Four Days After Arrival

We arrived in Medicine Hat on May 22.  Today is May 26.  In these first days, we’ve been struggling just to settle the house and the kids down.  It probably won’t settle completely until next weekend as a new rhythm is established.  Still, so much has happened in three days.

New patterns:

• Trying to establish new mealtime patterns involving family participation in cleanup.  So many things slid by the wayside in the runup to the move.  We need to get back into that routine.
• Establishing new life patterns for the boys.  In Surrey we never really felt safe letting our kids wander around the neighbourhood.  Also, people tended to race by the front of our house so you never really knew.  Here, the driving is slower on our street and there is the big greenspace and pond right across the street from us.  Three kids were playing across the street yesterday so we released the boys.  They had a blast playing and visiting their new friends all day.  New to us and new to them.
• Figuring out where we will shop.  One thing that has been impressed upon us at recent events (like the Church Planting Congress in Calgary last November, and at two pastor’s retreats I have been on this year) is the value of doing life in your local community.  There are lots of nearby grocery store options, but we need to pick one and stick with it, developing relationships with the employees along the way.  We need to be “regulars”.  They need to know our “usual”.  From that comes friendship, relationship and opportunity for the Gospel to begin to shine through.
• Organization – as we unpack, things are going in new places.  We get a do-over in terms of organization.  We are rethinking where things go in the kitchen, and we are looking at our garage as a chance to implement good sturdy shelves and keep things in places.  I’ve been eyeing my toolboxes and wondering how many things would be better to hang than to stuff, so I can find them again.

I am amazed at myself at how intentionally living is spurring me to do things I could not do before.  For example, I am generally horrible at remembering names.  Since we’ve arrived, I remember Jeff, our appliance sales guy at Future Shop, who hasn’t been to church in 10 years and had a bad experience, and has a girlfriend of 2 years.  I remember Kris and Karla, the parents of  two our boys’ friends, 8 and 5.  I remember (a little more vaguely) Robin and his wife (Christie I think?  Haven’t met her yet), who attend church at the Link, and he is building one side of our fence (our neighbour hired him).  Their sons are 5 and 2.  There’s My neighbour to the left, Dave, and our neigbour who hasn’t moved in yet that I have met, to our right, Wayne.  Then his neigbour to the right I just met today: Shane, Karen, and their three: a girl of 8, and two boys 5 and 3.  Across the street, I haven’t met the adults officially, but their son who is 8 is over again right now to get Dylan.

So now the prayers begin on how to show Jesus to my neighbours who don’t know Him and to team up with my neigbours who do.  Please begin praying for these neighbours and that we have a chance to share our hope with them.