We send Christmas blessings from our family to yours. It has certainly been a wonderful year full of changes. Once again we will publish this blog to share what the Lord has done in 2010 in our lives. For me the most exciting part was hosting and meeting so many incredible young people who are thirsty for more of the Lord in today's world.
I can't believe our big girl turned 14 in January, so that means in less than a month from now she is now turning 15. Whoa! and such a beautiful young lady. Christian just turned 10 and is quite the young gentleman.
In February our highlight was the 2010 Winter Olympics. The torch came through Belcarra starting off at the park just 5 houses away. It was about 5:30 a.m. on a chilly February morning. Excitement filled the air and it felt very strange having the streets so crowded at that time of the morning. George McCrae was torch bearer from the end of the pier, he is one of our villages outstanding oldtimers.
We then went off for breakfast before school at our neighbour's home...yum pannakoeke. Two separate groups of company came to come stay with us during the Olympics, wonderful people and all total strangers before they arrived...well except for Shawn from Lethbridge. We completely fell in love with all of them, and hope they return. Angela (Redding CA) and her mom Ottie (Oklahoma) came to experience Vancouver and some events. They had a wonderful time, thank you to the Hall's for introducing us. Our second group was Shaun (Lethbridge), Blaire (Kansas City) and JJ (the big TO) they were here to do some work to do with human trafficking during the Olympics. They were able to connect with Lynwood House and The Great Room on east Hastings to raise more of an awareness and work towards ending human trafficking .Blaire is a gem of a sister to have and we hope to connect with her one day in Kansas City. I couldn't quite acquire her taste for Starbucks with a 5 shot Miso (I think that is what it was!!!) JJ and Shawn were wonderful big brothers to both Christine and Christian. We miss them all so much but are thankful for the internet :) JJ blessed us with his music and singing abilities and we actually were able to sneak him back during the summer.
Vancouver was actually experiencing wonderful sunny February weather, great for the tourists, not so great for the Winter Olympics. The upside for us was treating Blaire and JJ with a boat ride over to Boulder Island.
In March we took our annual Spring trip to Palm Springs... and were blessed with great weather and fun times with friends. Christine had a blast on our last night with a Bunko Party with about 30 other teens at the home of our dear friends the Hockings. It is such a blessing to get out and pretty much every day do some school, ride bikes, play some tennis and maybe even get in a hike!! This time I was feeling very spoiled indeed.
It was a bit harder for Christine being 14 and away from your friends at home isn't the easiest. It was very special that Daniel and Sara Zopoula came to see us with their adorable kids. It had been far too long since we had seen Sara and the kids. Daniel comes to see us in Belcarra several times a year and he is such a blessing, but spending a sunny relaxing holiday with his kids and wife was fantastic. It was a great break for Daniel who is very busy pastoring and ministering in Africa. I found this incredible blog post that decribes Daniel. We have been blessed to know Daniel pretty much from when he arrived in Canada as a young student.
http://lpirg.blogspot.com/2007/10/his-story-is-tears.html
Shortly after we arrived home in April we attended the graduation at PLBC. Some of our favourite people go there, and our semi=adopted daughter Kirsi from Finland. She finished her first year and is back again taking the counselling course. It is an amazing Bible College and each time I visit a little part of me yearns to be in school again.
Then it was off to several different events. FM419 was with Billy Graham and the youth did discipleship training and community service work. It was a lot of fun going to Surrey to pick up garbage and I even got to have a short visit with my brothers Rob and Rod. That day ended with a super concert at People's Church in Surrey.
We then spent another day wearing those bright green Street Team shirts clearing the grounds at a local skate park. It was a blistery hot day...yup blisters on most everyone's hands. We ended the day with several youth and leaders coming back to our place for some water fun!
The summer months brought tons of fun. Christine worked about 3 days a week babysitting (and making some serious money) Christian learned to sail with Jayden Potter after our friends the MacLeod's brought back the sailboat Don (and his kids) had worked on so meticulously to restore. I was kind of freaked out watching the boat almost tip and had to go and check on them (Jayden is a very experienced sailor and risk taker...Christian had never sailed and was skippering). Well Christian was in his glory having fun..no matter they were bailing like crazy and the boat nearly capsized a couple of times. Good thing (or was it good?) I could watch it all from the patio.
