Moving In . . . Starting Out

Saturday, August 17th was moving day for me.  I already had all of my stuff in boxes and suitcases, and much of it in storage.  The task that remained was to put the boxes back in my car to take them to my new apartment, and once there the real work of unpacking took place.

My friend Rachel had volunteered to help me move in - we both used it as an excuse to get together - and though I thought at first I might not need help, I was very grateful for her help throughout the afternoon.  Arriving at my new apartment around noon we carried, unpacked, organized, and decorated until around 4pm.  In typical Karlynn and Rachel style, we had a little project that needed work and tried to fix it, which turned into a rather funny situation.  The closet rod was trying to fall down - this was after we had hung stuff in the closet.  We were able to fix it, after a few laughs and reminiscing back to other somewhat similar situations when we were roommates in college.

After that we made a trip to Target.  The trip was less for the few things that we needed to buy, and more for the opportunity to get out of the apartment after spending so much focused time on unpacking.  I was very thankful to get it all finished in the one afternoon.  Rachel was helpful, but also understood when I needed to think things through to figure out where things should go.

That evening we had a welcome dinner at Gospel for Asia.  Right before dinner we were all welcomed by the School of Discipleship coordinator, and then we ate.  The students from the January class - who will be here until December - were also a part of the evening which was fun.  I had met a number of them before when I came to visit, so it was fun to meet them again.  After dinner people hung around visiting and getting to know one another as well as playing four square.  I was fairly exhausted after unpacking so I spent time visiting rather than playing.  Rachel was able to join us for dinner, other people had family members there, and unintentionally we matched each other after changing out of our moving clothes, it was kind of funny.

On Sunday the students all went to church together.  The church is actually in between our apartment complex and the office.  We walked in groups and met there before the service.  I really enjoyed the church and the pastor is preaching through Matthew.  The sermon was very good and grounded in scripture, which is very important to me.

After church we had a meeting with all of the girls and our house mentor which covered some basic details about our apartment life, the upcoming schedule, and other things we needed to know.  Then we had a potluck in the Cafe at GFA with all of the staff.  This was a great opportunity to get to meet more people.  In the afternoon some of the leaders came to pray with the different apartments as we start out our year.  Later we played volleyball.  I use that term loosely because we basically put as many people on each side of the court as we could and then hit the ball back and forth at each other - growing up we called that kind of play chicken ball.  It was fun and lasted a couple of hours.  I came in and my roommate was making quesadillas and offered me on, which I of course accepted (my roommate is from Mexico).  Then I went and had tea with another student who also enjoys tea - I introduced her to Bengal Spice and she is now a fan.

Monday through Wednesday was orientation for the School of Discipleship.  We had different staff members sharing about some of the aspects of the ministry.  We took care of schedule details, policies, and all that kind of important stuff.  We also took some tours: one was to the various locations of the previous GFA offices before our current one, another tour was around the main areas of the building, and the third one showed us important other locations such as libraries, janitor closets, emergency shelters, and the like.

Thursday we began our office placements.  I am serving in the Call Center, so in the future if you ever call GFA for something, I may be the one answering the phone and helping you with your questions.  There is a lot to learn in the call center, so I am not nearly fully trained yet, but since I started last Thursday, there has been definite progress.  We couldn't even really start training right away because of one person being gone on vacation so our supervisor was busy filling in.

Last weekend I was gone for Renee's wedding up in Edmonton, and life was very busy this past week with training.  There are many things that I need to learn to be able to answer all the questions that come in on the phones and through emails.  During our building tour - before I knew I would be in the Call Center - our tour guide told us that the people in the Call Center are some of the most knowledgeable people about the ministry because they get so many different questions, and if they do not know the answers they figure them out.  It sounded a little intimidating, but I know that God has placed me there and I want to serve there for his glory.  It is also an exciting placement because we get to interact regularly with supporters and share so much about the heart of the ministry with people who call.

The first couple of weeks have been challenging but also a blessing.  I have been challenged to daily die to myself in a variety of ways, I have learned many things, and I have been blessed to be surrounded by such a loving and encouraging Christian community.  God has a plan for this year, and though it will be hard in many ways at different times, I am excited to be here living out His plan for my life.

