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with Lydia

When I look at the calendar I have a hard time believing it’s almost the end of November already. Where has the time gone? Certainly the last few weeks have been full of activities…

At the end of October I went to Montreal to visit my friend Lydia and to go dancing. Always a good time and this trip we returned to Jean Talon market, which means taking advantage of the samples and being tempted by all sorts of tasty cheeses, meats, maple syrup concotions, fruits and veggies.

It was squash season and there were pumpkins and rather large squashes on display. I can’t imagine what one might do with such a large vegetable when considering I took five hours to deal with my relatively small pumpkin :p

Giant squash!!

Instead we carried home a huge box of tomatoes for Lydia. Got some weird looks on the metro but made a lot of tomato sauce once we got back to the apartment. On the Sunday I went to Nouvelle Vie in Longueuil and heard Nicky Cruz speak. I had never really heard of him before and I was touched by his story. Just learning how his mother had treated him, the years he spent in the street gangs of New York and then how Jesus met him. It is so incredible how He wants to meet us in the depths of our brokenness and bring us to a place of freedom.  That night I went to the Living Room church and saw my Calgary pastor, which was both a good and bad thing because it brought with it a moment of homesickness…though I am not sure which place is my “home” per se. I am getting more established here in Quebec even if my family and many connections are in the west.

Chez Lydia

I got my first taste of floor barre when I took a workshop the first week in November. The instructor made everyone do their splits, which I haven’t tried to do in a long time :s It was a very technical class and I enjoyed it thoroughly. You think that you have strong core muscles until you start doing exercises on the floor that push your internal muscles and then you realise how much you haven’t been working the right muscles. This workshop made me realize how strong a dancer really can be, and I was inspired to try and find floor barre dvds or movies and to start working on my flexibility again. So far I haven’t found a dvd here, so if anyone has any ideas please let me know

We had a couple of FJ events too in the last few weeks. On the 31st we held a gathering called “Mission:Bénir” where we came together to pray for the spheres of society and to make cards to thank the authorities in the city. I was responsible for preparing the snack, and I discovered something quite dangerous to any diet: sweet and salty popcorn! Completely addictive. Let’s just say that it disappeared quickly Then we ran another Quartier Libre with about 20 kids who came out, and now we have about half of those who want us to come and visit! Even though it’s getting cool out we still plan to run two more programs in December. And then last week I was in Dunham with my teammates to teach, and to organise /run Camp 5.

This year I was particularly moved by Remembrance Day and watching the official ceremony in Ottawa. Just to see all the veterans and to consider how most of the ones who participated in even the second world war are deceased or getting close to that point. And to consider the sacrifice that so many paid so that we could be free in Canada. I was surprised to see that not many people wore poppies around here even though there are a large number of Québécois in the forces these days. I think it is so important we remember.

Lydia and her tomatoes

I also attended a youth gathering called Génération: Unité in Montreal. The event has happened for the last 4-5 years and involves a bunch of youth groups and young adults coming together over a friday and saturday to pray and worship together. And I was so excited because we were praying for Canada, for Québec and for revival. This years speaker felt like the next big revival would happen in Canada and in Quebec. It was amazing to see so many young people on fire for Jesus and who had a desire to see things move in our nation. I wasn’t there the Saturday night but apparently they were singing “Oh Canada” It is definitely on my heart to see healing and reconciliation in Canada in terms of Anglophones and Francophones, east and west. We were created to resemble God in being united in diversity, so I want to believe that one day we might live it out.

Rue St Hubert

In my own life I feel like I am running in circles around certain behaviours or habits, which I don’t like. The time it takes before I find myself back in the same place has become more and more extended, yet I still return. A couple of my teammates are taking a course on spiritual accompaniment and their current session is about the wounds we have from our childhood and how we created certain behaviour patterns to protect ourselves. I have a rather sneaking suspicion that my running in circles has every bit to do with my self-protection mechanisms, and I would love to figure out where the root lies…because it’s tiresome and I’ m sure it’s preventing me from living out my life to it’s fullest. So hopefully with God’s help I can move forward in these things

We still don’t have any snow here, though there were a few snowflakes that fell last week. It’s just cold outside and so I can no longer be in denial about wearing a winter coat. That being said, I cannot really complain since apparently it has been a lot warmer here than in Alberta 

Anyhow I think my post has gotten long enough so I will end here. Thanks for reading!

À la prochaine

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