Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Oh the heat…

Here’s a funny thing. I can write at my blog about my life here and ask for prayer about different situations, etc…and my comments counter mostly stays at zero (I know people are reading and praying, so that’s fine. I’m not offended or anything). =) What makes me laugh though, is that when I make a comment on my Facebook status about the weather, I get more responses about that than from the last five of my blog posts put together.

Ah, it’s good to be Canadian…

Although maybe talking about the weather is more a Saskatchewan thing than a Canadian thing…I’m not sure. But it makes me laugh either way. And to continue celebrating my Canadian-ness, let me just say…

It was a ridiculous 45 C here yesterday! I haven’t confirmed that independently (one of the guys told me it was reported on the news), but I don’t doubt it. Last night at 10:30 PM I looked at the little thermometer I have in my room, and it said it was 34 C…in my bedroom!

We woke up to cloudy skies and cooler temperatures this morning, which was a nice respite. But it didn’t last. By lunch time the sun was back and by midafternoon it was hot again. Maybe not surface-of-the-sun hot like yesterday…but hot enough.

I wanted to thank you for your prayers yesterday and over the past few weeks. Last night I had a conversation with one of the guys I was writing about yesterday, and I heard the answer that I’ve been waiting to hear now for a couple of months. I took him out for supper and we were talking over a plate of chicken, when he mentioned something in passing about his future plans. I’ve been trying to make a conscious decision to not push or say things to him that might be manipulative, regarding his future. I’ve given him my opinion of course… =) But since then I’ve tried to back off as much as possible. So when he made the comment last night, I was trying to decide if I should say something or not. In the end, I decided it would probably be best if I just let it slide and not get into it.

Yea, I made it about three minutes past that decision before the words came out of my mouth, “So……have you decided what you want to do yet?”

My friend smirked just a little, and then hesitated. He was obviously drawing this moment out as long as possible. I’ve worked with him for a long time, and he knows me pretty well. As cool as I was trying to be on the outside, he knew this was killing me on the inside. Finally he said that he’d made the choice to study and continue living with us.

I wish I could explain exactly what this means. This is a kid who was abandoned to the streets when he was four or five and didn’t come off until he was nearly fifteen. He told me once that he just imagined he would die there. He’s struggled his entire Christian life with believing that God has a future for him. He does have dreams for his life, but has never really believed that they’re possible. So for him to make this decision, to follow the more difficult path, rather than just go down the road of least resistance, is a huge thing.

So anyhow, I didn’t say anything…I just sat there with a big, stupid smile on my face, until he started laughing.

This Sunday night we’re going to his high school graduation, (another milestone we weren’t quite sure was ever going to come). In four years…well, maybe five…the plan is, we’ll be going to his university graduation.

Thanks for praying and for being a part of this! Please keep praying though. This is a great and encouraging next step…but there are more than a few steps that still need to come….
 

Posted by Ken Switzer at 20:16:08 | Permalink | Comments (5)