Future, faith, & joy

When we arrived in Spokane almost 2 weeks ago, I had very little idea of what to expect. I'd visited here once, and Garry had been here multiple times. Still, there were so many questions. We spent a day driving around with a great real estate agent right after we arrived, and I returned home totally overwhelmed. Wow, how was this all going to work out?!

Then Garry spent some time at the hangar and in meetings with various teams at Moody Aviation. He spent hours in his new boss's office. And he came home so encouraged that the enthusiasm was catching! I spent quite a few hours chatting with various women-- asking about life in Spokane, Moody aviation, and the local homsechool climate. A loan officer began to work on mortgage options and was persistent in pursuing various avenues.  We toured Moody Bible Institute, Spokane, and heard parts of how God has been working there. God's Word and His eternal truths struck us in relation to moving and new opportunities here.

In each situation, in every opportunity, it was clear that God is here and He is doing something. His purposes are becoming more clear, His calling irresistible. We love being involved in what He is doing, and we see Him at work in Moody Aviation in exciting ways. 

The future remains unclear in terms of the physical aspect of housing and many other areas, but we've been encouraged once more that God is working His perfect plan, and we are convinced that we are meant to be part of His plan here in Spokane. What a joy to see God leading our steps and bringing us to an understanding of His plans!

Bozeman, biking, and travel notes

Garry arrived home very early on Sunday morning and Monday we started packing. Catching up with a few people between other tasks kept us busy Monday and Tuesday. Jet lag really didn't hit Garry hard this time, which was a huge blessing! Tuesday evening after Kevin's class we headed out for Spokane, crossing the border just a bit before midnight. I don't think we've ever left on a trip quite that late!

With three drivers it wasn't too hard to drive throughout the night and arrive in Bozeman, Montana early the next afternoon. An upgrade to our room was a nice surprise and gave us room to relax a bit. We unloaded our bikes and took off for what we thought was a nearby trail... I guess it was far away, because we had to turn around before we got there, though the boys did some fun riding anyway.

Thursday evening we arrived in Spokane and are blessed to be able to stay in Crossover Church's house! Since then we've done some house hunting, touched base with friends, and made a few new friends. The boys have done some trail riding and we've all done some relaxed riding. It's been a bit of a whirlwind few days, but many of our questions are being answered and we're learning lots.

Yesterday Kevin headed home to be back in class this morning. He had a God appointment on the way, which we are interested to hear the outcome of. This week promises to be full as we connect with various people and learn more about the area, life here, and the people we look forward to working with! 

Nairobi & home

Garry just messaged me from Amsterdam! He's on his way home after a great week in Nairobi. He enjoyed seeing the program there. He was blessed by many of the interactions he experienced and watched. He got to spend some time with my cousin. He learned lots at the course he completed. He spent some time at a wildlife place and checked out a few interesting restaurants. What more could you ask for from 10 days in Africa?!

This week was about setting up and running a SMS (Safety Management System) and the various things that are involved in that. Teaching times and practice times reinforced many things Garry's already learned as well as broadening his knowledge. From the paperwork involved in reporting hazards, to incident investigation, to interviewing people, they covered a lot of ground in one short week. (And yeah, if Garry laughs when he reads this, it may be edited at a later date!)

Besides the experience of Africa and the amazing people he met and worked with, we are blessed by how God is bringing things together for our time at Moody Aviation. We plan to head to Spokane early next week to check out housing, have some meetings, and make plans to move there within the next couple of months.

Kevin has started part-time studies at SBC and is enjoying his classes. When he's not studying he's working, coaching badminton, or driving somewhere. He plans to do this semester at SBC, then transfer to a University in Ontario next semester.

Kaleb continues to hone his biking skills and is getting excited to move to Spokane and have some great mountain trails nearby. He's also been trail-building with some friends as well as making movies.

The path ahead seems unclear at the moment as we move into yet another new situation. I'm excited about what God is doing, and at the same time I wish I saw it more clearly. I was thinking the other day how this is an opportunity for faith. A chance to let the bedrock of faith in God and His goodness overwhelm and comfort me. An opportunity to grow. A chance to ask God what He is doing and see Him answer. Trial, challenge, or opportunity? It's so much in our perspective. And each moment we choose which perspective we take! And while we choose our perspective about the future, we also walk in this moment, doing the one thing that is ours to do right now!

Nairobi next week...

Garry heads to Nairobi next week! This will be a first for our family as none of us have been to Africa before. We are excited to see what God has in mind for his week there as he joins in an audit and a seminar. It's a small seminar geared toward Safety Managers setting up Safety Management Systems. The content and the people promise to be exciting!

Last week Garry and Kevin were busy trying to finish up the shed they've been building (and I think they just finished their part, at least for now!). Kevin has also been getting things organised for school as he's taking some classes at Steinbach Bible College this semester. Kaleb has been busy fixing bicycles and doing animation. Here's his little shop with some of his projects. 

