No sleep. No energy. Feeling drained. A burden on my shoulders to heavy even to cast. Went to the park. Its still dark. I came home and just lounged around till 930am.
Got money, got a plastic bag and put my stuff in it. (I don’t own a suitecase) Got my sisters friend to cut my hair (shave it down to almost nothing). Showered, shaved, etc, etc, 330pm, drove to Ottawa.
HWY 401, HWY 37, lost the radio stations. Just replayed my australia hilsongs tape which is so chewed up now.
HWY 7 (beautiful scenery) Including an old abandoned inn called “Sleepy Hollow”. HWY 417…
Welcome to Ottawa…
Ok, my map only goes this far…so now I’m lost.
Drove around for like an hour and finally stopped for directions.
Alot of the roads were blocked.
I saw a sign for church and went in (9pm).
Sat near the back. The sanctuary was majestic. This church is actually in an old catholic cathedral with 3 story ceilings, extensive stonework and stained glass. It looks like it’s 1,000 years old. Shan! My college buddy. We are in the same classes but we’ve never met before. Only talked online. We talk, I meet her friends including Gangin who is the childrens minister.
The 5 of us (Gangin, Shan, Me, Brent and Megan) went out to a restaurant to eat. This is something I rarely do. I ordered the shrimp plater thing with mashed potatoes vegetables and salad. I got into a heated discussion with Gangin about my church taking the bus around and picking up children for Childrens Church without signed waivers from parents. Sorry Gangin, I get a bit abrasive sometimes, but you know there is no ministry without risk and liability. And when you do inner city type ministry, most of these kids have no parents to sign wavers and their social workers and local police are grateful we take them off the streets for a few hours.
I forgot to book the hotel room in advanced, drove around for about 30 minutes and on Kent Street I saw the beautiful Ottawa Marriott. Checked in room 619. and got into bed, 330am. up at 630. Tired. But cant sleep. Went downstairs to the hotel store and purchased a tooth brush and toothpaste and postcard and map.
Ordered breakfast. Re-aranged the furniture in the hotel room to suit me. Ate breakfast. Showered. Got this soft cloth thing and was going to rub my face with it only to read “SHOE SHINER” doh!! I through it back on the counter :)
Used like 5 of the very soft towels. Checked out. Got into the car and called Ottawa RP to get help with directions (I learned my lesson about getting directions). Got to church 30 minutes late! DOH! Service was typical.
Drove to Laurier. Parked on Blackburn. Walked up and down all the streets. This was my prayer time. Praying, for hours. My feet hurt. My heart aches. It was sunny. Then it was rainy. I went to a nearby park and sat on the swings just praying and singing for a while. It started pouring. Hard. I didnt bring a change of clothes for this. Got in my car, and began to drive home. The drive home was lonely and filled with agony.