Back by Popular Demand...

Well, it's with much fear and trepidation that I have decided to try this again...  I had thought I wouldn't do any more blogging, but I have had a number of you ask me to reconsider, so here goes.  I will only be sending this address to you each specifically and it will not be linked to Facebook or any other web page.  I am also determined, with the Lord's help, to keep it positive so that there will never be any cause for concern about who reads it!  The Lord had to teach me a hard lesson in sharing my personal feelings over cyberspace and it has been a painful few weeks of trying to make amends with people who I have come to love and would never have wanted to hurt in any way.  I'm so thankful for a merciful, gracious Father, who forgives me and picks me back up when I fall flat! 

The cold weather has really descended upon us here, amazing all the local inhabitants yet again!  We certainly seem to have brought Vancouver temperatures with us and most days it's colder here in Berwick than it is in Vancouver.  There has been a lot of rain and with the rain comes the invasion of ants and mice!  We fell into bed exhausted last Friday night, only to realise that we had company in our bedroom!  At 11:30 pm I was at the local grocery store buying mouse traps and we ended up having a rather uncomfortable sleep on couches, with the mouse barricaded in our room, surrounded by four mouse traps!  By morning he was caught and my husband, my hero, had removed him from the house.  That same night I had left some pots to soak in the kitchen sink, only to return a few hours later to find my entired counter top, sink and nearby cabinets covered in ants.  The thought of running for the next plane without looking back was tempting, but I managed to rally around and get a grip! 

We were once told that the 6-week and 6-month markers after moving here would be the roughest.  Well, I have to say that our 6th month has certainly been that, yet through it all we have seen God's hand and His blessings too.  We came here with such set ideas of what we were "going to do for God" and how it would all unfold, but I have been constantly reminded that writing our plans in ink is pointless and usually God has different, better ideas in mind!  Our hearts are open to whatever God wants for us to do here, but His will is not clear at the moment and we are just learning to wait on Him and learn all that He wants us to learn on the journey.  The challenges and struggles of this life are many, but I have been so encouraged in the last few weeks by 2 Corinthians 16-18, "So we do not lose heart.......for this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison...!"  We are both learning so much through our separate studies, Nelson at seminary and myself at BSF.  We have been attending a new church in the last few weeks and have also had such blessing from wonderful teaching there.   The older boys have started going to the youth group and Brady to Sunday School, and they are all enjoying getting to know new friends. 

Work for Nelson has turned a corner and has begun to pick up, for which we are very grateful, but would value your continued prayers for his arm, as he has his good days and really bad days, with lots of ibuprofen!  We are praying about other career paths, but for now we are just so blessed to have a more steady income coming in.  We have had to make the very difficult decision not to return in July for my family reunion, but in many ways it felt to soon emotionally for all of us, as we have yet to feel truly at home and established here.  We will be saving up our pennies (actually there are no pennies in Oz, just nickels, so we'll save those!) to come back for a visit as soon as we can.  We miss our families and friends so much, but are so grateful for Skype!

Well, there is no more news to relay at this point, but I will keep you posted!  Thanks for those of you who have sent me loving messages of support and prayer.  It means so much to know there are so many at home who love us and continue to pray! 



The sun breaks through the clouds near Phillip Island