My update in 1200 words*

**This is going to be long** Well hello Kaleo. How are my bro’s and foes from different Mo’s? (HA, almost had ya didn’t I? hehe). Well I’ve been meaning to update here ever since a lil bit after Parkers wedding but life has been so busy. I am going to try and sum up my summer story and where God has placed me in it all…this one has a happy ending. So a few weeks before B-crest got out, I get a phone call from my folks; my cousin had found my aunt on the floor in her room. A few weeks after B-crest was out, my uncle (not her husband, another family) decided to shoot himself over his dead wives grave of 2 years. Meanwhile the whole summer my grandpa was hanging on by a thread and passed away peacefully in the hospital bed one beautiful morning. A few family friends decided to follow this trend and also slipped into the pearly gates before me L. I gave my heart away this summer too, made a promise it was so cool. And it ended rather brutally. My gramma had recently lost a sister and a daughter in law before all this. And then her brother. Hanging on to nothing but hope, I decided that I would possibly move in with her and take care of her like my dad did after her first husband passed. Long story short, she is doing rather well and is a totally awesome encouragement to me and I visit her regularly but will not be moving in. On to the good now. My cousin had baby Shauna-Marie (named after her mom) and this little bundle of joy brought hope to the family. Thank you God! But if you remember the story of Job, God allowed EVERYthing to be taken away. Yes, later he was blessed with double but the irony of it all is no matter how much you read into it, you find out that through it all and even after it all, God had never spoke a word of why He allowed it all. This whole summer has been full of pain and confusion, and God has not shown why. Though he brought a lil bundle of joy to show his compassion. And you’re now asking where do I fit in all this?? Well me and my extended family have never really been close (like Partridge close) and we rarely see each other but I have had the most amazing experience with it all, I have preached on Job to my gramma from different messages my pastor has shared and its been awesome. I have also got to know my family more. This brings me to why I’m so busy right now… At first I figured if I busied myself the pain and confusion would go away. And it sure did help (mostly cuz God had actually called me to it all). So not only was I working full time (60 hrs/wk) and helping with youth, the fall was coming up so there was more reason to be busy. I quit my 60hr/wk job and got a Mon-Fri 40hr wk. On top of that I became a full time AWANA leader, Sunday school teacher and youth leader assistant. Through this all I also decided to be on the worship team every Sunday. Life was chaotic. And after I while I noticed that I was over the pain and confusion and began to realize that I had passions for these ministries. I am still extremely busy with one night a week that I can relax, but God has let me know that I am called to all this by simply leaving me with energy and enthusiasm every night! I have not gone through “burnout” and that is simply cuz God has called me here. Member my post before I left B-crest? I said I was going home to live work, minister, get married, have kids and die one day…haha, its turning out so true!!! Continue to pray for me and my family. After this year I know for sure that I will continue in youth ministry and Sunday school, but I will not carry on with AWANA, this is simply to focus more on the ministry I almost forgot to mention: Street ministry!!! My favorite: Throughout the summer me and team were going downtown Edmonton each week with a bag of oranges and some bibles. God used our willingness to blossom this ministry. We know people there personally now and are always invited into their tents* Now that ‘Tent City’ has been taken down, all these ppl are scattered throughout the river valley and its so awesome hiking through the trails to find them. And more recently we have been involved with the ‘House of Refuge Mission’. This place is rough. The Mustard Seed is only a few blocks north of here but they kick out the wild and ruff people. This place takes everyone, and 7 days a week too. People are always cursing away @ the preacher and there’s always fights (which I get to help break up**) I will soon be playing my guitar there. But the reason we go is because I have felt called to the staff there (many of which are not Christian and simply help out every week cuz their homeless). The preachers are always biblically accurate but the staff give me weird vibes spiritually. They were absolutely blown away @ the effect we had the people the first night we showed up. It was really awesome. The one preacher their totally sensed the fruit of the Spirit in me and said he could just see the glow about me and the joy! But we need more people to come. It is only me and one of the youth I take strictly cuz he has come a few times and the people know him. (This is NOT a place that I would take a youth group!). So pray for me as I speak in church next week and try to “recruit” and train individuals who feel called to this. God has really blessed me as a leader. I am a Sunday school teacher for the 7/8 yr olds, and a small group leader in AWANA. I lead the team (or lack there of..) in street ministry and at my new job I have become the laborer supervisor (even through I am a ‘laborer’ myself) it is so cool. The foremen respects me and has assigned me to look after, train and teach and give these new laborers direction for every day tasks. Although I find time each week to be taught myself through devotions and Sunday morning sermons from my awesome pastor. And I am learning so much about the different stages of a child’s life and how to work with each group. To be a leader, you must be able to follow* That’s a summary, I would love to sit down over a coffee with each and every one of you, but I simply can’t. Just please continue to pray for me. I love you all. PS. Hope you all (even Craymer, Rubes and Weaves) had a great Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for you guys…my family* Oh and I’ll try to post some pics of me and my kids sometime…AND pray for me in the future, I have strongly considered becoming an Electrical Systems Instrumentation Technician. LAST WORD

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