Holiday! Celebrate!

Well, I guess the celebrating is over since the holiday is over but I thought I might go backwards in time and just tell you about my week off. It really was more of a "week on" in a different context. I'm sure many of you will know what that means. At any rate, I arrived in Toronto on Saturday to a nice welcome from my Mom.

Sunday morning, we headed off to church where I unexpectedly had to go up on stage and say something....totally not prepared for that. Thought someone was going to be reading something I wrote while I stood in the audience! Very exciting. That same morning the hostess of my Mom and Dad's care group asked if I would come and share something that evening. It sounded kind of informal so I agreed. During the special luncheon for missionaries later that evening, one of the pastor's asked if I would lead the Bible study on Wednesday. Yikes! A little less informal and something I've never really done as I prefer children to adults when teaching. :) But I just felt like God might have something for me to share so I agreed.

Mom and Dad's care group was amazing. They just spent time asking me lots of questions. Their interest was encouraging! Monday and Tuesday, Mom and I hung out and Tuesday evening I had Swiss Chalet with my friend Michelle...she knows me too well!

Wednesday morning I woke up and started putting the ideas that had been floating around in my head for the Bible Study into a structure. God brought me to just the right passage in my devotions. It was truly amazing! Normally, I'm worrying about the perfect words and so on and so on...so I'm telling you it was just God who helped me. I felt like it went really well and was thankful for the participation of those who answered questions and involved themselves during the actual study.

Thursday morning, Mom and I had about 10 ladies from her apartment building and the SIM community come for tea. These are ladies who are supporting and praying faithfully for me. It was such a blessing to see their enthusiasm and to have an opportunity to thank them. They had all kinds of questions and wanted fuel for their prayers which I was happy to provide.

Friday, I had breakfast with my friend Jennifer and got introduced to Wii Golf by her 5 year old son who totally whipped my tail!

Saturday, my mom and I headed out early to Buffalo for a little cross border shopping...hit all my favorite craft stores plus Target (even got to eat some Panera...YUMMY) and then we went to pick up my Dad from the airport. He had just spent two weeks down in New Orleans helping out with a reconstruction project. I was glad I got to see him for a bit before heading back to Sherbrooke on Monday.

Pretty amazing how a week of nothing much turned into a whole lot of something. I'm thankful for the opportunities that God gave me to connect with people and his very clear help in the areas I find most difficult.