Woah! This Sex Is on Fire

I am more than 22.5 years old. Whew. Know what that makes me? Old.

Yes, old. Practically ancient. This is not another rant on how much I should have accomplished by 22. At least, not wholly. Sort of. This is an account of what my life should look like and does not. No fear, though! I promise to end on a positive note.

According to me at __, I should be:

7 - old and making money as a successful swimming lesson instructor.

9 - married to Matt Harvey and an elementary school teacher.

12 - graduated with a BA in something important that will get me somewhere big.

14 - anywhere but here.

15 - someone thrilling and crazy, doing body shots off of underwear models in Tahiti before returning to Canada to be famous.

16 - married with a kid and rich.

17 - famous and not alone.

18 - married to a pastor, famous of course, and planting churches.

19 - just not alone.

20 - graduated and a youth pastor.

21 - better...healthy...back to normal.

22 - anywhere but here.

A lot happened between 14 and 22, but apparently not much has changed.

But. Not to be all negative all over everything good in my life, there are actually good things going on. (In case you haven't noticed, I love lists lately.)

1. I'm alone! Woot!
2. I am taking myself on a cruise sometime in the next year. Sweet bliss. Not to Tahiti or with famous people, but just to be anywhere but here...and be well-fed doing it.
3. I survived this semester and next will be 1000x easier.
4. It is almost Christmas.
5. I am not alone.

And that's about it for now.

Oh. And Ewan McGregor is sexy.

The end.

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.