I’ve been posting these “retro” pictures for a while, and I don’t just want to post birthday pictures every May, even though it is “birthday month” around here.
However, 10 years ago today was kind of a classic joint party, with a joint theme. And strangely enough, the picture I posted last May was about the H1N1 Flu!
So – 10 years ago today was a party “on the ice rink”. Not literally. But it was a joint birthday party – Hannah’s theme being figure skating, and Nathanael’s hockey. It was a big party for the whole neighbourhood, with piñatas and face painting and everything.
These were taken before the party. I really liked these cakes. Simple but elegant.
Eleven years ago, Hannah and Nathanael’s birthday parties were small family affairs. Everyone was concerned about the swine flu pandemic, and so big parties were out of the question.
In 2020 we found ourselves in the same situation again, but this time with significant advances in technology, and advances especially in people’s comfort with and ability to use that technology. The other difference – Hannah was in Canada, Nathanael in Mexico. So – the party went online!
Often Shari has made a cake with matching cupcakes. This year, Shari and her Mom schemed together – the cupcakes were made in Canada, the cake (cheesecake this time) was made in Mexico. Matching chocolate-peanut-butter flavours, matching colours, and matching themes – unicycles.
It was a family party again, but this time expanded to grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. Not everyone could make it, but we had a good group, spread out from Alberta to Ontario to Mexico. Everyone was encouraged to bring their own cake – and some indeed did!
This was the first joint party in quite a few years. As was mentioned, unicycles was the theme. Decorations went up. And the party began. GoToMeeting was the app of choice.
We had some activities – a get-to-know-you type game, and then a how-well-do-you-know-Nathanael-and-Hannah type game. And of course some time to chat and hang out.
Of course, not the same as having everyone together. But far, far better than not getting together at all!
In these days of being so disconnected – every once in a while, you get a little bit more connected than you would have otherwise.
Happy birthday Hannah and Nathanael! May this be a year of unexpected God-ordained connections!
So far I’ve written a little about COVID-19 in general, and then more about COVID-19 in Mexico. Today I’ll continue talking about Mexico a little, but I want to bring things a little closer to home.
First of all, when I say “closer to home” I’m not hinting that anyone in our family is sick. Our family, and extended family, is healthy at the moment. Well – as healthy as normal!
A “cart-wiper” doing his job at Walmart
Here in central Mexico, things still appear mostly normal on the surface. I’ve seen supermarkets, markets, banks, highways – even a medical lab – all in the past couple of days. Yes, every employee at the lab was wearing a face mask (I don’t think I saw anyone wearing one correctly – so I doubt they did anyone any good!). And at the supermarket, there were friendly (and not-so-friendly) attendants who freshly wiped your cart with something supposedly anti-bacterial before giving it to you.
There are very few shortages – one has been the ubiquitous face masks, and the other anti-bacterial gel. But if you go to buy something, you’ll find the shelves mostly stocked as normal.
We are trying not to be envious of those who are looking for things to do during isolation. Isolated or not (not, at the moment), we have more to do than ever – and that isn’t likely to change.
Yes, we still have mountains of TP. – Oh, this is the store, not our house!
So, like everyone, we’re adjusting to the new reality.
This weekend we will be doing some “online ministry”. Today we ran a test on Google Meet to see if we could use it for our Bible study tomorrow night. So far, so good. So our study will continue via live video chat.
We reluctantly decided to go online for our Sunday service as well. I won’t go into all the reasons why, but lets just say these are difficult and complex decisions. And we see this as a temporary step. Depending on how long this continues, we may move at least to small groups again. The assembly of the saints is a “necessary service”.
I’m curious to see what happens on the internet when thousands of churches try to go online Sunday morning. We shall see! But Lord willing they will at least have a sermon (my turn to preach) that they can watch or listen to sooner or later.
Hannah is facing the new reality, in her grade 12 year, of having a grad dress and no grad. Well, of course the students will graduate, but friends in the dorm are quickly saying goodbye and moving out, as the rest of their instruction continues online.
So earlier than normal, Hannah is thinking about a place to live in the months ahead, getting a job to pay for it, and all the things that we had put off dealing with in detail until graduation in June.
And Nathanael, the lucky home school student, is struggling to keep up with school while his parents are overly distracted with everything else that’s going on!
So we’re staying in touch with family and helping where we can, and also carrying on with ministry here in Mexico. The need is great here, and it’s likely to get greater in the weeks ahead. So we’re trying to figure out, day by day, how to best minister to our community in times of great uncertainty and change. We’re all fine, but everything that’s going on is a significant strain, so as usual we appreciate your prayers.
As you probably know, Hannah got back from Colombia about 10 days ago. With delayed flights on the way back, everyone had a lot of sleep to catch up on – and they probably have a lot of school to catch up on too!
Anyway, Hannah told me to thank everyone who prayed for their prayers! She says specifically, “It was a great and edifying experience for the whole team. It was really cool to see God at work in the various ministries we visited and served at, and we learned a lot from them.”
Well, if they’re on schedule, the Prairie Christian Academy team has just landed in Bogotá, Colombia!
If you received our recent newsletter (and if you haven’t, you should soon, if you’re on our Support Team), you know that Hannah is part of a team of women who are on a missions trip to Colombia. They will be involved mostly in children’s ministry, especially in poorer areas.
We would appreciate your prayers for Hannah and her team mates! They’ve had a long trip, and after a rest tonight they’ll hit the ground running tomorrow (Saturday). They leave Colombia on the 17th, arriving back home on the 18th.
Interestingly enough, Bogotá is almost 400 metres higher than Ixtapaluca, at 2640! So even though it’s further south than we are, it’s actually slightly cooler at this time of year (down to 6℃ / 43℉ tonight). But that’s better than Three Hills at -9℃! So I’m sure they’ll be enjoying the climate change.
If you’d like to follow the adventures of the team, check out:
