Quebec City Trip in Pictures

Here are some photos from our recent trip to Quebec City, just a sampling of the hundreds of shots we took. Quebec City is sooooo beautiful, very historical, lots of character and culture. Glad we went!


In front of the Quebec Provincial Parliament building...


Huge fountain in front of the Parliament building...


Walking ON TOP of the Fortifications... reminded us of the Bible story of Gideon and the Walls of Jericho!!!


We saw A LOT of canons during our trip... my son was thrilled!


In the Lower City, outside the Fortifications --- Cote de Champlain.


An antique canon ball stuck in the tree's roots --- very cool!


At Canyon Ste-Anne. See that bridge on top? We had to CROSS IT!!!


Still at Canyon Ste-Anne; never seen anything like it! I must say it's a lot nicer than Niagara Falls.


Outside the Citadel doors. We had a tour of the Governor General's other official residence inside the Citadel (her other official residence is Rideau Hall in Ottawa)...unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside!


A side trip to Ottawa, on the way home, to see the second newest Leeanueva addition --- Baby Jonah. Baby Jordan is now the newest Leeanueva addition. There are babies everywhere... I feel old!


Three of the five Leeanueva sisters (missing two Lee sisters!) with Baby Jonah.

First Place in Triple Jump

Today was the Area Meet for Track and Field where my daughter placed FIRST in the Triple Jump event. I am one proud mama!!! She is off to the Regional Meet next...so exciting. This is her very first time going to the Area Meet and I must say she did awesome!!!

Our Stories

The words from the song Here I Am by the band Downhere has really struck me. The song has been replaying in my head over and over again these few days! There are a few lines in the chorus that has come to mean so much more to me as I process them:

Here I am, Lord send me. Somehow my story is a part of Your plan. Here I am.

For me, the thought that keeps coming back is that it isn't my story that will count... it's THE story that God writes for my life that really counts! Am I willing to let HIM write it??? It really is something easier said than done, if you really think about it.

Related to these thoughts... the book The Shack --- something so simple as a life story the author writes as a gift to his children becoming a powerful best-seller! Now, that's a story only God can write. I know that there are people on both sides of this book, either agreeing with it or disagreeing with it. Regardless of what one's view is about the book... there is no denying that this book has opened up so much more conversations about God and faith among people who wouldn't normally talk about such things. I think that is awesome!

For example, the author William Paul Young was recently interviewed on CBC by The Hour's George Stroumboulopoulos. Who would've thought --- an author talking about Jesus being The Word on CBC!

Another thing related to these thoughts... a blog post I read yesterday entitled A Story Bigger Than You and Me. Now, only God would let me bump into a blog post with a title like that at a time when I am processing thoughts about what it means to let HIM write THE story for me. The blog author writes a prayer at the end of the blog post that really gripped me. Here it is:

God, give me a story only YOU can write. Whatever that looks like or what it accomplishes is up to YOU. But give me (and our community) a story that only YOU can write.

I say AMEN!

Quite The Week...

It's turning out to be quite the week for my extended family. Today, actually right now as I type this blog post, my brother-in-law is in a 6-hour surgery to remove the cancer in his nasal cavity. This past few months have been quite the journey for my middle sister and him. Through it all, we can still say --- God is good, all the time!

 

And, amidst it all --- a celebration of new life! My newest nephew, Baby D. Jordan, was born yesterday to my youngest sister! 

We drove home from our trip, dropped by our house to freshen up a bit, and literally drove across the City of Toronto, to the other side of town, to see the newest member of my side of the family --- just in time before visiting hours were over at the hospital! 

Welcome to this world, little one!

There In Grace

Yesterday at church our Pastor talked about two women, Deborah and Jael, during his Mother's Day message. These two women played significant roles in the story that can be found in the fourth chapter of the Book of Judges. Our Pastor called them dangerous women --- women who weren't afraid to be dangerous for God! It made me think of this quote I saw on Facebook! I really like it. :-) 

He went on to say that it would be awesome if our churches today are filled with this type of dangerous women! Interestingly enough, the night before I kept hubby up past midnight because I was in one of my "think aloud moods" when I basically ramble and talk out my thoughts... to release thoughts that have been cluttering my brain for a while, bothering me and making me restless! Picture my hubby... sitting there looking confused... thinking to himself: Where is all this coming from?!? 

My "think aloud" topic was that I am no longer satisfied with being just mediocre where God's work is concerned. There must be more that we can do to help the local church grow; to motivate God's people to do more for His Kingdom; to see people find God. My point was that we should be doing more as evidenced by the lack of fruit... what more can we do??? There must be more to it than what is before our eyes... I want to be dangerous for God... as what was prayed over us as a church planting team when we were commissioned by our parent church at the start. 

