The first month of the winnipeg twist

This has been an unusual month. I started my time off at my aunt and uncle's place as a place to crash. I spent the first few days resting, however survival mode kicked in pretty quickly making it mandatory for me to start looking for work. I started my search a few days after being home and spent a week getting my resume ready and applying for jobs and three days interviewing before getting a full time job begining the same week. Within 10 days of getting back to Winnipeg I had a job and was able to start that same week. This has made my time here fly by as I have started to adjust to both the weather, the culture and the work routinge.
I was hired on at a place called Steps Resources which is a new company working with CFS youth helping them to get into independent living or back in school. This program is designed to fill some of the gaps in the child welfare system. I am enjoying the philosophy and some of the work within the program however I am continueing to pray about the duration of this job as I have not been terribly happy with the leadership and logistics of the philosophy, however the job meets my financial and time needs for this time in my life. I am working Monday through Friday 8:30-3:30 and have weekends and holidays off.
I have also found a place of my own and moved this past Saturday. I am now living with a couple and their two young children from church. I have been here for a few days and am enjoying the interaction of family life and the presence of the children.  This arrangement suits my needs for the time being and is available for however long I have need of it. I am excited to have the opportunity to save my resources in order to pay down my debt.
Which brings me to the other interesting piece of news in my life. I am in the process of purchasing a new car as my infiniti Nissan needed 3500 dollars worth of work done on it in order to safety it in Manitoba. After having purchased the car for 1800 I did not want to put that amount of money into it as I would never get that kind of money out of it if I were to have it written off. It seemed more prudent to buy another car for that amount of money than to spend the money fixing my car. I have purchased a 2007 Chevy Aveo, with a fair number of km however it was used as a fleet vehicle and as a loaner car for the garage where I bought it. The owner has maintained the car the whole time and just did a safety on the car, therefore fixing anything that was wrong with it. The fact that I was even able to purchase this vehicle was nothing short of the intervention of God. Last night on my way home from work my brake hose broke, leaking fluid onto the brake pads. I was hoping to be able to get another month of use out of my car however that was just not possible because it was going to cost me 700 dollars to put front brakes on the car.  The mechanic who looked at my car was the same one who had the Aveo for sale therefore I decided to go with the purchase of the car instead of having mine fixed.
There are still many decisions that must be made but I am thankful for having some of the big decisions made and the amazing support I have received in the process. For all those who have supported me and asked how I am doing thank you. I have a new address and phone number if you have not received it and would like it please either email me or send me a facebook message. I would like to get everyone. Please continue to pray for the Lord's guidance with work, housing and car and the many other decisions.

Destination Winnipeg

Well after a long journey I have made it safely home to Winnipeg. I am currently staying at my Aunt and Uncle's until I am able to get on my feet. The journey home was long and hard. I spent 40hrs driving and went through two storm systems. The journey took me an extra two days longer than I expected due to the weather and needing to take it slow. Monday I did an 8 hour day and made it from Fresno to Flagstaff Arizona about an hour from the Grand Canyon. When I realized I was so close I decided to back track a little bit and take a trip to the Grand Canyon except that I got up there and couldn't see because of the weather. A big dissappointment but I will go back and see it again. I then left there and was planning on doing a 12 hour day and making it to Texas however I got stuck in the storm that struck the majority of the USA. I ended up staying just outside of Alburquerque New Mexico for two days waiting out the storm. This decision was made after I did a 360 across the highway because of the ice and snow that was coming down. Thankfully no one was beside or in front of me. I came to a stop in the snowbank and decided that I was going to stop when i saw four major accidents. This stop put me at 4hrs from my desired destination with no idea when I was going to get on the road again. I decided to wait another day rather than chance getting stuck on the roads as they were still pretty bad. I left New Mexico on Thursday and drove for 12 hours making it to Kansas city area. This was one of my intended destinations, however this was supposed to be for wednesday. Upon arriving in kansas city i had planned to spend a couple of hours at IHOP before continueing on. I ended up spending a full day there which was an amazing an important time of healing and peace for me. I really felt the hand of the Lord on me while I was there. I left Kansas city on Saturday and drove to Fargo North Dakota. I was really happy that this was to be my stopping point as I drove the last 2.5 hours through ice, blowing snow and blizzard conditions. I drove the last four hours home on Sunday arriving at 4:30pm at my aunt and uncle's place. I am thankful for all the prayers that went up while I was on the road and for all the support I have recived.
Praise for:
safety on the road
no problems with my car
provision for hotel, food and gas
peace about the situation
my time at IHOP


