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The last couple of months I have had several friends that have had babies. It is such a happy and joyous occasion to celebrate these new lives. Today on the other hand, we had the joy of celebrating a dear lady's life of over 90 years. Betty however, was not there to join us as she is now enjoying her new life in heaven. She had such a beautiful testimony of a life lived for God. What a challenge to live one's life 100% sold out to God. Betty was a Mother of a missionary who has been on the mission field for over 40 years. To be able to release your children and grandchildren to the Lord to go overseas for most of their life is not easy. As her daughter just went back to the mission field Betty reassured her that she would be o.k., she was in God's hands just as her daughter is in God's hand. Betty assured her daughter that even if they didn't see each other again down here on earth, they would enjoy their reunion in heaven. Well, done thou good and faithful servant!
It is starting to warm up a bit, We have been waiting for spring for a LONG time. Vern and I were out today and we came home to a special little gift. My sister-in-law Brenda, made this amazing little "Happy Spring" gift. Thanks Brenda for helping us usher in spring!
Every year here in Canada the Tim Horton's coffee shop has "Roll Up The Rim To Win". This is as close as I come to playing the Lotto. I have a great ability to never win anything. Therefore Tim Horton's, "Roll Up The Rim To Win" has not been a draw for me to quickly run in and buy a coffee so that I might win it big. I have however bought a few coffee's due to early morning trips to the airport and things like that when I really needed some thing hot to drink. Although I dream of having that winning cup of: a new car, or $10,000, which I have pledged to use towards Ruth and Zachary's college fund, I know too well from years past and present what "Please Play Again" looks like. I am just glad that my hope and trust is in not in "Roll Up The Rim To Win", but in Jehovah Jireh - My God will Provide.
Although I am a city girl, there are many things that I enjoy about a small town. It is nice to walk into the bank and know the ladies by name and actually have a relationship with them that you chat about their lives and families. It is also nice going into the local grocery store and know many of the employees and managers. However, this morning was not one of those mornings that I was thankful to be living in a small town. I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and thought I would make a couple of batches of oatmeal chocolate chip muffins. I knew that my Sunday school class as well as my children would enjoy muffins this morning. I usually have lots of baking supplies on hand, so away I went making my muffins. I had them half way done before I realized I was lacking a very important ingredient, oatmeal. By this time it was 7:00a.m. and if I were living in Chicago it would not have been a problem to run out and pick some up. I did venture out to the only two stores open in town; a convenience store and a gas station little store. Unfortunately I came home empty handed. When I got home I went through every muffin recipe I had to see what muffins I could make with the ingredients I already had mixed up. Well, I couldn't find anything I could make with what I had already mixed in my bowl so it was time to move on to plan C. I did end up making a chocolate coffee cake for the my children and Sunday school class although by the time I got that in the oven it was then after eight and I had to rush around to get out the door on time. I did finish up making my muffins when I got home from church and it looks like the boys will bringing them for their lunches. Even though I did come home empty handed this morning and I wished for a few more conveniences in this small town in Ontario, I can still say that I enjoy the small town atmosphere.
This morning it was an early morning as I was up at 4:00 to go pick Vern up at the airport. His had a flight that flew through the night. Needless to say, he was pretty tired when I picked him up. We are glad to have him home again!
With the economic situation of the world, there are lay offs and job losses every where. Our family has felt this like many others. Last summer it took one of our sons three months to get a full time job. Then over the winter two other sons were laid off. We are PRAISING THE LORD that as of Monday all of our adult children are working again. Since the construction industry has been hit hard, Seth might not have steady work through the spring and summer. However, we are thankful for each day that our children are able to work. It is nice to see empty spots in our Dyck parking lot during the day.
Todays blog post is dedicated to my mother who is celebrating her 70th birthday. Happy Birthday Mother! We hope you have a wonderful day. I love you and am thinking of you in a very special way.
This is a picture taken outside one of the student apartments. What happened to all the cars? Yesterday afternoon was the official start of spring break here at the training center. Most of our students have taken off to spend some time with family and friends. I am planning on spending the week canning, cleaning, and hopefully getting to some of those projects that never get done. I also want to do some special things with Titus who will be on his spring break. Vern still has another week before he makes it home. Our snow is starting to melt again so maybe we can even enjoy some spring weather this week.
Today marks the end of the third quarter in school, which means Titus doesn't have too much longer before he can enjoy his summer break. (YES!) It also means that report cards were handed out today. Ruth actually finished her last class two weeks ago. Although she did very well in applying herself to her studies throughout high school, she is enjoying being finished with high school. She is excited to be moving on to pursue a career in the medical field. We will wait until May for her graduation ceremony because some family and friends will be able to join us in recognizing this milestone in her life. At the academy here they do not celebrate 8th grade graduation. But Titus will be finishing up grade school and moving into high school in the fall. We are proud of Titus and how well he has done in school. Studies have never been easy for him, but he has really pushed himself and has done well. Way to be, Ruth and Titus!
