Tag Archives: family

Christmas, Blogs & Outreach

December 5, 2015 By in Blog, Events Tags: , , , Leave a comment
Hôtel de Ville, Tours, Loire Valley, Noël, Christmas

City Hall in Tours

It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas, minus the snow… mixed feelings about that:

  • Glad for no shoveling or plowing yet.
  • There’s still lettuce in the garden.
  • Pansies add winter colour in the garden.
  • BUT… it’s weird to see Christmas decorations alongside green grass & bare pavement.

Jury’s still out!

Latest Bi-Monthly Newsletter

2015_12_05_PIMltr

We’ve just published our latest partner newsletter. If you are a regular reader of the blog then you will be pretty much up to date.

If you know someone who is interested in or has a burden for France… feel free to print it for them or forward them the link. It will give a good snapshot of the past couple of months.

Click here to read the newsletters:

in English
en Français

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Outreach Efforts

For those who haven’t seen it yet, we launched this 2:48-min video on Monday. The 3-fold goal:

1. Offer 3 verses to encourage people in uncertain times.
2. Direct them toward our Facebook and web pages.
3. Offer them a Home Bible Study

In the next 2-3 weeks we’ll distribute 2,500 cards in an attempt to cast the net wide. Please join us in prayer for this undertaking… souls are in the balance.

(Note video is in French)

 

AIMKid bloggers…

(*unapologetic commercial alert*)

Soph and Dominic each have a blog and are “occasional bloggers” – they don’t blog often, but when they do, it’ll give you a window on the missions world from a kid’s perspective.

Click the images to check ’em out & SUBSCRIBE
(You’ll get an email each time they publish)

sophlong.wordpress.com, Sophi Long, AIMKid, MK, France, Châtellerault, Third Culture Kiddomalong.wordpress.com, domalong, Dominic Long, AIMKid, MK, France, Châtellerault, Third Culture Kid

In General…

Aside from all that good stuff… it’s been a productive week, albeit fairly heavy on administrative tasks:

  1. December’s Pentecostal Messenger is off to print.
  2. Partner newsletter  &  monthly reports to our sending organization are done.
  3. Year-end church reports for the French Federation are mostly done
  4. Lawn mowed (hopefully for the last time), cleaned out the church garden & planted pansies for the winter (neat to have winter colour in the garden).
  5. We spent Monday evening as guests at our landlord’s home… what a treat, the fire was roaring in the fireplace when we arrived!
  6. Got to visit with a dear shut-in saint from our church.

…looks busy when you sit down & list it, but it’s just a mix of “life” and “ministry”… not unlike you. You balance work, family and involvement in between… God bless & strengthen you as you do!  The only difference is, you allow us to do it in France and help grow the church while we’re here. Thank you.

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Get-Away!

As many of you read this, I’ll be at Bible School in Melun. I head home tonight for service tomorrow and then we’ll hit the highway for a few days of rest & relaxation.

Kids in French schools had a 2-week break in late October and will get another at Christmas. Our AIMkids haven’t had that luxury; along with Liz, they are really looking forward to a week off before return & hit the road running in the lead-up to Christmas.

Note: We’ll be hosting a special guest this Christmas… details to follow)

One more glimpse at Christmas preparations here…

marché de noël, Tours, Christmas Market, Christmas

Christmas Market in Tours

 

 

Mortified

October 17, 2015 By in Blog, Events Tags: , , 5 Comments

I will refrain from giving too many details, but suffice it to say that it’s been a long time since I’d been mortified. I got reacquainted with the feeling earlier this week, but happier things first…

Festival du Chocolat

Festival de Chocolat, Chocolate Festival, Châtellerault, NougatSunday afternoon we attended a local chocolate festival.

The highlight of which for Timo was getting to work with a chocolatier and make his own chocolate creation… for only 5€. He chose his base (milk chocolate) as well as a number of decorative garnishes (teddy bear, race car, leaves & lady bugs) and cemented them to the base using chocolate. It went into the fridge to firm up a bit and we got to take it home when we’d finished making the rounds.

The second photo shows great big rounds of home-made nougat. Oh. My!

Liz, too, got a little spoiled because we managed to find a few cheeses and an olive merchant as well.

