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What Lies Ahead

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Fall has arrived and we aren’t entirely sure what this season will look like. If March-August have taught us anything, it’s that we need to hold plans loosely, be adaptable and trust that God is in control.On a personal front, summer felt like a breath of fresh air after the isolation and unknown of the spring. We had the opportunity to get away for 10 days in July as a family and those days held some much needed connection time and allowed for a break from what had become our normal. In August, I was able to take some more time off by myself which I used to get some things done around the house. Something that is very difficult to do with a toddler, I have found.With the pace slowing at work over the summer months I was able to focus on some tasks that I wouldn’t have time for throughout the year. Fun things like policy manuals and HR software training. Our biggest task over the summer was packing and moving out of our office space at the hangar. We have since settled into a new spac…
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All That's Left Is To Follow

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Friends and Family,Thanks for hanging in there with me. I really appreciate and value you. Your support and knowing that the team is behind me has made this tough season easier. Thank you. May and June:As things started to open up a bit more, it was clear from the young people I was talking to that they were done with being by themselves and attempting to maintain connection with digital alternatives. Add in online school and it’s a whole other level of stress and complication. So throughout May and June, a lot of my time was spent on front lawns having conversations, dropping off gift cards, and making myself as safely present as possible.On Wednesday nights we continued to connect for Spiritual Life online as this seemed to work the best between different work schedules and comfort levels for the young adults in our sphere. We witnessed meaningful connection and conversations about Jesus by exploring his life through reading or watching resources. It’s so encouraging to see how they…
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Friends and Family

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Well, here we are September 2020. What a year it has been! I suspect covid and 2020 are not finished with us just yet, but we will enjoy the moment while it is here. Looking back there have been many hidden and unexpected lessons in the midst of chaos and crises. We have learned about our needs and our wants. We have learned about our privilege as white middle class Canadian family. We have learned about the benefit of slowing down, about how far we can be stretched, and about how much we need each other.If you are friends with us on Facebook, you probably know about Sawyer’s recent medical emergency. We were out camping when he went from playing non-stop to complaining of a headache and falling asleep in the middle of the day within minutes. He started running a fever off and on. When we got home he broke out in a rash on the bottom of his feet. We took him for a Covid test and they sent us to emergency to rule out Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (the rare but bad version of Covid …
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Starting Over

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In the beginning of March, I stepped out of my role as the Langley Area Director and into a position with Youth Unlimited as the Community Engagement Coordinator.  With the Pandemic changing day-to-day life, the plans I had for this new venture shifted quickly.  The speaking engagements and training sessions I was booked for around Canada and Europe were cancelled.  The local aspect of this role was also put on hold as it is hard to grow a new role focused on making contact with churches and community groups when most people are working remotely and in their own crisis management.  The one area of my work that could continue was Youth Work.  In fact, because most young people already have a presence online, it was easy to join in and connect with them on a daily basis.  We set up an online account where youth workers and students could engage with each other.  We played games, worked on art projects, had daily challenges, watched movies and discussed the world crisis.  Even though we …
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"Does Anybody Care?"

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“I’m partly somebody else trying to fit in and say the right thing and do the right thing and be in the right place and wear what everybody else is wearing. Sometimes I think we’re all trying to be shadows of each other.”“I’m not very popular. I wish I were popular and beautiful and wealthy and talented. Wouldn’t it be nice to be like that?”These are quotes from the diary of a 14-year-old student. It may look familiar to you, or it may not. It is something we have all experienced from time to time, but here is the kicker. This diary was published in 1971.Over the summer I had taken a quick weekend away to restore from the hectic season and prepare for the coming hectic school year. I decided on a quick little road trip up the canyon. I stopped off in Lytton for a small driving break and saw a free library and picked up a book there to look through. The book I grabbed is called “Go Ask Alice”, and it is the diary of a girl going through high school. The thing I realized as I was readin…
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Endings and Beginnings

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2020 has been similar to a drama-filled movie; full of suspense, compelling characters and a plot line that keeps you at the edge of your seat. But I believe I can speak for many of us when I say that the movie has gone on far too long and any more plot twists may have us getting up and leaving the theatre.Langley Youth Unlimited has not gone unscathed in that we have also needed to adapt, adjust and overcome many different scenarios. Our youth work went fully virtual back in March and we have been relieved that as restrictions have been loosening, we have been able to resume in-person youth work. It may be masked, distanced and have the slight scent of hand sanitizer, but we are so grateful to be able to meet with our young people in person again. And we know that it has been a huge relief for a lot of them as well.Our team was also incredibly grateful to be a part of our normal summer program, Gator Shades. This program is run out of Walnut Grove Secondary School and is aimed at stu…
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There Are Still Good Things

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Hello friends! I wanted to write to you and tell you that amidst the chaos, there are still good things happening over here. There have still been many opportunities to love people in our community and we have been well provided for in many ways. The last thing I wanted to write was another piece of pandemic material, but I feel that it is important to keep you updated on what has been happening.

I am sure that most of you agree that the seriousness of the pandemic escalated quite quickly and shook the way we run our programs as a relational organization. We quickly shifted to running all of our programs online. In-person meet ups became online video calls. Playing games together in person became playing games together online. Exercise together became streaming online fitness sessions and doing them together. Eating together and having good discussions became sending a skip the dishes order to a youths house, journal group, and a voice chat for spiritual life. Art together became tut…
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