For those of you who have followed my blog for awhile you will remember Ruth's little incident with her grandparent's cat about 15 months ago. We gave Ruth a ring for her 16th birthday and we had to cut that off her finger as her finger was swelling like crazy after the cat bit her. Since she had that emergency surgery and stitches on her ring finger, it took awhile for her finger to heal up. It took months before she even wanted to think about putting anything on that finger again. A little while ago we went to the store we got the ring from, to see if they could fix the ring. They said they couldn't promise anything but they would try to repair it. Yesterday we went to pick up the ring. It looks pretty good. Ruth can feel a small knot in the back but anyone looking at it wouldn't notice anything. At times her finger does bother her and it gets stiff, so it will be an adjustment to get used to wearing the ring again. However, Ruth is happy to have the ring fixed and will slowly start "breaking it in".
Today we had a class on pressure canning meat. This is in preparation for jungle camp when we will be living without refrigeration. Although many missionaries never have to can meat, there still are locations where missionaries do need to do this if they want to eat meat. I brought a pressure canner into the tribe and there were several times when I did can a cow. It can sound like a scary process but if you follow all the safety procedures it is really quite easy. Our family really enjoys canned meat so it is not a hardship for us to eat it every jungle camp. In preparation for the canning class, I did a couple of loads of canning so I would be up on the proper procedures. I also had found a really good sale on meat so the timing was right. All my jars sealed so it was a nice start to what our family will need for jungle camp. I am hoping in the next couple of weeks that I will be able to get my canning done for jungle camp. In the next couple of months our students will be able to have some hands on experience with a pressure canner, as they can their meat for jungle camp.
We were enjoying some spring like weather and it was so nice to see the snow melting. However, we have lived in Ontario long enough to know that spring could not be coming this soon already. This morning we were brought back to reality as we woke up to snow again.
It seems like there has been no end of paperwork for our kids to get into college. When you fill out all the financial aid paper work, there is a chance you might get flagged. What that means is that you are picked to send copies of all your financial records along with your parents. Ruth was one of those lucky students picked. Therefore I sat down and quickly did her income tax a few days ago. I also had to fill out another financial work sheet that was different then any of the other paperwork that we had already done. After that, I had to make copies of our income tax records. It was a relief to get all that in the mail on Friday. Hopefully, the package will get to the college without getting lost. (It was nice that Zachary was NOT flagged. YES!) Just in case you thought I was bored with Vern being gone, I am finding enough to keep myself busy. (smile)
This is the new addition to the Dyck parking lot. Seth's car has been running on borrowed time. About 14 months ago Seth found out that his car needed some transmission work. It was not worth putting any more money into his car so he decided to just run his car into the ground. We have been surprised that his old car hung in there as long as it has. However, the time had come to get another car. Today Seth and I went to pick up his new (but previously owned) car. He got a Toyota Matrix. We hope this car will serve him well.
Although we are not moving up to jungle camp for over three months, today we had our first class on jungle camp. There is a lot of preparation and planning that is involved with our jungle camp program. So today we had our first class in which we talked about the learning objectives, the purpose, and expectations of jungle camp. We will be having other classes related to jungle camp in the next couple of months. Stayed tuned for more "Jungle Camp 2009" blogs!
How has you day been going? Do things ever seem "Out of Control"? I forgot to check on my pizza dough. This is the condition I found it in, a bit "Out of Control" to say the least. It almost seem like it is alive and will soon take over the whole oven.
Although my children enjoy science, the thought of doing a "Science Fair Project" does not bring with it a lot of excitement. Every other year the junior high and high school do "Science Fair Projects" and this was the year to do them. Titus did his project over the Christmas break. He grew bean plants and put different amounts of fertilizer in with each bean plant. His friend Jake, did his project on different types of paper airplanes and how far each one flew. The boys put a lot of time into their projects, papers, and board. Vern and I were able to go into their classroom yesterday to see their science boards and to hear them talk about their "Science Fair Projects". Great job Titus and Jake!
I just got back from the airport a few minutes ago. I checked in and Vern's flight has taken off. This time he was able to get a direct flight so that is very nice. He will be arrived quite late and will leave early tomorrow morning for the next leg of his journey. Please be praying for safety as he travels. Thanks!
How does one spend the day before a big trip?
Have a coffee and time of connecting as a couple - check
Vern makes his special crepes for the family - check
Worship in church with family - check
Pick up remaining items to bring on the trip - check
Throw in wash that needs to go on trip- check
Eat lunch - check
Spend family time lounging in the front room after lunch - check
Vern gets a hair cut - check
Check emails and sent messages to take care of the last details for the trip - check
Do on line boarding pass - check
Get passport, immunization card, and other paperwork together - check
Make a pot of coffee - check
Gather family together for family meeting and prayer time - check
Seth treats the family to Chinese food for supper - check (thanks Seth)
Keep working on the wash - check
Holly gets remaining things out of the suitcases so Vern can start packing - check
Pull out shorts, flip flops, and start packing - check
Watch Fireproof with Holly and Ruth while packing - check
Connect with each child and give good night hugs - check
Take the dog out - check
Shovel, hopefully for the last time this winter - check
Spend time as a couple - check
Hopefully go to bed before midnight -smile
