Where did the time go?

With all my good intentions to update our blog more often, it seems that once a month is all I manage. The days continue to go by one by one, and life has it’s highs and lows. We are so very thankful for God’s grace and goodness to our family in allowing us to serve Him here in Alberta, and work among a precious people group to make His Name known.

 I want to give an update on what we have been doing the last month or so! January kept us busy with various appointments. We had the opportunity to share about our ministry at the Longview Bible Fellowship, which is where we attend services on Sunday here in Longview. It was a experience and it forced us to create a new presentation to explain who we are and what God is calling us to do. Another highlight of our month was spending a few days with Roy and Laura Thiessen, who just moved to Cardston, AB (two hours south) to work with the Blackfoot. They are also with InterAct and have two young daughters. The girls have already really enjoyed having playmates their own age at various functions. We are so thankful for another young family relatively close by. We also attended a meeting in regards to Camp Gladstone, a camp for Native youth that runs most of July. We know we will be involved to some degree as it provides a great opportunity to build relationships with young people from Eden Valley. Joel and I took an evening out on January 24th, leaving the girls

with a friend. It was a fun evening to just enjoy being together, we didn’t talk about “ministry” or “family” but focused on just cultivating our relationship.

February found us frantically preparing our house for company, which included some projects we needed to wrap up, grocery shopping, and general cleaning (that along with “regular” ministry). We were also privileged to meet with some fellow missionaries for a morning of prayer, something we hope to continue about every month. We focused our time praying for the many First Nations youth who are walking with the Lord, or at one time showed an interest in following Him. It was both encouraging and overwhelming to see the list of names on the board of of those who could use a mentor/friend to walk through life with them.

On Saturday the seventh our first guests arrived about nine in the evening. From then till the morning of the sixteenth our house was full of activity. On average we had at least four other people spend the night at our house and fed at least six people supper. 

This was caused by the Animism workshop held in Okotoks, (30 minutes from our place) on February 9-13, and a consult led by WRG for the work at Eden Valley, (the 14th and 15th). We will be giving more details on both of these events in our March newsletter. As tired as we were Monday morning, we throughly enjoyed all our company and the fellowship we had. The girls held up pretty well, considering all the activity and we are thankful things went smooth.

The other big excitement during that week was the arrival of Adrianna Joy on February 8th. She is the daughter of Brad and April Ruckert, (Amanda’s sister) (see picture below) and we are already in love with her across the miles. It’s so hard to be far away for moments like this, but we are very thankful for pictures and telephones and computers to keep us connected. Abigail and Ruth both seem inthralled at the pictures they have seen (so keep then coming).

We have had several friends lately that are facing unexpected trails in

 their lives, and though we ache with them, we also marvel at how God’s grace is apparent in their testimonies. We are here in Alberta because of His working in our lives, and we are excited by the tools God has given us to move forward in the work He has called us to do. 

We greatly appreciate your love and care for our family, please let us know how we can pray for your needs and what God is doing in your lives. Amanda (for the 4 of us)