Sam's Home - Finally

Some of you know that Sam was gone for a while this month. He was in Ethiopia at meetings for the Global Disciples Training Alliance. It's a big mouthful but it's a group of people who run short term discipleship training programs like TREK or Action. Here's a bit about what Sam said in an email he sent out to our prayer supporters.

Who are we again?
The GDT Alliance is a member-governed strategic alliance. The representative Members Council is elected by Alliance Members by region and meets once a year in conjunction with one of the GDT Alliance Annual Meetings. This group carries the responsibility for decisions about GDT Alliance policies and membership we met for a 1.5 days before the main group arrived.

Amazing Growth!
In 1997 the GDT Alliance began with 5 programs who trained and sent out 273 workers. Now, ten years later, in 2007 there are 90 programs and there were 1,750 workers sent out. If this multiplication continues at the same rate till 2012 there will be 6,320 workers trained and sent out. God is doing amazing things!

He was in Ethiopia in 2000 and the meetings were about 25 people total including all the countries that were a part of it. This year there were 125 participants at the meetings and that was just for the participants from Africa!

The meetings started out with these words:

“We are here for only one reason, to exalt Jesus” It is out of relationship with Jesus that good news flows. “The tribes may fight in Kenya, but here we are one body. We are one family. We are blood brothers in Jesus.”
We want this to be a week of refreshment. We want the Holy Spirit to be flowing into your lives like streams of living water. So as we walk around here this week, I expect it to be as common to see you praying with each other as talking to each other. Come and drink deeply of what God has to offer.
This alliance is about relationships. We want this to be a safe place. You may feel like you are in a room of strangers now, but we want that to change by tomorrow morning. And by next week we expect to see a few tears as you say ‘goodbye.’
We live in a changing world. The methods we used in the last decade will not work today. When I was born, there were 3 billion people in the world; today there are 6.? Billion. 29% of these have never had the opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus. Many of these live in difficult places. Some of us and some of those we train will lay down our lives so that they may hear.
Early missionaries to Africa were told to pack their belongings in coffins because the average life
expectancy for new missionaries was less than two years. Yet, look at what God has done in the church in Africa.
It’s time for a new wave in Africa. It’s time for the African church to rise up and send forth
missionaries. And its time for people with white faces like mine to stand behind and cheer and to wash your feet. (by Galen Burkholder - Director of GDT Alliance)

Well needless to say that set the tone. And the rest of our meetings were a sweet time of learning, prayer, repentance and fellowship together.

Here are a few of the people Sam got to see and meet while he was away.

Claude (from Congo) His wife worries that there might not be enough food for her and their five children while he is gone.


Alex (from Uganda) he has seen a lot of suffering. Five of his brothers
died of fighting or malnutrition while living in Congo. Pray for healing for
him. He directs a discipleship-mission training program that goes to the
refugees in western Uganda.

They spent a lot of time worshiping and praying for each other.

Eating and enjoying each other's company around dinner tables

and of course, lots of meetings!


Benson’s story
The following is a testimony from Benson.
Some of you have seen the video "Just a Desert Boy" that was made from the Benson story. Benson is at the meeting in Ethiopia and the following is his testimony of what God is doing, here is a journal
entry:
We re-played the Benson video and then he came to share his testimony, a powerful story, almost unbelievable. If I didn’t know his story, I would doubt a lot of what he reported.
• His goal was to plant 100 churches in
10 years as he stated on the DVD. So far he has planted 73 in 6 years.
• This year he planted two churches in Somalia and 30 in Turkana.
• He baptized 3000 people last year and wants to go to Uganda this year.
• In one village he was shot and still has a scar above his heart. He didn’t want to go back to that village and felt that after what they did to him they ‘could
die in their sins.’ But God worked on him and he returned to preach the gospel. 5400 people came to the Lord. (I think this was the same village.)
• As he went to another village, the local witch doctor determined that he would not make it to preach. He slaughtered a goat and put some poisoned meat on a tree where Benson would pass. Benson came after a three day journey and was very hungry when he saw the meat. He took it, gave thanks and ate it…then went to the village to preach. The witch doctor was the first to receive Christ that afternoon.
• Another time he was walking for several days and fainted 17 times. He felt like he was dying and told God, “Just allow me to lead one more soul to you and then I am ready to die.” He reached the village and preached. 300 came to the Lord!

