Gift of Hearing

Sometimes I forget that people don't necessarily know that Troy lost his hearing in his left ear almost 12 years ago. He was working at camp on out trips and got an ear infection which seemed like no big deal. This ear infection was a viral one, something they cant do much for to begin with since antibiotics don't help with viruses.

 This was the summer before we started dating, while we were dating we went to a specialist for ears, nose and throats only to be given little hope of finding anything to help. He also went to a hearing clinic to have his hearing tested in hopes that maybe a hearing aid would help. They told him it would only amplify the sounds he already hears and not help much. Feeling a bit helpless and not sure how to offer comfort in this we realised this would be our normal.

I don't really think about it much now since we adjusted life in little things like letting Troy drive when we are together so he can hear me when I talk to him. I don't think he notices but when people are talking to him he turns his head slightly aiming his good ear toward the people that are talking to him. Big group settings are challenging because he cant tell direction of sound and often doesn't hear people trying to get his attention.

A little while ago Troy mentioned to me he had found an article about someone who had similar hearing loss as he does and that they had found a hearing aid helpful. I was all for having his hearing tested again even if there was a slight possibility they could do something to me it was worth it. Troy is a little harder to convince to go to a DR or anything of the kind so over or Easter/Spring break seemed like the best opportunity. There was no way I would have been able to convince him to drive 2 hours to go.

I am so thankful today for the advances in technology. After testing him they found he could hear close to 50% in his left ear and above average in his right ear. With a plug style hearing aid he should be able to about 75% in his bad ear with a total of 92% hearing from both ears! Such an answer to prayer! Troy is still not sure about the hearing aid, not that he is self conscious of wearing one. The thing he is unsure is the cost it is going to be to our family. We moved here over 5 years ago trusting God to provide for our need and not necessarily our wants. I am trusting that God is going to help us in this area of finances so we can afford this. Since he had to get the custom fit one it is going to cost $1895 for the hearing aid.

 I am thankful that he will be able to hear better no matter what the financial cost.

A Decade of Adventures

       This winter marks a few anniversaries for us. On Boxing Day we celebrated living at Frontier Lodge for 5 years, crazy to think it has been 5 years already I guess time really does fly by when you are having fun! The first day we moved out here I will never forget arriving, unpacking and the discovery of no water....The water house had frozen all the water lines to every building at camp and not a single building at camp had water...Just arriving and having no idea where anything was or how to go about fixing it we were thankful to have one staff member and his family here and they had taken on the task of thawing the water lines. Fast forward to this boxing day we wake up and turn the water on only to find no water. Turns out the water house had frozen again, God has a sense of humor for sure and I couldn't help but smile to myself and say happy anniversary! Thankfully Troy go the water working again that day and we were not without for too long. At least we had heat and could melt snow to flush toilets if it came to that. I have learned a lot of things over the last 5 years and I am thankful for it all. I have been blessed to meet so many amazing people because of living here, I still don't like the good byes but I am thankful for every new friend our family makes.

       Troy is working on another building, it seems we moved here during a big growth spurt at Frontier Lodge. I was happy to see the metal on the roof go on right before we had a week of snow, the guys were happy to not be shoveling the floor off before they started the day. The siding is going up and it is looking more like a house from the outside. On the inside it has a ways to go but the walls are standing and waiting for electrical and plumbing etc. before the fun stuff like drywall and mudding, painting and all the finishing details can happen.

       On January 26th marks our 10 year wedding anniversary! I have been reflecting a lot on the last 10 years and all the blessings they have brought. We have 3 beautiful, fun, adventurous, loving kids. They bring so much joy and lessons to our lives I cant imagine life without them. We had our first fixer upper house and sold it when we moved out to camp. There are still days I miss the little things like a second toilet, my deep soaker bath tub or the amount of counter space in our kitchen. Even though I have moments where I miss those luxuries I wouldn't trade them for where we are now. Along side some of the blessings we had some tough roads too but so thankful I didn't have to walk them on my own this time. I had someone who muddled through life and stood with me. We are both looking forward to a few weeks away this summer to celebrate this mile stone with and adventure together. It is a little amusing to me that we are choosing another isolated place to spend our vacation. Internet is really expensive in the Cook Islands so I promise to post pictures when we return home.

 

I thank God for all the blessings and lessons He has brought us through this past decade. Here is to 10 amazing years together in this crazy thing called life. I look forward to whatever the next 10 bring our way. Thank you to all those who have been with us on our adventures you all hold a special place in our hearts we are so BLESSED to have you in our lives!

     

Living in a building season

The first time we came here I knew in my heart if we were called to move here we would say yes. This place has grown a lot since we moved here Boxing Day 2012, the camp experienced growth in staff numbers and a few years later the growth of our Programs with the addition of Explore. These blessings came with the need for more accommodations and this began the building season. Troy has built 3 staff accommodations (there are some posts about them in 2013/2014) once those were done it was not long before another building project was being talked about, this project being the 3 duplex cabins built to house the Explore students ( posts on these cabins spring 2015) Thinking this might be the end of the building for a little while another building was being talked about...More housing for staff, Troy is currently building a house with a basement that will be turned into a walk out suite for staff and the upstairs will be housing for the Directors of Explore Program so they too can have a place to call home here at camp. This project began to take place this spring and will take most of the year...possibly longer to be built. The basement has been poured, inspected, and now framed up and the floor is being added. I am hoping they can frame the upstairs and get the roof on before too much snow falls on the ground but it is not looking good for that.

