HopeWorks

Okay, so not really flash…. just news.  But I hadn’t written a post like the one to follow in quite some time, so decided today was the day.  Today you get to read about my family.  What we are up to. What makes us happy.  What keeps us sane. What fills our days.  Hope you enjoy these little pictures into each of our lives.

Nate – I will start with him.  Because he is my middle child, and I usually start with the youngest or the oldest, today I will give my middle one a chance to be first! 😉  He turns 9 next week.  Kinda crazy.  He is in Grade 3 (3rd grade for you American readers out there) and tolerates school.  When asked last night at the supper table what one of his favourite memories of the past 3 years was, he answered, “when school got out!”  Hmmmm.  He does have a lovely teacher, but I think homeschooling has ruined him for “normal” school.  He loves to study what he is interested in, but school curriculum just bores him.  He does very well despite his disinterest, and does not really have to try to get good grades.  Outside of school, he loves soccer STILL.  He plays in a league and so far this year, he has already got “man of the match” twice.  He is not the strongest player on the team (as per his own assessment,) but he most definitely tries the hardest.  He also loves chess and can beat his father now!  He is a very thoughtful and passionate young man – who “feels.”  He is also catching up to Marae in height, which does not thrill his older sister.

Elise – My baby turned 7 this month.  We moved to South Africa when she was 5 weeks old.  Her entire life has been here.  She loves her South African life, but despite never having really lived in Canada, is still very proud of her Canadian roots.  She is in Grade 1 and loving school.  Of my 3 children, she is the most relaxed, “go with the flow,” type of child.  Her interests include netball (which is a poor substitution for basketball, but all they have here,) swimming, ballet, and books.  She also recently has discovered Adventures in Odyssey, and that girl forever has her older sister’s headphones in her ears with stories playing.  She is also a deep thinker – often asking very thought provoking questions about all sorts of topics.

Marae – And my dear, sweet Marae… who is the most like me.  This point is very evident right now, as she is in the middle of school exams right now and stressing BIG time over her Grade 6 exams.  She likes to do everything perfectly – for example, today she had a history and geography exam.  She answered one of the questions about the magnetic compass.  Her worry was that she wrote down almost word for word (because she had memorised that part of the book during studying!) the paragraph about the compass and was her teacher going to think she was cheating.  Nate assured her that the teacher knew she “wasn’t that type of person.”  🙂  But she is the type of person who does not like to miss even one percentage point.  (afraid that is my fault.)  We all breathe a sigh of relief when exam time is over!  But other than mastering good grades, Marae does indeed have other interests.  First and foremost is swimming.  She belongs in the water!  She has a great coach and has progressed remarkably with her skill.   She also plays netball and has recently joined the drama club at school.  For any of you who knew her a couple of years ago and how shy she was, this is a huge step for her!  We are really proud!

Carl – Mr. CEO.  What a great boss he is.  Elise laughs “daddy is the boss of mommy.”  Literally.  But seriously, I couldn’t ask for a better boss.  Carl is an amazing director and manager.  Seed of Hope is blessed to have him.  (Okay, I am a little biased, but I am sure others feel the same!)  2014 has been a fantastic year thus far with lots of great things happening at Seed of Hope.  New programs, new initiatives, strategic planning for the future, fantastic staff development, wonderful team visits, etc.  Even though work occupies most of his time, he does find time to also be an elder at our church – and participate in various men’s events at Oasis.  This year he went on a 5 day backpacking trip with about 30 other men from our church.  It was most definitely a highlight of the year for him.  Unfortunately basketball has been put on hold because of some serious ankle injuries, but he is hoping to continue his swimming “career.”

Me – Work at Seed of Hope is also keeping me quite busy.  In good ways!  We are expanding our work in the health department at SOH.  Offering more and a variety of different types of trainings – this year we added our parenting course, which was a huge success.  We are also getting into more schools and churches with our HIV/Aids course.  Another exciting development was our acquisition of a CD4 analyser.  I am going to do an entire blog about that sometime soon, so I won’t spend too much time here, other than to say, it has expanded our HIV ministry dramatically and we are so thrilled to have it!  A big shout out to Next Christian Community in St. Albert that raised and donated the funds to make this purchase possible.  My days are also filled with exercise (I am trying to do something physical at least 4 days a week,) cooking, reading, running youth group at church, etc.  My biggest news is that I am going to be starting a master’s degree.  I am hoping to start in 2015 and this year will be getting a few prerequisites out of the way.  I would like to do a double masters – family nurse practitioner and midwife.  Sooo exciting!   I can do almost the entire course via distance, and will only have to go back for practicals.

And that is us, folks! 😉