Trust the process!

Trust the process... 

James 4:2

About a month ago my little leader was preparing to go on a field trip with her class. She insisted I come along with her class as a chaperone. Before I agreed I asked a few key questions. Where was the trip? What would we be doing? And how long was the trip?  She told me they would be headed downtown...(okay not so bad, they have some incredible pizza and ice cream joints down there.) Then she chimed in and interrupted my daydreaming moment in a very loud voice and said, 'We will be studying structures!' I'm sorry, structures?!? Do I look like a mom who would be interested in that? I immediately said, ''No! I am not going to look at structures!'' My husband, who was standing beside  me, said "Oh, mom would love to go'. I said 'No way, I do NOT want to go look at structures!' To make matters worse what she thought would sell me, almost made me collapse on the floor. She said, "It'll be fun Mom! We get to take the city bus!" WHAAATTTT....the bus?!!  Her excitement had me believing she'd mistaken the city bus for a limousine. But in her defense being able to travel with your favourite parent (wink wink), classmates, and your favourite teacher to the heart of the city was pretty exciting! So, because of her excitement I reluctantly said, "Yes.''

It was a fantastic day. The sun was shining for what felt like the first time in 4 months. So, while the children studied structures the parents assisted with questions and soaked in the sun. My daughter had talked about this trip for weeks and how she was going to meet the mayor. She prays for him nightly and for the other MP's and leaders in London, and in Canada. She has a heart for government and to cover those who make decisions for all us. She made sure her iPod was charged so she could get a picture with him. (As I assessed the number of students and chaperones, I thought she'd be lucky if we could identify her in the big group photo.) When we got to City Hall we studied the building and then the class was escorted up to his office. The children were excited to meet the Mayor of London.  His assistant came out and apologized, he was out of the office. Seeing as City Hall wasn't our last stop, we left to check out a few more structures and then ventured back to City Hall to see if he was back in the office yet. Again, we missed him. I could tell by my littles ones face, she was very disappointed. We had missed the mayor, the very thing she had talked about and desired to do for weeks. As a class we headed to the park and waited for the bus to take us home.  I looked over and saw my daughter slumped under the trees so I went and asked her what was wrong. She said, 'It's the worst day ever. I didn't get to see Uncle Craig, and I didn't get to meet the Mayor or get a picture with him. God didn't answer my prayer.' I didn't know how to respond, so I said what every mother of faith would say, 'Ummmm...you have to trust God, we don't know why he wasn't here today, maybe he was helping someone or had somewhere else to be. Maybe you'll be able to meet him another time.' My answer did not console her, she was visibly (she wears her emotions well) upset.

Well, not even 6 hours later I received a message. The Mayor had asked me to schedule my daughter in for an appointment. WHAT?! Yes, praise the Lord!  The Lord knew the desires of this little ones heart. A few weeks went by and finally yesterday she had the opportunity to meet the vary man she prays for daily. She had worked hard into the wee hours of the night creating a book for him and had picked out the perfect gift for a special leader.

Before going into the office we gathered on the sidewalk  and prayed that she would have courage and boldness to ask the questions she has been desiring to ask him. We also prayed that she would have a peace so she could enjoy the time with him that she'd prayed for.  He was so welcoming, gentle and
humble. Our Mayor definitely showed and recognizes the great responsibility he carries in making tough decisions in this great city. He loved and laughed at the creativity in her storybook. He was patient and made sure she understood his answers when she asked her list long page of questions. It was as if the two of them were the only two in the room. And me, I got to witness something so precious. 

It's so hard to trust the process when it seems the desires of our heart are crushed. When we learn to trust the process we begin to see that God hasn't abandoned us, He just sees a much bigger picture than we do. It's amazing when God answers the desires of your heart, and it's equally if not more amazing to witness the Lord answering the desires of your children's heart. Our little leader had asked the Lord to make a way and He did. She was so disappointed and frustrated when it didn't look like what she thought, but she didn't realize God was customizing something so much bigger than she could have imagined.  She was able to sit in the Mayor's office and interview him, one on one. She was able to sit in his chair and use his gavel. She was able to bless him with an plaque and a precious card that lists all things God thinks about him, and more importantly she was able to write in and bless him with his own bible, what an honour. God used her as a mouthpiece. Not her father, not her mother, not her teacher.  Her, a nine year old girl. 