We were blessed to host two wonderful Australian families who are currently living in California and attending Bethel. The Harvey's and VanTinterin's and there wonderful young children filled the home with joy, laughter music and Australian accents. Oh never mind the yummy food!!! Thanks again mates for the lovely meal and introducing us to lemon sugar on pancakes. Their children had a blast at the beach checking out the sea creatures. I must say my favourite time was the music...thank you Rebekah. That was a treat you helping move our family and Cam into the prophetic. Yes, to hear the voice of the Lord and share that, what a true eternal 'real' blessing. Just before the July 1st weekend the Ortloffs from Oregon came to stay with us. That was an amazing time of family fun. It was so good to reconnect with them. Christine and Christian had great fun with their dear friends. We made a trip to Fort Langley for Canada day celebrations. So they got a taste of a tiny bit of patriotism, we Canadians don't do it nearly as well as the Americans.
Then we were treated with a visit from our dear friends the Halls from Kansas City to stay with us along with their 'adopted' sons Ezekiel and Daniel. They were on a ministry trip across the U.S. and into Canada. What precious time together. I chatted with Marion regarding the publishing of her book "Joshua Clay". They love to minster and share the heart of the No Not This One ministry which is key in helping to stop women from having an abortion. We all had a marvelous time of prophetic worship. I love when our home is filled with music reaching the throne of the Father! All of the kids (all 7 of the Halls) had a marvelous time on the water and a favourite was trying the standup board! It is a blessing to share our home with people whose hearts and lives are surrendered to serving the Lord. We were a bit sad that Kurt and AnnaJoy could not make the trip with them. On August 8th was a huge outreach concert called Rock the River. It was truly amazing and I was pleasantly surprised that the music of Skillet kind of grows on you. Just before school went back we had JJ return with Cory, Joshua and Branden and our dear friend Todd from Langley came to stay as well. I must say whether we have families stay, or young adults with a passion for life it is glorious having a full house. Christine and Christian both liked having big brothers, even those who keep you up at night singing the Double rainbow song!! Those young men have a vision for seeing the hand of God move across our nation of Canada! They have been very involved in 4MyCanada. Peter is always so adaptable when our house is full, and loves to shop for the food and make sure everyone is well fed for. He also appreciates the male fellowship and challenging discussions.
Maria is now living between Delta and Burnaby, but is going to be moving to the Coquitlam area in the near future. Her and Richard took a wonderful trip to California. She also began working for Lynwood House which reaches out to street workers. She mostly works out of her home and was blessed to make a trip to Gibsons to Lynwood House. Here is the website
http://linwoodhouse.blogspot.com/
September brought the biggest change, Christine is now attending High School and loves it. We are happy for her, but home sure seems different with her gone, a certain emptiness during the day. Christian and I have more focused time and can take off to do activities he finds fun. His favourite has been going to the gym and hanging out with friends, using the gymnastics equipment. Just a few weeks ago Peter left for his first father son trip to California. They are actually there now enjoying the sunny dry weather as I listen to the rain pounding outside. Brrr. For now I have time to write this letter, paint and clean as we get ready for Christmas. Christine and I put up the tree last night, while Peter and Christian went for a bike ride and sat in the hot tub! Life is good.
I have really missed spending time with our dear friends Michael and Shari and kids. We did get to squeeze in a few short visits to the Ragamuffin Farm. Plus some of the kids (and Sheri and Teresa my treat) came up for the Do Hard Things Conference. However, they have been very busy working on their Joshua Clay project. Yes, the original Story is Marion Halls, but they are making it into a movie and/or series. They have been very busy and fully into production and the most recent trailer should be posted soon. You will enjoy checking out what has happened thus far. We are praying this is released giving glory to God.
http://joshuaclay.blogspot.com/We look forward to Christmas and seeing family, which we have not been able to do much of this year. A highlight of Christmas is feeding the homeless. It is an amazing time and for myself and Peter definitely feels more like what Christmas should be about. I think this year we get to help at a meal on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day. Grace Church in Port Coquitlam is open pretty much all day Christmas Day with movies, treats and carols until dinner being served in the evening. After we have finished there, we will go to see my family at Danita's home.
It really has been a year of growth and seeing more closely how important it is to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. I was treated with attending the Foursquare Conference and came away with many wonderful new friendships, renewed acquaintances. I am just about finished reading Chris Jordan's book Supernatural. A super read.
Much love to all of you.
May the peace of Jesus permeate your heart, home and life. May the truth of Christmas be real every day of your life.
Love,
Peter, Deb, Christine and Christian
There's always shmore next year!!!!!!!!!!!!
