Don't Stop, Never Give Up

This last while has been hard in the extreme. But I've been learning a lot about myself and God and relating to people.

Today I had the honour of preaching at a small Filipino church which is mostly made up of youth. And, as usual, less than an hour before the service God had put something pressing on my heart and the whole thing was being re-written. The half-hour car ride from our first church was spent madly flipping through the Bible and making hurried notes. I don't know how it was received as no one really said anything afterwards, but I wasn't trying to get a good reception; the whole point was to bring them out of their comfort zones. Besides, how comfy can one be with hell and judgement and numerous "repent!"s being thrown around?

This week will be a turning point. I can feel it in the air. And I don't mean the worse than ever humidity. These changes have to be for the best; I don't know if things could really get any worse now. Please pray.

The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn Is Just to Love and Be Loved in Return

So when I titled this blog I wasn't actually thinking of Ewan McGregor but, let's face it, appreciating his devastating good looks is never a bad thing.

Three days ago I arrived in Toronto (Mississauga to be more precise), and am in the process of discovering exactly what my internship is going to look like. I don't know exactly what I expected when I signed up for this in the Spring, but my current situation is definitely not it. I'm living in the basement of a wonderful woman named Sonia, along with Jasmine my fabulous cruise director, as well as another soon-to-join-us intern and the certainty of many passing-throughers who will decorate our sofas and line the edges of our blessedly cool hardwood floors. I spent my entire first day preparing crafts for the six kids camps we'll be running/prepping for over the course of the summer; thankfully I love crafts or it would have been a mega chore.

And, today, I got to meet my new home church. Igreja do Evanglho Quadrangular de Toronto is where I will do the majority of my sweating, serving, struggling, crying and, hopefully, growing over the next two months. I think the name means something like Evangelical Foursquare Church of Toronto, but that's just a wild guess...as is most of my interaction with this Portuguese church. As you may have noticed, even their website is completely in Portuguese, as is their entire service. Surprise! Oh, and I am also the happy collector of one youth. Yes, that's right, one. Either God is trying to teach me a massive lesson on the importance of "the one" and to shift my focus away from numbers, or He's giving me the chance to grow something incredible from nothing.

I'm still in the mode that says "IcandothisbecauseI'mheretoserveandGodwillhelpmeandHe'ssogoodAmen!" ...but I seriously doubt that can last long. I've been steeping myself in the Word at every possible moment, but I know that eventually exhaustion from 10-12 hour days will kick in and it will take extra effort to hold on to the goodness of God when all I see is pressure and struggle. But, for as long as this joy lasts, I am going to hold onto it with all my might and ask God to strengthen me when I am at my weakest.

If this internship doesn't make me breathe each sticky, humid breath for Him, I don't know what will.