Saskatoon and Manitoba

Kevin and I are at Jr Nationals in Saskatoon, and he's playing his heart out and enjoying it. I decided to add a page about nationals for the simple reason that I think God has a plan for our time here. I'll try to keep nationals on that page and update it daily, since it's only a week we have here.

These "Rice Bubbles" made Garry smile while he was in New Guinea. Same thing, bit of a different name. So for some of you this will look very familiar, while others like me will have a chuckle.

Garry and Kaleb are home, and it sounds like they're having fun and getting lots done besides. Garry's been working on a revision to our aviation Ops Manual, and he finished the first draft of that this morning, which is a nice thing to have done!

Our friends did come by Friday night, and we had a lovely evening with them. Their hearts encouraged us. Their lives blessed us. We talked about a lot of things, but the conversation continually circled back to how God speaks to us when (if) we are willing to listen and obey. Amen. He is good, and He is God!

Chaotic calm

Seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it? But sometimes it is reality-- life is chaotic, but we are calm. Maybe more than reality, it's grace. Maybe it's a gift we receive on occasion. Or maybe it's a choice to see life from an eternal perspective despite our circumstance.... I haven't figured it out, but I know it's true.

As I sit here this afternoon the boys are in town and we are waiting for friends to stop by. They're spending the night with us, and we're looking forward to the time together! In reality, I haven't yet met these people, but they have been good friends to us, just the same.

And tomorrow morning Kevin and I leave for Saskatoon for badminton Jr Nationals... another adventure! Garry and Kaleb will be home alone, another new thing for us. When Kevin and I get home we'll only have a few days to turn around before we head out east. Lots going on... and yet I feel relatively calm at the moment. (Okay, maybe the calm has only just descended since I made myself a cup of coffee and sat down!)

Garry's time in Arizona at the beginning of the week was good. He was only in meetings for a short time, so he was able to help a bit with weighing the helicopter. Looks like fun, doesn't it?!

Early airport runs...

At 6:30 this  morning I was dropping Garry off at the airport. Strange, I've done this so often in the last years, and yet every time brings tears to my eyes. I don't like saying goodbye, and when the drive and goodbye cut into the time I would otherwise have been sleeping, it doesn't help matters any! However, after dropping Garry off I had such an easy drive out of town that it seemed almost worth getting up early. Good music blaring, virtually no traffic, and a bit of time to think and pray. What a lovely way to start Sunday!

Garry is off to Arizona again, this time to give a report on the aviation safety department to our Board of Directors. We are looking forward to what God has in mind for the short time he's there, and we walk with the assurance that God does, indeed, have something in mind! What a privilege it is to walk in His light and follow His ways!

This week Kevin took some time off badminton, a rather interesting thing to do with nationals just two weeks away! But we felt that God was leading this way, and it has been such a blessing to have the extra time. And Kevin has been rejuvenated by the rest and reenergised by the time away from badminton. Reminds me of sabbath-- God's gift of rest to us as His people. And yes, God's ways always bear good fruit!

Expectations

Sunday afternoon Garry and I went out for a quick walk before supper. We didn't get very far, though. It was cold and windy, and I wasn't up for walking in that weather. After all, earlier in the afternoon it had been sunny! 

Our failed walk attempt is reflective of so many things in life, because our perceptions have a lot to do with our expectation and relatively little to do with reality. Take winter, for instance. It was truly cold in January, and it is much warmer in April. However, because I expected spring to arrive, April's temperatures are much more disheartening than January's were. 

So, when I'm not pondering weather, there are plenty of things to keep me busy. Garry has been busy with paperwork and I've been pretty involved in a lot of that lately. School is also going on, which is a good thing! Kevin is doing a lot more driving, which means I haven't been to the city as often lately (a nice thing). And there's also cooking and cleaning. 

Last week Blumenort Church had a fellowship dinner for missionaries, ministerial, and the missions committee. How encouraging to spend an evening with others who are involved in similar ministries and a part of our support team. We are so blessed by our home church, so thankful for the many ways they care for us as their missionaries.  

Overwhelmed

Some days I am simply overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the goodness of God, the generosity of friends, and the beauty of life. That's the good side of overwhelmed!

It's happened again lately. Beautiful scripture. Generous gifts. Incredible hoar frost. Breathtaking sunsets. Expressed care. A deep sense of God's presence. Thought-provoking books. Helpful conversations.

Yet these realities have not come without accompanying challenges and opportunities. At the moment there are a lot of questions in our lives. There have been some deep disappointments. And maybe those are the exact reasons God has sent so much goodness our way-- to keep our focus away from circumstances and on the truth that is playing out in the heavenlies. Abundance dispensed from his endless warehouse!

Speaking of warehouses, this is a photo from PNG, a store of sorts to supply missionaries that live in remote areas. Most of these missionaries will order their supplies from a list and receive them by airplane or helicopter without visiting a store. As much as I dislike grocery shopping, this reminded me that it is a privilege to do your own shopping, a privilege that many people the world over have given up to teach the Gospel in remote areas of the world.

Would you join me in being overwhelmed by goodness and grace instead of by the challenges you are facing today?

Weekend plans

I remember as a kid how excited I'd get about the weekend-- 2 full days of no school seemed like a real holiday! Though there were chores and other things that needed to be done, overall the schedule was more relaxed and I truly enjoyed being able to decide what to do with my time. Even the picnic lunches that were left on the counter for Friday evening with instructions to eat outside were a welcome change, despite the biting gnats that plagued us while we munched on supper.

It's Friday afternoon, and the feelings are a bit the same-- anticipation of no school for two days and Garry will be home tomorrow evening! However, there is also a long list of things that need taken care besides the fun of badminton provincials this weekend. The length of the list ensures me that it won't all get done, so I need to decide exactly what I will actually do. And what the boys need to do first as well.

This photo of the plane's control panel caught my attention this morning. It's a rather simple panel if you're a pilot (I think). However, for the rest of us it looks complicated: and while there is a lot of information available it isn't helpful it you don't know how to interpret or use it! I guess the weekend feels that way-- plenty of information and options if I just knew how to use it!

So, I blog and ponder between my rushing around.... I give planning my best shot and know the outcome will be fine, though things will not likely work out the way they look in my mind!

Lost in memories

It's one of those days... the sun is shining, the music is blaring, and things are really quite good. Yet I feel only half here while the other half wanders the various places I've lived, ponders the friends I've left behind, and misses realities I've experienced. It's strange how the emotions crash in with a thought, a smell, a moment. Homesick, just like I felt as a young kid in boarding school.

But I am home, at least as much home as exists this side of heaven. I, and we, have done so much of the hard work of settling down and learning how to live. We've learned to navigate so many things in in southern Manitoba and we've come to appreciate many of the realities of our lives here. But there is still an empty spot, a hole.

And while some days I feel it comes from what I've left behind, I am beginning to realise that it really comes from what's ahead. Friends here who have never left find the same hole gaping inside. In open conversations we admit that life simply isn't what we'd hoped and dreamed it would be. It's lacking, fallen, broken. We are lacking, fallen, broken. And only God can heal and bring wholeness. Only the Father is a true Home, and we will only experience Him completely when we see Him face to face. Until then, the hole remains, reminding us in whispers and roars that we were made for so much more!

Garry is in Arizona again this week, taking part in meetings with program managers from all over the world. By the end of the week we'll have a more clear idea of what God is doing.... for now he is taking the opportunities God gives and asking for His grace to share grace, truth, and faith. The boys and I are home, doing the normal things of life... taking advantage of 10% Tuesday, playing badminton, doing school, and spending time with friends.