Adventures With Mark, Sarah, Seth, Jodie & Megan: July 2013

Greetings everyone!

So here’s the scoop. This will be our final ‘Adventures’ newsletter. What a big change for us! Almost all of our married life (9 years this month, thank you very much!) we’ve been sending Adventure Updates which implies that there has been an adventure to update about all these 9 years! I guess that’s true. Life in Canada has also clearly been an adventure (we really should look at every day like that… it’s more interesting). Anyway… after this newsletter we will not dissolve our email address or the mailing list. We will send a Christmas letter via this account and you can reach us through this account as always.

So here’s the final report:

Ugandan impact: We still stay in touch with many friends and Ugandan acquaintances via email. I am not a Facebook-er but occasionally I need to get on it and Mark says, ‘Get ready…. You’ll be in several conversations in a few minutes’. Sure enough our Ugandan friends are Facebookers! Social media is amazing! We miss them so much and they are in our prayers daily. We hope to be able to impact Uganda for the rest of our lives. I am dreaming of a trip back there within this next year; Super expensive but very meaningful for our friends and for us. If we do go we will be loading our bags with stuff we know they could use… if that happens we’ll be letting you know so you can be involved if you want to!

Kids’ Corner: Seth, Jodie, and Megan (okay us too) are over the moon happy about the wonderful parks and trails in BC. It’s unreal! This summer has been so enjoyable for us. Uganda had beautiful weather but very little opportunity to get out and play in it without paying lots. We swam more in Uganda because that was affordable, but we missed play grounds, trails, and camping! We’re soaking it up now.

Jodie has begun to be a ‘girlie’ girl for the first time in her life. She’s still our tomboy and wrestles alongside Seth and daddy. But now she likes to wear dresses (sometimes), she wears jewelry occasionally and puts on her sparkly lipstick. She then asks us if she looks pretty. It used to be if we mentioned the word pretty she would take off whatever it was that caused us to think she was pretty. It’s kind of fun to watch.

Seth has shot up in the past few weeks. He stays in touch with his friends from school. They have play dates and water parties. He did well in French Immersion and we plan to keep him in that for first grade this September. (Jodie will enter French Immersion kindergarten too.) He’s reading very well now (in English). He’s a very good big brother. He keeps asking for a dog. Not gonna happen.

Megan is a little whip. She remembers the names of people she hasn’t seen for quite a while. She loves sign language and still uses it even though she can say all the words she can sign. She even has a ‘sign’ for daddy and our house mate John. For daddy she puts her hands on her hips/back like he does and sticks her tummy out…his favorite thinking pose. For Uncle John she crosses her arms over her chest… his favorite thinking pose. Very cute. She has a magnetic personality… though her ‘fire’ gets her in plenty of trouble. The kids are very good at playing with her and she’s starting to enjoy their games.

All three of them enjoyed VBS at a local church. They love dancing around the house to the songs they learned… they jack the CD as loud as I will let them. Meggie knows many of the actions and loves to shout ‘Hallelujah!’ when it comes to that part in the songs. Also ‘Holy, holy holy’ is one of her favorite lines.

Canadian realities: Mark has owned a VW Jetta that he bought brand new in 1998. A few weeks ago someone pulled out in front of him and the car was totalled. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt but it was very sad to lose the car. The other guy was at fault so his insurance had to cover it. Thankfully God had provided a van for us (thank you J, C, C, M, E, and S!!!!) so we still have one set of wheels but we are back to the inconvenience of one vehicle. This will definitely not work for the fall as Mark is working a few days a week in sales for some friends here in town and he may be going on full time with them in September. We will need another set of wheels then but continue to trust God for his provision along this transitional journey. I would not say Mark is ‘in a groove’ but he is definitely good at sales and some added income is very helpful. My reflexology is still helping out and of course summer is quieter but that has been okay.

On an exciting note Mark had a chance to take Jodie out on a father daughter date for her preschool father’s day party. He could not resist the opportunity and wanted to make sure he was the first one to give Princess Jodie some roses. It was a special moment for Jodie but one that Mark will cherish forever.

Another big change (and stress at the moment) is that we are looking into possibly selling our house and moving. We have shared the living space with John all these years on our trips home and he has cared for the house very well in our absences. However, now our house is overcrowded and there needs to be a change. That has been a prayer concern for us. We like where we are but may not be able to afford to stay here.

So, our news is less adventurous. But we feel just as stretched as we were in Uganda. That’s life right? Even as we finish sending updates about Uganda we ask that you keep those people in your prayers. Maybe you knew of specific people through visiting us or through emails. Or maybe you have always prayed for the school, students, and staff. Please keep doing those things! It makes a difference!

So, we hope the rest of your summer is lovely! You will get a newsletter from us at Christmas time and you’ll hear from us in emails as you stay in touch and the Lord brings you to mind. We just want to thank you one more time for the years of love, support, prayers, encouragement, and strength you sent on behalf of our family and those we love in Uganda. May God richly bless you for that! As we move forward in our Canadian adventure we would appreciate your continued prayers.