Christmas=Love

Christmas was yesterday. I like Christmas. This particular year, I have seen love in action in ways I have never seen it before!
Here's an example: we went to see the Sunday matinee of the Hobbit. Afterwards, we planned to meet some friends at their house (about a 15 minute drive in the country) to have stew in the woods. Stew in the woods is sort of a tradition. We go into the woods and make a fire and make stew. It is more awesome than it sounds. I still think it sounds pretty awesome. We were really looking forward to this. But on the way home from the movie theatre, it was snowing really hard and the roads were slippery. Once we got home, we had to have a long discussion on whether or not to go to our friend's house for stew in the woods. Finally, we decided against it, because of the road conditions, but we were disappointed. That was when our neighbour knocked on the door. She had brought frozen pizzas, salad, ice cream, candy canes, and even a DVD to watch. It was everything we needed to have a fun evening! God is WAY too good to me sometimes. But I am OK with that.

Christmas dinner at our place!

Another example is on Christmas Eve. After the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church, a friend from church called and offered to give us a turkey. We had been planning to just eat a chicken for Christmas Dinner but thanks to Mr. and Mrs. B, we got a turkey! It was delicious. God really does provide.
There were other things that made this Christmas wonderful: Handel's Messiah, Dutch blitz, Tim Tam slams, and finding bacon in the mailbox. It was fun to share Christmas with our friends from school who were visiting: last week our friends from the Bahamas, Ghana, and Mauritius were here, and for Christmas our guests were from the Bahamas and from China.
I am writing this from my room, which is really messy right now with Christmas gifts and packing for Urbana, which starts tomorrow. I am very ready to hear from God there.

Now I will share some thoughts about love that I wrote down over a year ago. The other day I was going through some papers and I found this:

So I had this thought today about what I wanted people to say at my funeral. I really want people to say I loved them. Like REALLY loved. Like I want to love so freely, so vulnerably and just so extraordinarily. I want to love in a way that is outside of social norms, that shows your love to everyone I know. Because you know it is not really normal to show love to people in our society. I mean, everybody says things like "Everybody should just love one another," but where do you see that? Instead people are getting mad at other people for butting in line or they are ignoring someone's text just to play it cool or they are talking about others behind their back. And I do those things too! But love is different! God's radical love can switch these things all around and upside-down and show the world His grace. And I realized today that I haven't really been showing that love. I have not been that open with people, and I am unwilling to make that investment in people's lives. I selfishly focus on things like schoolwork and even ACF activities, and forget the importance of building relationships. I guess in some cases relationships just kind of become built on their own but more often I need to be intentional in showing my love for people by giving them my time and listening to them and encouraging them.

God, I pray that I embody Your love today and everyday. God, if I really live our this love, it could seriously change everything around me. God, I pray that I do actually live this love, love as defined in 1 Corinthians 13. Here's what's holding me back from loving fully: I am scared of getting hurt, scared of being wounded, that other people will think I am weird or won't return my love or whatever. But that's how You are different.  I don't love people for their sake, exactly, or even for my sake, even though it works out best for the both of us in the end. No, I love people because I love You. You first loved us. Unconditionally, relentlessly, unfailingly. God, I am hopeful for what my life will look like as a) a background player in Your great story and b) a lover. 
Amen.

Review of the Semester

Click on this photo to see a bigger version of it. Clockwise from top: Music video in the woods; Tim Tam Slam; Malagash retreat; Christmas party; Walk in Her Shoes campaign; Young Adults Bible study; crepes; Malagash retreat; Anti-slavery week

Well, the semester is over and I am in the library (as is everyone else, it would appear), studying mathematical economics but taking this brief break to reflect on what has happened this semester in the IVCF group here at Acadia and how I saw God in life. When I think back to the things that happened, I am extremely thankful! I have probably mentioned most of these in this blog before but I am just going to go over some of the things that happened that I am really thankful for; my highlights. Not all of these are Acadia Christian Fellowship events, but they are all things that fostered Christian community on campus!:

• A bonfire in frosh week
• Anti-slavery week
• A worship night in the chapel including ACF, the gospel choir, young adults group and the chapel!
• Bible studies happening around campus
• Retreat at Malagash
• A speaker from Wycliffe at large group
•  Prayer group every Tuesday morning
• A Tim Tam slam after large group one week
• Hosting a potluck
• Making a music video in the woods
• The ACF Christmas party
• Raising money for our IVCF staff worker, who is pregnant with her first child
• Studying together
• Trips to the crepe place 

I was just thinking, when people look at our community, how does it reflect God's Kingdom? Are we representing it well?  This semester, we have been studying parables in Luke, and often, Jesus says "the Kingdom of God is like...." It is like a mustard seed that seems small and insignificant and first and then grows into an expansive, life-giving plant. It is like yeast that is spread into three measures of flour. It is like a seed that a farmer sows on the ground and grows out of good soil, and bears fruit.
 And, I hope, it is like us. This is what I think people would see if they are on the outside looking in. I hope we continue to be like this and to strive to be a community like this:

• A joyful group of people who look for any opportunity to celebrate
• People who REALLY like singing and making music together
• People who take time to care for others if a friend needs prayer or other assistance
• People who are honest and vulnerable and trust others with their struggles
• People who happily welcome others to join the party
• People from all different cultures and backgrounds
• People who like crepes a lot
• People who go all out to be nice, whether it is filling a piggy bank for our ICVF staff worker, making someone feel special on their birthday, or writing encouraging notes to one another
• People who genuinely want to do what God wants

I love the things God has been doing in this community this semester! I pray He would continue to help our community thrive. He has been so good to us!

