Back to school...

Did anyone ever tell you that you wouldn't miss school once you were done?
Every August when I see all of the back-to-school sales starting up and smell the new binders and crayons and loose-leaf when I walk through the stores, I have flashbacks to the days of picking out new pencil cases and specific colors of binders and fancy pens and then getting home and arguing with Alicia and Andrew about who actually picked out which color of whatever, I kinda start to miss those days.
Those were the days of coming home, even after soccer practice, and having supper on the table for you, not having to cook your own.
Those were the days of being able to give suggestions for supper whenever a craving came up, but not having to choose what to eat every night.
Those were the days of being able to stay up to all hours of the night because an afternoon nap wouldn't keep you away from anything important.
Those were the days of seeing friends every day and having lunch dates every twenty-four hours.
Those were the days of keeping your mind busy on a daily basis and not feeling it turn to mush...except for two months out of each year.
Those were the days of getting new clothes each fall and not having to pay for them myself.
Those were the days of being able to snack on whatever was in the refrigerator and not having to worry about who was going to restock it.
Those were the days of sleeping in until the bus was sitting in the driveway, and then running out and catching it anyway.
Those were the days of not having to worry about, or even think about, making conversation with adults because they were just around to talk to your parents anyway.
Those were the days of not having to do anything you didn't want to do...unless it was homework, or unless your mom volunteered you for it, or unless...

Sometimes I miss those days...there was so much less responsibility and, it seems, more freedom to do what I wanted.

But I can't think about those days without being extremely glad that I am where I am right now. I may not always enjoy everything about my life where I'm at, but I can look at my life and honestly say that God is working. He is teaching me that life isn't just about me. He is teaching me that I just need to keep going, even when I feel like certain aspects of my life are taking me nowhere. He is teaching me that His timing is best. He is teaching me to trust Him to provide for us, even when a situation looks uncertain. These are things that I could never have learned to the same extent if I'd never been challenged.

So while somedays I miss the coloring and playing of elementary school, the brain teasing of calculus in high school, and the support and community of Bible school, I know that I am where I am right now because God is growing me to be who he wants me to be. And I can live with that. And someday I'll look back at the days when Nathan and I were newly married, pastoring in our first church, still without kids, and I'll miss those days. So why not enjoy them now, and live them to the fullest, before we move on to the next stage of life, and realize we left something very valuable in the past, simply because we failed to notice.

Everyone loves pictures...

This was quite a common site.
One youth under a pile of three or four energetic and adoring kids.

Aren't the kids cute???

Check out the first rule on this list...we all got a laugh out of that one.

The kids loved to braid. They were very good at it too...
they never finished braiding a full head of hair though.

Even the box that holds the toys is fun to play with!

Chalo!

“Dana! Daaa-naaa!” This is a sound that has become very familiar to me this past week.

Last night, Nathan and I got back from Saskatoon, Sk with a group of eight of our youth. Dana Berrand was the person organizing the Chalo! experience for us. We got there last Friday and spent the week having our eyes opened to the adjustments that refugees and immigrants to Canada must make. Our goal was to be the hands and feet of Jesus to everyone we came in contact with.

Late Friday afternoon, we arrived in Saskatoon and met up with Dana. We moved into the apartment that we would be staying in and just settled in. In the evening we watched Hotel Rwanda. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, it is a very eye-opening movie depicting what happened in Rwanda in 1994. Later in the week, we had a chance to listen to a man speak to us who was a refugee from Rwanda. He has gone through such horrible things, but has such joy in life. He told us that while it was all going on, he had been only 500 meters from the hotel, but did not go there to safety because he didn’t know that they were taking refugees. What he saw must have been traumatizing, but God has worked in healing him, and he can talk about it with a smile on his face and praises God for protecting him and blessing him. It was awesome to listen to him, but definitely a challenge for each of us. He encouraged us to do good whenever we have the opportunity, and to never seek revenge. What an inspiring man.

On Saturday, we spent the morning helping the managers of the apartments we were staying in clean up the grounds and catch up on some maintenance. It was good to be an example of Christ by being willing to work for free and with joy. Saturday evening we went to a Spanish church in Saskatoon. Seven of our group of ten were involved in the music. The pastor spoke so outright and said exactly what he thought, even though he knew that people would disagree or be challenged by what he said. Afterward, we hung out and visited with some of the Spanish people. There was a low attendance that night, but it was still a very different atmosphere than what a lot of our youth were used to.

