in pieces

In Love...

2011-12-17T14:34:00.005+11:00

I have fallen in love... again and again and again...

I'm so thankful for mom and dad being here to help me out as well...

I had my final check up with the obstetrician this week, and it was kind of sad to say goodbye. It was such an "involved" pregnancy that I believe we made friends. The high level of anxiety surrounding the pregnancy increased our bond. It was amazing to hear him utter the words... "there must have been some sort of divine intervention" which I of course assured him, there was! I told him about the people who had been praying for us all around the world, and I hoped this journey was a part of changing his life - in drawing him closer to God. He smiled and I could see a glimpse of relief mixed with joy for the outcome of this pregnancy. The more I talked with him and the other surgeons, the more I realized what a miracle it is to have Levi and Malakai here. And I am so in love with these boys....so so so in love... that I can't even believe it's possible to love 2 little people so much!

Happy 30th Leigh!

2011-10-18T08:49:00.003+11:00

As Leigh turned the big 3-0 this week, I wanted to do something really special for him, especially because of all the things he's been doing for me! Of course being 34 weeks pregnant makes it difficult to plan anything big, which is just as well, as he never wanted to have a huge party anyway. However we did manage to have a surprise b'day lunch on Sunday - and his entire family (and a few others) were able to be with him to celebrate. It was so wonderful to have the whole family together again. We started at Lazy Moe's where the quantities of food overwhelm you...

Following lunch, we gathered at Ross and Carlene's for cake and presents. Carlene made an incredible mud cake which I have to admit I tried...twice.

We were able to surprise Leigh with a gift voucher from a bunch of his friends and family from all over the world, for RED BALLOON, which is a website that allows you to pick from a wide variety of FUN experiences. Some examples include sky diving, scuba diving, rally car driving, cooking classes, etc... He really loved this gift, and looks like he is leaning towards scuba diving.

He also got an Apple TV, some Chimay Blue beer, and he happened to get his iPhone 4S this week as well, so we'll just add that to the list!

Leigh is such an amazing husband/father/brother/son/friend/man. And to continue to honour him for his birthday, I thought I'd write a list of 30 things I love about him!

30 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT LEIGH...

1. His family and how he loves them
2. His love for food especially authentic ethnic cuisine!
3. His heart for missions
4. How hard working he is
5. How he's always in a good mood.
6. How he embraces his inability to sing and sings off-key with his whole heart.
7. Playing music alongside of him while he is drumming.
8. His passion for apple products
9. How great of a listener he is
10. How he won't change to be what society thinks he should be
11. That he's adventurous and spontaneous.
12. His heart to invest in young people (esp. men) and be a part of discipling them to love Jesus.
13. How he loves to play with children for hours on end, and how children love him!
14. How he'll just sit and ponder things for awhile, and then open his mouth and say something profound.
15. How he loves sports and is passionate about "his" teams.
16. That he's a go-to guy and before he's asked, will look to help anyone out in need.
17. That he is purposeful in living his life out with integrity.
18. That he is not arrogant, rude, cocky or self-centred.
19. He does what he says he'll do. (eg. decided to be a vegetarian at 4yrs old and stuck to it for 16 years!)
20. I can tell him anything about myself, and it doesn't change how he thinks of me.
21. That he can stand up to me when we disagree but will also acknowledge if he is in the wrong.
22. That he loves to road trip just as much as I do!
23. That he aims for quality
24. That he's willing to try new things
25. His leadership skills
26. That he loves working with dirt- enjoys mowing the lawn and growing plants
27. That he loves to cook and bake
28. How he loves me...
29. His stubborn loyalty to God's call in His life.
30. How amazing of a dad he's already been to all of our children.

Enter His Gates With Thanksgiving!

2011-10-09T18:14:00.005+11:00

Eating turkey with my Aussie family!

There hasn't been a whole lot of things I've really missed from Canada by living here in Australia, other than my Canadian family and friends. But one thing I have found that I have missed a lot is Thanksgiving weekend. It is such a wonderful tradition - a weekend of family and eating, as well as remembering to thank God for the bountiful harvest (which I decipher as the good things in our lives).

When Thanksgiving rolls around, I'm often reminded of Psalm 100.

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
² Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

During Moses' leadership in the 40 years of wandering in the desert, the Israelites built a tabernacle (a sanctuary). This was a place God chose to meet with His people. The layout of the tabernacle is specific as it illustrates God's way for man to approach Him face to face (in the Holy of Holies) through 7 components. Today we can still use these 7 components as keys in how to approach God. The first component is the entrance gate...

As I think about Thanksgiving, I remember the verse in Psalm 100 that says "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise". And I think about coming before God with a heart of gratefulness, while having praise on my lips.

Leigh's heart of gratefulness often centres around food.

Today, in a world where there is so much hardship and tragedy, it can be difficult sometimes to have a heart of thanksgiving and praise. But imagine wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years, trying to be thankful in that situation! We truly have lots to be thankful for, and sometimes it is just good to be reminded that God has blessed us immensely, and to credit Him for His faithfulness to us.

During a particularly difficult time, while living in Vancouver, I used to write down what I was thankful for so that I could be reminded day after day. It's amazing how quickly we forget when things are hard, and how justified we feel in our frustration when things aren't turning out the way we expect. We begin to complain, and look to God as the one who could have done more, rather than the One who has sat beside us as we go through our pain. We can't eradicate pain in a world like today, but we can see how it shapes us, and how it builds our character.

There is something amazing that breaks in your heart when you observe someone overcoming hardship and using it for good, especially a hardship that was out of their control. And I have been blessed enough to be a part of such experiences before. The feeling of amazement doesn't come when you hear complaints about their hardship - because you know it's awful for them and you feel terrible for them too, but the awe comes when you see them take their difficulty and choose to make themselves even stronger through it - seeing them walk through it and eventually come to a place of rejoicing on the other side.

So today as I process through this Canadian holiday again, I want to look past my hardships, and choose to enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, and enter His courts with praise!

Thank you Lord that you are in my life! And thank you for all that You've given me. Thank you for my children, and thank you for my family and friends. I am truly grateful that I have such a wonderful house to live in, a myriad of clothing, and food on the table everyday. But today, dear Lord, I am most grateful for pumpkin pie - oh yum yum. Thank you Lord!

Mmmmmm pumpkin pie!