Welcome Home!

With our family starting to spread out we don't get too many times when we are all together.  So whenever we have at least four of our children together it is time to celebrate.  Zachary and Elisha and their dog Enzo were able to come up and spend four days with us.  It was so nice to have them here. I love seeing them connecting with their nieces and nephews who are all growing up so quickly.  We celebrated Canada Day and Zachary's birthday which is on the 4th of July.  We just wish Ruth and Glenn could have joined us as well.  

 

July 4th, 1988

On July 4th, 1988 we were living in Venezuela.  There were no firework displays that evening but we were celebrating the birth of our 3rd son Zachary George.  And although my mother thought we named Zachary after George Washington, he was actually named after his grandpa George.  Zachary has the privilege of being our middle child.  He has been such a gift from God.

Happy 27th Birthday Zachary! 
It was a special treat to to able to celebrate your birthday with you.  We are proud of you and the man of God that you are.  Keep pursuing the Lord and all the He has for you and keep making a difference in the lives of the people around you!  Enjoy a wonderful new year ahead!

Commissioned to Go!

This morning we had the joy of attending Ken and Debbie Dewar's commissioning service.  They were students here in our training program and tomorrow they are heading back to their home area in BC and in Oct. they will be making the big move to Colombia. It is such a privilege to be a part of helping equip missionaries for service overseas.  Our lives are truly changed by all of the amazing people that come through the training program here.  It was such a thrill to see how the First Baptist Church in Mount Forest has come along side of the Dewar Family and are committing to pray, support, and encourage them.  The Dewar family will be such a big blessing to the team there in Colombia. 

Families in Transition

As many of you know I have a heart for our students and missionary families.  I love to encourage them on in life.  One of the biggest things that affect our families and especially their children is dealing with all of the transitions that they face in their lives.  We are training families to work overseas and although it might seem exciting to be a Third Culture Kid there are many challenges that our children face as they move back and forth all over North America and then overseas.  A couple of days ago Vern and I had the privilege to spend time with 8 pretty cool kids.  They are all facing another transition ahead with another major move for their family.  Vern and I were able to talk about transitions as we related it to what we call the "Transitional Bridge".  We went through the phases of transition from being: "Settled, Unsettled, In the Chaos stage, then to Resettled, and Settled again.  These families are presently in the Unsettled and Chaotic Stage.  We discussed the emotions that these children are going through and ways to help.  I had the children write out a list of 10 things they enjoy doing.  It is helpful for children and adults to have a list like that and in the middle of transitions when they are feeling overwhelmed they can pull out that list of things they enjoy doing and pick something on their list.  It it a great stress reliever and can help them to deal with all the new things they are facing to do something they enjoy doing.  The children had a chance to walk across our "bridge".  They walked across it and it was pretty easy, then they put on foggy glasses that blurred their vision and the only way you could make it across the bridge is with friends and family walking along side of them.  And so it is in life as we go through hard situations we need our family and friends coming along side of us encouraging us on and praying for us.  (I had each family worked on making their own bridge.)  As you think of these eight children who have already moved many times, please pray for them as they once again transition.  For six of the children they will be making yet another major move overseas in five months. So there are even more transitions ahead.  If you have a relationship with a missionary family or M.K. why not drop them a note or do something special for them today.  Let them know that there is someone cheering them on in life!

Taking it One Brick at a Time

Many of you know that Seth has been a part of a masonry apprenticeship program.  With the apprenticeship program you take classes for a couple of months every year and then you log in many, many hours of work.  Then to get certified there is a Red Seal test.  Here in Canada there are 57 Red Seal trades a person can do.  Recently Seth took the Masonry Red Seal test and passed and now is a "Certified Red Seal Mason".  We are pretty proud of him and all the hard work he put into accomplishing this.  Yesterday we celebrated with a Red Seal Party.  We decorated with a brick theme.  Of course the party stores have nothing to offer so we came up with our own brick decorations.  Instead of balloons we had paper Red Bricks hanging from the ceiling.  Some family and friends sent in congratulations to Seth.  We had them hanging on the "brick" paper with a bunch of pictures from when he was working and going to school.  Vern arranged bricks on the table with some masonry tools.  We also served some of the food in buckets with little shovels.  We were trying to come up with a special and unique gift for Seth to honor this special accomplishment.  We came up with the idea of getting a Red Brick and making up a little metal plate that we had engraved.  We were also able to find a glass box to put the brick in.  Congratulations Seth on being a Certified Red Seal Brick and Stone Mason!