road trip...beginning of vaca!!

July 16
we are on our way to Vancouver today- a 10 hour drive through the mountains. With stops, I estimate that it will be about 14 hours so it is a road trip day. I have been looking forward to this day for a while. Being in the vehicle- nowhere to be, just driving throughGod's beautiful creation . I absolutely love the mountains and if I am honest- very excited to live closer to them!! So many good memories and can't wait to make more.
Yesterday was a hard but good day. We left Saskatoon in the morning as and we drove out I cried- we have lived in Saskatoon for almost 13 years- the longest I have lived anywhere - and it is home. So leaving with just our van and no keys for any houses and no phones felt very strange and sad. It has been a place of tremendous blessings, memories and friendships. And we look forward to continuing them as we move.
So we arrived in Calgary in early evening to my brother and sister in law's house- to an amazing meal and homemade ice cream sandwiches! So good... We realized we haven't been west in almost 2 years which is almost unheard of for us. So it was good to be in Calgary, connect with family and then head out this morning. With Starbucks and second cup in hand.

It is sometimes good to just go-as much as I fight it I am relaxed. I have not been relaxed in almost 6 months. Our house is still not sold ( praying for a miracle!), we don't have a place in Camrose yet, all of our earthly possessions are in storage. It has been hard to relax. To enjoy life's moments. To trust. To believe that God is good. All the time.
I realized that yesterday. That amidst the chaos. The uncertainty. God is good. All the time. I finished a book on the road yesterday called Love does by bob Goff. I would highly recommend it. Here is a quote that struck me

"We're part of God's much bigger plan for the whole world.Just like God's son arrived here, so did you. And after Jesus arrived, God whispered to all of humanity..."it's your move." Heaven's been leaning over the rails in the same way ever since you got here, waiting to see what you will do with your life."

So with all the transitions, God has been prodding me with the question "what's your next step?" And I think over the next three weeks of holidays, I will take time to seriously consider this and remember to thank God cause He is good. all the time.

Blessings,
Candra

The run

July 15....

RUN 143
The last 3 days was the 3rd annual RUN 143- an ultramarathon to raise awareness and money for orphans and adoption. We are honored to be able to support 2 baby homes internationally, the adoption support centre here in our province and TWO families who are in the process of adoption.
This crazy idea was birthed in our living room almost 4 years ago by friends of ours who wanted to support us on our journey of adoption. since then and including this year, we have raised over 50000 dollars for families and orphans around the world! It has been a tremendous and overwhelming blessing to see how God has used a crazy idea to not only raise money but the profile of adoption and it impact on many, many people!
This year we had five runners complete the whole run ( 143km) and another 4 who did the whole run through a combination of running & biking. We had four bikers who did the whole distance in a day- double from last year! We had about 20 join for the last 10k and 5k - including my 8 year old and 4 year olds girls....super proud of them! (And I got to do 50 k over the course of the 3 days - 10 k for each of my beautiful kids. ) And about 100 people showed for the BBQ in support of the cause- humbled and amazed. God does big things when you step out and take a risk.
Not only were we successful at what we set out to do but more importantly, relationships were built, conversations were had and the purpose behind what we do was evident. One participant who ran the whole thing said that " this was the best life experience she has ever had & looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!" Another support staff ( who was out for the first time) has already said she will be back next year and has already recruited another runner.
This is significant. People building relationships. God being a part of it. people getting cared for. People being supported, loved and encouraged. And little ones given hope and soon ( hopefully very soon...) a family.

Thanks to everyone who was a part of RUN143 this year. Your willingness to do whatever and be involved is awesome!!!
See you next year...JULY 11-13, 2013!

Blessings,
Candra

Ps. The website www.run143.com is up all year long with PayPal. So if y of feel that this is something you would like to donate to now, or throughout the year, please know that it is always available....

