Ten years ago we were out with some missionary friends in the pass between the volcanoes. There’s a little lake there where you can fish.
There were not only Cottrills, but Smiths and Topps and Frys, some of whom are in this picture. I believe Tiffany was there as well, and maybe one or two others…. hey, it was a long time ago.
Here’s a close-up of the left side, where Hannah is playing in the water and Shari is standing behind:
Fun times!
I’m finally taking a breath and sitting down to give you a bit of an update. But it will take more than one post to get through it all! So let’s go in order. 🙂
So after we talked to you last, we spent some time in Saskatchewan, in the Lashburn/Maidstone/Lloydminster area, with my Mom and other friends there. We enjoyed some time with the folks at Grace Community Church in Maidstone, and as planned I spoke there on the 13th of September.
Also in September I spoke at our church in Mexico! By recorded video, this time. 🙂 Actually, this was much more of an “adventure” than we intended. We have had tremendous technical difficulties with one laptop, and since then we’ve gone through hours of tech support, and the problem still isn’t solved. So that has certainly thrown a wrench into the works.
However, thank the Lord, the sermon somehow got edited and uploaded, though not quite with the excellence I would have liked. 🙂
Now, big news. For quite a few months (actually, even longer), my Mom has been batting around the idea of moving to Three Hills. Why Three Hills, you ask? Well, because of the lovely view of the three imposing hills, casting their massive shadows over the landscape of the vast Canadian prairies, of course! Well, a lot of reasons.
First, she has family here now (Hannah, her granddaughter), as well as “in-law” family – Shari’s parents. Also, there’s a place for seniors here (the Golden Hills Lodge), which has the bonus of providing meals (my Mom’s a good cook, but she’s been busy with a lot of things, so this is one big time-saver).
We came to Canada knowing this was a possibility, but she didn’t finally decide until we were in SK last month. Now, how this went down was interesting. Hannah was graduating on the 26th (more on that later). I believe my Mom decided to move on the 16th. And she also decided that she would like to move before Hannah’s grad, so that she could be there for the celebration. Which, when we worked in all the logistics, meant that we basically had 7 days to move, start to finish.
I’m not sure I would have been that ambitious, but since that’s what my Mom wanted to do, we decided to give it a try (and when we had time to think, we realized that there were a number of reasons why this may be a good idea, but we won’t get into all that).
So – the short story — we did it! By God’s grace and through a lot of insanity!
So, my Mom has moved to Three Hills! Her address, phone number and email will all be changing, but there are forwarding services in place now. So get a hold of her while you can, and you can get updated on all the new info. 🙂
There’s still a lot to do while she gets settled, but we’re trying to lend a hand where we can. Otherwise, she’s doing well and enjoying catching up with friends and family, and making a lot of new friends.
So I’ll try to update you on our next speaking engagements, and also other adventures (including Hannah’s grad!) when I have the change to take another breath.
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!
Ten years ago today, Shari was serving breakfast to the community affected by the Chalco flood.
It was February 2010 when the sewage canal burst open, pouring water into the valley of Chalco. The water kept pouring out day after day, filling the lower floor of people’s homes, destroying appliances, books, and clothes.
With our brothers and sisters from the church in Santa Bárbara, we began serving breakfast each morning at the edge of the flood, which was only 5 minutes from our home. We also provided water and some other essentials for the community at this time.
So – today’s photo – serving breakfast! Shari is on the right.
This was a few metres from the edge of the flood. Here’s an idea of what it looked like:
I took a lot of video/photos during this time. Some of that footage ended up in in the documentary series “Trashopolis”, which at the moment can be watched on Youtube – here it is: Trashopolis S02 E01: Mexico
Our church in Las Palmas (Path of Life Bible Church) has a children’s Sunday school class most weeks. That means a lot of planning and prayer and preparation (not necessarily in that order!).
Shari is in charge of the children’s ministry at the church, and she works with our friend Sandra (who does a lot of scheduling, as well as teaching), and other helpers and teachers.
So what to teach? Well, we believe in teaching the whole Bible – imagine! Right now we’re going through a chronological series known in English as Generations of Grace (Generaciones de Gracia). It’s a three year program that we’re cramming into – well, 4 years maybe? 😀
Then the material is supplemented with some other activities and special Bible memorization. At the moment, the children are memorizing the Ten Commandments. And of course there are sometimes special presentations for special days.
At Christmas, for example, the kids and their teachers put together a mini Christmas program about giving gifts to Christ.
The other day the teachers and helpers met at our house to pray and strategize and organize for the coming year. Please pray for these women, who put a huge amount of work into one part of our discipleship of the younger generation!
So the women of our church hosted a special breakfast this past week, and invited a bunch of women who aren’t from our church. And it looks like they had a great time!
Here’s breakfast – chilaquiles (a typical breakfast dish – tortilla chips with salsa and shredded chicken) . . .
Shari also brought her yummy baked oatmeal (a recipe which, I was just reminded, she adapted from a recipe from our friend Jo Ann Smith!).
There were about 22 women who came to the breakfast, which was at our friend Perla’s home.
Mayra shared the gospel, and they made a very cool Christmas craft – check it out . . .
Those are typical Christmas tree ornament shapes made from strips of foamie (is that what you call it? Sheets of thin foamy “paper” used for crafts.).
Anyway, we were very thankful for how well it went. May God bring growth to the seeds that were planted!