I continually remind myself that we have not because we ask not. When we ask and it looks as though everything is failing, when it looks as though God has forgotten or not heard the cries of our heart, we need to trust that He's at work behind the scenes. His ways are higher than our ways. We will go through disappointment and we will be let down, but in those times we have to trust that our Father knows best and that He's in control and working things out. Greater things than we could have ever imagined! TRUST THE PROCESS!  

Perfectly Imperfect....

There's so many ways to describe families. Fun, loving, crazy, hardworking, God fearing, athletic, brilliant, talented and the list goes on. How would I describe ours? 

Oh boy, there's so many words that could be used. Way to many stories, moments and qualities to just limit it to one word....so I'll say we're perfectly imperfect!

I love my family. I love everything about them.  My husband is my best friend, my bestie, my BFF whatever you want to call it, that's him! Not sure if that's awesome or pathetic, or just awesomely pathetic, but I know I love him and am so thankful for him!  Our marriage is refreshing, and the best part about it, is it wasn't always this way. In the early years, if it was a gift, I wanted a full refund! 

It was nothing but a constant battle and eventually something had to give, something had to change. And after a few years it did. It started to change when we started to serve one another selflessly. When we did that, it unleashed the heart of the father at the very core of our relationship.

We have been blessed with five beautiful, healthy children and for that we are so grateful.  

I love that our children are all at different ages and going through different stages of life. Each one of our children are highly animated!  I love that at dinner each night our table erupts with excitement and stories that have us all laughing, crying and laughing until we're crying.

I repeatedly hear from people, "You have the perfect family!' 

Each time I hear that,  part of me agrees because I think they're unmatchable and perfect! But another part of me cringes. Years ago there was a season in my life when I felt inferior in comparison to another family, because I thought they were perfect. I started to compare our family with theirs and the comparison didn't empower me as a mom, it discouraged and crippled me.

 It wasn't until I was in the presence of this family on a more regular basis that I realized they too have real life issues, and struggles. Their children weren't perfect! They too needed to be guided, nurtured and disciplined.

What is a perfect family? One with no flaws, faults or outbursts? If so, that's not the perception I want people to have of our family.  We like other families have children who speak with more truth at times than one ever should. A perfect mom? Oh man, I sent my child commando to VBS this year without knowing it! 

I have four children to get out the door by 8am in order to catch the bus, can you even imagine the veins that buldge from my head in the morning as I realize the bus is around the corner the same member of our family (who shall remain namesless) has no boots on for the 64th day in a row?! We are definitely not perfect!

Moms I have two tidbits for you, the first one is : Don't compare, glean! Comparing will leave you feeling frustrated and like a failure. Gleaning will leave you feeling empowered and encouraged. Glean from those who have gone before you. Ask, enquire and learn from their mistakes and victories. 

Whether you have one child or fifteen, embrace them. Numbers don't make a great family, the unity and bond you have does! Invest, love and nurture the ones the Lord's entrusted you with. Make memories and be present. Learn, grow and become victorious together.

My second word to mama's is to use life lessons as teaching moments. Those stressful and exciting times you have during the daily grind, teach from them. 

What does that mean, what does that look like? Put handles on your words. Walk things out with them in a way that will cause them to always remember what you've imparted into them.

Here's a very recent precious teaching moment I did with our oldest son. Seeing as it's Valentine's Days in a few days, I had gone and picked up a couple dozen roses and other wild flowers and had arranged several small bouquets. 

When my son got home from school, he walked into a kitchen full of paper, twine, flower clippings and arrangements. 

