my journey contines

i’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. yea, maybe even more than usual, believe it or not… you see, i’ve been thinking about overall how wonderful it’s been to be here in Nicaragua (i know i had a hard time for a while there…). and then i think *gulp* i haven’t been in Toronto for almost a year and a half. my roots will always be there, and that’s where my family is and i can’t WAIT to be with them again. although i also feel like all these new friends i have are now all over the world… and that’s a tad bit lonely. i guess that comes with the territory in this job? but it’s a bit scary.

you see i was also thinking of travelling. my internship is finished April 4th… and i was thinking about the grand idea i’d had to go backpacking through Central America. i was a little afraid that it’ s a now or never thing. when am i going to have the opportunity to come back here? and it’s much easier when i’m young, and single and don’t have a job (minus the $ part…). that’s not to say that i imagine myself getting married anytime soon unless there’s somebody very important that some of you have waiting for me to meet? ahahaha… but. in all seriousness, yea. i bought this awesome backpack!! i wanted to use it… soooooooooo these are some of the ifs, ors and buts in my head at the moment.

and when i DO come home. then what? it’s exciting, right? the world is my oyster. but i don’t like oysters… haha. i like home and my family. and change is good. it’s the one certain thing in this world, next to death and taxes. and sheryl crow always told me that “A Change Would Do You Good”…

*gulp*

the next unknown.

thanks for reading
Shannon

today i booked my flight home to toronto. one more month pretty much and philly will be done. hard to believe… again, although i’ve said it before, it’s so hard to believe how much a person can change in 7-8 months. i really feel like i’ve changed so much, grown up i guess. but also that i have a much deeper understanding of who am i, where i come from, and some more direction to where i’m going.

august 18th i’m going home. toronto, for a few weeks before moving to nicaragua.

september 4th, probably, is when i take off for nicaragua. i “met” via e-mail the 2 other interns, both from Canada (one from west coast, one from central) and they really seem awesome. easy going, friendly, they know spanish (yay) and Kiki (Catherine) told me that she’s a master spider killer! hahaha… awesome. i’m getting really excited.

between now and then i have a lot of work to do though… :S

it’s truly amazing how much 6 months can change and shape you. imagine in a year!

a year ago i didn’t know that i would be where i am now. in fact if you’d asked me, i would’ve even laughed (or giggled). it just seemed impossible. but how amazing is it that God opens doors, and makes all things possible when they are in His will. financially, logistically, just on all different levels i wouldn’t have seen that it would be possible for me to be here at Eastern. but here I am! and i’m getting closer and closer to my next “adventure”.

growing up in the church i often heard people say “God told me…” or “I knew God’s call on my life when…” i didn’t quite understand that because i’d never audibly heard or strongly sensed God’s direction. until about March 2006 when i was sitting in a missions chapel at Tyndale. i remember clearly coming home to talk with my parents… “God wants me to work in missions. Not as a “tradition” missionary, but in international development in some capacity”. It’s a really neat thing to sense that clear direction in your life. all of the sudden the things that before seemed scary or that might seem to be stepping out on a limb don’t seem scary when you feel you have a calling and purpose behind you.

if you had known me, and i’ve said this to several people lately in conversation, a few years ago… i wasn’t a big outdoors person (this has really changed!), i was a picky eater (changing…), and i totally hated bugs (hasn’t changed yet). my dad joked that this was funny, where God was calling me it would be a stretch to my previous personality. i am so excited though to take this next step! not everybody is called to work internationally, and there is nothing wrong with that! i don’t think necessarily that i’ll be abroad forever, but at least for the next while i believe that’s where i’ll be! and i’m excited seeing how much God has changed and shaped me in these last 6 months especially… to think - WOW! i have so much to learn, experience, and do… and i’m so truly blessed to have the opportunity to do it!

thanks for sharing my journey with me, as i blog/journal/and post pics and share my thoughts. it’s really exciting that you take an interest in my life and what i’m doing! stay tuned!!

thanks for reading!
shannon

p.s. update me on you too though!! if you have a blog, send me the address or drop me an e-mail at shannonbrisco@hotmail.com to give me an update on what’s going on in your world!

sometimes you sit staring at a blank page for hours. sometimes for minutes. sometimes you can’t remember what you were going to say. sometimes a thought comes and goes. sometimes it comes and stays. other times it comes and stays… and hits you hard.

for the girl who grew up at home, blessed with a wonderful family (with which she’s super close), who originally wanted to be a graphic designer living in the same city as her parents. this same girl was a picky eater, wasn’t too big on “adventure”, and might possibly have had a fear of spiders… she didn’t really cook either. (lol) for that little girl a whole lot has changed, and every now and then it hits me. today was one of those days.