Learning...Part 2

SECOND THING I HAVE LEARNED....
Responding to God's call, however hard it is, is necessary to learn and grow and move forward in the adventure of the life God has set before us

I had a great conversation with a lady at church today about our adoption. She was unaware of our circumstance and had a lot of questions about our adoption, Ethiopia and adopting older children. She was genuinely interested and educated ( being an adoptive mother herself) and one question, I thought was particularly poignant. She asked" so are you adopting older children because it is faster or because you really want an older child?"
Between the lines, the question to me read " is it easier or is there something more?" We believe 100 percent that this adventure is a response to God's call in our lives. The desire to have more children is there ( but wasn't always), our kids are excited about it but there is an undercurrent that is more than just expanding our family. John Piper puts it this way " Adoption is God putting his grace on display most beautifully". It is tangible. It is missional living- i think i may write a post on just this at some point! It is learning more about who God is, through living life with another human being. it is a response.
So I have responded. And have put that response to action, along with my husband and kids. And as many of you now, I will take any chance I get to share my passion about adoption!!!
2012 brought with it many emotions that were unearthed as we responded to God's leading in many areas of our lives. In no particular order-
- finishing building our home that we knew we would not live in
- saying yes to a call to ministry in a new community- which took us away from a gret community
- responding to the diagnosis of a chronic condition with one of our children
- committing to adopting older child(ren)
- responding to my husband's leading and trusting Him as we spent the summer Camping ( it was a blast!)
- responding to God as he gently walking beside us as 4 house offers fell through, not knowing where we going to live 2 weeks before we moved, and then moving into a wonderful friends home for a couple of weeks (as she moved out) before we took possession of our new home.
The key learning point-respond and then trust.
All of this looks a little simpler when written down but life is messy. There are variable factors in everyday life that can either make things easier or harder. But I have learned more, grown more, trusted more and hopefully people have seen a little glimpse of Jesus through me.

Blessings,
Candra

No turning back....

There's been a few things stuck in my mind over the last few days. The most important is probably the lyrics to 'I Have Decided'. The other is a line that is more comical from 'Finding Nemo': just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming....

The deal on selling our house fell thru. We're back at square one (if square one means no rental home and no house to move into....)

So... we just started living with one of Candra's sisters and leave the province soon for 2 weeks of camping. Beyond that we have no place to stay! FYI, probably don't joke about that with my bride. Even if the short term flexibility of a nomad life is appealing to you... it's still a bad idea. A blue minivan is not the dream home to raise a family in - although it does have the great summer feature of air conditioning!

Movement is necessary for any living organism, so we are choosing movement instead of stalling, getting stuck or paralysis. Today that means cleaning the rental, putting away Candra's work things (her last day was yesterday), bugging people about Run 143 (in 2 days!!!!) and laughing with my kids.

No turning back!
Riley

Resolution week

It's been a week with a lot of resolutions...

The older kids finished up their school year, said goodbye to their school friends and teachers, and packed up their supplies.  There have definitely been some tears shed.

And 'the littles' had their year end party at daycare and said goodbye to the only weekly babysitter they have ever known (one of our kids thought we were instantly moving to Camrose to live.... I'm glad she was at least excited!).

Our stolen (and recovered) van was officially written off & settled this week.  I am amazed at how many random stupid things keep happening to us beyond the big ones we've shared....  That was the same van that had the tire shredded in -30 weather when Candra was trying to get to the hospital to pick me up from my appendix surgery.  And the same one that has stranded us a few times this year and had the same thing fixed more than once as a result.  I may have secretly thanked God for someone joyriding with it, wrecking every exterior part possible & trying to light it on fire....

Candra began to have her work farewells with colleagues as they begin to go on summer vacation and she's been sharing with all the families she works that she is moving.  She's got 3 working days left before vacation time starts!

Candra also officially accepted a job in Camrose - so no more applying for jobs or worrying about that!

Our run-around car was sold (without advertising).  The '97 neon is not exactly a 'classic ride' and we don't want to try to safety it in another province.  A friend approached us wondering if we would be interested in selling it.  YEP!

I finished up all of the last paperwork/details & am officially finished my employment with the church.

A little thing - but someone is also taking over our cell phone contract (specific to our province).  No penalty buyout fees!

As a partial resolution - we found out that families working with the same country as us are getting adoption referrals (pumped for them)!  Now for the final step of CIC giving the green light...