Sunday morning, we went to the MCC office and met with the Spanish church again. There, we helped them with their English. It was a lot of fun…the Spanish just have such a sense of humor (or at least these Spanish people did) so even while they were learning and probably getting confused and frustrated, they still laughed together and kept trying.

Sunday afternoon, we did a lot of prep for a kids carnival later in the week. We made a lot of posters and planned some of the activities. Sunday afternoon/evening, we were invited to play soccer with the Spanish church. It was a pretty intense three hours, but our youth had fun. Nathan got to see his friend, Brad, and play soccer with him, so that was a highlight for him. We had always heard that South Americans are good soccer players, but we got to see it first hand. There was a three (?) year old there, and even he could play some pretty good soccer for his age! I was thinking maybe Nate and I will have to move down to South America so that our kids can be good at soccer. Or we could move to Africa so that they can dance…

Monday to Wednesday mornings were spent at the Open Door Society. This is an organization which helps refugee families get integrated into our culture with as little difficulty as possible. They also teach English classes for adults and have day care for the children. Four from our group helped with child-care while the other six were in classes, helping the adults learn English. It was interesting because this is where Nathan’s mom works (teaching English), so Nathan and I got to be in her class and see her teaching first hand. She is very good at the work that she does. I can see why she loves teaching English so much. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip…I’ve realized again how much I love to teach and help people to learn. I thought I would only like to teach young children (elementary age) but now I’ve realized that teaching English to adults is fun too.

On Monday afternoon, we did an activity called the “Great Race”. We were given different scenarios that a refugee would face and our job was to find different places in the city to answer different questions. One example was, “You have three children and they are on a school break. They have been sitting around the house and are getting bored. You want to take them out to do something, but you don’t have very much money. Where are three places you could take your children, in Sasktoon, for free? Find a brochure from one of these places.” So we would have to figure out three places and make our way to one of them with only one bus pass and 25 cents for one phone call. It was difficult for us, and we knew the culture and where to find answers to many of the questions. I can’t imagine being in a place where you don’t know the language and don’t know how the culture works and have to find your way around and make a life for yourself.

Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, some of our team continued to do carnival prep while the rest of the group played outside with the kids. This is where “Dana! Daaa-naaa!” comes in! The kids in the refugee community have a great love and respect for Dana. She is their friend and often they would sit outside the kids club apartment window (which is ground level) and just call her until she would respond to them. She has a lot of patience with those kids and you can tell that she has a lot of love too. It was quite inspiring to see her being Jesus to and being intentional with all the people in the community. Our group always found it amusing that the kids would call Dana that way, so by the end of the week, we would often hear Dana being called, even when there were no kids to be seen. Even on the car ride home, I would occasionally hear from the backseat, “Dana! Daaa-naaa!” You made an impact, Dana!

Wednesday night we had our carnival. We had many different stations set up including face painting, piñata hitting, water gun targets, candy digging, free hot dogs and juice, etc. The kids just loved it and went crazy over all the free candy! I’ve decided that I never want to be in charge of handing out candy to more than ten kids at a time again. Being the size of the majority of the kids didn’t make their respect for me any greater. It was pretty crazy, but I’m glad we could do something like this for kids whose parents don’t necessarily have the money or transportation to take them out all the time to do things like that.

While being out in Saskatchewan, I had a chance to see a few Bethany friends, which was SO good. Dana was the leader…I hadn’t really known her before, but all Bethany alumni have something in common (Bethany) so connection is easier. Dana was wonderful and the whole group loved her. Thanks, Dana, for giving all that time and energy to make it a great experience for our whole group. Thanks for being open to God’s leading and for challenging us to be intentional wherever we are. Erika…a friend from Bethany who I played soccer with and who I’ve seen a number of times since Bethany…she lives with Dana and is also loved by the kids. Sarah-Jane…worked at Redberry Bible Camp with her for two years…is currently in the process of moving in with Dana and Erika. Karis…my sister!...she was out to help with the carnival and we had a chance to talk for quite a while while the kids were all watching a movie…thanks for the talk, Karis, and thanks for making me think…you challenge me (in a good way). Brad Koehn…Nate’s good friend from Bethany. The Sawatzky family…worked at Redberry Bible Camp with them…came out to help with the carnival. Colin…went to Bethany with him. Simon…went to Bethany with him. Tim…went to Bethany with him…worked at Redberry Bible Camp with him. Carrie Sperling…worked at Redberry Bible camp with her. It was so good to see some people with some history, even if I didn’t have that much history with them, and didn’t get to really talk with most of them. It was still good to see everyone.