Amputated

Early on this summer, while I was traveling home, I went to church with Lynola, Uncle Henry & Aunt Ardie in Maple Ridge.  The sermon was about the Body of Christ, and unity in the body.  I don't remember all of it, but we were encouraged to meet new people and to get more involved in the body.  The pastor also said at one point that when someone who is actively involved leaves the local body it feels like a part of the body has been amputated.  This wasn't necessarily said as a bad thing, but the pain of amputation is a reflection of the blessing unity of the body.
After going home from church Lynola and I sat on the porch swing in the back yard.  I commented on what the pastor had said about amputation.  It stood out to me because I had just left my home church of four years to go on vacation and then move to Texas.  Sort of as a joke I commented that I had been amputated from my church.  I did not really have a problem with this because I knew that God had called me away and I was confident he would provide another church family and community for me in Texas.
Fast forward to the end of the summer.  I loved spending time in Smithers, and even getting to be there for the first weeks of their new pastor being there.  At the same time though I missed my church and the fellowship there.  I was getting tired of being in transition, and after having been 'amputated' from my church body, I was greatly looking forward to being connected to a new church body.
Transitions definitely have their challenges, but even as I adjust to living in Texas and serving with Gospel for Asia, I am very thankful for the fellowship of other believers.  I am glad that God blessed us with the local body of Christ as well as the larger body throughout the world.

The End of Summer Vacation

Wow, it has been a long time since I wrote on my blog.  So, I am going to attempt to catch up a little and go back to the last week of summer vacation in Smithers back at the beginning of August.

The day before Uncle Stan and Aunt Jeany left, Lynnea came home.  As a result, our days were filled with a variety of fun activities.  We played lawn darts, walked up town to look at the burned down building, went golfing at the Par 3 golf course, visited with friends, and even hiked to the peak of Hudson Bay Mountain.

Golfing was fun, and I actually did much better than I expected to, as long as I ignore the hole that I did in 9 shots and the one I did in 8 shots.  I think the last time I golfed is over 8 years ago.  One thing hasn't changed though, I still try to get the most for my money and make sure I hit the ball lots of times.

The day we hiked the mountain was cooler than the previous days, at least it started that way.  I actually got quite cold before we got to the top.  Some of the time we got a little damp from the clouds, and the farther we got, the windier it was.  The view was gorgeous, and of course we signed the book at the top.

We made it to the top!

Looking over the glacier towards town.

In honor of Lynnea's birthday on August 12, we drove to southern BC.  I am not sure how many of her birthdays have been spent driving, but it is a lot of them.  We stopped for sundaes as 'birthday cake' en route.  The next day we hung out at Uncle Henry and Aunt Ardie's house for the day.  Dad, Lynnea, and Janine picked 3 gallons of blackberries, which were delicious.  Cousin James and Vanessa came up for dinner, which was fun.  I enjoyed getting to meet Vanessa.

The next morning mom, dad, Lynnea, and Janine left early to go to Vancouver Island to help Janine move to her new home in Duncan.  I got picked up a little later by Aunt Marian and she brought me to catch a shuttle to Seattle so that I could fly to Texas.

I spent a couple of days in Plano at Cousin David and Jackie's house once I got to Texas.  It was relaxing, but it also gave me the time to finish up a bunch of last minute details
before I moved in to my new home at Gospel for Asia.

The end of summer was quite busy, but it was filled with fun activities and good times with relatives.  It was a blessing to be able to visit Smithers this summer, enjoy the beauty of the Bulkley Valley, and spend time with friends and family.

Water Activities

Today involved a variety of water activities.  When I woke up the sprinkler was on in the front yard and hitting my window - okay, that isn't one of the activities but it just came to mind when I was thinking about water.

First off was hiking to the base of Twin Falls.  The weather has been nice and hot, so it was a great day to go get completely soaked.  I go there basically every summer, but I cannot remember seeing the creek so muddy and high (I wouldn't have wanted to drink any of it today).  The left waterfall was really raging and the right waterfall was very small.  We were already feeling mist from the falls right after we crossed the rock face.  Getting down to the pool at the bottom of the waterfall was more work than usual.  I had a harder than usual time seeing to even get down to the pool, and I think I stepped into the water a little and then a wave came and soaked my foot (not that I noticed much because my shoes were already soaked).  The force of the wind from the waterfall even blew Aunt Jeany's sunglasses downstream.

me, Janine, Uncle Stan
- soaking wet from the waterfall

After Twin Falls we headed to Lake Kathlyn.  Mom and I kayaked from Lester's house over to where Janine is house sitting.  We spent time using kayaks, floating on the water, sitting on the dock, and getting in the water.  It was a beautiful afternoon.