And....  it looks like our house is SOLD!  2 offers in one night!  The day that we will leave for family vacation (camping!) and give up possession of our rental will also be the day that the new owners should get possession of the build.

So as you can tell, it's been a very full week (along with now packing & lots to finish up at the build).  We generally expect that following God's leading means we should expect opposition & trouble along with it.  After a long & difficult 6+ month fight with life, it's nice to have virtually all the pieces come crashing together in 6 short days.  Finesse is nice, but I can certainly appreciate the 'BAM - here it is' approach of resolutions this past week.

Now for divine help with an adoption referral for a son/daughter, a pastor for the church we just moved  from, confirming our potential home in Camrose and daycare!

Riley

In a nutshell

well there is some good news to report! Out provincial authorities agreed to give referrals prior to the CIC reopening. I definitely see this as a positive as there are children - in person not just in theory- that can be advocated for! We have been waiting 14 months and at times, has been tough to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. But God has been so faithful and we are confident that all of this waiting will come to an end soon.
We pray & think about our little one often... The kids often ask if we have had heard anything- they are so excited for another brother/ sister to play with! We are praying that even with our family's transition, that all will happen at the right time.
On Monday, I felt strongly that I was supposed to fast and so for the day I did. I definitely felt that God was asking - Do you trust me? Does ALL of you trust me? WIll you lay down your worries and let me love you? With the move, selling, finding a job, daycare, RUN 143, adoption, saying goodbyes and jumping into a new adventure- the only answer I could give is yes. I am not able to carry this- but " I can do all things through Christ who gives ms strength ". So amidst waiting and the good small steps of our adoption and amidst the chaos of the move I choose to trust!

And speaking of trust and faithfulness - we are so excited to let you know again that the 3rd annual RUN 143 is set to take place on July 12-14! It is an ultra marathon that is raising awareness and money for adoption and orphans. we will be supporting 2 families , 2 baby homes internationally and our local adoption support centre. We have9 runners doing the whole thing and 4 bikers!!!! our biggest yet! if you are interested in supporting us, check out www.run143.com. Our blog (www.run143.blogspot.com) will be updated frequently as well! We continue to be amazed at how God has used this run to bring hope and joy to families and children!

I think that is all for now. My thoughts in a nutshell.
Blessings,
Candra

And the beat goes on....

It's Riley again (that's my gift to you today - a 'head's up' so you can save time by not reading what follows!).

Every few months I find myself asking 'Is time a blessing or a curse?'  I didn't come up with the question, but I think it's an important one.

In the midst of saying goodbye to a dearly loved church, wrapping up the kids' school year, waiting for our house to sell, worrying about our unmet son/daughter (no great news to share about the program fully functional yet), Candra applying for jobs, looking for daycare in a new city, moving out of our rental soon with nowhere to move to, etc..... it's too easy for time to seem like a curse.  Too often we are worrying that we don't have enough time or that it's moving on too rapidly for what we think should get accomplished.

But maybe each tick of the clock could remind us that there are seasons & rhythms & progress & cadence arranged by God even when we just want to shut down, complain or zone out.  Maybe it's a reminder that everything has a place for redemption - even the moments we fail in or want to forget or just escape.

Time is a gift. Even in some of Jesus's first words to his disciples he said 'The time has come...'

I find myself often being aware of what time it is in #5's country and praying for what they might be doing.  It's the weird kind of thing that you don't think about unless you have been in (or thru) an adoption process.  I'm trying to remind myself that every minute we wait for our next child or our house to sell or _______ is not another waste but another minute closer to seeing a slightly better glimpse of God's unfolding plan.  And I've been learning how time is even a tool in the hand of Almighty God to shape us, prepare us, and draw us closer to the best (not easiest) things of life.  In His hands he uses time to heal, soften, arranges pieces in new ways, and deliver.

Time is a gift.
Unless you forget sunscreen while working on a ladder on a day that felt like +37.... That was me today installing cedar shakes on our build.  Having time to work was a gift - sunburn was not!
R