On the town!

I've been a busy lady lately! Love this job- last week I got to lead a group of Japanese students to Victoria. My main job was to pay for the ferry and museum and then make sure all heads were there when we got back on the bus at 5:30 in the evening. Everyone had free time for about three hours in the afternoon and I had a good time looking around the shops in downtown Victoria. On the ferry, rides I pulled out my latest book that David gave me, called When Everything Changes by Steve Stewart. The book is about the Kingdom of God and what ushering the Kingdom looks like. In Ezra's sermon yesterday, he said that "the Gospel always leads to human flourishing." hmm... have to stop and think about the implications of that for a moment. Abundance! Joy! Life! Healing! Health! Wholeness! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

Then on Saturday it was Michelle's Birthday. After my step aerobics class in the morning I headed to Tracy Cakes and picked a cupcake for each of us and then put together her gift basket! It was a gorgeous day so we decided to make our way to Grandville Island before meeting up with the others at Bard on the Beach in the evening. Granville Island was *the* place to be on Saturday. There were so many people there, including many tourists. It always seems funny to see tourists in Vancouver. I wonder what they enjoy seeing most. We just meandered through the little gift shops in Grandville Island, got some coffee, went to the market, went out for dinner (yay Seafood!) and then even took a little nap on the grass before heading over to Vanier Park for Bard on The Beach's rendition of "The Taming of the Shrew" by Shakespeare. Such good acting! Forgot how riske Shakespeare was! Oh my! After seeing Adrienne's picture on facebook with her friends at Bard on the Beach a couple weeks ago, I just *had* to take this picture of us...

~ Happy Birthday Michelle! ~



Yesterday I went to a TWU Alumni BBQ with my friend Katelyn (hoping to meet Mr. Right, but I suppose he forgot to put it in his day timer!). It was really cool to meet other Trinity Grads and after going to that event I really do agree with my dad that TWU produces leaders! The people there were just such natural conversationalists!

This coming week I have an interview with a tiny school out in Vancouver and what do you know, I met a girl there last night who lives out in that area! I suppose I'm not one to "have my ducks all in a row" before telling people about them. I'm someone who shares the excitement as it happens- even if it's still in the works! I'm just not good at keeping good news inside! So even though I don't have a job lined up, I got to chat with this girl last night about Vancouver and even got talking about the church she attends, which is a MB Church plant in Vancouver, strategically initiated in the city and located in Grandville Island! How cool! She said that many people show up at the church just to "check it out" and it really reminded me of the international church I went to in Tky, where people were curious about what went on inside the doors of the church and took a bold step to enter on a Sunday morning. In my own observation, I've just seen the "partylife"/ anything goes, consumer, independent, educated mentality and worldview seep through the culture in Vancouver, and in effect people have let that worldview shape them, rather than a faith-based, Gospel driven worldview. I was encouraged by this church within the city that exists to "Make Jesus Known." Way to go Westside Church!

All in all, it was a good weekend! The week ahead will also be busy, but I'm looking forward to it.