An "Early" Celebration - Father's Day

A couple of weeks ago, Carl and I were having a conversation and suddenly he blurted out, "I know what I'm getting you for Mother's Day!".  So I asked him what he'd like for Father's Day, all the while growing this lovely idea in my head.  "Well, it would be kind of nice to have a golf lesson or something because it's been about 4 or 5 years since I've played regularly.  Gosh, I miss golf.....Anyways, then that way I can get good habits before I create poor ones.  But golf lessons in time for Father's Day (June) might be a bit late.  Life might be a little crazy.  So maybe...."  And that's when I tuned out because I had already made up my mind what I was planning to do.

On the 19th of March is Father's Day in Bolivia and I decided after that conversation that we would celebrate Carl on the Bolivian holiday instead of the Canadian.

So on the 18th when we came home from church Carl asked me, "Shall we take something out of the freezer for lunch?".  "Nope," I replied.  We took him inside and presented him with a card for golf lessons.  Kezia and Joel had been in on the idea with me, but we didn't tell Asha because she can only hold a secret for 17 seconds.  The kids were beaming because Carl had no idea.  He was so blown away that he started to cry and then we knew it was an awesome surprise.

After that, we piled into the van and drove to the city for an amazing lunch.  We ate and ate and ate and then went and did a bit of shopping and browsing just for fun.

Oh, I was just so pleased with ourselves that we could celebrate Carl and surprise him at the same time.  He is just an amazing Dad and with all the craziness this year, he has been a shining example of faith, patience, and trust.  Our kids have a wonderful example and role model.  We love you Carl!!

What He Said

At group piano lesson, Joel takes the highlighter and makes three tiny dots on his palm.

He leans over and says to me,

"Mom, this is how you'll know it's the real me in case someone tries to clone me".

The House Story

So here's the story of our house hunting journey.

It's been a long time in the making, but without jobs, it was just a dream until a few weeks ago.   I admit, I've been trolling the MLS listings for a very long time and falling in love with some houses only to see they were sold the next week.  

I had many conversations with God, "Hey, is this the one?  Because I really like this and this and this about it.  Anytime God, I'm ready!".  

And then a few weeks later....."Okay, getting a little restless.  I know I was a bit demanding about what I liked, so I have realized that maybe we can't have this and this and this.  So I'll just settle for this and this".

Then a few months later...."I'm getting weary with all of this unknown and waiting.  Okay, here's my list of wants thrown out the window.  I know you will provide but please I don't want to live with this and this".

Two weeks later...."Okay, I live with this and this if that's what you have for us".

We finally were able to go to the bank and we were pre-approved, which was awesome and scary all at the same time.  Off we went, trusting God had the house for us.

A real estate agent showed us a number of houses over a weekend, where we hardly saw our kids.  Thanks to all the grandmas and grandpas and aunties and uncles and cousins that babysat for us while we were gone.  I think we saw 8 houses and some clearly were not for us.  We also stumbled upon a private sale and thought we'd check it out. 

After seeing all the houses, we were left with 2 possibilities.  One that was so utterly practical and everything we needed but lacked that feeling of home.  The other was the private sale house that immediately stirred something in Carl and I.  We were left that weekend with a hard choice.  Do we make an offer?  On which one?

We decided not to make an offer on the uber practical one and looking back were so thankful.  It sold so far above the asking price because of the bidding war there would have been no way that we could have gotten it.  We would have entered into thinking that could be our house, only to have our hopes dashed.  How do people handle that?  

We slept on the idea of making an offer on the private house.  The next morning we knew.  Yes, we'd make an offer.  When we called our bank, our loans officer was out until the next day, so we would have to wait.  I tried to remain calm and trusting without getting so worked up in an impatient flurry.

Over the next few days we took care of paperwork and then received the response from the seller....YES, they would accept our offer.  Hallelujah!  With a house assessment done and a glowing report (whew! we didn't get sunk into a lemon of a house), everything was complete.  All there is to do is wait for the keys.

