Dear Tania...

Dear Tania, 

This past week we spent our birthdays apart for the first time in a long time... I miss you and am grateful for the lovely gift of men called Skype :) 

I know this year has been a great struggle for you, as was the last and maybe the few before that. I want you to know that you are inspiring to those of us to have taken the time to get to know the genuine God fearing you. He truly has brought you out of the mire and is molding you to be such a passionately merciful human. You love deeply, fight hard for those you love, and you never give up on people!

We haven't always seen eye to eye but we are better people because of it. As iron sharpens iron in a painfully heated way sometimes, God has used you in my life to challenge me, love me when I didn't deserve and laugh with me when I needed it most. 

You are more than my friend Tania. You truly are my sister brought into the same family by the Blood of Him who loves us unconditionally. 

Right now, an ocean apart, with my mornings as your nights, I trust Gods promise of provision for you. That He will bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you giving you peace. Happy Birthday Tania... I can't wait to hear of all your adventures that this year has to bring you! I love you... (And of course Bradley say's hello)

In my 28th year...

In my 28th year, I've experienced a lot of beauty throughout the thorns of life...

Amid the deep grief of loosing what we excitedly thought we were going to be blessed with, I treasured my first wedding anniversary with my best friend. After a year filled with turmoil out of our control we knew we had each other because of His grace in our lives.

I shared incredibly sacred moments with my beloved as I met my beautiful step children Avery and Seth for the first time.

I have had the privilege of teaching numerous young people in my studio and even greater the opportunity to speak into life experiences with them as they find a safe place within the walls where we sing.

I have been apart of and directed musical productions, blessed to have opportunity to put into practise my passion: conducting.

I had the opportunity to attend my very first orchestral performance in Calgary with co-workers and students.

 

I have spent days in the majestic mountain range of our country exploring life and creation with loved ones.

I have celebrated with loved ones at the birth of children, parties for the added year each of us has, and honored my husband as he finished up his final studies passing to become a journeyman welder.

Despite the harshness that comes with loosing jobs, miscarriages, shredded relationships, children too far away and finding out who your real friends are, I know God is faithful and just. His will is not to harm His children but to give us hope and a future.

This past weekend, my dear husband surprised me with a trip to Banff where we were able to be inspired by the creation God has given us to enjoy. As Bradley and I drove through snow filled forests, walked along icy river front trails, and sipped on tasty Christmas flavored coffees to warm our hands, I was reminded this weekend how great His love is for  us in that He gave us even the most simple things to find joy in.

I am inspired.

I long to continue to be inspired in this next year. Looking to Him, who has made every good and perfect gift, for that inspiration in all aspects of my life.

In memory of the fallen...

Today is a day of Remembrance in our home.

November 7th, 2003 was the last sunrise that those brave men, Kyran, Ben, Paul and Scott, who were aboard the Lancer 431 would ever see.

Today, even more so than any other day of the year, I watch Bradley's head hang low and tears fill his eyes as he reflects on the lives of those 4. Men who he lived with, laughed with, cried with, and fought with to keep us free.

He got to know those men he worked along side in a way that the majority of our working population will never experience. They were brothers. Not of the same blood. Not even of the same faith. But brothers in a way that only they would ever understand.

I can't help but feel guilty that I am eternally grateful he was held back that day. He should have been there, on that flight, with them. But instead he was sitting in that classroom unaware that the news he would receive would change him forevermore. This news that his best friend, along with the others, were drawn from the sky by a rocket propelled grenade was the farthest from his mind but cut him straight through the heart when it came.

We pray for those families that I've never met but he has heard all about. I can't picture the faces I've never seen but I can see their hearts as I look to the heart of our Father who has created them in His image. He feels all emotion and has given us the ability to do the same. My heart grieves for them knowing that they too grieve in the memory of today.

I pray for him as he speaks about his best friend Scott as if it happened yesterday. This man who acts so tough while he talks the talk is torn inside today. All I can do is hold him, wipe tears as they shed. I feel helpless because nothing I can say or do will bring them back or change what is inevitable for this sin cursed world.

It's not how God the Father desired this world to be: famine, brokenness and war. I am so proud to know that it will not last forever. That the eternal battle that rages on has already been won by the blood of Christ Jesus. Until His return, we give thanks to those who fight and shed their blood to keep our earthly body's safe from harms way.

These men who gave their life and those men and women who continue to place more value on our freedom than their own are just a glimpse of the goodness that God intended for us in humanity.

As we spend time in remembrance this week, I pray that our hearts would be mindful of these fallen soldiers, their families and those who survived physically but will never be free from the experiences they endured.
 
Bradley, I am so proud of you! To all of my other family and friends who have served or are serving still, we thank you and continue to pray for you!

Numbers 6:24-26

The Lord bless you, and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’