My Year In A Nutshell

I can't believe it is already December 30!  After today there is only one more day of 2010!  This year has flown by way too fast! 

Last week I sat down to write a summary of my year for my parent's Christmas letter and it caused me to take time to reflect on everything my year has held.  I find it hard to believe where I was a year ago compared to where I am today.  A lot has changed...physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.  I'm not the same person I was last year, which is a good thing! 

Looking back on where I was last year, there was a quote from a song by Sanctus Real that really spoke to me, and at this time last year I made it "my" quote for 2010.  Little did I know how many times that quote would come back this year...

"Whatever You're doing inside of me, it feels like chaos, but somehow there's peace. Though it's hard to surrender to what I cannot see, I'm giving into something heavenly..."

As I have gone through this year I have seen glimpses of God doing "something heavenly!"  Even in the chaos and pain, God has been right there by my side showing me that nothing is impossible for Him! 

The year started off in an interesting way where God answered a prayer I didn't know would ever be answered!  During that time I was also beginning my second semester of Tourism Management.  In the second semester of school I started to get to know some of my classmates better and eventually became good friends with one of them!  (And I get to see her soon!  I'm so excited!!! :) 

At the end of the semester my church had a Women's Conference where Lisa Bevere came and spoke!  It was a great conference, but little did I know how the title of "Moving Forward" was going to directly impact me and my family.  Shortly after the conference was over I found out my dad was offered a job somewhere I least expected...the province of my birth.  I felt at peace about it at the beginning.  I knew that because of things that were going on in our church that we needed this change in order to "move forward" in our lives.  Although I felt at peace about it at first, and knew if the answer was yes for my parents that I would be joining them, the hardship of actually picking up and leaving would be really tough to deal with. 

In June the house went up for sale, and I found myself dreading the fall.  The summer months went by way too fast, but also way too slow at the same time.  The thought of leaving consumed my mind, and I tried to take in every moment that I had left in my beautiful city. 

September brought many changes for me schooling wise.  I completely changed my focus from Tourism to Nursing and I am currently "attempting" to do science classes through a distance university...it's proven to be much harder and more time consuming than I expected! 

September also brought other changes as well.  I was adjusting to my new city, to my new church, and to my new life.  I met a few people in September, but I still really missed BC and the life I had there.  BUT, once October hit things began to change, and change fast!  I started to get to know my new friends better.  I started to feel more at home.  I started to realize that despite the fear I had of getting to know new friends, and potentially forgetting the old, that God really was working, and that He has a plan for me.  I like what Pastor Chris said to me on Sunday as he was praying for me:  God has called me here.  It's not just my parent's calling...it's also my calling.  God has a plan for me here.  It took a long time to realize, but I think I'm finally seeing it now! 

I've written about it before, and I'm sure I'll write about it many times in the future, but living here has been a blessing.  (I feel like a broken record!  Haha!)  You see, all my life I had a prayer for friends.  Real, true friends.  Not that I didn't have that in BC, but they were very few and far between.  I knew LOTS of people, but those people didn't really know me, and many of them didn't seem like they wanted to.  Sometimes they would acknowledge me and my efforts to get to know them, but other times they would ignore me.  It was usually the latter.  Maybe it was just my perception, but that's how I felt.  And it hurt, lots.  So, I had a prayer that God would bring me a friend...a friend on the same page as me.  A friend I could relate with.  A friend I could laugh with, and cry with.  A friend who I know I'll still be close friends with when I'm 90...  At times in my life I wasn't sure if my prayer would ever be answered, because it was taking SO long!  Yet, here I find myself literally overwhelmed with the welcome I have recieved here in my new home.  Already I have met more people I call friends than I could have ever imagined!  And I trust these friends are those "forever friends" I was praying for!  I am amazed! 

The end of the song I wrote about at the beginning of this post goes like this, "Whatever You're doing inside of me, it feels like chaos, but now I can see.  This is something bigger than me, larger than life, something heavenly.  Something heavenly." 