Seriously, God had this house for us.  It was for sale for months in a great neighbourhood.  Why didn't it sell?  There's nothing wrong with it except that it's old - and full of amazing character that maybe not everyone appreciates.  How is it possible that we could purchase the house for exactly how much we could afford?  How is it possible to buy a house now without a crazy bidding war?

All because of Him.

Through this process I learned to let go of my demands.  I wanted a character home, but I told God that I would be fine living in something cookie-cutter ish.  I wanted a multi-leveled home, but finally resigned to the notion that bungalows are actually quite good homes.  I wanted to live in a central location, but figured that if we lived in the suburbs that it might be more practical.  I laid those things down over the last few months.  And then what does God give us?  Exactly what I had let go of.  

We're excited about finally settling in our own place.  It's been 5 years of packing, sorting, and living in someone's place with only a few of our things.  It's time to move on from a transitional life.  We're looking forward to the possibilities of connecting with our neighbours and not having to leave 10 months later.  The chance to be intentional, the chance to build relationships, a place to put down some roots is exciting for us.  And so for that, I'm thankful.  

I anticipate that Key Day will be a very emotional one....

Whew! It's Friday

I have felt pretty tired these days, but not a run-down kind of tired that leaves me cranky, but the tired where you've done a lot of worthwhile things and can put up your sore legs at the end of the day and be proud.  Okay, so what's been on our agenda....

At church they had a Ladies Day where you could bring whatever you wanted to do and be with other women.  It wasn't work at all, but a much needed respite from all the busy lately.  I brought my quilting stuff and because another gal loaned me her cutter and mat, I cut about 10 metres of fabric in the day without having a wrecked hand at the end.  We had a very tasty meal and I had such a meaningful conversation with another lady about her adoption story.  Later, I ended up getting invited to another gal's house to play games that evening.  I was just tickled.  We played Majong with a real set from China.  Now that was a fun time.  Note to self:  After learning German, must learn Chinese.

My marks are done and I think I got everything in those envelopes.  Such a bog of paperwork but there's something satisfying in stuffing those pretty envelopes.  And I must say, figuring out the spreadsheet to calculate the rows and rows and rows and rows of numbers for my marks was a bit of challenge, but I'm glad I did it.  Long gone are the days of sitting there with a calculator and scribbles of columns of numbers.  And then the swears under your breath when you realized you punched in the wrong number and have to start again.

It was Pi day on Wednesday (get it, 3rd month, 14th day) so a last minute idea came to me to bake 45 little apple pie tarts to take to my students since we have been calculating the surface area of circles.  Joel, Kezia, and Asha thought it was just the coolest thing, and you should have seen the look on the faces of the kids at school.  Thirteen isn't too old for treats (or even stickers on tests) so it was worth the crazy baking.

The snow is gone and what is in its place is mud and puddles and more mud.  On Wednesday we went for a walk to pick up Kezia from her friends' house and 10 minutes of unsupervised play made for 5 out of the 6 kids covered in mud.  Sigh....the whir of the washing machine will be forever the sound around here for the next while.

And now poor lil' Elena has a nasty cold. Rush, rush to get tests marked while she slept in.  Quick! Quick! squeeze in another story with Asha.  Go, go, go as fast as we can to the Dr.'s office to have E checked out.  Race, race, race to the sitter's house and Zoom! off to school to supervise my class at the curling rink.  Then zip! zip! back to school to have one last class before the end of the day.  Speed out of there to pick up the little girls and then CRASH because we're home......

And since it's Friday and Joel and Kezia's report cards were glowing, we leisurely walked to 7-11 and waited in line to get our slurpees and slowly walked home and sat on the step for as long as we wanted.  Oh, blessed Friday, I'm so glad you are here.

It's Ours

Because He Provided.

She Slays Me

Some of the things that our daughter says just crack me up.  Others make me cry.  Others horrify me, like this time.

