Already as I’ve been sitting in the Early Childhood Care classroom in Holland College, I’ve been getting that gleeful feeling of ‘I am in the right place!’ I think what I learn from this program is going to help me make such a greater impact on the children I work with, and the knowledge is going to help me to be so much more intentional in what I do. And if there is anything I could do to become more useful and effective for making lasting changes overseas, I want to take full advantage of that opportunity.

This week has been all orientation and then this coming week is the start of classes. I’m trying to ease myself into the balancing act of school, work, relationships and everything else in my life. I was hired very quickly by Value Village, which has been my favourite store and main source for clothes for years. I’ve always wanted to work there so it feels kind of surreal for that to actually have happened. It’s a job that is full of temptations though. My employee discount is a very generous one and I see clothes every shift that I like, but God has helped me to use self-control since in reality we don’t have the extra money to fund any clothes collecting, especially when I don’t need any more. I think this job is going to be good for the flesh. I wish that I could just erase my constant wanting of these clothes. It’s unsettling to realize just how much I want stuff and how I never seem to be satisfied because there's always more stuff out there that I like. I think this job is already making me realize even more how much I like clothes and how easily I can get caught up in materialism. It’s easy to forget about the poor here in Canada. Materialism is just the norm here. I think I need to go to Africa for a little bit so I could get a reality check of how 80% of the world lives, and so that I may become envious of the poor.

I miss the foreign mission field and would jump on a plane tomorrow if I could, but I know this schooling will be all worthwhile and will help me to be fruitful in advancing God's kingdom. In the meantime, I'm excited about how Jesus can use me right where I am, and how I can grow closer to Him and fall more in love with Him, at school, at work and on Prince Edward Island.