This week...

Friday evening we had dinner with some friends of Garry's from flight training days. Allan and Esther work with NCEM, and are excited about what God is doing with First Nations people in Canada. It was fun to hear their vision for the work up north. There's always something neat about time with people who are involved in mission aviation and leadership, a kindredness of spirit.

We spent most of the weekend at the Winnipeg Winter Club, watching Kevin and Kaleb play badminton. Kaleb had a blast playing, and Kevin was into serious competition. A lot of great players from
various parts of Canada competed, and Kevin met many of them. He enjoys chatting with other athletes and hearing their stories, training strategies, and thoughts. Interacting with others in his field is helpful and stimulating. The opportunities to live faith are many, and he was busy planting seeds this weekend.

Garry is back in the office today, finishing up some things for NTM Aviation. This month marks 25 years since he joined NTM Aviation, 25 years of opportunity, surprises, rewarding ministry, challenges, and investment in planting churches all over the world. It's been quite a ride, full of incredible people and blessings!

Times change

Fall has apparently arrived. The colors are beautiful, the days brisk (translated freezing cold in my reality). Leaves keep falling, reminding me that winter itself will soon arrive. Not a totally happy thought for a tropical girl like me. On the other hand, I begin to see why the change of seasons is so beautiful. It gives a framework for our lives, an external reminder of the passing of time.

For me, watching the leaves change and fall has reminded me how far we've come in the last year. Last year at this time we were in deep mourning for so many things we'd said goodbye to.... Mom, many friends, the Philippines, life overseas, and a field flight program. Life on this side of the ocean was totally foreign, we ourselves totally displaced. 

Things are different now. We still miss the things we've left behind. We still have our moments of culture shock, but there are many things we've learned to deal with and do. We've built new friendships and created new routines. We've moved again. We've changed jobs again. But still, there are more constants from 6 months ago than there were last year at this time. And as things begin to feel more comfortable, we are more able to invest in what we see God doing around us. New friends, new opportunties, and new possibilities are becoming exciting instead of overwhelming. 

On our trip south we bought some mugs to decorate, and last week I filled mine with reminders of our time in the Philippines. Words that bring joy and comfort in the memories. Words that remind me of investment instead of loss. It's not a work of art, but I love my new mug.... and I realize with a certain degree of surprise that I may one day be making a mug to remind me of these days, this life that I'm now living.

Yes, times change. God heals and gives grace to help us adapt and change.

Flight and friends...

Garry took me flying the other evening... just for fun! In our lives in mission aviation, Garry has flown a lot of hours. I've gone on a limited number of flights because flights were most usually full, and I needed to stay by the radio. But we have seldom had opportunity to fly for the fun of it. In fact, it's only the third time in my life I remember being in an airplane just for the fun of it! It was fun, it was beautiful! We enjoyed a sunset, we enjoyed being together. Blessed.

Garry has had a few neat opportunities lately, and one of them was roofing with a couple of friends for an afternoon. After some long days in the office, it was a much-needed break to spend the afternoon working physically. Blessed.

Kevin has been excited by the work opportunities he's been getting lately as well. He's had fun working on a few farms lately. And he's had some very good training opportunities lately as well. It's exciting to see how God is bringing things together for him as he pursues a new chapter in his life of following and serving God.

This week I did another "almost first".... I took Kaleb on a field trip! Again, we've done a lot of interesting things and we've been a lot of places, but seldom do we go just for the purpose of school fun and learning. And this day ended up to be perfect! Roseau River Bible Camp hosted a group of us, providing great activities for the kids-- BMX biking, zip lining, and archery. And we took a short hike to see a hanging bridge. Kaleb met a new friend and neighbour, a homeschool kid who loves to bike and make movies. "Mom, what are the chances?" he asked me last night. Blessed.

Kaleb and I were discussing perspective this week, and how our perspective can change simply by what we tell ourselves. And there's nothing as powerful as asking God for His perspective, catching glimpses of the blessings we are given in light of eternity. And from that perspective, we are all incredibly blessed!

Saturday Ramblings

I can hardly believe it's Saturday, and I'm not at all sure how fall has come upon us to so quickly! The weeks are passing, times are changing, life is moving forward. This week I've often felt caught in a vortex I can't explain, a feeling I can't comprehend. The security of a new year's school routine, the many questions we have about our future. A sense of expectancy interwoven with the sadness of things that are finished. Endings and beginnings.

Garry spent this week at the Bombardier Safety Standdown in Wichita, Kansas. He enjoyed the sessions and the opportunity to connect with various people in aviation. The things that struck him most from the week were human factors in accidents and the need for trust in creating "safe culture". He loved spending time with other guys in mission aviation and simply being in the aviation world. How he got there is a God story also, since he had to cancel his registration a few weeks ago, and was able to be re-register after the deadline. 

The boys and I stayed busy while Garry was gone, which always helps time go more quickly. School, work, and training took up most of our time.  Kaleb took his bike dirt jumping with a friend and met some new friends last week. Kevin did a little coaching a a badminton evening. I had coffee with a friend. 

Friends invited us for dinner last evening, and it was great to connect. To laugh and share, to play a game, to simply enjoy an evening as families. We are blessed and humbled by the people God brings into our lives, people who reach out to us and those we can reach out to. The opportunities to give and to receive.

I really hope to blog more over the next week, to share some photos of our trip west and south. We'll see how that works out, I guess! For now, have a great weekend!