Prayer for
settling back in
finding a job
finding a place to live
wisdom in the decisions that must be made
continued strength and courage for the journey ahead

And so my journey has taken an unexpected twist however I remain his faithful servant as I continue this journey to the next phase.

An unusual twist in the journey

So much has happened since the last post. I spent my Christmas break here at the school which provided me with the rest and relaxation I needed to continue on to the next leg of my journey at school. The christmas break provided me with much time to search out what God wanted me to do in light of some circumstances that came up during this time. I spent much of my break in worship an prayer seeking the face of God.

I will share a little of the journey with you. During the first week of my break I discovered that my first appeal for my student loan had been denied. I spoke with them to find out what else I could do to receive the money. I did what they ask and sent them the information late on the wednesday and received a reply friday morning to say they had denied my loan and would not be re evaluating it. This was a very hard thing to hear as I am certain that I was and am supposed to be here. I spent some time with the school financial aid office to see if there was something that could be done from there end to enable me to stay. I didn't recieve any reply back before Christmas therefore it became a time of seeking God and waiting to hear what would be said. When the school offices opened up after Christmas break I sought out the leaders to see what was deceided. It was decided that they would be able to give me a loan of 8000$ for the whole year which left me with a deficI it of 16000$ for the year. I knew the only way I would be able to get this money would be through a miracle from God. I spent the last week before school in prayer and fasting to see what I should do. I felt the Lord telling me to stay but I also knew that I needed to be realistic. This was a huge journey of faith.

The decision I reached was that I would stay until the 20th of January and see what the Lord provided. If he provided the money for me to stay then I would stay otherwise I would be dropping out of my classes and returning to Winnipeg for the begining of February. I felt that this left room for my faith to grow and gave the Lord a chance to work on my behalf while at the same time being realistic and not taking advantage of the school.
Well the 20th came and went with no money, with many tears and feelings of uncertainty I knew what I needed to do. I let my advisor know that I would be dropping out. She is very sad to see me go but has given me hope that the courses I have taken and have transfered are not going anywhere and they will do everything they can to help me finish. I am not sure when i will be able to return to school, howev
er there has been absolutely no doubt that this is where I am supposed to finish my education and this step to come out here was in the Lord's hand and directing. I have loved my time here and so with much sadness I return to the Land of my birth to work and seek the Lord's face as to what he has for me right now. I will miss those who have touched my life and whose lives I have touched. I will miss the friendships that have formed and the international family I now have. The plan at this point is to return to Winnipeg and find a place to live and a job, saving up money to return to school and paying off my existing debts. While I am not sure how all this is going to work I know that the Lord has it all under control. I remain his faithful servant as I continue down the path he has for me.

Prayer Requests:
Strength as I say goodbye
Saftey as I drive back
A job when I return
A place to live
Strength to reintergrate myself to life in Canada
Money to return and get set up
Money for a block heater for the car
Warm weather and no snowstorms as I drive

Praise for:
Understanding roommate
Friendships that will last a lifetime
Professor who want to see me suceed and have done everything possible to enable me to stay
Understanding from friends and family as I face this difficult step in the journey
A car that I will be able to import without any complications
A car to drive home

As Always I remain the Lord's faithful servant and wonder where he will lead me next.