He instantly asked what in the world I was doing. I said 'Hey, buddy, I've got something fun for us to do tonight! But first I need you to make a list of a few women that have made an impact on you!' Instantly he looked at me with his ever so unexcited eyes and said 'Oh no, Mom, what is this for?" haha. I was overly excited and said, 'Seeing as you don't have a valentine, I thought it would be fun for you to deliver flowers to these women'. 

He said 'No! No way! I don't want to do that!' To which I responded, "I know, and sometimes when we get married there's things we don't necessarily want to do, but we do it because we know it will bless our spouse.'' 

After he stared at me in a tone that only teen boys can stare at you in, he reluctantly agreed. Then said "Mom, this is going to be so awkward!" I said, "Yes, but it's going to be very awkward one day when you have to ask your girlfriends father for her hand in marriage.' 

Now he understood what I was saying. We were training him to be a gentleman and preparing him for the road ahead. After he loaded the flowers in the truck, we were on our way.  We went around to different homes that night blessing Grandmothers, and those who have invested into him. 

Did he say much? No, he said he told everyone I was training him to be a gentleman. ha!  This was a real life, awkward, fun, and funny teachable moment. Was it perfect? No! Was it funny? 

Oh you better believe it! Did it impart something into him? Yes. He saw the smiles, and the difference one bouquet of flowers and one small gesture can make in someones life.

 I was able to share that being a gentleman goes far beyond good intentions.

We have been given the awesome responsibility to love our spouses and to train our children. So instead of comparing with one another, lets vow to glean from one another. 

Let's ban together and strive for perfection, knowing that none of us have yet reached it. That we are all doing our best to be faithful in what He's called us to. Let's unite in purpose, heart and vision. 

Let's vow to do our part in building strong families, families that last! And let's link arms and encourage one another to raise Godly men and women who fear The Lord above fearing man.

Make New Friends...

Almost two weeks ago, I was having some quiet time before heading to work.  I prayed and asked The Lord to give me an obvious opportunity at work that day,  but not necessarily one that would have to painfully stretch me. As I thought of what I just said, I started laughing and then carried on my way.

Well, that afternoon I had what I consider an obvious opportunity! A few hours into my shift I had a mom come to me and enquire about some information. As we were conversing back and forth I heard a baby cry.  It clearly came from the direction of this mama, but there was definitely no baby in her arms. As I moved towards the cry I realized there was a precious baby boy swaddled on her back. Ohhhh, my heart melted! This boy was so precious! I patted and rubbed his back and we exchanged genuine smiles. I asked the mama where she was from and she responded, 'Rwanda'. As she said it, my eyes doubled in size! (I almost died.  I instantly wanted to hug her, to embrace her, to squish her, to lift her up and swing her around and ask 'If we could be BFF's?) Instantly I started speaking to her in Kinyarwandan. She was stunned and started laughing. We shared a few basic greetings back and forth in her native tongue as we both smiled from ear to ear. She asked how I knew Kinyarwandan, so  I was able to share with her about the mission work we do in her country and told her about the wonderful friends we've made there. This brief moment with her took me back to so many memories, so many living room prayers, visits and moments with our family in Rwanda. (We had received word earlier this week from our Pastor in Rwanda, that his daughter  had become very ill and was put into a coma. This girl is very near and dear to our hearts so was very hard and very sad for us to hear, but we kept faithfully praying for her healing!) Did God really send this women as a gift? A representative of a people group we love so much, yet feel so far from right now?  We talked for several moments, I then gave her my contact information and as quickly as she came, she was gone.

I came home from work that night and practically did a cartwheel through the front entrance and a back flip off the kitchen island where my family was standing. I completely interrupted every conversation taking place in the kitchen and started to share with them about my prayer and my newly found friend.

Over the next few days I thought about her often. I thought about being in a new country, a new culture, learning a new language, all alone.... just me and my children. Overwhelmed with emotion, I began to wonder if I truly understood bravery.   

