat place. a couple of interesting moments were walking through research park and a brief encounter with a mounty bear.
tuesday morning, we spent our time doing various projects around the church. where as sunday and monday had been quite warm, things took a turn for the chilly.
during a light canadian (heavy texan) snow storm, we had a fantastic time picking up trash and cleaning up the exterior of the building. after that, we did some cleanup work inside and distributed some flyers in the neighborhood.
and in the afternoon…
curling rules.
there were doubters. there were skeptics. but curling is quite possibly one of the funnest things i’ve ever done. i’m not sure whether it was more fun to curl or watch people fall (clif wins the award for the biggest, most dramatic bust, where as ariel wins the award for the most frequent buster) or to actually play, but both were extremely exciting. many of the canadians we were with commented that it was their first time to go, but they all loved it. if you’ve never been and there’s a place around you, you should go – it’s a really fun experience, and one i’d recommend.
and finally, a picture of hailey, the daughter of the people i’m staying with.
‘night…
canada, part 2 – reconciliation
we were blessed today to be part of a beautiful reconciliation. in the waterloo area, the tri-cities church and waterloo church held a combined service, with probably close to 200 in attendence. it was wonderful to see brothers and sisters in Christ who previously had little contact though they were so close joining together to praise God.
sorry for the shortness of the update, but bed is important and i’m late for it.
a couple of pictures to tide you over:
john, emily and erin talking after lunch with steven and heather, two waterloo members
katie and ariel play picture time with kids
ariel plays with a girl’s hair
crystal talking with a girl from tri-cities
‘night – more tomorrow
canada, part 1
it was clif’s first time to fly. i think he wanted to kill us after prolonged amounts of teasing, including but not limited to josh’s asking him if he remembered to bring his goggles for when they roll down the windows. after we were all in our seats, i thought it would have been funny to ask him whether he’d paid his deposit in case we needed to use our oxygen masks… i’m not sure he would have appreciated the humor. to his credit, clif did a great job – i hear he didn’t even have to use the barf bag.
we’ve been warmly received by the church up here, and we’re looking forward to working with them this week. we’ve got a great group, and hopefully there will be more pictures to come soon!
more bush library macro
more pics of stuff at bush. lots of daisies out today, as well as some cool bugs. gallery available here.
