Canada's Newest Landed Immigrants.

Well here we are folks (in the picture below). Right at the Canadian border having our passports officially stamped as Canadian Landed Immigrants. Barry, from our church, drove us down to Prescott, Ontario. We crossed, briefly into the US at Ogdensburg, NY and then turned around and went back into Canada, where we were officially received and documented. It was a delightful experience. Our immigration officer was one of the nicest people imaginable and gave us a warm welcome to Canada. We just made a morning of it and drove back by a scenic route by the St. Lawrence River and enjoyed a nice lunch in Smith Falls (where else for a Peggy Smith!). What a wonderful feeling to have this behind us. And in just two more years we can apply for Canadian citizenship. Enjoy our joy.

A totally good day

What a wonderful day. I just love days like this. Everything just seems to go right. Today our new book club had our first meeting. We discussed "Come Thirsty" by Max Lucado. I had such a good time. I enjoyed hearing and learning from everyone and seeing that everyone had a different perspective on the book. In addition the fellowship was terrific. Besides talking about the books, we get to know each other a little better.
Right before everyone arrived, I picked up our mail and lo and behold, there were our passports back from Buffalo. We thought about going down tomorrow, but I think we will wait until Thursday to go to the border and have them stamped as official landed immigrants. (You must enter Canada as a "landed immigrant" and have your documents stamped as such to receive your permanent resident card). Then in a short time we will have our cards and be all official. Isn't that great???????????
Today I also got a call from Toronto that my meeting tomorrow was cancelled. So I get to stay home, which I needed. Of course, if I had been going to Toronto, driving down to the border would have been difficult this week. God certainly is coordenating our lives.
Hope your day was as wonderful as ours - but that might be hard.

Freezing Rain

This seems to be the winter of "Freezing Rain." For the first time since we've been here, we actually cancelled a mid-week service. Most everyone called and said they didn't want to get out in the freezing rain, so we decided that the wiser part of valor would be to call the others and cancel. So we did so. Seems so strange though.
We continue to await the news that our passports arrived in Buffalo. Can't blame Canada, though, as the envelope has been in the US since 4:50AM on Sunday. So what's taking so long to get to Buffalo?
Gradually, though, we are making plans for going to the US. We are even started to get excited about seeing people there and enjoying our much delayed 2004 vacation!
Right now I am enthused about a "Reading/Book" Club that we are starting at our church. We have chosen the books and our first meeting will be at the end of January. We will be reading Max Lucado's "Come Thirsty" and so far everyone seems enthused. I am so pleased to participate in this new project as it pushes me to read new and different books.
My other project is that starting next week, I will be back to teaching English once a week. I have a small group of students (Brazilians) who I tutor on English (mainly pronunciation) for two hours a week. It takes almost a whole day to prepare for the two hour class, but I really enjoy it. Certainly keeps me on my toes.
Speaking of toes, here I am with one of my Christmas dresses on. But I had on my house slippers. Oh well. Have a good one today.

Back down to Earth

All is calmed down around here after our excitment on Thursday. We still look at each other sometimes and say: "We're immigrants!" On Friday we were able to get our pictures taken and send off the passports. Now I'm neurotically tracking the envelope until it arrives in Buffalo and then will do the same as I await it's return to us.
So now we are back to some "normality" if anyone who is a follower of Jesus has what others might call a "normal" life. It's such an adventure. Right now I am deeply into the hardest part of Revelation to teach my youth Sunday School class. It's so exciting. For the first time I'm really getting it and applying it to ME and hopefully will help the kids to do the same. Their heads are so full of the junky lousy theology of the "Left Behind" books, we are struggling to see the real truth and life application of what God revealed to John about worship and comfort and assurance (not fear!). We're making progress though and that's rewarding. Hey - no picture today. Just wait. Soon I'll have another one to show you. Just gotta love that digital camera.

Good News/Boas Notícias

Leia a notícia em português abaixo...

I know you will be as thrilled as we are to know that today we received the news that our immigration was approved on December 23rd! Now we just have to send in our passports to the consulate in Buffalo, NY, await their return and then leave the country in order to "officially" enter Canada as immigrants. So all should be officialized in about a month. We have waited many long months of this document and thank all of you for your prayers. You can see the joy on our faces in photos below.

Eu sei que você ficará tão emocionado quanto a gente com a notícia que recebemos hoje: ganhamos nossa "residência permanente" no Canadá (somos imigrantes agora e não apenas "trabalhadores temporários"). Ainda temos que enviar o passaporte para receber o carimbo e depois teremos que sair do país para reentrar como "imigrantes". Devemos terminar o processo dentro de um mês. Esperamos muito tempo para essa notícia e queremos agradecer suas orações e apoio.

The Loyd family

For those who were unable to visit with the Loyds (especially cute little Aiden) here they are!

2005 has arrived

Time marches on and suddenly the New Year is here. We had a relatively uneventful entrance to the New Year. We had a watch night service at church and that was a lot of fun. The kids led the worship at 11:00PM and that was "invigorating" to say the least, as it was very upbeat.

Saturday João and I slept in and then spent the rest of the day getting ready ready for Sunday services.

We had a number of visitors and were surprised with the very good attendance, as it was not a nice day. The nominating committee met during lunch and we worked fast as we were all anxious to get home and out of the freezing rain.

Today, Monday, João and I had a good time meeting up with a couple and their baby who had attended our church while in Bible school. They are from Texas. We were so pleased that they were able to get back for a visit to Ottawa.

Now life has settled back to normal, with me busy on the computer. I have a nice "helper" in my cat, Sadik.