Here are some pictures of the house so far

 

These last two pictures are from yesterday it is hard to tell but the floor is being put together. I will post more pictures of the house once walls and the roof are up.

 

 

Happy Fall 

We're Back!!

😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉😉I have finally remembered how to get back into my blog account!!

A lot has happened here at Frontier since the last blog post so I will touch on some old things and what is new here at Frontier. We have seen two seasons with Explore come and go, new cabins were built to accommodate the growth that Explore brought to camp. Explore has been a really cool partnership for us here, much like our program Ascend it had outdoor skills, Biblical teaching and leadership development. For a closer look at what the program is like here is a link to the Schools site http://prairie.edu/Bible-College/Explore or check it out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ExploreWildernessLeadershipProgram/

 Now two summers after building three duplex cabins complete with washrooms Tory is building another building! This house is being built to house the Directors of the Explore Program. Trees have already been dropped at the site where the house will be built which is exciting. With all the snow and mud we still have around they are waiting for frost to be out of the ground and some funds to begin to pour the foundation. The upstairs of the house will house the Directors while the basement will house Frontier staff. With all the growth the camp has seen the need for more staff and housing also grows.

Spring this year has seen a lot of change here at camp. Brad Andrews resigned from the Camp Director position this fall and is moving to Toronto where he will go to school for the next few years. We are sad to see  them go but we are excited for what God has in store for their family. Joel Barrett stepped up into the Camp Director position earlier this spring, Joel has been on staff since summer 2013.

Our family is growing up! Joelle and Liam are both finishing up school Joelle is in grade one and Liam is in kindergarten. Mckaleigh is close to finishing up her first year of preschool and it is amazing  to see how she has grown throughout this last year. In September Mckaleigh will be the only kid home on week days which will be a weird adjustment for her, she misses them when they are at school. She cant wait for fall 2018 when she will finally join them on the school bus and go to kindergarten!

As the kids have been growing up we have been able to become more involved in the community. Troy joined the fire department the beginning of 2016 and has been enjoying being apart of that community. I have had the opportunity to help lead a Family Literacy Program here in Nordegg the past 2 years. It has been really fun to be out in the community and spending time with other families that have kids around the same ages as ours. Last summer I worked in The Miners Café in Nordegg and learned to make delicious pie! If you are out in the area this summer on a weekend be sure to stop in and say hi to me.

This is all for now but I am hoping to write a post every few months (as long as I can remember the password) Happy Spring!!

Delight in the Father

Troy took Joelle to a Daddy Daughter Dance a few weeks ago, even though Joelle has never been to one before she talked about it with so much excitement and delight. We spent time figuring out what she was going to wear, how she wanted her hair done and the bracelet she was going to wear. With not much success in finding a bracelet small enough to fit her tiny wrists in Rocky we decided a trip to the dollar store in hopes we would find the right beads to make on...we did and it was "perfect" On the day she was going to the dance I helped her get ready and after lunch she was off to spend the afternoon doing work errands with her dad before the dance. Joelle didn't seem to mind that they were just going to the plumbing shop, the auto parts store, and the lumber store to talk to a contractor, she was just delighted to be spending that time with her dad. They had a lot of fun at the dance eating chocolate covered fruit, Joelle dancing her little heart out and just spending a special evening together. She went to bed with a smile on her face.

 

 

After the dance was over I kept on thinking about how much Joelle was excited and delighted over the whole experience...she still talks about it with the same excitement and sparkle in her eye...I was reading in Psalm 37 and came across verse 4 which says "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." This verse brought the image of Joelle totally delighting in the presence of her father. My heart is being challenged with this, just to come before my Heavenly Father with delight in my heart just to spend time with him. I need to become more like my children when I approach God, just simply delighted to spend time in his presence.

 

 

 

Our Beautiful World

We took an adventure at Abraham Lake to check out the bubbles. God is incredible! It was warm enough the snow on the top of the ice was melting causing puddles

 

 

 





Pains of the Heart

It seems we have been in a season of life where people we care about have been experiencing the loss of people they love. Being in this season has me thinking about life, the legacy I am leaving behind for others. Over New Years we got to connect with one of our friends who is missing someone in their family, it was a heart opening conversation for me.
Having a childhood that was tougher than the average I thought people couldn't understand what I was feeling, but after talking with my friend I realise we can all empathise and understand someone else's pain. If you experience a parent leaving the family by choice or having someone leave through death it is all still an absence of that persons presence that causes pains in your heart. We can relate to one another on a heart level. Pain is pain. Different things cause it but we have all experienced it, I am still muddling through this in my mind. I am now trying to look at people who are experiencing something that is tough and causing pain in their hearts, through my heart instead of my brain.
I need to look more at people through my heart and the way Jesus looks at people, with compassion and empathy.