West (Finally)

When I returned to Welland just before Christmas (December 23rd) I fully believed I would be returning out West by the middle of January. That did not happen. Since arriving here I have spoken to a number of people and I have verified what I was hearing all along, this has been a very slow winter for work because of cut-backs. Now it looks like work is again beginning to pick up.

Tuesday morning in Welland, I was opening up a wall to remove an ant infestation at my mother-in-law's apartment. While sitting on the floor peeling out Styrofoam insulation with a screw driver my cell phone rang with an invitation to return to work with the company I was working for last year. That was unexpected good news. One problem did come up. I would not be able to hire out the truck I purchased from the company in December because of a change in company policy. All trucks on construction sites are now required to be 4x4 and mine is only a two wheel drive. The company did offer to buy my fuel tank and pump for a good price to compensate me for this change in policy and so I now have a truck here in Alberta for personal travel and am using a company 4x4 for work use.

I left Welland Tuesday evening to catch a flight out of Hamilton at 7 pm to Calgary and then Edmonton arriving at 11:30 pm Alberta time. I stayed overnight at the airport to catch a bus into Edmonton at 4:30 Wednesday morning. I was wondering if staying overnight at the Edmonton airport would be a problem. Some airports close down at night so this was an unknown factor to me before I left. I need not have worried. Instead I should have worried about finding seats to sleep on. After picking up my luggage and coming into the main terminal I saw a fellow sleeping across some leather seats with a mask over his eyes and a blanket. On the seating next to him a woman stretched out with a blanket over her. Not exactly covert sleeping. About 200 feet away a security guard was reading his book. As I walked around I was wondering if I would be able to find a place to sleep because they were all occupied but finally managed to find one empty leather seat to sleep on. I guess in such a transient city like Edmonton which leads to the oilfields sleeping in the airport is quite acceptable. At about 3 am I was asked to vacate my "bed" because workers were stripping and polishing the floor and they had to move the seats I was using. Three of us had to vacate the seats we were using and find other accommodations. Time to have a coffee at Tim's and no more sleep for me. Some people were sleeping on the floor for lack of "Edmonton airport beds".

No Vacancy at Hotel Edmonton Airport

At 4:30 am I took the bus link into Edmonton. I had made this connection to downtown Edmonton before but not this early in the morning. The link bus from the Edmonton airport stops at the first LRT terminal at the edge of Edmonton. This left me at the subway at 5:15 in the morning. When I got dropped off there were no people around. I walked into the LRT building, bought my ticket and then waited on the outdoor platform for the first train. Finally others began to show up. At my downtown subway stop I was the only person to exit the train. When I walked out I saw an abandoned newer BMX bike (remember this is two floors underground) and just about 10 feet away a nice grey purse but no one around. It was a long and lonely walk to the stairways and up those two flights of stairs to ground level at 5:45 am. I was glad that the sun had just come up. I was grateful that a few others were walking downtown in the two blocks to the Greyhound station. The Greyhound station is not an inviting place with needy street people hanging around. Got the 6:45 to Lloydminster and was able to report to the office by 10:00 am for orientation and to pick up my work truck.Yesterday I worked on an oil lease site driving a packer and today I am off as the packer is moved to a new location for work tomorrow.

 My rest during this trip back to the West and during my time at home has been in Christ. Time at home was spiritually stimulating. God dealt with a couple of important issues in my life regarding motives and trust. I was glad to have regular Sunday worship, privileged to read some encouraging books, and had my vision for the Gospel refreshed through a seminary course I was able to take through Southern Seminary. What an amazing and wonderful God we serve and what a powerful Gospel we have been given to live and share, along with the joy and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Friends a great hope lies before all of us. Let us persevere unto the end bringing Glory to God.

I want to thank you all for praying for Gloria and I and ask that you continue to pray for us. I hope to tell you about some plans for the Fall in my next blog entry.