It is a good time to be Canadian. The Olympics have recently concluded and national pride is at a peak as both the men’s and women’s hockey team won gold! (sorry to rub it in for all the American’s reading this :P) but anyway I was driving back into the city of Calgary after visiting my relatives in another town and as I was coming back into the city I was struck by how much I truly love Calgary! I have never really considered myself a city girl, I grew up in a small farming community (the kind of place where everyone knows everyone and half the people are related it seems) and I always thought I would hate living in the city. Although, there are some things I could do without, traffic in rush hour as one of the main things, overall I really have started to love this place. I love the area of the city I live in, I love the way people bonded together after the flood helping complete strangers to clean out their houses and try and repair damages. I love how for the week of the Calgary stampede everyone wears western wear but you never see it at any other times of the year. I love that during the first big snowfall each year people are bundled and ready to help push neighbours, friends and strangers when they get stuck trying to park (or even driving down the middle of the street). I love that I can go for a run by my house and within ten minutes I can be in the countryside with no houses or on 17th ave heading downtown. Anyway, I could keep going but all this to say I really love Calgary and usually when I think of leaving I am saddened by all the people I am going to be saying good-bye to the other day I was really struck by the fact that I will also be sad to leave this city.
But I also love to travel and see new cities. I really don’t understand people who don’t love to travel because I seriously think it is one of the greatest things. I love the new sites and smells and sounds of other cities and it is so interesting that even in the same country or places with very similar culture styles and beliefs each city has a slightly different feel and personality. I have been to numerous cities but I would say my top three cities I have visited are Seattle, Ottawa, and San Pablo Philippines. None of these cities I would say are remotely the same and definitely don’t remind me of Calgary but they have all captured my heart in different ways. I am so excited to see the different cities I will be traveling to and see how they are all so different but also look for how God is moving and working in the city. God strategically places us in the city and area we are in for a reason and it is so easy to forget that but I don’t doubt that God has placed me in Calgary these last three years for specific purposes (and sometimes I have failed to act how he wanted me to) but I also believe that he is going to take me overseas and place me in new locations for specific purposes. I don’t know what those purposes will be; maybe it will simply be to teach me something, maybe it will be for a relationship or bond formed on the team I travel with, maybe it will be for the people I will meet and interact with but I sincerely hope and believe it will be for all three of these reasons and that makes me so excited!
I want to make the most of the time I have remaining in Calgary and cherish every moment (even the -40 wind chills that we are currently experiencing) because I know I will sincerely miss it when I am gone…. Well probably not the cold because there is NOTHING enjoyable about going outside when it is freezing cold and having to scrape off your car and bundle up in layers upon layers where fashion just simply doesn’t matter because you are focused on survival but anyway rant over I just had to complain about the weather for a minute because I really wouldn’t be Canadian if I didn’t :
<3 Stefani
