Hebrews 12:1

After completely neglecting my blog for well over a year, tonight I decided I had something to say.  Whether or not this means that I’ll start blogging on a somewhat regular basis again remains to be seen. There has been a lot going on in my life out here lately, and I may use this to try and let everyone know what all of that entails.  Here goes…

I have now been out here for almost 2 years, both of which I can/will summarize very briefly: year 1 – rough, year 2 – recovery.  I realize that is a significant over-simplification,  but it will have to suffice for the time being; the key is to just understand that things did not particularly start out well (overall), and this last year has been spent doing a lot of repair work.  However, the last 7 months are so have really been much closer to how I envisioned my time out here would progress.

After struggling with whether or not I wanted to return last summer, I ended up sealing my decision with my first ever tattoo (seen in the posted picture).  Now, this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment tattoo, but one I have wanted for many years.  The tattoo is reminder to me of two main ideas that I pull from that particular piece scripture: perseverance, and reliance (a great cloud of witnesses).  More than ever, these have been guiding me these year, but right now I want to focus on the second.

Tonight I was able to attend a bar-be-cue hosted for the various members of the Saturday night and Connection worship teams at my church; it was a very enjoyable time.  What has really stuck out in my mind though is how God has really been blessing me with so many wonderful people through my church.  Although my church (Willingdon Church) is rather large, until recently I knew very few people.  Through various means, God has been changing that.  He has helped me to meet people through small groups, “random” occurrences, and most substantially, through my involvement on the worship team.

One of the biggest mistakes I made coming out here was not getting involved right away…I thought I needed a break.  But what’s done is done.  I am now extremely privileged to me on a team that helps on Saturday nights, as well as the Sunday morning services occasionally as well (4 services in total).  In addition, I am also involved on the team that leads a small young adults worship night once a month.  Standing before a church full of people (which can mean up 10 1000+ people) gathered to praise God is such an honouring and humbling experience.  Even more, the people on these teams are such a joy to work with.  They make me laugh with their humour, and with their professionalism help me to strive to be a better musician.  I always look forward to the times that I get to join them in leading worship…and I look forward to continuing to let God use me in the church and growing closer with the crowd of witnesses that He provides for me.

[photopress:CRW_6965.jpg,thumb,alignleft]I looked out the window, revealing a winter-like bliss unfolding before me. The forecast had called for rain in Burnaby, however I just happen to live on a mountain. This actually isn’t the first time I have seen snow up here this year, but this was definitely the most I have seen thus far. However, it did not seem unusual to me; the drivers on the mountain must have felt differently as their cars got stuck. The next day we headed down the mountain for our practice, and it was mostly green…I even saw a guy mowing his lawn. A couple of days later, I look out to mostly melted snow and have already enjoyed one of my two runs today in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt.

The quick snow-storm certainly reminded me of my quick-approaching Christmas break. I realize it has been a while since I made a post; life has definitely busy out here. To quickly summarize the last little while: running, and school.

The cross-country season finished on a bit of low note for me personally, but the team did really well. Our guys and girls team both won NAIA Regionals, with the girls going on to win the NAIA Championships for a record fifth straight year. The guys, having been unranked a couple weeks before regionals (unranked being under the top-25 in the NAIA) pulled off a 4th place finish. Now it’s time to start gearing up for our two track seasons, indoors and outdoors. I’m looking forward to traveling with everyone on the team and having fun at the meets, though it can make for tiring weekends.

School is coming to a quick close. I am buried in my books cramming for my finals; only 2 left. It has been a tough semester, both adjusting to the University academic system, which as I expected, greatly differs from the College one, and trying to survive my Calculus class. I have learned a lot about how everything works in University over the past 4 months…apparently being perpetually behind is quite normal. It truly is a great juggling act, especially with athletics thrown into the mix.

On December 16th I hop on a plane and head back to my true home. I’m really looking forward to the break, and having substantial time (rather than one day to pack in as much as possible) to visit with family and friends. I do believe that this Christmas, that time spent with everyone will seem even a bit sweeter than normal.

Until then, I shall remain in a high state of stress and lock-down as I try and shove as much information as possible into my head and then release it all within a 3-hour time-period. I also want to thank everyone for keeping tabs on me, checking in, and keeping me updated on things back home. It’s always great to hear you.

