Delight

Psalm 37:4 - Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

I was looking for a verse this morning, and I found this one. I was thinking about the word "delight" and how it's such a great word! It encompasses the idea of taking great pleasure in something so beautifully. God takes great pleasure in his creations. God delights in you and in me. I should also delight in Him! Right now, I think I need to focus less on my present struggles (not ignore them) and I should be delighting in the one who delights in me.

This brings me to the question, "what are the desires of my heart?" On the surface I'd say I want a satisfying job that will support Jon and I while we're in Hamilton, or, I want to be able to get enough sleep...

When I really think about it, though, those aren't really the things my heart desires. They are important, and the list could go on, but they aren't really all that deep. My heart desires deep connections with God and with people. It desires for all to know and feel they are loved. It wants suffering to cease. My heart desires to be the heart of God. Those are the desires of my heart, and if delighting in the Lord will bring those things...I will delight!

News from Hammer Town

How I'm Doing:

For a while I really wasn't inspired to write anything on here. After coming to terms with the fact that I can't teach in a school until February (even then, that's a maybe), searching daily for jobs, trying to juggle volunteering, evening tutoring, and job searching, and the stress of money, I was getting pretty discouraged and depressed.

I had an interview on Monday, however, with a placement agency and started a temporary position this Tuesday! It has been really busy for me, with working 7am-3pm and then tutoring on Mon. & Wed. from 6-7, and on Tues. & Thurs. from 4-7! Despite the long days, I am so thankful for the opportunity to work this week! I am a woman who loves (and needs) her sleep, so I am really looking forward to a good sleep-in tomorrow.

Not having friends out here yet can get a bit lonely sometimes, but I have had some wonderful support and encouragement from home--thank you, you know who you are! Also, working this week has been a great chance for me to meet and talk with people, which has been refreshing. I've even met some teachers from around here who are in the same boat as me which is comforting.

This Week and the Next:

This past Sunday, Jon and I attended a church that reminded us of Faithworks in its early stages. It's a new church plant (1 year old) that meets Sundays at 5 pm, and it was full of young people! Everyone was extremely friendly and made us feel so welcome. We are trying to arrange a dinner with the pastor and his wife, and another young couple. We plan on going again, but may also try out some more.

Volunteering this Monday in the Kindergarten class was so fun! The teacher is wonderful, and gave me a "hello" and "goodbye" hug--very sweet lady. This coming Monday I will be with the Kindergarten class in the morning, and in a 4/5 split at another school in the afternoon. I'm happy for the opportunity to make connections with teachers/principals and to be a part of school environments.

Now that I've had a boost in spirit, I can eagerly await the Toronto visit with Kara this Sunday! I am so excited to see her!

Also, the following weekend, Jon's parents will be out for a visit! They will be on their way home from Newfoundland (visiting April, Jordan, and their new daughter --my new neice Corisma Anne Marie!) and will be here from Thursday to Sunday. We have a family friend's wedding to attend that Saturday, so it'll be a fun weekend. I'm pretty excited to host our first guests to our new apartment!

So, things are looking up! Life here definitely isn't what I had anticipated, but in the grand scheme of things, it's only a year. Keeping that in mind, I guess anything can happen within that year, and who knows what God has planned for me!

A Little Compare/Contrast

My certification finally came--and earlier than I had been told it would, too! This is very exciting for me as I can now be considered to places I apply! Recently, I acquired a temporary (hopefully) job as a tutor. My hope is that while I work as a tutor and volunteer at some Hamilton schools, I will be offered a position in Brantford (a place ~20-30 minutes outside Hamilton). It seems to be where all the teaching jobs are at around here. I'll keep you updated!

Here's a picture of the hike from the last post:


Other than that bit of information, I thought I'd do a little comparison/contrast of Winnipeg and Hamilton today...

1: Bus tickets. They both have them, but look at the size! For some reason I find the big size of Hamilton transit tickets to be quite fascinating... 2: Students + Bus Passes. Jon's bus fare is taken care of through an added fee to his tuition (which, by the way is a small fee compared to the benefit!). All he has to do is show his student card and it acts as a bus pass for the whole year! That is so cool! In Winnipeg, this would not be the case. Instead, a monthly pass would be cheaper for students, but both the pass and the student card are required. Hamilton wins!

3: Milk. In Winnipeg, the 4 litres come in jugs. Normal, yes. In Hamilton, 4 litres come in 3 bags. This, we are now used to, but like the big bus tickets, this change was very interesting for me. Oh, also, milk here is super expensive! I remember it being $3-something in Wpg, but here it's over $5! What a person needs for their calcium these days.

4: Lack of hills vs. hills...pretty self explanatory.