These "think aloud" topics of mine don't happen often... but when they do, they consume me. I woke up Sunday morning and the conversation with hubby was still fresh on my mind... to be quite honest, I felt like I'm failing... because I'm not doing the best I can with what God has entrusted to us in this church plant. This song kept ringing in my head, which is the verse found in Psalm 73:26:

My heart and my flesh. Many times they fail. But there is one truth that always will prevail. God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Then, we went to church... then, we sat down to hear our Pastor's message... then, he spoke about dangerous women. Coincidence? I think not! 

The thing is... towards the end of his message, he named women in the congregation by name and said a "little blurb" about each one as an encouragement. What he said about me brought tears to my eyes (remember, I am not an emotional person!). Why the tears? Because I kept thinking in my head: Who is that woman he is describing?... I don't deserve all that he is saying about me... I want to become a dangerous woman... I am not one yet!... It was a moment of mixed emotions. 

I came home to reflect on the morning's message and this is where my blog post title comes in... there in grace. It is there, in God's grace, that we live. Extravagant grace so undeserved. In spite of our failings and our brokenness, He still thinks the best of us. When I don't feel like I've given Him enough, grace is right there. Grace to see us through until that glorious day when we are all victorious!

I like that! Now, enough with blogging and on to tackling this week... grace is waiting!

Mother's Day Poem

It is Mother's Day!

My son brought a poem home from school on Friday to give to me for Mother's Day... complete with a plant he grew from seed, a Scarlet Bean Pole, for my garden. My daughter gave me an artwork she designed by melting crayon shavings with a flat iron... quite lovely! Fellow mommies... cherish those handmade crafts that come home from school... they come home less and less as the children grow older!

I have never come across the poem my son gave me before and I thought it is quite neat. Here it is:

My Mother Kept A Garden

My Mother kept a garden,
A garden of the heart,
She planted all the good things
That gave my life its start.

She turned me to the sunshine
And encouraged me to dream,
Fostering and nurturing
The seeds of self-esteem...

And when the wind and rain came,
She protected me enough ---
But not too much because she knew
I'd need to stand up strong and tough.

Her constant good example
Always taught me right from wrong ---
Markers for my pathway
That will last a lifetime long.

I am my Mother's garden.
I am her legacy ---
And I hope today she feels the love
Reflected back from me.

Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow mommies!

The Most Important Place On Earth, Part 3

A little bit more on the book I'm still-not-finished reading, The Most Important Place On Earth: What a Christian Home Looks Like and How to Build One by Robert Wolgemuth. I think this will be the last post on it as I'm almost done reading it. All in all, a good read!

From Chapter 8: Discipline Is Not A Dirty Word... It's the stuff of champions.

In a Christian home, everyone --- mom and dad included --- understands that the forces keeping us from self-discipline are powerful. We don't default to submission to God's Word and right living. Like a magnet near a pile of metal shavings, our sinful natures tug and pull and draw us away from what we know is pure and right and good. But just in case you need one more shot of encouragement, listen to this: "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9 ESV).

When all is said and done, your Christian home is a place where discipline, external and internal, is standard fare; where there are no apologies for strictness and hard work; where expectations for obedience are very high. Sowing acts of discipline creates a harvest of self-discipline. It's the stuff of champions.

From Chapter 9: Safe At Home... The refuge you're looking for.

Safety at home is what happens between the comings and the goings. It involves the way we treat each other... honour each other. It needs to be a safe place to tell the truth; when it comes to whose side you're on, your kids should never have any doubt; it should be a safe place to make mistakes; a safe place to ask anything, even questions about the unthinkable are acceptable; a place where people always think the best of each other; a shelter in the neighbourhood; the refuge you're looking for!

From Chapter 10: Parents As Priests: Pulpits Optional... Mom and Dad, why the robes?

Your Christian home is the most important church on earth. A Christian home; Dad and Mom, priests; worship services daily --- to bring our families to God's holy throne... with confession of sins, teaching, prayer, and song.

Angel Wars: The Messengers

A new Christian bookstore opened up in our area this past weekend. We went to check it out! Lo and behold, on the children's DVD display was the newest Angel Wars film, The Messengers. The look on my son's face said it all --- "Can we get it, Mom?" --- and we did! We came home and spent part of Saturday afternoon watching it together as a family. 

