Family

The van seems, for the time being, to be better (although there’s a windshield wiper issue which I simply will not get into here), and Shari’s neck is getting better, so this is a good thing.  So after some good visits with folks in Stouffville and Newmarket today, we’re ready to go madly off in all directions over the weekend.  I’ll be heading 681.1 km north to Cochrane, and then meeting with folks in Sudbury on the way back.  Shari will be visiting with some folks in southern Ontario.  And we’ll all meet together again on Monday night to compare notes.  We’ll try to drop by to say hello to you sometime next week.

I’m writing with Nathanael here beside me.  It’s a little distracting.  He likes to roll over now, scoot around a little.  His favourite word is “dlah” (no, we don’t know what it means either), and his favourite song is Meredith Willson’s 76 Trombones.  He thinks it’s absolutely hilarious.  No, we don’t know why.  But if we could tell what babies were thinking, we’d be geniuses, wouldn’t we?

For a moment or so it seemed like we were more or less over whatever sicknesses we had.  But that’s not exactly the case.  Hannah is still rather sick with a runny nose, for one thing.  A few days ago I passed the driving over to Shari temporarily because of a mysteriously sore neck.  And today!  Well today it was Shari’s turn to get a very sore neck – so sore, in fact, that we ended up at the doctor’s.

Don’t worry, it wasn’t a deadly, contagious disease.  Shari was given some medication and special instructions, and sent home.  So, being the healthiest driver I dropped off everyone at home and headed off to do some errands.  I made it a few kilometers down the road before the van broke down.

A tow truck, mechanic’s and rental car later I was able to continue with the errands.  This was the emergency stuff that we simply had to get done, until we had time for a proper shopping trip (and that will be when exactly?!).  But I was able to go and pick up the cake.  The birthday cake.

Yes, Shari’s birthday is coming up on Sunday.  I’ll be gone for the weekend (assuming I have a vehicle, and assuming Shari isn’t incapacitated by muscle pain), so this was our last chance to sit back and celebrate.  Of course, Shari needed to go to the doctor first thing in the morning (although it was later by the time we got there), and I had only returned from my errands in the mid-evening.  So our day off turned into a half an evening off.  But that’s ok!  It was great cake (ice cream, you know.  Dairy Queen).  But please pray for the van repairs (for example, money to cover expenses like these – people who are committed to giving monthly to this ministry) and the health of all!

It’s days like this – or, weeks like this – that make you wonder – why are we doing this again?  Oh yes.  It’s the millions in Mexico who are in pain – all kinds of pain – but have no one to turn to for comfort and healing.  It’s the millions in Mexico whose lives are broken down – they don’t know anyone who has the answers.  They don’t know where to turn.  It’s the millions in Mexico with no reason to really celebrate.  In a few days many will celebrate the Days of the Dead, but they have no assurance and hope for the day of their death.  Why do we do what we do?  So that God can use us and you to bring hope to Mexico.  When you look at it that way, it sure is worth it.

Here in Southern Ontario we’ve been able to enjoy some time with relatives, among other things.  During the last couple of weeks we’ve visited an Aunt and Uncle, cousins on Shari’s side, Shari’s grandma, cousins on Jim’s side, cousins on Shari’s side, more cousins on Jim’s side, cousins on Shari’s side, cousins on Jim’s side, more cousins on Jim’s side, even more cousins on Jim’s side (etc etc) and Shari’s grandparents.  Later this week we hope to see Jim’s aunt, among other family and non-family members.

Phew!  I didn’t realize there were so many until I wrote it all out like that!  But we are very blessed to have such a great group of people to be related to.  They say you can’t choose your relatives, but I think we would have been happy to choose these ones if we could.  Of course, the problem is that with so many people to see, there simply isn’t enough time to see everyone, or to spend the time with them that you would like to.

On the weekend I will be driving to Cochrane (about 10 hours’ drive or so) to speak at the First Baptist Church there.  I was invited when we were up there earlier this month, so we decided that I would take the trip back.  Then we’ll be all together again back in Southern Ontario for the month of November.

