Saturday, May 30, 2009

Ibbotson Family Newsletter - June 1, 2009

Greetings from Three Hills, Alberta! It has been a few months since we emailed you last and updated you, our friends, on the latest happenings in the lives of Steve & Sarah Ibbotson. We have been especially privileged in the last few months to see God’s Hand at work in so many ways… and are glad to share a few of these with you.

Of course, one of the most obvious ways we see God’s Hand is in our energetic and growing boy, Caleb. He celebrated his first birthday in March… enjoying the birthday cake thoroughly, and even eating some of it! Caleb enjoys walking around the house at increasing speeds as well as watching his VeggieTales videos, playing with his cars, trucks, building blocks, sandbox and most recently helping mommy plant flowers and work in the garden.


We have seen God’s Hand at work in our church family, the Prairie Tabernacle Congregation. Steve continues to serve on the elders board, this year as chair. Sarah enjoys her weekly Mom’s Time Out group on Wednesday mornings. Caleb enjoys his friends in the nursery and will gladly lead you to the nursery after he is done enjoying the musical portion of the worship service. We enjoy leading and hosting a small group on Sunday nights, currently ourselves and two other young couples who each have one little boy. As part of of the building program, the congregation recently commited over $175,000 in the next year as a Faith Promise Offering.

Steve has seen evidence of God’s work in his responsibilities as Christian Education Co-ordinator at Prairie Christian Academy. This year two missions teams went out from the school internationally, one to Colombia in February and one to Greece in April. Both teams were involved in meaningful ministry to others and students on both trips came back with a new perspective on God’s world. As they have shared how God is at work in their lives, other students are becoming excited about being part of the teams next year. In addition, regular weekly chapels continue to go well.

We have seen evidence of God’s Hand at work in our extended families. Two weeks ago we travelled down to Missoula, Montana to witness Cameron & Rebecca (Hunt) Nicolson’s graduations. It was a blessing to travel by car with Mom & Dad Hunt and for all of us to enjoy Caleb on the trip. In August, we are looking at having a week-long vacation in BC at Rock Ridge, the “camp” of YoungLife Canada , the organization that both Tim and Dad Ibbotson serve with reaching teens with the Gospel of Christ.

So thank you for your friendship as well as for your prayers and encouragement in our lives. We trust you are encouraged to hear of how God’s Hand is at work in our lives – and we also pray that you see His Hand at work in your lives. We would be glad to receive an email from you sharing your experiences.

Sincerely in Christ’s love,
Steve & Sarah Ibbotson and Caleb

Friday, May 29, 2009

Amish Love

What’s all the hubbub about Amish fiction? Major media outlets like Time and ABC Nightline are covering it, and authors like Cindy Woodsmall are making the New York Times bestseller list regularly. What makes these books so interesting?

Check out the recent ABC Nightline piece here about Cindy and her titles When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends. It’s an intriguing look at Amish culture and the time Cindy has spent with Amish friends.

And don’t forget that Cindy’s new book The Hope of Refuge hits store shelves August 11, and is available for preorder now.

Note: This material was provided by Multnomah/Waterbrook Press to encourage you to purchase these books as possible reading. They sound interesting to me and I am posting this link in order to qualify for a prize related to being one of their blog tour participants.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Enjoying Cito Gaston & the Blue Jays

With the hockey playoffs, I have not been watching too much baseball yet. However, with the Toronto Blue Jays doing so well, it was great to read this article today about manager Cito Gaston on the Blue Jays website. I love his quote, "This is where I'm supposed to be... that belief, it calms you."

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

O Me of Little Faith

This month, the Prairie Tabernacle Congregation is doing a “Faith Promise” offering towards our building fund. As elders, we felt it was appropriate for us to make our "faith promise" commitments first as an example for the congregation. Sunday morning, Pastor Tim announced that the total of the “faith promise” from the elders was just over $17K for the next twelve months. I know the amount Sarah and I prayerfully committed to each month, and let’s just say that the total amount announced is a LOT more than our "faith promise" each month for a year multiplied by about a dozen elders. So, I found myself talking with Sarah on Sunday evening about “O Ye of Little Faith…” mostly in a joking manner.

However, I went online to check our banking statement and noticed a deposit of almost $700 on April 30. I knew I had deposited my paycheck on April 30, but was not aware of any other deposits. After confirming with Sarah that she hadn’t received an unexpected check and deposited it, we checked with some family members who bank at the same place just to make sure one of their checks did not get deposited to our account accidentally. Monday I went in to the bank to find out the reason for this extra deposit and was kindly informed that because we were able to pay our car loan off early, the deposit was a repayment for the loan interest. So there is almost $700 we did not expect for May!

So the first month of our faith promise, God provided this extra because He had already provided so generously for us in allowing us to pay off our car loan early. Oh God is truly too good! Praise His Name. I can’t wait to see how God “surprises” us for the next 11 months.

Feel free to post a comment sharing how God provided for you in an unexpected way!