You are...

You are
strength
...in my weakness
You are the
refuge
...I seek
You are
everything
....in my time of need.


Psalm 59:17
You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely

Signed... Sealed... Delivered!

Yup. It's official!!

I have submitted my application to the Social Work Master's Program. Now I just need to submit my supporting documents, updated resume, and reference letters. The rest is in God's strong hands, and if it is in His plans, I will be embarking on a new chapter in my education come Fall 2011. =)


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

1 month later...

So pretty much one full month after my last "1 week till i'm resigned post!" I'm still neglecting my blog. Well, the fact of the matter is, up until about a week ago I was still working full time hours at Aspen. Reason? The hiring process with the Calgary School District took forever! They required so many documents that took weeks to process and receive so while I was waiting for the documents to come in, I was working full time hours at Aspen, even though I was technically already resigned.

However, even though it took longer then one week, I am officially done at Aspen, and start my new position tomorrow.. Eeek! Kinda nervous, but am also super excited to start as well.

My last day with Aspen, was bitter sweet. sweet because I felt the job was taking so much away from other aspects in my life.. bitter because I will definently miss the kids! On my last day, the kids arranged a "surprise goodbye party" for me.. literally got me teary eyed! I was not expecting it at all, and it really meant a lot to me to see that, as hard or tough the kids may be on the exterior, they have a heart, and my work and effort was enough to touch their lives to move them to do something like this, unaided by any of the group home staff. Attatched are the pictures... it was a great cupcake and zoo filled day. haha

While the group home is behind me, I am still available to work relief shifts, so I'm not gone for good, which is good as I will still have an opportunity to work with the youth. At least now, it will be based on my schedule, and will thus enable me to balance out my life better.

Quickly scanning through my blog, the number one tell tale sign of my lack of balance or control I felt I had in my life, was the times of my posts. The majority of them were in the wee hours in the morning.. the only times when I usually found myself free to do homework, reading, blogging..and that's about it..! I would have loved to do more during that free time... but not to many people.. friends or family would probably be willing and /or able to spend time with me at 3am in the morning just cause I was free. haha

Needless to say I am so glad that I made this change in my life. The opportunity came at just the right time in my life, and that is no accident. I know that it is the work of God, that has brought me to this point. When I decided to start looking for related work elsewhere, I knew I didn't want to work in similar situations as where I was currently. Not only was my schedule invasive of the time I needed for what was important to me, the content of the work often times challenged my faith and morals, and I felt that I really had difficulty staying true to my self in that field. Moving forward with my job search I decided to be very selective, looking for jobs with Christian based organizations, where I would feel more comfortable with the decisions and options I could offer my clients. It wasn't easy, and I heard even from my mom, how difficult it would be finding a job with decent hours, especially one working with youth, especially one in a school system so close to the end of the year, especially in a Christian setting. I took her advice and warnings with a grain of salt, prepared and perfected my resume, prayed to God, asking Him for His assistance, and put it in His hands, and before long... He came through for me. He always has, and I will be always greatful.

I feel like this new position will open many different doors for me, and I cannot wait...

more later.. off to bed <3 br="">

Happy Easter!

Our redeemer lives...Amen! What a wonderful season it is when Christians all over the world can come together to   reflect on the sacrifice our savior made for us.

We are not worthy of salvation for we have all sinnedbut God loves us regardless and has offered us life through the shedding of His blood. I hope this easter is full of happiness and blessings as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior!

I hope also that this time I follow through in more frequent writting of the blog.I anticipate my upcoming schedule change with work will allow me more time for reflection and growth through this blog. I long for the simple things.. I long to be simply lulu again..for she had time to tend to her thoughts and meditations... I sense a reunion soon... simplicity..its time you start evading me. This time I will get you!        

Snow and Prayer? What do those have to with eachother?

