My western family

During my college years, there was one family in particular that took me in as theirs, and I can't forget their kindness. Even years later, after not really being in touch, they were so glad to see me, and went out of their way so that it would work to get together. Just thinking about it, I'm touched.

See, can't you tell we're related? heheh.



I ended up attending the local trade show (my first) with the whole family except the parents, and it was simply enjoyable to just tag along with whatever the family was doing, just hanging out, doing everyday things. We all went out for breakfast the morning after I arrived, which was funny since it's the parents' tradition and they weren't even there, since they were out of town.

I had rented a car to drive up there, and enjoyed the trip, singing along with the radio or by myself:) I know you're all thankful you weren't there for that.


I left in the evening and had the loveliest drive back, through the flat, flat prairies that made poems spring to mind, it was so beautiful. The threat of rain made the clouds hang dark and heavy, and the short, pale stubble in the fields glowed as though it was lit from below. (Okay, that was the poem. In prose format.) :)


That night, I met up with the parents, who had just flown in, and had the most amazing talk with the mom. We talked of church, family, our own ups and downs of life and relationship. This was so impacting; encouraging and challenging at the same time. It's incredible how profound a conversation you can have with your own kin, even after four years of little contact. Because that's what we are, kin, in the global sense. What a thought!


Something that struck me during the first week of the trip and never quite left me was the different manifestations of faith that I could see in those friends I was visiting. How differently each person expressed their beliefs. How much of a span there was in the way that we each held onto those. How personal or public they could be. It was really humbling to think that in many ways, I've changed, I've grown, since living there. In many ways, I'm not the same person, but there is something for me to learn from each person, by being their friend, by seeing how they interact with those around them.


Okay, I'm getting down off my soapbox now, but I just wanted to share that, because no matter how closely I hold certain beliefs, I always need to be able to look at them from others' eyes, to question them, and see if they need to change. If they don't, then they are strengthened, and they change in that way. Again, it was such a central theme of my trip that I couldn't leave it out.

Righto, next time- Edmonton!