packing up

I am having a hard time believing that its already time to pack up. Where has the time gone? There is only one more week left in Vancouver for my session mates and I and then we head out across North America(and the world for one) for summer assignment(expect for those half a dozen staying here for their assignments).
Thinking about packing my belongings brings back so many memories from this past year...

-->arriving in the downtown eastside really late at night and not fully understanding where I was until I awoke the next morning.
-->observing one of my roommates(who had arrived a few days earlier than me) all settled and inward(so we thought then!!). She's nothing like that now.
-->sleeping on bunk beds again(for an extended period of time). People at home got a real kick out of this one...I had a dramatic experience with bunk beds as a child!!
-->taking my first real walk through the DTES, finding a park, following the traintracks and ending up about 6 blocks away from where I started - and thinking it was really far away when I had to walk back!!!
-->meeting my first new friends from my neighbourhood. What experiences(sometimes scary ones) those were in the beginning.
-->changing our room around for the first time.
-->crying during my first night of street combat. It was SO out of my comfort zone!
-->having God break down many of the walls that I had built up over the years(we are still working on this one - PTL!).
-->meeting all my amazing session mates for the first time - seems so surreal now.
-->getting to know all those session mates more personaly and intimately.
-->sharing the good and the bad times together.
-->changing our room around again(I like change!).
-->watching some of the guys carry our couch down the street, stopping to sit when they got tired!
-->coming to the realization that not only was I living in community with the people that the western world would consider "poor," I was and am one of them!! It really is amazing.
-->eating meals at harbour light. Yeah, I can't say I'm going to miss this over the summer!

Ok, so my list could go on and on. And I could actually share some amazing, uplifting and crazy stories with you all. But I digress 'cause that's not where I want to go tonight.
What I would really like to say is a huge thank you to all of you who have prayed for me, wrote me notes, sent me e-mails, brought me home to my family for Christmas...all of those whom I love and love me.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

I could not have made it as far this year without your prayers, love and support.
Please continue to pray for all of the Holy Session as we head out on summer assingments. I am going to list each person by name and where they are going for the summer. That way, you can(and I ask that you do) lift up each one us and the congregations we'll be going to in prayer.

Olivia - Chicago
Denise & Joel - Bangor, Maine
Juan - Dauphin, Manitoba
Joshua - Melfort, Saskatchewan
Rebekha & Craig - Birmingham, Alabama
Joe - Westbrook, Maine
Andrea & Anthony - Charlotte, North Carolina
Kirsty & Andrew - Campbell River, British Columbia
Kirsten - Vernon, British Columbia
Dan & Philip - London, Ontario
Melissa - Adelaide, Austrailia
Andy - Victoria, British Columbia
Jenea, Jacynta, Katie, Crystal, Jill, Ashley, Kath, & Matthew - Vancouver, British Columbia

Blessings.