Where I've Been and Where We're Going

Well, I am still alive, though possibly buried under a pile of boxes... But I thought it was time I dug myself out long enough to give a little update on what we're up to (and why I've been MIA lately, and probably still will be for at least a few more weeks). Many of you who know us personally will have heard this already, but I figured it was time to fill in everyone who has only heard rumblings on this blog or on Facebook.

For the last 6 years, we've been part of a great church family at Sovereign Grace Church Toronto in King City, Ontario. We love this group dearly, and have learned and benefitted much from them over the years. We're grateful for the faithful, wise, biblical teaching of Tim Kerr and others. We're so thankful for the example of godly fellowship we've observed and been a part of, the gracious way others have challenged us, offered true wisdom and encouraged us, as well as the way many have so graciously accepted input from us. We've been greatly blessed by the generosity of this people, and so many of the times in the last 6 years that we've had huge needs miraculously met, God has used these dear people to meet them. And now, although we are sad to leave, we sincerely appreciate their generosity in sending us out on a new mission and adventure!

Last June, our pastor told us about a brand new church planting effort just getting underway in Liberty Village, Toronto. He was aware that we have long had a desire to be back in the city (after 5 years out in rural Ontario), and wanted to help his friend, Darryl Dash, who was heading up this plant and looking for people to be involved. This was admittedly a little out of the blue for us, as we had no real intentions at that point to make such a change in the very near future. We spent the next 6 months wrestling through questions of where God was leading us, getting to know this new little group a bit, and seeking advice from family and a few close friends. In January, in the midst of getting back into the school year, cleaning up after puppies and whatever else we were up to that I can no longer recall (but which at the time seemed to be pushing me toward the mad house), Nathan and Darryl met for lunch, then went to a church planting conference together, and we made a decision to really begin pursuing involvement at Liberty Grace Church. Within the month we realized that if we were going to do this, living 45 minutes north of the city (when the church is almost as downtown as you can get) was not going to be practical or effective for very long. So as we were shooing the last of the puppies off to their new homes, we were starting to look at house listings in Toronto. The absurdly high cost of living in the city was very discouraging (as was the shortage of 3 bedroom places in Liberty Village), but every single one of the many people we sought for counsel was excited and encouraging, and so we began to pray that if this was, in fact, the move we were to make, that God would once again miraculously provide--both a place to live and the finances to pay for it.

Well, the long and the short of it is that He has, yet again, done more than we asked for, and has not only provided what we need for at least the next 6 months' living expenses, but also a townhouse-style condo that is in the same complex as Darryl Dash and his wife, Charlene (we will literally be able to yell at them from our balcony). This is great for fellowship, and ideal for the kind of community/relationship-building outreach that Liberty Grace is pursuing.

So in a very quickly passing 11 days, we say good-bye to the fields and the quiet (and the slow internet) of the Ontario Greenbelt, and move what's left of our stuff into a 3-story city condo. We love the city, we love the people of the city, and we're excited (and a little terrified) to be a part of what God is doing in Liberty Village, but it's going to be a big adjustment, especially for the kids (and therefore for us, too!). So we'd really appreciate your prayers for us as we make this move.

As soon as I have a chance, I want to write more about Liberty Grace Church and the desire to reach Liberty Village with the gospel, but right now, I need to clear a path through the boxes to my bed.
I'll peep out again one of these days!

When Easter is Dry

The glorious freedom proclaimed by the cross, and the amazing hope of eternal life shouted by the empty tomb are things to be celebrated with tears, loud singing and exuberant joy. And often, these truths bring just such a reaction from my soul. But I'll be honest: this particular Good Friday and Easter Sunday, my emotions didn't cooperate. We're in the middle of a lot of changes and I was tired, physically and emotionally. I spent more of my thoughts on how my two-year-old was behaving during the Good Friday service than on the wonder of my Saviour's death for me. And Easter Sunday started with kids up at a crazy hour clamoring for candy. When we met as a church, I felt pretty emotionally flat-lined. At least until the subtle guilt started rising... At that point, emotions have a tendancy to go south. I mean, what kind of Christian am I if I'm not leaping for joy on the day that is the highlight of the Christian calendar? A brief dry spell that would be just that on any other day suddenly seems reason enough to doubt my salvation on a day when I'm supposed to be especially devout.

Have you ever felt that? Ever had a Christmas season when the miracle of the incarnation got lost in the busyness? Or a Thankgiving when gratitude was not particularly abundant? Or an Easter when you really just wanted to go back to bed? It seems to me that while lack of wonder and awe and thankfulness expose our weakness and sin on any given day, they feel to us to be especially condemning when the calendar says it's time to be amazed and grateful.

And that is precisely why I am thankful for the events that inspire the Easter weekend celebration. The cross proclaims that I am justified by faith alone, not by the measure of my fervent devotion on Good Friday (or any other day). It is faith in Christ and his work that saves me, and not the number of tears I shed because of it. And the resurrection cries out that death and sin have been fully overcome, and that the day is fast approaching when it will be impossible to feel anything BUT joy and delight at the magnitude of Christ's work on our behalf!

The cross and the empty tomb should move us to celebration. But when instead our hearts fail to leap and our soul feels dry, it is the cross and the empty tomb that free us from the condemnation of the laws of religious observance. It is the cross and the empty tomb that respond to the devil's accusations of failure and apathy with the cry, "No! I paid for these sins, and I am making this cold heart new!"

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us... For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation (including spiritual dryness), will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:1-4,33-39)