Prayers for Haiti

        Yesterday Haiti, one of the poorest and politically unstable countries in the world, was hit by a devastating earthquake with a high magnitude of 7.0. The capital city of Port-au-Prince was hit the hardest with the destruction of the presidential palace and hospitals across the city, estimates are that over 100, 000 are dead. Doctors without Borders, a major NGO in Haiti has reported that its 3 hospitals are unusable and the head of the U.N Mission in Haiti is also reported as one of the casualties. 
        My heart breaks for this country and for its people. As many of you know, I was part of a missions team in 2006 that went to Haiti to work for the orphanage God's Littlest Angels. One of the girls on my team is very connected to Haiti as her aunt worked at an NGO in Port-au-Prince (the main area that we were serving in), and her family also adopted a little boy from the orphanage we worked at. I have sent her a message hoping and praying that her extended family is safe and that the orphanage was not hit too hard, but I have yet to receive a message back... Please keep Haiti in your prayers!! God is good and faithful even in our darkest hours, and I am praying that Haitians will turn to Christ in this moment of despair and find hope in His promise. I am so worried and saddened by this disaster, but I know that God has a plan even amongst all the brokenness and devastation in His creation.

        These are some photos of my time in Haiti, I miss this beautiful country and wish that I could be there right now helping them in their time of need. Please, please pray for this broken country, for all those who have lost a loved one, who have lost homes, who are alone, the children and the suffering. They need our voices and our love. 

A Slightly Late, Slightly Different New Years Resolution for 2010...

After reading Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schimch's Sunscreen Speech from 1997, I've decided that my New Years Resolution for 2010 will be based loosely on her advice. I like it. Although I'm not entirely sold on the sunscreen...I like my tans and my sunshine, but I suppose I can settle for SPF4. Cheers to 2010!


Wear Sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine. Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idel Tuesday. Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year- olds I know still don't. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone. Mayber you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody's else's. Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Dont' be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room. Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths. Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders. 

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out. Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will Look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen...

First Snowfall

Date: December 11, 2009

Place: Vancouver, BC

Forecast: 0 degrees and SNOWING!!
Vancouver has finally gotten snow this winter! It was an awesome way to finish off my French final last friday. I walked out of the lecture hall and was greeted with beautiful white flakes and I just had to savour the moment because I know the snowfalls here will be few and far between. It's been beautiful since and yesterday after church I had a wicked snowball fight with the Sunday School kids and in the evening went on a gorgeous snowy night walk with the girls at the house to the delicious Sweet Temptations for dessert. Life without school is beautiful! I have only one final left and as it's my easiest one, I have the week to thoroughly enjoy the city and visit friends and relax. 

Forever+more

Whisper something pretty.

Whisper something sweet.  

But don’t say forever,

just stay with me in today.

I’ll take the days one by one.

and when forever finally comes,

I hope and pray to God 

we’ll have journeyed there together.

But for now 

smile for me,

hold me,

dance with me,

laugh with me,

love me,

and just be with me, as I

smile for you,

hold you,

dance with you,

laugh with you,

love you,

and just be

with you.

In this moment.
Now.

And maybe forever will join us along the way. 

Live a little, laugh a lot, and love always...

Though the rain never stops and the skies remain cloudy, 

though the papers pile up and I can't manage my time, 

though I gain my freshman 15 and get the piggy flu... 

I will still rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in God my Saviour. 

Thank goodness for Habakkuk's perseverance and faith! 

I have been feeling slightly overwhelmed by my 3 big papers that are due in the next couple of weeks, not to mention the French play that I need to have read by Friday that I cannot understand a word of! I am feeling incredibly unconfident in my academics, but I've been trying to not let that consume me. Throughout my Quest year, I was challenged with the idea of not only "doing" but also "being". Right now, I'm trying to simply take every day as it is and to incorporate some worship into my day so that I can continually rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in God my Saviour. 

the beautiful view from one street down from the house...
I LOVE walking by this view!

I've been stopping myself from hiding out in the library or my room and trying to balance my time so that I am still incorporating community into my crazy life. I KNOW that I would go insane if I didn't make time to simply be with friends, go for a run, knit, or play some piano... and so even with all my important papers, research, and studying that needs to be done, I think I'll just take a moment to simply breathe and enjoy my night. Chances are when I'm done this year, I won't remember all the "important" arguments I wrote about in my essays or the specific dates in which historical events occurred...I probably won't even remember the incredible amounts of stress I feel every night before a paper is due, when I think that my life is over and that my academic career is shot because I feel positive that I absolutely bombed whatever it was that I was writing about. In the moment, it seems to be so incredibly important and pressing, as if my future career depended on my success in this one piece of writing. But lets be real, that's not how it works. By the end of the year, the only things that I will really take away with me are the relationships I build, the laughs I had, the passions that were ignited in my favourite classes, and the adventures I went on while skipping my sociology classes (don't tell my mum!). 

Life is just so much better when stress is eliminated. And I know that God will always provide a way if I surrender my excessive need to feel like I'm in control. Keep me in check and remind me that life is beautiful and that I am in a gorgeous city that has so much possibility for exploration (even in the rain)! And even though it's hard being so far from my family and my best friend, I have soo much to be thankful for. God is good and faithful! 

Live a little, laugh a lot, and love always...

With Kelsey, one of my wonderful housemates, leaving behind a night of studying to go support another friend performing in the UBC student opera production! What a fun night. Definitely worth the oodles of homework I had piled up for the next day!!

Why Coffee?

I will admit that I am not actually an avid coffee drinker... I have not yet reached the point where I need caffeine to start my every day, nor do I have the memory to order drinks from Starbucks that take longer than 2 seconds to say. A veinte non-fat, no whip, extra-hot, soy milk vanilla latte with two extra pumps of what? I don't know. 

.....So why coffee?

Because I'm a Questie. And Questies do coffees. While I was in Columbia Bible College for my Quest year (a one-year outdoor leadership program which I would reccommend to anyone and everyone!), our leaders gave us a means of having one-on-one, intimate heart-to-hearts. The main purpose was so that there would be no confusion for persons of the opposite sex when being asked out for coffee. Going on a "coffee date" had no underlying meanings apart from the fact that you wanted to get to know the other person better and/or connect with them. If you were interested in someone, we were told quite bluntly to be more creative. And so in a very different and special way, I have come to love my coffee... To me coffee is so much more than a steaming hot mug of caffeine. Coffee is a long walk, a late-night conversation, a whispered prayer, a good laugh, a hard cry, a hidden story, a bear hug, a vulnerable moment, a shared passion, a truth rediscovered, and a love rekindled.

I guess I am addicted to my coffee. 

//to be fully known is to be fully loved.... 

Crispy Beginnings

Soo, I've finally decided to make/keep/write a blog for my friends and family who are not a part of my every day life...Not that I will be posting every day, my life can be too mundane for that. 

But here it is. Crisp, and new. With so much promise. 

Like most things in life, until they're touched by human hands.