I have to admit that curling isn't really my most favourite sport to watch.  I'd rather play it.  But I haven't watched nor played in years, so when the Scots Cup was on the t.v., I just rolled my eyes.  To be dramatic I groaned and complained when Carl was watching....but I stayed.  And then I started to watch....and then I couldn't not watch!  Asha came to watch too and was very fascinated by the whole rock sliding thing.  Joel and Kezia are super excited to try this uber Canadian sport, as long as they don't drop a rock and break their foot.

So as we were watching the Manitoba - Alberta match, it was getting pretty intense, on screen, but we were all holding it together, so I thought.  At the last throw, the rocks were so close they had to measure it and I could see Asha leaning forward, biting her nails.

As the verdict came that Alberta's rock was a half inch closer, Asha burst into tears and wailed, "But I so much wanted our girls to win!".  Where did that come from?  This was the first curling game she had ever watched, but somehow she became so emotionally involved.

She's a good passionate Canadian....remind me to be especially careful during hockey playoffs.

Challenge From A Book

As I said from a previous post, I have been reading some good books and on-line blogs that have really challenged me.  And I want to talk about one of them.

Dear sweet Ruth got me this book and I immediately ate it up.  Highlighter in hand, heart moved, eyes wet....

The Orphan Justice Center is an amazing organization that challenges us to take up the call of God to care for the widow and the orphan.  It's not a request, but a mandate and sometimes we just brush it off because it seems too difficult or might infringe on our lifestyle.  There are vulnerable children all over the world.  There are children who are being enslaved as child soldiers, trapped into prostitution, there are children who are fending for themselves because their parents have died of AIDS.  Some children have parents, but they don't have the means to give them the basics of life.

You may be thinking, "Oh those children live far, far away".  Well,  that's not the case at all.  In my town, there are children who don't have enough to eat.  There are about 500 children a month that receive food from the local food bank.  500.  That's the population of one of the elementary schools in town.  I know that I feel super guilty every time I walk past that empty donation bin for the food bank, so instead I'm going to commit to putting food in there each time when I go shopping.  Because guilt isn't helping anyone.

Children in the foster care system are also societal orphans that need care.  They may have parents, but the parents aren't able to care for them. I was a foster kid, taken in as a teenager because my forever parents took up the challenge to care for me.  In some cases, like my own, parental rights are terminated and then the child truly is an orphan.  To take me in, did it cost them?  Surely it did.  Was it worth it?  Yes.  Fostering is tough and not all of us are able to do it, but we can all support families that have chosen to foster.

What about families we have contact with whom are having a tough go of parenting?  How about walking alongside them by being a friend, a support, not turning a blind eye when we see them yet again screaming at their kids. What do we do when we see children in our community that are being neglected?

And then there's adoption.  Not everyone is called to adopt, but we know many people who have or are going through the process.  People may assume that adoption is about adopting babies from a foreign country, but it is a wider scope than that.  Some people adopt older children (they need forever families too!), some people have adopted through the foster care system here in Canada.  Some people have donated money to an adoption agency caring for children.  Did you know that there are about 78,000 children in Canada that are in the foster care system?  And that about 22,000 of them are available for adoption?  There are more than 22,000 churches in Canada.  So if every church in Canada took to heart about caring for one orphan, what impact could that make?

Some questions I ask myself....

How much does an extra box of cereal cost to drop in the food bank bin?
What would it cost our family to babysit one evening a month for a foster family that we know?
How tight would it make for our budget if we donated $25 to an adoption agency, just once?
Or what about donating organizations like The Orphan Justice Center?

I can do something, even if it seems like an insignificant nothing, it can be everything to a child.

Birthday Boy Pics

The guys had a wonderful time at Joel's party.  Carl took the boys out to his parents' farm, Edgework place, for fun in the snow and a hotdog roast.  The loved it!  Then they came back for ice cream and cake, watched Joel open his presents and poof! the afternoon was gone.

So who says you can't do outdoor parties for winter birthday children?