This family is leaving for Disneyland tomorrow! We are pretty excited. It's been about 10 years since either Angela or myself last visited the happiest place on Earth. It will be the first for our kids. Many friends, family, and friends of friends have blessed us with this trip. One friend hooked us up with the President of Disneyland so we'll get VIP seating/access and even a VIP Park Guide to guide us through the park. We are 'just a bit' overwhelmed with everyone's love and support.
Last night, Ruby had a massive melt down over her princess dress. One of the extras of this trip is a princess makeover (kill me now) for Ruby. Needless to say, she's quite excited. She envisioned herself entering the park each day in her princess dress. Angela had made her one for either Halloween or a birthday party. However, Ruby had it in her head that she needed an official Belle, Cinderella, or some other character's official dress. The tears and "woe is me's" were a flowing. After a quiet time and a perspective talk with her overly pragmatic father she came back to reality. Then, this morning I went to take out the trash and saw a couple presents sitting at our front door. One was for Ruby and the other for Charlie. Charlie opened his and found a Woody (from Toy Story) costume. Ruby opened hers and found an official Cinderella dress. The gifts came from a friend who had no idea about the "need" for an official dress or last night's melt down. I'm not sure what Ruby prayed about last night, but I hope this doesn't create a genie lamp view of God. :)
While there's lots of temporary good things on the mind right now, I've also been moved this week for the nine year old boy that was hit by a car last week. Although they live in Aldergrove, he and his mom have attended our Church gatherings in the past. Our Church has been praying for them and each day little miracles have happened. One night, his mom prayed that upon her return in the morning he'd open his eyes. The next morning, five minutes after her arrival, he did! From being in a coma at BC Children's Hospital ICU to only a week later playing tricks on the nurses, his recovery has been steady and miraculous. There are still lots of issues, including brain damage, so we must continue to pray for him. In addition to our prayers, know that our Church is also sending a gift to help with their everyday expenses.
This gift comes from our Church being in a healthy financial place. Thank you to all of our Church family that have given in faith over the past two years to get us to this place. As a Church family we now look to grow in financial health so that we can not only continue to be a help to those in need, but increase our health and love!
We are also praying for a family connected to both a Church in Langley and one of our Church members that has a 10 month old twin with a cancerous tumour on his liver. He is going through chemo and eventually surgery. Their Church has been very supportive of them and I'd love for our Church to join with them in praying for healing and strength.
All of this makes me think of how naive I was in my thinking a decade ago. I thought I was so strong and self-sufficient. Yet the journey God has graced me with has revealed my significant weakness, my need for His grace in Jesus, and His love as given through family, friends, and the Church. God is good even though I act in ignorance, arrogance, and disobedience.
I also have to give a special shout out to my employers, the College and Church. Over the past three months they have been overwhelmingly gracious and generous. Between all the medical appointments, support for Angela, and help with our kids, I have had to scale back my work responsibilities. There has also been times where I've been physically present, but emotionally absent. In these times, other staff, students, and volunteers have helped to fill in the gaps by either taking on my responsibilities or extending patience. Both the College and Church have been very patient with me, allowing for less productivity while continuing to provide for our family. So, from our family to Pacific Life Bible College and Parkside Church, thank you!
I have also been meaning to respond to last Sunday's inter-Church worship and prayer night. About double the number from the Fall gathering attended this one (about 40-50 folks). I want us to work towards seeing this as a priority in our calendars. It's good for us, the Kingdom, and our City, to gather in unity. Thank you to Doug Dunbar of North Valley Baptist Church for organizing this initiative and hosting it! I would love to see this grow to a place where Sunday's attendance of all the Churches in Mission is matched at this inter-Church event. Can you imagine all of Mission's Christ followers joined together in worship and prayer! We've been praying for more of neighbours to come to faith in Christ, for greater participation in the life of every local Church, and for an increase of finances.
Have a great weekend and week. The next time you will most likely hear from me will be a week from now. Continue to pray for your MY5!
Thanks to Katy of www.picturemefoto.com for taking our photo!