A Life Update - God is always surprising me

It seems like forever since I have written.  It is not that I have nothing to say but more that life is moving so fast I don't even know where to begin! 

 Daniel turned 16 years old last week.  Yep, I am officially old.  We celebrated by hanging out together as a family and going to get ice cream cones at Hewitt's Dairy Bar.  Yum.  We are so proud of Daniel and the young man that he is becoming.  He leaves this Friday to head out west with his Grandma and Grandpa to go to the Canadian National Baptist Convention and then head to Northern Alberta for his first mission trip.  I have told him not to wonder off as this city boy is not used to bears!

Daniel

Caroline has just finished her bronze star in swimming which she passed with flying colours.  Her goal is to get her NLS when she is 16 and she is well on her way.  I think she wants to guard at Ryerson Camp so she can spend her whole summers there, instead of just a week when we stay there for family camp.   She has made some good friends on our new street so for now she is looking forward to the summer here in the city.  I am looking forward to spending some one on one time with her too.

Caroline

Liam is thrilled to have school all finished for the year and to have summer beginning.  For the past few months, he has been playing drums for our worship team in Milton.   Liam is still playing with us even though our time in Milton has ended.  He came and played with Jason and I on the street corner in Hamilton this past Saturday.  What fun we had playing and giving out candy instead of asking for money.  We are looking forward to spending some time with Liam this summer, as he accompanies Jason and I to Alabama for a global missions celebration where we will play some music and lead a children's program.

Liam

Trinity Joy is so full of life that we can barely keep up!  TJ has been busy this year learning to read and blasting through all her grade 1 school work so she will start grade 2 next year.  She has loved moving and meeting all the new neighbours on our street.  She is still enjoying acting and has been having a great time at auditions and call backs.  In a couple weeks she will be attending a triple threat camp where she gets to sing, dance and act each day for a whole week.  She is off tonight at a birthday party for new friends that she meet on our street.  I asked her if she was nervous because she wouldn't know anyone except her two friends.  Her response was "No way mom, I will have so many friends by the end of the night!"

Trinity Joy

Jason is out tonight shooting a new video with a band he plays with called Before the Flood.  He has been going at the speed of light lately so I don't have new photos of him.  Only this one where he is making fun of his on-screen self at the SBC annual convention.  Honestly, sometimes I think he is the most unlikely missionary there is!  As Caroline says, "He is all him."  We are hoping to play some more on Locke Street this summer and maybe even hit a few open mics at the local venues.  The goal really is to just immerse ourselves in our new community and meet as many people as we can. 

Jason - wondering who made him a poster child?

As for myself, I am getting used to being a city girl.  I like our neighbourhood much more than I thought I would and now I am determined to learn more about our new city.  I have a new buggie cart so I can walk to get my groceries and we just bought a share in a local farm.  It is funny, I used to live closer to the country with farms all around but now I live in a big city and my veggies come each week from a farmer and tomorrow I am going to meet our street's egg man who will deliver each Thursday to our front door.  You would think that in a city with over 500,000 people you wouldn't know your neighbours but they all hang out on their front porches, while the kids play in the street and we see them every night.  Over 20 of our new neighbours came for a BBQ at our house on Sunday.  We had a great time and look forward to getting to know them better. 

So there you have it an official update of what is going on at the McGibbon Zoo which has now moved all the animals to the city.  Yes, it is a big change and change can be scary but change can be good.  So as we look forward to starting summer this week I am a bit shocked that I am not wishing I was back in the familiar, in the ministry that I loved, with my friends who I adore.  I am surprised to find myself looking forward to being here, right where we are.  Hamilton is really not what I expected.  God is always surprising me and I can't wait to see what is around the bend.

Just me