This Week

Friends, it's been a while since I have written. And here's why: it's been such a wonderful week! I just could not decide what to write about because I have experienced a lot of lovely things (and a few not-so-lovely things) that I have learned something from. So I think I will just write about EVERYTHING.

The first thing I have to say is, I read a book called Love Does. The author is Bob Goff. There is so much I want to say about this book. I will just say this: read it. Reading it will make your life quite a bit better.
In fact, here is a link to buy it. Either that or you can just borrow it from me, I will gladly lend it to you. I have spent a lot of time this week telling everyone I see about this book.

Music video in the woods (photo from my roommate, Sarah)

Another thing that happened this past week is that some friends from another school visited. We know each other through InterVarsity, and we celebrated their visit with a potluck. At the end of this potluck, we ended up making a music video to a Christian song. In the woods. At night. And it was one of the most enjoyable things of my university career. There were so many different instruments like a guitar, a melodica, a ukulele, a banjo, tambourines, and even just a metal bowl with a spoon. What a unique way to worship!

The next morning, Allison (one of the girls who was visiting) woke up bright and early to go on a sunrise walk, and some people joined her. It also happened to be the first snow!

Afterwards, they ate breakfast at our apartment. There is really nothing I like more than eating with people around our kitchen table!  That Sunday was full of Christian community, from the early-morning walk, to church, to meeting some friends on the way to eat the BEST crepes ever, to skating (ok, confession, I did not go skating, I just met people afterwards for hot chocolate), to going to the last young adults Bible study of the semester.

This past weekend, I saw some of the most wonderful examples of Christian community. From eating together, to singing together, to praying together, there is something special about these people. I am overwhelmingly blessed to know them.
 

Young adults Bible study!

But the week- oh this week. Stress overtook me, I am afraid, and I spent many an hour in the library, puzzling over math problems and trying to sound like I know what I am talking about on this thesis. On Tuesday, I was having a very difficult time. I was in the library and I felt like I was drowning in work! My birthday was on Wednesday so I was feeling very sorry for myself. I was in the library and I may or may not have shed some silent tears (The stress got to me!). It was shaping up to be a very sad day. BUT that evening my family spontaneously visited here!
We had a most delightful trip out for dessert and my mother gave me a cross-stitch/needlepoint. Here it is. And below it is the note that came with it:

So that is another thing I am thankful for: family. I don't think any family is quite like mine. The kind of family who brings me squash. The kind of family who is completely OK with having a dance party to my new "African playground" CD. The kind of family who does this cool combination of group hug and prayer which is maybe kind of cheesy but I love it. We don't get a lot of time together and when we do, it is filled with joy and laughter.

Just one more thing I want to say: After this crazy, stressful week, I went to a concert last night of the university vocal ensemble, chamber choir and chamber orchestra. They performed a number of pieces including ones by Schubert, Eric Whitacre, and also Vivaldi's Magnificat.
It rapturous, enchanting, and life-giving. The most amazing thing was: it was free for students to go to! The chance to see a live orchestra- for free! And top-notch performance. I went away feeling FULL. 

There's a lot of other awesomeness from this week that I wish I could go into.
But the gist of it is this: God is good.

It's not about me

This semester at Acadia, we have been gathering together as an InterVarsity group every two weeks for "Large Group." We gather at a spot on campus on Friday night, sing praise and worship songs, hear a testimony from someone in our group, and hear a speaker. This year, we have had many interesting speakers, like a missionary fresh from Mongolia, a Wycliffe worker speaking about Bible translation (this was close to my heart), and an InterVarsity worker speaking about justice issues and the urban poor. After the large group, we usually enjoy just hanging out together. More often than not, this means a trip to Tim Hortons. I have enjoyed the Large Groups immensely this semester.
This past Friday, I got to be in charge of organizing large group and leading it! I did this a couple of times last year but not this year really.
And I can honestly say it was the best one we've had yet! So... yes, I wanted to pat myself on the back. Yay Hannah, organizing a successful event. But then I realized: it's not about me.
People did not come out to see me. They did not wonder what to do on Friday night and conclude "I think I'll go watch Hannah lead ACF." And if they did, I did not do a very good job planning it: I want people to come out to ACF because they want to encounter Jesus. I am overjoyed when I see lots of people attending these events because I see a beautiful community is growing.

This community is not about me. It is not about you, either. It is about Jesus. If this community is not Christ-centred, then I don't really want to be a part of it.

