I just realized that four months have gone by since we last wrote something on our blog. It is not like we had nothing eventful happen during that time. It is more a question of finding the time or when you do have time.... having the mindset to write.
As some of you know, I spent 10 days in Canada in the month of November doing a speaking tour together with Brian Dennet (director of AMG). The tour was sponsored by WD North America and we had the privilege of speaking at several events. It was a whirlwind tour that started in Ontario and ended in BC. Brian and I arrived in Toronto on Thursday, November 13. The next Friday and Saturday we had to speak at two dinner evenings in Hamilton and Jordan. On Sunday I had two presentations to do in the Free Reformed Churches of St. Thomas and Mitchel, although these two presentations were more connected to the Free Reformed Mission work in Cubulco. On Monday we had a meeting with the Free Reformed mission board and in the evening drove through a blizzard to Grand Rapids. Conditions were less than ideal, but we had a good vehicle that handled well in the snowy and slippery conditions. On Tuesday we had a dessert evening in GR and afterwards drove back to London. The road conditions on the way back were a lot better, but it was chilly out. Since we live in Guatemala we do not have any winter clothes. We layered as much as we could, but it was still cold out.
On Wednesday we boarded a flight to Abbotsford and because of the snow our departure was delayed by an hour. The ground crew could not back up the plane to where they de-ice it. Thursday off we had the day off and I was able to visit family (although my parents were gone) and we drove around to show Brian my neck of the woods. We ate at an A&W to bring back some childhood memories for Brian. There are no A&W's in his part of the US anymore. On Friday and Saturday we had to speak at two dinners in Chilliwack and Langley and we left for Guatemala on Monday morning early. We felt that the tour was a "success" as we received a lot of good feedback. It was nice to be able to share the work that God is doing through AMG, FRMI, and WD in Guatemala to help change the lives of individuals and their families.
As a family we are doing quite well. Lia and I both had birthdays in the last few months and we appreciate all the birthday wishes and cards. Nico and Ellen will be having a birthday at the end of this month. Health wise we had no issues for quite a few months until last month where we were all (except for Lia) hit by the flu. The kids were sick for close to two weeks and they missed quite a few days of school. As they started to mend, I got sick and I was in bed for quite a few days. I am finally starting to feel my old self again although I still do not feel 100% yet.
The kids are doing quite well in school although Nico and Ellen have this bad habit of not always handing in their homework on time. However, their grades are quite good so we can not complain too much. School will be finished by the 21st of May so they are looking forward to that. This summer we hope to be in Canada for a while which will be the first time in two years for the kids. However, we can not book our tickets yet nor make plans until we have some paperwork filled out and accepted. We have been having issues with some Guatemalan legal paperwork of Jesse and Tristan for some years now and it is a hassle. I will write about that in my next post to give you an idea as to the hassles of doing legal paper work in a country like Guatemala.
We appreciate all of you who pray for us and support us and we hope to see some of you this coming summer. We are looking forward to a break and change of scenery.
