“If you are looking to find the soul of Calgary, the Mustard Seed would be a good place to start.”

-Her Excellency the Right Honorable
Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada

you know, i've done this before..numerous times...and each time i think that it'll get easier, but it never does. i'm talking about coming to a new place, meeting some incredible people, and then having to leave again to go home. it's not that going home is bad at all (it really isn't..i mean, it's Vancouver!), it's that leaving is so hard.

When I first arrived in Calgary 7 weeks ago, I don't think i was fully prepared for what i would experience here. It's true what Adrienne Clarkson says here in the quote above. I've been to Calgary twice prior to this time, and never once did i feel a draw to return to this city. And yet, somehow i landed here. it is only thru my time here at The SEED that i can confidently say that i have experienced Calgary to its fullest.

The soul of Calgary, aka The SEED, is more than an organizational entity. it is a place where many people call "home". and as such, it has a very family-like, warm environment despite the many broken people that walk thru its doors. it is a place filled with compassion, love, and above all, respect. it believes in the potential and worth of every human being, and does not give up on addicts, prostitutes, drunks, and people who are just plain rude. instead, it continues to love - with a love that is unconditional. the people i have met here at The SEED (staff) have a huge heart to help people. they aren't motivated because it costs the city more to take care of "these people". they aren't motivated because it makes them feel good to be working there. but i have encountered staff members who are here because they believe that when Jesus said to feed the hungry, give water to those who are thirsty, invite in those who are strangers (consequently providing a sense of community and friendship), clothing the naked, and taking care of those who are sick (matthew 25: 35-36)....that He really meant to actually do it! there are those who i have met who live with a passion to serve others and to model a kind of love to people, communicating that they are valued, and cherished. this has been so inspiring to me, and is something i seek to model in my own life.

the family-like atmosphere at The SEED has also helped make the "dividing line" between "us" and "them" invisible. when one of my street friends takes the time to pray for me, or to encourage me in my walk with God, i know that there is a spirit of unity within us that is unmistakably God. when other staff members have recognized certain traits and skills that i possess, and have taken the time to encourage me in continuing to developing those skills...i know that is God speaking to me thru these people. and when i see in so many ways that the friendships i have made out here are the depth to which they are in the short time span, it is not a coincidence that i happened to spend the last 7 weeks here in Calgary.

i'm going to miss it here...i really am. i am going to miss the community of people out here. i have been so blessed by each one of them in a way that they will never fully comprehend. i've changed, and i'm coming back a "new" person. hopefully i'll still be the same Debbie, just with a bit more perspective on a few more things in life.

to all of you who have shared a bit of yourself with me, if not a lot, thank you. you know who you are.

as always, thanks for journeying with me. i'm coming home.

much love,
deb

Lake Louise

Beck and I headed for a daytrip to Lake Louise today. gorgeous, just gorgeous! we went canoeing, and had a really lazy day.





much love,
dL

Mediterranean Feast!

hey all,

Yesterday nite marked an evening of Mediterrean cuisine at my place. I had 12 or so people over for some tasty food, and a round of Cranium. we took the fun times out to the Kilkenny Pub shortly after...., encouraging conversations, laughing faces, filled bellies, and good times were had.

[Main dish: Ratatouille! i was inspired after watching the movie, so i thought i'd try it out. was pretty tasty...a French vegetable stew!]

[additional things on the menu: home-made pita chips, yam fries, hummus, greek salad]

[another view, complimented with some wine Curtis and Brendan brought. Can't see it, but our dessert, baklava, was provided by Lee]

[let the food eating begin! L-R: Brandon, Sarah, Curtis, Evelyn, Mel, Mike, Brendan]

[teams strategizing during Cranium. L-R: Evelyn, Ian, Courtney, Josh]

[this is MY stellar team consisting of Mike, Lee, and Curtis. Clearly, Curtis and I are trying really hard to figure out what the heck Lee is doing, while Mike doesn't seem to care, lol]

So....i said my first batch of goodbyes at the pub. i think it's starting to sink in that i'm leaving....but not completely. i'll say my 2nd batch of goodbyes tomorrow evening, but thankfully won't have to say a complete goodbye or "see you later" until the end of this week as Lee has offered to make the trek up to Enderby with me. he'll be a nice transition from my Calgary life back to my Vancouver life... that would suck if i had to say ciao to everyone all at the same time...

one more day...

much love,
dL

last weekend, and boy was it a GREAT one!

hey all,

it's been a whirlwind weekend, and yet i can say that it's been a restful one. let me share...

