Either you decide to stay in the shallow end of the pool or you go out in the ocean...

Even though exams finished yesterday, there seems no time stop and catch up on missed sleep as new courses are already underway. To be honest, I am utterly exhausted and looking forwards to the weekend for a bit of a break before travelling to the Gulf Islands. The last few days have been pretty intense in terms of the volume of things I am trying to check off my list before Monday. However, I know the adventure is just beginning...

A few nights ago I was looking through some of the quotes and stories I've collected over the years, when I stumbled upon the poem called The Ragman. The story takes me back several years to memories of eating breakfast early one morning in the hold of the Pacific Swift sheltered just behind Rugged Point (that was the first time I heard the story of The Ragman). One thing I love about being in the wilderness is that often coincides with a time of reflection. Life is so busy during the school year that it is all too easy to get caught up in the swirling rapids and completely forget how amazing God is and how powerful His love for us. Sometimes it takes an escape from reality to remember! Had I read this poem without having the time to properly reflect on it I may have missed the point. Perhaps it simply would have been a retelling of the Easter story... but in that moment, it was so powerful.

Here I am, two years of university behind me and a world of adventure unfolding before my eyes. Time to raise sail and catch the tide :)

Fair Winds!

Another end, another beginning...

It seems odd that a week from today I will be studying for my last exam of the semester. The past two years have raced by insanely fast, yet as I look back on them I find that they hold so many awesome memories. As I was thinking about the adventures to come, I remembered a quote that seems relevant to the challenges this summer may bring:

"Men go back to the mountains, as they go back to sailing ships at sea, because in the mountains and on the sea they must face up, as did men of another age, to the challenge of nature. Modern man lives in a highly synthetic kind of existence. He specializes in this and that. Rarely does he test all his powers or find himself whole. But in the hills and on the water the character of a man comes out."

~Henry David Thoreau

I have not spent nearly as much time climbing mountains as I have out at sea. Even so, I have done enough to know that the feeling one gets as they reach the peak is akin to the emotions that course through a sailor making a glorious run under full sail. The shear beauty of being surrounded by nothing but wilderness is an experience never to be forgotten. Personally, it is often out in nature that I feel the closest to God.

I would like to ask for prayer over the summer: for my time at orcalab, for my interactions with the youth on SALTS, and for the strength to do what I hear God calling me to do.

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth."

~ Psalm 121:1-2

Fair Winds!

I feel the winds of God today, today my sails I lift...

So... in the midst of all His crazy plans for me, God has given me the opportunity to volunteer on with SALTS this summer on the Pacific Swift. I have sailed as a trainee with the SALTS vessels for six years, and it's super exciting to finally be able to give back a little of what I have been blessed with during my time on the ships. SALTS is essentially like a Christian camp held on tall ships. Just thought I'd share that exciting news :)

School is almost over for the semester, and things are getting busy once again. My goal is to go snowing shoeing at least once during exam week, maybe to Baker. I am very excited for my courses in May and the opportunity to meet some new people and strengthen some old friendships during the travel study.

Alas, my final organic chemistry lab write-up is calling now, and I should try to finish it so I can get a good nights sleep tonight.

Fair Winds!