I read this in the Message and it's really different from the NIV but I think it is 100 percent true:

You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.
-James 3:17-18

Introverted Life

So I was here in the kitchen, just puttering around by myself, cooking supper and listening to my ipod on shuffle, and I realized how content I am in this moment in time.
I had another moment like that recently, a moment when I am just living my life and I check myself and without noticing I have become completely content. The last time was when I was sitting in front of the fireplace on a visit home this past weekend, reading a delightful novel and drinking some tea.
I have these moments, it seems, when I am alone.

I am most content when I am alone. Not lonely, but alone. I suppose that makes me an introvert. I happily would put on that label. It's not that I don't love people. I also love moments when I am with people.

There are always sayings like "You'll never look back fondly on a night you stayed in and went to bed early."
For a while, I believed this, and I did not take very much time for myself. This was a bad idea.

Here are some facts about introverts that all you non-introverts may want to know:

• We (well, at least me) take a long time to make friends. If you met us eight months ago and you are just starting to get to know us, it's not because we don't like you. We most likely do like you. This is a reasonable timeline for us
• If you think it is an awkward silence, we may not think it is an awkward silence. We're OK with some breaks in the conversation

• A night in, reading or watching a movie on our couch is more attractive to us than, for example, a party where we only know a couple of people

• We do love you! It just makes us tired to spend a long long time with you :) That's just how we are, and it has nothing to do with you :)

Thank you for reading these introvert facts. Life is better when we understand one another!

Responding to disrespect

It's easy to sense disrespect. In my life, when people give me unsolicited advice, I see that as a sign of disrespect. I also feel disrespected when people respond to me with sarcasm, or when they use a condescending tone of voice.
When I feel disrespected, I feel angry. I feel hatred. A lot of times I don't know how to respond and just let bitterness grow in my heart. Sometimes I respond with a sharp word or a flat-out "that's rude." But I am learning not to.
I am learning to say "NO!" to the hatred and bitterness in my heart and to embrace forgiveness.
This is the hardest lesson I am learning lately. I have realized that God does not just love people who respect Him-- his love extends to everyone. How am I, as a Christian, any different from the world if I only love people I like?
This summer, before I went to BC, I was home for about a month and I was unemployed. So I got a lot of babysitting gigs with my hurricane of a four-year old neighbour. At first, I dreaded spending time with this boy, because-imagine this-I found it boring to entertain him! I am not one of those people who kids are naturally attracted to, and entertaining a four-year old boy for hours at a time is something that makes me exhausted. So I prayed about it, and I realized I was given an incredible opportunity to invest love into this small child's life! God just filled me with such a love for him and after that, I looked forward to spending time with him. And he enjoyed spending time with me, somehow! This just made me realize that when we feel like we have no more energy left to love people, God somehow gives us more.
So that is what I am praying for these days- just that God will give me a superhuman ability to love those around me, despite how I currently feel about them. For that is the only way to confront disrespect, and to confront the bitterness in my own heart: with God's love!

Maple leaves the colour of sunsets and other reasons I love fall in Nova Scotia

I am writing this post while eating an apple (which is more difficult than it sounds; my fingers are so sticky!), taking a break from working on my thesis.
I was going down the hill this morning, hair still wet from the shower, woolen socks and Birkenstocks on my feet, and I passed a maple tree in someone's front yard with leaves strewn all over. The leaves were brilliant colours of red, yellow and orange, and some were transitioning between all three. The air was crisp and cool and the sun was sharp.  And all  of the sudden I was aware of the leaves, in all their brilliance. I walk past this tree every single day on my way to and from campus. But today I was aware of it, aware of the uniqueness of each of the leaves and their sacredness. What an extravagant blessing.

I am blessed. With maple leaves the colour of sunsets. And then the sunsets themselves, the kind of sunsets that make me think, "God, you really outdid yourself tonight." I am blessed with this apple I am eating right now. I am blessed with Saturdays spent in the library and Wednesdays spent in coffee shops studying hard, writing papers, preparing for presentations. Because I have been given the opportunity to learn. I am blessed with the sound of a country song as I clean the house on a Sunday afternoon... and of a quarter-moon rising and falling as we play ultimate frisbee under the lights of the football field.

I am overflowing with gratitude for these blessings, and there are many more to add to that.
But most of all the maple leaves the colour of sunsets.

Acadia Anti-Slavery Week in Photos

It began with an interactive station in the SUB. On Tuesday there was a prayer day, and on Wednesday there was a letter-writing station

On Thursday there was a coffeehouse

There were some great performances, and $95 was raised for the A21 Campaign

On Friday we wore high heels and walked around town with these signs.

Thank you Kara for organizing this week!

Yo extraño Guatemala

It made me miss this town

Tonight I went to a missions night at my church, which included, among other things, a presentation from some people who went to Guatemala this year with the same group I went with last year. The whole thing just made me miss that place.