So maybe this year has been full of chaos and wondering if God really has a plan in everything that's gone on, but I can finally see that He is doing something.  I can't always see it, but He's always working.  Even in the midst of change, chaos, pain, joy, and calm, He is there.  Like another song by Matt Redman goes "Oh no You never let go, through the calm and through the storm.  Oh no You never let go, in every high and every low.  Oh no You never let go.  Lord You never let go of me."

So that's been my year...in a nutshell, with a little bit of rambling. 

Have a wonderful New Years, and may the Lord abundantly bless you in 2011! 

Interesting Quote!

I just read an interesting quote that is in the sidebar of my new archaeology Bible. It's a really good one so I wanted to share it with you!

"Some people make a habit of going about bearing the Name, but with evil deceit: They do things that are unworthy of God. You must turn from these as you would turn from wild beasts, for they are ravenous dogs that bite secretly. You must be on guard against them; they are almost incurable. There is one physician: He is both flesh and spirit; he is born and unborn; he is God in man; he is true life in death; he is from Mary and from God; he first suffered and then was beyond suffering; he is Jesus Christ our Lord."
~Ignatius of Antioch

Merry (Belated) Christmas!

Merry (belated) Christmas!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day, I sure did! 

I honestly can't believe Christmas has come and gone already, but I'm finding it harder to believe that there are only 3 more full days in 2010!  Where has the time gone?! 

Christmas this year felt different than any other year.  In the days leading up to Christmas, including Christmas Eve, I didn't feel like Christmas was upon us.  It was a weird feeling.  On Christmas Day my siblings and I kept mentioning how it didn't feel like Christmas.  We figure it is because we were in a completely new setting this year.  It was weird being in a different house and different environment this year! (In BC every year we wondered if we would have a white Christmas or not.  The exact opposite was true this year.  We've had a lot of snow since the beginning of November!)

Despite it not feeling like Christmas, I enjoyed having my mom's parents here as we celebrated Jesus' birth!  This year we started something new right after our Scripture reading...we went around from youngest to oldest saying something we are thankful for.  I know that's what Thanksgiving was for, but it seemed fitting to give thanks during a season where we have so much to be thankful for, yet voicing our thankfulness is often overlooked in the busyness of the season.  I don't know about the rest of my family, but I found that moment to be very emotional as I sat back and thought about how much I truly have to be thankful for!  We each mentioned one or two things, but truthfully we could have spent the entire day talking about everything God has given to us!

After our family time we did our gift exchange!  I think the most exciting part of the gift exchange was when my parents opened the gift up that I had succeeded in stumping them with!  One of my new friends, Sarah, came up with an idea to make an I O U for both our parents which basically is that both our families will get together in the new year and all the children will make the meal so that they don't have to worry about it!  I had a lot of fun planning it out with Sarah!  Now we just need to find a time when both our large families can get together! 

As for me, I ended up getting what I had asked for, which really surprised me!  My parents gave me the new Ultimate Wilton set!!  I am so excited about it!  I spent the rest of Christmas day figuring out how all my new "toys" work and organizing them in the carrying case that came with it!  Now I am completely set to take all three Wilton cake courses someday!  Now that I'm thinking about cake decorating, I should probably stop blogging so I can finish decorating the cupcakes I started last night!  My Aunt and Uncle are coming tonight, and it would be nice if the cupcakes were actually ready to be eaten!  Ha!

Goodbyes...

I'm not going to lie or exaggerate, saying goodbyes is one of the worst feelings in the world.  It's hard to believe that on August 17 of this year I said goodbye to my city.  I said goodbye to my friends.  I said goodbye to the life I had enjoyed for 9 years. 

That goodbye was one of the hardest of my life.  I had spent my entire teenage/early young adult years in that city.  It seemed as though I'd live there forever.  Moving was out of the question, or so I thought.  Giving up what I knew didn't ever seem like a possibility.  My intent was to live there the rest of my life. 

But, I was wrong.  In August I said goodbye to all I knew to set out on the hardest adventure of my life.  Like I said, I said goodbye to my city, to my friends, to my coworkers, to my aquaintences, to my neighbours, to life as I knew it. 

