Time Flies, and God Moves

I just realized that it's been over a year since I've posted on here and since I've been to the Maritimes. A lot has happened in the world, in my life, and in the Maritimes.

Personally, it's been a difficult year. But God often works it so that intense difficulty is accompanied by intense blessing. A little over a year ago my father-in-law went home to be with his Lord. A little while later our house was burglarized. And then my oldest daughter noticed a lump that eventually led to diagnosis of a rare aggressive cancer (Stage IV epithelioid sarcoma). And those are just a few of the trials! Besides the incredible support of church and friends in our troubles, God also blessed me with the opportunity to participate in an amazing cross-cultural ministry training opportunity during the summer.

In so many ways it feels like our life lately has been completely redefined by cancer, yet God periodically sends me a little reminder that He's still working beyond this little bubble that I sometimes feel like we're in. For example, there was the audio clip posted on the NBBI blog of Jacob Mathieu's challenge to plant churches in Francophone communities. In Bathurst, an interchurch bilingual ministry started up last summer called Chaleur Generation, that culminated in a community-wide Concert of Prayer a couple of weeks ago. The summer outreach partnership of Louisiana Baptists in Memramcook and Cape Breton also continued. Most recently, I was informed through Facebook of a new effort to develop a prayer movement (Oeil sur Dieppe/Eye on Dieppe) for the city of Dieppe.