As you can see Sam had a pretty full 12 days. Our days were not quite so busy but we made it through anyway. It's always hard when Sam goes. I have to be consistent with making meals and getting the kids to eat enough fruits and veggies! It's very easy to just make Mac n Cheese every night since I know that's the one thing they won't complain about.

I also managed to stay fairly active this time (usually all exercise goes out the window when Sam goes away!). I would put on an exercise dvd every night after supper and me and the kids would do it together. I only had to turn it off early twice due to excessive complaining! It's very funny to watch the kids do pilates!

One thing I didn't maintain was my 5 am wake up call to write before the day starts. But I'm happy to say I'm back at it this week. On the topic of "the book" - I put all my writing together in one word document to see how much I actually have. After all is said and done I have about 104 thousand words which is about the size of a normal book. I was encouraged by that - that's a huge feat but also discouraged because I can't quite see the end in sight - so this book promises to be a big one! And one that will most definitely need excessive cutting during rewrite number 1.

The kids missed daddy a lot. Zachary spent all day yesterday with Sam. He refused to go outside to play with the neighbour kids, he only wanted to be with daddy. They even made a great supper together.

As for Ana - she is turning into such a big girl - yikes when did this happen. I have to listen to her read every night now. She has beginner books that she is learning. I think she mostly memorizes them and figures out the words by looking at the pictures but I am assured that that is the beginning of reading. I hope she grows to love books as much as her mom!

We have a few birthday's coming up. Zachary is turing four on Friday. Anyone know where I can find Lightening McQueen cake decorations? I'm not trusting my ability to ice a cake to look like Lightening!

This is quite the long post - Hope you made it through!

Happy New Year

So I haven't blogged in a long time. I never said I'd be consistent! I meant to post some of our Christmas pictures a couple weeks ago but I guess it's better late than never! I tried to upload a video but it was taking hours (like 6) so I wasn't even sure it was working. I think it may be my internet speed (we have lite speed) so maybe next time I'll be able to do it.

We actually had a great Christmas this year. Sam took a whole week off and we just relaxed, read books, played games, and went for walks. It was so wonderful.

We usually open our presents on Christmas eve but decided to save it for Christmas Day so the kids would have lots of time to play with their gifts. I made a whole Christmas dinner including a really yummy pie. I realized that I love making pies! It was so fun.

Pre-oven. It's apple cranberry.

...and post oven. Ana absolutely loved this pie (she really loves any sort of dessert!)

We had a bit of snow over Christmas including on Christmas Day so that made it even more special and more exciting for the kids. Here's Ana watching a princess movie with her new princess barbies.


And Zachary and Daddy putting together his playmobile airplane. It took about 2 hours but he loved helping to build it.

And the finished product!

So now Ana is back at school and we're back into our routine. It was very hard for me to get out of vacation mode but I guess that's good because it meant I really relaxed!

More soon about how our weeks without Sam were. Thank goodness he's coming home soon!

A Week of Firsts

We've had an eventful week. Ana lost her first tooth. She's cute with such a gap in her mouth and even lisps a bit now.


And Zac broke his arm. It happened on Sunday morning at the early hour of 6 am. He was playing with Ana in her room, decided he needed to reach something up high so stood on her pink horse (which is quite large actually) and promptly fell off. He screamed something fierce and even after he calmed down a bit still whimpered everytime he moved his arm so we knew it was serious. Sam took him into the er at 7 am. The nurses thought he must have done it last night because it was so early - little do they know!