We connected briefly over the next week, I wanted to hook up, to meet for coffee, to hang out...but I didn't want to push it. But after a conversation with 'My Erin', and although I know it's not proper to invite yourself over to someone's house, I did! Seeing as my invitation was so welcomed I pushed a little further and asked if I could bring my children too....aaannnnd since that too was so warmly received, I then asked if my husband could come as well! (Wink, wink!) She was eagerly receptive to everyone coming to visit that Saturday morning. 

Well you better believe first thing Saturday morning our youngest children rose early and did what all children do, they started with the questions! Yes, those questions!! "When are we going?" "How much longer until we leave?" "Can we go now?" I heard these questions repeatedly, so by 7am I had no choice but to jump out of bed and help them in their preparations. They coloured, they baked, they recited common rwandan greetings and they decorated a special gift for their soon to be new friends.

A few hours later the time came and we arrived at their home. The mama came to the entrance and greeted us.  She went straight for our youngest boy,  she scooped him up with a strong embrace and hugged him, swinging him back and forth. As she swung him, his legs dangled and swung back and forth beneath him. If you know Jamie and I at all, then you know when we saw this we died laughing knowing this was going to be a great visit! We all greeted one another with genuine hugs and godly affection and then the children ran off with their new friends.  We didn't overstay our welcome, although I'm sure it would have been embraced. It was such a beautiful morning. We prayed, ate, laughed, played and shared with one another.

I'm so thankful that God knows exactly what we need, when we need it. I'm so thankful for people, for diversity, for old friends and for the ability to always be stretched to make room for new ones. People and relationships are one of God's most precious gifts. And most of all, I'm so thankful that He hears even the smallest prayers and knows every desire of our heart.

Afterthought....

As I was thinking about this precious visit, I thought of how often we rob ourselves of awesome opportunities and so many deep friendships in exchange for a few quick 'likes', comments, or messages.' Because it's more comfortable... In this new era of 'social media' we've traded the deep relationships for surface ones. Sure, social media is great for so many things. It's great to stay in touch and to keep people up to speed....but why not slow down? Why not be more intentional. We can't become so comfortable creeping people and looking in from the outside that we forget what it's like to be on the inside. Social media will never trump physical touch and warm embraces. It can rob us of hearing the irreplacable sound of laughter, seeing the tears and hearing the quivering voice. It misses the unity and bond that's formed in breaking bread and fellowshipping with one another. Let's not let the opening of our laptops, rob us of the beauty and opportunity of opening our doors.

-h

Play Dough Recipe.... Cherish the tidbits!

There's only so many things that compare to the awesomeness of rolling over on a cold winters morning, grabbing your cell phone to shut off the alarm and seeing ''School is CANCELLED". Suddenly that warm cozy bed gets even cozier. Instead of running through the house like a wild woman waking children, packing lunches, grabbing mitts, gloves, hats and bags is a memory of days gone by....today new dreams are about to be birthed! Could I really lay in this cozy bed for 10, 20 maybe even 60 more minutes? No rushing and no where to be...I laid still. Do I dare to even open my eyes? Laying in fear that the littles may actually hear and wake to the sound of my eyelids separating! One by one over the next hour the three littles came in for a morning cuddle. I was so thankful for a slow, relaxing morning after a late night.

(Last night our oldest son had three friends stay the night. Who agrees to a school night sleepover?? This gal! He asked me in a moment of weakness...you know the ones where you aren't 100% in the conversation! Well... as it turns out it was a great night! What a great group of guys!! We were all sitting around the island around midnight when they realized it was most likely going to be a snow day, high fives went around the island and I sat there thinking....just my luck they probably knew this all along!! haha.. But honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better group of young men! I may have to do another trip to the grocery store and have the cat and the hat come clean the basement upon their departure but other than that and the strong smell of AXE things at the Paton residence are good!)