It made me miss the landscape

And this mountain

And this child

And these chickens

And this village

I am a failure

I would just like to point out that I am a failure.
I was thinking about that today and I think it is SUCH a liberating thing to realize. A Jehovah's Witness came to my door today as I was home alone, wearing my sweatpants, eating reheated soup for lunch. He spent about thirty minutes at my door, as he tried to convince of his point of view, pointing out passages in a worn Bible. He seemed to have all the answers, answers to questions like what precisely happens to everyone after they die, and what will happen at the end of the world. His thumb had a band-aid on it. I listened politely to his arguments, but it made me uncomfortable that he had all the answers. It made me uncomfortable, the distinction he drew between "righteous" people and "unrighteous" people. Because I think, in some way, we are all unrighteous. And I think that none of us have all the answers. I think, to be honest, that we are all failures in some way. This week I feel like more of a failure than usual, but I think I am going to celebrate that.
We are all failures. We all fail to meet God's perfect standards.
But somehow, He loves us anyway. He blesses us anyway, extravagantly so.

I have been listening to this song lately and reflecting on the message I hear in it. "The Kingdom of our God carries on." The church has been around for over 2000 years. It started with 12 rag-tag disciples, fisherman and tax collectors from the Middle East, led by, as Frederick Buechner called Jesus, a "holy hick." A carpenter from Nazareth. And somehow, millions of people still believe in this holy hick. The church, and Christians, have made so many mistakes over the years. The Crusades. The Inquisition. Residential school abuse. Conflict in Northern Ireland. I don't know much about history, but I do know the Church has done wrong. It's like St Augustine said: "The Church is a whore, but She is my mother."
The Church is a failure, but somehow God's Kingdom carries on.
I am a failure, but somehow God's Kingdom carries on. Somehow he still can make beautiful things come out of my life.
For some reason, this makes me giggle. I think God is pretty funny, the way he turns things upside down. 

Why I don't get drunk

It's Acadia University, one of the biggest party schools in the nation. Or maybe it just seems that way. Last year during frosh week, a student died from complications resulting from alcohol poisoning. And still, people party like it never happened. Coming to university is a huge adjustment to anybody. As a first-year student entering this environment, I started to wonder why I believed the things I believed. Why, as a Christian, did I believe it was wrong to get drunk? Was that a valid thing to think, or is there really nothing wrong with it?
It has taken me a couple years to think about this, and here are some of my reasons:
1. There is something wrong with drunkenness. The Bible does condemn it, like in 1 Peter 4:3: "For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry." I like the way this one is phrased. As if we need to move on to other things. Higher things. And there are many other passages throughout the New Testament that decry such a lifestyle. But even without the Bible guiding me, I think I would have realized that there is something wrong with it. In my time here, a boy has died. Friends have been taken to the hospital. People have done so many things that they later regret; relationships have been ruined. All these things are wrong, and I don't want to be a part of them.
2. There are people in my life who have struggled with alcoholism.I think it is cruel to them to go and make the same mistakes they did. Out of respect for neighbours, fellow brothers and sisters, I do not drink. 
3. It hinders Christian ministry. How can I serve someone when I myself am incapacitated? How can I worship God exuberantly on Sunday morning when I have a hangover from Saturday night? And how can I show the world that God's Way is better, if I am just living in their way? 
4. I am too poor. This goes with the fact that drunkenness hinders Christian ministry. If my money is going towards alcohol, that means it's not going towards good things, like buying coffee for a friend, supporting a missionary, or going to retreats or conferences. In any case, I am broke, like any student, struggling to have enough money to pay rent and tuition. I am not willing to accept the extra stress of purchasing alcohol.
5. I have better things to do with my time. This sort of comes off snobby. It's not, because it's true, and I think it is true for everyone. I love to have a good time! I love to go to concerts, play ultimate frisbee, go on  epic bike rides, read amazing books, go on runs at sunrise, bake cookies, and have meals with people. Among other things. This world we live in is vibrant. Here is a quote from Frederick Buechner:

"Every morning you wake up to something that in all eternity never was before and never will be again. And the you that wakes up was never the same before and will never be the same again either."

I don't want to miss that. 

Life's Little Adventures

My school is so beautiful :)

WHAT have I been up to lately, you may ask?
Well, I have mostly been up to no good.
Killing fruit flies and eating apples straight off the tree and riding my bicycle in the rain and other quite daring pursuits.
I have also been applying for a scholarship which is probably one of the most competitive things ever. When I passed in the application to my school's selection committee via email, my heart was beating as if I had just run a kilometre, or as if someone had just jumped from behind a door to scare me. It is funny that clicking "send" on an email gave me the same sort of adrenaline rush as I get, say, mountain biking downhill. But the pastor who leads young adults group here said one time "If your goals don't make you uncomfortable then your goals are insulting to God." Yeah, this goal makes me pretty uncomfortable. The scholarship is for a school I have always dreamed of going to. While there is a very slim chance of me getting this scholarship, I figure that I am young and might as well do the things I dream of!

Meanwhile, life. I am leading a Bible study this semester on the parables of Luke. There are a bunch of small group Bible studies on our campus and we are all studying the same thing. It is really cool because Jesus is so cool! But I am having trouble getting good attendance for my Bible study. I LOVE the girls who come- I just wish there were more people to learn about Jesus and the Kingdom. I appreciate learning how His ways are so much different than our ways... that while we respect people who are in high positions, He is looking for humble and desperate hearts. I want my heart to be humble and desperate.