While returning the kayaks to Lester's house, someone from our school community was coming back in with his Hobie Cat (a dual hull sailboat).  I had been watching him throughout the afternoon.  He was going to put his boat up and head home for dinner, but asked if any of us wanted a ride.  I definitely did.  It was a lot of fun to go sailing again, and it was only the second time I had been on a Hobie Cat.  One really neat part was that he had a harness, so I was in the harness, attached by a wire to the top of the mast, and then standing out above the water with my feet on the edge of the boat.  Not only was it fun, but it also helped to balance the boat.  We did ride on only one hull for a little while when we were going quite fast.  After going down the lake and coming back, I let him know that it would be fine if he needed to go.  I thought it was great, and it made me smile because his name was Doug and I have sailed many times with a different Doug in Louisiana.

Bringing in the Hobie Cat

It was a great day to spend on/in/around the water.

Canadian Experience

Yesterday evening Janine and I went to Tim Horton's.  It seems like a good thing to do while I am in Canada, seeing as it is a Canadian restaurant.  Neither of us actually ordered coffee.  Following my tradition, I ordered an apple fritter - yummy!  Yesterday I was pleased to learn that Tim Horton's has white hot chocolate and for the same price as regular hot chocolate.

Notice the French - I am in Canada

Even though it was the end of July, Janine and I were both a little chilly and able to enjoy the fact that we had hot drinks.

Evening at the Lake

This evening I biked to the far side of Lake Kathlyn to go kayaking.  The lighting on the clouds made for a few neat pictures.

Before heading out

Biking home: the sun going down

Hike to Blue Lakes

Thursday I got up early for summer vacation.  Anytime I am not working, I try to avoid getting up before 7am, but sometimes I make exceptions.

Mom, dad, and I drove to Janine's friend's house to meet up with Janine and some of her friend's family to go hiking to Blue Lakes.  While we were waiting for them, I took a picture of the view from the front of their house.  This was the first of three (or maybe four if you count the smaller separate piece on its own) glaciers I saw that day.

Twin Falls Glacier on Hudson Bay Mountain

We had about a 45 min drive to get to the bottom of the trail, during which we passed another glacier.  We parked the van and all piled into the other family's new vehicle because it has 4 wheel drive.  After a few more kilometers of unmaintained road, we reached the final parking lot.  From there we had a nice hike to the lakes.  The hike itself was not too steep, there were a few steep sections, but the trail had a few downhill sections as well.  There was a combination of hiking in the trees and open areas.  The views were beautiful.

The lower Blue Lake

There were two Blue Lakes.  The first one was well below our trail and had a waterfall pouring into it.  The second lake was higher up, and we got to go right up to this lake.  We ate lunch beside this higher lake.  The lakes come from glacier melt, so the water is very cold and also very blue.  The glacier is well above the higher lake, which then drains - by way of the waterfall - into the lower lake.

The higher Blue Lake - our lunch spot

After some time walking around barefoot in the marshy area near the lake we ventured into the water.  Although I was not as enthusiastic as my sister, I did get far enough out into the water to touch the 'blue'.  The blue water also marks the drop-off under water.  I approached it cautiously because I did not want to get completely wet by going over the edge.  Janine did far better and actually ended up getting mostly wet and getting fully into the 'blue'.  We were trying to guess the water temperature, and decided it was maybe a degree above freezing.

Going out to touch the 'blue'

Some time later we headed back down the trail.  One aspect of hiking in the north is that when I ran out of water, I just had to fill my water bottle up at the next stream we crossed.  Or, if my water was getting warm and I wanted fresher cold water, I could refill my water bottle.  The stream water tastes better than tap water and is cold enough to make my hands go numb after a few minutes.

Filling my water bottle

The beauty and diversity of the hike continually pointed to the creativity and greatness of God.  From the huge mountains to the tiny flowers, God made them all and continues to take care of them.
"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"