The Carrs take Toronto...

On Sunday, we visited Scarborough Citadel Salvation Army Church. The chapel was absolutely amazing! Their officer was in transition, and they had farewelled the officer last week, and would be welcoming the new officer this coming Sunday. My first thought was "why is there a week before the new guy arrives?? that would never happen at home!" Then someone explained that he was coming from Western Canada to Toronto, and it dawned on me that their territory is the size of our entire country, so a week's travel time was understandable. Anyways, it was a beautiful, traditional Salvation Army service.

We used the break to soak up some "Canadieness" (sp). We ate at Tim Horton's for breakfast (like Dunkin Donuts but EXTREMELY popular here), then Swiss Chalet for lunch, and a Boston Pizza for dinner. If you're from Canada I'm sure you recognize all those names, if not....sorry. We also drove about an hour and half to check out Niagra Falls, because who knows when we might ever be this close again. It was beautiful! We took lots of pictures and I even bought a Tshirt.

Monday we spent time talking about the process of change and transition and its effects on a family. As the speaker began to describe transition as feeling like crossing a busy hiway and no one giving any direction, I began to nod. Then as she continued describing transition as a chaotic time, with lots of irritability, a feeling of loss of purpose, and as just an all around terrible time, I began to cry. I had to leave the conference room to go cry in the bathroom for a minute, and regain my composure. As I read the paper and listened to her, I realized she was vocalizing what my family is going through!...it's called TRANSITION!!!! Now this may not be a new revelation to some people, but this was somewhat ground breaking to me. Theologically and ideally I understand this process, but to have someone give me the words and validate what is happening is freeing! That morning I couldn't really talk about it, but now I feel almost relieved that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Monday was like a huge spiritual breakthrough for me in the sense that God told me "No, you haven't made a mistake. This is normal. This too shall pass. But I have something to teach you as you walk through it with Me." Like the teacher said, it doesn't make sense to walk halfway through the busy street and sit down in the middle of the road, but it's in the middle where we will learn the valuable lessons of trust and blessing waiting on the other side.

Then today, we visited a mosque and listened to the Iman/Imam (sp?) talk about Islam and their beliefs. The women sat seperate from the men, we had been instructed not to ask the first question and to cover our limbs in respect to their beliefs. It was absolutely fascinating! I learned so much about Islam in general, and so much about my own faith in the process as well. I'm still processing through what the man spoke about today, so perhaps I will have more to say later about it. But it was such a great experience to step outside of our "comfort zone" and just come to a place to at least try to understand the "other side" so to speak.

The conference has been great and I really feel like we are learning a lot about ourselves in this process...

The 4th of July in Canada

Tomorrow is the third full day of the seminar. Things have been going great. There are a lot of great topics that I have not thought about before. Some of these cultural things would have been so helpful to know in my first 2 church appointments! The discussions have provided a lot of insight into different aspects of mission work for Jeff and I, giving us a lot to think about. We discussed animistic world view today, which was fascinating for me. There is so much information being shared, that we're absorbing it and inspired on how it will apply to our future ministry in Spain.

Tonight has been a much better experience than the past couple evenings. Rather than stay put in the small, dorm-like rooms, we decided to go see a piece of Toronto after dinner. We walked along the boardwalk of Lake Ontario and just enjoyed the cool evening. You can even tell a great difference in the boys this evening. Perhaps less stress among Mom and Dad, de-stresses them too?? : )

I have been really struggling with issue of our life just simply being a chaotic mess right now. Life lived in transition is never fun for adults, much less toddlers. And if you know anything about our family you know we live an extremely ordered, scheduled, and structured life. (I nursed my boys on a very strict time schedule, if that gives you any insight. A schedule and routine has been a part of their life since they were born.) So to have such a flux in what our norm is and not have the power to provide any real order to the chaos for a while, it has really been tough on our family. Today at lunch, I near burst into tears while talking to a former missionary woman who served with her small children and family in Nepal. She talked about how it's a process of learning to give your children into the hands of God, not just yourself. I started crying because I realized that's what God is trying to teach me, I think. These kids are not my own. They are his. And this move is just as much for them as it is for me. My time is not my own, it is his. So the upset of how I think my days should be ordered is part of His plan. So, out of the blizzard chaos I see there will be a lesson to learn.

Anyways...tomorrow Jeff and I give our testimonies during the seminar. (Americans on the 4th, go figure.) And we have an exercise in Toronto's Chinatown as well as dinner! (I am mostly excited about dinner.)

SIM has an internet lab...Praise the Lord!

So, we survived (barely) our first time flying with toddlers. We planned to arrive at the airport 2 hours ahead of our scheduled departure, but with the insitence on economy parking and lugging 3 large suitcases, 2 car seats, a double umbrella stroller, diaper bag, computer bag, and purse, not to mention the 1 1/2 year old and 2 1/2 year old through the great sights of O'Hare, I had no time to finish my Venti Iced Vanilla Coffee with Cream until we sat down in the airline seat.

It is amazing the looks of disgust mixed with looks of "awww, he's so cute" that accompany walking onto an aircraft. The boys behaved miraculously. Getting a toddler to do anything for an hour and half straight is nothing short of a miracle. Jonas didn't understand why he had to face me most of the time, and Bram got tired of sitting in a seat he couldn't sit out of, but all in all they did very well.