Overall, this trip was an encouragement to me. I was encouraged in my faith. Encouraged to step out of my comfort zone. Encouraged that friends will come, with time. Encouraged in my role as a youth pastor’s wife. I’ve come home wanting to change some things and wanting to press on in some things that didn’t seem worth it to me before. It’s amazing how God works through different things.

Well, that's a short summary of our trip (yes, believe it or not, that was a short summary!) Have a good last couple weeks of summer!

When ministry calls us to travel...

Going to Saskatoon! I must say, I’m very excited about this trip…terribly excited as we southern MB Mennonites would say! I’ve realized that it’s nice to lead trips when they are to places you’ve been before…it makes you feel so much more leader-ful-ish…

So we leave tomorrow morning, bright and early, at 7am! Nathan and I, along with eight youth, are piling into a van and our car and driving the 10 hour drive to beautiful Saskatoon, Saskatchewan! It should be a lovely drive, complete with conversation, snacks, and yes, air conditioning!!! An answer to prayer before we even left: our air conditioning is fixed and ready to go! And, getting it fixed did not cost $700 as we were worried it would! The price tag on our comfortable travel was only $189.23…I was pretty excited about that, because Toyota’s are usually super expensive to have in the shop, both because of parts and shop time. They rarely need the shop, mind you, but when they do, watch out! I figured $200 wasn’t bad, considering the amount it could have been. And now our youth, who are conditioned to traveling in luxury, won’t swelter in our car. (that’s a plus too)

This week at home has been relaxing and wonderful. The first couple days were totally free and then later in the week we’ve had a staff BBQ one night and a missions trip meeting another night. Nathan finds he gets pretty bored when he just sits around the house after running constantly for a week so he only managed to take one day off to recharge. I, on the other hand, need that time to wind down after being busy and always with people. I’ve used this week to re-charge and to prepare myself for another week of high-energy and non-stop people!

Well, I guess I should get going and finish my laundry and keep packing. Have a great week, everyone!

More pics

If anyone wants to see more pics of our St. Laurent missions trip, follow the link on the right hand side of the page to Nikki Friesen's blog...there are many wonderful pictures of our week there!

Home again, Home again, that's the Sailor's Way!

I’m back! After a week of not posting, I’m feeling a little out of the blogging loop! The past week has been busy and tiring, to say the least! We just got back on Saturday from a week-long mission trip to St. Laurent, Manitoba. St. Laurent is a small community about an hour north of Winnipeg. Nathan and I took a team of 10 youth and two other leaders up there to do a week of VBS. Our church has been sending VBS teams up there for 20-some years, so it’s cool to see the history while you’re up there. For me it was a tough week because I’d never really been up there before, and as we were leaving, I still didn’t have a set “job”, so I didn’t really know what to expect. The week, for me, was a lot of figuring out where I belonged and what I was supposed to be doing. That was tough, but next year will be easier, I can tell that already!

So now Nathan and I are home for five days and then we’re off again to lovely Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on another missions trip! We’re working with MCC on a project called Chalo. We’ll be working with refugees and immigrants in Saskatoon as well as just learning a bit of what life is like for them once they arrive here. I’m pretty excited about this trip. We’re taking basically the same team. We are losing two youth from the St. Laurent team and picking up one. Nine youth, two leaders…chaos, anyone? Nah, the youth we have are very mature and make a good team. That’s nice for our first year of summer youth ministry…we’re not being broken in too hard!

So yeah, that’s a quick update on our lives. These five days at home, I’m doing laundry and trying to clean the house so that we can come home to a spotless house with no immediate work demanding our attention! I’m also trying to relax a bit and get naps so that I’m not as tired at Saskatoon as I was at St. Laurent!

If anyone is interested in praying for our team, that would be great! You can pray for safe travels (driving there Friday, August 18 - back on Friday, August 25). Also, for team unity...we've been together for a week already, pray that people will have enormous amounts of patience with each other. Also for Nathan and I as we lead. Pray for spiritual protection...sometimes leadership can be the hard.

Singing in the Rain...