P.S. More pictures of our lovely snow-storm can be found here: http://gallery.mac.com/tfeens#100042

As I write this, I look out of a small plastic window and see the world below with pockets of lights scattered around, and the dark horizon in the distance. This caps off what has been an absolutely amazing weekend.

The weekend started off with a visit with my home track club, including a good, tough hills workout. I must admit, I was very excited to see my running friends and my coach again. However, as exciting as this was, it was merely the start.

[photopress:IMG_0243.JPG.jpg,thumb,alignleft]Saturday marked the wedding of my little sister (Alicia, for those of you who do not know her). Due to a crazy schedule and hectic workload and stresses leading up to this, I think my anticipation was really delayed for this. Friday was spent doing do work up until the rehearsal, and the rehearsal just flew by. In addition, I was trying to learn the song in which I would be joining the other two musicians in. Waking up Saturday morning though, everything came full circle. I couldn’t have been happier for Alicia and Mike. The ceremony suited them perfectly, and was very emotional for all involved, including my grandparents who are in their 90’s. Just seeing them there brought tears to my eyes.

My duties in the wedding were as a groomsman, which is simple enough, and to sing one of the songs. Although I have never been one to be overly comfortable in front of people, I have learned to adjust to this over the years of singing on a worship team at church. Saturday morning was different though, as I quickly learned. I have never been so nervous in my entire life. I was already emotional and I wanted things to be just perfect…Alicia would deserve nothing less. It was such and honour and privilege to be up there participating in her wedding, and is definitely a moment I will never forget. I do believe that Saturday would mark one of my proudest moments for her.

The weekend finished off with some time spent with my close friends, one of whom is getting married in 3 weeks time (which prompts for another brief return to my hometown). It was great spending some time with both family and friends, and it’s nice to know that it won’t be long until I do so again.

The next task at hand is conquering my current state of sleep deprivation, which is never an easy task while in school.

Update: here is a link to the pictures my older sister took at the wedding: http://picasaweb.google.com/tfeens/ALICIAANDMIKEWEDDINGSEPT2007?authkey=P3EuyFsVau8

A couple of weeks have gone been by since the start of school, and I think I can now accurately put down my thoughts as to how everything is going out here. My life can basically be split into 2 parts right now: studies, and running. Outside of these, I really don’t have much of a life (not that it’s a bad thing…I like how it’s worked out thus far).

As I had expected, University has proven to be much different than College. It’s not that the content is necessarily really hard, but there is a lot more regular work to do, and I have come to understand the importance of scheduling. It has taken a bit, but I finally feel like I am beginning to get a good feel for the academic portion of my life. I have 4 classes, 1 which is my hardest (Calculus), 1 easy one and 2 that fit somewhere in-between. I think it is a good and manageable setup as long as I stay on top of things.

That leaves the other part of my life out here: running. As I’ve mentioned in a few posts already, I’m pretty excited about how this is going. We have now completed 2 races: one in Seattle, WA and the other our home meet here. I have been more than happy with my results, and things are really falling into place. I have finished 7th and 6th on the team, and am running far better than I ever have. Our team is solid this year, and I must say, I am really proud to be an SFU Clan athlete. I can’t wait to see how things progress.

A friend asked me the other day “is it everything you expected out there?”, and I have to say, it’s everything and more. I think I’m really finding myself out here in many areas, and gaining enjoyable experiences and learning new things in the process. I know that before I left, I had a peace about coming out here, and that has really be realized.

On that note, I also have to say that I’m also really looking forward to my brief trip home this weekend, and being able to see my family and friends again. Despite the fact that I love it out here, I still miss everyone and certainly haven’t forgotten them.

If the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” holds true, I would argue that no matter how many photos I take, I could still not describe the beauty out here.

Last week during a light run I was introduced to what is now my favorite place on campus. From this park area, I can see Vancouver, the Burrard Inlet, Indian Arm and the Pacific Ocean. All of this with just the turn of my head.

[photopress:CRW_6777.jpg,thumb,alignleft]Many of you have asked to see what the campus and area looks like, and I finally had a chance to take a bit of a walk around with my camera. I didn’t have the time to get everything, but do take a gander at some of the sights that I do see on a regular basis at http://picasaweb.google.com/trevor.feeney/AroundSFU

There are plenty areas from atop the school or it’s various patios to have absolutely stunning sights, and I am making use of these for work/study areas. Hopefully the pictures give you a small idea as to what it’s like where I am. The pictures honestly aren’t great in a photographic sense, but I think the views in them will speak for themselves.