indescribable.

what's better than looking back on a really sweet trip with really sweet people?

looking back on it with the new tegan and sara album in your ears. i'm only three tracks in but it seems really rad.

so we just got back from tofino, which was pretty sick. we're super blessed to be joined by four former kaleos for this week - kevin, brady (both of whom i already know quite well) and two others, jordan and rob, both of whom i met at briercrest this last february. as well as being joined by random qwanoes staff (past and present) and other friends of k7 who sat in on our chapels and spent time with us while we stayed in a church in ucluelet.

by far the highlight of the trip was the chapels. hearing josh's, mark's and james' respective stories was so great, to see all that God's done in them to bring them here, all that He's doing in them here and as well to realize what He's doing through them here, ways He's using them each to sharpen us in ways they perhaps don't even realize. i'm realizing just how big our love for eachother is growing, especially after today, hearing from the former kaleos, how our names are starting to be written on eachother's hearts. it's incredible.

so that, i suppose, is a prayer request for me; i feel as if i could share my story soon, so just that it would be the right time and God would guide my words, etc, to recklessly abandon walls and reservations and be transparent.

and a few photos (long overdue)

caving; me and james
me and bo
saltspring island with nate and jer
this guy mark began the market like 50 years ago, and gave us a ride.
the market
SALTS crew
me and claire up top
view from above
john and myself
mt albert edwards

'cause i'm having a good time.

following last weekend's thanksgiving hippie trip, jer, nate and myself returned to kaleo to find that our surf trip had been cancelled. to be completely honest, i wasn't devestated; we had so much pre-course work for hermeneutics (we had our first class today - six hours!) and i've been sick for the last two weeks, wouldn't be surfing anyways... so this was really a blessing. instead of surfing, we went caving which was pretty sick, and the guys had a rad night at jim's where we ate steak and went to a park and played grounders (a nice little revert to elementary school) and had some rad talks and stuff... and then this weekend me and tim headed out to see tessa's baptism. it was a surprise that almost got blown so many times but still managed to work out great. we stayed at allana's, which was so rad to be back at, and had a whole bunch of people over and it was so sweet to see so many people again. over the weekend i got to see a whole bunch of people who i am becoming more and more thankful for every time i see and/or think about them. it's weird... i expected a rad weekend, and i had a rad weekend, but i didn't expect to come away so stoked on everything and everyone and feeling more blissed-out than i have in a long time (the last two weeks have kind of been building this up).

however, nothing gold can stay, and today was our first day back in class. this isn't a bad thing at all... unless your head is pounding, your nose is running, your throat is full of junk and your stomach feels like it's been run over by a semi. the sickness i've been battling with advil and water and rest for the past week and a bit has struck worse than ever and i'm fighting to stay awake & composed right now. so i guess that's a prayer request! haha... that i could feel better and enjoy this week and just kill this sickness because it's fighting to rob me of the great time i'm having. 'cause, i'm having a good time.

peace be with you, miss you and hope you're well.

i'm back in vic tonight.

i'm currently sitting in my friend lauren's living room in victoria, and the four of us who are here are all on our laptops, having a blog party. this past week has been non-stop and this is pretty much the only chance i've had to sit down on the computer for any sufficient time for blogging... so here goes.

one week ago today, we kaleos packed up, woke up and rolled out of campus to head to the harbour in victoria, to head on our SALTS trip. i'm going to be honest, i wasn't expecting a tonne from this trip - essentially five days on a tall ship with no showers and no privacy and no facebook or itunes. sure, i figured it'd be fun, that it'd be a cool experience, but i had no idea how sweet it would be. from the moment i stepped onboard the pacific grace, i was amazed at the ship's crew... perhaps some of the most Christlike people i have ever met. we were divided into three different watch groups; i was in port watch, which became known as "team pan-pan" (due to some near-capsizing experiences on our lifeboat). throughout the week, we'd have shifts being on watch and steering the boat and listening for distress calls on the radio, which might sound like a lot of work but it was pretty much the most chill time ever. the only real difficult task was night watch, where two people would be on-deck at all times throughout the night, making sure that we didn't drift into rocks or get attacked by pirates, etc. we'd all have one-hour shifts, and i usually scored some time between 2 and 4 a.m., but it was pretty valuable time once we'd drag ourselves out of bed. it turned into really rad bonding time for some of us... which is, i suppose, what the whole week was. by the end of the week, it became clear just how much our community is building and how big our story's arc is shaping up to be.

after getting back from SALTS, i had about 20 minutes to shower and get ready for youth group, and was almost wishing i had more time to rest between but i'm so glad i went. the heart of these youth really reminds me of that of my own youth group - the youth decided (and it was entirely their idea) to hold a thanksgiving banquet for the community around, and so the basement was packed with people of all walks of life - none churchgoers, but all full of joy and fantastic turkey. and the youth loved it, they were so excited afterwards. it was phenomenal.

after that, i went back to pacific woods lodge, slept (finally), and first thing in the morning me and my fellow kaleos jeremy and nate took off to pender island, which actually meant we headed to saltspring island and hitch-hiked from one side to the other. it was really sweet, saltspring has a cool vibe. after spending the night and following morning at nate's grandparents' house, we ended up coming to victoria due to ferry issues with the holiday monday and such, and stayed at my good friend lauren's house, and meeting up with old friends.

and through this has come one of the coolest blessings ever: lauren's mom is really into photography, and has a whole bunch of cameras, and for a while i've been scoping out slr's. so it turns out lauren's mom had someone give her a really sweet film slr camera, for someone who really wants it, and (i can hardly believe this) i get to try it out for the next little bit! i don't know how long i'll have it for, when she wants it back, etc, but i'm excited to have it at least for a bit.

and stoked on the week/month/year ahead!

form.

hey friends. so it's almost 3 weeks into kaleo at this point, and things are so hectic, it's ridic! but cool.

this past week we had our first course: spiritual formations with marv penner. it was a really sweet week of looking into how culture views our spirituality and how that differs from how Christ designed our spirituality, we looked at different spiritual disciplines - a lot of which were straightforward but an equal amount are largely overlooked or go undiscussed. it was cool to see the conversations that the classes inspired; the great stuff it gave us to mull over, and bounce ideas around about. we ended the course with a final, but not your typical final; we just got to head off and spend 2 and a half hours on our own with God. i'm gonna be honest, i had no idea what to expect, but i came with my bible, camper profiles, and a large list of people to pray for, as well as a journal and portfolio, so i was sure to be prepared. what ended up happening was pretty sweet: as the time went on, and i prayed for people and situations i've long left unprocessed, things became a lot more conversational between me and Him. it was really, really rad. we ended things with communion down on the dock which was incredible.

as for my ministry at st andrews, the youth group is so rad. it's been so cool to hang out with these youth the last couple of weeks, hear where they're coming from and just things going on in their life. we went to the corn maze this last friday and it was pretty sweet to see the youth group in full (a lot of them had been away with their school in earlier weeks) and be welcomed in.

tomorrow we head to SALTS, so we'll be sailing around the island & surrounding area in a pirate ship-looking thing. i'm pretty stoked! there'll be lots of photos, i'm sure.

if you could please just be praying for the ministries we're involved in here, for safety (but still adventure... so maybe some near-danger) for this trip ahead, and for more walls to be coming down with our group. i'm realizing that i really need to open up more; i've been really guarded... sooo pray for that please.

peace out, love ya guys.