Just like Springtime in Alberta, warm, sunny days and the skies are blue, then without a warning another winter storm comes raising through.” This quote from an Ian Tyson song describes perfectly what happened to us a few weeks ago. It was Saturday morning and the warmest day yet, we took a walk as a family and I made plans to hang the sheets on the line.
By three o’clock I finally had the sheets ready to go, but the sky was gray and the wind had picked up. Joel told me that the weather forecast called for three inches of snow overnight, we got at least that! Then this past Saturday night, we got our biggest snow storm yet with well over a foot of snow, that drifted to three feet in some places. The good news in all this snow, is that Abigail finally got to build her snowman, we had somehow not yet gotten that done this winter and she was pretty worried about making it happen! We are all ready for the snow to be gone and warmer weather. About every day this week, Ruth has looked out the window and pointed at the park, and said “Yaddy.” My interpretation is that she wants her daddy to take her to the park, the answer is always, “when the snow is bye-bye.” Even Abigail tells her now!
Well, enough about the weather!
One of the most exciting things about the last few weeks, at least to me, is God’s provision of some girl friends my own age, and allowing us to have some “girl time” Both girls are believers from the reserve, one has lived there all her life, and the other is a teacher working at the reserve school. They have been coming over for supper once a week and we hang out as a family. After the girls are in bed, the three of us have a chance to connect about life, our relationship with the Lord, and what is happening on the reserve. It has been a blessing to me,
and hopefully an encouragement to them as well. Joel is also gaining ground in the area of relationships, there are several men who seem very open to Joel spending time with them, the hard part lately seems to be catching people at home! One man on reserve owns some cattle and Joel spent most of one Saturday at a horse sale with him, and is going to help gather in some of his cows, if the snow ever melts! We are thankful for all that God is allowing us to be a part of. We continue to gain ground in learning language, our computer program is a huge part of that, and we are so thankful for those eight weeks in Missouri (fall of ’08). It is a lot of fun to learn, tonight when the girls and I were making cookies I was seeing how many ingredients/utensils I used that I could say in Stoney! One of our biggest hurdles is opportunities to use the language with real people in real life settings! We are seeking the Lord daily for His direction in this area. The end of April brings a change of pace for us, as we will spend some time in another aspect of our ministry. We are excited to join the Shields Valley Bible Church, (Wilsall, Montana) at their mission conference the 17th-19th, and then travel on down to La Grange, Wyoming to share about InterAct at Frontier School of the Bible (and recruit more laborers). This means we will be seeing some of you in person again, which is always such a blessing! As always we appreciate you, your faithful prayers, and ongoing encouragement! May you delight anew in God’s grace this Easter Season. Amanda... for the Sewell”s