This is the way life works...

When I was eighteen and had not had my full driver's license for very long, my friend and I took a road trip to Quebec. I sometimes wonder what our parents were thinking, allowing two teenage, inexperienced girls to drive a day to a city we had never been to, a city where the language they speak is not my native tongue. But they let us go, and it was a wonderful trip, and the most important part of that trip, I think, was realizing that I was really capable of doing the things I dreamed of doing. And I have been extremely, extremely blessed to be able to do wonderful things, things that I am sure I could not do if it wasn't for the God I serve. Life often seems like a series of surprising moments, those moments when I do the thing I was afraid of doing and realize it wasn't that hard, after all.
I have jumped off a telephone pole, trusting in a cable and harness.
I have bicycled 25 kilometres, in the rain. Multiple times.
I have gone on a missions trip where I knew nobody, to a strange country, and that was my first time flying alone.
I have told my story in front of around a thousand people.
I have written a novel in a month. Twice.
I have baked for about a hundred people. For a week.

But this post isn't just a "Hannah brags about things she's done" thing. For one thing, these are things that GOD has done, for me. Not exactly sure why, but God seems to like me a lot. I love Him. No, the point of me saying all this is:
WHY is it then so hard to do what should, comparatively, be easy?
Why can I not confront that one member of our fellowship whose words do not match up with actions?
Why can I not make chicken nuggets without setting off the fire alarm?
Why can I barely get up the motivation to go to the gym?
and WHY can I not tell that one boy how I feel about him?

Funny how life works, eh? It's the little things that take the most courage.

Contentment

Contentment has never really been a problem with me, because I have been blessed to OVERFLOWING by living in wonderful places and knowing wonderful people. And I am certainly content here:
Here where I have two sweet roommates and a room of my own.
Here where it is apple season and I can bite into a juicy, tangy Gravenstein. I am sure there is nothing in the world quite like that.
Here where the sound of drunk people and pounding music soothes me to sleep.
Here where I can take a bicycle ride up the hill and end up in a pastoral landscape of rolling hills, a meandering river, and vineyards and orchards.
Here where my good friend and I can drop by my brother's dorm room one evening and end up singing worship songs to his guitar playing.
Here where the harbour disappears twice a day, as the tide goes out and turns it to mud.

But I also miss CanIL. I am content here but here is also a place where:
No-one else knows IPA, really.
I have to explain what Wycliffe does.
There is no mountain in the distance.
I miss the people I knew: the barefoot Norwegian. The girl who spoke so fast I always had to listen very closely. The girl with the crazy, curly hair. The one who always said "y'all" and cooked with quinoa. The guy who would exclaim "You're doing it wrong!" and then "headdesk." The polo-shirt wearing guy from Florida. The people I played frisbee with... the people I ate with... the people in my classes. The people I love. When I think about these people, I get nostalgic. Y'all know who you are. I love you all, CanIL summer 2012 people.

But then I remember the people here who I love.
The pastor's kid who rides a motorbike, and goes on walks with me.
The one from Saskatchewan who asks "is this a Maritime thing?"
The enthusiastic Bible camp leader who loves frisbee.
The smiling pastor who has so much faith.
The apple-farming economics major.
And of course the saw duang-playing, unicycle-riding, computer science-studying brother I have.

And THAT is only the beginning. God has placed so many people in my (and your) life who I am so thankful for.

Why not tell your friends and family how much you love them, loving recklessly, as Jesus instructed us to do?

Shared Life

Our hand-picked bouquet

I am sharing life this school year, living in an apartment with two other girls. We occupy a quarter of a fourplex and we are, in my opinion, making the most of the space.
First there are the adventures we have on our own: Creating a tally of how many times the fire alarm has gone off (it's been seven now), and locking ourselves out of our house one night and having to crawl in the window, and taking a spontaneous trip to Blomidon.
Then there are the adventures we share with others. First, I invited a friend and his girlfriend over for supper. When the day for the supper finally came (our first 'dinner party') there were ten mouths to feed! What a wonderful beginning. I invited my good friend over for supper and to cut my hair. So my bedroom turned into a makeshift salon. We invited some girls we knew, and some we just met, to come for a movie night. I feel like it is so much easier to create community when I have my own place to invite others into. Sharing life with others is a pleasure. God has given me so much, and I can't help but share it- exuberantly, inclusively, and joyfully.

Why I'm involved in student ministry, and why you should be, too

 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
-Jesus Christ

I believe that we are called to be missionaries wherever we are. Not just when we are on that short-term missions trip to a Central American country, not just when we are at Bible camp, but also in the place we live, the place we are planted. That place for me is Acadia University.
I came here in 2010 as a scared, shy frosh wondering if my faith would survive. But it more than survived: it thrived here, as I found a group of Christians who showed me amazing hospitality, love, and discipleship. 
At the end of first year, I was nominated for a leadership position within the campus's InterVarsity group.
The truth was I did not think I could take on leadership. But I did, and there were many challenges, but also many blessings. There were things that I considered failures: Bible studies that only two people showed up to. Being the only person at morning prayer meetings. Baking a flop of a cake for a fundraiser. But I know that God does not consider these things failures, because I was faithful to Him. That is why I am coming back for another year. I am coming back because I know that no matter how big my fear of failing is, God's love for the people here is bigger.