Then when we got our rent-a-car, we pulled out our trusty GPS only to have it not pick up a signal for nearly 2 hours. (Yes, gnomes inside the GPS, we're in Canada now...) So, Jeff and I picked up a map at a gas station, found out we were opposite of where we were supposed to be, but found it all the same (the old fashioned way, and I am an amazing map -in- hand -navigator I will say).

We ended up driving way to long, because we showed up way to early to check in. We couldn't find a "kid friendly" option in the area of our conference. We stopped a local bakery, asked if they took credit only to find out post sandwich ordering that they were not taking credit today...aarrggh, so we ate at McDonald's......again. We have made a pact that it was the last McDonald's we have at least through this trip.

Now, we are here in our billet (a dorm building owned by SIM International (I don't know what it stands for, but they are a mission organization)) and thankfully they have an internet lab where I could update the internet world with the weary traveling of the Carr Clan.

Stay tuned, I'll try and update with some going's on of the week. To come: Canada Salvation Army visit, a visit to a mosque, will we eat the Korean food that is so readily available, will Bram ever sleep again, this and more in the next post!!!

So, here we are..

We have reached the "stopping" point. Our family has moved into temporary residence just outside of Chicago. (Which is nice because my parents live just a few miles away, so Grandma is always willing to watch the boys while I hook up the internet at Panera).

It's strange to go from all the amenities to...nothing. No cell phone, no internet, no cable. Now, I love a good fiction book, which I've already finished the one I brought....so, I'm not sure what I'm going to do now.

We go to Toronto on Tuesday for a MissionPrep conference. And then we still have to go to Michigan to change over driver's licenses and apply for international licenses. But we've already taken care of most of the "official" things here (ie: uniforms, etc.).

It's surreal not having any responsibilities. We really should enjoy this feeling, but for some strange reason we can't. Typically on vacation you enjoy the time off with the nagging understanding that in a week or so you will be "back to reality". Well, right now our reality is: we have nothing to do (and no money to waste). It probably doesn't help that when it's not been raining lately, the mosquitoes eat you alive, and there are no parks in the neighborhood (God bless urban sprawl).

Maybe this is a divine opportunity to simply be. To enjoy life without "life" getting in the way. It's a sabbatical of sorts, perhaps. If only I could see it that way when I'm bored, internet-less, no book to read, and no TV to watch.

It's funny how toddlers cope with change....

They know something is about to change. If you ask Bramwell he can even tell you we are moving to Spain. But I don't think they really get it...obviously. They've both been little maniacs for the past couple days, and we think that the schedule shift as well as the mounting stress is to blame. Jeff and I deal with the stress by getting frustrated, overwhelmed, etc. But both of us have adult ways of dealing with that stress, or at least talking about it together. The boys don't have the words...I should be more cognizant of that when coming to the brink of scolding them. I've been letting Bram watch more videos than usual, it's our dual coping mechanism I think.....any helpful tips on moving with toddlers?

The truck comes Friday. The carpet cleaners come Monday. But the biggest of my problems right now, is that we are out of coffee. Pray, just pray.

T-minus 10 days.....

Why do all the crazy things happen in the last few moments? Our technology investments (GPS, digital camera, and digital camcorder) were all stolen from our van two weeks before we move. I am incredibly thankful for great insurance that allowed us to replace it all before we moved!!

It's down to the wire now. We are busy scrubbing our house top to bottom, organizing linen closets, arranging for carpet cleaners, etc, etc. Even Jonas is helping out! We move out in a week and go into a slight holding pattern.

The first couple of weeks in July we head off to Canada for a MissionPREP conference. I'm looking forward to going, I've never been to Canada...there are just a few other couples attending the conference with us, so it should be nice.

Still no official "official" word on where in Spain we will be landing or when, but we've been given the most likely destination of Denia. So, we're packing plenty of swimsuits.

I have been trying to transition our family into a Spanish lifestyle schedule. We eat lunch at 2:00, dinner around 8:00, and the boys go to bed around 9:30. Now, granted, this is not exactly the schedule Spanish children follow, but we're breaking into it. Baby steps. This has been a hard transition for our family. Most of our family and friends look at us like we're crazy for even changing our lifestyle. We felt that it would be easier to make this change now, rather than dealing with time, jet lag, language, and lifestyle all at the same time. Each day is a little better. I have to keep reminding myself that the boys will need a couple weeks to ease into it, so I just have to endure extra tantrums and whining for a while.

It's exciting to think of all the possibilities that await us on the otherside of the ocean... It's sad to leave our family and friends, but we look forward to the new friends and adventures that await us.

Every year at Congress (Salvation Army Midwest Conference Weekend) my boys find some way to stand out. Two years ago, Bram nearly broke his nose crawling off the hotel bed. Last year, Bram had a black eye and Jonas was a six week old, so no one was sleeping anyways.

So, you ask, what is the special circumstances this year? My two year old woke up vomitting. (Sorry for those that may be a little squeamish.) So while my husband and my one year old attend the meetings, Bram and I are stuck in the hotel room waiting for the next sick moment. Currently, we are watching Higgley Town Heroes, because I didn't bring "entertainment items" because we weren't supposed to be in the room before 10:00 each night. He seems to be feeling better...well, he hasn't thrown up in about an hour.

My toddlers will not be ignored....................................::::sigh:::