Lessons Learned or "The End of the Beginning"
I was reminded today of how difficult endings are. It was my last day in the Canada office and bittersweet would not begin to describe that milestone. While I am beyond excited to go home for Christmas and to spend some much anticipated time with friends and family, I already miss my eMi family. Here is what has transpired over my last month in Calgary.
Just today (Tuesday December 16th) Kevin, Katey and I put the finishing touches on our report and drawing set for the ministry in Myanmar. The past two weeks were a bit of a scramble, co-ordinating changes to drawings, making sure architectural and structural plans agree, and praying that AutoCAD (our drawing software) and Windows explorer would stop crashing. We had some full days of work but it was extremely fun in these eyes. I was especially happy to dive fuller into the structural side of our work, as I was able to do some preliminary work on column location and beam sizing for many of the planned buildings on the Myanmar campus. I may have gotten carried away with colouring the drawings as well.....
I was thankful for some exposure to the structural side of things as the majority of my work this term had not touched this area. The timing of this exposure could not have been better as it seemed to provide that extra motivation in the final weeks of our work.
All in all, we produced a 60 page report for the ministry as well as a drawing set that included architectural plans for 6 buildings, a structural design for the college building, a water supply plan and basic electrical layouts (45 drawings in all!) I'm thankful that our work was completed on time and we pray that the ministry in Myanmar would be blessed by our efforts.
I was able to get out to the mountains one last time during the first weekend of December. I, along with Wes and Katey tackled two mountain hikes, spending about 4 hours in and around Banff. Words do no good here so please enjoy a few of the photos we snapped. The second mountain, Sulfur Mt., had perfect packing snow - equal amount of energy were spent climbing as well as throwing snow balls.
I'll end this post with one final thought. In the book Prince Caspian from the classic series the Chronicles of Narnia, there is a delightful scene where Lucy sees Aslan (the Christ figure) after only hearing a whisper of His voice.
"Aslan" said Lucy "you're bigger".
"That is because you are older, little one" answered he.
"Not because you are?"
"I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."
God has grown 'bigger' to me in the last four months. I am continually amazed at how I underestimate his power, grandeur, and grace. Jesus' words are true when he commands us to love the LORD with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as yourself (Matt 22:37-38). God has shown me how precious and rewarding loving Him is and also how precious his people (all of them) are, for they are the very works of His hands! (After all, mountains were just spoken into being)
With each passing Christmas I find myself getting more and more and more excited for celebrating Jesus' birth. Each year He is just that much bigger, that much more worthy of my praise. Notice that Aslan says we find him to be bigger - he's already ginormous, we just haven't seen it yet. I pray that you would find God 'bigger' this advent season as we celebrate his coming to Earth.
With that thought of loving him and loving others in mind, I have one last request. While my time at eMi is coming to a close, my partner in internship shenanigans, Katey Patterson, has decided to stay on for another term in Calgary. This February she will be headed back to South-East Asia to work with a project based in Cambodia.
I mention Katey because she is actively seeking support for a second go around. If you are interested in seeing her story and her take of what has transpired this fall - you can connect to her blog here. If you are interested in supporting her, I can pass along those details! Please consider her, she's a real champ for a number of reasons, not the least of which willingly leave her native California for a Calgary winter! Also, she was responsible for images such as this for our Myanmar project!
Like I said at the start, endings are hard. I return to Ontario this week seeking full time employment. Though some connections with eMi, I do have an interview for a small structural firm in Barrie on the 22nd, please pray for His will for the coming days to be shown clearly, and that I would have to courage to follow.
This will be my last blog post for the foreseeable future. Thanks for journeying with me, supporting, encouraging and praying every step of the way. It only makes sense to end where we began, with Him. I look forward to singing this hymn in the days to come, may it stir in you a spirit of rejoicing in the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.
Project Completion!
Just today (Tuesday December 16th) Kevin, Katey and I put the finishing touches on our report and drawing set for the ministry in Myanmar. The past two weeks were a bit of a scramble, co-ordinating changes to drawings, making sure architectural and structural plans agree, and praying that AutoCAD (our drawing software) and Windows explorer would stop crashing. We had some full days of work but it was extremely fun in these eyes. I was especially happy to dive fuller into the structural side of our work, as I was able to do some preliminary work on column location and beam sizing for many of the planned buildings on the Myanmar campus. I may have gotten carried away with colouring the drawings as well.....
 |
| The colouring exploits of one very excited structural engineer in training. |
I was thankful for some exposure to the structural side of things as the majority of my work this term had not touched this area. The timing of this exposure could not have been better as it seemed to provide that extra motivation in the final weeks of our work.
All in all, we produced a 60 page report for the ministry as well as a drawing set that included architectural plans for 6 buildings, a structural design for the college building, a water supply plan and basic electrical layouts (45 drawings in all!) I'm thankful that our work was completed on time and we pray that the ministry in Myanmar would be blessed by our efforts.
Creation Appreciation!
I was able to get out to the mountains one last time during the first weekend of December. I, along with Wes and Katey tackled two mountain hikes, spending about 4 hours in and around Banff. Words do no good here so please enjoy a few of the photos we snapped. The second mountain, Sulfur Mt., had perfect packing snow - equal amount of energy were spent climbing as well as throwing snow balls.
 |
| Banff Fairmont Hotel |
 |
| The climbing crew. |
 |
| Mount Rundle |
 |
| Fairholme Range (or this photo does not do it justice!) |
 |
| Sulphur Mountain |
A Small Reflection
I'll end this post with one final thought. In the book Prince Caspian from the classic series the Chronicles of Narnia, there is a delightful scene where Lucy sees Aslan (the Christ figure) after only hearing a whisper of His voice.
"Aslan" said Lucy "you're bigger".
"That is because you are older, little one" answered he.
"Not because you are?"
"I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."
God has grown 'bigger' to me in the last four months. I am continually amazed at how I underestimate his power, grandeur, and grace. Jesus' words are true when he commands us to love the LORD with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as yourself (Matt 22:37-38). God has shown me how precious and rewarding loving Him is and also how precious his people (all of them) are, for they are the very works of His hands! (After all, mountains were just spoken into being)
With each passing Christmas I find myself getting more and more and more excited for celebrating Jesus' birth. Each year He is just that much bigger, that much more worthy of my praise. Notice that Aslan says we find him to be bigger - he's already ginormous, we just haven't seen it yet. I pray that you would find God 'bigger' this advent season as we celebrate his coming to Earth.
A Small Request
With that thought of loving him and loving others in mind, I have one last request. While my time at eMi is coming to a close, my partner in internship shenanigans, Katey Patterson, has decided to stay on for another term in Calgary. This February she will be headed back to South-East Asia to work with a project based in Cambodia.
I mention Katey because she is actively seeking support for a second go around. If you are interested in seeing her story and her take of what has transpired this fall - you can connect to her blog here. If you are interested in supporting her, I can pass along those details! Please consider her, she's a real champ for a number of reasons, not the least of which willingly leave her native California for a Calgary winter! Also, she was responsible for images such as this for our Myanmar project!
The End of the Beginning
Like I said at the start, endings are hard. I return to Ontario this week seeking full time employment. Though some connections with eMi, I do have an interview for a small structural firm in Barrie on the 22nd, please pray for His will for the coming days to be shown clearly, and that I would have to courage to follow.
This will be my last blog post for the foreseeable future. Thanks for journeying with me, supporting, encouraging and praying every step of the way. It only makes sense to end where we began, with Him. I look forward to singing this hymn in the days to come, may it stir in you a spirit of rejoicing in the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.
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