we just spent the past 8 days on family vacation in Canada ...
what a glorious week in Beautiful British Columbia ... so green and so peaceful ... there's nothing like the smell of cows and hay in the morning ... we spent time with our grandma and cousins and uncles and aunts ... we watched movies ... we ate Sushi ... we took the kids to Dinotown (a mix between Kid's Kingdom and Disneyland, but more like Kid's Kingdom) ... we walked on the beach ... we have such a generous family up in Canada ... they fed us and loved us and blessed us ... thank you so much ... go Canada!
by the way, if you didn't know, I'm half-Canadian ... I told that to the lady at the border and she laughed at me!
I know this sounds crazy, but one of my favorite things to do on vacation is to visit other churches ... we visited a Canadian church 'Peace Portal' on Sunday morning ... we sang the song Oh Canada to begin the service ... it just happened to be Canada day ... the message was powerful ... just months ago, the pastor lost his wife to cancer ... she was an amazing woman of God ... he talked about the importance of community in moments of pain and death ... how do we encourage and come alongside people in the most painful moments ...
that night I went to an underground Youth Church movement ... there are over 1000 youth meeting weekly to worship and seek God ... they meet in five different cities ... they're not connected to any particular denomination or church ... it's just Canadian youth who want to reach their generation for Christ ... amazing ... the gathering was raw and real ... one of the youth shared his testimony ... just a few months ago he was dealing drugs, and then he met Christ, and now he's one of the young leaders in this movement ... he shared his story and then we prayed for each other ... God is moving in Canada!
on the way back, we spent an evening with Steve and Renee Swinburne in Bellingham, WA. ... we love the Swinburnes ... they fed us pasta and sent us off with fruit snacks and coffee ... I drank a quadruple shot Iced Caramel Macchiato and drove 12 hours straight back to Redding (with only one speeding ticket) ... 70 mph in a 60 mph zone ... 60 mph on I-5??? ... what the heck? ... Steve warned me about the Washington police and how they're out to get those speedy Californians ... I should have listened to him ... bummer!
now I'm back ... I've missed my country and my bed ...
4 comments:
sorry about the ticket. Man, only for going 10 over too. Bummer.
Sounds like an amazing trip...
Funny, that you mention Bellingham...it's like a sign. Ryan and I are moving out of state and we haven't decided where to yet. We want to live on the coast, so we are looking into Oregon, Wa, and Hawaii. We came across Bellingham somehow when searching for houses on the internet...I did some research and I like what I see and houses are very affordable there. What did you think of the town? And you said it took 12 hours to get back to Redding? Cause I was wondering how far away it was from here.
Thanks! Lisa
so glad you're back. if we plant a church in Canada, i'll make sure we sing "Oh Canada" on Canada day to start the set... there will probably be flags..
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