"I have a plan, do you trust me? "

(PART 2) Exuse me, July, (Jennifer), but where are you going?

We stopped and stared at three, stunning monarch butterflies.  I'd never seen one in the wild.  Papaya orange, and ink black, with pure white dots perched on vibrant green leaves, delicate wings slowly opening, closing.  Two tango under a blue sky, swirling past purple flowers and smooth round lily pads over  blue and green and brown and black water.  I'm mesmerized.  There is a soft breeze, I can smell the water.  My ears are filled with birds singing and waves flapping and distant voices of kids playing elsewhere on Petrie Island.  After church, Kammy had said, "I have a plan for this afternoon, do you trust me?" And so we said goodbye to Sam, Lane, and Brittany, and hopped in the car to head off to this mystery destination, a place I've heard stories about, and imagined going to, but hadn't yet been to.  We've finished a picnic of ginger-peach sun tea, deviled eggs, homemade spelt buns, kolrabi, zucchini, peaches and plums, and now I smile, the sun finally in pleasant rays.

The last time I thought about butterflies was Thursday morning, when I stepped out of my office to get the mail, and upon opening the door was engulfed in thick, hot, wet air.  It smelled and tasted hot.  It coated my skin and clothes hot. It reminded me of  going to Butterfly Gardens, wearing bright colours, folding brouchures and fanning hot air in attempt to escape the heat. It's like breathing soup.  

The heat hasn't been unbearable though.  In fact, sometimes I enjoy walking outside and being covered in a perfect hot, invisible blanket. I like that every bit of me absorbs the warmth, my toes and fingertips are warm.  My lungs are full of saturated, warm air.  My skin is glowing warm.  My clothes are fresh out of the dryer warm.  I like the heavy, slowness of it.  The heat moves like a majestic large animal - a whale meandering in an endless ocean. I'm taking the heat in stride.  I don't think I would enjoy it if I didn't have the hope of cozy sweaters, thick wool socks, flannel pyjamas and a thick down duvet to dive into in the snowy white winter, which, is only four months away.

And so now excuse me July, but where are you going? The summer has certainly been nothing like I had expected it to be.  I never imagined that I'd be so busy, or that I'd be blessed with two really awesome jobs.  The heat isn't want I expected, my plans aren't what I expected, it's going faster than I had expected, I'm not as homesick as I expected.

July has been a time of growth in faith, it's been a time of ajusting to a full schedule, it's been a time of combining very planned out time with go-with-the flow, and attempting to have a more open and accepting attitude - hopeful, joyful, and content to ride the waves that come my way.  I've been spending so much time in the bible of late, and am really enjoying studying it.  In fact, as I wonder about where time is going, and how quickly I seem to have found myself entering third year, I've been pondering a lot about where it is that I'm going.

I still want to be a teacher - but now I'm seriously considering what the next part of my path toward that goal will look like.  What am I going to do next summer.  Home for a while? Work up North? Go on a mission trip? Take summer classes? And what am I going to do when I graduate - for the first time ever I'm thinking of doing some more non-teacher-college related schooly stuff.  Maybe I should do a Discipleship Traning School wtih YWAM, or do a similar bible college program somewhere.  Maybe I should spend a year or two doing mission work.  Maybe I should do Oddyssey, a government funded program where I'd be a language assistant in a small French community.  I'm keeping my options open - I dont know what the  future holds.  So much could change in two years! So much will change in two years!  The exciting thing is that there is a plan.  All I have to do, is hop in the car, soak in the scenes, and let God prepare me for the journey.