Things We've Discovered

We have been in Canada now for three weeks and we have discovered so much...and we realize that we have so much more to discover in our new, albeit temporary, home.

Here are the top ten discoveries that our family has made thus far:

10) Canada is not the 51st state

9) We do not own enough clothes to keep warm at -21F

8) We know far more French than we thought we did

7) We know far less French than we thought we did (yea, we are about that confused as well)

6) Milk comes in a bag in Canada and not a carton or a jug

5) When Canadians see a Florida license plate they get out of the way (and they do it quickly and with great fear in their eyes)

4) A GPS is not a want; it is a need

3) It is okay to look and sound like an idiot when you are learning a new language (at least that is what we are telling ourselves)

2) Cold weather is a result of the Fall (we are still studying the Bible for this one, but we are pretty sure that we are onto something!)

1) God is always faithful, no matter where your home is!

"If We Send Them Away, They'll Go"

My good friend Tracy Sweat has a great blog called Resting in His Grace that he updates regularly with some rich insights into God's Word. Today he penned this gem that I just had to share:

http://mtsweat.com/2012/01/09/if-we-send-them-away-theyll-go/

Take a few moments to read his thoughts and know that it is written by one that practices what he preaches, or in this case, what he writes.

So Far, So Good!

Bon jour! We made it in to Canada last Saturday, New Year's Eve after our northward journey from Florida. And praise God, the Swagger Wagon (our affectionate name for our family van) arrived alive! The check engine light came on in Richmond, Virginia on Wednesday and stayed on until we reached Canada. Then I think that it was too cold for it to function any longer and it finally went off.

We have spent the last week getting settled in, driving around town, going to the grocery store, getting lost, meeting new friends, and exploring our new home here in Sherbrooke. God has answered some of our specific prayers about the children making friends soon. After being here for only two days the children made friends with a Korean family and spent the day playing with them. Then a family with children from Brazil arrived and they joined the mix. As I write this they are out sledding with some new friends that came over this morning saying, "We are looking for the Boyds and want to know if they can play." This has been a huge encouragement for the children and a great help in them getting settled. God is surely always good and faithful!

We really like our apartment. It is on the second floor over the administrative offices and is known as the "large" two-bedroom. We have everything that we need in it and it seems to suit us very well. For us to go to our class we do not even have to leave the building, we just take the back stairs and we are right there.

The weather is a little colder than Florida, but we are managing okay. The coldest that it has been this week is 8 below zero, but today it is going to warm up to 35 degrees! We actually have a window cracked this morning to cool our apartment down in the midst of this heat wave.

Next Monday Hosanna starts her pre-school. We drove by and saw her school yesterday and she is so excited that she can hardly stand it. We hope to be able to register Ezra and Thea Monday as well so that they can begin next week. We have registration Monday, orientation and an evaluation test Tuesday, and then our classes start Wednesday. We are all excited and anxious to get started.

Thank you all for praying for us! We are greatly encouraged knowing that we have such a strong team of people lifting us up in prayer and supporting us. Please keep checking our blog as we hope to update regularly with all that God is doing in our lives as we serve Him here and prepare for the field.