He is doing fine now and can even put weight on his fingers which is a good sign. He should have it on for 3 weeks. I'm just glad it didn't happen in the summer when the pool is out and it's hot and sweaty - that would have been less fun then this!

He thinks his "hard bandage" is pretty cool and just today started bonking stuff with it, including his sister, which I quickly put a stop to. He has already figured out that if he really doesn't want to do something he just says he can't 'cause I have a broken arm' in the most pitiful voice imaginable. All in all it's been good though - it could have been a lot worse!

Winter Wonderland

We had a snowy day - already our second of the year and the kids loved it.


Sam put up the Christmas lights. It's always fun to do it when it's snowing.
Making snow angels on the pavement - ouch!
The digger came out to play. Zac loves pushing it around in any weather but the snow was especially fun.
Just a little poser.



It's already December and that is amazing. Where has the fall gone? It feels like just yesterday Ana was starting Kindergarten. She got her first report card last week. It was all good but we need to keep practicing her fine motor skills - so that means printing lots of letters and numbers. I actually think she's doing very well at it but gets distracted at school with all the socializing that goes on so she has a hard time concentrating.

Zac is a snacker. He loves snacks - anything chocolate and with lots of sugar. Apples and oranges are not snacks and especially not carrots or anything remotely fresh! The other day he asked if snacks will make him big and strong. I said - not a chance buddy! He just sat there thinking it over than went on with eating his cookie. Right now the favourite snack is marshmallows and hot chocolate. Any ideas on how to get him to eat something else? Well I guess he does eat one other thing - peanut butter and honey sandwiches. If I ask him what he wants for breakfast, lunch or dinner it's always the same choice - pb and honey. BORING.

We just finished a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa from Winnipeg. The kids had lots of fun and so did we. We did lots of shopping, baking, making a gingerbread house, decorated for christmas, played games and hung out. Thanks for coming to visit gramma and grammpa!


We miss all of you great people who are so far away! Hugs all around!!

Thanksgiving Visit

My mom and dad came out almost a month ago (yes, I've been slacking already on the blog front). We were lucky to spend Thanksgiving together. I love having them visit - it's always a lot of fun.

The kids each got one special thing from grandma and grandpa. Ana was so excited about her new kitty from Build-A-Bear. It was really cool there but way too many things to buy. We got a pair of shoes, one outfit, and pj's - all for little Rose.



My sweet little guy...

Sam and Grandpa out for a walk. The kids got tired so they ended up getting rides.
Zachary's special gift was a car mat. A wonderful invention that has offered lots of enjoyment.

Getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. Note the yummy pumpkin pie on the counter.

It rained almost the whole week they were here but we did get one nice day on Thanksgiving Monday and went for a walk in the woods by our house. It was beautiful and only a few slips on the muddy trail - nothing serious though.

On one of the rainy days Grandma baked cookies with the kids. It was a lot of fun.


Lots of extra chocolate chips were needed...

We had a great time! Come back soon.

October also had highlights for both Sam and I. Sam headed off to Thailand for a very quick (6 days) trip. He saw all the Asia missionaries who were together for a special retreat in a really great Thai resort. I was so jealous that he got to eat authentic Pad Thai and have this amazing coconut soup every day. Lucky!

At the end of the week he was gone I also got to go away. I attended the Surrey International Writers Conference in Surrey, BC. I stayed at the hotel for two night and attended tons of seminars and met lots of great people. I'm beginning to take writing a bit more seriously and have even tried to schedule it regularly into my day so I keep going on this book that seems will never be fully written! I learned lots of great things about dialogue, setting, characterization, how to create great villains, and lots more. I also got to hear one of my favourite authors read from her new (as yet unpublished) book. It was an awesome weekend.

While I was gone the kids stayed with good friends and had a great time without us. Sam picked them up on his way home from the airport and was super Daddy for 24 hours while jet-lagging! I don't think I could have done it.

