Quick trip

Garry made a quick trip to Nampa, Idaho last week for a safety seminar at MAF's headquarters. He stayed with friends that we knew before we were married and got to see several other families he knew from as far back as his Moody days! He also enjoyed meeting new people.

There is a lot of information and many thoughts to process, but it was a profitable week of seeing how MAF does various things and getting lots of ideas for using an SMS and the safety department. I will try to post more later as I get more information.... he just got home really late last night and I haven't gotten a good grasp of what he is thinking yet.


This week we've had several days of sunshine here, and it has been a huge blessing after weeks of fog and overcast. It's amazing how many things we take for granted, from running water to sunshine to health to an endless list of other things that allow us to survive and even thrive. Most of these things we don't think about until they are missing, so lacking them can actually be a huge blessing!... but back to the sunshine. Last Sunday was sunny and we took a family bike ride at a park here. There are great trails-- ones easy enough for me and jumps that are challenging even for Kaleb, so we all had a great time and enjoyed being outdoors.

Later in the week Kaleb joined a homeschool group at a trampoline park. Most of his free time this week, though, has been spent working on his bike. He rides a lot, and his bike is showing the wear on various parts. In fact, this morning he and Garry took it further apart and worked on it together. Thankfully it seems to be working better again.

Birthday pondering

Caught in time, living for eternity: that's our reality. Our lives go in seasons, focuses change as we move through various ages and stages of life. Families change, jobs change, kids grow up and new friends are added to our circles while other friends leave.

This week marked another year of life for me, and I've been reflecting a bit. Thanks to facebook, friends from all over the world sent birthday wishes and I was both amazed and humbled. When I consider the spectrum of people who have had an impact in my life, I cannot believe it. People from across the globe, across all ages and stages of life, across many occupatios and interests took time in their day to remember my special day.

This caused me to not only think about the past, but also the future. Right now I am in a realtively new place, opening new relationships with a whole new group of people. (Yeah, our whole family is, but it was just my birthday!) And I was challenged to be both open and intentional: to make room for new people and yet to ask God to give me just the relationships He has for me so I can invest well in those.

Because nearly every day I am reminded that time is limited and there are already a number of things in my life that demand some of it. Sometimes I sit for a moment and stare into space, thinking of all the conversations we can have in eternity when time is unlimited, The vast number of people there are to know in the world, and every generation will be together in eternity, And I can't help but imagine that even in eternity we will be part of one another's journey....

I hope you know how blessed you are to be surrounded by the people in your life, simply because the knowing is such a blessing!

This world...

 I keep thinking of things to post about, but so many of them would ring hollow with you, my readers. The new and the strange and the different are so likely to be normal to you. And our lives are wrapping around such a new world that is it hard to figure out what to say or how to communicate it.

We are running into nearly endless opportunities, but just saying that could sound like we think people are opportunities for something that is of benefit to us. No, people are a benefit to us as much as we are to them, and in community we offer what God has given us to the next person. So, we have opportunities to give and to receive. Opportunities to invest in people and to be invested in. Opportunities to grow and to plant. Opportunities to teach and to learn. And the complexity of it all defies clarity. 

Garry has found a new enjoyment of meetings as he is involved in various teams here. He's enjoying learning more about Moody Aviation and how things work. He's also working on various projects and connecting with various people and organizations as he works on setting up a Safety Management System. 

Kaleb is riding his bike again since most of the snow has melted. He's enjoying working on his jumps and has modified them to be easier in hopes of getting more of the neighbourhood kids into riding. He's also growing like a weed and trying to compete with Kevin's eating records. 

People and ponderings

Saturday.  Right now it's sort of my day to get out of normal routine at home and catch up on other stuff that hasn't found a place in my routine yet. Really, it's a gift of time to refocus on God and what He is doing and where our lives fit into that in a bit of a bigger chunk of time. And the process of focusing on God is always good, because He is good. His mercies are new every morning and His grace is beyond understanding. His justice is sure, his truth stands forever. And we are His kids! Wow. 

This week started with a day off, a great day to do some house projects and connect with a couple from Moody. We enjoyed breakfast at their place, hearing about what God has done in their lives and sharing a bit of our journey. We also had another family over one evening and were blessed by a great conversation and a very relaxing time. As I ponder the week I see that connections are happening, new friendships are being forged, and I am blessed. 

Garry's week seemed to go quickly (to me!), with days full of contacting various people as he begins to work on different aspects of the Safety Management System, finishing up parts of his orientation, a few meetings, and work on a presentation. 

