Wait, Hope, Expect

June 2018 Update

2018-07-26T08:13:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

It is hard to believe that we are already mid-July! June has been a whirlwind of weeks…moving and getting settled, a visit from Jason’s uncle and aunt, a week away at camp and the start of online teaching courses for Andréa. Here are two big highlights from the month of June...

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May 2018 Update

2018-07-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

We have successfully made it into our second home in Saint-Jérôme, Québec!! Thank you for your prayers and thoughts as we made the transition. Packing and moving ten minutes away wasn’t nearly as tedious of a task as moving 10 days away. Still, the actual moving days proved to be more difficult with a toddler, as one of the two of us were “detained”. We had Andréa’s aunt and another lady help with all of the cleaning in the new place and then had 6 men throughout the first day helping with all of the large items. It was many trips back and forth but we are settled and working on making the place our own.

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April 2018 Update

2018-07-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

Yay, springtime is here to stay!! Granted, we still had cold weather in April and some snow but we are officially out of the long winter, here in Québec. Which means that everyone is out and about after the long months of hibernation. We hope that you are doing well and enjoying some spring weather. The trees received their greenery in a three days span (last week!) and we are looking forward to the flowers to blossom just as fast!

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March 2018 Update

2018-07-26T08:05:00.002-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

Happy Easter ! Joyeuses Pâques ! What a gift it is to be serving Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and then was raised up three days later for us, defeating sin and death! It’s a gift to be His chosen people and we thank you for joining in the proclamation of this Good News. All glory be to God!

February 2018 Update

2018-07-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

We hope that you had a good (whirlwind) February and, possibly, even some time to enjoy the Olympics! March has hit us very quickly and we are enjoying a bit of "warmer" temperatures. The snow is still here and we received a nice winter wonderland last evening. Jason has gotten to enjoy the weather by skiing twice, now. A very kind family in our church gave him free equipment and the "mountain" is twenty minutes away! We look forward to next winter when we can teach Lydia to ski for the first time. Lydia is one step closer to the slopes as she took her first steps on her own, when trying to deliver a book to her dad. In the next couple of weeks, our lives will change quite a bit as we will be chasing her everywhere!

January 2018 Update

2018-07-26T08:02:00.003-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

We pray that this new year is going well for you. At the beginning of January, we had the added bonus of a second visit with Jason's sister, as she was delayed due to the winter storm on the East Coast! So, after a hard good-bye, we were able to welcome her back to our place for extra time between aunt and niece. It was also nice having Jason & his sister together, as their grandpa passed away at the beginning of the year. We continue to pray for their grandma and look forward to when she can visit or we can see her. We celebrated Lydia turning one year's old and are waiting with excitement for her to still take her first unassisted steps. We will let you know when that happens!
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December 2017 Update

2018-07-26T08:00:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and even more than that, a chance to rest and reflect on Christ and His birth! We have had the honor of having Jason's sister visit us for the winter break, as well as a memorable time celebrating with Andréa's Québec family over Christmas Eve and the eve of New Year's Eve! FaceTime/Skype also brought family closer and diminished the gap in distance with those not in Québec. We definitely had a white Christmas, here, and consistently under/around zero degrees F for several weeks. So far, we are enjoying the "difficult" winter, here, and praying that our exuberance for the cold and snow will hold us through the remaining months of winter.

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Joyeux Noël!!

2018-07-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." -Isaiah 9:6

November 2017 Update

2018-07-26T07:52:00.002-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

We hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving with friends and family! Ours was memorable and different, as it wasn't celebrated with family but with new friends. It was a normal day of work for all living here in Canada but we were able to finish off the day with a feast, as we celebrated with a group of fellow Americans/missionaries from the States! Our hearts were full of thankfulness as we shared stories of how God has remained faithful in the last year. To top it off, the night ended with a fresh batch of snow. Below is a photo of all of us in our kitchen (not pictured are three more children)...everyone pitched-in with their favorite recipes/plates, Jason baked his first turkey, and it was a joyous occasion!

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September & October 2017 Update

2018-07-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

Now that we find ourselves in November, with dropping temperatures and barren trees, we appreciate, even more, the beautiful colors of fall that we witnessed. It was the first time for Jason (and Lydia, Amos, Caleb) to experience a fall on the East Coast! In remembrance, we are greeted with a full backyard with piles of leaves to be put in bags and set-out for pick-up. We wonder what type of winter we have in front of us and look forward to the adventure (while most Québecois begrudgingly know what's coming).

August 2017 Update

2017-11-04T09:43:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

Summer has come and gone in Saint-Jérôme! It has already turned on the cool side and the burst of Fall colors is making its way to our region. We are welcoming our favorite season and can't wait for the full-display that will take place in the next month!

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July 2017 Update

2017-11-04T09:31:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that you are having a pleasant summer! July has been an exciting month as Jason has successfully finished with one month of French classes. Andréa and others have already noticed a big difference in the way he has been able to pick-out words, understand conversations, and greatly increase his vocabulary. It's exciting for him as he is able to minimally communicate with people he comes in contact with while living-out life here in Saint-Jérôme. If you would like to give an additional amount to support his monthly progression in French, please respond to this email and we would love to share more with you about this program!

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June 2017 Update

2017-07-20T16:40:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

We hope that you had a lovely fourth of July! Ours was definitely anti-climatic as we "celebrated" just north of the border. We did have the experience of witnessing Canada Day in Québec (July 1st), where we didn't see any Canadian flags but saw many driveways taking part in Québec's "moving day". Yes, most leases start/end on this day in Québec and in its wake there are many "donation" piles for the city garbage men to pick-up. Québec's big celebration was the Saint-Jean-Baptiste celebration on June 24th, as we live in a very francophone city, there were many Québec flags everywhere, some fireworks, and then, of course, festivities in the downtown.

