Happy Thanksgiving From Your Very Own Surfer Chick!

Hey again!

Pictures:

(surfing in our wetsuits! me = far left) (church on the farm - PIE!)

Here's wishing you all the most fabulous Thanksgiving holiday ever! I trust that as I write this some of you are contentedly lounging on couches after having gorged yourselves once or twice this weekend. I myself am looking intently forward to our own little Thanksgiving dinner here in about an hour. All the more local kids are returning home and joining us for some good old-fashioned turkey goodness. I even carved a pumpkin with the shape of the Mayflower for dining hall decor. Oh yes, I am indeed feeling the holiday spirit.

All this aside, it has actually been quite a low-key, uneventful weekend here on campus. I went to Victoria on Saturday with a few friends for shopping, ethnic cuisine, and Starbucks, and attended an enthusiastic "Church on the Farm" Sunday morning with pie-eating contests, tug-of-wars, and gunny sack races to boot. This weekend, I've managed to spend far too much time on facebook and skype, far too much time hot-tubbing, far too much time watching movies (we watched FOUR last night in a Disney marathon!) and far too little time doing homework. FAR TOO LITTLE!

As for this past week, the greatest consumer of my time was.... SURFING, baby! From Tuesday til Thursday, our school went to the west side of the island to Tofino. I voted in my first federal election on the way out, and then we camped out on the beach, wore smoking hot wetsuits (that actually work amazingly well... I wonder if they would be so efficient in Sask. winters?), surfed it up in the days (or at least - tried), and enjoyed the splendour of saltwater matted hair. Surfing is DANG HARD... but soo fun at the same time. I caught a few waves, and at the very least have a definite desire to try it out again in the near future. I think in some ways that I could definitely get used to that lifestyle, apart from the imminent danger of getting smoked on the head by a surfboard following a particularly destructive wave-rocking (which happened to me, luckily, only once). Anyways, it was, once again, a great trip into God's beautiful creation and a great opportunity to grow in fellowship and love with my fellow Kaleo students.

What else to say? There's not loads to report this week by way of ministry. There were no events or retreats on at the camp for which to help out with, and because of Thanksgiving, we had no responsibilities to fulfill at church. There was no youth group, no Bridge service, and not even a church service at Cobblehill attended by myself. There was church on the farm, and of course the daily ministry of which we are a part here at Kaleo with each other. We've begun to hear one another's testimonies in small chapel services, which has been an amazing experience that continues to draw us closer to each other and to the Lord. How great is our God!

I know I say it every time, but I miss you all! Here's wishing you a marvelous belated Thanksgiving! All my love,

Jess