We woke up, threw the kettle on, lit up the frying pan and had a full on french toast feast! Then the boys retreated to the basement and our littlest looked me in the eyes and said "What can we do today M?'. (She calls me 'M'.... I LOVE IT!!!)

In the making..

I thought back to what my mom would have done....
So we made Play Dough.....

-PLAY DOUGH RECIPE -

Mix in a medium pot on stove top 

1 Cup of white flour

1/2 cup of salt

2 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar

Add : 

1 Cup of water

1 tsp food colouring (Joie chose purple today)

1 Kool-aid package (this is only to add scent and taste, so not necessary)

1 Tbsp oil

Cook over medium heat, stirring for 3-5 minutes. YOu'll notice the mixture will start to form into a ball in the middle as it heats. Turn out onto counter and knead on a lightly flavoured surface. If it's to soft add small amounts of flour until just right! VOILA!! 

Mission Accomplished

For those who may think this was the perfect morning here's a glimpse at the bigger picture. My husband is ministering in Florida, our oldest took ill about 4am and the dog...oh the beloved dog is oozing with excitement at having a household of visitors..only this dog is a dane, so as his excitement elevates he rearranges our furniture....if you know what I mean.  We may not always have the perfect day, but there will always be perfect moments in everyday! Cherish the tidbits...

Those who honour me....

There's been quite the buzz in our house for the last month! It's HOCKEY season and for the first time in 7 years Hunter has the opportunity to play in an organized league!

As a young boy Hunter was always found in his boxers, with his hockey helmet on and his stick in his hand. He lived and breathed it.  His dream, like many canadian boys was to play in big leagues when he was older.

Hunter first started playing in a league when he was four. When he was just 5 or 6 he was already super fast and super dirty....as competitive parents we would laugh when he would take players out. His coaches noticed and mentioned early on that this boy had potential.

The next year when Hunter was seven we could no longer avoid it. If he wanted to play hockey, he needed to play Sundays which meant major conflicts with church. As ones who served in the church and with Jamie being a competitive hockey player we knew this was one of the many difficult choices we would need to make as parents. Our desire as parents is to put Christ first in every area of our lives, and to teach our children to the do the same. What? That meant telling our all canadian boy he couldn't play hockey? Yes, that's exactly what that meant. This was not only heart breaking for us, but especially for him. Year after year at registration time he would ask if he could play, and year after year we were faced with the same news, game days in our zone were on Sundays.

5 years later a young Pastor must have been carrying the same burden. So he started a Saturday morning league so his boys, along with many others would still have the opportunity to play. As with any new vision, it takes time to get things rolling which meant there were only enough players to run one ice time. This meant there were players ages 6-13 on the ice at the same time. Hunter was 12, so was much bigger than most of the other players. He found this frustrating at times, but knew this league was at the grassroots and was his only opportunity to play...so he continued to play for the year.

Finally, the moment we'd all been waiting for came. After seven years we got a lead on a league that didn't require his age group to play on Sundays. HALLELUJAH!  Hunter was pumped! After a month of evaluations, practices and exhibition games the season began. Hunter was placed on a team not knowing anyone, but he didn't seem to care because was finally playing hockey! After the first game his team and coaches gathered and had a meeting, voting in the team captain.....the captain would be announced before they hit the ice at the next game.

I wasn't able to attend the game last night, but all of a sudden my phone lit up and this is what I saw.

Hunter walked out of the dressing room with a "C" on his jersey, he was chosen by his teammates and coaches to be the team Captain. I jumped up off my chair and couldn't wipe the smile off my face when I saw the text. My boy was Captain. He may not be playing in the best league, on the best team or even be the best player in town, but regardless I knew The Lord was showing us something. As I sat down to get in the Word, I was still staring at the picture Jamie had sent,  I felt The Lord say, "Those who honour me, I will honour.' Wow. He was showing His faithfulness once again.

