All in April

It has been a wonderful month!  Between watching the world around me green up and come to life I have been enjoying so many fun times with friends.

This was a bingo birthday night with the SWAT ladies.  Delicious turkey dinner followed by a Bingo game with prizes galore!  I just LOVE these incredible women.

Then there was the BOWL of HOPE evening with some lovely ladies where we enjoyed delicious THAI soup in some beautiful pottery bowls that we got to take home.  Raising money for fresh water supplies in Thailand.

And dinner and communion at Celia's place.  Very sweet time of prayer with some very lovely people.  

I was given the opportunity to tell some cool stories from the book of Luke to a class at school.  When I stopped and asked if they wanted more the answer was a resounding YES!!  Such a great audience!

The teacher is phenomenal and said she'd like to have me back to speak again!

And then there's Moose with his professionally done hair looking like a rock star around the house.  

A Brian Doerksen concert for the Charis women at Bottega which was really great.  The food and fellowship on a Saturday morning.  Helping me to adjust to life without my YWAM community.

Beautiful Lisa

I adore her.  

And these women?  LOVE!

Easter Beauty.  Patrice dyed the eggs using natural colours.  So very lovely in the morning sun.

My audience on Easter Sunday evening.  I recited "Section 9", the Resurrection Story from Luke 24 for a second time.

And I put on a little Easter Egg hunt for the boys which was most enjoyed by the oldest one by the looks of things.  I couldn't believe how excited he was by his Kinder Surprise. 

Back in Rhythm

It's been good to be home.
Back at work and church and settling into familiar routines.
I must admit that I have felt restless though - hearing of the adventures of others together on outreach and wishing my time with my group had been longer.  I wonder about the restlessness.

I have not felt this restless in my job since I have started doing this work.
Just wondering what that is all about...

BUT there is truly so much to be grateful for here and I am so thankful to have such a wonderful home, family and friends to return to!
It' especially lovely having winter over and gone and Spring here in all it's glory.
Leaves popping out, tulips are blooming, and all sorts of trees in the city are bursting into colourful blossoms!!

Sunshine, Rain, Wind - a blustery beautiful Spring.

Today is Easter Sunday and I had the privilege of sharing the resurrection story at church (aka "Section 9") after a yummy pancake breakfast.  It felt so good to sit with my church family and to tell the story.

This has also been a time of hard things in a way.
Returning to things that I would rather run away from.  But God helps us to do hard things.

I had to have what I thought would be a difficult meeting so I had been getting prayer for it.  The day before the meeting I was driving up in our area and I was near a friend's home.  On a whim I called her and dropped in for prayer - something I've never done.  Her brother in law was there doing yard work and he said he had never prayed for anyone before, but he was game!  He is a former, biker, gun- toting drinking, fighting sort of fellow that had a conversion later in life.  But what a sweet and beautiful lover of Jesus.

His prayers were profound and infused with the prophetic and words of knowledge.  Pretty good for a first time out loud prayer - haha!  I left with great courage and the knowledge that God would show up.

And He did.
I was able to do the hard thing, but with love.
It was my desire to speak the truth in love and to stay true to my Word, even though it could potentially be costly for me.

So I am so grateful for God's great goodness.
Doing things that I don't know about, behind the scenes, and looking after all involved.

Apparently a kind and loving letter that I had felt to send while I was still in Hawaii was received with a very open heart and it's effects could end up being very positive in the spiritual realm if I can just stay under God's covering and keep doing the hard things with great love.

Only possible with and through and in Jesus.
So glad that "in HIM I live and move and have my being"!