i realize just how beautiful you are, and how great your affections are for me.

oh man, what a week this has been. o.t. lit has come and gone, and today we had our final exam. as much as i enjoyed the course, i was sick all week and don't think i retained very much because of this... so we'll see how i did on the exam.

otherwise, things have been going a million miles an hour. there's been so much going on, it's hard to process it all. this weekend was the senior high retreat for qwanoes, and i served primarily as an all-star, and was super-blessed to have so many friends from back home (and my brother! so rad) here for the weekend. a bunch of guys from the small group i led last year with my church's middle school youth group came, and it was such a blessing to see them and be reminded of all that's going on back in coquitlam. it was so cool to see God working in the connections made between campers and counsellors.

church yesterday was also a really sweet time. there was a guest speaker, a guy from the young life ministry actually, and as i sat there i got so excited for all that young life is doing and all that was being said about this generation of teens that needs to be spoken. i was also made very thankful for the things that made my adolescence atypical: the guy spoke about the longing that the majority of teenagers have to spend meaningful time with adults, and the fact that only 2-3% of a teen's time will usually be spent with adults (all these statistics raising the question of how they are supposed to learn to actually be adults)... and i became really thankful that i was blessed enough to be an exception to this trend and have an abundance of mentors pouring into me through my last two years of high school especially. it's also made me continue to chew on the idea of working with young life; i'd been entertaining the possibility earlier this fall and a bit this summer but pushed it to the side, but it's really something i'll need to pray about.

this week is the 24/7 week of prayer, and so far it's been incredible. i've had a few hours in the room (hour-long shifts, with one or two of us in there at all times) so far, and it's been incredible to see the things that are being offered up. the walls are becoming covered with transparent prayers and requests and questions and celebrations... it's so great. me and tim started 'er off yesterday, and spent a lot of time sharing things with each other, things that i think we both really benefitted from bringing to light. we shared with each other, knowing that when believers come together in his name, God shows up. it was cool.

later on yesterday, i had my first solo time in the room, which was great as well. there are portraits of each of the students lining the room, and i spent the majority of the time walking around the room, praying for each of them. it was incredibly encouraging when i realized that, with two or three exceptions, i've grown to know almost everyone enough to offer up substantial prayers for them. it was an incredible time, and i spent all day today eager for the hour me and matt were going to be in there.

i didn't really know what to expect as far as spending the hour with another person goes (me and tim were in there more to fill in the time between when our whole kaleo group met in there and when the first person on the schedule came in, so it was much less than an hour), but it was a really sweet time in which me and matt shared parts of our stories with each other, prayed for each other and for k7 in general, walking around the room and looking at the things that had been put up - broken pleas, huge encouragements, hopes for the year, and prayers that we could echo and respond to. it's mostly anonymous, and we both contributed to it ourselves, but such a good lens with which to view our group, transparent and raw and full of things to pray for, expectant. i know that for me at least, the things i've put up have ranged quite a bit in content, and i'm realizing there's an abundance of things for me to express, both thankful things and broken things, and situations or struggles that need light brought to them, hope delivered to the hopeless. i'm eager to see what comes out of this week, and honestly an hour a day doesn't seem like enough.

however, there's tonnes of other stuff that needs seeing to this week. i have one paper due tonight (midnight) that is about 75% done, a far larger one due friday that has yet to be started, then two books that must be read, one requiring a response and the other a four-page paper, two days after that. i'm starting to feel the pressure, and i'm fairly certain i did poorly on the exam today, so if you could be praying for the academic side of things as well i'd be really thankful. i'd love to know what i could be lifting up this week for you as well, as i've got no shortage of time in which to do so! so just let me know.

grace and peace be with you.