Grandma and Grandpa are coming!

It's an exciting day here at the "little house": Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit from PEI. At this very moment they are on the train somewhere in Quebec, heading this way. We should have a lot of fun together for the next week!

Walking with Truth

One Sunday evening a month, our "little house on the circle" becomes a place of worship. For about a year and a half now, a small group of people has been meeting at our house for an informal time of singing, discussion, and prayer. There are six of us who attend consistently, and a few others who have participated for a little while and then moved on. Each month we choose a theme ahead of time (such as trust, faith, worship, wisdom, or joy), and we bring whatever thoughts, questions, readings, or songs we might want to contribute to the evening.

Last night our theme was "truth". We focused on Jesus as the source and embodiment of truth, on the inseparability of truth from love, and on the need to cling fast to the truths of our faith, whatever the particular circumstances we find ourselves in.

A sentence in a book I read several years ago has stayed with me: "The truth is always your friend." In other words, truth--though at times it may seem painful--will never betray us or work against us, but is always on our side.

I can say that I have found this to be true in my own life. Having embarked on the journey of special-needs family life--a journey, by the way, which I did not plan to take, did not discuss with a travel agent, did not buy a ticket for, and for which the itinerary is open-ended--I can absolutely say that I am making friends with truth (although we're not as close as we could be; we don't finish each other's sentences yet, and I admit I take a while to return her calls sometimes).

In any case, I'm grateful for the opportunity we have in this small monthly gathering to focus our minds and hearts on concepts which at first seem to be abstract and ethereal, but which are in fact essential to practical daily living. Worship, then, isn't separate from real life but integral to it.

our long-lost cousin ... Sidney!

After nature's mean trick on Monday, spring has arrived!! The brilliant blue sky, warm sunshine, and gentle breeze are enough to lift anyone's spirits--but not having to wear boots and mitts is truly "the icing on the cake".

Here's one for those of our family and friends who enjoy Jonathan-isms (especially you hockey fans out there): the other night Rich and Jonathan were watching the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game. Rich was pointing out superstar Sidney Crosby, and Jonathan was trying his best to get his tongue around the consonants in the name. A little while later, Rich asked him, "Jonathan, what's Sidney's last name? Sidney ... ?" And Jonathan replied, "Prinsen!"

New name, same great content

I've decided to change the name of this blog to "little house on the circle", in order to avoid having our last name in the title. I suppose our street is really more of a rectangle, but "little house on the rectangle" sounds weird. Oh, and it was taken.

Just kidding. :-P

Setback? or "New Thing"?

On Friday we received some discouraging news. The school that Allison attends and where we had hoped to register Jonathan in kindergarten in the fall may not be able to accept him. Kindergarten enrollment is expected to be unusually high this year, and because it is a Catholic school and Catholic children take priority, the school may not be able to accommodate Jonathan-- particularly since he has some developmental delays and might require assistance in the classroom.

This was hard to hear because we love the school so much and we see the obvious benefit of Allison and Jonathan attending the same school. Allison has looked forward to Jonathan coming; she has said, "I can be a kinder-helper when I'm in grade 4, so I can help Jonathan!" I hate to think of that dream not coming true. But the reality is that (while the school will not be making a final decision until June) we need to start looking at other options and exploring other schools in our area, specifically in the public school board.

This was on my mind all weekend. On Sunday when we arrived at church, we found that there was going to be a guest preacher, a missionary who has worked in the Philippines since 1967. Because our pastor is such a thoughtful and insightful speaker, I felt a moment of disappointment upon hearing that someone else would be preaching. But what the missionary had to say spoke directly to me. He preached from Isaiah 43, which includes these words in verse 19:

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
And streams in the wasteland.

This verse encouraged me to remember that God has Jonathan in His hands, that He is already making a way for Jonathan to attend school and learn and develop, and that if His plans for Jonathan do involve pursuing a "new thing," then we can trust it will all work out.