Being a Terrible Blogger.

I have come to the conclusion that I am terrible at this.
The blogging thing I mean.
As it turns out, although I love my mac, and am on it everyday, and I love the idea of sharing my experiences, I very seldomly find myself wanting to post a new blog.
Which is unfortunate.

It's not as though I don't enjoy talking, anyone who knows me will know that that is a lie. It's just that I find articulating my thoughts, ideas, and memories a daunting task. In a face to face conversation, I am able to guage the other persons interest in what I am saying, and also allow them to steer the conversation. But when it comes to blogging, it is up to me to not only deliver my entire side of the conversation, all at once, with no breaks, but also to keep you (the reader) interested enough to read to the end of my blog.
Daunting indeed.

I guess this is where most people enjoy the idea of blogging. Being able to say what ever you want, how ever you want to, without having to argue, elaborate or explain anything.
I on the other hand, would much rather have a real conversation. Going back and forth and really getting a sense of the people or person that I'm talking to. But traveling this much, and meeting people with whom I may never have the chance to speak with face to face again, sort of puts a kink in my communication wishes.

So here is my promise to you.
I will try one hundred times harder, especially on my travels, to take better verbal notes on my missionary experiences. I promise that not another trip will pass without you feeling as though you were part of everything from the takeoff to the landing. (I will also try not to ONLY post when sitting in an airport... That might get boring.)

I hope that you will enjoy it.
I hope that you will feel as though you really are traveling with me.
I hope you can see the faces that I grow to love, and feel the emotions that our world evokes in me.
And I hope, more then anything else, that you will continue to walk with me.

Home Again

Home Again!
Back in Grande Prairie after what I can only explain as my most amazing outreach so far.
Israel was everything I could have hoped and at the same time nothing that I could have ever imagined. I will of course get more into that later and post some of the stories and pictures from that trip.
This is sort of just a little message to say that I'm going back on staff in Tyler Texas!! And although it's not what I thought I would be doing right now, I am very excited and I know that this is what God wants for me.
Please keep me in your prayers, as this means that I now need to raise 650 dollars a month for support, and I only have 3 months to do it. But, God is huge. And great. And I trust Him with all that I am.

Back in the South.

The first thing that I noticed upon stepping out of the airport in Dallas was the smell. I must have noticed it before, but never really let it register. This state definitely has a defining odor. Not necessarily a bad one, but theres no denying that it is there. It's a smell that to me means a time when everything was so new and exciting. It means a period of my life when I spent all my time doing what makes me happy with people who make my heart smile. It's a smell that I love.
Baked earth. Fresh rain. Thick sweet southern air.
Oh Texas, how I've missed you.

Ecclesiastes-

Sometimes I look back on the things I've been able to do and places I've been blessed enough to visit. It's during those times that I really see God's face. During my day to day life, I feel like I tend to forget how much I've been given. I take a lot for granted. I start to fall back into my old habits. Then something as simple as a smile from a stranger, an song, a note that was forgotten in an old purse, an email from an unexpected friend, will bring me back to the times that are engraved on my heart.
It's sad that great trips, and wonderful relationships come to an end, but everything has it's time. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon talks about how everything has it's season.
"A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance." (Eccl. 3:3-4)
So maybe after every amazing journey there comes a tear filled goodbye. But all that that means is that there will be another chance to build up again. More to explore. More to adventure. More to experience.
I feel like there will be a great time for me to dance in the near future.

Packing up again.

As I mentioned before, I'm getting ready to head down to Texas again to embark on a new journey. Destination: Israel.
I've finally booked my flight. (Last minute, I know, but I'm a horrible procrastinator.) And I will be flying out of good old Grande Prairie on June 20th!
There are a few ends that need to be tied up here before I leave though, as I'm finding it difficult to raise/make enough money to pay off the outreach. It seems that my last trip set me back a little more then I would have liked, and unfortunately I haven't had a lot of time home in between to work on my finances.
But I have faith. And I'm trying to step out as much as I can to make room for some help from the Big Man.

Oh one last thing before I forget. I have been handing out a lot of newsletters and contact cards to people as I run into them, and unfortunately have been forgetting to get addresses from them. It will make it easier for me to mail my future newsletters then to wait until I run into them again. So please, if you are one of those people would you email me your address, email address, and any other contact information, so that I can keep better contact with you. Thanks so much!

Remembering..

I was thinking a lot today about Brazil. People I met. Places I saw and lived. Smells, sounds, tastes.
The sun. Oh I loved the sun there. It was so much different then any sun I had ever felt before. When I would look up during the day, I could have sworn it was light years closer then the sun in Canada. It was bigger, yes, but also brighter. The yellows, oranges and reds had a richness and saturation that I never could have imagined. And the heat. It was magical. In the morning, the sun-rises were made of colors so beautiful that someone could just sit there and watch as gray turned into purple, purple into pink, pink into golds and blues. The heat from that sun would heat my skin in a second. Not burning heat, but a light warm heat that made you feel like all of your skin was being hugged by the softest blanket.
There are so many times that I wish I could re-live.
So many things I wish I could do over again.

Israel; Making it real.

Recently I was talking with the leaders of the group that I'm joining going to Israel. We were trying to estimate a price for the entire trip, which is of course something that I dread doing. It always seems that the estimated amount ends up being a) wayyy more then I would like, and b) smaller then what the actual cost turns out to be.
So we came up with about $3000. That's from Michigan to Israel back to Texas, and everything in the month in between. Unfortunately for me, that wont be my only cost. I still need a round trip to Chicago, and back from Dallas (and aren't I so lucky that that happens to be international, I still think Canadian/US government needs to figure out a way for that to be easier). Plus the expenses for my two weeks in Michigan and few weeks in Texas.
Luckily the leaders contacted me again yesterday to let me know that they found round trip flights for around $1400. For anyone who has traveled to the middle east, you'll know that that is a really amazing price.
So as of right now, I think I'm looking at about $5000 for the entire thing. I'm hoping and praying for less, but for now thats my marker. It's a lot easier after all to have raised more money then needed rather then the other way around.

So please, be praying for me. And if you so feel led, please, please contact me for information on donating financially, and becoming a partner with me in my missionary work.

Thanks! Alex.