yea i have a definite passion for people… friendships/relationships are important to me. learning at least a little about a person’s story, where they come from, where they’ve been and where they want to go… yea sure, i can sometimes compete for airtime… a little bit of a chatterbox. random ideas and stories jumping out of my mouth every once in a while. but i can listen too… and i love doing that. everybody has a story.

have you ever taken a seat and just watched people? maybe when you were at a mall, or perhaps looking out the window of your car, or looking down from a balcony. each person has a story. they have joys and pains, victories and struggles…

looking back on life it’s often a lot easier to see God’s hands on your life, moving around the pieces and working His master plan - the big picture, than it is looking forward and guessing what that might be. you can guess if you want. might even be fun. when we catch up in 10 years, naw… even 5, let me know what you thought and i’m sure we’ll both be surprised.

today it hit me that this little girl, somewhat of a homebody, is changing… not completely. i’ll always be daddy’s little girl (and mom - urs too!)… i’ll always care about relationships and probably always still jump when i see a spider. but something from ProSem today led me to really feel like once I leave and go abroad, it’s probably unlikely that I’ll be at “home”, settled back in Canada, for a long, long time…

it’s exciting! it’s a little nerve-racking… i feel totally excited, curious, and incredibly ill-equipped. and i miss my family already, but i’m excited to see what God’s going to do - what doors He’ll open and what things i will learn.

well, it truly is a challenge to be working 20-24 hrs a week, finishing up crunch-time essays/papers, preparing for exams, completing 21 of my 96 required volunteer hours, finishing paper work, and alllllllllll the fun stuff. but i have so much motivation!

first, to finish well. second, i’m soooo excited for Urbana! and third, i’m so excited for Eastern!

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

it is exciting to see how God is bringing everything together.

He doesn’t stop amazing me. It’s easier to see His plan looking back at my life! Even when I wasn’t where I should have been, God’s been gracious and loving. I can see when I look back how he’s moved things around and done miracle after miracle. This is another miracle in the making… and as I am reminded of all He has done, I’m so excited to see what He holds for my future!

well here i am sitting in the hotel room of Best Western. it looks like this will be my new home in about 4 months… hard to believe. i’m such a home-body, a big family person, and although i’m a total extrovert i dont love change all that much. funny how when i look back on my life, i can see God’s hand in my situations, opening and closing doors… i see how it all fits together now too. it makes me excited about what lies ahead, you know?

if you knew me when i was finishing high school, OAC was a really bad year for me. i was totally deflated, somewhat depressed, and really struggling. I am a smart person with a lot of ability and things goin’ for me, but at that time in my life i really felt like i was a nobody. i didn’t even apply for university because i didn’t think i’d get in. i went to do business diploma at Seneca, found out about an Applied degree. i didn’t have any math past grade 10 (definitely not a strong point for me). i was accepted to that program, and got straight A’s, except for failing math (6/7 A’s). i got called into the Dean’s office at which point she asked me, “how did you get into the program?” i didn’t have any requirements in the math area to have been accepted! turns out that the teacher admitted to not having taught the class to the fullest of his potential and he offered to come back and teach it again to the bunch of students who hadn’t passed, for free. I got a B!!

it started with my first trip to Cuba when i was 17. i had never thought much about “when i grow up…”. i was able to do some really labour intensive construction, some good friends, and experience a TOTALLY different culture. scorpions, rice & beans (i dont like rice), bucket showers (no running water), cockroaches in my bed (ewwwwwwwww), etc. what a different world. but TRUE JOY! anyways i got to go back the following year as well. totally opened my eyes to what exists outside my bubble that is Toronto.

anyways, it ended up that i took an elective Human Development II with Veale (awesome teacher!!) and that is where the door opened for me to go to Tyndale. during my time there, i wasn’t sure at first… i came in the 3rd year of my degree, everybody already knew each other, and I just wasn’t sure if i’d connect. in my 4th semester at there i had the opportunity to go on a different type of mission trip with OI (http://www.opportunityinternational.ca/) to Honduras. Wow! Another totally different experience but i met some awesome people!

over my life i’ve heard many people share of the moments when God revealed to them what His will was for their lives. it always seemed amazing, but never personal as I knew God had provided for me time and time again, but that I had no real sense of direction in terms of my future. then it was just over a year ago when i found myself sitting in the Missions Chapel and i felt that God was telling me that i am to be a “missionary”. not in the traditional sense, and i don’t know that it will be forever, but i really feel led to work with the poor. sustainable, long term solutions is where my real passion lies, although all of that could change. i mean, there’s so many opportunities out there.

now, here i am finishing up at Tyndale this fall. i found this awesome program at Eastern in International Development that will prepare me to go into that field and it also has a 4 month field placement in a developing country! wow

i have no idea what other opportunities and challenges lie ahead, but it’s exciting.

the only part that kinda has me is i feel torn to leave my family and friends. what can i say, i’m a homegirl, daddy’s little girl. and i’m really going to miss my family and good friends. *hugs*