True North.

Dear Canada,

Today I miss you. I miss seeing you in your Autumnal splendour. How I wish I could take a long drive along the Fraser River or down a winding country road. I wish that I could go for a hike in your mighty mountains and take in the beauty of the changing foliage. I want to bundle up and to feel your cool breeze on my nose. I wish that I would get caught in one of BC's downpours and get soaked to the bone. Then I would snuggle up with a cup of coffee, real coffee. Maybe have some pancakes with maple syrup and bacon while I sit in front of a log-burning fire. I love to smell of wood smoke that lingers in the damp air, mingling with the scent of crisp leaves. To hear the call of a loon or an eagle. I miss your oceans. I miss you plains. I miss the mountains and forests. I miss you vast skies and the beauty of your sunsets. I miss your cities and your towns. Canada, today I miss you, but don't worry. Someday I will come to you again and be able to love you all the more.

-Hanna

Choices.

Life sure does involve a lot of choices, doesn’t it? Almost everything we do is a choice. You make a choice to get out of bed in the morning. You choose what to have for breakfast. You choose what to wear. Throughout the day you are making hundreds and thousands of choices.

This choice making starts from a very young age. I can remember being told to “Make good choices” as I headed out the door as a young teenager. And this past year I must have asked dozens of 5 year olds “What choice are you making?” or “Could you make a better choice?”

When you’re a kid making choices is usually a fun thing. I remember how exciting it was when I would get to choose, all by myself, what I would wear that day – what a thrill! Or I’d get to choose what route we would take to get somewhere. Quite a responsibility. Sure, my parents usually would give me appropriate options to choose from, but still, I was the one making the decision that would shape our day.

As you get older some choices remain exciting: where are we going to go on vacation? What movie are we going to see? What type of car will you buy?

But as you get older, your choices hold more weight. You have an even greater responsibility to make good choices. What kind of job will you have? How are you going to pay your bills? Who are you going to marry? These are big choices and unfortunately they do not always come with pre-approved options. Sometimes you’ll have a world of choices in front of you, and while that is exciting it can also be overwhelming.

Having faith in God often makes it easier. A lot of people trust that He has a plan for their lives and that He will guide them through their choices. And while I believe that is certainly true some of the time, I think that sometimes God might present you with several choices and any one of them could be the right choice. Some might challenge you more than others, but all of them are good options. Then you have to choose: do I want to make the easy choice, or the harder choice that might be more rewarding?

We all have choices to make. Hopefully we have the wisdom to make good ones.

Steal this Day.

I want to steal this day with you.

To hide away in some small café where no one knows us.

Snuggle up on an oversized couch, not caring what people might say.

I want to read old American novels with you

and drift away into the story and the sound of your voice.

Listen to the rain gently tapping on the window 

and know that she can’t reach me here in your arms.

Sip our drinks side by side and wonder if it’s your company

or the coffee that is warming me up inside.

It's important that you hear them.

I hope you have people in your life who say these words to you, because it’s important that you hear them.

It’s okay.

Maybe you don’t have all of the answers. And maybe you’re scared and terrified. And maybe you feel like things aren’t going the way they are supposed to be going. And maybe you feel you’re all alone.

But you are surrounded by love that you don’t even know about. 

There are people out there who are pulling for you. People who would give anything to see you smile. These are the people who won’t give up on you, even on the days when you give up on yourself.

So at those times when you feel like you’re running on empty and all you want to do is give up, remember that there is someone in your corner. Ready to give you that extra push, or a shoulder to cry on, or to simply wrap you up in their arms. You do not have to do it alone.

And it’s when you realize that you have this wealth of love to draw your strength from that you’ll see that things are not quite a bleak as they once seemed. You’ll find something in each day to bring a smile to your face and a joyful song to your heart.

Reach out to those around you and find that you are surrounded by love that you didn’t even know about.

(*Some of these beautiful words were borrowed from or inspired by Elliott Morgan’s What’s Your Sentence)

Something New

So... I've decided to start a vlog. We'll see how long it lasts, but for now go ahead and take a look-see. And don't worry, I'll keep posting on here as well :)

Steve.

From an early age I was made aware of Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”. And while it is always a bit frustrating when Murphy’s Law does rear its ugly head in life, I have learned to simply smile politely and see it as one of life’s little pranks. However, lately I have been experiencing Murphy’s Law more frequently than I would hope and the reason for this is simple: Steve.

Steve is my 1994 Volkswagen Golf. Das auto ist mein auto.

It was a warm and sunny afternoon in late August when Steve came into my life. After having replied to a craigslist posting and having gone for a test drive it was finally time for me to sign the papers and be a first-time car owner (I would be co-signing with my younger sister, God bless her for chipping in). And it was this very day that Steve would bring about Murphy’s Law for the first time.

Before signing the papers it turned out that Steve’s air-care had expired, which was a deal breaker. My dad and the previous owner quickly took the car to get tested: it failed. Not wanting to go back on my word to purchase the car, I gave the owner the rest of the day to sort out any issues and get Steve air-cared, at which point my sister and I would gladly sign the papers. After another two attempts Steve finally passed air-care and we drove him home that afternoon.

It was not long before a new problem made itself known. Steve was a heavy drinker of coolant. And by heavy I mean that he went through a jug of coolant that proudly boasted to last up to 5 years, in no more than two weeks. Time to visit the mechanic. I decided to get a full check up and at the end of the day I was given a 4-page print out of things that were wrong with Steve. I got the most desperate problems fixed and felt confident that Steve would be fine for at least the rest of the year. Then winter came...

The first time it froze overnight I was unable to unlock the doors the next morning. Luckily this problem was quickly solved with some hot water. The bigger issue was that Steve had decided to start honking whenever he felt so inclined. At start up Steve would gladly greet me with several short honks. When rounding corners Steve would greet the passersby on the street with a little beep. Sometimes little honks were not enough and Steve would sound his horn long and clear for all to hear.

Another issue that appeared with the winter-rains was that Steve retains water. We first noticed a small puddle on the floor by the backseat but thought little of it. However, as it has rained more and more the puddle has become more like a small lake. While driving, the water sloshes around making sounds similar to that of a rain-stick. The sound is equal parts soothing and disconcerting.

This past week I was driving along a quiet country road and had just pulled up to a stop sign when Steve had a slight tantrum. He flashed his warning lights at me and started honking continuously. I put him into park, put on the emergency break, turned all the lights off, shut off the ignition and pulled the keys out. Steve continued honking. What makes this even more miraculous is that the fuse for the horn had been taken out several weeks earlier. There I sat, perplexed and aghast. After various attempts to stop the honking I got out and locked the doors. Finally the honking subsided. I can only assume that, for reasons unknown, Steve had decided to sound his alarm in the middle of our nice drive.

My parents warned me about getting a car. They told me that it would cost a lot of money (which it does) and take a lot of upkeep (which it certainly does). But despite my overexcited little car and his crazy antics, I do enjoy having a car. There has been many a time when Steve is in a good mood as we cruise along the highway, gently humming along to the radio. Steve has also taught me a lot about cars and their inner workings. But most of all, Steve has brought me lots of laughs, maybe not always in the moment but certainly in retelling the tales.

Murphy’s Law says that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. I do not know how much more time I have with Steve, but in the time we have spent together Steve has helped me to see that when things go wrong, the best thing to do is accept it, laugh about it, and move on.