The Pinnacle

Sometimes you just have to pinch yourself to realize that you have actually reached a certain, momentous point in time that has been so far off in the distance for so very long.

This was one of those days.

Except it was my son, and not me who had reached the pinnacle!

I know I'm just the mom and I didn't suffer through the agonizing years of paper-writing, book reading, practicums, assignments etc. etc. etc. but I felt such a tremendous sense of excitement and relief on behalf of Daniel and his wife Nicole.

I've been quietly agonizing for them in the background and praying for this day to arrive and 

HERE IT IS!!! 

Six years ago Daniel began his climb to what he hoped would be a fulfilling and amazing career; that of an Occupational Therapist.

His many summers of working at the Easter Seals camps serving kids with disabilities (with all sorts of specialists working alongside to make their camp experience a full and wonderful one) was life changing for Daniel.  

As he watched, with fascination, the Occupational Therapists working with these kids, he discovered what would become his vocation.

Four years of study at the University here in Kelowna gave him his Psychology undergrad and two years at the University of British Columbia gave him his Masters in OT.

Nicole deserves some type of a degree for her amazing support and patience over the past 6 years. Her beautiful smile says it all! 

I'm so proud of these two.

So the rest of the cheering squad (minus Ron who had to work) showed up to watch the presentations, (Daniel and his partner Nichelle had spent the last year following up on a study being done on the efficacy of non-invasive procedures for intention related tremors in people with MS)

and to CELEBRATE! 

The sense of excitement was palpable and the faculty put on an amazing day of speeches and delicious food spreads for us to enjoy. 

The University grounds and the space we were gathered in were beautiful.

Above is a picture of Daniel with two of his closest buddies whom he worked with in class and during practicums.

It was fun to see the University and to get a peek into what has been Daniel's world for the past couple of years. 

He didn't order grad pics so I just snapped a picture for posterity. 

I have a feeling this will be the closest I will get to the actual grad ceremony which will be held in November after the students write their OT exams.  Thankfully they will be able to work in the interim to start earning some money to pay off the mountains of debt they have incurred to obtain their Masters! 

They handed out certificates so it felt like a graduation ceremony and it was such a celebratory afternoon!

Following the ceremony we all wound our way through the busy maze of downtown Vancouver to Daniel and Nicole's new basement rental suite where we enjoyed pizza and drinks with Leo who was eagerly waiting their company. 

So glad I don't live in Vancouver, but I"m thrilled that this place has provided opportunities for both Daniel and Nicole to further their education and that they didn't have to go across the country or to Edmonton for the OT program.

God in His great mercy is guiding my kids to fulfill their destinies and I am a mother full of prayers and hope and gratitude. 

Wonder Full

I headed to Vancouver at the end of July filled with excitement to be able to finally celebrate Daniel's completion of the Masters of Occupational Program.  

After six long years of incredibly hard work my dear son has finally reached the end goal and I have lived to see the day!

I went a day early so that I could see Patrice's new place and to attend Daniel's ceremony with her. 

The expansive blue skies beckoned me and my little red car sped over the miles with ease.  My eyes drinking in the sights and my nature cup brimming over! 

I have entered a stage in my life where I actually love to do some road trips alone, amazingly enough.

Perhaps my extroversion has gone down a few notches and I find I am quite happy with my own company. 

Well...it's actually never just me!  

I am having the time of my life communing with my King and best friend, Jesus.  He's good company and the hours fly by as I admire the stunning scenes that surround me and spend time in His presence.  

Lots of worship and praying and silence and beauty.

Practically perfect in every way.

The day couldn't have been lovelier and I happily made my way through the Fraser Valley and landed with ease at Patrice's place in Surrey.  

(with a little help from the talking guide that hangs out with the map in my phone)

It was fun to be able to enter the newly built ground level basement suite that Patrice is living in.  Nice to see her in her own place and doing so well. 

It wasn't so convenient for me though.

Below is the picture of the toilet AFTER I tried to use it. 

Thankfully Patrice helped me to recover before I landed on the floor. 

It seems I need a bar beside the toilet if at all possible.

Sometimes my life just feels too complicated.

After the toilet debacle it was good to head out to White Rock so we could take some selfies together. 

I managed to keep my finger off the lens the second time around.

Our timing was ideal - we got the lovely setting sun and the accompanying golden glow.

Patrice stepped down into the water to wet her toes...

Unfortunately we were unable to go onto the iconic dock due to some repairs that were being done on it following damage from a windstorm last winter, but it was still a very pretty landmark to photograph. 

Oh the light!

So many people were out enjoying the beach and basking in the final rays of sunshine.

I'm  glad Patrice lives in close proximity to the ocean and to so much beauty.

It is truly nourishing for the soul.

Edmonton Expectations

A little trip with this beauty here, was a dream come true.

I had heard that a speaker I have been listening to and following was coming to Edmonton so, on the fly, I reserved two seats.  They were free so I didn't feel any compulsion or pressure, but I thought it would be cool to see him live and maybe see or experience something spectacular while hearing this guy who  sees a TON of action when it comes to raising people from the dead and seeing the sick healed!  

Plus, who knew, maybe it was my turn?

I didn't know  how or even if I would get to Edmonton and with whom, but God had given me a good word to go on through a lady I didn't even know at Dr. Sue's birthday party in June. 

The word from God for me was: "I've got this".