Ana and Zac are doing great. Ana is loving kindergarten and Zac loves being at home and they're both still on the sugar high from Halloween. I'm a little nervous about the dentist visit this afternoon.

More to come after the next grandparent visit happening next week.

Untitled

I don't have any new pictures to put on as we seem to always forget our camera when we're out and about. Sorry about that.

We've been having a great fall. Ana is well on her way to enjoying kindergarten! I spent the morning there yesterday with Zac. He kept wanting to leave but Ana loved it that I was there. She was nervous this week about not being able to write her numbers or letters very well but her teacher hopefully reassured her that school is for learning, not for already knowing everything!

Today is the first of many Pro D days. The neighbour kids are dancing to a kids worship dvd and generally creating mayhem in the house but I'd rather them here then watching Bratz over at someone else's! It'll be outside time when the level of screams gets to high for me to handle.

Last night we hosted a great woman from Williams Lake. She is speaking on TREK and is such an amazing woman who listens to God a lot. I love her tons. We had a great time this morning sharing and praying together. This is the kind of stuff that is too far and few between in my life. There is something about talking about Jesus with others who love him. It brings you closer, even for just a while, to the heart of God and you remember again how much he loves you. Remember it in your heart - not just your mind. Thanks Esther!

Some of you know that I enjoy writing. I've been practicing at writing a novel in my spare time and have been trying to spend at least a bit of time every day at the computer pounding out scenes. It may seem futile but I find that it gives my mind some much needed stimulation.

So here is something that I wrote a while back about autumn. It's just a paragraph but thought I'd take the plunge on posting it.

Heidi

There was a chill on the breeze as summer waned and autumn rose in majesty around us. I lifted my chin slightly enjoying the feel of the wind as it played across my skin. It was not quite dusk and the birds were still aloft, singing, as the evening sun filtered through the trees, a play of orange beams adorning the path before me. The air was ripe with the smell of fresh cut grain and sun and the maples at the edge of the forest were wild with colour, bright orange and fiery red. I always felt that the beauty of autumn was natures way of celebrating the end of harvest, a congratulation on completion of the years most exhausting toil.

First Days

This past week marked a lot of firsts for us. The first day of kindergarten, the first whole week without Ana at home for three hours, the first mornings for Zac to play alone, the first days of Sam riding his bike to work!!




Ana has done very well at kindergarten. She was so nervous at first, especially about recess but is getting more comfortable every day. She loves her teacher and her work sheets and is already learning lots of stuff.



We have done little things to make it better. For instance - recess has been very hard. The school is somewhat on the small side but even so it is daunting for Ana to be let out with all the big kids. The first two days she just walked around by herself and came home very upset with how scary recess was. So that night we prayed and also made a plan together to ask her teacher to walk out with her and also to ask one of the other girls in the class if she would like to play. It worked wonderfully. That day I asked Miranda if she would like to play with Ana at recess. She was excited to say yes - but only if Ana was 5 because she was 5 and only played with other girls who were 5. Thank goodness Ana is 5!! When Ana got into the car later that morning she said "Recess was great!" We talked about how Jesus had already answered her prayers for a friend at recess. (So far Ana is not to sure about praying because she can't see Jesus who she is praying to but we're working on that.)



Zac has been lonely for his big sister but is finding things to do. He has a morning ritual after we get home from dropping Ana off at school. He sits on the couch and is allowed a special snack and juice box - the same one that Ana took in her lunch bag. He can't wait for snack time! There is also still one neighbour friend who doesn't go to school so he plays outside for some of the morning.

I on the other hand have been loving this time with only one child at home. I can get lots done and it is fun to go shopping with Zachary and have special conversations, just the two of us. After my initial nervousness about school (I'm sure I was worse than Ana) I have learned to love dropping her off knowing that she is growing more independant and sure of herself every day. What a feeling!

Anyway, that is probably all for now. We are having an Indian Summer, it was 27 degrees yesterday and promises to be even hotter today so I'm sure we'll spend some time outside in the little pool this afternoon.