I decided that it wasn't going to benefit me much, after all it's a boy-kind-of-movie (you know, the Star Wars kind)... in the end, I was surprised at how much it actually did speak to me. God never ceases to surprise me, I tell ya! In a nutshell, this is the story (summary taken from the DVD cover):

In a city of darkness, they are the light. It is the adventure of two young angel warriors (Kira and Eli) in the battle between the forces of good and evil. Faced with the responsibility of delivering hope to a lost city, they must learn to work together to drive back the soldiers of darkness and grow into the warriors they are destined to become.

There were a couple of things God wanted to remind me of through this film:

1. When HOPE is delivered to a lost city, the forces of evil (demons) scatter. They run away. God was telling me that we are on the right track with the church plant's vision --- to be an indispensable channel of HOPE and help to the families of Pickering, Durham Region and beyond!

2. One line in the movie jumped out at me --- "nothing worth fighting for is ever easy" --- and it moved me to tears, it is so true! Church planting, we have since realized, is HARD WORK --- physically, emotionally, spiritually challenging. At the same time, it is because of the challenge that we are stretched and we GROW. God was reminding me of that truth through this film.

So, it was a good buy --- I totally recommend it to young and old alike. Okay, maybe not for kids younger than 6!!!

The Most Important Place On Earth, Part 2

Here's more on the book I'm reading, The Most Important Place On Earth: What a Christian Home Looks Like and How to Build One by Robert Wolgemuth.

From Chapter 5: The Power of Words... Real bullets at home; and from Chapter 6: The Power of Words, Part II... The Family Vitamins.

Your home --- must be a place of true words. Accurate words. Your home has to be a place where people treat words as valuable and precious... and they must speak them precisely. Broken promises and treating words as worthless are no laughing matter. Failure to use words to speak truth has brought people plenty of anguish. Treat words as what they are: treasures. Each one spoken must be true. Thoughtful. Precise. The children in your Christian home need to experience the great gift of learning how to use - and treasure - words this way. They need to understand, from your example, that words are not blanks. They're not simple noise. Spoken words are powerful. They have consequences. Their impact is mighty.

Words are vitamins you speak: potent phrases for you and your family. Vitamin #1: I love you. Vitamin #2: I need your love. Vitamin #3: I'm sorry; I was wrong. Will you please forgive me? Vitamin #4: May I Help? Vitamin #5: Thank you.

From Chapter 7: Just For Laughs... The best medicine of all.

The most important place on earth must include this magic elixir. Rules for laughter: laugh at yourself; have homemade laughter; laugh with your kids, never at them; sarcastic humor and cynicism are poison.

A few more chapters to go... off to read some more.

The Most Important Place On Earth

I am currently reading the book The Most Important Place On Earth: What A Christian Home Looks Like and How To Build One by Robert Wolgemuth.

Here are some things that stood out for me:

From Chapter 2: A God Place... God lives in your home. What does this mean?

From the time children are small, they need to hear you say something like, "Wow, would you look at that sunset? God is such a great artist!" Or you can stop to watch ants following each other in a continuous single-file parade along the sidewalk: "Can you believe that God gave these little critters the ability to follow each other to the food? Isn't He amazing?" In our home, we didn't belabor the point and try to draw some three-point conclusion or recite a Bible verse; we just left it at that. Our children and yours can get the idea that God is a part of our lives when we mention Him in everyday conversation.

From Chapter 3: The Most Important People In The Most Important Place... What's it like to walk into your home?

This parenting thing is serious business, and there's no one on earth in a better position - or better qualified - than you and me to do it right. What good is it if the most important person in the world walks into an empty house? If there is a way for either one of you to be there with your children when they're small... to be home when your kids' feet cross the threshold... then do it. You do not get a do-over.

When our Missy was in third grade, her teacher asked the students what their favourite thing was about their mothers. Missy could have mentioned a number of wonderful things that my wife had done for her. But when it was her turn, she told her class that the best thing about her mother was "When I come home from school, my Mom says 'Hi, Missy.'" The daunting list of sacrifices, favorite toys bought, school room-mother activites, and homemade Halloween costumes didn't make it to the number-one spot. It was just "Hi, Missy." See what counts to your child? It's your presence. That doesn't sound too complicated, does it?

From Chapter 4: Amazing Grace... It's what sets your home apart.

In a Christian home there's something special. It's called grace. Grace is the one thing that sets your home apart from all the rest. A Christian home is a place adorned by people of grace. It's a place where grace is conspicuous, a place where the "scoreboard" that compares a stellar performance to a substandard one is unplugged. Fill your Christian home - the most important place on earth - with repentance and forgiveness, gratitude, tenderness, and generosity. Amazing grace.

Truly words of wisdom... now, on to reading more of the book.