Friday
after work, a bunch of us got together at Sundance Lake in the Southwest of Calgary. get this...we needed special permission to gain access to this lake, and apparently this is a common thing in Calgary. most of the lakes in the city are actually man-made...and so those who live in the neighbourhood are part of the community that are able to use it and subsequently, pay for it to be maintained. one of the perks is that you can also have your friends use it. so, after a long day of work, we all trekked it out to Sundance Lake, and enjoyed a wonderful evening on the "lake". we played volleyball, "duct tape football" (the guys are duct tape and they play against the girls who don't have duct tape - i found this a little discriminatory...but played along nonetheless) and then jumped into the refreshing lake of water after a HOT day. as the lake closes at 10pm, we then all headed to Dan's house for a camp fire. this is another common thing that i find in Calgary...quite a few people just have fire pits in their backyards! so, we lit it, ate some smores, sang some songs, prayed, and enjoyed each others' company. it was a great time of fellowship, and i was truly blessed and encouraged to spend time with such great people. it's moments like these that will make me miss my time in Calgary. like my experience in Toronto...the city itself is not that impressive, but instead it's the people.

[guys in duct tape: Dan, Brendan, Mike, Rick, Brandon]

[Courtney and I at Sundance Lake...pretty eh? kinda weird that houses are so close...]

[catching a football in the lake]

[Sundance Lake]

[campfire at Dan's place: Curtis, Lee, Rick, Mike]

[Curtis..and me looking weird with a guitar!]

Saturday
Courtney, Mel and i had been looking forward to this day for a very long time...it was the Calgary Folk Festival. with our day passes in hand, along with camping chairs, LOTS of water, snacks, blankets etc...we headed to Prince's Island Park and were asked "where are you from?!" apparently we looked like tourists with our stuff that we were carrying, but we were just fine with that...as the chairs and blanket came in handy for the rest of the trip. once in, we found a place to "set up camp" and laid our stuff down amidst the myriad of blankets, coolers, and chairs. we then wandered aimlessly checking out random booths that sold jewelry, scarves, henna tattoos, percussion instruments (i bought another drum!), EVERYTHING...and of course the various music tents, and cd tents, and FOOD tents...it was such a chill day. we were there from about 2:30-12am. what a glorious day. the final show was Great Big Sea, who many had waited for. our friends Mike and Josh listened to the concert across the river from us...literally maybe 30 feet away from us...what separated us was a daypass and a few feet of river... good times.

[me and my dumbeck!]

[more dumbeck!]

[Mel, me, and our muscles...]

[Mel, me, Courtney at Prince's Island Park, Calgary Folk Festival 2007]

[seat of lawn chairs, coolers, and the like]

[Mel and I are the Elbow River, steps away from our seat at the mainstage]

[ahem, more colourful chairs, it's endless!]

Sunday
thinking it wasn't possible to have 3 great days in a row, i was wronged when i got to church and was not only challenged by the sermon, but almost felt almost "commissioned" to head back to Vancouver. they were sharing a slideshow of the youth group's recent missions trip to Vancouver, and it showed so many sights of Vancouver, the downtown eastside, and even Harbour Centre, one of SFU's campuses. i missed home watching that slideshow, and yet the dichotomy of missing Calgary too hung in my heart. got some tasty groceries from the Calgary Farmer's Market, and their famous strawberry waffles, napped, then enjoyed a lovely evening with Mike and Josh. they invited Courtney, Mel and myself over for Arabic tea. having grown up in West Africa (Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso), Josh shared a traditional Arabic tea tradition....i was fascinated! there are 3 brews of the tea that is brewed over hot coals. the first brew of the tea represents the "bitterness of life" - this was experienced thru the actual first bitter brew of the tea. then, the 2nd brew represents the "bitter sweet reality of friendship" which was felt thru the sweetness of the tea, followed by the then bitter after taste. finally, the 3rd brew represented "the sweetness of love" as the bitterness had worn away, and it was a light sweet flavour. it was an intimate time of sharing our stories, encouraging one another, and embracing this tradition. i loved every bit of it...it reminded me a lot of the Brazilian tradition of drinking yerba maté. mmm, i love tea.