For many weeks (it seemed like many lifetimes) I had the hardest time accepting my new life.  Though I chose to move to SK with my family it still was extremely rough.  I missed the mountains.  I missed the friends I had.  I was afraid to move on.  But moving on is what I was supposed to do.  Though I had moved many times before, this was the hardest move.  Or maybe it was the hardest because the other ones are now distant memories...almost like memories of someone else living a life similar to mine.

Little did I know what would await me in my new city, and in my new church.  Though I struggled for a long time with feeling at home, there were so many people I met.  People at church and at Bible Study who reached out to me.  I've written about it before, so I'm not going to go back into the details of how blessed I've been.  Yet, I just want to say I have been blessed.  I am blessed. 

There are a few people who I have gotten especially close to.  Mostly we've gotten close because we go to the same Bible Study (which I've also written about before...), but I guess really when it comes down to it, we've become closer friends because that's what God had planned. 

Tonight was possibly the last time I'll see my closest of those closer friends before she moves away.  Saying goodbye tonight reminded me of everything I had to say goodbye to 4 months ago.  Only it's not me saying goodbye to all those things/people.  It's me saying goodbye to the closest friend I've had in years.  Well, it's not really goodbye..it's see you later.  Whenever later may be!

Goodbyes are very difficult for me.  Since I moved a lot they remind me of everything that was.  They remind me of all the dreams I had.  They remind me of every single friendship that fell apart because of friends I had who one day decided they wanted nothing to do with the friendship we had built up.  They remind me of the anxiousness of moving forward, and the fears of forgetting what was.  Goodbyes just hurt. 

I know in my heart that this goodbye is not anything like those hurtful or broken goodbyes.  This goodbye is one that leads to so much for my dear friend.  It's a see you later that whenever that later comes we'll laugh, talk, and drink lots of tea again and again, remembering these past four months, but also talking about what God has brought each of us through and how He is using each of us to further His Kingdom. 

Yet this goodbye is still extremely tough because I'm going to miss my friend... 

Kim, you will be missed!  I am so grateful though that God brought you into my life, and me into your life.  Thanks for all the memories of the past few months.  In these few months you have honestly been an answer to a prayer that I've prayed for years.  A prayer for a real, true friend!  I didn't expect that prayer to be answered so quickly after I met you, but it did!  And I certainly didn't expect that God would have to take me all the way to SK for it either, but He did! :) 

God bless you [empower you to succeed] as you leave...  Jeremiah 29:11

...I better hit publish now before I end up crying too much that I can't see it!  (Sorry, these type of things are very emotional for me!)

Here's a song I wanted to share.  I heard it again today (after years of not hearing it) and it reminded me of my promise to pray for you Kim.  Sorry the video and sound isn't the best.  It's the only YouTube version I can seem to find! 

Our Amazing Body

I hope you have taken a look at my previous post (and watched the video) that I wrote after I went to the Science Center this past Saturday.  If not, I hope you do, and that you take a moment to watch the video clip.  I had more to say about that post, but being how busy life has been lately I ran out of time to write it that day, and now I can't remember what it was.  Sorry!  The video clip pretty much sums up everything I was thinking during and after I watched the video on the Hubble Space Telescope.

After I watched the IMax video on the Hubble Telescope, I went to see the Human Body Display.  Can I just say WOW!!  It was incredible!

This exhibit has been travelling around the world for awhile now, and if you have the chance to I would suggest you go and see it!  This display takes real human bodies (it's not really as gross or disturbing as it sounds) and puts them on display to show how the different parts of the body are formed.  There were parts of the display on the nervous system, the respiratory system, the skeletal system, the muscular system, etc. 
Right now I'm studying the human body in school, but all the pictures I have seen can not even be compared to seeing the actual thing right in front of me.  It was incredible!  It amazes me to think about how our body is put together perfectly.  There are so many tiny parts to it that on their own seem useless, but when joined with the other parts of the body they are absolutely necessary! 

My absolute favourite part of the exhibit was the prenatal area.  Going into it I wasn't sure what to expect because seeing that these were real human beings, I thought it might be too hard to take.  It was sad, but I reminded myself as I walked through it that every single one of those babies were in heaven right now.  Knowing that made me able to learn from their lives as I saw what I otherwise would never have seen. 

