WOW we have a lot of catching up to do….

You know, one would think it'd be pretty easy to just do a quick update any time.. but I have learned to out manoeuvre those silly assumptions of mine to go for the more impractical route. :) 

I have been thinking of you all a lot though and very much wanting to write for you and post pictures, so now I can get a chance to at least tell you this and you can know you weren't forgotten or left out! 

I'll try to do a bit of a re-cap on the goings on of the last…  uh oh… well, the last…. 2 months…. =) and try not to be TOO long winded. :) 

So here I go *deep breath*  ……..*………………………… *well*… well okay, never mind. I can't do it. I simply CAN'T avoid being long winded, so I'll just do a post dedicated to Grand Manan, NB and THEN… go on to tell of the next 2 months after that. After all, how many times do we get to go to an island even smaller than PEI??

(population 2,460) 

~The Adventures of Grand Manan~

April 14-15, 2012

WAIT!!!

 Don't get ahead of the story! There were adventures even BEFORE the Grand Manan adventure! :)

On land we discovered a deserted isle! ….

in which Gabe goes discovering..

it appears upon first inspection, to be merely a little peninsula, not a deserted isle after all… but upon further inspection, and a few pairs of wet feet, we discovered that it indeed becomes an isle quite separated from land in only minutes! 

Fortunately, we did not know this and blithely carried on.

here we cross, unwittingly, the dry sand to the isle.

Gabe discovers a rope! how convenient, AND adventuresome!

after following a little trail that wended its way amidst the most amazingly fragrant, moss-draped conifers, we finally came upon the last outcropping of rocks 

and so stood he on that point

quickly we were alerted to the approaching of our ship, so we went back, and here discovered that the lovely causeway we had crossed over on, what formerly had been dry sand, now had been overtaken by the ocean waters which were rising at an incredibly rapid speed. (inches every wasted moment) WOW we DID feel adventurous!! 

Anticipation

we set off! 

At the high school we set up to do a concert, and Seth tries his hand at a tuba…

ZOWIE I think he's a natural…

While looking up things in my journal, I found the entry I wrote for that weekend, so I think I'll write down an excerpt..

Journal entry:

"… Saturday we had a concert at their school and we found out that a group of ladies had started meeting together to pray twice a week for revival on the island and had been meeting for the last 7 years! They had been inspired by the same revival that inspired us 7 years ago (while we were still working in Massachusetts) - that which took place in the Hebrides (pronounced Heb-er-dees)   of Scotland! So God let us go there… and get to help pray alongside them for at least a little bit that He would pour out His Spirit on the Island. Oh what a blessing! He SO blessed the night, and all of the older generation who left just were so thankful.. some were even misty eyed and broken up by what God did in their hearts. :)  The dear janitor who was working, Jacqueline, probably touched my heart the most. She had shown up so overwhelmed, weighed down and stressed by her day and week, and when she came in.. she immediately felt the peace of God flood her. She said she felt so much real joy in her heart!  We had such sweet fellowship with Pastor Kirk and his wife Jo, Pastor Jasper and Debbie, and a few other very dear people. :) 

Then saturday night began the intense battle, that's only now ending. (Here we caught the severe stomach flu that apparently went around the East Coast.) Tai was up all night losing her dinner, I was up all night feeling yucky, Gabe was up because he was praying for Tai, and Joel was up feeling the same as me. Then morning came and Tai and I couldn't leave the motel for being so sick, she couldn't come for the concert service. Then Joel and I started er, having to call uncle ralph over and over,(before and during the concert) and had chills and couldn't stand… then the concert started…. somehow by God's grace we were there! Standing! But… we couldn't do the dance… Joel really must have been worse off than me, but he kept on praising God so whole-heartedly and really gaining victory. We knew we had to just stand and pray (which at that moment was exceedingly hard to do) and that God would do the rest. Hallelujah!…"

"God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present Help in trouble(!)" ~Psalm 46:1

"But as for me, I will hope continually,and will praise Thee yet more and more(!) My mouth shall tell of Thy righteousness, and of Thy salvation all day long(!)" ~Psalm 71:14-15

This is one of our Grand Manan representatives!  (Jacqueline, who I was telling you about! :) 

                   

AND even though I totally forgot to take a picture when I saw them there, I HAVE to post a pic of the family I met last summer on PEI who were from Grand Manan and said they'd make it if ever we did a concert there! :) And they DID!

So this is for you guys! Love you! :)

We spent one more night there to try to re-coup and got to see a last sunset. :) Praise God for what He's doing there- keep praying for the whole Island to meet Jesus!

God bless you all and be encouraged to keep pressing on in your pursuit of righteousness!

Please pray for us as we set out tomorrow morning for a July tour in New England!

In Christ, Miriam