Monday, 28 November 2011

A Light in the Darkness



 

Crazy how the week seems to fly by and suddenly we're back to Monday again! That's basically how I can sum up what's been happening lately...it's been a whirlwind of adventures, studying and trying to catch up on sleep.  Last week we had both monday and tuesday off! Well kinda, there wasn't anything scheduled for those days but they were filled with frantically finishing papers and group projects so it came as a relief when wednesday came and we headed off to a little town called Ladysmith where we had an amazing time caving!!

    It definitely was an adventure, especially climbing up a small waterfall and praying that we wouldn't fall down any steep slopes. God really taught me several different things through this particular out-trip, for one thing I never really thought that I would ever go caving and here I found myself doing something that was out of my comfort zone. I have to admit, I don't really like caves. Why you ask? Precisely because they're dark and unknown and I don't like the dark and unknown at all. So it was an interesting time when our leader Andrew instructed us to turn off our headlamps all at once and I was engulfed in darkness. I could blink and I couldn't tell the difference, I could move my hand in front of my face and all I saw was black. My eyes eventually started to hurt because they couldn't adjust to the blackness. It was with this awareness that Andrew began speaking to us about how we are supposed to be a light of the world to those walking in darkness, and now with us having experienced the utter blackness we can understand how it's difficult to make way through life without having a light to guide. This is my call, to be a guiding light on the hill that gives glory to God my Father, so that all may see my good works and know that He is the one who guides me.
   As we walked around, we kept asking Andrew how far we've gone into the cave considering we had been on the move for about 45 minutes. It wasn't until we had reached the entrance of the cave did we understand that we had walked in one giant loop! As we thought about what we had traversed through, we realized that there had really been no need to climb up the waterfall or tentatively make our way along slippery slopes with Andrew telling us where to place our feet for the most sure route, because the easier path was just feet away. But this is what Andrew's point was, God leads us to places not because He wants us to take the easier way, but because He wants us to show us that He is there with His love and peace and that He will guide us through even when we're trekking through the dangerous valleys and we feel alone. God has never told us that we won't escape pain or suffering just because we call ourselves Christians, but He has promised us that through that pain and suffering He will never forsake us.
Before heading in!
   So that was definitely a fun time, particularly once we knew our way around the cave. We roamed free and got to really experience the cave in all its wonder. We followed the waterfall all the way until we could no longer climb upwards and got to have a little shower (certainly know we could use one!).
The crew getting a little wet
This past thursday we headed back out to Ladysmith for their annual Ladysmith Lightup! The town of Ladysmith will light the whole town and they have a parade of the local businesses, clubs, churches and schools which roll through town on various floats. It was really quite fantastic with all the participants (we weren't really expecting all that much) and how many people showed up to watch, which apparently added up to 25,000 people!
Just one of the many lighted "floats"
A snapshot of the wonders
It was actually really fun, specifically at the end when we followed the very last float...which surprisingly was not a santa one, but rather the Nativity Scene which was really awesome and the whole crowd gathered around the city hall and sang "Joy to the World" (A personal favourite carol!). After they lit the giant tree and then proceeded to have one of the most spectacular fireworks show I've seen, it was quite amazing!


And to top off the night, our whole entire group decided, so that we wouldn't lose anyone, to walk 15 minutes back to the vans holding hands...it received some strange looks but I think that it really made my night because of how much fun we made it. 




Finally, we've come full circle to Monday where I've begun another class: Gospels. Everything I had heard from other sources had lead me to believe that our teacher Wes Olmstead was terrifying...and after spending all day, from 8:30 to 5:30, with him I have to say that I am the most eager I have ever been for class, and I would have absolutely no problem with having more classes with him. He really knows his stuff, teaches it so well and is quite personable. The only thing that I'm worried about is his marking...he apparently has this reputation for being a tough marker, but I'm not really convinced that he's unfair, rather it's because he knows his stuff that he can mark in the way that he does. So be praying that I can take full advantage of having such a privilege of him teaching me and that I can absorb everything that he is teaching and store the words that I'm studying in my Bible in my heart. 

And the countdown begins...15 more days and I'm on my way back to the mainland for christmas break!!

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