The Hedge

Hedge Trimmer, Chain Saw, Hard work, Hedge, Châtellerault, UPC, EPU, Église Pentecôtiste UnieWell, I promised it to you a little while back, and here it is:  a “before & after” pic of the hedge at church. It had gotten out of control long ago and being along the front road, really needed to be done.

Together with 2 other men, 2 chain saws, several afternoons worth of work and a couple of trips to the hardware store to sharpen the chains… we managed to tame it. The “before” pic shows a good 25′ (8,5m) of tree height with a span of roughly 11′ (3,5m).  The “after” pic shows the hedge trimmed down to the same height as the chain-link fence.

What a HUGE job!  Thankful to the Lord for his protection while getting this done!

Special Visit

home-made pizza, gramma, grandma, grandmother, nonna

This week we also had two very special visitors as Liz’s parents arrived from Belgium.

Although we’d seen them twice since coming (albeit for very short visits each time) this would be the longest visit not to mention their first time in our neck of the woods.

They got the guest room meaning that Sophie bunked out with the boys (you can see a picture of what the kids’ room looked like) and among other activities & time spent together… Timo learned how to make home-made pizza with his Nonna (grandmother in Italian).

Very good to have them with us!

Last night we had a good evening with our neighbours, who came over for tea and dessert. These are the neighbours that we’ve connected particularly well with.

Mortified?

So with all the positives… why on earth entitle this post “Mortified”?  Because of the way the week began.

We’d been having plumbing issues last week which led to the garage being partially flooded, twice, and it wasn’t rain-water.  The pipe which carried away all  used water had become plugged meaning that nothing was going through… not water from the bath tub, the washing machine, the sinks or…. the washrooms.

God bless the plumber who came to resolve the situation. He checked the drain (through an access point in the lawn). As he he began unscrewing the lid, all that had been backed up began to overflow the access point… at least 15 gallons worth.

Someone needs to invent pipes that don’t clog… that’s all I’ll say. Once again, God bless that plumber!

Thanksgiving

Finally… Canadian Thanksgiving was last weekend so we’re taking advantage of Nonno & Nonna’s visit to have a Thanksgiving dinner together later today. We couldn’t find a Turkey (they’re really only somewhat common here at Christmas) so we’re going to have chicken in stead.

Interesting fact: When you buy poultry at a local market (whether duck, chicken, quail, etc.) it’s not uncommon for it to be “intact”: meaning that the head and feet are still attached… so you’ll know you’re getting the real thing. It takes some getting used to, and I’ll spare you the picture. You’re welcome. 🙂

Pray

If you could pray for ONE thing this week, it would be for our youth. There are a couple of them that are asking million-dollar questions about God and tomorrow, Bro. Kabasele will be speaking to them on the oneness of God. Pray for wisdom and understanding among our youth!

Thank you for visiting, God bless you today!

Chainsaws & Crême Brulée

October 3, 2015 By in Blog Tags: , Leave a comment

Those who know me well will understand what an accomplishment it is for me to use a chainsaw… I’m not exactly the “chain-saw type”, more on that below…

Sunday

École du dimanche, Sunday School, birthday, EPU Châtellerault, United Pentecostal Church, Châtellerault

Once monthly, we have our Sunday School kids sing or present a little something before leaving service for their classes. Last Sunday was the day (Sophie’s was playing keyboard)! As you can see, they’re not numerous but they make up for it by asking questions beyond their age. In fact, Sunday School ran long because there was engaged discussion about salvation and growing in God.

After service and over lunch we celebrated Bro. Andy’s birthday which had been earlier in the week. He is our Bible school student and he also presents a short devotional message in service each Sunday morning. Thank the Lord for quality young people.

Pray: Tomorrow, Andy is hosting a Bible study in Tours (1hr away) for fellow university students. It will be held in the same hotel conference room where the Lord made his call clear to me in 2012 (incidently, Andy’s sister was the student present that day in 2012). Pray for this endeavour.

Chainsaws…

hedge

Surrounding about half of the church property is a tree line of evergreens that at one point were merely a hedge. Typically these types of trees are maintained at a height of roughly 8-10′ (2.5 – 3.5m) but as near as we can tell, this hedge was last trimmed 12-15 years ago.

