yes, i am still alive.
once again, it has been a while since i last posted my thoughts and feelings about life. to sum up my absence, life is really good, but God is even better. i feel as if a lot of my ponderings and prayers have been answered, and this has allowed me to reach some major conclusions about what i believe God has in store for me.
1) i LOVE Vancouver and am becoming more passionate by the day about God's people here. i'm getting excited about what i think God is preparing me for.
2) i thoroughly enjoy the church family that God has blessed me with, and i am so inspired by how they yearn to see God move in this city. these are some amazing people.
3) God is always faithful, but i have been realizing His providence even more lately. He has given me so much encouragement and opportunities to grow in trust and faith and love. yay, God!
one of the things that has been so great about the last couple of weeks is that i just had my friend (and cousin) Melissa here. she arrived last week Wednesday afternoon and left last night. we had SUCH a wonderful time together, as this was Mel's first trip out west and it has been a long time since we've been able to spend this much concentrated time together.
seeing as 1) a picture equals 1,000 words and 2) i don't feel like being clever enough to write a book at this point in time 3) i happen to have some great pictures depicting our time together, i will leave it to the following snapshots (and some small captions) to do the talking.
Mel and i, posing at the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, where we went to pick up 
Ryan and Mel, waiting at the bus stop, which we did alot of 
hugging some trees (or was it just 1?) 
the 3 of us
Asian fingers, in the Chinese Sun Yatsen Gardens 
Mel introduced me to the joy and mouth-watering deliciousness of Quizno's subs...mmm
yes, good times were had, indeed. and apparently, Mel and i wore the same clothes the entire time we spent together. ok, so maybe we didn't, but isn't it comforting to think that some things never change, even if they were clothes? ok, so again, maybe not so much. regardless, memories were made this week; confidence (and patience) was gleaned as we explored the city on the often unreliably late, yet brimming-with-beautiful-people buses; and fun and laughter ensued.
thanks, Mel, for gracing my life with your presence this week.
and to cap off this post, the meeting last week Wednesday (May 7) regarding the re-zoning application that YWAM Vancouver made to the city went ok. please continue to pray for favor with the city and patience and humility and love for us to extend to our neighbors. please email me if you're interested to hear more about how it went.
thanks for reading, friends.
blessings!