So, I figured it was an excellent reminder to trust and to let things all fall into the hand of my incredibly loving Father. 

Before I knew it Celia decided she wanted to come with me and her husband offered to put THE WHOLE TRIP on his air points!!!

God has my back for real and I was sure praying a multitude of blessings on Dev.

I've wanted to do another trip with Celia ever since we went to San Jose together about 15 or 17?years ago.

We laughed ourselves silly on that trip and had so many adventures in a very short period of time.

We actually went to attend a little seminar on marriage but on our last day we wanted to head over to Monterey to see the California Coast.

I don't remember if we got lost or not, but somehow we found ourselves driving through the most beautiful redwood forest on our way to the ocean.  It was incredible and our time in Monterey was also amazing.  We explored the town and dined in a restaurant on a little dock right on the ocean and we enjoyed lobster while wearing big bibs to keep the butter off our clothing.  

YUM!

Anyways, back to THIS trip. 

We rented a car and the drive to Edmonton was accompanied by the most beautiful prairie sunset.

On the one side of us the sun was setting in a wash of glorious color and on the other side there was a double rainbow in the big sky.

With this glorious backdrop we moved in and out of prayer... something we love to do together.

Plus, Celia had just left her sister (who has been very ill with a disease that has attacked her heart ) so we were blessing her and lifting her up in prayer. 

Thankfully Celia had enlisted her sister and some others to be there for the days she would be gone. 

We settled into our comfy hotel room and enjoyed a very relaxed time together that night and the next day before we headed over to the baptist church where the event was being held.

Thankfully some friends from church, Rob & Diane, had come early and they had reserved us some seats because the place was packed by the time we got there.  There was a long line up outside the church and down the sidewalk.

People are eager to see God moving in this day and age.

I LONG for the day where we will be regularly hearing of people discovering the power of God through the miraculous and falling in love with Him.

Here we are waiting for the event to begin on that hot July evening.

 The worship was absolutely wonderful and there was such a sense of expectancy in the air.

I've definitely had to get myself into a new headspace to be able to attend a healing meeting again.  Thankfully I feel safe in Jesus and in His plan for me so I can relax in that.

It would be over the top amazing to be walking and to have that vibrant testimony to point to, but I have a living and vibrant testimony just from my everyday walk so I'm good.  

But I'm not counting out the miraculous!

In fact, Diane - the woman in the picture with us, experienced quite the miraculous recovery just a few years ago when she was on life support following a heart attack and stroke. Her husband was debating whether they should pull the plug (it was what they as a couple had decided ahead of time) but the doctors said wait a bit and thankfully they did.  We had a team over at the hospital praying and we were all praying in our little BHF room on the Sunday morning when we had such a sense of light overpowering darkness.  John who was holding Diane's hand while praying for her felt the same thing so he really began to do some heavy duty prayer telling the darkness where to go in Jesus' Name.

Diane began to move during that prayer time and shortly after that she was home and recovered!! 

I've also had two friends experience miraculous recoveries in the last year.  Donara was healed of adrenal fatigue after suffering with it for many years and Beverley was healed of Gluten Sensitivity after a time a prayer and she's been eating bread ever since.  

I was parked in the aisle so I had a good view of David Hogan as he shared.  He shared some incredible stories of healings and miracles he has experienced recently as he has traveled the world preaching the good news.  He has lived in Mexico for the past 20 years or so, has learned the languages (even an ancient aztec language) and has trained up many others to go out preaching and healing as well. Apparently he and his team have seen about 500 people raised from the dead.  

He's very real, passionate, fearless and annoyed by the complacency he sees in the Western church. 

At the end of his preach he invited everyone up for prayer and we walked (and rolled) through a tunnel of people who laid hands on us and blessed us.  

I went through twice just to make sure I got whatever I needed haha! 

There was so much faith and love in that place, it was tangible and beautiful.

I'm so glad I'm a part of the amazing, diverse, loving Body of Christ...

Since we didn't fly out until the next evening, Celia and I had such a sweet day together resting and reading. I got up before she did and the thought came to me to give her a foot massage.  It was a rather random thought for me, but I offered and she confessed that she had wanted to do the same thing for me! 

So I rubbed her feet with cream, massaged them and blessed her and prayed over her. Then she came over to my bed and did the same for me, weeping as she prayed and massaged.

It was so special and God was so very present. 

Here we are in the hotel lobby before heading back out for lunch and then to the airport,

The trip home was adventurous! 

I got to go into the special lounge where there was food and special drinks!

I had a little Bailey's and cream just because it was available and so exciting while Celia had some of the quinoa salad.

Strangely enough, we got to visit this airport lounge twice in the same evening because shortly after we got on the plane and were heading to Kelowna there was an announcement that we would be flying back to Edmonton due to some problems with the landing gear and possibly other things. 

So... the plane turned around and we landed only to see emergency vehicles waiting to save us if the need arose.  Thankfully nothing exploded and we disembarked once it was deemed safe to do so.

Back to the special lounge for us to continue snacking and waiting for the next safe aircraft. 

They found another plane for us all to get onto within the hour so we were off again, flying over the clouds with the greatest of ease.

The funny thing was, we had to use EXTRA air points to get a direct flight, because getting on and off planes is quite the inconvenience for me... and for the men lifting me on and off the aisle chair.

Oh well - so much for a direct flight.

For some reason we got the adventure package and Celia is a fine companion to have adventures with.