Beginning in July, a couple of friends helped us bring down the bulk of the overgrowth (everything above 12′ tall) on the portion of the “hedge” that borders the road. Once on the ground however, there was still a LOT of cleanup required.  While I wasn’t about to bring down tree-tops, I figured that I could surely de-limb the trunks and section the remaining logs & branches… slowly but surely. I spent about three afternoons doing that this week. Check back in the coming weeks for a “before & after” pic… once final shaping is completely finished. My dad would be proud… scared, but proud!  🙂

Bible Study & Bonfire

bonfire, campfire, church fellowship, Châtellerault, roasting marshmallowsSince we now had an abundance of 4′ logs, branches & brush, we thought it’d be fun to have our midweek service by the fire and make it a time of extended fellowship as well.

Our worship was “unplugged” as Dominic, on his guitar, was the band. Liz led worship and I spoke on the effect of trials in our life; like fire, it can either consume or purify us. I figured the object lesson would be unmistakable.

Evenings here are getting down to 11-15 degrees so it was still relatively comfortable fireside. It’ll undoubtedly be our last though. Fall is in the air!

Counsel & Practice

coffee, dessert, la coupole, Châtellerault, date nightThursday night we spent the evening counseling a young couple who were in need of  a nudge in the right direction. It was a positive time and opens the door a little bit wider for the Lord to work in their life. Following our time with them, we stopped by a local restaurant to put into practice some of what we’d advised them to do… take time together.

Liz had the “café gourmand” (2 types of mousse and two cookies with coffee) while I opted for my dessert of choice, crême brulée, accompanied by a Lavazza.

I’m thankful for a godly wife and time alone together!

Website Updates

Sidebar Photo imgIf you’re familiar with the front page of AIMLong.ca you’ll note the absence of the mini-gallery in the sidebar and the addition of the Photos image. Clicking on that photo (whether here or on the home page) will take you to an updated photo gallery of our time here.

Thanks for your visit again today… God bless your day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dogs, Poultry & Exploration

September 5, 2015 By in Blog Tags: , 1 Comment

What can I tell you about this week that you don’t already know?  Let me begin by saying that it was both mundane and extraordinary at the same time.

Bible School Housekeeping

From a work perspective, this week consisted primarily of Bible School housekeeping. After last week’s full week of teaching, there was a fair bit of marking and grade calculation to be done. I also finished marking & grading the last straggling tests & papers from the Spring session as well. It feels very good to have this off of my plate.  (You know that feeling you get when you look at that “one particular pile”!!).

It was done just in time too. The 2015-2016 Bible School year begins next Saturday.

La Rentrée

The North-American term “Back-to-School” is translated as simply “la rentrée” (the coming back). It refers not only to the return to school, but also to the return from summer holidays and the recommencement of clubs or organizations that have taken a break for the summer.   Several folks who have been away on summer vacation are beginning to make their way back to church as well… vive la rentrée!

Replacing Jayc

Chicken Coop, Dutch Bantams, Poulailler Nevada, Gamm Vert, Rooster, HenRemember back in July when we were excited to welcome a Beagle pup, named Jayc, to the family. Well… within 24h, Jayc was paralyzed in the hind quarters. The breeder came & got him, took him to the vet and that was pretty much the end as neither cause nor cure could be found. The breeder replaced him with a second pup and after 5-6 days, again, signs of severe illness. The breeder came back and took him to the vet as well… same result. In the end, this well established breeder’s kennel had been hit with a bad virus and lost 47 dogs.  We weren’t ready for a “round 3”, sooooo…..

This week we welcomed a pair of Dutch Bantam chickens into the family (we’ve had small animals before – chickens, quail, rabbits & homing pigeons – so we were in familiar territory!).  Meet “Jayc“ (remembering our beagle pups) and “Ginger“ (*think… “Chicken Run”, the movie*). Sophie is our “Chicken-ista” and handles them like a pro!

Thursday we put their pen together and now can enjoy their pecking, scratching and clucking all day long (along with the occasional crow).

