lifeguarding

Recent development: hired!
I had an interview on Thursday at Hardisty Fitness and Leisure Centre, and have just been hired for a lifeguarding position! I don't know many details of when I'll work or how many hours, but I'm really excited to be going back to the aquatic environment! My bosses seem really friendly and like great people to work with, and I know one of the guards. Oh, and I'll be making $15/hour, a lot more than Ontario's $8.19! The pool's really close by, just a 5 min. bus ride, and probably about the same time by bike. I go past it everyday on my bus ride to and from school, so the convenience was definitely a major factor in my decision to apply there. Hopefully it's something that I can get full-time hours from over the summer, as I'm employed by the City of Edmonton and therefore eligible to pick up shifts at any affiliated pool in Edmonton! I'll be going in on Tuesday for orientation, so I'll probably post again about how it's going.

"give me a break, give me a break..."

Reading week's here!
Spread good cheer!*
Papers to write,
but I'll sleep tonight,
for ten days more
til school opens its door!

*second line borrowed from an old diddy written by Miss Allison Dow

pounding heart

To the bus stop and from the bus stop, twice today, I stepped off the road heart pounding, the squeal of tires resonating through the air.

I'm sure it now takes two hands to count the number of times this has happened in the past year or few years, my life and limbs saved after 'close shave' with loss. I don't think it's that I'm a daredevil pedestrian (I've discovered that crosswalks don't make much difference, except to give the pedestrian a false sense of security!), but I'm seeing through it all just how fleeting and precious life is.

A speaker I heard last semester asked the room full of young adults, "What are you doing with your life that will last forever?"

It's important to keep the dishes washed and the house cleaned, but from day to day does it make a difference me being here vs. not being here? I sure hope so!

If you were to sit in my history class with me, you'd find names coming and going, lives mentioned but briefly - and these were the most famous of the famed in their day.

I'm not trying to get my name in a history book, but I am hoping that because of God using me some more names will be written in the Book of Life.

How about you? What are you living for?

sharing = understanding

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." (Philemon 6, NIV)

I read this a couple nights ago and found it striking. We don't have to understand everything before sharing our faith with others, but as we share it we'll come to a deeper realization of God's goodness. Tonight I found it to be true. Most Fridays, as I've probably mentioned before, I go to Li's house to have a Conversational English class with her and Jessie. They are both Chinese students studying at the U of Alberta, and we have such a great time conversing about our weeks or whatever comes up, reading through the Bible, and talking about meanings of words and perfecting pronunciation of English. We then generally all go to a potluck with a room full of other international students and workers (mainly Chinese), sing songs, listen to a message, and divide into small groups to study the Bible & Christian spirituality deeper. Through it all friendships are formed and deepened, I'm stretched as I meet so many new people every week, and as we all sort through concepts of Christianity together. It really is exhilerating to be a participant in helping my friends here discover Truth. Despite it being the end of a week, I come away refreshed and excited. And as I am able to share my faith with the students, I find it is deepened. God often teaches me through my own mouth! Seeing their interest in it also reminds me just how precious this jewel of Truth is. So, if ever I'm not feeling equipped to share our faith with others, just remind me of the Holy Spirit's work and how He will be helping me to understand 'every good thing we have in Christ.'