[Mike, Courtney, Mel at Mike and Josh's...they have a firepit in their backyard!]

[get the charcoal ready]

[fill the pot with tea, and water]

[poke around a bit and make a "bed" of coal for the teapot]

[brew.....brew....and brew some more]

[pour from one cup to another about 5 times incorporating air and cooling down the tea slightly]

[bottoms up! think sweet thick tasty tea! MMMMMMMMMM!]

today was my last day of work...now THAT was bittersweet. said goodbye to some colleagues, and then goodbye to some guests at our Monday Night Fellowship...i will miss this bunch. no tears shed....yet.

much love,
dL

DemoCrew...again

hi everyone,

this last 4 days is the last batch of DemoCrew students for the summer. i've found this group to be the most eager and open group of the three.

Bottle Picking
as with previous groups, they were split into teams of 5-6 and were asked to hit the streets collecting $2.50 worth of bottles and cans. the highest amount this time was about $8 i think...or something like that. but the debrief part was excellent. many students had lots to say about their experiences. one group encountered a couple who reamed them out saying "you don't even respect us bottle pickers! get out of here!" i wanted to spend more time on that concept of "respect" for bottle pickers. the students really seemed to have their eyes opened as each one shared about how bottle pickers are hard workers, and how we can help make a difference. instead of taking our bottles to the bottle depot, we can bring them to The SEED, or a place like it, and bottle pickers can benefit from that. most of them actually really do use the money for food. not to mention that a large majority of bottle pickers are in that job because they are unemployable due to a mental illness, or something like epilepsy, or they are immigrants because they can't integrate into the north american culture. whatever the reason is...it's usually because society has deemed them inadequate for working despite their potential capabilities. i think it was also really eye-opening to realize that the start of each day presented bottle pickers with 2 options...you might only make $5 today...or, you might luck out and make $25 a day...either way, your ability to collect is dependent on those who decide to help.

Hunger Banquet
having had about 36 students and group leaders, this was the largest Hunger Banquet we had...and of course, to contrast, they had the least amount of rice for our "under privileged" group. after we all ate, we debriefed about why were doing this and why inequality exists in the world. it was moving to hear the students say "there's inequality in the world because people are selfish....i'm selfish, and we don't help people that clearly need help." we talked about the world's definition of "success" and how that's skewed our ability to look at the poverty which is around the world, if not in our own backyard. and finally, the group also hit a realization point that although this is the way the world is, they don't have to be like that. everyday can be a day where we make a decision NOT to buy something we don't need, and instead, invest it into something or someone who might need it more.

the students shared lots, and i pray that they have learned lots in the past 4 days here at The SEED. it's been a huge privilege to be able to help with such a project. i know i've grown as a result.

In other news... last summer i was an extra for a movie that was filmed in BC. and i saw the movie poster for it last nite at Silvercity here in Calgary! it looks like a really dumb movie, but i wanna see if i can see myself! there are scenes where he jumps by buses...i was there!



much love,
dL

Monday Night Fellowship

I’ve been able to learn a lot from a gathering that happens regularly on Monday evenings. For the past two Mondays, I’ve been able to help out at a group discussion. Basically, we watch a video that talks about some aspect of humanity – be that the topic of emotional luggage, or spiritual breathing, or this week’s topic of shame. These videos, hosted by Rob Bell, present the topics and relate them to God in a very relevant way. The MNF is usually hosted by my co-workers Lee and Curtis, but this week, both of the guys were busy with DemoCrew stuff, so Courtney and I were asked to help oversee our group. This has been one the most meaningful times of true, honest fellowship for me here at The SEED. These topics bring out a range of emotions within our guests, and our staff. Given that this week’s topic was shame, you can only imagine the stories that came out from some of our discussions.