Exploration

Île Cognet, Châtellerault, Pont Henri IV, La Vienne,On Thursday, Liz spent a few hours at the church with one of our ladies who regularly cleans the building. Afterwards this sister came to the house and joined us for supper.

The kids had been wanting to visit l’île Cognet, a small island in the middle of the Vienne River that flows through downtown Châtellerault. It can’t be visited year-round, but during the summer there is a bridge facilitating access. It turns out that our sister from church had never visited the island either, although she’s lived here many years. Following supper, rather than diving straightway into dessert, we opted for a stroll to discover this quiet haven of virtual wilderness right downtown.

The kids enjoyed a wild round of hide-and-seek  and it allowed views of the Henri IV bridge than we’d not previously seen.

Prayer

Could I ask for your prayer support in the following 3 ways?

  • I’ve had conversations with a few church members that reveal heavy needs. Pray for the Lord’s wisdom in working through situations with them.
  • The boys will begin school this week and Sophie a little later. Pray for strength for Liz and the kids.
  • My residency application process – although it should be straightforward there are still a few hoops to jump through before October 10th.

Thank you for your support… It is an incredible feeling to know you’re in the Lord’s will for your life! We are… and you are part of that!

#PrayForFrance

No more pencils, no more books

June 13, 2015 By in AIMKids Missionary Moments, Blog Tags: , Leave a comment

Remember the little rhyme that we’d chant on the last day of school?
“No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks…”

I don’t mean to reflect poorly on you teachers among us (I’m one myself) but if my kids knew this song, they’d pretty much be singing it this week (maybe I’ll teach them).

School’s out!

#AIMKids, MK, MIssionary Kids, La Roche-Posay

These pictures were taken last Sunday afternoon in La Roche-Posay, a neighbouring village, for a walk, however it could also sum up Sophie & Dominic’s reaction to finishing up classes: Carefree!

The back-story is that I was trying to get a nice picture of the boys, the sun behind them as we walked along the Creuse river. Sophie, however, decided that she wanted to photobomb the boys’ shot… so in she comes! Fair enough… but I’ll use the shots just the same!  🙂

La Roche-Posay… does the name sound familiar to those of you reading this in Canada? If you shop at Shopper’s Drug Mart, it should ring a bell… it’s a line of skin care products.

This little village in France, well known for it’s dermatological laboratory, has been a wellness center for years. In fact there’s even a fountain in the middle of town where folks will stop to fill water bottles as they drive through, because the water is said to have  “miraculous” properties.

As to School being out… Sophie and Dominic have officially finished classes and have only a couple of tests to complete while Timo has about another week of classes to go. The important thing is… he’s getting there.

Summer School?

So what happens to our kids during the summer?  Even though school’s out, they’ll work mornings three days a week – that’s our typical way of homeschooling: It keeps them in the rhythm a little bit and stays off the “I’m bored” comments that often come. Oh it’ll be more relaxed than during the year… but there’ll still be some work to do.  The focus:  Improving their French

 Home Team

AIMKids, MK, Missionary Kids, Youth Group

The kids had a chance to connect with their “home team” this week and it would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that in the lead-up, they were vibrating with excitement.

Wednesday night is youth group back home so this week, they skyped into the meeting. Not only did they get to joke & jabber with friends, they stuck around for worship and the Bible study as well.

ahhhh technology!

This was a pretty big deal for our kids… Thank you to youth pastor Nick Graham for making this happen!

Any of you Youth or Sunday School staff that have adopted our kids on as prayer projects: if you’d like to connect via Skype or FaceTime – for a Q&A session, or to pray with them… it’s a great way to connect your kids / youth to missions, we’d love to discuss the possibility. Leave a comment below and we can set it up.

Today & this week

Today I’m teaching at Bible School up in Melun. We’re almost at the end of that for this semester. There is only one more teaching day after today and that will happen on the 27th.

This week we will head out to accompany the #AYCFrance team that will arrive from all around the USA. We’ll head up to the Paris area on Thursday, have time together as a family on Friday and then begin our tour with the group on Saturday morning.

Still some last minute things to prepare, but it’s gonna be great for the kids to get to hang with other youth!  They’re doing great in a number of ways, but they do miss other young people.  Keep praying for them!

