September 28, 2006

I went into the kitchen to get the bottle ready at 3:30 am and saw these on the counter with a card addressed to me. Ben took the afternoon and Friday off so we could spend some extra time together. Auntie Christy and Uncle Dane babysat Isabelle so we could head out to a nice dinner (at Tuscan). We enjoyed wine with dinner and talked through things we were thankful for in the last 10 years, and things we hoped might happen in the next 10. Here are the highlights of what we listed:

Glad We Did in the Last 10

• went to California in 2000 to visit Saddleback Church
• Melody's trip to DC2000 as a chaperone
• Marriage Encounter for our 5th anniversary
• move to Toronto
• Ben working for Pepsi in Toronto
• move to Grand Rapids
• Ben took the day off (w/o pay) to spend with me the day after our miscarriage
• went to the Tyndale Retreat, and didn't leave upon realizing we would be sleeping guys/girls and we knew no one there
• deciding to go ahead and try to get pregnant before finishing at Calvin Sem

Hope to Do in the Next 10

• go on a trip (just the two of us)
• have more children
• establish and stick to a "date night"
• have photos taken in our wedding garb
• walk every day
  
• record music together

(There's more on that list that we can't publish.....)

Jason and Ginette (our best man and maid of honour) suprised us with phoning in a gift certificate for us to our restaurant. What a wonderful way to have them there with us! (Thanks, guys!!) We came home and retreated to the spare room to reread our letters that we wrote to each other 5 years at Marriage Encounter. It was a perfect anniversary - flowers, good food, reflection, conversation, thankfulness. Here's to the next 10, my love. So glad we made it.

September 28, 1996

When I woke up it was raining. When we left the church the sun was shining. We were kids, with no idea how we would pay our rent or complete our studies. I don't know how we made it through that first year. But we were together. We were married.

Honeymoon in Minden, Ontario

Noisy, Noisy

A few videos to share:

Isabelle has been obsessed with loud noises. She loves lawn mowers, cars, trucks, machines, etc. She has even perfected her "brmm, brmm" noise. I think she's dreaming of her great grandpa's RC airplanes. She would LOVE those. Anyways, this clip comes from early September when Ben offered to take Belle along while he was mowing the lawn. She was riveted to the side of the backcarrier, straining to see the lawnmower and trimmer the whole time.

This clip shows more of the everyday Isabelle. We've been working on baby signing, but so far she just seems to get frustrated at me...it's like she already has her own signs and I know them - they are just not the polite hand motions. They all involve yelling and vigorous body movements. The most obvious one is "I want that."

SoulCare Retreat Recap

The retreat was wonderful. Friday night we kicked off the evening with lively singing by 35 women (led by me), followed by a great dinner. I was seated at a table with some new and old faces, but everyone was just wonderful to talk to. The topic for Friday evening was "Finding Your Voice" and I came away from that thinking about my own reticence to say what I think.

Saturday morning we also had a great time of singing and then I was part of a panel (yeah, I was doing double duty....) of pastor's wives. One was close to retirement, one was 15 years in, and then there was me, with a whole year under my belt. Even though I wasn't sure what I could contribute, people gave me really encouraging comments afterwards about what I had shared. The questions centered around how the ministry had affected our marriage and our kids. I shared about the patterns Ben and I have tried to set up in our life this year (limit social events on Sundays, make sure congregants use the cell and not the home phone, take a day off and stick to it, use a daily connecting time - for us it is lunch, etc.). I couldn't share much about how it has affected Isabelle, but I did share my ideas and hopes for helping to make Sundays special for her, and how we try to be organized so as not to create more chaos on Sunday morning.

In the afternoon we had someone come in to talk about assertiveness. Let's just say it was a great presentation, not only to remind me of good habits for myself, but how to think and react when people don't communicate well. We closed with more great singing and with Carol giving us a blessing. Ben had a wonderful day with Isabelle, and I was so glad to see her at the end of the day!! That was the longest I'd spent without her, and it seemed long. It was a great weekend, but I was really tired Saturday night.

SoulCare

This weekend I'll be leading worship at a retreat for Calvin Seminary spouses. The retreat is the annual kickoff event for a program called SoulCare that I attended while Ben was at the Sem. It was a weekly event that brought together women whose husbands were entering the ministry; women whose lives were on hold and after that faced uncertainty. Where would we live? What kind of church would we serve? What would we do there? It was a great group for us to share feelings and thoughts about being married to a future minister. Our host and leader, Rev. Carol Muller, lives in a gorgeous house on a lake, and just being there always really fed my soul. Sometimes it was hard for me to be there (I was pretty much the only woman in my group who didn't have children) but as a whole, it was really good for me to go.

Last year the retreat was the weekend after we moved, plus I was 7 months pregnant and I had to cut out on the Saturday to attend a prenatal class. It was really chaotic. This year Ben is looking after Isabelle for Fri evening/all day Saturday so I can go. He's looking forward to the time with her.

Rays of Sunshine

Auntie Jo visited us from Canada this weekend. We were so blessed to have her sunshine radiate our home for three whole days! Many times during the weekend when Jo held Isabelle or offered her a toy, it was like déjà vu back to when I would do those things for Jo, 19 years ago. She lit up our lives with her cuteness and antics as a toddler; we were in love with her! Now she’s all grown up and living on her own, working hard at school.

After many grey and gloomy days, the sun came out this weekend in what seemed like a sign of Jo’s presence with us. We shopped, sorted my clothes, ate pizza, watched “West Wing” and talked. We also laughed at Isabelle’s antics a lot. It was a great time to connect with her and of course I had a lump in my throat when she drove away.



We had another visit like this on Labor Day, when Uncle Jody came to our house for the first time. Isabelle loved his guitar, and we also just had a great time eating, talking, playing our instruments and being out. We continue to describe Jody’s friendship as “inescapable”; it seems as if nothing can keep us apart – our paths are destined to keep crossing. We’re so grateful for his loyalty, his thoughtful way of approaching issues and just his sense of humor and fun. We always have such a good time together!


Visits like these lift my spirits on days when there are long lists of things to accomplish and babies in the house that do not like to sleep.