Lost in the Excitement

Funny, I traveled across the globe, left my family and friends, surrendered my meager income for one thing, Him. Him, of course, being God (not to be confused with the possibility of a foreign beau). As I first stepped into the parking lot of Heathrow Airport, I distinctly remember thinking to myself, "And now to live the ever-exciting, always-holy life of a missionary; spreading the love for J-E-S-U-S!", though, perhaps not in those exact terms.
I am officially twenty-four days in England now and, honestly, I don't feel I've lived up to my part of that statement. Sure, life's been exciting and busy since arrival day, but I've since pushed aside the "holy" bit of that phrase. Not that I expected to be surrounded by hosts of angels and casting out demons right off the bat, but I think I got caught up in the "doing" aspect of life. 
There is no one to blame but myself for this, not even a hectic schedule. I've recently realized that I got caught up in living that I forgot that the reason I'm here is to BE with God. Obviously, I won't be lazing around in a meditative state all the time, but I have not taken time out of my day to just hear His voice. Hence the title of this blog, "Lost in the Excitement".
There is a delicate balance to living in the world whilst still reserving time for The Creator; I simply have not tried to find a balance. It's not a physics equation, nor is it able to be calculated in any way. I just need to learn to BE with God. It's a work in progress, I'll admit, but think of it as a dating relationship; if you don't make time for one another, the relationship falls apart. I genuinely want to be with Him; so it's time to close the laptop, put away my mp3, tune out the voices...
and. just. BE.

Christmas time is Here

That time of year has arrived again. You know, the season of joy, giving, and binge eating. And, for the first time in my life, I'm faced with the dreaded concept of Christmas without my family. Scratch that, previously-dreaded concept. Now that I'm in this position, I realize it really isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. After all, I'm surrounded by friends here on this side of the globe that love me, cherish me, and genuinely want to be with me. Isn't that the basis of a family? People who, whether biologically related or not, surround you with love and a sense that you are, indeed, home.
Other than being away from my (biological) family this holiday season, things around here are uneventful. The cafeteria is closed until January 11th, meaning those of us living in a flat without a kitchen have to fend for ourselves. It's not so bad though; me and my flatmate, Kellie, enjoyed a lovely dish of cous-cous and courgettes, accompanied by fried plantains that a fellow YWAMer donated to our quaint meal. Looking forward to cooking our Christmas feast soon!
That's all for now folks; just a brief update before I phase out over the Christmas BANG! Much love and a very Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a Good Night!

Dreams of Paradise...

"When she was just a girl  

She expected the world 

But it flew away from her reach...

Life goes on, it gets so heavy...

In the night the stormy night she'll close her eyes  

In the night the stormy night away she'd fly

And dream of Paradise..."      
Coldplay - "Paradise" lyrics


Too true to life, I'm afraid. Too many times have people felt life drain from their eyes as the tears stain the floor where they lay. Too many times have we left those in pain to cope in the stormy night, only to fly away to Paradise before their time. This post is not meant to pull down, though; in fact, I write this to bring joy, odd though it may seem. It hit me last night that after the storm comes the dawn; Paradise is beyond the bend. We can never know the turmoil others go through, neither can we blame ourselves for every outworking and outcome of peoples' lives. We can, however, hold tight to the fact (not query, possibility, or maybe) that there is a Paradise beyond this world, and better yet, there is a God who is bigger than any storm we ever have and ever will face. It's not easy to let go, and memories last a lifetime. But through the mist and fog, there is a SON, beaming love and majesty over His Paradise. Much love to those who grieve and are grieved over. Remember, there is Hope!

"And so lying underneath those stormy skies 

She'd say, "I know the sun must set to rise"

Baby, it's FREEZING outside!

I type my first blog in the UK cozied up in front of the heater, "Let It Snow" faintly playing in the background, and two of my flatmates discussing what our Christmas Dinner should encompass. Perhaps it's too early to be thinking about Christmas, but to those Christmas haters out there I say, "Bah Humbug!". Tis the season to be jolly and occasionally cheesy, and I am perfectly fine with that. I enjoy the way the chintzy tinsel, hanging off the boughs of a sparse, artificial tree, glistens in an array of colorful twinkles of light. Maybe it's the fact that I'm away from home for the first time ever over Christmas, but this up-coming celebration with my "new" family has become a source of great excitement for me. I'm so excited to create new traditions and new memories with the people I'll be sharing my life with for the next couple of years. 
Speaking of new family, the Youth With A Mission program I'll be working with, a Discipleship Training School, will be beginning in the new year. This upcoming week is going to be an orientation/introduction to the school for us newer staff members. This school with be mostly focused on impacting the UK throughout the year of 2012. Right now we have sixteen students and twenty staff, so we're praying for more students. I'm so excited to get to know these students and become part of their lives while they're here in the UK. This next year is such a crucial year for the UK, and we get to be a part of it; how freakin' exciting is that?!?
Impact UK DTS Video
So, the next time you hear from me, I'll most likely be decorating a tree or baking gingerbread. Until next time!