Good news…

Poitiers, Titre de Séjour

I finished my residency paperwork this week.  Liz & I drove 30km to Poitiers, the regional capital where all such administrative things are handled, and afterward, enjoyed a coffee & croissant on the main square… it was like a rare date.  (No worries… we eventually DID go back for the kids!)

Thanks

…for checking in on us again this week. Let what you read inform your prayers for us. We value them greatly and by them you contribute to the work of God here.

 

Cheeseburger Chips & Mustard Pickles

February 28, 2015 By in Blog, Process Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Lays Chips, Cheeseburger, Mustard Pickles

A week or so ago I posted a pic on Facebook that got a lot of response… did you see it?  It was the pic of cow tongue … something that is readily available in grocery stores here and is considered a delicacy by many.

Don’t worry… we left it there! However we did discover two flavours of Lays potato chips that have our mouth watering whenever we pick up a bag… Cheeseburger and Mustard Pickles.

It’s almost creepy how much they taste like cheeseburgers!
(or maybe it’s just that we’re in withdrawal!?)

Change

Have you ever found that, amidst change, there is that element of change that you anticipate and the element of change that kind of catches you a bit off guard?  It’s pretty normal in all situations of change and we’ve experienced it.

  • Groceries – you know how, in your local grocery store, you can just “pop in” and get something really quickly?  Doesn’t happen here. We’re still learning the layout of the stores that we go to most often, the brand names and which products are the closest equivalent to home.
  • Car-space – 4 words…. Narrow roads, fast drivers.  carBack when the French all drove cars like this… no problem, but as cars grew and schedules got tighter… driving became a bit more intimidating… (sometime I’ll post a pic of a parking lot I regularly use)… it’s a little like holding your breath every time you pass someone. (Now that I look at it… THIS car could be OUR car’s great grandfather!)
  • Personal space – The house that we’re living in has an open concept so, apart from the bedrooms and washrooms we all pretty much live in the same space – homeschool, meal prep, working, reading & thinking….. er…. uh…. sometimes thinking is a problem.   🙂

(This is only a temporary thing and will change at the end of the month when we move into the Brochus home)

Change… they call it change for a reason….  It can take you off guard and try your patience by times – seriously – but can I tell you the payoff?

Two immediate Payoffs

#AIMKids, AIMKids

  • Seeing the kids involved in ministry… incredible training… serving as a family.
  • Knowing, beyond any shadow of doubt, that we are in the center of God’s will.

There will be other payoffs with time… but we’ve seen these already.

Change in Frequency

Just want to give you a heads-up that going forward I’m only going to publish once per week (each Saturday morning).  We don’t have internet at home which makes it difficult to publish 2 posts per week. We typically have to head over to the public library or to a local coffee shop in order to have access and by then, there’s usually a lot to catch up on!

Installation Service

Tomorrow will be our installation service as interim pastor of the work, during the Brochu’s absence.  We appreciate your prayers. We’ve been involved in church for a very long time and have no shortage of experience, but still, we’ve never been the one to bear the lion’s share of responsibility – spiritually or materially… first time pastors, can I get an amen?  

Finally…

Here are a couple more pics of our city. Next Saturday I’ll share pics of something a little less beautiful (the kind of creepy yellow hand) as well as some pics of the service tomorrow.

Have a great day all and for those of you back home… Bon Courage! with all the snow you’ve been getting.  I can’t even imagine!

You all are precious and God is GREAT!Châtellerault, Centre-ville, Vienne (86), Place Émile Zola

Family Time… relaxing in Florida

June 21, 2014 By in Blog, Places Tags: , , Leave a comment

The impetus of our roadtrip, in May, was a week-long family vacation in Florida. We managed, on either side of that week, to incorporate time with pastor-friends and their churches, however these days were the raison-d’être of our time away.

Down-Time

As Assistant to the Pastor of a very active church with responsibilities for the design, publication and distribution of a 12-page monthly magazine for our district and as dad to a homeschooling family where Liz does an amazing job… we tend to lead a very busy lifestyle.  I can’t even begin to say how nice it was to unplug from email, voicemail, web-technology, etc. for a couple of weeks. Oh I know that we never really escape it totally, but we can put a much greater distance between it and ourselves.