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May 2017 Update

2017-07-20T16:35:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

We have now been residents of Québec for one month and are proud to report that Lydia is speaking fluent baby French and English! We are very grateful of your prayers during this time and process. We hope you are doing well, and we pray and think about you often. There are a myriad of emotions, as we settle into life here: at times, it is overwhelming, exciting, surreal, challenging, and natural. We covet your support, now, more than ever.

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April 2017 Update

2017-07-20T16:31:00.002-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

By the grace of God, we are excited to announce that we have made it to Canada and are now settled into our new home in Sant-Jérôme, Québec!! We have greatly felt your prayers and support throughout this entire process and know that God has specifically sent us here for such a time as this.

Here are some photos and explanations of what this move has looked like for us:

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March 2017 Update

2017-07-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends & Family,

We hope that you are doing well! We are exceedingly grateful for your support as this portion of our journey is coming to an end. This last month has been filled, as we have been preparing our house to be a rental, packing up all of the areas that aren't needed on a regular basis, selling or getting rid of items we won't take with us, closing up accounts, receiving final paper work and passports, and saying good-byes to friends. We did have the chance to share before the Missions Board at our church but their budget is financially full for this year. We have received confirmation from several of our supporters that they will start support in the month of April, a few one-time donations, as well as a couple of donations towards the French immersion program, "Fleur de Lys" (three months worth)! We now have a renter for our own home and we have found and are leasing a home in Saint-Jérôme until July 2018! We are thankful and amazed by how everything is falling into place, not in our own way, but in God's perfect plan.

La Chambre de bébé

2017-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

After much thought, preparation, and renovation we have a little oasis for our little girl (and mostly to be enjoyed by us). Of course, in typical fashion, I had many lists and "deadlines" going so that way everything would be ready for an {extra} early arrival. But we are now sitting at 38 weeks and waiting in anticipation for her arrival! All of my little "deadlines", though, did provide mental relief as we came into the Christmas & holiday season and could truly enjoy time with family and friends!

Mr. McGregor's Garden

2017-01-01T17:28:00.002-08:00

Before Thanksgiving, we were incredibly blessed by a lovely shower for our coming (very soon!!) little girl. My mom and sister put on a beautiful spread/theme of Beatrix Potter's Tale of Peter Rabbit. We were overwhelmed by the love and support of those who were able to come. Also, each friend/family member provided their favorite used/new children's book. So, Bébé Maul now has quite the library and each book has a note from the giver. It was a lovely shower and the living room was packed with 30 {inspirational} women.

To the many good friends who live far away from us, I wish you could have joined in the celebration! Here are some photos that were taken so you can virtually see what was going-on in our Northwest Corner of the world. Welcome to Mr. McGregor's Garden...

31 Weeks with Bébé Maul

2016-11-16T19:10:00.001-08:00

Well, we've made it to 31 weeks, the third trimester, and the final stretch!! Here are some snapshots commemorating the growth and memories along the journey, thus far...

Here I am at fourteen weeks and I remember feeling so much bigger, so quickly! I seemed to have popped, fast, and now have been holding steady for quite some time:

The News

2016-07-14T10:37:00.001-07:00

Off The Grid

2016-05-17T20:27:00.001-07:00

In the beginning of April, Captain America and myself were able to take a week off for Spring Break and head up to the great 'white' North to visit Nicole. And this finally gave us the chance to see all of the items that we hauled half-way up to Northern British Columbia last Fall {see this blog entry for more details}. It was a lovely break from life itself, especially as her safe house is off the grid...no internet or cell phone coverage!

Love Is In The Air

2016-03-03T18:03:00.000-08:00

Oh my! I hope you are ready for picture overload....but with the knowledge that this is just a small portion of the photos that have been collected.

It has been an adventure: my sister is married! The last two months have been beyond crazy but entirely memorable and I wouldn't take back a single item! I know, you should never start at the end, but here is the Queen Bee and myself so extremely happy and relieved that it was all pulled-off successfully...

You will have to be patient for all of the actual wedding pictures but you will get to view all of the excitement and activities before, during, and after the wedding.
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Celebrations & Holidays

2016-01-06T21:02:00.001-08:00

Every year, starting with Thanksgiving, life seems to be put in fast-forward. This year was no different. It was a great time of celebration. Here are some picture snapshots of what has passed by way too quickly!

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My Health Journey (This Year In Review)

2015-12-21T20:50:00.003-08:00

For those of you who have been asking and praying over this past year...
For those of you who are on a similar journey, yourself...
For those of you who have a loved one with UC/IBD...
For those of you who are interested...

I've had UC for 4+ years now. This last year, I went full-throttle into a flare that I couldn't manage to get myself out of. This flare started way back in March (see When Am I Brave?) and we are still working on it now. Here are the main steps I took along this journey of healing.
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Snapshots of Fall

2015-11-19T16:27:00.003-08:00

It's currently pouring outside, and by that, I mean, you could go out there with shampoo and conditioner and you would have the same amount of water pressure. Yay, fall has officially come to our pnwonderland.

October is my favorite month; it's my birthday month, and as Anne of Green Gables puts it: "I'm glad that I live in a world where there are Octobers". For my birthday, Captain America bought me a fancy camera...that I'm still learning how to use! Still, I love how much clearer the pictures are and the attention to details compared to my phone.