Merry Christmas Eve

Christmas can be an unusual time. For our church/corps family it is most definitely bringing many things.

Yesterday at just before our service/kids Christmas pagent began, one of our members went into hospital and has since given birth to a healthy baby boy. At the same time, there was a fatal shooting out the back of the school where we where having our service yesterday, and the man was a son of another of our members.

Please pray for both of these mothers this Christmas.

snow snow snow

you may have heard, or you may even be living in it, but Toronto has a big snow storm last sunday. it had been snowing for the few days before and has been a little bit since. but sunday it was crazy. the roads were all completely covered, well, everything was completely covered. it was beautiful and all i wanted to do was go and play in it. i got to drive, and it was a lot of fun, it was kind of like driving in a computer game where you get to slide and stuff. as long as you were being very careful, it wasn't too bad and there weren't many cars on the 'roads' at all.

one thing i have loved about this snow being around, is how people kick in to helpful mode. for example, our neighbours shovelled a little path to our front door and i've seen many random strangers get together to push someone's car that is stuck. ah, the wonders of snow.

i love this snow


matt at our front door


happy matt


happy fee


the view from our front door


matt pushing a random stranger's car


just walking in the snow


this is the view or river st, a busy downtown road...well, usually, when there is no snow...


matt running through the snow


safely inside out of the cold

12 days till Christmas...?

Well, there's just a little less than 12 days, but I had to share this anyway...

4 weeks. 1 sleep.

That's all I have left in Toronto...for the time being at least. I have stopped trying to predict what the future holds. It's too hard. My plans always seem to get changed anyway.

My emotions are mixed.

I am excited to go home. I am excited for my best friends to meet my husband. I am excited to meet all the new babies my friends have had - especially harriet (merf + rick), josiah (dave and ky) and sienna and amelie (michelle and mike) who were just born this week! I am excited not to have to wear layers and long johns and jackets. I am excited to go swimming in the ocean. I am excited to show Matt my home/city/country.

I am sad to leave behind good friends. I am sad to leave behind my Ignite team. I am sad that I will not see the beauty of snow falling. I am sad to leave behind our regent park community. I am sad that we won't have the motorbike.

All this will happen in 4 weeks. 1 sleep.

(It should also be noted that I am thankful that last week Matt got to go to Newfoundland to see his family, and that on the flight back, he slept! and there was even some turbulance! that's some very good news.)

christmas is coming

i am loving christmas this year.

winter Christmas. ha. this is still a phenonemon that i am getting used to. it's not my first. last year i was in seattle. not snowy, but rainy. and then there was those christmasses in scotland when i was a wee girl. but this december is nothing like last year. this december is COLD. and snowing. now, i do get a little excited by this. those carols and christmas songs about snow and cold make more sense.

but i can't tell you how much i am missing outdoor carol services, which you can take a picnic to. annie would be proud of me. she's probably going crazy right aobut now and has all the local services mapped out, so she knows when to go where. i would go to everyone of those with her right now if i could.

and christmas eve carols at the music bowl. i really wish i could be at those. so many good memories. it's so exciting to be there christmas eve.

i am excited about this christmas. not sure why. i don't think it's because it's matt and my's first christmas together - he's working christmas day anyway. i am just really excited about celebrating the birth of Jesus. i have been tuning in to the radio station that plays carols all day long. i am loving it.

hope you are too.