Well hey there! Long time no talk! No seriously! It feels like I've traveled around the world since the last time we talked. OK, well, maybe up and down Vancouver Island....on a boat......I mean a ship......maybe a boat.....does sail ship make sense? I don't know. Either way it was an absolute blast!Our very first day we had a great wind and we had our main sail and fore sail up.....so good! And one point our starboard rail was almost touching the water! It was alot of fun. We were split into "watches": forward watch, port watch and starboard watch. We took turns running the ship and doing dishes. Each person got a turn at the helm.....but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who got to do a hard to port! That means as far left as it can go. Everyone was jealous! We got to climb out on the rigging of the bow sprit and into the main and fore masts. Yes mom, we were harnessed in. We had classes to learn the parts of the ship, signals and lights, rules of the road, and so on. At the end we took a test, and if you passed, then you could become a junior sailor....as long as you met all the other requirements, which, of course I did.........on the last day.......only because I passed the test........but still! I could get a job on a sail boat now! We did worship and stuff in the evenings as well. At one of them, Jim asked us to pray and name each other. I don't really know what it means to me yet, but the names I got were warrior, and unhindered. I'm still waiting for God to give me an insight to that, hopefully it wont come too far down the road, but that was pretty encouraging coming from people who, really, have no idea who I am yet. If you would like to pray about that....well I wont discourage it!

I have been going to the the Lake Cowichan Baptist Church for the past three weeks, and so far it has been......well, pretty tough. The pastor is decent enough, but the congregation is about 25-30 people on a good week. On one hand, its great because they all know each other, and so we get to form relationships with everyone in the church. But on the other hand, I'm ashamed to say, I have a real sense of dis function when I go there. Not malfunction, but more so in the fact that its feels.....dead. The pastor preaches good stuff and there are people there working really hard to fix what they see, I just don't feel close to god there. However I am excited to begin working along side them. Not ONLY to impart my vast range of knowledge, ha ha, but just to bring some energy to it. To bring some life. To bring some youthfulness to it. The average age there I'm pretty sure, is over 60. But they're great. They are certainly good at making us feel welcome. Youth group officially starts Oct. 3rd, so if you could pray for that, that would be swell. Just that they would be drawn there, that they would feel welcome and safe. I am a little more nervous now that I know what to expect.

Class started today. Spiritual formation with Doctor Marv Penner. First day's score: 8/9. Its good to into it now. I don't have to feel like there's something coming that I can't escape and feels like my impending doom! Not quite that bad. I know it's going to be tough, and challenging, but now that it's begun, I don't have to worry about whether or not I'm ready.....because I don't get the option anymore! It sounds harsh and maybe a tad whiny, but it's not. I am very thankful that the year has officially begun. We have a week to force feed ourselves as much spirituality as we can, and regurgitate it....academically speaking of course. I'm looking forward to feeling the chisel again, as god continues to remove that which is undesirable. If you find a moment that you don't know what to do with, hey! Why not pray for Jonathan's chisel! As uncomfortable as it is, and as much as I get irritated and frustrated with a few people here, I can't help but feel gratitude for them, because I know that without them, I would be too comfortable, and therefore, God's chisel would be useless. For those of you who asked me the, "Why there?" question, and I responded with something lame, like: "I 'unno", or "its somethin' to do", please rest easy with the knowledge that I know why now. Until next time....

Jono's Kaleo Adveture

Hello all! This my first attempt at a blog so please bare with me as I try to figure out the "how-to's" of blogging. Under the circumstances I find myself in out here, this does seem like the most efficient way of giving up dates on my status while keeping my mom's pulse under 200! Sorry mom. I'll admit that my motivation to make any up date on my status at all is.....well, to say the least, minimal. But they have now made it part of the curriculum, so there should be fairly well maintained up dates from this point on. Thanks Kristie! Anywho, though being overwhelmed with information, we have all fallen right into place with each other out here. Each one of us seems to be focused on ensuring the absence of cliques or a division of any sort. It is really cool to watch. And even more so to be a part of. This first post is a little short I know. But as we go on, I know there will be alot more information to comment on. As an example, we will be going sailing this monday, (that's the 22nd), so it wont all be this boring. I'll try to decorate it a little bit, but for now, this is all I could muster. Don't judge me!