When I came here, I thought it was just a stepping stone for my real mission career: a place where I could get the education to go to the mission field. What I did not realize that I was entering the mission field. If you are a Christian and are on a university campus, consider yourself a missionary. There are innumerable opportunities to share our faith and to demonstrate the wonderful Kingdom of God.

In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal.
-Jesus (The Message)

Hopeful

I have been in Wolfville for the past few days settling into my new apartment and preparing for the new students to arrive.
They arrive tomorrow and now there is the quiet of anticipation.
Today, a group of four of us put up 250 posters advertising Christian Fellowship events. We put them in every residence on campus, tons of bathroom stalls, the academic buildings, the gym, and on it goes.
It is peaceful here at Acadia this week, and I am filled with great peace and hope instead of the stress I felt during last year's frosh week. I took this photo with my phone the other day and it is true: I am happy to be back. God will take care of us.
There are about 3000 students at Acadia and Jesus died for each of them. God wants to save them and I trust that he will let us be a part of His work :)

The end of summer

This is the end of summer for me. Tomorrow it is back to the responsibilities and joys of university. But my last bit of summer was delicious and I am happy it was the way it was.
I spent last week volunteering in the kitchen at camp. Cooking and baking for over one hundred people, and breaks spent on the most beautiful beach in the world- yes please! Every time I go to camp, I am refreshed. I learn anew about God's creativity and beauty. There are so many souls at camp who are very close to Jesus, and I always feel like I can learn from them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then there was the day after camp: the trip to the Provincial Exhibition. A few minutes before my sister, my friend, and I were going to go to the last night of this week-long event,our neighbour knocked on our backdoor and offered  us three free passes! She did not even know we were going to go. So many little blessings in life....

Yesterday after church, our family (minus the one who has not yet returned home...) took a spontaneous trip to Prince Edward Island.
I like when life's biggest problems are
salt water in your mouth and matting your hair.
sunburns
losing in cards
tired arms from kayaking
not being able to decide what flavour of Cows ice cream to have
the music in the car speakers is not loud enough.

This is the life

Fanny Farmer Family.

Thursday night and it's raining. It's my fourth day home, only. Sunday night late home from the airport, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then Thursday.
It's hot and muggy all day. Then in the evening it rains.
We had supper, and I want to bake something.
Why not make doughnuts?
Doughnuts are a group effort. The recipe is from the Fanny Farmer cookbook, not that my Mom is big on recipes. An extra egg here, maybe less salt than they call for, and what's one and three-quarters cup times zero point five? It gets our heads all confused, not quite doubling the recipe.
Maritime music comes in from the speakers in the living room: David Myles and James Hill. It is happy music. And the rain keeps on falling.
We use organic milk and Dad knows the farmers, and eggs that Dad buys from a farming woman at work.
We let the dough chill for an hour and I go upstairs. And Dad is working at his desk and somehow the James Hill changes to Tchaikovsky. But I'm OK with that, too.
Finally it is time to fry them! We fill a frying pan with oil and heat it up. To test if the oil is hot enough we drop a piece of dough in and see if it sinks to the bottom and rises again.
The oil is hot enough. We have kneaded the doughnuts and shaped them into, well, doughnut shape.

Almost ready!

Not ready

We drop them in. They sink to the bottom and they turn from light to dark.
Then we flip them.
Then it's time to take them out and we coat them with sugar, cinnamon sugar, or maple sugar.

Oh! Maybe some coffee would be nice.
I brew the coffee, JustUs medium decaf. Roasted just a few kilometres from my university.
Soon there is a plate stacked full of doughnuts and four hungry people.
We eat doughnuts and watch Corner Gas.
Yum.

Being content in all circumstances is easy when these are the circumstances. 

Ready!

Home

Do you ever wish you could live under the same roof as the most kind, cool, smart and funny people in the world, people who understand you and who love you no matter what?
Yeah, that's home.
After two rather exhausting days of traveling that included, among other things, eating copious amounts of pasta and meat at my uncle's Italian family's house in Calgary, crossing two three lanes of traffic outside of the Toronto airport just to find a patch of grass that my uncle's service dog could poop on, and flying on the same plane as the Russian junior hockey team, I arrived in Halifax last night.
Home:
Where my sister left THIS on my night table. Stephen Leacock, Dilbert, a travel book and a VHS of my favourite movie- oh my! And of course my sister's own novel. And a Tolkien quote. And some treasures from the beach at camp. Yum yum yum.

Home: where the cupboard is full of mismatched mugs and Just Us tea.
Home: where the garden has grown so lushly since I have been gone:

  

Home: where four out of the five members of our family are but with the conspicuous absence of my little brother, who has been to Thailand and Alberta since I have seen him last. Home is not quite complete without him.