Kaleb and I did school and spent an afternoon with some new friends and another afternoon with people we've known longer. He worked on some animations and went sledding with the neighbours. We ran to the grocery store for frozen pizza for lunch one day simply because we could. We read a good book. All in all, this week felt like a week of settling into a new routine and having some space to simply enjoy the things we are doing.  

I hope your week was one of blessing and opportunity. I hope you had opportunity to trust God for things and that you, too, were blessed by the things He is doing around you. 

Happy 2015!

I realize 2015 has already begun. Over 2 weeks ago, in fact. Still, since I haven't been on here it seems like the start of a new year blogging for me. New ideas, new thoughts, new beginnings, relatively new job, house, and life. 

Garry is really enjoying his days at Moody Aviation and the opportunities He is getting to both learn and teach. It appears to be a set of opportunities that fall mostly in his "sweet spot", which is a huge blessing to him and to us as a family. These days he is learning all he can about Moody Aviation, the specific culture within the aviation department and the broader culture of Moody Bible Institute. It has been interesting, a journey into yet another new world, new ways of thinking and interacting. We are thankful that he is finding a good environment there in which to minister.

At this point I am busy at home, catching up on a number of things that didn't get attention during our move and schooling Kaleb. I'm also enjoying various opportunities to connect with other moms and women involved in Moody Aviation.

Kaleb has met a few of the neighbourhood kids and is enjoying getting to know them. He's also made some friends through homeschool activities, and is slowly settling into a new normal here. Like Garry and I, he misses having Kevin at home.

We are loving Washington, and Spokane and Moody Aviation specifically, but each move has a tendency to excite us for the present and also produce a certain amount of nostalgia about the past, a sense of loss in the people, places, and opportunities we've left behind. So, for thsoe of you who were waiting for this confession: yes, we're homesick for Manitoba, for the Philippines, for Arizona and Panama and Paraguay and Venezuela. And in the midst of growing and learning we remind one another that this is becoming home, that each loss is proof of something of value we've experienced and left behind,  and that this moment is worth investing in part because we are building something that will one day be worth missing!

Friday coffee shop

I've been at the coffee shop trying to catch up on some office stuff since early this morning. Although I often feel a bit behind on office stuff, my current status is more like buried. There are so many new things to do, see, learn, and experience that it is hard to keep up with everything. Some days it's fun, some days it's downright overwhelming.

Garry is loving his new job and finds the challenges mostly invigorating at this point. He has spent a fair amount of time in meetings and has learned a lot about how Moody Aviation functions, the priorities, and some of the challenges we are facing. It's been a huge learning curve, but very rewarding. This week he was involved in Advisory Board meetings, a time for mission aviation organizations to get together with Moody Aviation and Moody Bible personnel to share ideas and vision. These seemed like profitable times as we all move ahead in what God is calling us to do.

Kaleb has been amazing at stepping out of his comfort zone to meet people and experience new things. So far he has met a couple of guys that he hopes to see again, which is a real answer to prayer, and yet an ongoing request as one meeting is too short to determine many things.

Kevin turned 20 and arrived home last week. It's been great to have him around, though coming "home" to a place you've only been for a day is interesting, to say the least. we've been busy trying to finish some projects on the house and he's been trying to get some training done while he's here.

Our new home

A house is a home because it's filled with family, friends, and laughter. Our home is quickly being filled, and we are enjoying the process! We love this house and the great spaces it has-- open dining room and kitchen and a cozy stove among other things. Here are a few photos of our new place!

Heading West

It's been a crazy few weeks... really crazy. I will try to post more over the next week or so, but suffice it to say that getting our visa took two trips to the border, Kevin did well in Saskatoon, Kaleb got some great time with friends, the flu is nasty this year, and we loved seeing so many people while packing up the house.

Yes, we've finished packing and cleaning the house in Manitoba and are headed to Washington with our worldly goods stowed in the truck, trailer, and van. We got a late start due to being sick the last couple of days in Manitoba, and ended up at the border late on Saturday. The border crossing went remarkably well and we didn't have to unpack anything! 

The weather wasn't great, so we stopped early Saturday night, hoping for an early start on Sunday. It was not to be... it's been cold, icy, and snowy. I don't think we've ever had a trip quite like this-- hour after hour of stressful driving. Of course, pulling a trailer adds to driving stress, but it is challenging even in the van. So what we thought was an easy two days' drive has now taken 3 days, and we're just over half way. We're praying better weather allows us to get there tomorrow.

And in the meantime, lots of memories being made! Looking forward to arriving, to seeing how God unfolds the next parts of our journey, but for now we are enjoying a very long drive!