5: Young people. They are everywhere in Wpg, but in Hamilton, they seem to not yet exist! I mean, we've seen a few...but we're thinking that we'll be seeing more starting next week and as university begins.

6: Church. We've been to many in Winnipeg, and even have a church "home." Here, we've visited 3, and it seems to be the pattern (see above) that there are a LOT of old people (and I mean, canes and white hair old) and not-so-many young people our age. We even accidentally attended a senior service when the younger service had happened earlier that morning! Anyways, that too should be better come September when university is in full swing.

That's enough for now. And I didn't get around to the skirt picture...

Hamilton Life

Some fun things as of late:

- Bike ride down to the waterfront (the harbour of Lake Ontario). It's really beautiful--and not too far from our place! There are some ice cream places, a museum, some stages, and lots of paths and green space. Jon and I plan to take many a trip down there. 

- Shopping in Toronto! It's been a long time since either Jon or I went shopping with the purpose of buying clothes--and this was something I was really looking forward to doing. So, we took the GO Bus to Toronto and spent the day at the Eaton Centre. We both came home with some new items and were very pleased with our successful day. This won't be happening too regularly, but it was fun!

A not-so fun thing as of late:

The teaching world in Hamilton is not as friendly to substitutes (or occasional/supply teachers as it's called here) as I'd like. The sub list is capped and locked until February at the moment, so I am making every attempt to find a teaching position surrounding areas of Hamilton (Brantford and Burlington) that aren't too far to drive to. I have applied to a few, and am waiting to hear back--and I really hope to! Things could go a few different directions at this point...

a) I don't get a teaching job; will then volunteer in Hamilton schools to get my face out there/meet principals; and work somewhere (?) until I get an interview in February and then substitute...

b) I find a private school opening in Hamilton

c) I get a job (term or permanent--most likely a term) in Brantford or Burlington; we buy a car and I commute

d) I don't work and we get kicked out of our place...wait--that's not an option!

I am hoping/praying for outcome "c". Time will tell! Also, my Ontario Certification is taking long and may possibly affect my desirability for hire. If you pray, please pray for that to hurry the heck up! Thanks!

Unfortunately the camera did not accompany us to any of the above things, but there will be more opportunity---coming up: one of me in my new skirt! Oh, the excitement, I know.

The Move Part 3

Here are some pictures from the ride down and a few of us unpacking the new place.

Capo enjoying a road snack.

Me in the middle. I wasn't always there...but I did have the shortest legs.

Jon sleeping with Capo on his lap after driving for 5 hours (starting at 5 am). Cute!

Here are 2 sneak peaks into our apartment from the inside and outside. To see more, go to Jon's Flickr site and you'll find photos of our apartment as it is now, as well as photos from our neighborhood!

Trying to organize the new place! Sooo many boxes.

Down the street that intersects ours, looking at our apartment building. You can see some of the cute brick houses, too.

The Move Part 2

Here are some pictures taken while preparing to leave Winnipeg. All our stuff is currently unpacked, and our apartment is only needing some curtains and for pictures to be hung. Other than that, we're pretty settled. It has been raining/thunderstorming most of the week, which is getting a bit old. We are told, though, that this is not usual Hamilton summer weather. Phew!

Also, a big shout out to the following moving helpers:
Day 1: Randall, Kim, Bre, Andrew, Kyle, Tiffany, Mom and Dad H --your help was SO very much needed and appreciated (and a mini shout-out to Kara who offered her help!) Thank you!

Day 2: Joel, Alissa, Airyn, Kendall, Graham, Kristy, Randall, Janessa and Kyle. You were amazing U-Haul packers/lifters/visitors! We would not have been as pleasant without your help! Thank you!

To the pictures...

Here I am in the mess that was our Stradbrook kitchen!
Kim, Bre, and Andrew packing "Neo" Bre's amazingly roomy Matrix!


The rest of that day is not well photo-documented as it was quite busy! This is a photo of my parents' garage after moving all our stuff into it! (Due to the U-Haul delay)

Here are some Day 2 helpers doing an awesome job packing the U-Haul. You can fit quite a bit into those things!
The ladies, babies, and Janess encouraging the men. ;)

Kendall looking tough walking down the ramp, and the helpful packers finishing up!

All ready for the morning move!
The 4 of us all ready to go!
And we're off...
More to come.

Hope you are all doing well. We miss you Winnipeggers!

The Move Part 1

So, we moved the other day, and then moved the stuff again the next day. We had WONDERFUL help. Then we drove 2 days. And moved our stuff AGAIN. Now we're here in Hamilton. We love our new apartment and the area we're living in! We can get wireless if we're on our balcony or the laptop is on our bedroom window ledge...more details/pictures to come when our internet connection is up and running in a couple days!