Boy, oh Boy, this time of year always reminds me how much i detest the snow and everything that comes along with it. Like many others of my peers, I've spent the last few days complaining about the horrible roads and weather conditions. This started on Friday, remember my post about going to Edmonton? Yeah, the weather continued to get worse...!! Typically, a drive to Edmonton takes 3 hours. It took me almost SEVEN!! 5 of those hours were just to get to red deer. After red deer, the roads were perfect! Not a hint of snow was visible anywhere in Edmonton so that was definitely a relief. The ride home had better conditions, but it definitely wasn't perfect, with road conditions gradually degenerating as we made our way closer and closer to Calgary. It was definitely a stressful trip, but the grace of God was really with us, and that was evident. We started off both trips with a prayer, inviting and asking for God's protection on the roads ahead. I love the calm and assurance I feel after prayer, just knowing that He is listening, and He will come through for us is the best feeling in the world. Recently I have been having a lot of conversations with him through the medium of prayer. Not necesarily because I want so much from Him. But because, I have so much from him, and I am filled with such gratitude and love for all that he has placed in my life. Every morning, I am thankful that He has blessed me with another day, and every commute I make, I pray for safety, and every destination I acheive I express my gratitude and thanks. So I'm sure you can only imagine how frequent these conversations have been with the turn in weather conditions! Aside from that though, prayer to me is soothing, and calming. It is an escape for me when I am feeling overwhelmed with emotions of helplessness and even happiness. I know I can turn to Him, because He was always there for me, and will always be there for me.

One thing I would like to work on however, is praying out loud in front of others. As of right now, praying is almost a private thing. I pray in my head, and feel almost vulnerable praying in front of others. Why? To tell you the truth, I think it is because being raised in a Catholic home, most of my prayers were memorized and easy to recite in front of others because everybody knew them. Having moved away from that method of prayer, I sometimes find myself overwhelmed and at a loss for words when giving thanks for the countless blessings God has put in my life. I guess I fear, that the loss of words, or pauses in my prayer may be translated into a lack of attention, or disinterest in my words? I don't know. It is really hard to explain, but it is something that I am trying to work on. I want to be more comfortable publicly sharing my love and gratitude to the Lord through the words of prayer, and I know only He can help me achieve that.

I'm not sure if this post makes sense, I feel like I've jumped all over the place, but that's okay. I've expressed myself to the best of my ability, my post is complete. :)

Eenie, Meenie, Miney Mo... To Which Church Should I Go?

So already I've been neglecting writing in this blog.. oh man!! This week seems like it has gone by so quick, but so slow at the same time! I had a few days off last week, and I was planning on getting so much done, but as usual, it was easier said then done.

It's Thanksgiving long weekend, and while most people will be enjoying this festive time with friends, family, and loved ones, I will be working all through till Tuesday. Today was day one of this working marathon, and I am so exhausted!

Yesterday however, I managed to exchange my shift with a co-worker so that I would be able to go to a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Sarah from church. It was a great time, and it felt so good to mingle and conversate with people that I hadn't seen in so long. Since I started working at Aspen, I've been working a lot of weekend shifts, and have not had an opportunity to go to Trinity in awhile. This weekend, I was excited because I thought I would be able to make it to church because I am working 12 to 12 on Sunday, but church usually ends at 11, so my plan was to go to church then work. That was before I found out that church would not be starting till 11. --Woah.. my browser just automatically saved my post for me.. im guessing in case of a browser crash or something.. wayyy cool!--

Anyways in light of this new schedule change, I've kind of been considering going to Hawkwood Baptist Church, just to see what its like. They offer two services, one at 9:30, and another at 11:00. Though I was born and raised in a Catholic family, I am not sure that it is for me. There are many things in Catholicism that I struggle with such as: reciting memorized prayers instead of having a one on one conversation with God, and praying to the Virgin Mary and all the Angels and Saints.

Since Booboo introduced me to the Baptist Church, I have just grown to prefer it more. Trinity is like one big happy family! Everyone was genuinely interested in who I was. The Catholic churches that I have been to, were very large with no one really interested in newcomers. And I just didn't like that atmosphere. During my first year of University, I was going through a lot of new changes in my life, and I had made a decision to put God in charge, and to let him lead the way. I wanted to grow and nourish a new and stronger relationship with my Lord, but I really had no idea where to start. Now that I feel that I am establishing my foundation of my new found and chosen walk with Him, I feel that I can achieve this through the Baptist Church and am so eager to see what He has in store for me!

Umm.. am I babbling now? Or am I still making sense? Im growing tired, and my eyes are beginning to close...

I just wanted to write a quick post, and it has turned into a novel.. haha

Chapter 2 coming up soon, Goodnight for now :)