Hard to Believe it Has Only Been a Couple of Weeks!

Well, it feels like forever and yet it also feels like we just arrived yesterday! A lot has gone on in our little family. We have spent some good time getting to know the area and getting adjusted to living in a big city ... Libby may not want to leave:) McKinley and Ellie have already had some fun times at a beach (above) and a local fair (below). Our apartment is small but very nice ... my kayak was in our bedroom for awhile but has found a new home in the closet (I gotta hold on to some of my outdoor life!!). We have also been blessed to be living in the same apartment complex as the rest of the Harvest School of Ministry families so we always have people to hang with and our girls have some great friends to swim with in the pool (yes the place has a pool!! ... although these crazy Americans think it is too cold so it looks like they are closing it down!).


good times at the carnival

Libby, other HSOM wives
and some mentors

Libby has been having some sweet times with the other wives in the program and with those who are going to be pouring into her life. She was excited to find out that one of the mentors was our host when we visited for our interviews. Her and her husband were a big reason why we decided to pursue the School of Ministry ... they lived lives of love and grace and Christ shone so brightly through them.

I could write 20 posts on what I have been learning ... I will keep this much more current in the future so as not to have to sum it all up like this. All the learning aside to say that we are even more excited about what God is going to do in Muskoka. I had the cool privilege of going to another Harvest launch in the area and it really got me excited about what Harvest Muskoka will look like. It was a service filled with authentic worship, powerful prayer, bold preaching and true community. I am beginning to see the four pillars of Harvest (check out the link at the bottom of the blog page) lived out and it only serves to build more excitement for our future back home in Muskoka.

To share just one of the pillars: Years of working with young people at Summit College has shown me that many are missing the boat by trying to make the gospel more palatable. The students I saw come through our program wanted something to die for. They wanted to hear that in order to follow Christ they needed to give up everything! They were tired of seeing Christians not live out the full gospel and hearing sermons without the Spirit. I believe it is through Spirit empowered preaching, preaching with urgency and a call to action that lives are changed. We don’t need more eloquent preachers, we need more empty preachers, filled with the Spirit. After the Spirit came on the day of Pentecost look at Peter’s first sermon … 3000 converts!! I have a lot to learn about what it means to bring a biblical message of authority and urgency and yet I prayerfully seek this pillar.

Although we have left Muskoka, our hearts remain there and we prayerfully anticipate the culmination of this present training, learning, and growth in a strong church plant. We are constantly praying for the small group and those who are "left behind" to continue the groundwork.