I love thunder storms ("thunder-bangers" as I've heard them called down here in Southern MB). I remember when I was little, my sister and brother and I would all stand at our big living room window during thunder storms and watch the lightning hit our neighbour's house (sorry, Grahams). We loved thunder storms and I still do (and I imagine Alicia and Andrew still do too, they just don't talk about it). Anyway, this morning, Nathan and I woke up to some pretty awesome thunder (p.s.-Nathan loves thunder storms too). I thought it was just going to pass, so I was excited but didn't expect to get to see much of it. THE STORM LASTED ALL MORNING!!!!! I sat on my chair by the window and did my devos and watched the most amazing storm of the summer. Then, I baked muffins (Strawberry banana chocolate chip...funny story: I started baking and then I realized that I didn't have any butter milk...I don't usually have buttermilk when I make them, but I didn't have any milk either...or powdered milk...or cream, so I turned to the front of my cookbook and it said that I could use plain yogurt instead...great! I had some yogurt!...only it was strawberry. Oh well. I figured strawberry banana is a pretty regular flavor in lots of things, so I put strawberry yogurt into my banana chocolate chip muffins...very yummy, by the way...worth trying the next time you don't have buttermilk!) Anyway...where was I? Oh, yeah, I baked myself muffins for breakfast during this storm, hoping that the power would stay on long enough for them to bake thoroughly...it did. Then, I had a letter that I had to mail before the weekend. What was I going to do? It was raining like it has never rained before! Hmm...wait until the afternoon and hope it lets up? How boring is that?! I grabbed my umbrella and my letter and braved the storm. Is it bad to hold up an umbrella in an electrical storm? I wasn't sure but I thought it might be similar to holding up a golf club, so I made sure I only touched the plastic handle, just in case. So, long story short, I made it to the post office and back, crossing many small streams and rivers and lakes in order to get there. My shoes were soaked completely through and my pants were wet up to my knees (which isn't really that high, really, because I'm not too tall...) and it was so much fun! Everyone else was driving and taking shelter and I found joy in taking a walk in the rain. And it's a good thing I did go this morning, because now it's sunny. Go figure!

So, speaking of rain, you could all pray that we don't get rain while we're up at St. Laurent this week. Eight youth and four of us leaders are leaving tomorrow to do VBS in a community north of Winnipeg. The guys and Nathan and I are tenting, so hopefully it won't be wet. That could really put a damper on the week. You could also pray that it isn't too hot because the church doesn't have air conditioning. Nathan and I will be used to that because, well, we live that way, but our youth might faint. Pray that no one faints...we need all the help we can get!

Well, I should get going...but remember, if it's ever raining like crazy and flooding everything, take advantage of it and go for a walk! (unless it's actually flooding...then maybe evacuate)

Niagara Falls...those were the ones that didn't really impress me...

These are the American falls...it was the clearest picture we had. I figured I'd post a picture so that if you haven't seen them, you can see them here and have the whole experience just like we did! jj You need to see them for yourself.

Pictures...at long last!

This is the ferry that we took on our way home. It left at 7 AM and we had to be there an hour early and had an hour's drive to get there, so we left at 4:45 am! It was a long first day home!

This is Hope Bay with a beautiful sunset...nothing spectacular, but peaceful and wonderful anyway!

One day, Nathan, Josh (Nate's brother) and I went for a hike on the other side of the bay. The water is SO clear! It was absolutely beautiful (as you can see).

The weather was so humid and warm when we were down...there was alot of water activity...a favorite one was seeing who was Mr. Macho on the floating dock. This is Nate's uncle taking down one of his sons...I think he's going in as well though!

For anyone who knows me...

So, you all know - if you’ve been reading my blog for a while - that I’m now done working at Friesen’s (YEAH!!!). I’m still happy about that. I’m still pretty sure it was the right decision. I love being at home. I feel like I can stay caught up with housework and cooking healthily and yard work, and I am staying sane a bit better too. I’m not too willing to sacrifice that again, but at the same time, now’s the time for me to work, while we don’t have kids.

So, I have a favor to ask of anyone who knows me…what kind of job do you see me doing? Is there anything that comes to mind? I’m at a loss as to what I should try next, and I figure that I have friends who know me for a reason. So throw out ideas, however weird or eye-brow-raising they may be. I’m open to suggestions!

For those of you who don’t know me as well, you can throw out suggestions too. You never know, you may know me better than you think…or I’ll just have a good laugh! Either way, this should be entertaining and perhaps a lead on the next few months of my life!