Another Year of Changes

Well, the title says it all! Change, change, change. Life in this world is change. As a friend of mine recently said, it’s always new territory when you are moving forward.

Change number one: I change jobs. Still teaching, but a new context. In the spring and early summer, I tutored one student almost full-time. It was a sad affair, really. The girl, fifteen years old, represented to me all the ways in which our secular society has failed its children. I will say no more, but pray for Kristi and her future.

Change number two: I change jobs again. I have been teaching French to Grade 7s since September. Ce n’est pas difficile parce que ils ne savent pas le Francais tres bien… And those of you who speak and write French well can now email me with all my mistakes.

Change number three: Jaime gets pregnant and has a baby! John Francis is a neat little boy in many regards. Conceived and born in the space of a year. Born exactly on his due date (yet another October birthday in the family). Born within the space of four hours, hardly interrupting our normal evening routine. Quite the little package, don’t you think?

Change number four: Lily learns how to read! Lily has taken to reading like a duck to water. Yes, it has been a struggle, as she definitely has a mind of her own. However, she is now reading at grade level—another superhuman effort by my wife, who is somehow managing to raise three children and homeschool at the same time. I knew she was insane when she married me, but this is ultimate proof!

Change number five: my book is accepted for publication. Thanks be to God, my young adult novel, now called The Nightmare Tree, was accepted by Coteau Books. Release date: May 2007. The fall was an intensive period of editing and rewriting, but now, thank God, it is all done. Author proofs notwithstanding, I can move on to the sequel any time. Let all be witness to my New Year resolution: one page a day until it is done.

Change number six: Gabriel becomes a crazy talker. From silence, gestures and grunts (though he has long been able to understand every word we were saying) to full sentences (“me wuv you!”) and whole explanations (“mummy and gramma made dat”). A few slightly embarrassing pronunciations apart (“s*it here”), he is still so cute in his new adventures with language.

Change number seven: I am given the responsibility of serving a mission station in Cranbrook, BC. This group of people has been meeting on and off for a number of years, but in the last year (another change) they have acquired the name of St. Aidan’s Orthodox Church and are officially designated a mission station under H.G. Bishop SERAPHIM. In August, Fr. Larry asked me to be the one who mainly visits the mission station on a monthly basis. In time, this may lead to our moving to Cranbrook to grow the mission full time, but we are still not sure about it. The Bishop’s word should come through in the next few months. Please pray for God’s will in this matter.

And that is it! All the changes wrapped up in a nice complete number. No doubt the next year will bring its own new share of upheavals and surprises. Things we look forward to: publication of my book, a possible move, more job changes, Archdiocesan Assembly, and who knows what… This web site is updated regularly, so please keep in touch with us. God bless you all this Nativity. Christ is born! Glorify Him!