Canadian Soil

After a year-and-a-half in the Dominincan Republic (ok, with a couple excursions to Canada and North Africa) I am back in Canada. Now, before I proceed to talk about time in this my "home and native land", I do want to say that the plan is to go back in time and post some more images and stories of the last couple months. For some reason working in Communications does not mean I am always the best or most consistent communicator....so stay tuned for some belated reflections.

Ok, so I have now been back in Canada for two weeks and it has been great...chilly at times... but great. I have loved time with my family and reconnecting with friends wihthout the normal rush of "squeezing in" visits before I head off again. It has been a nice mix of relaxing and having time to process and appreciate my time in the DR and to think prayerfully about the summer (here in Canada for 3 months, job searching, processing learnings & experiences, time with my community here), the fall (returning to North Africa for 4 months) and the new year (returning to the DR).

Growing up I didn't always have an appreciation for quiet time, solo time, reflection time...or the wide open spaces of the Alberta landscape. However, I am grateful for this time and space to reflect, refresh, and refocus (ackk, alliteration used in this way seems so pretentious or tacky...so self-help/leadership bookish...somehow after all those thoughts I still went for it.)

Well, I recently had some great time in the quiet of and space of the Alberta prairies with my uncle and aunt. We had a great 3-day get away at their "county home" and enjoyed times of reading, listening, discussing, pondering, kayaking, planting, watering, shoveling, wheelbarrowing, hammering, fishing, eating, resting, sunning, chopping, marshmallowing, walking, and sleeping. Thank you (Cliff and Margot) for such a fun retreat.