Happy Thanksgiving!

Unbeknown by most Americans, we Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving the first weekend in October, and this year my first item of thanks is that I am in Canada celebrating with my family, breathing in the sweet crisp air and watching the trees change to red, orange and yellow.


The reason I'm back in the great north is not actually to celebrate Thanksgiving but to witness my baby sister get married. It was a beautiful location, gorgeous weather and a wonderful time of celebration. Welcome to the family Andre!!

As per tradition, this weekend I reflect on all the blessing in my life. This year I realized that what I am most thankful for is the adversity and hardship of this past year. It has been a difficult year for our organization; the earthquake, being evacuated, losing loved ones, starting over, losing our temporary location... I also had some really low times personally. However, God has used these hard times and turned them into blessings. When we re-opened the school after the earthquake, I saw that our staff was more dedicated and we were a stronger team, working together, encouraging each other and united in purpose. Every morning after devotions we had a time of sharing, laughter and simply enjoying each others company. I was not personally in Haiti in July when we were refused entry into our temporary location, but the teachers told me about the experience. What stood out for me, was the respect and admiration our staff expressed towards our organization's response to the situation. We never pray for adversity or hardship in our lives, in fact we usually pray for the opposite. We pray for good health, safety, and success and I'm not saying we shouldn't pray for these things. But this thanksgiving, it really struck me that we often grow the most and reap the most rewards from the difficult times in our lives; when we and our faith are tested and we have a chance to see first hand ,God working things out for His good.