Home From Our Ski Trip

So much fun was had by all. I loved it. I didn’t go skiing at all, but I still loved it.

I wanted to go skiing, but I think a few more physio therapy appointments will need to happen before my hips will be happy about a trip to the ski slopes.

Instead, I spent my time with our girls, enjoyed the Pursuit students, and helped get food ready for everybody.

We left on Tuesday morning, a day that was INSANELY snowy and crazy beautiful, but the roads were quite bad. I’m pretty sure almost all of us were carsick, but Kaylia was the only one who produced physical evidence.

Other than that, it was a good drive.

Ben and the Pursuit students went skiing on Wednesday. I got a quick picture of them in all their goggled cuteness while Ben waited impatiently in the van, wanting to get the ski hill as quickly as possible.

Anika joined them on Thursday for her first try at downhill skiing. It was a big success – she loved it.

Kaylia desperately wanted to go with her. Unfortunately, Ben could only teach one girl at a time, so Kaylia will have to wait for next time. She stood out there at the bottom of the slope watching them, refusing to go inside. The only way I could lure her into the lodge was with the promise of a snack.

When we weren’t watching the skiers or snacking on chips and oranges, Kaylia and I spent our time reading books back at our villa, and discovering that the play structure there was just as much fun in winter, covered in snow, as it must be in summer.

We also got lunches ready for everyone when they got back from skiing.

It was exactly what I’ve always pictured Pursuit being – hanging out, having life experiences and new adventures, and talking about learning, growing, praying, dating, God, and any other topic under the sun.

We drove home today, with a short stop in Finland.

The Canadian version.

And of course, it’s good to be home, but our trip has caused me to come to two very important conclusions:

1) I love Pursuit. I will really miss this group of people…

2) Next year, I will be skiing, too. Hello, physio therapy. I am coming for you.

 

Almost Out of Here…

Well, our first big adventure of 2012 is almost upon us.

On Monday, the girls and I are flying to Florida, and on Tuesday, Ben and the Pursuit students are flying to Belize. We’ll all be gone for three weeks.

As Kaylia said into her toy cell phone, “We’re packing up our things, and going up in the sky.” Not unlike the Rapture…? Except no packing will be involved in that departure.

Anyway. If you like sitting in snow and looking at other people’s beautifully sunny vacation pictures and reading about what a fantastic time they are having…then this might be the blog for you. (Assuming that we’ll have a fantastic time….)

Three weeks without Ben will be fantastically difficult for me. It’s our longest stretch yet, and I’m trying not to think about it or I will wail. I’m focusing completely on sunshine and palm trees. And my wonderful parents, who we’re hoping will not be completely sick of us by the time we leave.

And now I will go pack.

Because it’s almost time for some of this…

One Less Person

Ben is gone for the week. He is up north with the Pursuit students on a missions trip.

Which means, one less person to clean up after.

One less person to cook for.

One less wardrobe’s worth of clothing to wash on laundry day.

One less side of the bed to make.

Too bad I don’t care about any of that stuff. I would rather just have him home!

Fall Canoe Ride

Yesterday was perfect and beautiful outside. I love fall. I think I’ve said that about 50 times in the last month.

And I really love canoeing, so when Ben told us that the Pursuit students were going canoeing, we decided that our family should tag along. It was a great afternoon. Until Kaylia refused to sit down in the canoe and proceeded to let everyone around the lake know that she did not want to, and then the peace and beauty was a little harder to notice.

But we’ll pretend that part didn’t happen. 🙂

(We’ll also pretend that the Pursuit students were not trying to drown a mouse while we were out there.)

See, if you focus on the positive, life is pretty much perfect…

Slowing Down to Really See

I read this post last week about slowing down to really see life. Loved it, and loved the quote by Helen Keller.

So now I’m passing it on to you, while I go get ready to teach a class for Pursuit (Red Rock Bible Camp’s discipleship program). Once again, I think God’s teaching the teacher more than the students. Share more on that with you later…

Mentor Me (Part 1): Embarking on a Journey

This week I get to begin three long-awaited friendships. There are some really amazing girls at camp for the year, participating in Red Rock Bible Camp’s discipleship program called Pursuit. Each time I heard that another girl was applying for Pursuit, my excitement grew in anticipation for all that we will experience in this coming year.

Ben is running the program, and for the most part, my role will be more behind-the-scenes:

• listening to all of Ben’s wildly creative and crazy ideas, and then helping him work out the details until the ideas actually become realistic and doable
• supporting Ben and trying to manage our family/home in the best way possible while he goes on various trips with the students throughout the year, the longest one being three weeks
• being available for anything that comes up, like running errands, having the students over, other things that I can’t think of because nothing has really happened yet but we’re just getting going!

While I’m really looking forward to being involved in whatever way Ben needs me to be, I am also really excited about the other stuff I’ll get to do: teaching and mentoring. Especially mentoring.

We have four students this first year, and since the majority of them are girls, I will get to do a lot of mentoring.

I am so excited. These girls are really amazing (go here to “meet” them), and I’m so looking forward to getting to know them.

With my role of “mentor” officially starting this next week, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be mentored. Yesterday morning, Ben and I came across a video about mentoring that got many thoughts swirling around in my head. I decided it might be a good thing to get them to stop swirling by writing them all out, and sharing some of them with all of you.

And so begins this little series called “Mentor Me”.

I once read that one of the best ways to encourage continual growth in the Christian life is to participate in two different mentoring relationships: being mentored, and being the mentor.

I don’t know how many Christians out there actually have both of these types of relationships – they are a gift, and sometimes seem hard to come across.

In the next few days, I want to share with you some of the things that I’m learning as I seek out both types of relationships in my life.

Here’s my list of topics:

Part 1: Embarking on a Journey

Part 2: Sharing Some Personal Stories

Part 3: So How Do I Find Myself a Mentor?

Part 4: Choosing a Victim

Part 5: What Do We Talk About Now?

Conclusion: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

So there you have it. This is for all of the amazing women who have mentored me, and all of the sweet girls who have allowed me to be part of their lives. You all mean so much to me!

See you tomorrow!

Random Pieces of My Life

We started homeschool today. Anika had been doing her school work for a total of maybe two minutes, when she sighed dramatically and said, “I can’t wait until spring, when I don’t have to do school anymore!”

Could be a long year?!

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We spent the last three days in the city with the Pursuit students. We’ve been staying at Ben’s parents’ house while Ben and the students took a wilderness survival first aid training course. Anika was in her glory, because she loves spending any time she can with the students, and Kaylia is slowly opening up to them, too. She did some great girl bonding with them while playing doll house…

Kaylia is well on her way to developing her split-personality skills. At home, she is the happiest, bubbliest, most talkative little girl ever, but when we go to the lodge, she is very quiet and serious, and says she is “scared” of people. I don’t quite know how to deal with this. It’s completely new territory. I have a new personality type to add to my parenting repertoire.

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I am having a garage sale today. Without a garage. I always said I would never have a garage sale. But I read a book this summer that changed my mind. Tell you all about it soon. It’s fantastic, other than the fact that it made me decide to have a garage sale.

Fortunately, I’m doing it with my friend (and soon-to-be camp neighbour!) Amanda, and we’ve decided that even if we sell nothing, we will still have a successful day of hanging out and eating snacks together.

Wish me luck!