Super Summit Summary!

Whew, so I had an awesome awesome weekend! I wish some of you had come along. Actually before I start, let me tell you about last week. I feel like ever since I went on a missions trip to East Asia, God's been calling me back. Anyway, I finally worked up the nerve to ask my dad what he thought about this, and he waid he'd think about it. Anyway, a couple days later, he said, "So, when you get back from East Asia, what are you going to do?" Mahahaahha. That's good enough for me! I was surprised he wasn't overtly totally against it all. Anyway, I figure I am old enough to start making decisions about my own life, and I guess he's started to realize that, too.

Which brings me to this weekend. I love these CCC retreats and conferences, not just because I get spiritually fed, but also because I get to see a lot of old friends. My friend Russ, who was over in the Orient last year was back, and I got to have a good chat with him. I also saw Maria and Rebecca, who I was on my missions trip with! :) On the last night, we always bond over praying together, and it's awesome that we're continually encouraging one another. There was some good Dutch Blitz games late night with hot-hands-Wickens, this random guy from Queens who rocked at Dutch Blitz (lemme know if you haven't played this...it's the most fun game ever!). There was an awesome speaker named Rick James who was HILARIOUS. What spoke to me most about what he said this weekend was when he spoke from a passage in Luke 9 about the cost of following Jesus. It struck me because I was thinking about leaving next year for the Orient, and how I'm petrified of leaving behind my family and friends, but also because I feel like I'm leaving behind a posh (ahaha, somewhat posh?) teaching job. My logical, play-it-safe part says that I should stay for another 2 years to teach so that I can get my permanent teacher's position, but I know I'm not supposed to, so the only reason I would is to chicken out from stepping out in faith.

I also got to see Jen and Graham, who have a new cute baby! SOOOOOOO cute! Amazingly cute. She's totally adorable. It's funny to see Graham as a dad, but he totally seems to love it. Jen's awesome as always, and it was good to see them after not seeing them for 2 years! Another highlight of the weekend was the Campus Challenge competition. The metro team (U of T, Ryerson and York) totally sucked at the beginning of this competition, so we weren't kicked off (this was played Survivor style, where universities got to vote other unis off). Finally, we actually made it to the final 3, slipping in under the radar, and it was the Fear Factor eating competition. I volunteer for this, thinking it will just be a battle of wills to eat something totally disgusting. I find out later on that it's actually who can eat ridiculous amounts of normal stuff the fastest. This had me in a bit of a fix, because as most of you know, I AM the WORLD'S SLOWEST eater. SLOWEST. Literally, food is pure liquid in my mouth before I can swallow it. Thankfully, there was soup, so I volunteered for that. I peered at it beforehand and thought it looked a little strange, but didn't pursue it further. Anyway, the teams were tied as the soup eating began, and I took the first bite and realized that it was CONDENSED mushroom soup with some spicy sauce in it. It was absolutely DISGUSTING. Lucky for me, soup requires no chewing, so I kept swallowing. At one point, one of my teammates patted me on the back and encouraged me, at which I almost gagged up everything. I managed to keep it down and here's the big surprise............GUESS WHO FINISHED THE SOUP FIRST?! I know. I know, it's unbelievable, but I actually did. Everyone else was gagging big-time on it. Apparently it was too spicy. Anyway, it was totally fun, and because we won that competition, Toronto actually gained immunity and made it to the final 2! We actually won the final vote, too, so we won a scholarship to the Winter Conference. Amaaaaazing, eh? Yep. Totally. We're so strategic. "Pretending" we suck to get into the finals. Ahahahaha. So that was fun competition time.

I have to say this was my most favorite Summit ever. I think being old, it was just nice not to worry about anything and to just hang out with everyone. I love the frosh and newbies at CCC this year. They're so fun! One of my favorite parts is the worship on the dock, too. It's beautiful to hear 50 voices all singing praises to an awesome God. Someone brought bongos and the beat just carries across the water beautifully. The moon was out...it was just amazing. I had a good talk with Melissa, too, and we just thought over what it would be like to leave our families. I got a chance to pray for her, too, which was awesome. I totally love Mel to death, and I'm so amazed at her spiritual growth over the years. It's amazing to get to mentor someone who's so teachable! :) Thanks Mel!

Wow, that was a long update, and that doesn't even begin to describe what the weekend was really like. I attribute a lot of my spiritual growth in these past couple of years to these retreats, conferences, and the ppl I've met. I'm going to miss Summit!