Random things I found...

Your 1950s Name is:

Renee Virginia

What's your 1950s Name?

You Are New York

Cosmopolitan and sophisticated, you enjoy the newest in food, art, and culture. You also appreciate a good amount of grit - and very little shocks you. You're competitive, driven, and very likely to succeed. Famous people from New York: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tupac Shakur, Woody Allen

What American City Are You?

You Are 20% Left Brained, 80% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

Sanctification School

I've been reading "Girl Meets God" and I finally finished it. My favourite thing about this book is that as I read through it I come across these really simple, yet profound things! In this one chapter, titled "Sanctification School" she starts talking about her jealousy of her friend who is married and having a baby. One of the things (aside from the family and the relationship) that she is jealous about is how she sees God refining her friend through the relationship, that the marriage is a school for sanctification. She says "I have watched their marriage and I have seen that God has been who He said He would be. 'He will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.' He has used their marriage as soap. I praise God for His soapiness, and then I get so jealous that I think I might literally start to see green. It is the old question, the pathetic question: Why them, Lord/ Why them and not me?"

The chapter continues with Lauren describing how she is trying to imagine herself being happy for her friend when the baby comes, being genuinely happy! "Sitting on my bed, I tell God bluntly that I don't have the resources to watch Hannah have this baby. 'I really don't want to feel this way,' I say, 'I really want t do right by my friend. But I don't know how to be a friend here, God....You are going to have to give me the eyes to do it with.' If I am going to do something other than crumple up and collapse, it will only be because God does it for me. Because He will gently pry me apart and prop me upright right after I have crumpled into a ball on the floor."

"Somehow I know he will uncrumple me. I will be jealous and miserable all through this pregnancy, but I have known God long enough to now know that He will give me enough respite from my jealousy to go to Baby Gap....if I ask for that respite and open my hands to receive it, He will give it to me. He will give me enough peace to be her friend. And, knowing God, He might even surprise me. He might give me, amid the months of envy, a few moments of gratitude and joy. He might give me a little burst of affection and edxcitement when I first see that downy bundle of pink."

And the most important part...

"Later, in the shower, I get it. I get that Hannah's pregnancy is my own school of sanctification. God is sactifying my friends through marriage and parenthood, but He is not just blessing them and leaving me out in the unblessed cold. He is using my rediculous jealousy and my endless self-pity to sanctify me."

Funny!

Shen-wei found this comic around Christmas and I've laughed at it ever since (It was on the wall of our office). Now that I don't work at the Drop-In Centre anymore, I thought I should put it up here! :-)

Current Read...

I love Stacey's idea on her blog of listing the books she's reading. I've been working on this one for a while. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. But, overall it's good. The hate part is my own issue - nothing with the book!

Them Homeless

Them Homeless
- Tim G. (Night Supervisor at the CDIRC)

People love to quote statistics when talking about the homeless population. I guess it helps us to make sense of people that we know nothing about. Oh, so half of them are working, huh? Well, I guess that's okay then. Somehow it makes it better when we know things like this. But the numbers don't really tell the whole story, do they? I mean, think about the community that you live in. Maybe you live in a house in the suburbs. I bet half of the people on your block are working. I'm sure that some people on your block suffer from addictions, some probably have a mental illness, too. Some have been abused and some are abusers. I'm sure that lots of people on your block have low self-esteem. I imagine some of them are lonely as well.

But this is not the story of your community, is it? And this is not how you would define your community. I wonder why people always use these types of parameters to define homeless people.

The thing is this: In general terms, most people who find themselves homeless are very much like people who live in homes. Weird, huh? Some of them are grumpy. Some are very nice. Some of them work, some don't. A few panhandle, most don't. Some have addictions, some like a beer after work. Others are not very good at volleyball. Some call their moms every night, while others write letters to their children. Some even fit into multiple categories. Yes, some are grumpy, have jobs, addictions, excel at volleyball, but never phone their moms. You see, they're people. Nothing is black and white.

I think the thing that gets me is the "they" mentality that many have about homeless people. When people ask me questions about my work, they often ask things like: What are they like? or Are they scary? And it's frustrating because when speaking of people that are homeless, we are not speaking of a cohesive unit that acts as one, but rather a very diverse community of all sorts of people--individuals--who are as different from one another as you and I. They are not "they". This may seem trivial, but the importance of understanding this is paramount to addressing the issues surrounding homelessness.

A quiet night last night. We slept 1073 people. And each of those 1073 people has a unique story to tell. Just like you or I. The only difference is they don't have homes.


This article is originally found on the Drop-In Centre's blog - I really liked it so I thought I'd put it on mine as well!


Also...if you're into reading. Louise G. (link to the right) wrote an amazing post yesterday after her experience teaching Self Esteem to our students. Check it out.

Funny!

My friend Stacey had this on her blog and I couldn't resist adding it to mine as well!!

Visual DNA

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Moving to CHICAGO!

Well, it's official - I have finally decided that I am MOVING TO CHICAGO! In March I was offered a position as a Graduate Resident Advisor at Wheaton College and then a few weeks later I was admitted into the Graduate Program there. I am SO EXCITED to move to Chicago (a) because it's Chicago (and I love Chicago), (b) because it's closer to Minnesota than I am now and (c) it's an amazing opportunity to work with amazing people and get my Masters degree at the same time!

So, sometime near the end of July I'll pack up my car and begin the 28 hour trek to Wheaton, IL. As a GRA I'll be living in a freshman dorm working with the RA's and other students. Even though I'll be living in the dorms, I'll have an actual apartment - I get asked about that a lot! The masters program will take me two years to complete and the job contract is also two years. It feels like such a great fit and it really is an amazing opportunity. If you want to know more, let me know because I'd love to tell you about it!

As for this summer - my job at the Calgary Drop-In Centre (homeless shelter) ends in a couple of weeks and I have arranged to do temp work until I move. I'm really thankful for that because I will have more flexibility with my schedule, but will still be working full time so I can get all the immigration stuff done! So, LOTS of changes are ahead - but they're good ones! I know I will miss living in Calgary and being so close to my family, but they have assured me that they'll have fun visiting Chicago! Also - if anyone else wants to come visit, my door is always open!