There were four tiny little containers sitting in the middle of the display.  Four tiny babies.  The biggest was 5 months gestation and was no bigger than my thumb.  The smallest was too small to see. 

The one that impacted me the most was the baby at 8 weeks gestation.  8 weeks.  He/she was so tiny, yet absolutely perfect.  I could see where the ears were going to be formed.  I could see the arms and the legs.  I could see the spot on it's face where it's eyes would be.  And as I stood there overcome by the tiny details of this little one, I thought of Psalm 139: 13-14:

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

How anyone who sees that tiny baby can still look at him or her and still believe that it is not a human is honestly beyond me!  To me that baby was absolutely beautiful.  They all were.  They were all knit together in their mothers' wombs and they were all wonderfully made.  And right now they are all in heaven praising Jesus!  How amazing!!

It doesn't surprise me that the part of the entire display was the small prenatal section.  I enjoyed all the rest but there was something especially special about the prenatal section.  It grabbed my heart and reminded me about the beauty of life and how each and every one of us are miracles knit together by the very hand of God!  How amazing is that!!

Our Amazing Universe!

I don't have a lot of time to write right now, as I have many things I need to get done before church tonight, but I have something I really want to share with you all!

This afternoon my mom, myself, our friend Sherri, Sherri's son and son's friend, all went to the Science Center to see the Human Body Display that is currently there.

My mom and I decided to go earlier to see a film at the IMax on the Hubble Space Telescope.  It was in 3D and it was amazing!  It blew my mind away!  I was expecting something great...because anything showing the vastness of our amazing universe is...but I was sitting in my seat and had to remind myself to breathe because it was SO amazing!  I literally felt like I was travelling through space!  The stars were all coming at me, and when it showed the astronauts it felt like they were right in front of me and that if I reached out my hand I would touch them!  I sat there in my seat thinking about how huge the universe is.  This is what came to mind:  (What I thought of is at 6:50, but I would honestly suggest watching the whole Indescribable Passion Talk Video from Passion 268.  It shows how amazing the universe is that God has created!)



I guess I've run out of time for today!  To Be Continued...

All About Me Day 30 - A Dream For The Future...Beyond Next Year

Wow!  Here is the final post in the "All About Me In 30 Days" blog hop!

I can't believe this day has finally come!  Not that I haven't enjoyed it, because I have, I just realized I wasn't very good at writing a post every day.  Sorry!  I'm sure you have all learned a lot about me though!  Some of these topics were tough ones!

I'll end this series by giving you a glimpse of the dream I have for my future.  I have shared bits and pieces before, but this way, like with the previous post, you'll be able to see it all in one spot!

Well, pretty much the top thing on my "future priority list" is to get married and have kids.  I'm still waiting big time on that one!  Come on my future husband!  Seriously though, there are moments when I am content in the season of life I'm in, but there are more times than not when I wonder when God will bring my Prince Charming my way.  I just have to remind myself it is all in His perfect timing, and whenever that timing is, I'll just be glad it was then and not sooner or later.  (At least that what I tell myself!)

Another big dream I have for my future is to be able to stay debt free.  I'm not sure how in the world that will happen, but it's a dream I have for my entire life! 

Educationally, my dream is to eventually graduate as an RN and take further courses to become a certified Neonatal Nurse Practitioner!  I am SO excited about it!  I was watching TLC's Untold Stories of the ER tonight and at the end my heart almost burst because of how the doctors and nurses were able to spare the patient's lives!  I can't wait to have that opportunity!!

As for other dreams beyond next year, I can't really think of any right now.  I know there are some, but I've written the three major ones.  And now it's time for me to stop my blogging spree for the evening and go to bed.

I have written 5 posts tonight!!  Amazing!  But what is even more amazing is that this post is post 100!  Wow! 

So, now that you've gone through this blog hop, I hope that you have been able to see my heart and know a little bit more of who I am. 

I hope you have enjoyed 'getting to know me'!  If you have anything else you want to know, leave a comment.  Who knows, maybe one day I'll write another blog series like this one to answer the questions, or maybe I'll just answer them individually.  Ask away!