To catch up we need to go way back to November. It started, of course, with getting settled in our new home, which is more of a challenge than it might seem, because everything takes too long until you get things organized. A simple office task had to begin with finding the envelopes, or setting up the computer, etc. Not surprisingly, the kitchen was the first part of the house to get set up. And we were very blessed by the full pantry that was stocked for us by the good folks at Charlemont. A few convenient meals came in real handy.
We’ve had a bit of adjusting to do regarding surroundings and physical landscape, coming from Deep River, which is a community nestled in the trees, with a beautiful view of the Laurentian Mountains across the Ottawa River, to wide open fields in Southwestern Ontario. When Jonathan woke up on our first morning here he looked out the back window at a farmer’s field. His first words were, “This is a highly unusual backyard!” The boys thought we had moved to the prairies, and have missed having woods to make a fort in, and nearby neighbours. But they’ve enjoyed some activities with a local Cub Scouts group, where they’ve reconnected with some friends from Family Camp. And we’re all enjoying living closer to part of Dean’s family. And the wide open fields give us a beautiful view of the sunset.
Our first speaking engagement after moving south and west, was back east. Pine Grove Free Methodist Church at Seeley’s Bay (north of Kingston), was very welcoming and supportive. We’ve already heard from them that they plan to sponsor us as a church, which is very good news. It was also nice to finally meet the congregation (and some old acquaintances), after having enjoyed the friendship and leadership of Pastor Jack Bradley for so many years. On our way there we had the privilege of staying with our good friends, Sean, Susan, and Rebecca Sullivan (Michael was away at University). They recently moved from Deep River to Bowmanville. At a time of such transition, it was nice to enjoy the hospitality of old friends.
We’ve been continually amazed at how well God has taken care of us. One of our “needs” right now is Internet. We have a lot of correspondence that needs to happen right now, for everything from setting up speaking engagements to getting questions answered re: preparations for Malawi, what to bring, etc., plus blogging, and just staying in touch. So, imagine how blessed we felt when the Charlemont church told us we could use the church’s WiFi, which can also be accessed from the parsonage right next door. The church gave us the password, and Dean was even allowed to use Pastor Paul’s computer or the church’s laptop so that Steffi’s laptop is free for a myriad of other uses (it’s amazing what a homeschool mom can find on the internet!). Suffice it to say that this has been very helpful to us.
It was two weeks into November when we finally got to attend at Charlemont to personally say thank you to the whole congregation for welcoming us into their parsonage. And it was great to reconnect with people that we hadn’t seen for several years.
Once the moving dust settled, it was time to begin catching up on office work that had been neglected. Sending thank you notes that we’d been forced to set aside became top priority, along with filling the calendar with more speaking opportunities. We owe a big thank you to churches who have invited us to speak – some in the future, and some on short notice.
Two such churches were Vennachar and Mississippi. Less than three weeks after receiving their invitation, we found ourselves travelling to cottage country and enjoying the fellowship of these two delightful rural churches. Our whole family enjoyed seeing pine trees again, we all made many new friends, and felt very blessed by the generosity of God’s people. To cap off a wonderful weekend, the boys were very excited to see snow when we woke up on Monday morning. So, before pulling out of Vennachar, we took a little walk in the snow and collected some Christmas greens. And then, on our way home, we all enjoyed seeing the cute, weird, and wonderful collection of animals at the Peterborough Zoo. It was a nice way to end November.
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