Happy Canada Day!!! I love this day because it's the birthday of the country which I love! AND... it's also a much needed day off :-) Everyone is out BBQuing or at the beach... I was gonna go but then thought it was much more appealing to sleep in past 7am, exercise, enjoy my breakfast and coffee with no rush and then just relax at home! glorious, glorious day... :-)

It's been really busy, but a wonderful week. I really appreciate these two Virginian teams being here. They are here on a missions trip and making really good use of their time. They are out talking to people and inviting them out to their events during the day. Any spare minute they have, they always ask me if they can help in any way (which of course I took full advantage of!) Then every night, they've put on a fun youth rally. They do lots of games, and music, and give out prizes & food and then one of their youth shares their testimony. One girl got saved last night! They had parents come by the next day wanting to meet this group because their kids came home so peaceful, yet full of life! Isn't that an amazing testimony?! One of the teams has been living at Sonia's with us and although getting into the bathroom has been a challenge it has been such a blessing to have them and get to know them and eat breakfast together etc. :-)

It's really neat how God brings people across your path. I have two beds in my large room, so I was rooming with one of their leaders this week. A lovely lady named Vicky. We got along so well and had some phenomenal conversations. She has an incredible testimony that I hope she is able to share with many people. Something funny that came up, was that we discovered her son's birthday is the exact same day and year as me! I've never met anyone else like that-- we thought that was neat. She's going to visit him in London, Eng in a few weeks. She has 7 children!! Also interesting was just as she was telling me about her experiences running marathons, my dear friend Carly texts me that there's a half-marathon in October and I should start training for it. Lol, so Vicky was able to share her experiences and tips in running. It was cooler this week so we've both been able to run every morning outside. This morning we went together... and wow I was challenged! Haha, it's funny what your pride can make you do.... there was no way I was gonna stop or slow down. . . just kept on going at her pace with a smile... but wow I felt it later!

Mark, Tyler and I have been working well as a team so far. I'm so glad they're here. I'm excited for Leanne to arrive tomorrow! They could tell you better, but I can sense they are enjoying it, yet being quite challenged in certain areas (as am I). To be honest, after my first week here, I was really nervous about the rest of the summer. I hadn't figured out how to communicate and thus work well with some of the Toronto team and would go home really frustrated and need to just fall in Jesus' arms and pray for grace and strength. However, prayer sure changes things (especially my own perspective). I did not want to pray for God to take the challenge away, but for Him to teach me how to discern others better and communicate & listen effectively to others and work with grace. It seems like the other person has been doing the same thing. I've noticed this week that both of our communication and understanding of the other has been much more positive and effective. I think we will work really well together the rest of the summer, but the challenge will always be there. I'm really glad to learn new interpersonal skills and again to be reliant on the work of the Holy Spirit.

I am learning a lot here. There is so much wisdom behind this 2010 Toronto Challenge and plans beyond this. It's phenomenal to be a part of this and hopefully to glean wisdom, out-of-the-box ideas and what the behind the scenes looks like in such a large project.

We need to take time to prayer for out nation especially today
"And He shall have dominion from sea to sea and to the rivers end. . . " Psalm 72:8