LITTLE BY LITTLE, ONE TRAVELS FAR

What Are You Crazy Kids Up To Now?

Do you ever start walking slowly... enraptured by your surroundings, and then find, to your amazement, that you are miles away from where you started? That's sort of the feeling Bekah and I get when we think back to where this vision of a youth drop in centre all began. A sort of "pipe dream," but neither of us have ever smoked an opium pipe. At first we wondered if it was purely out of self interest or a longing for adventure, so we decided to pray seriously about it, asking God to show us clearly if this was the direction He wanted us to go. Within a couple of days we saw confirmation after confirmation, including one person who simply told us they thought Russell really needed a youth drop in centre. So here we are with a dream, a passion and a plan. We can't wait to provide a healthy space for youth to learn, grow and have a ton of fun. Our heart is to support youth and encourage them to live to their full potential by providing a safe place, healthy friendships and skill building programs. Stuff like, longboarding nights, a drama/improv team, guitar building, skateboard building, homework assistance times, rock climbing, Bible studies and so on and so forth.

Small Miracles

While in Ontario, Bekah and I experienced a bit of a miracle. One evening as we were accompanying Mom Noll to a local IKEA, we thought we would run over to a nearby mall and see about getting Bekah's phone screen fixed. The appointment for the phone was set up, but it was going to take about 25 minutes to get in, so we decided to wander the mall. A sign was spotted which said "50-80% off everything." Upon entering the store, and inquiring at the check out, we were informed that, in fact, the sign was wrong. Nothing in the store was 50% off ... it was ALL 80% off! It has been my experience that skateboards almost never go on sale. Not only was the sale unbelievable but it wasn't even supposed to be on yet. The regional manager had come in earlier that day and told the staff to set up all the signage for the sale while the store was still open rather than having to stay late that night. We prayed that we wouldn't get carried away buying more than we needed and then did our best to carry our plethora of purchases to the vehicle. Upon arriving home, we decided that the deal was too good to pass up, and travelled back to the mall in the morning. The worry at this point was getting it all back to Manitoba on the plane. We looked up the weight restrictions for one oversize piece of luggage... 70 lbs. With nothing but a Wii fit board as a scale, Dad Noll climbed up on the scale, empty handed at first, then with our oversized luggage wrapped in cardboard... the difference... exactly 70lbs. God is good, and we look forward to supplying Russell with high quality skateboarding. Needless to say, we didn't make it back to IKEA in time to shop with Mom... sorry mom! At the end of the day we spent $350 on what should have cost us $1,750.

With Love,

Caleb & Bekah