Tuesday, September 09, 2008

And now for a word from our students...

Anna was one of the participants on this summer's trip to the Georgian Bay. Having just graduated from Messiah College, she was getting ready to head out to San Diego to start the post college life. Anna is the one standing up in the blue jacket in the picture. Here's an excerpt from a letter she recently sent us:

So work is great and I love the people I work with. I'm living in a town house with all Christian girls I met through a church. I go to a Bible study for young adults, and I am slowly getting to know the people there. I am very motivated to try new churches, small groups, and just be outgoing. This motivation was given to me from my experience with LDW.

LDW taught me to be fearless. Learning to navigate on unsteady waters and sharing my personality and opening up to new people definitely prepared me to live with less fear in the future. Creating and discussing our future goals gave me a sense of accountability to accomplish these goals. I was accountable to my teammates from LDW, those who supported me financially,
and the one who was responsible for creating lake Ontario with is stunning beauty.

Now that I am a full time employee, I can most definitely see the benefits
of my trip. I'm not scared to share who I am with others, and I have a better sense of self-confidence. My faith was strenghtened by hearing others on LDW share their personal reasons for faith, as well as their life struggles. My co-workers may not realize what a great thing LDW did for my life.

God always has a plan, and for that we need to fear nothing. I was supposed to start work in early June, but my trip would interfere with this schedule. [ The medical center] is an extremely busy place with not a lot flexibility for vacation times since there are so many patients that need to be seen on a daily basis. There were other applicants who could have gotten the job and start earlier than I could have, but my employers saw beyond the time frame and allowed me to start later. They thought a kayak trip geared toward life transitions was a great opportunity I should not let go.

Seeing how God worked out these small details in my life schedule shows me that he cares about all aspects of our lives. He knows what is best for us, and His faithfulness will never fail. Thinking about these things reminds me to keep on trusting Him even when life seems like it is at its worst. With my parents divorce in process, I am reminded to trust God and know that he
has a plan for every member of my family if we are faithful to His word. It seems like this generation is plagued with divorce, so now is a good time to experience some of God's faithfulness.
Preparing for leaving well...

What a summer! I can't believe it's already September. As we start the semester and look back over the summer, we want to share with you on the blog and the upcoming newsletter all that's been going in our work with the CCO.

Francois started the summer by returning to the Georgian Bay with a group of students. Initially meant as a repeat of last summer's LDW trip, we found that most of the students applying were graduating senior preparing to leave college with a short window before their new jobs began. So we designed a 10-day trip with the focus of how to transition well. The parallel between the wisdom necessary to sea kayak in the uncertain and ever-changing conditions of the Great Lakes in early summer and the moving out of the familiar world of college into the adult work world was perfect.
Life on the islands of the Georgian Bay.

The instructor crew (r-l) Charity, Sean and Kelly (who was a student on last year's trip and after her internship with the CCO this spring, has come on staff to be the LDW manager!)

The crew back at the equipment room.
Can you thing of a better picture to capture the experience of transitioning out of college: the light at the end of the tunnel combined with the dark clouds of uncertainty!