Sunday, June 15, 2008

Chicken Soup for the Blogger's Soul

Hello Everyone!

I've just got Taylor to sleep (so please read this quietly) so I've only got a precious few minutes in which to fill you in on what's happening in the most informative and cleverly witted way I can come up with on the spot. With that said, I will give you this disclaimer: This blog entry may not be up to par with past entries. I have recently been diagnosed NMS, New Mom Syndrome. It affects the body (aches and fatigue mostly) but it also affects the brain (memory loss, confusion, clumsyness, etc.). So from this point forward, I am not responsible for what I say and forget to say.

Now, what was I going to say...

I love being a mom! Taylor is the best, most adorable, smartest little angel of a girl ever and I am so proud to have her! I know you're thinking, "Every new mom says that." That's true, but they were wrong. And I've got pictures to prove it. Allow me to present the following evidence to the jury:


Exhibit A - Cute



Exhibit B - Very Cute


Exhibit C - Extreme Close Up Cute


I rest my case.

Now, I must resist the temptation of filling this blog with nothing but pictures of Taylor and stories of how her smiles light up the room and her giggles are like the bells in Heaven and the vast range of consistency her poops take on, I will attempt to update you on the non-Taylor things that are happening.

Well, I guess the biggest story around here is that we're coming back to Canada soon! We fly back into Calgary on July 22nd. From there Taylor and I will be going straight back to Regina (gotta show her off to the family right away) but Danny will be hanging around the Alberta area for a while. A very exciting thing for us is that we're bringing a group of young people with us from our youth group in England and they're going to be taking part in Street Invaders. What's Street Invaders, you ask? It's a three-week mission program for teenagers 12-18 years of age. Training is for one week and then the teams split up and do a mission for two weeks. They prepare dramas, dances, music, kids programs, sports events and help churches run things like kid's clubs and vacation Bible camps across Canada. It's like a mini-LifeFORCE in a way. It has been so exciting preparing for this trip! We've got about a dozen kids around the ages of 15 years and three of our youth leaders coming. For the majority of the kids, they've never been on a plane before, so that will be fun!

When we arrive in Canada, there is a week before Street Invaders starts so Danny's going to be taking them around to places like Banff, the West Edmonton Mall, and a few other touristy places before dropping them off in Eston for Street Invaders. After that, he's going to be at Keddleston Camp for the week, but then we'll both be back in Regina. We have to apply for new visas to the UK this year as our two year visas are up at the end of July. This time though we're applying for five-year visas. Our church in Walsall has officially hired Danny on as part-time youth and childrens pastor and as a representative to schools, which has been really exciting for us. Project Gambia has been an overwhelming success and not only are more schools wanting to be a part of it but the schools that are already involved are opening their doors even wider to us! One school has asked Danny to do a mentorship group with some younger boys who are, shall we say, a bit unruly. Another school has started a class called 'Enrichment' and have given it to us entirely! We're even allowed to completely make up the curriculum! It has been absolutely unbelievable how God has given us such incredible favour and freedom in the high schools in the West Midlands. Here we are, a couple of Canadians with no university or teaching degree, and the Lord has put us into British schools where we can openly share Christian experiences and testimonies with students and teachers! This has been bigger than anything we could have ever dreamed!

Oops, speaking of dreams, it sounds like my little angel has stopped dreaming. I hope I've been informative enough for you all. If not, blame the NMS!


Until next time, God bless and take care!
~ Alycia DeLong (& Co.)