Windows and Doors!!!

 I never knew that windows and doors could be so exciting, but they sure are...once they are all installed and everyone is still alive (I found out what a miracle the "still alive part" can be when our single door dropped while David, and friend and I were trying to install it.) Praise the Lord, He moved David out of the way! Five guys from church graciously came and helped install that door and the our giant window and it took them around 10 minutes! What an amazing blessing!

 Here is David entering our front door! It's very exciting to be able to lock our basement now.

 This is the side view of the house showing my favourite window that will be our dining room. Notice how big it is compared to the sliding glass doors and us standing in front of it (first picture).

David is finishing up the plumbing and hopes to have it pass inspection before the new year. He was lying in the trench where the septic line runs and was connecting the pipe to the septic tank. The picture doesn't capture how funny it looked to see him completed surround by snow in the trench.

Snowstorms and a Roof

Wouldn't it just be the way that the very day David planned to begin putting the roof on, we got our first snow dump?! His whole family came to celebrate American Thanksgiving and planned to help get the roof started but spent most of the time shoveling off the 2 feet of snow...that was Nov 27. Since then, that faithful, hard working man has continued to work day after day on his own to get the steel roof on. Today, Dec 14, he hopes to finally finish it. We've continued to get snow nearly every day in that time too. The last couple days the cold has been added to what he has to contend with.

 The weather cleared up for one day at least!

This was my work done for the roof (notice not on the roof). I got to pound a nail hole in 5 places on every sheet of steel. My hammer skills have improved quite a bit!

Ultimate Verse Visual

So this is definitely my favourite verse visual that I've made so far! I got the idea from an old Teach Kids! magazine of decorating a Christmas tree as part of teaching a verse. It worked really well, especially since Victoria one of our wonderful volunteers was the one teaching it! All of the "ornaments" were in a box and kids would get to chose one and try to put it in right spot (they're held on by velcro). If they got it right they got a big candy cane and if they got it wrong, a little candy cane.

I will admit it took way longer to make the visual than I expected...but even after being hauled around in a van for 2 weeks and used for 4 clubs, it is still looks pretty good! Yay, for clip art, google images and colour printers!

Isn't God's gift to amazing...it's indescribable! May you celebrate the true reason for the season...Jesus!

The Giant Cupcake and more

Once upon a time, around two and half years ago, in Rogers, Minnesota, a new bride was packing her belongings into a Uhaul trailer to move to Canada. One of the items that most confused and surprised her groom was that the giant ceramic cupcake that was almost forgotten was required to come. This giant cupcake was given to the girl when she was a baby, at a baby shower by the lady that made it.

Every year on the little girl's birthday, she would bring the giant cupcake filled with eatable cupcakes inside to school to share with all of her classmates. This tradition was one sweet memory of childhood.

Fast-forward to present day...this strange cupcake once again has a use! In doing Christmas Party Clubs in Orillia, we are doing a "Birthday Party for Jesus". The kids have really been grasping the idea of how Christmas is really Jesus' birthday but we often forget and ignore Him on His birthday. The giant cupcake has come along to remind us that the biggest and best should go to Jesus.

Please pray for the kids that have come to the two clubs held and those coming to the two next week. Two children came to know Christ this week!

Something extra special this year is that we were given a scooter and two bikes by a family moving to Italy that we have been giving away at the Christmas Parties. All of the kids names are put into a jar and one is drawn as the winner. It has been an incredible object lesson of how nobody deserves the bike, but it is a gift to them. God gives us an incredible gift of forgiveness that we don't do anything to deserve.
Our verse is 2 Corinthians 9:15 "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"