"When I look at the stars...I feel like myself"

I think that most people have a place that they can retreat to...or somewhere that they can go and sit just to have a moment of sanity.

Mine is either to take a walk down to Taylor Creek and climb a tree (as funny as that sounds...), or just to go and hide in my room.

I have to tell you, I absolutely love my room, and I see it as one big huge work of art. I've been living in this make shift basement bedroom for the last 8 years or so, and have built up quite the assortment of a decorations, keep sakes, traffic signs, and random odds and ends. I'm a "pack-rat" by nature, and looking at my room...this is a very evident fact.

I think that one of my favourite parts of my room is the ceiling. One of the first things I did when I moved into the basement and set up my bedroom was stick a whole wack of those dollar store glow in the dark stars up. It was a long process as I didn't have a ladder and was forced to get creative in order to get the entire ceiling evenly covered with them...but 8 years later, they're still up there.

Originally I stuck them up there just to make sure that every inch of my bedroom had something covering it making it stand out a bit more. But now, I think I find something slightly beautiful and comforting looking at the glowing stars on my ceiling right before I fall asleep each night.

Six years ago, I began my summers of working at camp and spent two months at the Salvation Army Beaver Creek Camp, just outside of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan. It was by far one of the best summers of my life, and it was there that I realized I wanted to spend my life working with kids. I made some incredible friends that summer, one being the wonderful Dayla Halverson (well Dayla Beveridge now!). As the summer was coming to a close, Dayla and I shared many tears as we realized how far apart we would be once I went back home to Toronto. At the camp, we often laid on the trampoline and watched the night sky for hours, totally taken in by the Northern Lights. Dayla and I realized that even though we would be really far apart...we both would still be looking up at the same sky (sounds like a song from American Tail...). So, we picked a star that shines really brightly just over the saucer of the Big Dipper...and re-named it the "Dayla-Esther Star" (creative I know!). That way, whenever we missed each other, we could look up at that star, and know that wherever the other was, they could see that star too. When I got home that summer, I re-arranged the stars on my ceiling a bit, and formed the Big Dipper, complete with the "Dayla-Esther Star," so that when I lay down every night I can look up and see it shining right above my bed.

Next to sunsets, I think that the night sky is one of the most incredible and beautiful natural works of art that the Lord has blessed us with. It's one of those things, that when you're feeling lost, or unsure, you can just take a moment to stop and just bask in the glory that is God. It's just another reminder to me that when things are put into the Lords hands...they WILL turn out beautiful.

"I've been thinking about everyone, everyone you look so lonely...
But when I look at the stars...when I look at the stars...
When I look at the stars...I see someone else.
When I look at the stars...the stars...I feel like myself. "