Away We Go!

Here I sit, in Vancouver Airport, Gate Undiscolsed, tapping away vigorously on my keyboard, trying to get in a few last words while in this country. This is really it; no going back now! I am about to embark on a journey of epic proportions across the Atlantic. Whoa. Who would have thought that this shy, insecure thing back in grade seven would be setting out to change lives as a missionary overseas? I certainly didn't see it coming, but then again, God's funny like that sometimes. I'm excited about putting myself out there, leaving my friends and family to do something unknown and unpredictable with my life. Don't get me wrong, my stomach is quivering and if someone were to start playing "You Are My Sunshine" right now, I'd start balling. But that's kind of the exciting part of it. I'm all grown up. I may not always feel it (yes, I occasionally still throw temper tantrums) but this one small step just goes to show that I'm ready to face the world on my own for the first time. You know how they say when you lose a limb of your body, you can still feel it there? I think it's called Ghost Syndrome or something like that. In that way, I can still feel my family with me, even though I won't see them for quite sometime. But like an amputee, you learn to adapt to life without that limb. You will always miss it, but you are physically able to go on. It's kind of neat really. So, these are the last words I will pen (or type) on this side of the Atlantic for the next couple of years, and so I take this time to say a giant THANK YOU to everyone rooting for me. And no worries, there's always Skype! XOXO Your Fellow (and Forever) Canadian!

Beginnings of Real Life

This is it; the final stretch before I take the big leap. So, why do I feel like everything comes down to these next few weeks? Isn't my adventure supposed to begin after I arrive in the UK? But suddenly, I'm struck with a million different things, plans, events that all drain me emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Is this a test? Is this curse, devil, evil being somehow trying to get me to rethink everything, to just give up so close to the beginning? Why now? Why not 3 months ago when I could right wrongs and schedule in room for error? Whether real or imagined, I feel like something's out to get me, but worse, to make me forget the reason for this adventure; He who lay down His life for the sins of this world so that I might know Him and make Him known. I know that He knows all things and that Good always prevails, but does that mean when things go haywire in life, I'm supposed to only see the silver lining? Granted, there can often be a silver lining in terrible situations. Take my accident last Friday; no one was hurt, and in the end, everything worked itself out one way or another. But what about something bigger than that, say a serious injury or a death? How do you find God in that? How can I say to someone who's lived through tragedy that everything's ok? Maybe that's what Real Life is though, learning to deal with the big things even when we can't grasp it or find comfort in it. Maybe not being able to grasp reality is the single greatest blessing one can receive; it allows us to live our lives as innocently and as free from the oppression of sin in this world as possible. No, I don't like not knowing why things happen and for what purpose, but I guess the thing that drives me is that Someone greater than myself knows, and though dark times may fall upon me, He'll never let me down.
(Dedicated to Dave - R.I.P Dear Friend) 

Story behind the Chai

So, some of you may be questioning why I would name my blog, a place for me to discuss the mundane routines and miraculous "Aha!" moments in my life, after a temptingly delicious beverage. True, I do make one heck of a Chai Tea, but there's more to the name than just a nod towards my great accomplishment.
Earlier this year, I took part of a missions trip down to Tanzania. While I was there, I traveled to many locations and came in contact with some of the happiest people I have ever met. For a couple of weeks, I was living with 11 others on my team in Maasai land out in the desert. The Maasai are an originally nomad tribe spread all across Eastern Africa. They live in mud huts in "boma's" or a stick-fenced in neighborhood of sorts. My group and I were able to speak to these people and experience some of their culture. 
As we were their guest, they treated us with the utmost respect. No matter where we were, what the time was, or how poor our hosts were, we were always, ALWAYS greeted with a steaming cup of Chai tea. It didn't strike me till I returned home that these wonderful people had taken the time to give us something that they themselves would not have on a day to day basis. The time that went into making that Chai showed me how much they wanted to care for us and be hospitable. Hospitality was something I learned about in Tanzania and it touched my heart greatly. If only we, those who have more than enough, could learn to give of our time, effort, and possessions to one another...
We have a lot to learn from others once we humble ourselves before them.
And that is the story behind the Chai!

Testing 1...2...Greetings!

And so this Blog begins! Think of this post as more of a christening than an update on my life and everything that entails. Perhaps I am slightly less "tech-savvy" than I allow myself to believe, because it took me over an hour to initiate this Blog (however, I blame that on writers block while trying to come up with a title). So for all you avid Bloggers out there, please forgive me as I slowly begin to learn how to use this thing. You'll be hearing from me soon enough. And, as Tigger would say, "TTFN; Ta Ta For Now!"