You Gotta Have Faith ♥

My mommy arrived in VanCity this morning. I was really sad that I couldn't get the morning off to go meet her at the airport (my boss is in Las Vegas on a business trip and he really wanted me to hold the fort down at the office while he was away - a huge compliment, of course, but a bit of a bummer). But anyways it all worked out for the best ... Mom took a taxi from the airport to my office and dropped her bags off with me, and then headed down to the beach where I'll join her later this afternoon. And yes ... I'm blogging at work. It's a quiet morning, so shoot me! :oP

I'm so excited that Mom is here. Of course she helped me move back in December, but it was such a bittersweet experience and I'll never forget how horrible I felt when I watched the skytrain pull away from the station with my mom inside, knowing that I was literally being left alone in a big huge city. The six months that followed were incredibly "touch and go" - those of you who know me really well probably received an email or two from me telling you that moving here was the worst decision I ever made and that I wanted to go back to Montreal, pronto. Back in February and March there is NO WAY I would have imagined my mom flying in for a visit and me having all these things to show her ... favorite hotspots, new friends, an apartment I love.

There were two conversations that changed things around for me. The first was via long-distance telephone with Catherine, who told me: "The decision to move out west is not going to mess up your entire future. Even if you decide to come back to Montreal, you'll come back with a million lessons learned. You haven't wasted anything by taking a chance." The second conversation was with my new Vancouver friend, Jen. We were walking along the seawall on a foggy Sunday afternoon and she stopped me. She pointed across the water and said: "Look at all that fog. You can't even see the mountains. If someone had never been to Vancouver before and they looked out over this water, there is no way they would believe us that there are huge mountains just on the other side of the shore. It's kind of like that with God sometimes, too. Right now, everything is all foggy for you. But God can see through the fog. You just have to trust Him."

When my mom walked through the door of my office, I was really overwhelmed with emotion because I know that this was a moment that almost didn't happen. So many times I wanted to quit, give up, pack my bags and go back to the life I had left behind. The only thing that kept me here in Vancouver was my faith. Faith that this was where God wanted me to be, even though it was breaking my heart. Faith that greater things were on their way. Faith that God would provide a new apartment (check) ... a Christian roommate (check) ... a wonderful church community (check) ... loving friends who have become my west coast family (check) ... experiences that would make me grow (check).

There was an online crop over at the Scrapbook Star message board over the weekend, and I made this layout:

The journaling says: "I will sing of the Lord's great love forever. No matter how lost I feel, I will faith." I think that pretty much sums up where I am in my spiritual walk these days.

I'm signing off now so I can wrap up my work and head out to meet my darling momma. I have to show her around my city ... my new hometown. And yes - this lovely city by the sea really has become home. It's amazing what 6 months of walking by faith can do!

xox