Introducing Fiona

As I was trying to come up with something fun and interesting to blog I made the comment to my friend Fiona that I should blog about her...and she was so very excited by this prospect that I thought that I had to really actually do it!

Fiona (also known affectionately as Fifa...which I would like to take credit for coming up with that nickname...but I have to give credit where credit is due and say that our friend Rob actually came up with it...although I would have if I had thought of it first!

I originally met Fiona when I was living in Australia for the year last year. Because, you see, she comes from the beautiful city of Melbourne. When I went to visit Cate Daniels in Melbourne I met Fifa. Little did I know that she would soon be coming here to Toronto to live and work at 614 and I would get to become great friends with her.

Fiona and I have had many adventures together including numerous trips to and from Buffalo, preparing many Sunday meals for church (well actually only 2), throwing numerous fantastical parties at our house, performing many of our broadway type hits that we create as we go, and much much more.

Fiona is a good friend and I'm so glad that she came here to 614 so that I get the chance to hang out with her and there are many more adventures of fun to come!

Newark NJ

I've not posted in over a week. I've been away in Newark New Jersey with a group of people from 614 who went down to help out with a few things around a corps there. I must say that the week was a lot of fun...and it would be hard to put down all the different things that we did...so I'll just put down a few highlights!

So we only had a chance to go into New York City twice. Both times that we were in the city it absolutely poured rain. Not just rained a bit...but was coming down so hard and fast...it was crazy.

We bought a couple of $5 umbrellas from a vendor on the street which blew inside out in about 15 seconds!

Another part that I really enjoyed of our week was that on one of the really really hot days...I think it was around 103, the city came and opened the fire hydrant that was across the

street from the corps and we had fun playing and splashing in the water with all the kids. It was like something out of a movie...we all had a blast!

And one other thing that I was really really excited about was that on Friday night just before we left to come back home Rob, Sandra and I went to see Rent...Rent is my favorite musical. I was so very happy to see it. I've seen it before...but it was a treat to actually see it on Broadway.

I really enjoyed the time we spent in Newark. We ran a VBS for the week and it was so great to see the kids learning and singing and participating. There were some really beautiful moments for me where the kids taught me more than I could ever teach them! I can't wait to go back and visit Newark again someday.

There was so much more that happened that was amazing and funny and such...but it would just take so very long to write it all. But these last couple of things were probably the biggest highlights for me!

DENISE IS MARRIED!!!!!!!!

Yesterday morning my dear friend Denise got married! It was so beautiful and her new husband Dave is the perfect gift from God for her! She looked so beautiful and both her and Dave could not have looked any happier!!!

It was so amazing to see them so very happy and in love! Denise deserves the very best...and she found her very best in Dave! He is kind and a good man. I am so happy for them both!

What to do...

I'm just at that point in my life again where I am deciding what to do next...It is always so confusing for me to figure out if I am doing what God wants me to do or what I want to do. I often wonder why this is...Am I just not listening properly...am I wanting what I want and not really considering what God wants...am I ignoring something that God is asking me to do???
I'll keep you all updated on what is to come in the future...

But as for now I'm really enjoying myself taking care of my friend Ally's children this summer. We've had a lot of adventures during our first week together. I've been really enjoying playing in the yard, walking to the park, swinging on the swings...Reminds me of when I used to work at the Daycare...I always loved that!

So as for next year...I am still just sorting things out and trying to listen to what God wants me to do.

Been having fun with Cate visiting for the last week or so. Nice to reminise about all the fun that we had when she was living in Toronto. We have gone on walks through Regent, been to the beaches, spent lots of time with Fiona & Tim (he's from England), and Zoe & Matt. It's been just a lot of fun hanging out and talking. Feels like old times!

An Amazing Weekend...

This past weekend was the conference that 614 runs in Canada...SAROOTS...It was really amazing. I unfortunatley didn't get a chance to make it to any of the adult venue...but was so incredibly blessed in the kids venue!!!

I was leading much of the weekend along with Denise, Kanga and some wonderful staff from camp Wabana...we all had so much fun and the kids taught me so much. It was amazing to see how much they loosened up in their worship over the weekend. They became more and more free with their worship each time that we came together! We had so much fun doing bible, crafts, sports, a pool party...it was just so much fun!

One of my favorite things from the weekend was when I was at the front talking to all the kids I asked the question "who is staying for all of Roots?" and one of the little boys in front of me looked really sad and said, "I'm only staying for 3 days"....the whole thing IS only 3 days...so I told him that and he was really excited that he'd not be missing anything!

The other great part about the weekend was that there were some afterhours times in the cafe...where there was just good music and hanging out! That was great. The first night it was my friend Erin who was singing and she was amazing...the 2nd night was Phil Laeger and Marty Mikles (don't know if I even spelled either of those names correctly!) and they too were really amazing. So it was nice to at least get to hear a bit of the adult venue stuff through the after hours cafe!

Then on Sunday night some of us stayed up at the camp because on Monday was the camps Canada Day picnic & baseball tournament...614 lost the baseball...but we did it with style...and not many other teams had the enthusiasm that we did even when losing! Then we spent some time on the beach which was eventually rained out!!!! It pretty much rained on and off again for the rest of the day! It was good fun all in all!