As we think about moving to Spokane and saying goodbye to friends and places we've come to love in a new way over the past two years, we as a family have been talking a lot about relationships. The value of honest relationships. The purpose of living as the Body of Christ, reaching out to one another and the world. The deep satisfaction of following Jesus Christ, not only individually but corporately. Both the pain and the joy of living in community and the deep loss when there is no community. The fellowship of the Godhead among Itself. The call, the privilege, the responsibility.

It's pretty big. Universal and yet individual. What a blessing to be part of God's family that reaches around the world!

Saturday optimism

I heard once that an optimistic is a person who thinks they can accomplish in one day what they haven't been able to do in the past year. I can feel with that. And today was supposed to be my day! The day is passing, and I think the list is growing, not diminishing.

Garry, Kevin, and Kaleb are enjoying working together on a shed these days. Kevin is incredibly thankful to be back at work after his weeks with a broken toe. Garry really enjoys getting his hands dirty after so long in the office, even though he still has office stuff to do when he gets home. Besides building, Kaleb is doing bicycle repairs and tune-ups for people, which has been a fun little business for him.

Last weekend was the annual Braun Hog Roast, a great time to reconnect with family we don't see as often. It was a  great afternoon of chatting and relaxing, hearing what God is doing in various lives and just enjoying the time together.

I'm in the school planning stage, figuring out the school calendar (Manitoba or Washington?) and finalising curriculum choices. I've also enjoyed a bit more time with friends over the summer break. So, though I have a huge pile of office stuff I haven't finished yet, I'm enjoying my summer and looking forward to another school year.

Not according to my plan...

Things seldom turn out as planned, at least in my experience. God seems to take a unique joy in surprising us, in changing our direction, in revealing His character and goodness. That said, sometimes the surprises are not so pleasant to our way of thinking, some days we can't figure how the truth of God applies to our lives, and God's goodness is obscured. And most of the time, we see through a glass darkly, His character and goodness often clouded by our desires and life in a fallen world.

Since my last post we have been surprised in a number of ways, most of them still in the unfolding stage. We've enjoyed great times with family and friends. Garry made some progress on the shed he's building and spent several days in the office working on projects for Moody Aviation and preparing to move. We loved the Barkman family picnic at the park. We got and update from Moody's lawyer, and it seems like we have some direction, and she is currently preparing papers for us to apply for a visa. Garry and I spent a couple days in Fargo.

As I said, things seldom turn out as planned.... but we still plan and anticipate. These days Garry is looking forward to a Safety Manager Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya next month. He is planning to join the Mission Aviation Fellowship team as they learn about the various responsibilities of a safety manager and discuss challenges and opportunities in mission aviation.

When Garry returns we plan to head to Spokane, WA and spend some time with the team there and check into housing options in preparation to move later this fall.

In the meantime we are loving the warm days of summer.... trust you are also!

Prairie Aviation Safety Workshop

The focus of safety in mission aviation continues to change as we seek to use the resources God has entrusted to us more wisely and efficiently. As we continue to learn, we develop a deeper appreciation of how trust on a team improves safety and how much we must depend on input from every level of the organization in order to function safely.  

Just over a week ago Garry was invited to attend a safety workshop hosted by Prairie School of Mission Aviation and presented by Larry Heintz from Mission Aviation Fellowship International. The focus of the workshop was how to set up an Aviation Safety Management System and building trust among team members. He loved his week with other pilot/mechanics, learning and sharing about aviation safety!

This was a small workshop, with usually just 5 people in attendance. Of those five, 4 were from a Mennonite background and 3 of those had grown up on dairy farms. (I've been trying to figure out how dairy farming and flying are related... I have some ideas, but given my limited understanding of dairy farming, I think I'll be silent about those!) It was a very profitable week for Garry and the Prairie Aviation team as they learned and shared ideas.

Now Garry's home again, dividing his energy between aviation safety, planning a trip to Spokane, working construction, and helping with some relief stuff in the Philippines. With all that's going on, we're enjoying the long days of summer!

Film and Faith

Over the past couple of weeks Kaleb has been busy with filmmaking. He entered a 48-hour film contest a couple weekends ago. At the end of the contest there was a screening at a small theatre in Winnipeg, the first time of of Kaleb's animations has been on a big screen! To add to the excitement, he won Best Editor! Last week Kaleb started 2 weeks of Teens Summer Film Camp. It's been a great experience. It's been a great opportunity. It's also been full of challenges.

This small thing feels like a reflection of so much of life. Kaleb has had opportunity to walk into a world he can relate to, and that has given him chances to both live and share faith. Being involved in a world that has its share of darkness has been awesome-- how often do we get a viable chance to walk with new people along new paths and live in a way that is sometimes dramatically different than anything they may have seen or experienced?

Besides this entry into a new world we thoroughly enjoyed the EMC Convention, Dad and Doris were married last weekend, and Garry is headed home from a trip to Calgary. I'll post more later....