Home: where we stayed up last night eating Italian and French chocolate and my parents and sister eagerly gobbled up my anecdotes of summer school. At least I think they were eager, maybe they were just being polite.
But I am pretty sure my sister is actually eager. She just got an iPod and one of the first apps she downloaded was the Merriam-Webster dictionary. She is a born linguist, I think. She thought the back of our school t-shirts, a Bible verse written in IPA, was very cool (my friend Moss designed that, good job)! Can any of you non-linguists decipher this code?

Home: Where my sister and I stayed up far too late talking and listening to music because it did not seem late for me because of the time change and because we missed sharing a room with each other.
Home: Where my first stop, I think, besides home, will be a trip to the local second hand clothing store. Only Maritimers, I am afraid, know what Frenchy's is, and only people in my hometown know what our equivalent is.

It is good to be home.

That End-of-the-Summer Nostalgia

An outdoor "ethnographic" movie

Classes here end on Friday (two days from now!) and on Saturday I am flying back across the country, and I do not know when I will return. Amidst all the busyness of finals, I am taking a break to reflect on the summer, this summer of late nights studying in the dorm, Sunday afternoons spent in the laundry room, early morning jogs, and linguistic mind-stretching.

Yes, sometimes the late nights trying to finish assignments were stressful. I calculated it and we had something like 40 or 50 assignments in these short nine weeks, for our various classes. But I am so thankful for my classmates. We live in the dorm together, we have our classes together, we eat together and we study together. You would think I would get tired of these folks- but I am not tired of them. I am completely at home among these people who have similar goals, desires, and interests as I do.


A few memories stand out from my time here. One is our communal suppers. We eat together each night and I love every part of it: the cooking, the cleaning up afterwards, and especially the dinner followed by the long, lingering conversations.
Another memory I have is playing ultimate frisbee. We played each Monday and Wednesday afternoon and it was a fun part of the week, and a great way to get to know people.
I have so many more good memories from my time here too: eventful trips across the border, late night fire alarms, hilarious staff and student skit nights, incredible chapels and a lovely trip into Vancouver.

This is us trying to work on our phonetics homework on route to somewhere

This past Saturday a bunch of us went into Vancouver to watch the fireworks. I guess every year there is a fireworks competition in the city. Saturday was the Italians' turn to present their show of lights and music. There I was, sitting on a park at the edge of the water, the city lights reflecting in the harbour, surrounded by new friends from all over the world. The fireworks show played the song "Paradise" by Coldplay as the sky was lit up by dazzling fireworks. At that moment, I certainly felt like I was in paradise!

But, all good things must come to an end.

The weak

This past week was probably the toughest one I have had so far this summer, with many deadlines and a sick me. That is why I will call it a "weak"! But it is a new week now and things are looking better!

Some highlights of the week:
-Every year, the staff throws a party for the students, and then the students throw a party for the staff. The student party was Friday night and we had a fun time entertaining the staff- many laughs were had!
-On Saturday, a few of us went out for Korean food at a local restaurant. I have never really experienced Korean food before. One of the people I went with had taught in South Korea for four years, so she was the resident expert in what to order. I just enjoyed having this new cultural experience! I love trying new things and that was yet another thing I can add to list of things I have done for the first time here.

-Last night I was graciously invited over to the house of a friend from Acadia who lives out here. I got to hang out with her hilarious family and go for a walk at beautiful Crescent Beach. I love East Coast beaches, and I still think nothing can compare to the beach at camp... but it was one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen. Mountains and ocean and setting sun, and even the skyscrapers of Vancouver in the background. My biggest regret is not bringing my camera.

A photo of Crescent Beach taken with my phone

BUT I was very discouraged upon attending church yesterday. You see, all throughout this past week the Scripture Use students have been presenting commissioned projects in chapel. These are projects they commissioned someone to do to present the Bible in a creative way. So all through last week the chapels have been like a showcase of people using their talents to communicate Bible truths and glorify God: people have written songs, done spoken word poetry, used stand-up comedy, sign language poetry, and even juggling. And it has been really incredible. It has opened my eyes that church does not have to be boring. So I was disappointed to attend a large local church and see how similar it was to about four other churches I have been to here. The schedule is roughly the same: The worship time, followed by the preaching, with announcements, offering and coffee break peppered in there somewhere. The demographic is roughly the same: upper middle class white people.I don't know why! God's kingdom is SO much more expansive and exciting than what church here in North America is.

Anyway, in the end church is more than the show on Sunday. It is a group of global believers, using our gifts and talents to serve our Savior and worship our King.

Why Acadia does not need a revival

It was a typical Monday in autumn. A few of us were gathered for our weekly Bible study in the basement of my residence. My good friend Shelby was leading the study on 2 Corinthians, and, as always, we shared some good discussion and laughs. We then somehow had the idea:
What if Acadia experienced a revival?
OK, I have to be honest here. I was imagining a scene somewhat like this one:

And so the coin was termed "Revival on the grassy A!" as a joke.
You see, in the middle of our football field there is an enormous red "A" in the middle. We had this image in our minds of just a bunch of people in the middle of the football field, praying and worshipping Jesus. Well, at least that was the image I had. I wanted to see the Holy Spirit show his power on campus. I wanted to see everyone repenting and I wanted to see the numbers at prayer meeting and Bible studies skyrocket.
Well.
I wanted the wrong thing.
Yes, that would be a wonderful thing to see! But it should not be our primary goal.
I think I wanted revival because I wanted Christianity to be popular and exciting. But what I did not realize was that Christianity will never exactly be "popular." It is for the weak and the humble. If I am excited about following Jesus because everyone is, that is not truly seeking him, is it?
And I forget how exciting following Jesus really is in the everyday life, even without hordes of people and amazing miracles happening. His compassion is new every morning!

