Tired

One day I'll post more. And I will post about how God has been sustaining me through this insanely busy time of being a married single mom who also happens to be a full time pastor. 

But for now I'm tired. I'm even a little sad. But I know that I am doing what I feel God wants and that is what matters. 

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psalm 56

Ok, so I realize I am not a blogger.  That's ok.  I may or may not post often.  I like to write but don't take the time to do it.
I did have the opportunity to write and present a sermon two weeks ago on Psalm 56.  This was a great experience.  I enjoyed pouring over the scripture and the commentaries to form my points.  I also enjoyed sharing stories, and personal life lessons.  God spoke to me through my sermon prep and I hope that he spoke to others through the presentation.

There was no audio recording of my sermon, but because I script my sermons word for word I have attached a link to the pdf.

I hope you enjoy the read

psalm 56

Oh my, Oh my Oh my

So I can't believe it has almost been a year since I have posted anything on this blog.  I have thought about it often but it seems to be the first thing that gets pushed aside when life is too busy.  So here is an attempt to get back to posting.  I really enjoy writing and am going to put it on my schedule. 
Some of what I will write will be for children's ministry, some will be about my life.  I am finding it harder and harder to keep my two 'lives' apart.  I am realizing more and more that my home life and ministry life as so closely linked that it gets confusing at times.  Oh well, I enjoy being busy and I am very much busy both at home and at church. 

More to come over the next few days.

Winter Tires and a loving God

I know I have promised over and over that I will post my thoughts about moving to Saskatoon and how we made it here and all that God did to get us here, and he did many a miracle, but I am just having such a hard time putting it all down in words, so it will have to continue to wait.

I do want to share a little 'God moment' that happened to us last week. Shortly after we moved to Saskatoon we realized that we would need to be a two car family, so we got on Kijiji and began looking for a car, well we ended up purchasing a 28 year old Volvo station wagon, not the best car in the world but the price was right. Well we hadn't had the car for long when a couple in the church saw Nathan getting into the car and asked where we bought it and how long we had had it for and as it turns out it had been their car, and they had sold it to the man we had gotten it from. So that is a fun story, but it gets better.

With the fall of the first big snow we quickly realized that the Volvo would need new winter tires, not an expense we really cared to purchase, but in Saskatoon you NEED winter tires. Before we even had a chance to price out new tires I received a phone message from the same gentleman from our church who owned the car before us, letting me know that he had a pair of gently used snow tires that they had purchased for the Volvo when they owned it sitting in storage and that we could have them free of charge if we wanted. A gift we very graciously accepted.

Our loving God once again looked after us in a miraculous yet simple way.

God cares about the little things too. 

Pretty Crazy

Fall time is coming

I can't believe how fast time flies! Since my last post there has been many things that have happened. I had a successful week speaking at camp (mostly, long story to come), a second successful week of VBS and a week of holidays in Winnipeg/Niverville visiting with family and friends.
Now with fall coming quickly I am trying to finish up planning and recruiting for children's ministry.
Stay tuned for my funny (and not so funny) camp story and a few posts on what I have been learning about myself. Until then, have a great week!
Enjoy the last of the summer weather!

Speaking at Camp

Boy oh Boy!

I am preparing to speak at junior camp week at The Quest at Christopher Lake and I am starting to shake in my boots. I am pretty confident in my speaking skills, especially when it comes to speaking with and teaching children. Not that I am awesome by any stretch, but I can usually keep the attention of a group of children for a little while :)

What freaks me out is how I used to think about the speakers at camp when I was a child. I used to think that they were SO 'totally awesome' and just the coolest people ever. I remember thinking that the speaker at camp could do no wrong and must have a direct line to God, 'cuz they are just so smart'. I couldn't tell you what they talked about, or what they looked like or even their names, but I felt the same sense of awe for all of the 1/2 dozen speakers I saw as a child.

So needless to say I am putting a little pressure on myself. I don't want to disappoint my inner child, or the children at The Quest. It is hard to live up to those memories, so I'll try not too. What I will try to do is follow the lesson plans that I feel the Lord is leading me teach, pray like mad and be myself. (Even if I am not "SO totally Awesome!")

I ask for all your prayers, that I am fully prepared for my lessons, that God moves in my heart as well as the heart of all of the children who will be there and of course for good weather and safety.

Thank you.

Life after Lent

So since the last post, which I just re-read with tears in my eyes, I realized that God has truly brought us through that season of Lent. Joy comes at the end of Lent, and God has given us much joy as well. We have moved into our own house, which feels so much like home. We truly are blessed to have found a house that we love so much.

God has also provided us friends, those small fragile relationships that start as simple conversations have started to root and sprout into meaningful conversations and coffee dates outside of church. Friends from the 'past' have also been great, emailing and visiting, showing love over the distance.

Our son is settling in, making friends as well. He is looking forward to starting school and karate in the fall.

Life is good.

The sadness and longing of Lent. The love and blessing from the Risen Lord. The help and comfort from the Holy Spirit. And now we move into 'ordinary times'