Check.

Am proud to report that I am attending to the items on my Fall To Do List.

Number One? Walk across the Lions Gate Bridge?
DONE. Like dirt.

That bridge is pretty high up, y'know?

Watching a cruise ship head out to sea was pretty cool.

Oh wait.

Not a cruise ship.

I have been developing an interest in Vancouver's shipping industry of late.
Having spent many hours on Vancouver's shoreline this summer, I've been watching barge ships wait for their turn to go under the bridge.

This was a treat - seeing a container vessel escorted out of the harbour by two tug boats.

Those barge/container ships? Where do they come from? How long does it take to get here, from, say, Japan? How many crew members are there? Do they stay on the ship when it's in harbour, or do they get to sightsee? What do the living quarters look like? How many days a year are they on the water? Do they have families? Is this a good job? What is their quality of life like? Who decides which cargo ship is next to get unloaded? Do our ports operate 24/7? What kind of project management software does the harbour master (is that what the guy in charge is called?) use? Can a person ever take a peak at the inside of one of these ships? Why does this all remind me of a Lethal Weapon storyline?

After crossing over the bridge, we drove over to the other side, and walked along the seawall at English Bay for a few hours.

It's still summer.
And we don't have grandchildren to babysit.

We?
Can do this, because we want to.

But there are women all over the world who are fighting for their lives, searching for their children, crying in pain, lost, frightened, abused, undervalued, broken, discarded, hated, and in despair.

How lucky am I?

How very, very lucky am I?

That I should have such an easy life?
That I should be so loved, so valued, so free?

This? Is a call box at the midway point. "Don't jump. Help is a phone call away."

Dear God,

Ugh.
The evil in this world.
Grieves, you, yes?

Is there something I'm supposed to do?
Show me.
Then give me courage and strength.

For now, I'll pray.
I pray Your will be done. On earth. Just like it is in heaven.

Smite the bad guys.
Protect the innocent.
Comfort those who are mourning.
Strengthen the weak.

Give wisdom to the leaders.
Equip us.
Give us boldness.

May mercy reign.
Amen




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three things I'm thankful for:

1. This corner of the world.
2. Blog posts like this one: (Thank you Ann Voskamp)

"...your father is a very caring man who knows that the soul of a woman needs to feel a deep safeness before you ever touch the skin of a woman."

"Your skin is the outer layer of your soul."

"So contrary to what hook-up culture may be touting in the back halls of high schools and behind the closed doors of university dorm rooms — there’s nothing casual about giving away your soul."

"... hear this quietly too, what your Dad and I have lived: Feelings come and feelings go and feelings cannot sustain a relationship."

"Your naked body deserves the honor of being shared only with someone who is covenanted to never stop loving your naked soul."

3. And blog posts like this one. (Thank you, Anne Lamott)

"We begin to find and become ourselves when we notice how we are already found, already truly, entirely, wildly, messily, marvelously who we were born to be."

"You have to make mistakes to find out who you aren't. You take the action, and the insight follows: You don't think your way into becoming yourself."

This theme of finding out who you are, was echoed in the words of a song that's been on my summer playlist:

This is your life... are you who you want to be?






So it's been on my mind, this business of 'my life' ... and who I am.

And then, the other evening I was catching up with a girlfriend and had said something like, 'the future is such a blank canvas. I have no idea where I'm going. Or what it's going to look like. Nothing. It's just empty." From there we talked about my living situation, and my house money and she said, "How about if I ask my husband to join us? He is really good at this sort of thing..."

So.
We talked.
The three of us. 
Late into the night. 
About where I currently am.
What I'm good at. What talents I have.
And how I can use them, creatively, effectively.

So thankful for friends who take the time to talk. Dream. Encourage. Affirm. 


Shalom, 
xo