This was a major decision we had to make with our son.  The Lord had given Him to us, and we had vowed to give him back to the Lord. Hunter never kicked and screamed when we asked him to lay hockey down, he was disappointed and yet when we shared our hearts on why, he chose to be understanding. Parents I want to encourage you, when we lay something down we don't know how long we'll have to lay it down for, but we have to trust him. I never really thought much about it over the seven years, but we knew that missing church for hockey wasn't an option. There's many things The Lord will ask us to lay down along the way and some things will definitely be harder than others. My number one responsibility as a mom isn't to raise a hockey player, but to raise a son that will put God first in all he does.

Last night when he walked in the door after the game it was as if all the years of laying it down didn't matter, because The Lord made it clear we as a family had made the right decision in honouring Him first.
H




(A huge thank-you to Kevin Furtney for starting up the Armour Hockey League, which allows so many young players to play on Saturdays instead of Sundays. We are thankful that each year this league has grown and this year our littles have the opportunity to play! Don't despise small beginnings, many families, churches and players are blessed by this league.)

Kale Chip Recipe

Kale Chip Recipe

Oh man, who would have thought green leaves would have been so addictive!

One head of Kale makes roughly 4- 9x13 pans of chips. This sounds like a lot, but in our house when they come out of the oven, the gloves come off and we are shoving one another out of the way to get to these!! (We are still working on preferring one another!)



Recipe 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Kale (Wash and pat leaves dry. Pick the kale off the main stem into pieces)
Use a large ziplock bag. Throw the kale in the bag with 4 tbsp vegetable oil, or olive oil.
Shake the bag until all the leaves are lightly covered.
Spread the leaves out onto baking sheets or into 9x13 dishes.... honestly whatever works to spread them out evenly, so they aren't overlapping.

Sprinkle with Epicure's Sea Salt Shaker, Or Christin's Sea Salt. Christin's Sea Salt can only be found in Thorndale just off the trail. Cook them at 300 for roughly 40 min, the key to cooking them is on a lower temperature for longer. (Don't crank the oven and try to have them done in 20.)

Voila... These dark almost rotten looking pieces of Kale, are to die for!! 

He'll give seed to the sower....

This is going to be a short, sweet blog! God is good and never ceases to amaze me.

Over the years The Lord has brought so many great people into our lives. Jonny & Bryar Strutt are a couple of them. They have such sweet and gentle spirits and are passionate about seeing the things of God unfold and fulfilled in their lives, and in the lives of those around them.
The Strutt's are on an incredible journey and are releasing something in the natural that's going to unleash things in the spiritual! When they shared the vision of what they're doing, my spirit leapt.  Jamie and talked and I told him what I felt to sow into their project, he was in agreement. My initial instinct was to jump online and pledge our support right away, but I decided to wait until 'payday' to make sure what we charged, we could pay off right away. Well payday is Thursday (three days away) and I decided I'd just go ahead and support today. When I was online my credit card wouldn't register. (I only have one card with a minimal amount on it, so I knew there was lots of room on it).  I couldn't figure out why, I kept reentering our info and it wouldn't move to the next step. To save the confusion I messaged Bryar to see if I could e-transfer instead. When I logged into our online account I saw that there had been an unexpected deposit put in our account earlier this morning....WHAT??!! And you got it...it was for the EXACT amount we felt to give!! Amen! Praise The LORD!

The last few months the Lord has been showing us a few really specific things about our future and what it will require...leaps of faith.  He's impressed on my heart over and over, 'What you make happen for others, I will make happen for you.'' I'm so thankful for believers with vision. I'm thankful that there's an opportunity to partner with others and to be apart of what God is doing in and through them! I'm so thankful for those who chase after and contend for all the Lord's laid out for them. For those who hear His voice above all other voices and RUN towards Him! For those who follow His leading, even when there's what seems to be mountains ahead of them!

And tonight I'm thankful that His supply is unending. That He continues to give seed to the sower!

I'd encourage you to click the link and hear the hearts of  Jonny & Bryar.
This will produce FRUIT THAT REMAINS!

http://www.rockethub.com/48971

~H