In Christ Alone our Hope is Found

So we are moving back to Ontario on June 24. The process of deciding which path to take was not an easy one. We had 4 options (ministry and education) on the table and one was especially heart wrenching to decline. I am wondering if it may be that the Lord is giving us a not yet, instead of a no. The Lord knows and we will leave it with Him. Ken has signed a contract at Providence Reformed Collegiate in Komoka. It is a community that Ken taught in for 8 years (1999-2007). It feels like going home in a way. Our hearts have always had such a soft spot for them. After we moved on from that school, I had trouble reading the newsletter that came in our church mailbox for a while because it made me ache a little. We loved them and are excited to go back. Ken will continue to preach. That chapter is not closed, it just looks different than we had imagined 4 years ago. It took some time, but we are very much at peace. We are exactly where the Lord wants us right now. We will follow Him and...

Today is the first day of almost done school. We finished the homeschool building on Friday and now it's time to relax a bit. Josh and Ken left for Washington DC for a class trip for the week, so I was up super early and my first thought was -BLOG! (: I have so many pictures to share.  Tessa was born on Tuesday and this was the Sunday before. I have never had such a big baby belly. I didn't really gain any weight. It was all in the baby. It's no wonder people asked at church that morning if I was still hanging in there. I was huge and didn't realize. My face has that ready to deliver look. Boy was I ready.  Smitten is the only appropriate word.  No so sure about this... Another Daddy's girl. He looks as tired as I was! (: First picture of the six.  Josh met her for the first time when we came home the next day.  This will always be one of my favouites. It shows her peanut size.  I left some stuff in my...

I am sitting here typing with a little squishy baby in a sling. We had our Tessa Jayne on Tuesday, March 29 at 11:40 am. The time has flown by and I have been meaning to do a 'great huge post', but it's just not going to happen. It will have to be a 'short ok post'! Some of these pics are cell phone pictures and not that great. But it gives you an idea of who she is. My friend Joni came to visit yesterday and shot some super sweet pics of Tessa. I can't wait to see them and share them with you.  (: This is super fuzzy cell phone picture just after she was born. I love it even though it's fuzzy because of her nose. She does have a big nose (just like my brother haha), but it's so swollen here and I love the wrinkles on the bridge It makes me smile.   Hours after birth in our room. All dressed in clothes and cuddled up. Already at a few hours old she knew that she hated socks, hats and her arms swaddled. She must be a Van Dyk! (: Labor was good...

I was on facebook yesterday and one of my memories was that I blogged  this post called "One Year Later and Still Safe"  in 2011. It marked one year since Micah's lung surgery. (This is my favorite picture from that post. It was taken the night before Micah's surgery. They were so relaxed. It was a blessing for us in the face of the unknown. Just look at that little Micah and sweet Josiah. So melty  It's fun to compare this picture with the Micah and Josiah in the side bar. They have grown so much! (:  ) Post Edit: I just re-read my post. Often I find mistakes when I look with fresh eyes after I post something. (: As I was looking at this picture again, I was thinking about how old these boys were here. Micah had just turned 8 and Josiah was just turning 4 in the next month. That means that Natalie was Grace's age and was just going to turn 6 and Josh was almost 12, which is how old Natalie is now.  It sure gives me perspective and makes me think. Josh had...

IT"S MARCH 1!!!! That means a lot of things.. 1. It's Super Tuesday. Vote wisely Americans. Please. 2. The Blue Jays are playing their first spring training game. 3. The Lord willing, it's BABY month. 4. As of today I have health benefits here in the US that covers me and baby for the next few months. 5. SPRING is coming. 6. Josh is going to Guat. on Friday. I am 37 weeks tomorrow. This little sweetie is so close to joining our family and I am less at the stage of needing this baby out, but more of a place where I am just longing to meet this person. I have visions of changing little newborn diapers and feeling that little bum in my hands as it stretches when it wakes up. You know what yummy stretch I am talking about! (:  When Grace feels the babes moving around in my belly her eyes light up in amazement. But I keep thinking about how much bigger her eyes will be as she holds and watches this little one when it's outside my belly. I can't wait until Natal...

It's been 6 years since Micah relapsed. That day and the months following were days that we clung to the Lord in a way that I am not sure how to describe. It was also a time that the Lord drew near to us in a way that I sometimes long for.  When I think of Dec 7, 2009- March 2010 (and even into that next year), I think of it as a time that is set apart. In a way it was a time that our world stopped. I remembered that this day was coming this past Saturday and have been thinking about writing this post. Over the past days I have gone through my binder and read the emails I had sent out at that time to all of our pray-ers and it brought it back to me. It was not a time of sadness for me. Just a time of remembering. This morning when I was on facebook, my 'facebook memories' came up and a post that I had shared one year past Micah's relapse came up. I am going to share that one today. We are definitely through the storm and the sadness and darkness are far behind us....

The leaves are falling and the change of season is so refreshing. My little baby is now 21 weeks and I am just starting to feel some kicks and twirls and I just love that. I haven't been pregnant for quite some time and when I would see expecting ladies in the last years, it made me long to feel a baby kick just one more time. My longing has been fulfilled. I think as a woman, I may long for that feeling even when I am old. It just is. (: I had an ultrasound in Canada last Monday and we took 4 of the kids. Natalie was counting down the weeks for 10 weeks. Grace counted down the last 5 days. Last Friday morning she came to me in a high pitched, fevered voice. "3 MORE DAYS until we see the baby and I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!" My ultrasound was beautiful. The kids were just amazed and were tickled that we could find out what we are having. (It's a family secret. (wink). The older I get, the more of a miracle life is. The ultrasound date was Nov 9. That morning it dawned o...