I’m really not too sure how many of my friends actually read my blog but I find it comical thinking that some of them do. I imagine them anxiously waiting to see if they get a post about them. Anyways, as you gathered from the title, this one is about Michael and will likely be the most difficult to write. Its not that I don’t have much to say about our friendship, rather I have plenty and don’t know how to articulate it all. I guess another part of it would be that he’s really well read and knows how to write infinitely better than I do. With that preface out of the way I want to just acknowledge how wonderful of a human Michael is.

     We haven’t been friends for that long in the grand scheme of life but already he is the one to blame, in the most positive sense of the word, for many of the things I’ve been rethinking over the past 3 years. One skill I admire most about people is their ability to remember things since I cant even remember the lyrics to my favorite song after listening to it over 600 times.  From what I’ve observed, Michael’s mind is like a sponge and the amount of reading he does on various ethical and theological topics is really impressive to me. It’s not just that he reads a lot but I see him trying to actively live out what he believes. For some people I think it can be uncomfortable because of how it starkly contrasts what the majority of society does. So often we intellectually claim that we believe something but then our actions have virtually no reflection of those claims. Even in my own life I’ve become aware of little cultural beliefs that are in tension with what the Christian tradition generally teaches. Anyways, every time I get to see Michael I look forward to it because of the meaningful conversations we might have and the laughter that inevitably ensues. I feel like I’m not fully expressing how much I appreciate our friendship in this post but I hope Michael knows how positively he’s influenced my life. Every message or conversation we share I’m overwhelmed with abundant joy and contentment for knowing that for some reason he choses to have me in his circle.

     The photos below are from our hike around Upper Kananaskis Lake and up to Rawson Lake. As you can see in some of them we decide to blaze our own trail through the thigh high snow. It was a blast not really knowing where we were going other than blindly following some snowshoe tracks. Thanks again for reading and I hope you don’t mind these semi personal posts. I like to keep the blog open to almost anything so if you don’t like my writing just check out the photos. haha