The grassy A

 So, I think I was wrong. I don't think Acadia needs a revival, even though I would really like one.
I do think, though, that everyone at Acadia, as with the rest of the world, needs Jesus. I want to be the Christ's ambassador there, relying on him and leaving room for him to work without trying to push my ideas or plans of how I think things should be done. Nobody needs a revival. What we do need is to know God.

I will close with the words of Jesus himself, as paraphrased in the Message. What freeing, liberating words!

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

The summer of dreams coming true

Empress Tea Room

Although the program here is a lot of work and sometimes I feel very overwhelmed, I forget how awesome it is to be out here. There are so many blessings every day! I realized how blessed I was this weekend, when I had the chance to go over to Vancouver Island and spend some time in the beautiful city of Victoria. It was a whirlwind weekend of staying in a hostel, exploring the downtown area, spending some time with relatives, and trying to track down an old friend of my mother's.
I was standing in the Empress Tea Room on Friday night when I realized how many of my dreams have come true this summer. You see, my grandmother traveled to Victoria a few times when I was small and for some reason, I always wanted to as well. It is a weird dream, but it's always been my dream to go to the Empress Tea Room and the Butchart Gardens and all the other places in Victoria. Well, I never made it to the Butchart Gardens... I have decided I will have to return to Victoria someday! But I went to the Empress Tea Room, Chinatown, the Legislative buildings and much more. And this was all a dream come true. SO. Here are my dreams that have come true this summer:

-Going to the Empress Tea Room
-Eating the best waffle ever (http://www.wannawafel.com/)
-Celebrating July 4th in the USA.
-Getting to see friends who live on the other side of the country as I do

-Being among mountains
-Seeing a seqouia.

But, by far the biggest dream that has come true this summer is studying linguistics. I cannot be thankful enough for this school, and for the ways I am intellectually challenged. I have not doubted once since I've been here that is the exact right place for me to be.

Sequoia tree

Economics and Linguistics

Yes, it is true. I usually study economics. For the past couple of years, I have been immersed in Keynes, Pigou, and Cournot. I have sat through many-a-lecture on inflation or indifference curves, and drawn, I am sure, hundreds of supply-and-demand curves. 
But this summer, it is different. I have not only crossed the country, I have also crossed disciplines.
Now I am immersed in Chomsky and Trubotskoy. I am sitting through lectures on vowels, grammar relations in a language, diglossia. I have done hundreds of phonetic transcriptions.
The truth is, I really enjoy both economics and linguistics. They also have a lot in common.
They both try to make sense of this world in systematic ways. I love being able to understand language more fully. I also love being able to understand scarcity more fully. Also, both economies and languages are concerned with efficiency: in terms of economies, in both microeconomics and macroeconomics, the goal is to get the most benefits out of the least resources. Languages, meanwhile, have the goal of communicating an idea the most clearly using the least effort. Personally, I love efficiency and am always trying to do things more efficiently. I think it's cool how economic systems and languages have evolved over the years as people have used their ingenuity to make things the most efficient.
Analyzing things systematically makes me feel secure. I guess that probably is a tendency for ISTJs like me (Myers Briggs anyone?). So that is why I love both economics and linguistics.

Halfway through

This week was the halfway mark of the summer session here. So, on the 14th of the month, here is a  list of 14 things I know now that I did not know before June 11th.

1. [ai no hau tu rid ðɪs sɛntəns.] (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet )

2.  I understand this quote more fully:  "Linguistics is shear servitude and drudgery until we have the joy of seeing order emerge from chaos."- Robert Longacre. 

3. Canadian English and American English is much more different than I originally thought! For example, the American students here had never heard of a toque or of poutine. And they have funny expressions as well: like one girl says "I might should do that," and things like that, and considers it to be perfectly standard. 

4. Man does not live on peanut butter sandwiches alone.

5. The translation for "two yellow tortillas" in Tlapaneco, a language of Mexico

6. Blackberry phones do not survive rainy, muddy hikes at Golden Ears.

A rainy hike

7. "Some languages are crazy"-my phonology professor.

8. Five large pots is WAY too much rice to feed forty people.

9. Always go into the right lane at the border crossing.

10. Not locking your dorm room door could result in a late-night conversation you have no recollection of, as you were asleep for the entire conversation.

11. The best music for doing a mini grammar sketch is a mashup of dubstep and classical. 

12. Arrested Development is a hilarious T.V. show! 

13. I don't think I could ever be a language surveyor. 

and finally, I now know...

14.  Why peasant men can't get wives.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/4166971