James Bay

5 months down, 3 more to go.  Time is flying by and I'm trying to enjoy and appreciate my remaining days in Victoria.  Jerry coming over on weekends has always been a big encouragement for me.  We usually go out for a nice dinner, fellowship, prepare for the meeting the next day, and play basketball at UVic.  

Work has been good as usual.  I'm starting to teach pool therapy classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which have been the highlight of my week.  I'm starting to swim a lot more because of this.  Before when I first came to Victoria, I could only swim 50m before I would get tired.  But now I can go for an hour (with many breaks in between of course).  Swimming is one of my favourite forms of exercise now.  I'm learning that you got to do something fun that you like in order to maintain an exercise routine!  And once it gets boring, you might need to switch it up and find a new activity (like me running on a treadmill and bike, which wasn't very exciting, haha).

I'm also doing my coop report on aquatic therapy and I have 10 quick reasons of the benefits of exercising in the water:

1) Easy access to working out multiple muscle groups in the water

2) Allows aerobic conditioning

3) People can be challenged beyond their limits of balance and improve stability

4) Less cardiovascular stress than exercises done on land

5) Reduces edema (swelling)

6) Produces less spinal and lower extremity loading, allowing for progressive weight-bearing

7) Promotes range of motion of joints

8) Requires less muscular effort in water

9) Relief of pain because of offloading of spine in muscles (ie. spine) due to buoyancy, thermal shifts, and desensitization

10) Improves proprioception, the perception of a joint in space in relation to other limbs

Our Lord's table meeting yesterday had only 3 brothers.  The brother on the left, Robert, recently came from the church in Edmonton.  He's going through a difficult time so please keep him in your prayers. 

We get some pretty awesome sunsets in Victoria.

The next few photos are at James Bay, the "oldest residential neighbourhood on the West coast of North America that is north of San Francisco" (according to Wiki).  It overlooks a large body of water that leads to the Pacific Ocean and is absolutely breath-taking with the sunset.

A long breakwater that allows you to go for a nice walk

A portion from the ministry book (The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) that I've been enjoying is that the experience at Peniel shows us Jacob was defeated by God's hand; the sinew of his thigh's hollow was touched, and he became crippled for the rest of his life.  Whenever we are touched by the Lord, we are no longer free in our walk; we are no longer as convenient as before.  There is a big mark in us - lameness, a hurting and frustration whenever we try to move and act by our natural strength.  At this point, we would have no confidence in ourselves, realize that we cannot make it and grasp hold of God.  Then this holding on to God becomes our strength.

I miss you allll!  Hope we can continue to keep in touch :D