Chit chat about so and so’s mother being raped, or struggling with a heroine addiction for years even though they want to quit. How about being thrown into a bathtub of boiling water when you were the age of 5, or having lived in a foster home after foster home since you were the age of 12? Yeah, we all live with shame alright, and some of us just keep on running but really…it’s how and when we decide to deal with it that’s the important thing. In the video, Rob shares about how shame inhibits our ability to stand before God who gives His love unconditionally. So really, the only way about it is to just be straight up about the crap in our lives. At the end of it, there’s nothing we can do that can make God love us less…that was his tagline for the video, and this tagline became a resonating truth for the people in our room during our Monday Night Fellowship tonight.

I’ve been so blessed to be in the company of people who have lived life in a way that I never have…that they would be vulnerable in sharing their experiences so that we can all learn together about this thing we call life…it’s touching. It makes that gap between “us” and “them” invisible when you begin sharing in your brokenness, our struggles, and our hearts with each other and realize that we’re all on a journey…different journeys, but we’re all travelling together.

I don’t know if I’ve already said this yet…but I’m going to miss it here.

Much love,
dL

fun-filled weekend!

hey all,

wowee, i've had a fun, busy past few days. seems that my time here in Calgary is winding down, and as it is, my calendar is getting fuller by the day! so let's start on Friday.

Ranchman's
i decided that before i leave Calgary, i had to do a very Calgarian thing...and since it wasn't going to the Calgary Stampede, i had to learn how to two-step...or as i call it, "country dance." so, i got a group of people to go to a local country club where i learned how to two-step, and had a fun nite with some wonderful people. one of the guys, Mike, has danced for years, and is really good! so, needless to say, he was our teacher for the evening:

[L-R: Courtney, Mel, Mike, Brandon, Sarah]

[me and my blondies!]

[Mike, patiently showing Courtney just how to two-step!]

[Sarah and Brandon...trying to two step]

[line dancing..i couldn't do it..too many steps involved!]

all in all, it was a positive experience, but i don't think i'll be returning again in the near future. i had to do it...i did it...done :)

Fiestaval

On Saturday, Mel and I found our way to Fiestaval, Calgary's Latin American festival. it was incredible! i felt for a moment or two like i was actually walking the streets of Quito, or Rio de Janeiro again. Fiestaval consisted of a market style set up of little jewelry stands, food stands, MUSIC, DANCING, and other ornamental things for sale. Mel was determined to get me to speak spanish, and she was successful when we came across a woman from Peru. i have to admit, it was exhilirating to be in this environment again. Mel had to leave part way, so i spent the remaining 3 hours wandering on my own, found a little grassy area, drank my guava juice, and just enjoyed the music...there was samba, flamenco, afro-cuban jazz, reggaton and more. Axé Capoeira made their way to the festival as well and performed. it was definitely one of the highlights during my time here in Calgary. because i can't just show you pics from the day, i made a few videos...watch, listen and enjoy!

[axé capoeira]



[samba]



[flamenco..note the muscians in the back, and the one guy playing...A BOX!]

[MMM, spanish paella! i was full tho, so i couldn't devour this seafood rice dish]

[cutesy little stands, just like in South America!]

Sun and Salsa Festival
by far, this is one of the most creative festivals i've been to. the idea is that you buy a bag of nacho chips...money goes to charity....then there are stands set up all along the streets with different types of salsa! from regular spicy, to mild organic, wild berry salsa, and a mango salsa, the choices were endless. a good 7-10 blocks were blocked off for this event...and interspersed the streets were musical performances, capoeira (again!), contests, magic shows, and of course, cute little stands that sold ...cute little things. i walked around in the blistering heat for a good 2 hours before being salsa-ed out!

[a steel drum band playing Jamaican music]

[more fun stands!]

[a glimpse of the variety of my salsas]

[Aché Brasil capoeira group..playing the tambourine and berimbau]

much love,

dL