welcome to the city

Things have been busy around here. Canada Day weekend was great, I took two days off work, so I ended up with a 5 day weekend. It made for a nice relaxing time at home in Muskoka, which unfortunately had to end with me getting up early for a two hour drive to work Wednesday morning. But that's better than driving Tuesday night I think. It's a good thing I like my job, I'm not sure what state I might be in if I didn't! I spent Wednesday night watching my little cousin, Thursday night went for dinner and saw a movie with friends. Friday was spent with the same people at the mall and a movie. The next morning we went for Standard First Aid and CPR training (driving was crazy - lots of U-turns). Surprisingly, it was fairly interesting, but probably just because the instructor was good and I'm used to Stats lectures. Afterwards we went to the mall (more U-turns) and took the subway to Queen's Park where the African Music Festival was going on. It was nice to just relax in the shade and listen. We met up with another friend later on, and walked around Younge Street, which was closed for some sort of entertainment. I'm not really sure what it all was, but there was a guy dancing/juggling to Indian music, some guys making sand scupltures (so cool), huge giraffes bopping around, and a clown in a bed with a guy throwing sprinkles on him. Weird. I'm definitely not used to being in the city and it just fascinates me. Hong Kong, Paris, New York, and even Toronto - there's people everywhere, huge buildings, impatient drivers, lots of noise, and so many advertisements! I think I could just stand on a corner and stare for hours. What a different world.
U-turns seemed to be the theme of the day though, I can't even remember how many times we had to turn around. Isn't it awesome that in our own life journey, just like on the streets of Toronto, we can always turn around? It sure isn't easy, but neither is a U-turn on a busy street! When we finally recognize we've gone too far or turned the wrong way, when we take that step and decide we need to get back on track, God is waiting for us. Actually, He's more than just waiting for us - He's watching for us. That's pretty exciting if you ask me!
We also went to the 'World's Biggest Bookstore' and looked around. There are some pretty interesting books in the Religion/Spirituality/Christianity section. It's wild how many books are out there about the Bible (and other weird things, like 'The Gospel According to the Simpsons'). Sometimes I think as Christians we get caught up in Bible literature, rather than the Bible - the living Word of God. Fads come through like 'The Prayer of Jabez' or 'The Purpose Driven Life', for example, and people think that these books have changed their life.I don't have anything against these books. As the Church it is crucial that we work together, share our knowledge, experiences and wisdom, and it is awesome that we have books as a medium for that. In fact, I just finished reading 'The Case for Christ' by Lee Strobel, and it has some really great stuff. But I think we need to remember that God's Word is the only authority, and we should be digging ten times deeper into it than other books.
So as of today I was officially certified as first aid trained, that's pretty neat, hopefully I'll never have to use it...and if I do have to, hopefully I'll remember it!