We haven't written in a while, partially due to the fact that we have nothing new to report on, but mostly because we are super busy with work. We finally got our pictures from Peru on our computer, so here are a few the ones we have downloaded. My favorite ones of the sweetest children at camp are still on the disc...

 

 

Here are some pics of our Airdrie home.  The backfilling is done and the framing package gets delivered on Oct. 4.  Looks like it won't be done 'till 2007. 

I guess we should start collecting boxes....we're moving! We are blessed to have bought a beautiful heritage home in a small town about 30 min north of Calgary. It was built in 1905 and has so many original features. A few of my favorite things about the house are the stained glass windows, 10 ft ceilings huge white veranda on a treed corner lot... (check out the pics in the album) Posession date is Oct 2 so we gotta get packing. As for the Airdrie house, we are still waiting to hear when it will be done. We'd be pretty surprised if it was before Christmas now.  We think we'll still move into it, and then rent out the Carstairs home...That's our plan, Lord willing.

 

 

 

We hope that even though we won't be in Calgary we'll still have visitors!

 

 

 

 

What a fabulous two weeks in Peru!! Our minds are just brimming with wonderful memories of the people, the landscape and God's glory throughout it all! We'll write a bigger blog about it later when we have the pictures from the photographer that went down with us...

 

But we do have pictures of my sister Sarah and Sean's wedding that took place August 5th, right before we left for Peru...I was honoured to be a part of your day with Stephy, Sarah; thanks for being such a great sister.

I was totally blown away when Jen showed me these 3 professional wedding pictures of her and Mark...they totally capture the emotions of love!!Take a look in the photos area!! (Beautiful, hiney!)

It's been a hot day at work today. A hot, bad day at work.  So hot and bad that I don't want to go back tomorrow....But then I read some verses, and I decided I don't need a rest from work; I need something else...

 

" Then they believed the promises and sang his praise. But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for his counsel. In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. So He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting desease upon them."(Ps. 106:12-15)

 

                                                                          ...  and  ...

 

 

"By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible."

(Hebrews 11:27)

What's the connection found between the two verses?? In the first verse are the Israelites in the desert- persevering only when their circumstances proved favorable, focussing on the external,  instead of trusting in the eternal and invisble God like Moses did in in the Hebrews passage. Today  i am JUST like the Israelites, living an inconsistant Christian life because I have become preoccupied with things that are external (like mean bosses, the heat, and my sore back from raking 68 sand traps...). So my focus then becomes on my circumstances rather than on God. I know that God desires that I grow to see Him in everything and to realize the importance of a seemingly monotonous job if I want to be used by Him. 

 

The children of Isreal did not believe until AFTER they saw God work...And this leads to an up-and-down kind of existence, becasue their faith was dependent on their circumstances. We fight this everywhere here on Earth...the world says seeing is believing, but God wants us to believe in order to see. Ps. 27: 13 says: " I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living". 

 

So here's the question of the day- Do you believe God only when your circumstances are favorable, or do you believe no matter what your circumstances may be??