Miss Popular

May 29-June 3

It’s kind of hard to be popular! Especially when you're not used to it! The love and the grace and the outpouring of hospitality here in Vancouver has been incredible. It has made me feel particularly special. In some ways it feels like I don’t deserve it. But it also feels very wonderful. It has been particularly wonderful to catch up with my friends here. These are the friends that I met on pilgrimage last July in France and England. They all wanted me to stay with them, and they all offered to pick me up from the airport and they all invited me to come to their churches on Sunday. I had hard decisions to make!

Lilian. I stayed at Lilian and her husband Earl’s place first. Helen came up too from Abbotsford and we had a nice little slumber party. While Helen and Lilian were off at Synod meetings, Earl and I got acquainted. He’s an avid kayaker and has kayaked the Queen Charlotte Islands a few times so we had some good bonding time. Lilian has a beautiful, child-like spirit and she always makes me laugh. She was very sad that I didn’t have my recorder with me. She loved it when I played it on pilgrimage. But alas, I’d left it in Uganda with Reim, Mr. Lubega’s younger son.

Helen. Helen came up to join in the fun of the weekend. Partly she was going to be here anyway because of Synod meetings but she stayed longer so that we could have more time and so she could join in on the party on Sunday night. She came to church with us on Sunday. We went for a little walk in the afternoon along the beach, initially with Woldy and Ainsley too but the two of us ended up sitting on one of those lovely big driftwood logs and had a lovely chat. We reminisced about our time in London last summer when the two of us roamed the streets and the lovely, dumpy, skuzzy hotel we stayed in. I think that was the worst one. I love Helen’s soft caring nature and her kindness and she’s pretty funny too. It turns out she’s good for my spirit too.

Cathy and Woldy. C&W live in West Van in a beautiful little house across from the railroad track across from the beach. It’s quaint and homey and full of character. I arrived there on Saturday afternoon and I quickly got to work stuffing envelopes and putting stamps on them for one of the many volunteer things that Cathy does. Helen joined us later and we went for dinner and then to a concert. It was a gospel/jazzy concert with Leora Cashe as the special guest. The choirs singing were the Carousel Chorus and Beatus. Beatus is a women’s choir and they sang beautifully. They did some really neat pieces and the whole evening was very enjoyable. C&W's granddaughter was staying with them for a part of the weekend. She is 7 years old and quite a girl. She's at the "I know everything" age and we had some cute little conversations. She "sprained" her ankle at church and was hobbling and limping all the way home sometimes on one foot and sometimes on the other. When no one was looking she walked perfectly fine. I seem to remember doing that too when I was little. I admire C&W’s strength and determination. They have had many sad things happen in their life and yet they are strong and they persevere and they find hope and they serve God with a full heart. They are two beautiful people.

Margaret. Margaret was my roomie in France. She is just lovely. She is single and lives in an apartment in Kerrisdale near the airport. I stayed with her two nights and we went on a little driving tour, had lunch at the seaside boating club, walked along the beach, fed the guests at her church’s Tuesday free community lunch and spent time just being at her place. Margaret is a giver. She seems to be constantly giving to others and serving in any way that she can. A good role model really.