We’re all still pretty tired, but we’ve been blessed with a place to stay for a couple of weeks at a mission home belonging to the Christian Blind Mission.  It will be nice to have a place to be semi-settled, and hopefully we can find some time to catch up on a little sleep.  Nathanael certainly seems to do better when he has more than one night in the same place.

We’re having some trouble getting things booked and planned for the next few weeks (after this week, which is doing nicely), but I imagine it will come together over the next few days (although I guess I’ve been saying that for a few weeks now!).  What can I say?  Stay tuned…

I should have known that it was going to be a rough day when I bashed myself in the head first thing in the morning.  But ever the optimist, I started driving in hopes that I didn’t have a concussion (don’t ask how I did it – but I hit it hard).  I didn’t have a concussion, but it was quite a day.  We drove from Red Lake to Cocheneur for breakfast with some friends (there’s a picture of one of them in the album – Caitlyn).  Then we headed out to Thunder Bay.

There are a lot of people we wanted to see here in northern Ontario – in various places such as Dryden, Kenora and Thunder Bay.  But we just weren’t able.  We went to a hotel to spend some time as a family, but arrived very late.  Having promised a swim to Hannah, we went for a quick swim, then had supper somewhere around 11pm as Shari tried to finish the first load of laundry.  After Hannah had her bath (yes, it had been a long time) we finally got her to bed…

I didn’t mention many of the other things we had to do that night (last night), but we finally got to bed too, only to wake up to Nathanael around 2am.  I couldn’t quiet him down, so I did the world’s fastest diaper change and Shari fed him and we all went back to sleep, until 5am when he got up again.  That’s ok because Shari got up again just before 7am to continue the laundry.  You know how hard it is to wake up if you really fall into a deep sleep.  Anyway, after a rushed checkout, checking the fluid levels in the van, a trip to the store and getting gas, we had some breakfast/lunch around 12:30 or 1pm, and then started out on what’s probably our second longest trip thus far.  It was a full moon last night – the harvest moon.  And let me tell you, there hasn’t been as much lunacy since our trip began as there was last night!

If you’re interested in praying…  As you may imagine, we’re all pretty run down at the moment.  I mentioned in earlier blogs that Nathanael was sick – that’s probably why he’s waking up in the night.  He’s generally a good sleeper.  I haven’t mentioned that Hannah has also been sick.  It’s just a cold, but it’s a bit of a nasty one, so she’s having a rough time.  So keep praying for health and … sleep, if you think of it.

We’ve travelled over 3300km (over 2050mi), and are currently in Wawa, Ontario.  The weather continues warm and sunny.  On Friday we take the Little Bear train route to Moosonee, where we’ll spend a few travel-free days speaking at the Moosonee Baptist Church.  Then it’s off to other northern Ontario destinations.

It’s the home stretch!  Well, actually, “home” stretch is probably the wrong term to use.  What I mean is, we’re almost ready to embark on The Odyssey – our cross continent ministry trip.  Two of the most common questions are:  Do your children travel well?  Answer – we don’t know!  Nathanael is too “new”, and it’s been a long time since Hannah has had a trip this long.  Hannah wasn’t a great traveller when she was younger.  It’s hard for her to be pinned in one place for so long, and she almost never slept in the car.  However, hopefully now that she’s more mature she’ll be able to handle it better. 😉

The other question is:  Are you completely out of your minds?!  Answer, yes, that’s quite likely!  There are reasons why we’re doing this trip the way we’re doing it, but insanity may indeed play a role. 😯

For the next few days we’re tying up the last loose ends, completing the last doctor’s visits, planning, and packing, packing, packing.  We’re planning to take a day off before we go – my parents will be visiting (actually, they’ll likely be staying here for a few days before they move to their new home).  We’ll be sharing on Sunday at Calgary’s First Evangelical Free Church (our home church).  Loading up on Monday.  And heading out on Tuesday.  What awaits us?  I guess we’ll see what God has in store! 😎