Unlike previous visits to Florida, where we’d visited various Disney parks or other such attractions, this time we made a point to not move from our home-base (it can be tough to resist the temptation “go and do”, but we’d set the expectation with our kids, from the outset, that this would be a “poolside” vacation… no parks, and that did the trick).    map_FL

Staying “Busy”

The only kind of busy that we were looking for, during our time in Florida, was… well… none!

The kids were content to spend hours at a time in the pool – chasing, dunking, splashing, stalking & wrestling with each other and the various pool-toys that were available. While they did this, Liz & I did a fair bit of reading and I included some journaling and blog-maintenance as well. We only left home-base twice.

cypressgroveThe first time we left was to go to church, Sunday morning, at Cypress Grove Fellowship, located just 20 minutes or so from our hotel and pastored by Rev. Mark Barrick. We really enjoyed service and were very warmly welcomed by church members. Thank you Cypress Grove, for making us feel so welcomed.

The second time we left home-base was, based on the recommendation of one of the folks at church, to go visit Playa-Linda (spanish for “beautiful beach), part of the Canaveral National Seashore…. THAT was beautiful!

Huge waves of salty water crashed onto the fine sand and underwater sand-bars, carrying you along and causing you to either stumble or tumble ‘neath their power.  I’m sure that before the abundance of theme parks and attractions the beaches would’ve been crowded, but they were virtually empty… two surfers, a handful of fisherman strewn along the kilometers of pristine beach coast. This was probably one of the most fun days we spent in Florida.

*thankful for family fun*
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Open Invitation to a GREAT church

If you live in, or are visiting the Orlando area, you will find a great church in Cypress Grove Fellowship. They are located at 745 Holden Ave., Orlando FL  and can be reached at (407) 857-5866 (see link to their website, below).

Thanks for following our adventure, Next stop… Pensacola.

One last note…

Today we are having our final FX Meeting (France X-travaganza) in preparation for our upcoming 10-day mission tour to France (beginning June 30th).  We will be working on music and preparing for our final fund-raiser… Paris by Night, a 3-course sit-down dinner and silent auction where the choice of Entrées will be Boeuf Bourgignon or Seafood Alfredo.

…So be watching for a few extra posts around that time as I will be sharing some of what the team will be involved in on a day-to-day basis.

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Roadtrip through the USA

June 7, 2014 By in Blog, Places, Process Tags: , , Leave a comment

IMG_8023May was an incredible month!

It began at the Atlantic District Conference, in Moncton, NB.  The day after its conclusion, however, we set off for a 3.5 week trek through the United States which would take us some 9,800 kilometres (over 5,000 miles).

As we prepared to cross the border, the sign said it all: “If you want to stay in Canada… turn left”, otherwise… “straight ahead for adventure.” We chose adventure!

The Where:

We had been planning this family trip to Florida for some time. In the past, we’d done a couple of parks… Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Legoland (in Winter Haven on the old Cypress Gardens location), but this time there would be no parks: relaxation and economical were to be the names of the game – no fighting the crowds and no bankrupting the wallet. The spot where we stayed had a number of activities for the kids / family and that would suffice. In fact, the only time we left the property was (a) to go to church on Sunday and (b) to visit the Canaveral National Seashore one day.

In total, the trip would take us to New Haven Connecticut, Montgomery Alabama, Orlando Florida, Dallas Texas and St. Louis Missouri… with a couple of wonderful (if unplanned) stops along the way.

The How:

In the days when my wife worked in the airline industry, we would’ve flown but since that was no long the case, 4 wheels replaced 2 wings and the idea of a grand road-trip was born.  Since we’d not be limited by rental car pick-up or drop-off locations, MapDrawwe decided to combine pleasure with more pleasure and connect with friends along the way. The posts over the next couple of weeks will detail some of the highlights of that trip.

What I can do for now is give you an overview of the trip using the map below (created using Map Draw, from iTunes’ App Store).

map

The Who:

Liz & I and our kids got to know each other in a whole new way over the past few weeks!  Sure we’re family… but this was the first time ever that we’d spent three and a half weeks living from car to hotel room to suitcase. It was DEF-initely a new experience.

I’ve got to say, though, that everyone survived very well. Liz had prepared school material for the kids and they spent a great deal of our driving time doing school work: the older two with their ABeka DVD curriculum and Timo with diligent help from mom. Not only did it keep them from getting bored (and getting on each other’s nerves) but it also kept them on track to finish their school year within the same time frame as their friends.

Drive Down Memory Lane

I can’t say that I was conscious of this at the time, but perhaps part of the impetus of this grand adventure had something to do with such an adventure in my own childhood.

I was just a little younger than my daughter when my mom, my dad, my brother and I made a similar road trip, except that we drove across Canada and returned through the norther USA, tenting when there were no family members or friends to stay with.  It was on that trip that I rode horseback for the first time, climbed Banff’s Sulfur Mountain, saw Victoria and Mt. Rushmore… reading 99-cent comic books in the back seat and trying to ensure my brother stayed on “his side of the line” (that separated us in the back seat).

I daresay that we have just completed building a significant memory lane for our own kids… You’ll hear more about it in coming posts.

Have you…?

May 17, 2014 By in Events, People Tags: , , Leave a comment

 Those two words, which begin a question, can be followed by any number of words… making for a variety of questions: “Have you…

  • …made your bed?”
  • …taken out the trash?”
  • …finished your homework?”
  • …packed your suitcase?”
  • etc.

…all of which can produce a variety of emotional reactions from anxiety to anticipation to annoyance… depending on the circumstance and the tone of voice.

Today, however, I heard it completed in the following manner…

…read your Bible yet today?

Liz was asking the last of the kids to rise from their car-weary slumber… “Have you read your Bible yet?”

We have just come through Mothers’ Day and in a way, this post is really a tribute to the mother in our family… my wife.

Preparing your kids for life, in general, is difficult enough, let alone preparing them to grow up with a strong sense of who they are … as individuals and as Christians. Then factor into that, as well, a trans-Atlantic move. It takes discipline and dedication.

The Context

Years ago, before our oldest was even six, we made the decision to enter the world of home-schooling, and we continued with each of the other children as they came along. As time went on and the level of involvement increased, Liz decided that it was of greater value for her to leave her full-time job of sixteen years rather than continue working and discontinue homeschooling the kids. I honor her for making this difficult choice.

Through our time as a homeschooling family, one of the things that was always included in the day’s work was devotions… (time spent in God’s word and in prayer). It has taken on various forms over the years… from picture books of Bible stories to going through the Exploring God’s Word home Bible study, to reading and discussing passages together.

The Team

Liz’s dedication at home, combined with great Sunday School teachers at MissionPoint who encourage and reward Bible reading & memory work, have built into our kids the habit of Bible reading.

A Healthy Habit

IMG_7137It never ceases to amaze me when I walk by a bedroom and look in to see one or another of my kids lying in bed reading the Bible, either before going to bed or before starting the day. Many times, with the two older kids, this happens without prompting from Liz or I (of course, for the youngest, a little more prodding is required, but even when prodded, it typically happens without protest or procrastination).

Without anchoring our faith in the words of scripture we can easily fall into simply living in a more or less Christian culture as opposed to living by Christian conviction. Christian culture is, of course, not a bad thing… but it is not always enough to keep you rooted in tough times of conflict, controversy or confusion.

Our Family’s Example

have-you1As a “post-mothers’-day-tribute”… my hat is off to my wife, Liz. Not only does she model this herself, but she consistently fosters and encourages this habit in our kids.

“Have you read your Bible yet today?”

…one of the most incredible things a Christian man can hear his wife say to their kids.

Happy (belated) Mother’s Day…
You’re the BEST!

 

 

 

 

Leanin’ into the Curve

February 19, 2014 By in Blog, Process Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Man! I’m so proud of my kids!

Curve in the Road

Lord willing, in less than a year, our kids will be leaving behind, for the first time ever, everything that is most familiar… for the first time: Their friends, their church, their neighourhood, and the nearby Sobeys, Tim Horton’s and Dairy Queen where we’re comfortable with them walking unaccompanied. They haven’t got a clue, but they’re totally leaning into the curve! Continue reading →